Music Update

One of these nights
During one of these fights
We're gonna burn the whole place down

So sings Shane MacGowan on "Paddy Rolling Stone", perhaps our favourite song this weekend. We had forgotten how much we loved the affable, toothless, former Pogues frontman, until a friend of ours brought back Rare Auld Stuff, a collection of rarities and A-sides (though it's missing the version of "My Way" recorded for a Nike commercial with Williams S. Burroughs). Otherwise, its been a pretty slow week for quality.

Debut releases abounded this week, with J.R. Writer's "History in the Making", a self-titled release by Six Pack Jacket, Saddle Creek's Ladyfinger (NE), and something called Various Productions. Add onto this new stuff from Priya Thomas, DJ Slip, and the Basement Jaxx and it makes for a busy week in music. Surely, something good must be in this pile.

Both Six Pack Jacket, a cowpunk band from Calgary but ranging all over Western, and Priya Thomas, an agitpop provocateur from Montreal now living in Toronto, are about the best on tap. Six Pack Jacket are not going to win any songwriting contests anytime soon, but their songs about drinkin', drivin', fightin', shootin', wooin', and shotgun weddinin' are a lot of fun. Think Ramones with cowboy hats (or most likely, Supersuckers). Thinkin' meanwhile, is exactly what Priya Thomas wants you to do on You and Me Against The World, a feisty exchange with the powers that be. Her fourth release, Thomas is coming off the recent festival circuit to rave reviews, and enters the studio with yards of taped, programmable loops, samples, and razor blades. Dense, lyrical, literate stuff akin to PJ Harvey.

Razor blades also come to mind with J.R. Writer's History in the Making. Like Six Pack Jacket, JR Writer is workin a genre for all its worth, but without the tongue in cheekness. After almost twenty years of gangsta rap its hard to find the same old ideas exciting. Writer borrows a lot of themes from Ice T's Rhyme Pays. Unintentionally perhaps, but nevertheless interesting, are the four to six bar synth loops that Writer uses to back his vocals. Very low-fi, very basement quality, very interesting.

Again, sticking with the genre theme, Ladyfinger (NE), from Omaha, Nebraska and the vaunted Saddle Creek record label, falls a little flat with their debut Heavy Hands. Ladyfinger follows the mid-nineties grunge riff with a lead vocalist who waffles between screamo thrash and Morrissey like warbling. The band themselves are solid, but not exceptional.

Where are we? Yes, Basement Jaxx are releasing Crazy Itch Radio, a hyperkinetic, style jumping dance album. With only a few listens under our belt, its been hard finding a common groove. Dj Slip meanwhile, has mustered an good old fashioned techno freak-out with She's a Time Traveller. At times it sounds like kinky, awkward, leather-clad sex with primitive androids. But in a good way.

Finally, the most intriguing is something called Various Productions. With no track listings and decorated with simple black and white drawings of a topless dancer astride deer antlers, it caught us completely off guard with its captivating blend of folk/electronica.