Winehouse became a platinum success in her native U.K. with her debut album of hip-hop inflected jazz pop, but here she comes out swinging with a sassy set of soul that draws equally from Motown and Phil Spector girl groups of the '60s.
Producer Mark Ronson, who helmed some of Christina Aguilera's recent comeback, gives her a punchy, vintage sound courtesy of a brassy horn section and members of Sharon Jones' Daptones and Antibalas -- you'd be hard to find two modern acts better at reproducing old school soul and funk. And the 22-year-old Winehouse has the pipes to belt out bangers dedicated to dissing rehab and deadbeat dudes; her lyrics betray a bit too much of her bratty youth, but that barely matters when she's got the sound down.
Ten years ago, this unknown Montreal DJ helped launch the renaissance of turntablism, with a playful style that treated the record needle like a drunken trumpet mouthpiece.
Countless collaborations and art projects later, Kid Koala remains one of the most entertaining DJs to see live. Instead of filling dancefloors, he offers visual and participatory absurdist art, especially on his most recent Short Attention Span Theater tour.
His albums, however, have always struggled to stand on their own, sounding more like sound collage narratives from non-linear radio plays rather than music you'd want to revisit.
Your Mom's Favourite DJ is Kid Koala's most likable and listenable album to date -- not because he's made dancefloor concessions or pop songs, but because he's finally found a way to employ his inventive scratching techniques for more than one gimmicky composition at a time. There are more rock touches this time out, while recognizable snippets of Dave Brubeck and Nina Simone providing some of the jazzier backbeats. And as always, his bizarre and obscure dialogue samples help break up the scratchfest.
The album ends with the sound of crickets, a literal display of what performers always joke is the sound of a dead audience. This time, however, Kid Koala's finally delivered an album to match his rapturous live shows.
The title could refer to any number of things, but in this case one of them would be the minor boom in young folk musicians that this area witnessed in the mid-'90s, particularly Tiiu Millistver's current home base of Guelph.
Gone Are the Days is reminiscent of that time, with earnest lyrics about a Modern Day Woman's place in the world, and an open letter to the president on the sparse and droney Deep Down.
Though she's now back in Guelph, this EP was recorded during a recent extended stay in Ottawa, where she garnered plenty of accolades -- including one from the Ottawa Folk Festival recognizing young songwriters focusing on social and women's issues. She's still finding her own voice as a songwriter, but the material here proves that you'll be seeing a lot of this woman on local stages in the next little while -- beginning with her CD release at the E-Bar in Guelph on Jan.
16.
The fifth studio album by Joe Pernice and accompanists doesn't deviate substantially from the template of smart, mostly sad or bitter words framed by deft, hooky arrangements. "Something came over me, crimson not clover-leafed," Pernice sings in Elvis Costello fashion on opener Automaton.
News RSS