This month, we review CDs from Klute, Deep Dish, Josh Wink, Hypatia Lake, The Marlboro Chorus, and Sister Sonny
Artist: Klute
Title: Lie Cheat & Steal/You Should Be Ashamed
Label: Breakbeat Science
Rating: 4 1/2
Klute has done it all, from drumming in the punk band The Stupids to cranking out 12" after 12" of genre-destroying drum and bass. His latest long player, a double CD with the unwieldy title of Lie Cheat & Steal/You Should Be Ashamed, showcases Klute's love of melody through a variety of dance music styles. The first disc, an all-jungle affair, manages to be both tough and smooth. It's the perfect album for driving around in the summer heat. On the second, Klute explores other styles, from Detroit techno to breaks, and it makes a nice companion to the first disc. A wonderful collection. --Douglas Adams
Artist: Deep Dish
Title: Global Underground 025: Toronto
Label: Global Underground
Rating: 4
The fat lads at Global Underground have cooked up a perfect way to celebrate the milestone 25th release in their long-running DJ mix series. The latest features legendary US house duo Deep Dish in its second mix for the label, this time based on a recent appearance at the sprawling Guvernment club in Toronto. Deep Dish has been a champion of the dark, chuggy progressive house sound through the years but has also kept its feet firmly planted in funky, soulful house, allowing the due to offer a unique spin on the genre. In contrast to its previous hard, edgy mix for Global Underground (GU021: Moscow), the Toronto session finds the two DJs leaning towards the melodic, uplifting end of their spectrum, although plenty of churning progressive goodness is included to hold the interest of prog house purists. Nothing truly groundbreaking here, but it's a solid entry in an essential mix series and a welcome return to the decks for these DJ heroes. --Steve Geise
Artist: Josh Wink
Title: Profound Sounds Vol. 2
Label: Ovum/System Recordings
Rating: 3 1/2
Much has changed since Philly DJ/producer Josh Wink first stormed onto the scene in the early '90s. The minimal techno sound he championed has since splintered into a thousand genres. Profound Sounds Vol. 2, Wink's latest mix CD, finds him sticking stubbornly to his roots. When techno is good, there's nothing quite like it, and even a devoutly minimal mix can get your blood flowing (witness the mighty Richie Hawtin and his productions). Wink's mixing and edits are on point here but the tracks never seem to catch fire until the very end of the CD, and by then the steady pumping beats have begun to lose their allure. For purists only. --Douglas Adams
Artist: Hypatia Lake
Title: Your Universe, Your Mind
Label: Sad Robot
Rating: 4
What a strange little album, this Your Universe, Your Mind. It's psychedelic in a latter-day American way (think Flaming Lips or Grandaddy) and it's way more ambitious than it has the right to be. If Pearl Jam made an album like this, full of concept and spoken word interludes, it'd get laughed right off the pages of Rolling Stone. But this is Hypatia Lake, a relatively unknown band from Seattle, and it's so darn earnest in its grandiosity, you can't help but admire the band. Like a little kid who tries to pick up a car, his failure is part of the charm. It doesn't hurt that Your Universe, Your Mind is also chock full of really pretty songs. --Douglas Adams
Artist: The Marlboro Chorus
Title: Good Luck
Label: Future Appletree Records
Rating: 4
Whimsical, with dark undertones; happy, yet slightly cynical; red, but not really... more brownish; expensive, but cheaply made; bad, but oh so gooood; OK, this is getting out of hand. Discount the latter blatherings, and what's left describes the song stylings of up-and-comer The Marlboro Chorus. The Iowa-based band's first album, Good Luck, is as good as raw, unmolested, good ol' American mope rock gets. Its "how few notes can we play and still get the message across?" attitude works well for the band. In this age of bad, studio-fabricated "music" Marlboro's focus on minimalism is a breath of fresh air, with melodies reminiscent of old Beck and Roxy Music. It's a kick-back-at-the-beach-with-a-beer-in-one-hand-and-a-Marlboro (duh!)-in-the other-hand-type of album. You couldn't find a better rock band to listen to on a chill day. Try it. I double dare you. --Ella Ngo
Artist: Sister Sonny
Title: The Bandit Lab
Label: Five One Inc.
Rating: 3 1/2
Radiohead changed things for rock music. What used to be the sole territory of space cadets and ravers, electronic music is now a wide-open space, free to be traversed by rock bands looking for a little more than blues chord progressions. Sister Sonny, a Norwegian pop band, has permanently pitched its tents in the wilderness of the electronic on The Bandit Lab, but hasn't forgotten to pack its guitars either, which makes for a nice listen. Owing as much to The Beatles as the 'Head, Sister Sonny crafts sweet little pop ditties that burble and gurgle with experimental noises. The band's at its best when subdued, ("Sonnyology") and its worst when ambition exceeds ability (the uncharacteristically noisy "Stupid and the Silver Fox"). A mixed bag but well worth a listen. --Douglas Adams