BAG
Lost in the Woods (www.jskastner.com/bag)
This is the kind of music that makes me melt. I blame it on singer and songwriter Gabe Kastner's voice: it exudes a gentleness and vulnerability very reminiscent of Elliott Smith, who I adore. Sometimes I get shivers listening to this album, which I also adore. Lost in the Woods contains 12 of the Toronto band's new songs, and some older favourites as well. Several songs are of the anti-love variety ('œLove and the Long Heartbreak'?), while others are surprisingly optimistic ('œChange your Mind'?). The quirky and somewhat political 'œThe Cloud that Looked like Canada'? is my favourite. From the ominous drum solo opening to the catchy melody and the rocking guitar in the middle, this song stands out as the strongest. Bag makes charismatic, honest, and beautiful music. Listen to this, and you'll melt, too. '” SK
File next to: Mr. Smith, Beulah, Modest Mouse.

BLACK DICE
Creature Comforts (FatCat, www.fat-cat.co.uk)
Everything you do is different in its own way. With Black Dice, this aphorism is made real. Each album has its own texture and resonance, and each differs greatly from the next. If Miles of Smiles, the EP before this, was the sonic equivalent of Scanners, Creature Comforts is the comedown of the century. Utilizing more and more of the loops that were present but never overtaking on earlier releases, and coupling them with the synth-mashing and guitar treatment that they've come to be known for, the result is usually that of waking up in the woods, organic sounds abounding, deep rhythmic pulses reminding you that you're not really in the woods, finally shaken off by blasts of comforting noise. I would say this is 'œthe pop album,'? but you can't really say that about Black Dice. All I can say is that it rules. That it cannot be touched. '” AG
File next to: Your blown mind.

CHIB
Moco (Fat Cat, www.fat-cat.co.uk)
It's the perfect cut-up between Tomlab and Tzadik: on the one hand, the sparkling melodies, quirky vocals, and overall J-pop-on-downs vibe of it is reminiscent of stuff like Fonica and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, albeit better, and yet there is an undercurrent of gloom and the bizarre, kind of like the entire Tzadik catalogue. Think John Zorn's Filmworks being played by Múm. Just think of Arnold Dreyblatt cutting loose with Lali Puna. Or something. It kind of belongs on FatCat, is all I'm saying. '” AG
File next to: Black Dice meets Japan, Animal Collective meets Iceland.

DIG YOUR ROOTS
(The Canadian Government/Corus Entertainment)
BEATZMASSIVE
DVD of Destruction
(self-released; www.beatzmassive.ca)
I'm on a mission against techno. Eminem was right: 'œAin't nobody listen to techno,'? and it's because techno sucks so bad now. Moreso than any other genre, techno is swamped with brutally sub-listenable product; probably because so many pot-affiliate students get laptops as university presents, and immediately turn their spare time into techno time. Dig Your Roots cuts straight to the chase, exhibit A in coast-to-coast bad techno. All of it basically unmemorable, some of it unlistenable, rest assured. An exercise in unneccessary, Dig Your Roots exists to prove that bad techno is a truly national problem, and even goes as far as to proclaim 'œ100% Canadian'? on the packaging. Beatzmassive's DVD of Destruction, however, starts where regular bad techno stops. Here, this is what it says on the back: 'œMeet our anonymous urban hero as he wanders the streets alone. When he happens upon a nightclub, innocence is overcome by curiosity as he finds himself experimenting with the elements of life. Rapture and ecstasy soon give way to delusional paranoia: Has he become the unwitting subject of a government-operated pharmaceutical trial?'? I'd like to interrupt here and ask, why does techno have so many pointless subgenre names? I mean, the shit all sounds the same, so what up with the Brazil-Afro-Cuban folk hip-hop house electronic techno-jazz sound and vision scene? Well, it's fine, I was sick of downtempo drum'n'bass anyway... 'œWHERE DOES THE DREAM END AND THE REALITY BEGIN?'? Maybe if we all wake up at the same time, techno will miraculously vanish. Let's synchronize our alarm clocks! RIGHT NOW!!! '” MFC
File next to: Deep free progressive dub trance'˜n'bass, HOLLA!

