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The Killers — Live From The Royal Albert Hall

Kate Harper — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:43:21 -0600

The Killers new CD/DVD package Live From The Royal Albert Hall actually says a lot about them.

We'll leave the CD portion aside, since all its tracks can be found on the two-and-a-half hour DVD. Yes, two-and-a-half hours. If you think that's over-the-top, it is, it's fitting because so are The Killers.

The DVD was shot during The Killers' stop at London, England's Royal Albert Hall in July with what frontman Brandon Flowers calls "state-of-the-art video recording equipment" in one of the breaks between songs. Its slick production is readily apparent throughout the show, the behind-the-scenes documentary which accompanies it and the additional bonus performances shot at England's V Festival and a show they played in London's Hyde Park.

Of course, The Killers are from Las Vegas, which has been described as completely camp, over-the-top, artificial and superficial. And the band's predilection for the campy has always been obvious and is on full display here. There's a neon stage design complete with palm trees, Flowers has feathers all over his shoulders and shows off his penchant for ridiculous banter introducing songs by saying things like "This one's a real rattlesnake!"

But it becomes pretty clear while you're watching that there's really not much here. Sure, things look pretty, nice, flashy and well put-together. But that's it. Basically, this DVD is the equivalent of putting all your money into slot machines, getting nothing back and heading home drained.

Live From The Royal Albert Hall is slick, nicely produced and looks flawless, but unfortunately doesn't have any depth. Fittingly, that also describes The Killers' music.

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou Soundtrack

Joel McConvey — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:21:27 -0600

The soundtrack to Wes Anderson's latest cinematic oddity suggests that the director has, if anything, upped the quirk factor for his story of an explorer bent on avenging his friend's death.

Featuring vintage tracks from David Bowie, Joan Baez and Devo plus original music by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, this disc's appeal will largely depend on the quality of the film; as a stand-alone piece, it's mostly valuable for the fun multimedia components. That said, Anderson's peculiar sensibility is still evident in the disc's buoyant, littoral feel, which (The Stooges' misplaced "Search And Destroy" excepted) makes for a relatively cohesive and certainly evocative listen.

Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason Soundtrack

Julia Coey — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:16:17 -0600

The soundtrack to the Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (a.k.a. the Bridget Jones Diary sequel) is jam-packed full of heavy-hitters. Bridget Jones fans hardcore enough to buy the movie’s music will find the Sting with Annie Lennox classic "We'll Be Together," while Barry White’s "You’re My First, My Last, My Everything," sits alongside tunes by pop queens Kylie and Beyonce. Standing out amid the remakes and last year's pop hits is the earthy, laid back "Calling" by Leona Naess. Unfortunately, Will Young’s "Your Love Is King" gets this album off to a slow start, but for a compilation this disc is simultaneously fun and angst-filled — just like the movie.

Blade: Trinity Soundtrack

Steve English — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:12:43 -0600

Not only does Wesley Snipes get to star in Blade, but he garners an executive album producer credit as well. Assuming he had input on the track selection, he might be inclined to try DJing once his acting career washes up. The audio component of the third Blade film is chock-full of the requisite slice ‘n’ dice hip-hop of former Wu-Tang Clansmen Ghostface Killah and Raekwon (not to mention an appearance from the dearly-departed ODB) and while the RZA’s gloomy beats are ideal for skulking around in the dark, the smattering of rock (Black Lab) and techno (Overseer, the ubiquitous Crystal Method) cuts are surprisingly solid as well. The film may suck, but at least the head-nodding tunes will keep viewers awake between grisly vampire slayings.

Ursula 1000 — Ursadelica

Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:05:57 -0600

After successfully contributing remixes to several collections, Ursula 1000 puts together his own compilation featuring fellow mixmasters and band favourites. Ursadelica is all over the map, but it does feature big-time nods to easy listening and old school party records. And, when it comes to the old school party records, tracks by The Bees, Skeewiff and Joe Bataan show that these beat meisters know when to lay off the hyperactive thumps and just let good ole "Louie Louie" style frat rock take over. Ursula 1000 understands that you should never turn your back on the past because it always leads to the future.

Ruben Studdard — I Need An Angel

David Missio — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:03:26 -0600

This velvet teddy bear is going to need a hell of a lot more than one angel to keep his career afloat. Instead of doing the requisite manufactured Idol pop on his second disc, Studdard tries his hand at gospel. "I Need An Angel," written by R. Kelly, is so saccharinely produced that it's downright forgettable and what should have been a monster cover of "Amazing Grace" sounds just as bland as the rest. The sole Studdard-penned track, "Don't You Give Up," borrows from the Jackson 5 and includes the most generic "life is hard, but you can do it" lyrics imaginable. There is some great gospel out there: The Caravans, The Staple Singers, so don't let Studdard's ill-advised release turn you off from the genre.

