June 2016 reviews

Highly recommended this month: Un Blonde, Fanfare Ciocarlia

Highly recommended, reviewed earlier: Tragically Hip, Allen Toussaint, Paul Simon

Well worth your while: Brandy Clark, Doomsquad

As always, these reviews ran in the Waterloo Record.

Streaming is great for sample purposes, but please find a way to support your favourite artists financially.

Un Blonde – Good Will Come to You (Egg Paper)

Perhaps the most obscure artist to vault onto this year’s Polaris Music Prize long list, Jean-Sebastien Audet spent his teenage years in Calgary with a variety of musical projects, which is probably why the latest album by this 19-year-old and recent Montreal transplant sounds so accomplished, even though it’s incredibly bare, featuring little more than acoustic guitar and layers of Audet’s gospel-tinged harmonies. (For anyone, like me, who’s been seeking out Prince demos online since that legend’s death, Un Blonde has further resonance.) One song is called “I Felt the Evening Come Through the Window,” and indeed, Audet retains the sound of falling rain outside his apartment, along with seagulls and other ambient noise. Audet isn’t just a singer-songwriter fond of sparse arrangements; on instrumental tracks like “Exercise A,” he also explores ambient textures (with what’s either a melodica, accordion or harmonium—hard to tell). Good Will Come to You features 21 songs in 46 minutes; tiny perfect sketches that speak volumes about the man’s talent. (June 9)

Stream: “Celebration,” “Brand New,” “Staying in Line”

case/lang/veirs – s/t (Anti)

The first time I ever heard Neko Case, I hadn’t been that electrified by a North American woman’s singing voice since k.d. lang. Twenty years later, the two women have formed a trio with Oregon singer/songwriter Laura Veirs. It sounds amazing—on paper. 

Both lang and Case are powerhouse vocalists who can leave listeners—at least this one—in a weepy mess. Veirs—well, frankly, it’s a bit of a mystery what she’s doing here. (I’m sure she’s a lovely person.) She doesn’t distract from the potential in this recording—she’s certainly a decent singer—but it’s not clear that she adds anything, either.

It starts out with a promise: opening track “Atomic Number” finds all three women trading off lines. That promise quickly evaporates: most tracks are solo turns, with the other two providing backing vocals, the likes of which could really have been performed by any studio professionals (admittedly, a rare occurrence in the age of solo artists multi-tracking their own backups). We’re denied the sublime pleasure of Case and lang exchanging lines, or even singing a lead in two-part harmony.

Much of the collaboration here took place in the songwriting process, which might be the problem: for the last 20 years, k.d. lang has been a masterful interpreter but a middling songwriter; Veirs is perfunctory, but not capable of writing material for a project like this; Case, the strongest songwriter of the three, has an idiosyncratic flair that may not lend itself to surrender. Veirs’s husband, producer/engineer Tucker Martine, dresses up the material in impeccably bland arrangements, with strings and woodwinds and vibraphones that merely clutter up the sonic space that should be left wide open for these voices to roam.

Naturally, there are sublime moments, starting with lang’s

“Honey and Smoke,” which ranks as one of her finest torch songs in the Roy Orbison mode. Case’s “Delirium”—written by all three, an apparently the song with the longest gestation—is the highlight here. Neither are enough, however, to compensate for the squandered potential here. Let’s hope the tour brings out the best in them. (June 23)

Case/lang/veirs play Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on Aug. 16.

Stream: “Atomic Number,” “Delirium,” “Honey and Smoke”

Brandy Clark – Big Day in a Small Town (Warner)

Still have tears in your beer since ABC cancelled Nashville? Well, cheer up, because there’s a new Brandy Clark album. The 40-year-old songwriter, who’d penned hits for or with Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire and Kacey Musgraves, was thrust into the spotlight with 2013’s 12 Stories, the kind of album songwriters of every genre study carefully, full of both killer one-liners, developed narratives and astute character sketches.

