February 26 2003

Get your soul here! Rewind! 2, Ubiquity's second installment of covers, manages to one-up its original by keeping the vibe down 'n' dirty but the quality high. I can't remember the last time I fell for two consecutive releases in a series, but what's not to love about Roy Davis Jr. doing "People Get Ready" and Terry Callier delivering the best-ever re-rub of "Just My Imagination"?

This made-for-the-bedroom groove kicks off with one of two cuts from the Platinum Pied Pipers, a new project led by Slum Village coproducer and founding member Waajeed. Both "Ridin' High" and "Open Your Eyes" stick to simple, lazy beats paired with strong vocals for a heavy dose of R&B that avoids histrionics. But when it comes to soul, it's hard to best the blue-eyed stylings of Greyboy's take on the Stevie Wonder-penned "To Know You Is to Love You." Featuring the white-chocolate voice of Oakland's Bart Davenport and a harmonica solo to make Stevie himself proud, "To Know You" gives ample reason to look forward to the Greyboy full-length due in the spring. Also representin' the Bay Area are the new Brazilian-electro outfit Superbacana, who turn in a solid version of the standard "Reza," adding a heavy bass-drum thump and flanged keys midway through for a more dance floor-oriented feel.

Rewind! 2 steers clear of the mistake many compilations – and lovers – make: it's no one-note wonder in terms of style, mood, and position. With a little bit of Latin, a touch of house, plenty of funk, and a lot of love, this one's stuck on repeat. Superbacana play Thurs/27, Make-Out Room, S.F. (415) 647-2888. DJs Greyboy and Andrew Jervis and vocalist Bart Davenport perform Fri/28, Milk, S.F. (415) 387-6455. (Peter Nicholson)

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Hearts of Oak (Lookout!)

Ted Leo may not explicitly mention the World Trade Center or terrorism on Hearts of Oak, but Sept. 11, 2001, echoes across every moment of his shockingly great new album. Leo, a New Jersey native who's spent his fair share of DIY days on the road with Chisel and the Sin Eaters, follows up 2001's Tyranny of Distance with 13 dashboard confessionals full of grim references to graves, ghosts, and war that lead him to claim in the album's opening minute, "I know some things I'd rather not / Like, the time ahead is all the time you've got." Poignant and personal, it's one of the only albums to tackle the aftermath of al-Qaeda's strikes while managing to transcend tacky, melodramatic mush.

This isn't to say the compulsively listenable Hearts of Oak, which sounds like Elvis Costello discovering '80s D.C. punk, is just about death. Leo's got a refreshing, glass-half-full approach to life: With a quivering falsetto and some ridiculously catchy, politically with-it songs worth Bragg-ing about, he finds hope despite a world gone awry. "We're patient for tomorrow / When the past will redeem all the toil," he sings on "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," and it's this optimism and his knack for killer hooks that keep the songs from getting bogged down in his good intentions. One of this year's early musical front-runners, Hearts of Oak should finally take Leo from the margins to the masses. Knock on wood. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists perform March 5, Bottom of the Hill, S.F. (415) 621-4455; and March 6, Amoeba Records, S.F. (415) 831-1200; and March 7, 924 Gilman, Berk. (510) 525-9926. (Jimmy Draper)

Tiga
DJ Kicks (!K7)

It's a rare mix CD in which the track names actually reveal something about the music. But the list on the back cover of Tiga's DJ Kicks – including Traffics Signs' "Big Fake," a remix of Le Tigre's "Deceptacon," and Crowdpleaser and St. Plomb's "Rather Be" – hints at the deceptive peep show within. The song titles mirror the disc's reinvention of '80s pop and electro and reflect Tiga's transformation from simple techno purveyor to Adam Ant-esque cult icon.

In 2001 Tiga's name became synonymous with the new wave of electro, following his American Gigolo mix CD for the label International Deejay Gigolos and his remake of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," which became a tongue-in-cheek anthem in the electroclash scene. But despite the prefab movie star-manqué image he displays in press photos, Tiga's been a fixture on the Toronto techno scene since the early '90s.

Precise mixing skills and a taste for tracks that are palatable on and off the dance floor serve Tiga well on this disc, which feels modern but not too trendy. Strict techno influences creep in via Carl Finlow and M.A.N.D.Y.'s Kraftwerk-inspired bleeps and pulses, but those are tempered by the pornographic cooing of Tutto Matto's industrial house rub "You" and cooled by the disco salve of Soft Cell's "...So." Tiga's other side – the flamboyant club doyen – shines through in vocal tracks like his own grippingly fey stormer "Madame Hollywood" and German-derived synth numbers ("Ich und Elaine") that might as well be the soundtrack to Saturday Night Live's "Sprockets."

Though DJ Kicks flirts with silliness, it always returns to its synthetic sense of purpose: to please techno purists, trend spotters, and casual dance music fans in 25 tracks. As far as that goes, the disc succeeds, proving along the way that artifice, when blended artfully, sounds awfully nice. Tiga appears March 7, Club Fake, Cat Club, S.F. (415) 431-3332. (Vivian Host)

Wolf Colonel
Something/Everything! (K)
Guitar Wolf
UFO Romantics (Narnack)

This week we bring you bands with the word wolf in their names. Why? Because if you want to be a badass, you become a wolf or, like, a werewolf. Grizzy bears and sharks are cool too, but this piece is about wolves.

OK, Jason Anderson, a.k.a. Wolf Colonel – this guy has no right to put "wolf" anywhere near his name or on his record. There is nothing about Something/Everything! that makes you think he's gonna tear your throat out. He sounds like he's sitting on his bed while he plays one Guided by Voices retread after another. One of the lines is actually "Don't you think we should kiss while Hüsker Dü is playing?" Fuck this chump – listen to "Bombs Away" from Prepare to Die by Nate Denver's Neck instead. Trust me, it's a way better use of the GBV guitar-drums-chorus principle. And Denver sings about enough crazy shit that, if he wanted to, he could call his band Nate Denver's Wolfneck or just Nate Denver a.k.a. the Wolf.

Guitar Wolf also have earned their name for damn sure. They've put out some bad albums, but their live shows are flat-out blood orgies of rock 'n' roll wolfiness and so was Jet Generation, their 1999 record. It was recorded with some type of digital distortion, and it sounds like a fucking airplane is crashing into the house every time I play it. As for UFO Romantics, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It's recorded in the same way as Kung Fu Ramone, their recent album, with lots of treble, sort of clean guitars. It's not real dangerous sounding. But if a new Guitar Wolf record means they will tour, then shit, I don't care if it sounds like Pat Benatar. Plus it's on Narnack Records, which is putting out good stuff like dark dance wolf-wave band Condor.