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BLACK
REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
Howl
(RCA/BMG)
The last time we checked in with BRMC, they were all snarling
aggression, keening electric guitars and angry distortion.
After being dropped from Virgin and reappearing on RCA, they
have now seemingly both reinvented themselves as a country-rock
outfit and found religion. Happily, frontmen Peter Hayes and
Robert Turner are able pull off the transformation with aplomb.
The title track sets a nostalgic tone, and songs with names
like “Devil’s Waiting” and “Restless Sinner”
suggest that the pair are contemplating their place in the
larger scheme of things. DG
LEELA JAMES
A Change Is Gonna Come
(Warner)
The fact that Lauryn Hill is credited as producer provides
a tipoff as to what’s coming: soul, funk and blues, all
re-envisioned through a filter of millennial hip-hop. But
don’t let the obviousness put you off. James sings from
a wellspring of grit, and her diminutive size is offset by
a colossal voice. Kicking things off with the mandatory tribute
of “Music,” James then puts the clichés aside
and delivers a tour de force of blues and gospel-inflected
soul. The presence of the likes of Kanye West and Raphael
Saadiq ensures that A Change Is Gonna Come also hits the right
hip-hop currents of the moment. DG
AFRIRAMPO
Kore Ga Mayaku Da
(Tzadik)
What’s in the water in Osaka? For two decades, the city
has boasted the most sonically spastic music scene on the
planet. The noise dynasty continues with the coronation of
two young queens in Afrirampo. With only a guitar and drum
kit, Oni and Pikachu create a racket that makes The White
Stripes sound like The Carpenters. On Kore Ga Mayaku Da, Afrirampo
careen through countless rock idioms, from metallic shrieks
to demented doo-wop to Black Sabbath-style sludge. Their cartoonish
call-and-response may be linguistically indecipherable, but
its playfulness doesn’t require any translation. This
CD’s a rough 50-minute ride, but certainly not short
on thrills. Sebastian Roberts
M-FLO
Beat Space Nine
(rhythm zone)
M-flo composer Taku and rapper Verbal have become the biggest
names in Japanese hip-hop since hooking up in Tokyo in 1998.
Originally a trio featuring the now-solo Japanese-Colombian
singer Lisa, M-flo hit upon the idea of releasing albums featuring
guest vocalists on almost every track. On their Astromantic
CD, they enlisted the likes of Boa, Chemistry and ex-Pizzicato
Five singer Maki Nomiya. Beat Space Nine is loaded with the
cream of a new crop of female hip-hop singers, including Sowelu
and Yoshika. Split into two parts, “Beat” and “Space,”
the album flows together rather well, and even leaves room
for Lisa to round it off with a last-track reunion. Robert
Poole
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