Here, Clark steps up into the big time, with a major label and a producer, Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Carrie Underwood) who beefs up her (previously predominantly acoustic) sound for radio play. Thankfully, it’s not an unrecognizable makeover: the core of Clark’s charm and songcraft remain. She can be incredibly poignant, as on the examination of faded youth on “Homecoming Queen,” or laugh-out-loud funny, on “Broke”: “Ain’t enough apples for our apple pie / if we had a penny not sure we could spare it / we’re sitting on the porch drinking generic  / Coke / we’re broke.” And she’s got sass to spare, as on the first single, in which she taunts, “If you want the girl next door, go next door.” (June 9)

Stream: “Girl Next Door,” “Broke,” “Homecoming Queen”

Doomsquad – Total Time (Hand Drawn Dracula)

Granted, there are moments here that sound like the soundtrack to a ritual sacrifice at a rave somewhere north of Sudbury. But when it comes to spookier-than-thou psychedelic trance music, it doesn’t get much better than these three Toronto siblings, who recruited Mary Margaret O’Hara to sing backups for them, and whom Wolf Parade picked to open their sold-out reunion shows in New York City. There are elements of dub reggae, hippie jams, plenty of goth angst, and you can practically smell the incense coming out your speakers. It’s certainly divisive, but to these ears, it’s just perfect for summer nights in subversive times. (June 2)

Stream: “Who Owns Noon in Sandusky,” “Pyramids on Mars,” “Farmer’s Almanac”

Fanfare Ciocarlia – Onwards to Mars! (Asphalt Tango)

Did you know one of the best bands in the world is playing the Italian Canadian Centre in Guelph this week? And Maxwell’s in Waterloo shortly after that? (And the major jazz festivals in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City as well.)

Fanfare Ciocarlia are a Balkan brass band from a remote Romanian village, celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year. In 2014 they recorded an album with Guelph guitarist Adrian Raso, owner of the Little Shop of Guitars on Quebec Street. They’ve already toured in Europe; now they’re finally bringing it to major jazz festivals in Canada—and a local wedding hall in Guelph.

Here they’re on their own, doing what they do best: incredibly fast and brash brass lines, frenetic rhythm driven by sousaphones and two percussionists, and occasional vocal forays sung in their Roma language. It’s physically impossible not to dance to this music, the dizzying horn and clarinet lines adding to the euphoria.

The band’s style has evolved over the years, and not just through their work with Raso. Here, the oddball pop entry is a cover of the 1950s slow-grinding classic “I Put a Spell on You,” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Here it’s sung by Iulian Canaf, a comically histrionic soulman who attained notoriety as a contestant on the Romanian version of TV’s The Voice. It has to be heard to be believed—though, truth be told, the original is just as much of an oddball, (literally) snortin’ good time. (June 23)

Fanfare Ciocarlia and Adrian Raso are playing Toronto with the Lemon Bucket Orchestra on June 29 at the Opera House, the Guelph Italian Canadian Club on July 2, and at Maxwell's in Waterloo on July 5.

Stream: “Crayfish Hora,” “Out to Lounge,” “Mista Lobaloba”

The Kills – Ash and Ice (Domino/Outside)

The Kills are a bluesy guitar duo who’ve survived and thrived almost 15 years after forming, with much credit going to attention magnet Alison Mosshart—who also fronts perhaps the finest of all Jack White projects, the Dead Weather. Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince claim they wanted to flip the script on this, their fifth album, and even cited hip-hop master Pusha T as a big influence. Which is an interesting ploy to convince people that Ash and Ice is some radical reinvention, when in fact it’s just another Kills record, no better or worse, with slightly more interesting drum programming. It may not be fair to compare, but Mosshart is much better utilized in the Dead Weather, where her howls and snarls and sexual energy is completely captivating; in the Kills, one always gets the sense she’s underplaying her power. That does allow her to sink her teeth into some of the slower material, exploring the torch singer into which she’ll inevitably evolve some day. (June 9)

Stream: “Doing It to Death,” “Hard Habit to Break,” “Days of Why and How”

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (ATO)

A nonagon, for the geometrically challenged among us (I looked it up), is a nine-sided figure. This is the eighth album by this seven-piece Australian band in the last four years. All those numbers add up to: infinity?