FOOD FOR ANIMALS
Scavengers (Upper Class; www.upperclass.to)
I'm sending your wallet on a spending mission. This is whalecock. These dudes have earned your money, and you should pay them for making amazing hip-hop that you can actually like. Sell your Quannum Spectrum CD if you need to, just GET THIS SHIT. I'll be pissed to lord if this doesn't blow up, and I'm pretty pissed to lord this month. If the one new group making useful music I heard this month doesn't succeed, you're all gonna pay. And one more thing '” listening to this will stop all of you from getting fooled by the monthly Pete Rock imitator who's gonna bring hip-hop back to form '” and y'all know what I'm talking about. Does anyone remember Hi-Tek? Lemme tell you, in six months, after you've sold your Little Brother record, I'll be like, 'œblah blah Ninth Wonder'? and you'll be like, 'œWho was that again?'? and I'll be like 'œYou bought it instead of Food For Animals, you idiot!'? and then you'll go, 'œOh Jesus, I am a stupid stupid mental.'? '” MFC
File next to: Don't be a mental. Fucked up shit from the underground you heard of first. What is better? Nothing.

GALAXIE 500
1987-1991: Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste (Plexifilm)
In the midst of an obsession with The Sopranos I came upon this DVD (well, 'œcame upon'? is a bit of a misnomer). I only mention this because the brutality and seriousness is in relief to the soft proto-shoegaze sounds of G500. The DVD captures a band that burned quickly and brightly without stopping; instead of being a documentary (which is kind of unfortunate, I admit) it's just a collection of live performances and videos '” a glimpse of a young band getting their footing, cresting, and ultimately burning out. The DVD copy I have unfortunately does not contain the interview booklet that James McNew conducted with the band, but that doesn't stop what is essentially a good thing: this is a band for comfort, a band that is at once loud and dynamic yet softly spoken. In contrast to something like The Sopranos, Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste is the equivalent of curling up in bed with someone you care about, long day passed, ready for sleep and yet not wanting it just yet. '” AG
File next to: Plexifilm, Slowdive, proto.

GALERIE STRATIQUE
Horizzzons (Statik; www.pulsion.org/gs)
Quebec artist Charles-Émile Beullac comes out swinging (however IDMers can swing) on this follow up to his hard to find debut Nothing Down To Earth. Beullac works the ambient angle in a very precise and listenable fashion that reminds me of one of my favourite bands of all time, Boards of Canada. There seems to be a distinct kinship in the mood and style that they both share but Beullac makes his songs smaller and more intimate while mirroring that warm analogue sound that the Boards are so good at. Weather seems to play a big part in the inspiration for this album as well. I can visualize a documentary about storm clouds with Beullac composing the score. The extra z's in the title seem to point towards how this album might make you feel. But it's not boring, just a relaxing listen that you'll keep coming back to. '” SV
File next to: Boards of (French) Canada, Biosphere, Pan American.

DAVID GRUBBS
A Guess at the Riddle (Drag City, www.subpop.com)
Imagine the world's best band and the world's worst band getting together for a show '” seriously. The playing on this album is so good I want to keep it and listen to it all the time, but the vocals are so horrible that I want to get rid of it immediately. It sounds as though the singer from Nickelback joined Slowdive or something... '” AG
File next to: Great artwork, great music, bad singing.

MIKE LADD
Nostalgialator (!K7, www.k7.com)
Stories told in the light of darkness... Stories told in future... Stories of now and never... Stories that most of us dream of... Stories that have come true. '” SW
File next to: You really don't need to sleep anymore, do wake up now, kid. It's time to love...

LITTLE WINGS
Harvest Joy
(Invisible City, reachout@theinvisiblecity.com)
And so, Little Wings have gone from endearing folk to trying-too-hard. What a shame. I mean, Light Green Leaves and Wonderue are two great albums, 'œLook at What the Light Did Now'? is a great song, they were fun but still very sad and a little wholesome, to boot. And now there's Harvest Joy, which starts off with 'œLook at What the Light Did Deux'? '” a failure even in the dumb pun of the title, trying to come across as Sebadoh meeting Fursaxa or something, all murky and under-produced in the worst way. Sure, there is a centaur on the cover, and that is pretty cool, but it doesn't make up for this. What a dud. '” AG
File next to: Your 'œfor sale'? pile.

LONER
Road Songs (Just Music, www.justmusic.co.uk)
Geoff Smith's world is one of melancholy and 'œme I disconnect from you.'? While technology has made it easier than ever to communicate and get in touch, we seem more dislocated than ever before. There's a great dark and mysterious edge to this little EP that reminds me at times of the sad grace of later Talk Talk. Indeed the moving beauty of 'œRenay's Song'? wouldn't be out of place on Spirit of Eden. The big closer track 'œFrench Movie'? (once featured in the TV series Sex and The City) comes closest to anything that Air have done in sophistication and mood. Perhaps it's the French lyrics that make me compare this one to them but it's probably also the spacey lounge quality that this track has as well. A stylish primer for the new full-length Another Line In A Crazy World coming soon. Watch for it. '” SV
File next to: Talk Talk, Air, DJ Shadow's quieter, bluer moods.

