Album reviews

Tommy and Richie Present, Billy (independent)

Comin’ straight outta San Jose, CA and Sackville, NS, respectively, the duo billing themselves Tommy and Richie are actually more widely recognized as producer Controller 7 and rapper

Buck 65. And while I’m not too sure who Billy is, I can assure any fan of classic hip hop mixes and golden-era experimentalism (think Prince Paul’s heyday with Stetsanonic and De La Soul) of a payoff for taking this Soundcloud trip, which dropped innocuously on May 1. Richie leaves the beats to Tommy while handling the mic and turntables, freeing him up for a return to his early Language Arts- styled roots, leaving behind somewhat misled attempts at grandiosity that his last LP proper, Neverlove, pretty much dropped the ball on. I’m no rap conservationist but sometimes what’s-old-is-new again is truly fresh, and Billy’s gene pool is rejuvenating. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “I Used To” (Darcy MacDonald)

Various, Pandemic Artifact Compilation (independent)

The creative process continues even in isolation, as evidenced by this sprawling local compilation of tracks made since the beginning of our endtimes, curated by Montreal music mixologist Honeydrip. With no shows or residencies on the horizon and everything else cloaked in uncertainty, these 15 experimental, electronic producers run the gamut of emotions in their homecooked art, with afterhours callbacks («Ghouls») to remind us of better days to meditative house («Homesick») to get us through the current ones. This is designed for the here and now, a footnote of how fucked we are. It’s pay what you can, so drop some bucks. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Droplet Cloud” (Erik Leijon)

Sunwatchers, Oh Yeah? (Trouble in Mind)

Jazz has always been one of the stones on which NYCbased skronk-rock outfit Sunwatchers based their sound, but each subsequent release has moved slightly away from off-kilter Sun

City Girls-adjacent freak jams and into more spiritual (though still plenty freaky) realms. Oh Yeah? still features enough lysergic guitar work and dissonant saxophone to keep the much-reviled concept of jazz-fusion at bay, but it also features wider arrangements and more overt nods to the ecstatic spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane. Don’t let that scare you off, however. For all of their heady influences, Sunwatchers deliver an album that’s almost entirely free of pomp — and can even make the space for a quasi-industrial shred session (“The Worm Store”) and a nearly 20-minute jam. 8/10 Trial Track: “Love Paste” (Alex Rose)

Dave Miller, self-titled (Tomkins Square)

There are several above-theline qualifiers to Chicagobased guitarist Dave Miller’s new album that could be misleading. He’s a guitarist who has logged plenty of time in avant-garde and jazz outfits in Chicago, a city that has produced a long line of harsh, microtonal shredders with a penchant for inaccessible experimental music.

The promotional notes cite Neil Young and Marc Ribot as influences, which suggests a certain amount of fuzzed out sloppiness. Instead, Miller’s self-titled plays like the psychedelic record Booker T and the MGs never made. Filled with loping grooves and tight-as-a-drum melodies, the record is a showcase not just for Miller’s garage-bound shredding but also for his more down-the-middle jazzy fretwork. Just when its studied library-music grooves start to feel like they might get repetitive, Miller busts out a new trick. 8/10 Trial Track: “Bison Boom” (Alex Rose)

TOPS, I Feel Alive (independent)

After moving back to Montreal from Los

Angeles, TOPS have returned with a refined new sound. Where many of their other records feel like the perfect soundtrack for a sunkissed lazy afternoon in the Plateau,

I Feel Alive incorporates elements that encapsulate a sense of higher auditory ambitions. Over the course of one album, Jane Penny and company take the leap from quaint indie rock band to charting broader territories, throwing in funk, pop and dad-rock elements across the board. 8/10 Trial Track “Direct Sunlight” (Mr. Wavvy)

RJD2, The Fun Ones (RJ’s Electrical Connections)

“Even people on a small scale might not have the popularity to become an icon, but the DNA is the same,” says, presumably, Homeboy Sandman on the intro to his guest cut on this new excursion from a veteran underdog in the DJ/production game. RJD2 never goes away but never quite makes the noise he did in the early aughts, and this despite the integrity and consistency of his output. The truth is, fans know what to expect from his signature modulations and hit-it-and-quit drum attacks. If we sometimes forget that RJ’s catalogue at this point easily outshines the likes of heavyweight contemporaries like DJ Shadow, it’s not so much because he’s taken for granted as that he’s taken for good, reliably dropping the latest leg of his ongoing dance party on us every couple of years and reminding us that the party only swings if you’re there, too. If overlong, rap guests like STS and Aceyalone help break this down to a four-act show that picks back up whenever it risks a lull in continuity. Honestly, this shit just makes me look forward to getting back to a dancefloor. For now, these jams on The Fun Ones are what we’ve got. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “20 Grand Palace” (Darcy MacDonald)

Peel Dream Magazine, Agitprop Alterna

(Slumberland)

NYC-based Peel Dream Magazine’s first album Modern Meta Physic drew immediate comparisons to Stereolab based mainly on its motorik rhythms and breathy, intertwined male-female vocals. Those elements are definitely still very much at play in Agitprop Alterna, which nevertheless boasts a more pronounced shoegaze influence on several tracks.

The emphasis this time, however, is dreamier and less dependent on the staccato rhythms of Autobahn-friendly drum patterns. Its walls of buzzing guitars, mad-scientist synths and buried sing-songy vocals will be nothing new to anyone who lived through the ’90s, but as far as pastiche goes, this is hard to resist. 7/10 Trial Track: “Emotional Devotion Creator” (Alex Rose)

Drake, Dark Lane Demo Tapes (Republic)

With the promise of his sixth official studio album coming this summer, Drake offers a new “mixtape” while we wait. Dark Lane Demo Tapes is a compilation of songs that leaked online prematurely throughout the year. If an album is an in-season game, this could be likened to exhibition. No matter what the stakes of the game, the Toronto titan brings top athleticism to every track. With only 14 tracks, Dark Lane accomplishes more than other recent Drake outings in less time, displaying Aubrey Graham’s wellroundedness on drill, R&B and trap-flavored tunes. 7/10 Trial Track «Chicago Freestyle» (feat. Giveon) (Mr. Wavvy)