That’s the intention behind these nine rollicking psychedelic rock songs, which not only flow seamlessly into each other like a 42-minute suite, but the last track also flows back into the first if you (are weird enough to) leave your player on “repeat.” That journey often travels at a breakneck speed, with influences from Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” through Deep Purple and Can and Iron Maiden and Stereolab—basically, any band that’s ever strapped themselves to a runaway train. Nonagon Infinity is more than just a thrill ride, however, with a keen sense of dynamics, spacey keyboards and guitar textures balancing the hard-driving riffs and rhythms. (June 9)

Stream: “Evil Death Roll,” “Road Train,” “Robot Stop”

Pantha du Prince – The Triad (Rough Trade)

I played this record in a cabin in the woods one morning, surrounded by a symphony of birds—who fit in seamlessly with the stuttering bells and chimes that have become the trademark sound for this German producer. His rhythms have much more swing in them than you’d expect from minimal techno, and he’s more prone to using major chords than most of his peers. This time out there are more vocalists employed, though not to particularly great effect; his keyboard leads are still the main melodic driver.

The producer has mused that he’ll bury the name after this album, having achieved everything he wants to with this aesthetic. The Triad isn’t as strong as its predecessor, Black Noise—he’s starting to sound like a one-trick pony—so perhaps that decision is wise. In the meantime, the birds in my neighbourhood are more than happy to sing along. (June 2)

Stream: “The Winter Hymn” feat. Queens, “Frau im mond, Sterne laufen,” “Dream Yourself Awake”

Samaris – Black Lights (One Little Indian)

Of Monsters and Men have shifted our perceptions of Icelandic music away from esoteric electronica, avant-garde pop stars and whatever it is Sigur Ros happens to be, and toward catchy yet bland radio rock. Which is why it’s refreshing to encounter Samaris, a Reykjavik trio that draws from ’90s trip hop, dubby electronica and the (relatively) more recent sounds coming from London’s Hyperdub label, including Hamilton’s Jessy Lanza. Breathy female vocals and strong, skittering beats—even at slower tempos—are adorned with equally dreamy and disquieting synths, making for languid, late-night vibes. (June 30)

Stream: “Wanted 2 Say,” “Black Lights,” “3y3”

Sate – Red Black and Blue (independent)

Canada has no shortage of rock bands. What this country is lacking, however, is fantastic rock singers: people who can grab a song by the throat, who can be heard above electric guitars even without a microphone. More howlers, fewer growlers, please.

Enter Sate, a.k.a. Saidah Baba Talibah—daughter of Salome Bey, one of this country’s greatest R&B/jazz voices in the ’70s and ’80s—reinventing herself as a rocker here, after starting her career in a bluesier vein. The blues is still present here, but on opening track “Warrior” she goes for the jugular in ways the Toronto scene probably hasn’t seen since Danko Jones. “You’re gonna know my name / from the Mississippi to the Rhine,” she boasts—and by the end of the track you’re more than inclined to agree. As strong as that song is, in the context of the album it seems like a gimmick to get you to pay attention. Once she’s got you hooked, Sate starts to get serious: right away she delves into the blues of “What Did I Do,” and “Mama Talk to Me” is a poignant, emotional rocker about Bey’s struggles with dementia. For all her fiery delivery, the upbeat tracks here suffer in comparison with the slower numbers, especially the gorgeous, gospel-tinged closer, “Peace.” Red Black and Blue is an uneven record by an artist searching for her sound, but there’s no denying that Sate is a force to be reckoned with. Her talent is too enormous to be denied. (June 30)

Stream: “Warrior,” “Mama Talk to Me,” “Peace”

Andy Shauf – The Party (Arts and Crafts)