Carl Perkins —Orby Records Spotlight

David McPherson — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:59:15 -0600

Dubbed by many as the founding father of rock 'n' roll, Carl Perkins had a big hand in developing rockabilly. This collection features 14 songs recorded at Sam Phillips' famous Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee between 1954 and 1957. His best known composition, "Blue Suede Shoes," put the songwriter into the national spotlight in 1956, so it's only appropriate that it kicks off this disc. Guests include Jerry Lee Lewis, who accompanies Perkins on "Put Your Clothes On" and "Matchbox." Other highlights include the countrified hit, "Boppin' The Blues" and "Dixie Fried." As this record shows, Perkins influenced countless musicians, from the Beatles to Bob Dylan and his music continues to endure the test of time.

Nas — Street's Disciple

Joel McConvey — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:54:52 -0600

With sparring partner Jay-Z supposedly out of the game, it's the perfect time for Nasir Jones to make the kind of big comeback fans have been hoping for since 1996's It Was Written. "Big" is the key word here — the double-disc Street's Disciple is a sprawling, epic offering, aiming to win Nas back the hip-hop crown he earned with debut Illmatic.

Thankfully, Nas' self-indulgence now stops at his output; his reinvigorated rhymes take materialism, greed and "the respectable Negro" to task, and most are delivered over the kind of raw, spare beats rarely seen in commercial hip-hop anymore. The second disc could use some heavy editing, but the first leaves no question as to Nas' continued relevance.

Mandy Moore — The Best Of

David Missio — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:51:41 -0600

Mandy Moore may be releasing a Best Of album prematurely — she is only 20 — but her discography provides a good collection of bubblegum pop. If I had a daughter singing, "I miss you like candy," I'd smile at her sweet innocence. If she were to crawl around in a red vinyl cat suit I would be less enthused.

Moore's schoolgirl wholesomeness on songs like "Walk Me Home" and "Can We Still Be Friends" is refreshing in a sex-saturated market. While she might not have a deep pool of records to delve into, what Moore has to offer is a selection of innocent love songs that have never seen a booty or red vinyl.

The Matadors — The Devil's Music

Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:48:50 -0600

These psychobilly madmen have been tearing up Southern Ontario clubs for the past couple of years with an out-of-control rock 'n' roll wildfire. The band takes the same basic concept to songwriting that has worked since the days of The King, but these guys turn it up to amp shattering levels with songs about lust, evil, death, black magic and hellhounds. The Devil's Music is filled with lots of vivid imagery like "you could fry an egg on the seat of her pants" (from "Hellhound") as well as some not so hidden innuendo ("Pink Lincoln"). While it's pretty hard to capture the complete Matadors experience on disc (where's the zombies and the dry ice?), this first release more than conveys the excitement these boys bring to the tried and true rockabilly of the past.

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Bill Culp — Roots 'N' Roll

David McPherson — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:40:50 -0600

Born and raised in small town Ontario, roots-rocker Bill Culp conjures up the musical ghosts of Memphis, Tennessee circa 1956 with 14 rockabilly hits. Echoing Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, this mix of originals and covers, showcases his rural roots. One standout cover is Gord Lewis' "Full Time Fool" — here ex-Band great Garth Hudson fills in admirably on the keys, with a performance that would make Jerry Lee Lewis proud. Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly also adds lead guitar on this rollicking number, while Jack DeKeyzer and Chris Whiteley also contribute, making this disc a great barnstorming listen.

The Bamboo Kids — The Bamboo Kids

Keith Carman — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:36:07 -0600

If Tina Turner were a white garage-rock boy, she would play in The Bamboo Kids. Either that or she'd get the lady from The Bellrays to do it for her and save herself from the band's overt sliminess. Trashy, roots-based garage rock with a serious penchant for slowing down (and obviously ripping off) The New Bomb Turks' punk-meets-'60s songs, this eponymous slab of garage rock screams "indie geek party." Think of it as if Teengenerate actually had a recording budget and no accents. You can almost smell the thick stench of sweaty club-going leather jackets and torn Chuck Taylors.

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Ashanti — Concrete Rose

John Teshima — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:32:48 -0600

On her third proper solo record, Ashanti continues to assert her place amongst the various other R&B songstresses du jour. Assisted at various points by other Inc. artists like Ja Rule and Lloyd, Ashanti shows off her husky and sassy vocals amidst her customary intricately constructed grooves. And here lies the problem. Although there's plenty of hit potential on Concrete Rose, it's all already been done. This album will sell well, but without more distinctive and original material it'll, quickly fade into the background.

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Think About Life Top M For Montreal Night One

Erik Leijon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:10:10 -0600

A tragic yet ultimately inevitable thing has happened to the yearly M For Montreal musical showcase, now in it's most biggest-ever fourth edition: the music has been upstaged by the city.

