cd reviews nov 14 2009

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Singer Jon Bon Jovi performs with Bon Jovi on NBC's "Today" in New York's Rockefeller Center Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

THE fiddles and banjos have been packed away and the steel guitars, presumably, stolen. In their place are angry electric guitars, catchy choruses that demand to be shouted out in a football stadium, and a return to the unflappable optimism that has made these Jersey guys legends in the rock biz.

In short, Bon Jovi is back!

The Circle is the followup to 2007's wildly successful but country-fried Lost Highway. Thankfully, Jon Bon Jovi & Co. are keeping the faith with the still-developing but oh-so-recognizable sound that has been the band's trademark all these years.

We Weren't Born To Follow, the fist-pumping anthem that kicks off the disc, could have been right at home on Slippery When Wet or New Jersey, with its timeless hooks and punchy beat.

They really do come full circle on Work For the Working Man, which just as easily could have been titled Livin' On A Prayer II, from the foundation bass riff that's almost identical to that of Bon Jovi's biggest-ever hit, to the dignified struggle of the little guy against tremendous odds. (At least they didn't bring back Tommy and Gina again.)

Throughout it all, "Hell yeah!" has replaced "Hee Haw." And as they say in New Jersey, that's a good thing, capisce? 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2

-- Wayne Parry, Associated Press

POP AND ROCK

BLUE RODEO

The Things We Left Behind (Warner)

WE might as well say it, Blue Rodeo is truly Canada's band. The Things We Left Behind is another in a long string of unassumingly top-flight albums, and it could be their best yet. The handsomely packaged, two-disc set harks back to the days of double vinyl concept albums and track for track it's a positively wonderful experience.

The standard Jim Cuddy/Greg Keelor songwriting division remains subtle, yet still palpable. Keelor maintains the roots pop iconoclast role while Cuddy wanders into light psychedelia and even a garage-rockish territory. Tracks like Arizona Dust with its Byrds-y reflections and Million Miles with its rolling, country-pop ramble prove that these cats haven't changed.

The set is split into two eight-song sides and it's obvious the band took great care in the song order. It's an album you'll want to play completely through every time because it's just that good. The only thing Blue Rodeo has left behind with this brilliant album is the competition, if there is any left. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- Jeff Monk

MIESHA AND THE SPANKS

MMMade for Me (Transistor 66)

CALGARY'S Miesha Louie is no shrinking violet. She is outspoken, feisty and in your face, which pretty much sums up the group's debut full-length on local imprint Transistor 66.

Louie, who handles guitar and vocal duties, and her cohort, drummer Justin Landstorfer, specialize in down-and-dirty garage with a gritty melodic jangle-pop edge. The 10 songs fly by in half-an-hour in a roar of fuzzy guitars, full-throttled drumming and commanding vocals singing great one-liners ("You just wanna love me, I just wanna (have sexual relations verb) you," to cite just one example).

The duo shows off a bit of soul on Mountain Man, displays some punk chops on You Just Want to Love Me, and slows things down a notch with the acoustic-based album closer Ain't Nothing I Done Wrong. 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2

-- Rob Williams

TOMMY T

The Prester John Sessions (Easy Star)

THOMAS (Tommy T) Gobena has been the bassist in the outrageously popular and massively successful Gogol Bordello for the past three years and his first solo release is a slinky and often brilliant world music indulgence. Fans of roots reggae, dub and even jazzy Afrobeat and funky rhythms should take note: if you are going to buy one album this year make it this treasure.

Gobena ably mines his Ethiopian roots for the diversity of sounds here and the album ebbs and flows like a warm and psychedelic Afro-Caribbean wind delivering the kind of unhurried yet stylistically solid grooves that make records like this a rarity. By shifting away from the Gogol lunacy for The Prester John Sessions Gobena has proven that he is now one to watch on the world music scene. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- J. Monk

TODD HUNTER

Star (Head In The Sand)

LOCAL indie pop songwriter, multi-talented musician and engineer Todd Hunter wrote his first solo album while recovering from a flu shot gone wrong. The album's 10 tracks tilt toward the sombre, but they are anything but miserable.

With ace local producer/musician Mike Petkau on board, Star succeeds by avoiding current musical clichés and instead creates a vocabulary of unique musical language. There is a kind of unhurried naturalness about these songs that will bring you back to them. It could be Hunter's sweet lilt of a voice -- just listening to him carry the velvety melodies into the stratosphere is worth the price of admission -- or the sweet mix of vintage keyboards and deftly played acoustic instruments that make this album feel so moving. Standout tracks include You Are a Star, Do That and Whatever. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- J. Monk

BLUES

JOHN MAYALL

Tough (Eagle)

THE Godfather of British Blues is 76, but Tough proves John Mayall is still a vibrant force as he tackles life's ---- and his -- struggles with a passion and vibrancy of an artist half his age.

The band changes work well and the powerful and autobiographical Slow Train to Nowhere shines, as does the funky Just What You're Looking For. That Good Old Rockin' Blues shows he doesn't plan to fade away, and for that we should remain grateful.

Tough is alternately mellow and rocking, and anything but tough to listen to. See if the Godfather can still pull it off live when he plays the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Nov. 18. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- Randy Midzain

JAZZ

GEORGE COLLIGAN

Come Together (Sunnyside)

YES, the title tune is that Come Together, a funky version of the Beatles hit, but there is much more inventive music by pianist George Colligan on this CD.

The New Yorker, who started teaching this fall in the University of Manitoba's faculty of music, teams up with bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Donald Edwards on 10 tracks, eight of them composed by Colligan.

His Uncharted Territory has a rock tinge to it, and there is a straightforward (but appealing) cover of The Shadow of Your Smile, but mostly the album is composed of complex jazz ideas performed by a very good trio. Colligan is worth a listen for both his playing and composing. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- Chris Smith

CLASSICAL

JUBILANT SYKES, BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, MARIN ALSOP

Bernstein: Mass (Naxos)

BERNSTEIN'S audacious eclecticism in this crisis-of-faith Vietnam War-era blend of protest, politics and religious searching stirred up a lot of controversy when it premiered at the opening of the Kennedy Center, Sept. 8, 1971. Since then, what Bernstein subtitled A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers has had a chance to brew, its four recordings filling the glass in Bernstein's favour as simply a great work, bursting with creativity, energy and arguably his finest and most personal musical happening.

Based on the liturgy, the plot line covers issues of faith in a Godless universe, toured through by a celebrant (Sykes) who undergoes his own existential crises. Bernstein's pumping rock, jazz and host of other originalities divert at every turn, the massive forces used with stunning resource and power.

Alsop had been touring Mass when this was made. Her comprehensiveness shows in an excellent account, if a bit shy, of the special edge Bernstein delivered in his own recording. Outstanding choral singing and soloists. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö

-- James Manishen

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 14, 2009 C4