One of the most anticipated Canadian albums of the year is by this mild-mannered Regina singer/songwriter, who steps into the big time by signing with Arts and Crafts in Canada and Anti in the U.S., the label that is also home to the new album by k.d. lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs, with whom Shauf will be touring this summer. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy is a huge fan, as is novelist Nick Hornby. The hype seems strange for songs of such subtle pleasures; Shauf is on the same wavelength as Beck’s acoustic moods, or Elliott Smith, an early influence. And he’s chosen as his coming-out party a concept album of sorts, connected songs set at a house party, a series of character sketches that highlight Shauf’s eye for nuance. The playing and production are impeccable—all Shauf solo, except for the strings—though Shauf’s sedated vocals drag some of the material down; The Party in question is more than a bit of a bummer. No matter. This record puts plenty of wind in his sails; the after-party promises to be a lot more exciting. (June 2)

Stream: “The Magician,” “To You,” “Martha Sways”

Tegan and Sara – Love You to Death (Universal)

It’s heartening that an act like Tegan and Sara get bigger and bigger with each album—rare in the chart-pop sphere they no longer aspire to, but to which these 36-year-old sisters rightfully belong. Working again with producer Greg Kurstin (Adele), who helmed 2013’s Heartbeat, Tegan and Sara aim for stadiums and come up with a gold rush of hooks and radio-ready melodies—granted, few with the undeniable punch of Hearbeat’s “Closer” or “I Was a Fool,” which would be hard to top. “Boyfriend,” however, is unusually lyrically rich bubblegum, a lesbian love song that will forever erase the memory of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” (June 9)

Stream: “Boyfriend,” “Dying to Know,” “100x”

February 2014 reviews

Highly recommended this month: Adrian Raso with Fanfare Ciocarlia

Worth your while: Wet Secrets, Sam Roberts, Freedom Writers, New Mendicants

These reviews appeared in the Waterloo Record and Guelph Mercury earlier this month.

Beck – Morning Phase (Capitol)

Apparently Morning Phase involves not having yet left the bed. Beck’s first album in six years (and first good one in almost 10) finds him struggling to find his own pulse. The sluggish tempos aren’t the problem; his 2002 album Sea Change was a full-on bummer of a record, albeit beautiful, and containing some of his finest songs. Morning Phase, on the other hand, is Beck at his most marble-mouthed, surrounded by amazing studio musicians who are called upon to do—well, not much of anything. The not-terribly-originally titled "Blue Moon" conjures some pleasant Pet Sounds moments, but it stands out from the rest of this pack merely because it’s remotely interesting psychedelic folk. Sad-ass strings milk the melancholy for all its worth, but come off as the emotionally manipulative soundtrack to a 10-hanky tearjerker rather than a worthy successor to Nick Drake, which appears to be the mood Beck is after here. By the time he gets to a song called “Turn Away,” I’m ready to take his advice. Especially during the same week that new records by Neneh Cherry and St. Vincent show up. (Feb. 27)

Download: “Blue Moon,” “Say Goodbye,” “Turn Away”

Broken Bells – After the Disco (Columbia)

Broken Bells is James Mercer of the Shins and Danger Mouse of—well, of a lot of your favourite records of the last 10 years (Gnarls Barkley, Black Keys, Gorillaz). They’re talented men. Their attention to minute sonic detail is impeccable. They both know a thing or two about songwriting. But you knew that already.

What’s striking about the second Broken Bells album is how almost exactly half the album is inspired, engaging and brilliant—and then the other half sounds like they kind of gave up. When it succeeds, After the Disco marries delicate acoustic guitars with electronics, string sections, drum machines and—surprisingly—bass lines driving the instrumentation, whether it’s a disco song, a ballad, an obvious Bee Gees homage (“Holding On For Life”) or something in between. When it flops, it sounds like a lot of fancy toys and no one to play them. (Feb. 6)

Download: “After the Disco,” “Perfect World,” “Holding On For Life”

Egyptrixx – A/B Til Infinity (Night Slugs)