While earlier editions of the shindig (designed to expose out-of-town music industry decisionmakers to the city's deep musical bench) could tout the introductions of Patrick Watson and We Are Wolves to the world, last year's seemed more like a party than anything else.

Hey, mangling work and play is a time-honoured Montreal custom, and no doubt the music biz vets who visited from foreign lands have experience in networking with beverage in hand, but the act of congregating and having one of those "Montreal" weekends has become as essential to the M itinerary as the music. And let it be known: steadily-flowing booze is a tough act to follow.

Still, this year's lineup is vastly improved compared to 2008's decision to parachute in some of Toronto's least interesting acts as a means of making the homegrown talent look better by comparison. There was already one band who seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of Watson and the Wolves as well.

If this or this, or this, or finally this didn't give a hint already, Think About Life are far and away the best band to come out of Montreal in some time, and if there was any tension among locals at M, it was only the slight fear the international delegates wouldn't feel the same way.

Think About Life capped off the night and it's hard to say how official the coronation ceremony went. The floor of the small Cabaret Juste Pour Rire studio stage was by far the most active, and the delegates perched overhead in the balcony certainly must have caught at whiff of the infectious plebian enthusiasm from below.

With a packed lineup beforehand, opening cocktails and an imminent after-party (oddly enough being DJed by Think About Life), there was certainly a worry that synaptic overload would cause each act to blur into the other, dulling each individual experience. With rigid, 30-minute sets one after the other, one couldn't help but find themselves thinking about what was coming up next mere minutes into the set currently playing.

Did the delegates notice when the uber-awkward court jester, TAL's Martin Cesar, delivered his most impassioned vocals of 2009, primal screaming as if doing so would part the ocean? Did they find the balloons too gimmicky? Or the Nas sampling intro too hipster-ish? The cameos from The Stills' Liam O'Neil and Cadence Weapon excessive? The interpretive dancing too frightening? I couldn't read their poker faces.

Oddly enough, it may have been a Graham Van Pelt overload that potentially doomed Think About Life's victory lap. The lanky redhead guitarist/sample player for the group also fronts Miracle Fortress, who performed earlier in the evening. To describe the Miracle Fortress of old — the group that released the highly acclaimed, Polaris Music Prize short listed Five Roses — would be useless because Van Pelt has completely overhauled the operation.

Other than a Beach Boys sample being played during the set, the Brian Wilson influences are no more; if anything Miracle Fortress' entirely sample and loop-based compositions sound more like his other gig. The other three members of the group have been jettisoned, replaced by pre-recorded beats, a snazzy pair of stunner shades and a lamp.

The new Miracle Fortress has become performance art-meets-Bronski Beat. Van Pelt controlled the illumination on the darkened stage with a combination of said lamp and assorted police lights. With his aching falsetto and his arms often outstretched and straining his fully buttoned shirt it was a magnetic image. If Van Pelt's ginger coif were any longer, the British delegates would have been convinced a more sinister version of La Roux had taken the stage.

Although this new Miracle Fortress bears no resemblance at all to the previous incarnation, it was a spectacular performance, and a hint at what the Montreal musical landscape will be yielding in 2010.

As for the other acts of the night, Final Flash continued their steady build up to their upcoming album launch with the most traditionally rocking set of the night. The francophone group sing in English, and play extremely British rock music, and when their record finally drops I expect — based on their continuously improving live set — many to be surprised by how well-developed it will sound for a debut effort.

The Luyas were the requisite McGill University band of the night, playing winding orchestral chamber pop aided by resident mercenary horn player Pietro Amato (Torngat).

The much-hyped Rural Alberta Advantage represented Toronto on this night, with emotive frontman Nils Edenloff providing melodic contrast to some pretty abrasive dual percussion work.

Vancouver's You Say Party! We Say Die! blended murky dance with Go-Go's style new wave-era punk. Their spirited performance belied their rough travel schedule, although that experience explains why they seemed to be the most comfortable of all the night's performers.

Viva Voce — The Heat Can Melt Your Brain

Brian Wong — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 11:54:55 -0600

Recorded and produced in their Portland, Oregon digs, the second full-length disc from husband-and-wife duo Kevin and Anita Robinson is an arresting house of dreamy pop. The Robinsons are a match made in domestic indie heaven, jacks-of-all-trades who flesh out their hummable melodies with a treasure chest of instruments that even includes kazoos.

Together, they construct some Super Furry Animals-like songs — adventurous, spacey and organic little gems that are backed by the team's fey vocals, making them American cousins to Torq Campbell and Amy Millan of Stars. A whimsical piece of rec-room pop, The Heat Can Melt Your Brain sets not only your brain on fire, but also your soft-rock heart.

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