New music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2022 (1212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HIP HOP

Pip Skid
A Really Nice Day (Peanuts & Corn)

It’s always nice to hear from a familiar voice — especially one as insightful and cutting as Pip Skid. The Winnipeg-based hip hop artist, whose real name is Patrick Skene, has been releasing his by-turns sarcastic, cynical and silly observational material for nearly 30 years, first as a member of Brandon’s Farm Fresh, with DJ Hunnicutt and mcenroe, then as a member of Peanuts & Corn crews such as Fermented Reptile, Hip Hop Wieners and Break Bread.

He’s also a youth mentor and social activist who has helped co-ordinate countless neighbourhood programs and workshops that help develop the skills of young musicians and artists.

Pip’s solo catalogue can be held up as a classic study of an artist using the specific to magnify the universal, as he uses his experiences as a Winnipegger to address racism, injustice, social and political inequity, as well as personal issues such as depression, substance abuse and insecurity — alternating scathing critiques with healthy doses of humour.

A Really Nice Day is essentially Pip’s pandemic record, and it marks a reunion of with P&C producer bigmcenroe (Rod Bailey). Together they have concocted a deceptively low-key blend of 15 tracks that combine Skid’s scratchy, sing-speak delivery with smooth basslines, head-bopping beats, sweet synth washes, and sampled horns and scratches.

Pip pulls no punches as he takes on social issues on cuts such as Cop Chopper, Cheap Labour and You’re Not the Boss of Me (the titles of which are all rather self-explanatory) and addresses the myriad ways in which people try to cop on Booze Butter and Bullshit, Must Be More and Brain Fog. ★★★★ out of five

Stream these: Cop Chopper (feat. Gully, Scratch Bastid); You’re Not the Boss of Me (feat. Leonard Sumner); Dance

— John Kendle

 

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POP/ROCK

Imagine Dragons
Mercury — Act 2 (Interscope)

If you were hiding under your bed after listening to the last album by Imagine Dragons, it’s time to come out. The second volume of Mercury is upbeat, often Caribbean-spiced and throbbing. It’s the sound of a band getting its arena groove back.

Act 1 in 2021 was all plucky strings, seething beats and grand electronic synths as lead singer, songwriter and lyricist Dan Reynolds poured heartache, tragedy and his struggles with sobriety into a raw, confessional and searing album. The cover depicted a man falling.

The cover of Act 2 could be of a man jumping, and that seems to fit many of the close to 20 new tracks, which are wistful, confessional and owning weakness, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Take the eclectic, slightly deranged I’m Happy, a title that could never appear on Act. 1, with Reynolds singing “Even when I might fall down/I know my luck come back around.”

Much of the album is thankful for his partner, like the loving Symphony — a trop-rock ditty written seemingly under a palm tree — with the lyrics: “I’m the chord/ And you’re the melody.” The band hits new heights with Sharks, a richly textured, eerie anthem about selfishness, and Bones, a banger with that reggae-tinged, sing-along Imagine catchy magic.

Not all the songs succeed, as one might suspect from such a stuffed album. There’s an uncooked quality to Crushed, Ferris Wheel and Take It Easy, while the regretful ballads I Wish and They Don’t Know You Like I Do might better off serve as therapy for Reynolds.

But don’t sleep on Sirens and I Don’t Like Myself, two mid-tempo, expertly crafted tunes that take the band in different directions. And on Higher Ground, the band is really cooking, with lyrics that could sum the entire second album up: “What a life/I live until I die/Won’t fail unless I try/Bleeding, keep on breathing.” ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Bones, Sharks

— Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

 

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JAZZ

Kate Wyatt
Artifact (Self-Released)

Debut albums are always fun to encounter. At their, best they’re like finding a new author and being captivated from the first page.

Such it is with this debut album by Montreal pianist-composed Kate Wyatt. She has actually been a pivotal musician in Montreal for a long time, with involvement with artists like Kenny Wheeler and the Orchestre National de Jazz de Montreal, so this album sounds simply like an established artist’s latest release rather than a rookie’s introduction. Her playing and compositions are first rate and completely enjoyable, captivating from the opening track.

Her quartet also features established folks: trumpeter Lex French, drummer Jim Doxas and her husband and longtime collaborator bassist Adrian Vedady. All are fully invested in this creative and melodic music. The compositions are thoughtful and varied, and the one cover is a lush arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing.

Short Stories, written by Wyatt and husband Vedady, is a tour de force and much fun. Trumpeter French actually draws hints of Kenny Wheeler in some of his playing — not a bad influence to echo. Antepenultimate is a beautiful and challenging track that moves across moods and harmonies and features powerful solos by both French and Wyatt.

The title track is another beautiful example of the maturity in Wyatt’s compositions, setting a high bar for all that follows. Wyatt’s use of rhythm here, a funky broken groove, is very effective. The final track, Duet, is the longest on the album and contrary to the title has terrific solos by all the quartet’s members, perhaps especially Vedady.

Simply put, this album checks all the boxes for a powerfully enjoyable jazz quartet experience. Highly recommended. ★★★★1/2 out of five

STREAM THESE: Artifact, Antepenultimate

— Keith Black

 

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CLASSICAL

Willian Bolcom: The Complete Rags
Marc-André Hamelin, Piano (Hyperion Records)

This celebration of quintessential American music, a.k.a. ragtime, could be in no better hands than adventuresome Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, well known for his penchant to play off the beaten path.

Rather than the better known rags by early 20th-century pioneer Scott Joplin, this release features later numbers penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer William Bolcom, inspired to create his own works after stumbling across Joplin’s opera Treemonisha in 1967.

Several of the album’s total 27 selections channel the ebullient spirit and syncopated rhythmic drive of Joplin, including California Porcupine Rag and Raggin’ Rudi, with Hamelin easily navigating their technical challenges while infusing each one with plenty of percussive punch.

By contrast, he brings out the unabashed lyricism of others, including Fields of Flowers and The Gardenia, underpinned by carefully voiced chords that serves as counterpoint to the album’s more rollicking offerings.

Additional highlights include Eubie’s Luckey Day, paying homage to famed stride pianist James Hubert (Eubie) Blake, whom the Seattle-based Bolcom met in 1969; Rag-Tango, which mashes together the two popular dance forms, matched equally by Rag Latino.

Two suites show the composer’s conceptual scope: The Garden of Eden and Three Ghost Rags, the latter opening with an evocative Graceful Ghost Rag, before leading to a jazzy The Poltergeist and finale Dream Shadows.

The classically trained Hamelin proves he can swing; The Brooklyn Dodge shows off his easy approach, which would be right at home in a jazz club. Finally, Lost Lady is poignant, described by Bolcom in his liner notes as “lament for a failed marriage,” while Brass Knuckles taxes the player to the max.

While many might regard “ragtime” a relic from the distant past, Hamelin’s latest recording proves the enduring popularity of this timeless art form so deeply rooted in the American psyche.

★★★★ 1/2 out of five

STREAM THIS: Fields of Flowers composed by William Bolcom and performed by Marc-Andre Hamelin.

— Holly Harris