You can practically hear the dripping neon. Toronto producer David Psutka, aka Egyptrixx, creates industrial, ambient electronic music that reeks of ’80s futurism. It’s a few small steps from Vangelis’s Blade Runner score, ominous and eerie and existing in a suspended state: Psutka resists throwing a thumping bass drum beneath these tracks. Indeed, there’s very little bass at all, just a lot of sounds from an archaic ’80s Roland DX7 synthesizer, including the cheesy yet haunting digital choir patch. Psutka was collaborating with a visual artist in Berlin while making this record; the artist works with fluorescent lights, images of Martian landscapes and what looks like molten lava. The music here is equally amorphous, melodic yet ephemeral—and as lovely as it is downright creepy. (Feb. 20)

Download: “Disorbital,” “Water,” “Alta Civilization”

Neil Finn – Dizzy Heights (Lester)

The Crowded House bandleader keeps himself busy with plenty of projects—with his brother and Split Enz bandmate Tim in the Finn Brothers, with his wife in Pajama Club, and with a reformed Crowded House—so this is only the third solo release in his storied career. Here, he turns to modern psychedelic wizard Dave Fridmann, the sonic architect behind the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Tame Impala and MGMT, to immerse the Beatlesque songwriter in rich soundscapes.

On paper, it sounds like a perfect match. But Finn’s songwriting skills haven’t aged well—nothing he’s done since Crowded House’s heyday, including the band’s two reunion discs, holds up to those first four albums. Fridmann and Finn share production credit, so hopefully not all the good ideas here are Fridmann’s, but it might sound that way to any Flaming Lips fan. Especially when Finn tries on an ill-fitting falsetto, ala the Lips’ Wayne Coyne, on "Divebomber"; he fares much better in brothers Gibb territory on "Recluse." (The Bee Gees are clearly on a comeback in the zeitgeist. See also: the new Broken Bells album.)

If you dive in not expecting the quality of songcraft on which Finn made his name, it’s a decent collection of adult pop. But it feels like Fridmann could have made this record with anyone. (Feb. 20)

Download: “Recluse,” “Flying in the Face of Love,” “White Lies and Alibis”

Freedom Writers – Now (independent)

The list of great Canadian hip-hop records is too short; the list of great Canadian political hip-hop records is minuscule, if it exists at all. The Freedom Writers may not have much competition, but even if they did, this record would be sure to come out on top.

This is a collective of Toronto MCs—Tona, Adam Bomb, Frankie Payne, Theo 3 and Progress, with occasional guest Mathematik— and producer Big Sproxx, who set pointed critiques and manifestos to music: “I make red, black and green face-mask music / I make First Nation genocide retribution music / Nat Turner, slave revolt / Rakim, Paid in Full.” Aside from the potent language and expected swipes at more lightweight hip-hop (“I see you making hella hits but you should rebel a bit”), Freedom Writers dig deeper—unlike most political posturers, you get the impression these guys *actually read newspapers*: “Water levels rise / hire more cops / Lord of the Flies / Piggy’s on top / A wolf in disguise eats from the flock / The revolution is televised / See it on Fox.”

Not to suggest they’re po-faced sourpusses. Big Sproxx packs his tracks with big, brassy samples, some serious scratching skills, and the five MCs have a winning chemistry that’s all too rare these days, when hip-hop groups are an endangered species and guest MCs phone in their cameos. They’re also not exclusively political; there’s a much broader emotional spectrum here than that, but that’s when they pack their biggest punches. (Feb. 6)

Download: “Separation,” “Never Give Up,” “Arizona Bay”

Fresh Snow – I (Reel Cod)

This instrumental Toronto quartet wanted to make an album inspired by the ’70s German experimental group Neu!, by recording a long jam session shortly after the band formed. So many ideas came out of that one session that engineer Tim Condon and guitarist Brad Davis slowly assembled the various motifs and sounds in the studio and sculpted them into actual songs, inviting string and wind players to enhance the melodic elements while allowing squalls of feedback and droning keyboards to inject chaos into the creation. And so this debut album by a noisy, experimental improv act is surprisingly polished. If they can extract this much from one six-hour jam, their future looks promising indeed. (Feb. 20)

Download: "Helix Pass," "Your Thirst For Magic Has Been Quenched By Death!," "To a Sea"

The New Mendicants – s/t (Ashmont)

Joe Pernice, Norman Blake and Mike Belitsky have formed a new group. To most people, this is not only not news, the names don’t even register. All are members of underappreciated bands of the last two decades: Pernice with the alt-country act the Scud Mountain Boys and folk-pop Pernice Brothers, Blake with the Scottish power-pop veterans Teenage Fanclub. Only drummer Belitsky, as the drummer in the venerable and ubiquitous Ontario favourites the Sadies, might look familiar.