SEAN MACDONALD
Demographic Blues
(Manitoba; www.seanmacdonald.ca)
This album is great in its simplicity. Just goes to show what I get when I take a chance, I guess. Most of it is indie pop with a folkish slant; the three opening songs almost have a country vibe going in them, but that's kicked out once the electric guitar kicks in. Basically it is like Hayden mixed up with Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen macking on Built to Spill. Uh... '” AG
File next to: I guess just most of those people I just listed and some others.

MOLASSES
Trouble at Jinx Hotel (Alien8, www.alien8recordings.com)
I picked this up on impulse and wasn't disappointed. Although there are some overtly political overtones, the fact of the matter is I really love this album. Not unlike groups like Six Organs of Admittance or Jackie-O Motherfucker, Molasses make American-roots influenced music with contemporary overtones; yet unlike those groups, they take the accessibility of those old folk and country songs and incorporate them, making what is probably one of the closest renditions of Southern Gothic folk from the late 19th century new. Songs like 'œSaint Christopher's Blues,'? 'œLynn Canyon Wedding Song'? float by on wavering fiddle, rusty acoustic guitar, and despair. They even sing about Jesus! Yet they're always aware of what they're doing (check the crusty distortion on 'œYou Can't Win'?), which makes them probably one of the better groups doing this kind of thing (no disrespect to JOMF or Six Organs). The album has a conceptual drive of despair to it, much like the Carter Family or even Charlie Patton, and yet manages to unify that concept in a way those old groups couldn't because of a lack of tech. There's no psych here, but it's beautiful all the same. '” AG
File next to: American Gothic Roundup '” Charlie Patton, Dock Boggs, the Carter Family, and so on...

OCS
2 (Narnack, www.narnackrecords.com)
Despite my boundless enthusiasm, I usually find the best music to be the most down; shit like Smog and Palace are my bread and butter. And I tend to dig solo guitar stuff like John Fahey and Jack Rose... so, OCS kind of manages to be the perfect group for me. Really just a project of Coachwhips' John Dwyer, it's fuzzy, lower than lo-fi guitar music. The first album was almost entirely this; now, with 2, he's added vocals, and the result is better than your mom. The album highlight: 'œI made promises and lied to friends of mine, as only a friend can/let's hope they forget, or else I'll regret, and never see their faces anymore'?. Dang. '” AG
File next to: Sentridoh, Palace, Smog. Yeah...

PAN AMERICAN
Quiet City (Kranky, www.brainwashed.com/kranky)
Kranky is a hard label to pin down. They've broadened their catalogue to include semi-garage, psych, and folk, as well as the mainstay post-rock groups. One constant is the Labradford family, mainly Labradford themselves, and Mark Nelson's Pan American. Quiet City is a different album from any that he's done, which is to say, none are really the same, all have a high quality level, and yet none really reach the heights of this new one. He maintains the deep-sea ambient pulls that he set up on 360 Business/360 Bypass, yet manages to make it more accessible with beautiful instrumentation and quality songs. Plus, there's a bonus DVD 'œmovie'? of the album, which is basically just slow, dreamy shots of cityscapes as the music plays. It's eerie to watch, yet compelling, and at its heights likely to bring you to tears. The closing track, 'œLights of Little Towns,'? set to visuals, is one of the most intense 'œvideos'? I've watched, if only for its slow-burning pulse and lovely photography, culminating in the best thing Nelson's put on tape. '” AG
File next to: A dream in sound. The park after dark.

