Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Her marriage to country singer Tim McGraw, with whom she has three daughters, is the stuff of People magazine. Less well known is the fact that the superstar’s first husband, from whom she took her name, was Canada’s sentimental crooner Dan Hill, who she met at a Nashville publishing company while answering phones. Musically, there’s not much to say about Faith—she’s Shania without the sass. Judging from its title track, a frothy, toe-tapping weeper, her new album continues in the pop-juggernaut direction of 1999’s mega-selling Breathe.

Forget The Osbournes—why not The Ardens? Canada’s musical stand-up comedienne has been cracking up concert audiences for years with imitations of her mother and her father. Listening to her routines between songs here, you can almost visualize a reality-based TV sitcom. Like her forthcoming book, which deals with everything from “cat food to death, bra size to spirituality, family to goose poop,” an Arden concert runs the gamut. But do hits like “Good Mother” and “Waiting in Canada” really need the symphonic treatment?

The Red Hot Organization, the international group dedicated to fighting AIDS through popular culture, is responsible for compiling some fine tribute albums in recent years, including portraits of Ellington, Gershwin and Cole Porter. The latest pays homage to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer who died from AIDS-related causes in 1997. And artists covering Fela classics like “Lady,” “Colonial Mentality” and “Sorrow, Tears and Blood” range from his son Femi, Baaba Maal and Cheikh Lo to Sade, D’Angelo and Macy Gray. Inspired.

Niagara Falls pop duo Wave has a confession: its last album used “a lot of loops.” That must explain why “California” sounded so synthetic. Paul Gigliotti and partner Dave Thomson claim they wanted “a more organic sound” with their second album, including “live drums and a real piano.” Imagine! Although they fancy themselves the next Hall & Oates, Wave won’t get any street cred with songs as drippy as “Moon Under Water” and “Don’t Say Sarah.” But their pretty-boy looks are sure to guarantee them more heavy rotation on MuchMusic.

After getting dumped by his long-time label, Atlantic Records, Stewart was rescued by music mogul Clive Davis’ J Records. Davis rightly understood that the Scottish singer possesses one of pop’s most distinctive voices and suggested he tackle classics from the 1920s and ’30s. The result is a tasteful collection of chestnuts like Cole Porter’s “Everytime We Say Goodbye” and Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” And Rod the Mod, sounding like Austin Powers, recommends the album for the cocktail hour, or “when you’re shagging.”

The news that Dave Grohl and Courtney Love have buried their hatchets (and not in each other’s backs) will please fans awaiting gems from the Nirvana vaults. Meanwhile Grohl, Kurt Cobain’s former bandmate, continues issuing fine Foo Fighters records that borrow from Nirvana’s bracing mix heavy guitars and pretty melodies. On the fourth Foo album, corrosive rockers like “All My Life” sit comfortably alongside sweet, harmony-drenched numbers like “Lonely As You.” And the anthemic “Times Like These” could prove to be Grohl’s next hit.

He first came to prominence on Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” back in 1985. Since then, the Senegalese tenor has risen to the forefront of African music and scored a trilingual (French, English, Wolof) global pop hit with“7 Seconds,” a stirring duet with Neneh Cherry. But N’Dour values his roots too much to sell out for elusive crossover success. His second album for New York’s respected Nonesuch label adheres to a warm blend of cascading koras, thundering percussion and N’Dour’s exquisite vocals. Full of surprising depth and rich beauty.

Desman’s a song-and-dance man from Toronto’s Portuguese community. Story goes that when he was a pre-schooler, his mum sat little Shawn in front of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, which he watched repeatedly for years, soaking up much of that showmanship. While Desman clearly has some moves (check out the video for “Get Ready,” his first single), his overall sound owes more to the slickness of the Backstreet Boys than any of Wacko Jacko’s early work. Ultimately, there’s too much sugar-sweet pop and not enough hip-hop influence.

The son of Canadian actor Alan Thicke and American soap star Gloria Lorring is the latest celebrity offspring to embark on a music career. Signed to Babyface’s NuAmerica label, singer-keyboardist Thicke (née Robin Thicke) serves up a smorgasbord on his debut album. “Brand New Jones” swings like Stevie Wonder, while the disco-ish “Alone” recalls Michael Jackson and the funky opening “Oh Shooter” suggests Beck. The title track, which deals with 9/11 (yes, Thicke was also in NYC on the day), rocks like Lenny Kravitz. Eclectic in the extreme.

Shaggy’s lucky day came in 1993 when he recorded a Rastafarian tune called “Oh Carolina,” written by Jamaica’s John Folkes, now an Ontario resident. The song sold more than 600,000 copies in England alone and made Shaggy (born Orville Burrell) an international superstar (Folkes, meanwhile, lost a longstanding court battle with Greensleeves Publishing and Virgin Music for any royalties to his song). Oh Corporations. Shaggy describes his latest album as a “pro-woman” affair. But, with a first single called “Hey Sexy Lady,” it sounds dubious.