Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The French electronic duo has been dubbed “otherworldly” ever since its atmospheric debut album Moon Safari topped critics’ lists in 1998. Its ambient quality also attracted filmmaker Sofia Coppola, who had Air’s JB Dunckel and Nicolas Godin score her The Virgin Suicides movie and contribute the haunting “Alone in Kyoto” to her latest, Lost in Translation. “Our tracks are like dreams,” Dunckel once said, “we want to escape from reality.” Hypnotic tunes like “Run,” “Biological” and “Mike Mills” make that easy. Jan. 27    

Born on the Isle of Man now living on B.C.’s Saltspring Island, Manx draws rich, Ry Cooder-like atmospherics from his laptop and East Indian slide guitar. Breit, an equally gifted picker from McKerrow, Ont. whose credits include Cassandra Wilson’s Grammy-winning New Moon Daughter, has been winning converts with his Toronto band Sisters Euclid. Together, they offer inventive versions of Hendrix and the Doobie Brothers and conjure real string magic on their own mystical blues tunes. A pairing worth rejoicing.

Look out, Shania. Although Clark’s been around the block, she’s come up with a stronger collection of no-nonsense, kick-ass country songs than Twain’s much ballyhooed Up!  Originally from Medicine Hat, Clark has been hanging her Stetson in Nashville for years. But her latest album avoids the usual trappings of Music City productions. Tunes like “Working Girl” and “I Wanna Do It All” are fresh, instant classics. And Clark’s own bittersweet trilogy of love-gone-wrong songs boasts an admirable honesty.

Ever since he wrote “Crazy,” a huge hit for Patsy Cline back in 1961, Nelson’s talent as a songwriter has been evident. Unfortunately, that talent has often taken a backseat to recording covers of old pop standards.  His latest, however, is pure Willie:  sturdy country ballads graced by plaintive pedal steel and a voice as dry as the Texas plains. From swing to blues and Tex-Mex, the album even includes one classic country title: “You Wouldn’t Cross the Street to Say Goodbye.”

With her startling interpretations of pop standards, Wilson has proven herself one of the most adventurous vocalists in jazz. A native of Mississippi, she returned to her home state to produce this sultry collection of originals and covers. Robert Johnson’s “Hot Tamales” and Wilson’s own bluesy “Justice” are natural inclusions. More surprising are her dramatic reworkings of The Band’s “The Weight” and Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman.” Delta inspired.

Few Africans have been more persistent at bridging the cultural gap than Benin’s musical dynamo. Kidjo’s latest, celebrating the links between Brazil and West Africa, could be her crossover ticket. Produced by Bill Laswell, the album is brimming with soulful vocals and infectious rhythms on songs like Gilberto Gil’s “Rafavela” and the Fela-style title track. But the standout is “Iwoya,” featuring a joyful duet with Dave Matthews. Impossible to resist.

The drug misadventures of frontman Scott Weiland have wreaked havoc on the life of this hard-rocking SoCal outfit. Weiland’s heroin habit and continual arrests have led to uneven solo albums and side projects and created uncertainty about the future of this once top-selling band. Longtime producer Brendan O’Brien is at the helm again, for what could be the group’s make-or-break album.

Its artists may not have the same currency as other labels’ rosters, but Fat Possum Records boasts the genuine article when it comes to raw, unadulterated Mississippi blues. Musicians like R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and T-Model Ford play the primitive, gutbucket music of country house parties and southern juke joints. Crude, yes, but dangerous and electrifying enough to give the most jaded listener shivers.

Displaying exemplary worldliness for a U.S. label, Rhino Records serves up strictly non-American garage rock classics on this fabulous box-set sequel. So instead of Yankee groups like the Electric Prunes and Strawberry Alarm Clock, this time we get bands like England’s Pretty Things and the wonderful Missing Links from Down Under. Best of all, the Great White North is represented by spaced-out punk screamers from Toronto’s Ugly Ducklings, Montreal’s the Haunted, Winnipeg’s the Jury and even the Guess Who—with our Burton at his sneering best.

With their goofy, cartoon-like image, it’s easy not to take this California new-school punk trio seriously. But infectious tunes, deft musicianship and more than four million + sales of their last album, Enema of the State, prove these young dudes mean business. The new album, produced again by Jerry Finn, is bound to spawn numerous frantic singles, like their first bit of hyperactivity, “Rock Show.”