ROLLERBALL
Real Hair (Silber, www.silbermedia.com)
I can't go into this review without getting at least a little personal, and a little nostalgic. Rollerball were the first band to introduce me to 'œstrange'? music (the fact that I own five of their CDs is kind of tantamount), I mean, imagine a kid in the 11th grade struggling to find music that fits his mindset and settling on bands like Jackie-O Motherfucker and Rollerball, the skronk and mellow of their early work being the perfect antidote for the reams of pseudo-hardcore bands that I was raised on. Basically, that's just a preamble '” Real Hair is yet another step for Rollerball. They began as a free-jazz/cabaret group, employing violent vocal samples in contrast to the chanteuse singing and rolling accordion parts. To say that they are diverse is an understatement. So, Real Hair is basically the Rollerball pop album, and an interesting step in their career. Gone are the noisescapes that defined their early stuff and the creepy ambience of their mid-period. No, what's here is a collection of quite pretty, catchy songs that still manages to capture the menace of the band, albeit a tamed menace. Imagine Ornette Coleman strung out on downs, kicking it with a '20s Cabaret ensemble while two singers '” one singing soul music in French and the other singing in a contemporary American style '” vie for your attention. Basically, if you want to get into something a little different, I would highly recommend Rollerball. Where you start is up to you. Suffice to say, Real Hair is the work of an accomplished band deciding to go pop and managing it. '” AG
File next to: Skronk, Road Cone (defunct), Italy, France, and the dang cosmopolis.

DJ SHADOW AND CUT CHEMIST
Product Placement (Pillage Roadshow)
This DVD/CD chronicles the six-city tour Shadow and Cut Chemist performed exclusively with 45s. The DVD is mainly concert footage and the rest is comprised of major digging and trading sessions from around the world. Shadow's trip-hop solo work takes a backseat to cut up and blend routines of strictly the funkiest shit. The boys dip into their most infamous routine, 'œBrainfreeze'? and introduce a new routine entitled 'œGas!,'? which samples an after-school special rap record educating teens on cooking with gas. Watching these two is to truly understand the 'œvinyl nerd'? culture. Their clean personas are amplified by their habit of passing out milk and cookies at shows. Unless you're a break enthusiast, the film may fall short for you. Despite an encouraged featurette including sets from Z-Trip, Shortkut, Egon, Keb Darge and Nu-Mark, you'll find yourself playing the CD more than the film. Perfect for the 30-minute dance portion of your day. '” OJ3
File next to: The best excuse for funky white people.

SLOWBLOW
Noi Albinoi OST (Kitchen Motors; www.noi-themovie.com)
I had the fortunate experience of being able to see this movie at last year's film fest and was quite moved by its simplicity and dark humour. Alone, the soundtrack echoes all the elements of this great film that I can recall without resorting to 20 different versions of the same tune (which soundtracks can sometimes be guilty of). Set in a remote small town in northern Iceland, we follow the absurd life of an outsider teenager, Noi, who longs to escape the crushing boredom and confinement of his surroundings. Dagur Kari is a true auteur here, writing the script and directing but also composing the music with his one man band Slowblow. A bit sad but typically Icelandic, this album ends on quite a sombre note with a Rubio Quartet interpretation of Shostakovitch's 'œElegy.'? Small film, small album, big payoff. '” SV
File next to: Calexico, Sparklehorse, Dirty Three's Praise soundtrack.

STATE OF SHOCK
Guilty by Association (Sextant Records Inc./EMI)
State of Shock are like watching mediocre people fuck in the missionary position. Those fucks at EMI are cruel, cruel bastards for pranking these idiot musicians and putting out their record '” I mean, it's a fucking joke, right? It looks like a joke. The band members are all clearly idiots. Check this passage from 'œShit Talker'?: 'œYou try to diss me/ Straight up/ Straight up/ You try to diss me/ Straight up/ You're up/ In my face.'? Found art is great and all, but the Jerry Springer thing is done to death, isn't it? What about 'œAll my bruises resemble tattoos/ They fade with the days but never go away'?? What about that? Seriously, people who sound like rapists need to stop making records. Before more 'œComplications from your abuse/ Have turned into disease'? gets written! GOD! DAMMIT! '” MFC
File next to: Tattoo-covered, too-many-accessories-wearing, trying-to-get-signed-stupid-hair-gel-using MOTHERFUCKERS!

STOP DIE RESUSCITATE
Live at Santa Cruz at Lee's Palace, July 16.
It is unfortunate that the overwhelming mass of humanity at Santa Cruz wasn't paying that much attention to the fine live acts that the one and only TCB had lined up for her monthly indie-rock-crowd-gets-down-to-hip-hop shindig: Montreal beatmaster Ghislain Poirier with sharp-tongued francophone MC Séba, the ever-versatile Ultra Magnus backing up the ever-fiery Masia One, and Calgarian/Torontonian crew Stop Die Resuscitate. It is also unfortunate that I gave SDR's CD such a half-assed, mediocre review back in May, so I'm using this live review as a chance to take it all back. Live, the group's genre-bending exercises made much more sense '” and the integration of a live drummer along with the sampled beats may have done the trick. It's a trick I'd like to see more bands attempt, and Stop Die have got it down tight. Vampirically face-painted MC Cool Hand Luke and vocalist Dukes Onukes both have great stage presence, and if their engaging stomp through 'œHell.o'? (which I carelessly wrote off as 'œthat Kraftwerk-y song'?) didn't get the crowd moving, you can't blame the band. '” JD
File next to: I stand corrected. You dance now!

