Peeler — Evils of the Modern Pleasure Dance (Angel Green) :: The boozy bozo "HEY YEAH! SO! COME ON! YEAH!" caterwaul which opens this album makes it pretty obvious that Craig Peeler has his Yo! Jimbo! shtick down pat, especially on heavy stonerdelic songs like "Half Past High."
The Doors — Absolutely Live (Elektra) :: Lout it, lout it, lout it out loud!
Amy Winehouse — Back to Black (Island) :: Talent is an asset, but gimmicks are forever — and Amy’s gimmick is to shamelessly ape Billie Holiday at her most seriously smacked-out. So catch this Wino while you can because she’ll be dead in 18 months.
The Cinematics — Break EP (TVT) :: And you thought that skinny leather tie of yours from Japan would never come back in vogue.
The Darns — What It All Turns Into (self released) :: These guys sound like a ’70s new wave version of the Tragically Hip, so you can expect a lot more in the way of unexpected variety.
Abernethy — College Grove (Spinning Gold) :: A voice that’s a creepy cross between John Cale ("Going Home") and Eno ("Queer Bright") and mauve music that sounds like side three of This End Up.
Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence) :: I’m a soft touch for instrumental art rock albums, even ones with an surfeit of bombastic Bonzo drumming. Must be all them explosions.
Arthur Dodge — The Perfect Face (Remedy) :: It says a lot about Arthur Dodge’s songwriting ability that the only cover version he does on this tasteful country album — "San Diego Serenade" by Tom Waits — is the worst written one of the lot.
POLITICALLY NAÏVE PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Jen Militia — Berlin Boot Camp (Digilog) :: The bad news is that Canada’s answer to Rage Against the Machine uses Maoist imagery from communist China to sell their tawdry wares. The good news is that they don’t wear T-shirts featuring the face of mass murderer Ernesto "Che" Guevara. I guess they don’t want to look like Carlos Santana.
NEXT WEEK: DEFENDING PETE TOWNSHEND