Both Pernice, a Boston native, and Blake moved to Ontario for love. They recently became neighbours in Toronto, around the corner from Belitsky. (Until recently, Blake had been living in Kitchener.) Within minutes of their first kitchen session, the story goes, Pernice and Blake were booking recording dates. No wonder: their voices blend beautifully together. Comparisons to the Byrds are inevitable, but not made lightly; Pernice and Blake hit that sweet spot between English folk and California pop that few bands since the Byrds have pulled off. The music is consistently lovely; the lyrics, however, are not nearly as sunny. “You look so young at the ledge on the edge of December” doesn’t lend itself to sing-alongs on a summer day with a warm breeze. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Blake is on a roll, even though Teenage Fanclub’s output has slowed to a trickle. His last album, released in 2011 under the name Jonny, was another collaborative effort, with Euros Childs of Welsh pop weirdos Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. It wasn’t that far removed from this album. Maybe Pernice and Blake should invite Childs into this fold to flesh out the live harmonies, and make him a Mendicant next time around. There can never be too much of a good thing. (Feb. 13) 

Download: “Cruel Annette,” “Shouting Match,” “Out of the Lime”

No - El Prado (Arts and Crafts)

For everyone who’s ever hated the band Yes, here comes hot new L.A. band No!

But seriously, folks, for everyone who wishes The National would release two new albums in the space of 12 months, here comes hot new L.A. band No. With a baritone singer and a flair for dark drama set to stadium-size alt-rock anthems, No seem tailor-made for the modern zeitgeist. That’s not their fault. They do it very well—arguably better than The National themselves; they’re certainly less narcoleptic. They should soak it up while they can. But stop them if you’ve heard all their songs before. (Feb. 20)

Download: “Monday,” “Leave the Door Wide Open,” “What’s Your Name”

Adrian Raso and Fanfare Ciocarlia – Devil’s Tale (Asphalt Tango)

I’ll admit: it’s been a while since I’ve lived in Guelph. When I was there, I knew Adrian Raso only as the guitar teacher at Guelph Music, whose fiery fingers were mostly put to work on wailing heavy metal leads (which he still does, with his rock band the Big Idea). Not my bag. What I didn’t know was that his career had blossomed to the point where he’s collaborated with Prince percussionist Sheila E. and members of the Stray Cats and Extreme. More important, I had no idea he had an acoustic side of him that revered Django Reinhardt’s style of gypsy jazz.

It’s that pursuit that led to this collaboration with arguably the best Balkan brass band in the world, the 12-piece Fanfare Ciocarlia, who hail from a remote region of Romania. They specialize in a blistering, relentless tempos and virtuosic display. It’s hard to imagine them taking a back seat to anyone, never mind a Guelph guitar teacher. It’s just as hard to imagine Raso carving out a space for himself amidst Fanfare Ciocarlia, who have played together for decades.

And yet: both camps meet here as complementary equals. Neither is here to upstage the other. Even though Raso’s fingerwork can match the brass players 16^th note for 16^th note, more importance is placed here on the actual songs and group dynamic. We know these people are all incredible; they don’t feel they have to prove it in every phrase. On the track “Spiritissimo,” Raso even makes room for another guitar hero, Rodrigo Sanchez, of Rodrigo y Gabriela, with whom he shares a similar love of metal shredding and flamenco.

