Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

It’s summer—time for cold beer, the cottage and a new album from the kings of hoser rock. The Hip’s latest is another heady brew of intoxicating riffage and trippy poetry. Although peppy tracks like “One Night in Copenhagen” and “As Makeshift as We Are” tell of getting high and drunk, there’s a sobering urgency to songs like the piercing “Vaccination Scar.” When Gord Downie sings about taking care of one another on “Are We Family,” the reference is to the human race, not his band or the wife and kids.

Stone’s soul picnic has previously featured such funky guests as D’Angelo and Lenny Kravitz. Here, the South Carolina neo-soul queen invites Snoop Doggy Dog to join her on the smooth flowing “I Wanna Thank Ya” and Miami siren Betty Wright, best known as Joss Stone’s mentor, on the uptempo “That Kind.” As the title suggest, the emphasis is on romance. Where Stone was once known for a funkier groove, most of her latest is, regrettably, laid-back r&b—more suited to a candlelit dinner than a strobe-lit dance floor.

White robes, celestial voices, symphonic swells. The choral-rock orchestra from Dallas, Tex. has been dismissed as a cult of sun worshippers. Jaded observers have suggested the 25-piece ensemble has stumbled on a good, if extravagant, gimmick. But the Spree, led by ex-Tripping Daisy Tim DeLaughter, makes undeniably joyous music and the group’s second album is awash in rousing choruses (“You gotta be good!/You gotta be strong!), trippy Theremins and euphoric French horns—a bit like Godspell meets Sgt. Pepper.

A film graduate from art college, Toronto’s Stochansky has often shown a cinematic flair with his music. Here, on his sophomore release, Ani DiFranco’s former drummer makes a bolder pop-rock statement. Produced by Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, One Hundred features pretty piano numbers like “”Beautiful Thing” in which Stochansky resembles Coldplay’s Chris Martin. But the album’s best tracks are U2-influenced rockers like “America,” which longs for lost heroes like Lenny Bruce and John Coltrane.

It’s been five years since Beck released his indie bedroom classic, Hollow. Now the Toronto artist has found a new home: the True North label, where gifted singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn resides. Beck belongs in such company. Intimate songs such as “My Low” and “I Need Light,” featuring Canadian songbird Leslie Feist, are memorable gems that ring true, lyrically and melodically. And his gentle delivery, on fragile ballads like “Lay Down,” makes his material all the more hypnotic and haunting.  

Katherine Dawn’s homage to her native land is an inspired—and inspiring—choice: perform classic songs by Canada’s finest songwriters. Aside from the usual suspects, lang showcases works by Bruce Cockburn, Ron Sexsmith and Jane Siberry. But her most moving performances are her stately renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush.” And her goosebump-inducing version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” is sung with all the passion of an obviously proud patriot.

Hard rock from Hamilton, Ont. Is there any other kind? What sets this three-piece apart from other loud Steeltown bands is its devotion to melodic hooks. While MC5 and The Clash are influences on such edgy tracks as “I Believe” and “We Can Make It,” the Index shows a strong kinship with the Brit punk-pop of The Jam and The Small Faces on catchy songs like “Alright by Now” and “House of Mirth.” Turns out that the Hamilton trio recorded its debut in the English town of Wigan, home of The Verve. Nice one, lads.

Monheit’s been overshadowed by Norah Jones and Diana Krall in the jazz diva department. But with her fourth album, the New Yorker delivers a formidable challenge. Produced by Peter Asher and Al Schmitt, this collection of MGM musical standards finds Monheit scatting, teasing and soaring her way through material by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others, injecting each chestnut with fresh emotion. And her sassy duet with Michael Bublé, on Jerome Kern’s “I Won’t Dance,” is a bright, horn-driven gem.  

African music fans will know Traoré, whose modern approach on traditional instruments has set her apart from fellow Malian divas like Oumou Sangare. But anyone with a taste for startlingly original music will be transfixed by Traoré’s beguiling third album. Although she sings in her native Bamana, songs like “Koté Don” and “Déli” have the power to stir and sooth souls anywhere. And Traoré’s daring experimentations with the Kronos Quartet on “Manian” and the title track are wildly successful. One of 2004’s best.

Their name conjures up the image of a buttoned-down law firm, but this New York trio bridges avant-garde jazz and jam-band workouts, reminiscent of both John Zorn and Phish, with whom they’ve worked. Dark, sinister-sounding tracks like “Bloody Oil” reflect the group’s political outlook. But mostly, the album’s finds joy in such groove-based numbers as the buoyant funk of “New Planet” and the Latin-tinged “Mami Gato.” If the end is nigh, Medeski, Martin & Wood clearly want us all to dance the apocalypso.