THE STREETS
A Grand Don't Come for Free
(Warner; www.the-streets.co.uk)
Lyrically, the second album from UK hip-pop-hop star Mike Skinner comes in the form of a short story. The album follows the middle-class misadventures of Skinner losing 1000 quid and the subsequent search to recover the money. Like a good story, you're eager to find out how the tale ends, but the highlights of the effort are the raw, drum machine garage beats that Skinner has perfected, not unlike fellow Brit, Dizzee Rascal. The album's finale details the roundabout recovery of the cash and left me almost teary eyed at the irony... almost. Never claiming to be the sharpest MC, Skinner's vocals maintain passion and he even tries to nail down a few R&B hooks. 'œWouldn't Have It Any Other Way'? is the premium track and should be the first song you put on a mix-tape for the next laydee you fall for. Anyone who enjoyed 2002's Original Pirate Material should pick up this reasonably priced disc. Just another reason why the best hip-hop is being produced in bedroom studios. Cheers to Vice Records for scooping up this international talent. '” OJ3
File next to: Getting off work, just in time to roll a fresh jay for the party.

VETIVER
s/t (www.vetiverse.com)
Guitar and voice, cello of beauty the oh, love crazy the oh, times good the oh. '” SW
File next to: Making love in the middle of a farmer's field in Thailand.

Jason & Jonny, Boy Detectives

HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE

(directed by Danny Leiner, starring John Cho + Kal Penn)
Jason: The trailer announced the stars as 'œthat Asian guy from American Pie!'? and 'œthat Indian guy from Van Wilder!'? While it's depressing that putting anyone who isn't white or black in a Hollywood movie counts as stunt casting, at least their characters don't have novelty accents. In fact, their characters turn out to be more than stereotypes, which is but one of the surprises that awaits viewers. The other big surprise is that unlike Dude, Where's My Car? (directed by the same dude), this is a stoner comedy in which the guys actually get stoned. These two facts makes the movie wildly progressive both racially and socially '” is it any surprise it was shot in Toronto? Big it up for the T-dot, even if it is supposed to be suburban New Jersey.

Jonny: Bit-part cameos by Canucks like Shaun Majumder can't upstage our heroes, as John Cho's Harold and Kal Penn's Kumar are a dope-namic duo you can really root for. Maybe Danny Leiner learned after Dude... that smart people with jobs and skills (!) actually make for funnier stoner icons. Or maybe he just got better joke writers, as Harold and Kumar isn't merely funny in spite of itself. And they actually, ahem, breathed some new life into pot humour, from the hilarious 'œMarijuana Kills'? TV ad to the truly awe-inspiring Mary-Jane-love montage.

Jason: Dammit, it's more than enough to make up for the not-so-cool scenes, like the one where the hot English girls play 'œBattleshits'? while H+K hide in the middle stall, gasping in horror every time one of the ladies cuts one. Is that some kinda new fetish? Actually, it's probably not a new fetish. In any case, the movie doesn't spend much time on the poopy stuff. I don't think there's even a semen gag in here, which is a real breakthrough. And you gotta give it up for the Jewish buddies who can't go to White Castle because they're watching The Gift on HBO. That's the codeword for 'œKatie Holmes' shirt is coming off real soon.'? Come to think of it, a Katie cameo would've made a fine pair with the scenes of Neil Patrick Harris pawing strippers while standing through a car sun roof.

Jonny: And despite stealing Harold's car, NPH is one of the few white characters who isn't totally reprehensible, which made this perversely, self-loathingly enjoyable for me. (Hey, I thought it was our mission to review bad movies, Jason...) The product-placement aspect wasn't at all annoying, either, as H+K's quest to get to White Castle and satisfy their stoned hunger gets pushed into the background, yet ends up as a hilarious parody of the American dream. Yep, this is what our immigrant parents worked so hard for us to be able to enjoy... riding a baked cheetah through the woods to gulp down miniature patties of boiled pseudo-meatloaf on bun-shaped cardboard. Ever eaten at White Castle? Don't. Just don't.