Now: can someone help Raso bring Fanfare Ciocarlia to the Guelph Jazz Festival this fall? If so, that town will never be the same. (Feb. 6)

Download: “Quatro Cicci,” “Devil’s Tale,” “Spiritissimo”

Sam Roberts – Lo-Fantasy (Universal)

Sam Roberts’s breakthrough 2002 single, “Brother Down,” owed as much of its success to its stripped down, percussive arrangement as it did to its singalong hook. Roberts and his band subsequently turned toward less imaginative guitar rock, but their last release, 2011’s Collider, displayed an Afrobeat influence and more emphasis on rhythm.

Here, Roberts gets all groovy on us. Opening track “Shapeshifters” sounds like INXS on a good day; the second track, “We’re All In This Together,” recalls the Stone Roses, of all people, the 1990 sensation that hyperbolic Brits will still try and convince you redefined rock and dance music forever. (They did not.) On hand to help is British producer Youth (Killing Joke, The Verve, Paul McCartney), who told Roberts to stop clinging to ideas hashed out on his home demos; everything was ripped up and put back together in the studio, and it’s no doubt a stronger record because of it. In the midst of that creative chaos, his band never relies on lazy rock arrangements. I don’t know what they’ve all been up to in the past three years, but they’ve become versatile studio sidemen, the likes of which Daft Punk could call to take on the road with them. They’re now much more than a dime-a-dozen Canadian bar band.

Of course, Roberts is not the only Montreal rock artist to be found on the dance floor lately, and there are moments here that wouldn’t be out of place on Arcade Fire’s Reflektor. If anything, Roberts has taken the rousing anthems of Funeral and set them to a Reflektor beat in ways that even Arcade Fire themselves don’t entirely pull off. Most importantly, he’s come up with 11 tracks that comprise the best album of his career, all but guaranteed to dominate pop radio in 2014 and be road-tested in time for summer festival season. (Feb. 13) 

Download: “Metal Skin,” “Human Heat,” “Too Far”

Warpaint – s/t (Rough Trade)

It’s February. Valentine’s Day. It’s cold and miserable outside. Maybe you’re lonely. What do you need? Something that sounds like Warpaint. But not necessarily Warpaint.

Warpaint are four ladies from L.A. who were formed—on Valentine’s Day, actually—10 years ago. They’ve toured with The XX, worked with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, and this, their second album and first for a large indie, was produced by Flood (U2, Nine Inch Nails) and mixed by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck). While it’s—obviously—well-produced, Warpaint still sound embryonic. Granted, it’s abstract, delicate music, and owes more than a few debts to early Cat Power.

Warpaint are not great players, with the exception of drummer Stella Mozgawa, who anchors most of the more airy moments here. They effectively conjure atmosphere and texture, and when they gel, it’s seductive and satisfying (and reminiscent of the early ’90s Golden Palominos albums featuring Lori Carson, if that means anything to you). Over the course of the entire record, however, they sound not just lethargic—nothing wrong with that—but lazy. There’s a lot to love here, but not nearly enough to make you want to get out of bed. (Feb. 6)

Download: “Love is To Die,” “Disco // very,” “Son”

The Wet Secrets – Free Candy (Rawlco)

The Wet Secrets are a band from Edmonton who wear marching-band outfits, boast a mean horn section, and were favourites on CBC Radio 3 way back in 2007 with snotty pop-punk anthems like “Get Your Own Apartment” and “Grow Your Own F--king Moustache.” Seven years later, bandleader Lyle Bell is sober, less snarky and taking the group as seriously as you can take a band called the Wet Secrets. The outfits are still there, but the horns take a back seat to spacey keyboards, female backing vocals and fuzzed out guitars. Atypical for the genre, the lyrics are hardly flippant or flaccid: “I’ve seen the fire in the eyes of the darkest souls who own the night,” starts one song. The peppy “Sunshine” has a chorus that goes, “I want to die in the sunshine in the city.” Bell is experienced enough not to tolerate any ramshackle sloppiness: every drum fill and organ chord is carefully placed, without sacrificing any rock’n’roll energy. The result is one of the finest garage rock records to come out of this country in recent years. (Feb. 13) 

Download: “Nightlife,” “Animals in Disguise,” “Death of the Party”