By Chad Taylor
soundcheck@dmcityview.com

John K Samson

‘Provincial’

Epitaph

Sample Tracks

The first thing you need to know is that John K Sampson is Canadian, and therefore obviously not to be trusted. For example, from his roots with anarcho-vegan punk rockers Propagandhi (what, you’re not versed in Canadian punk bands? Amateurs.), one could reasonably hope for a Samson solo album to carry on the tradition of hard riffs, unrelenting anger and an in-your-face political agenda. You’d be, like, a quarter right. “Provincial” is actually a light, folk/pop album that’s easy on the ears and the conscience. The album is thoughtful and measured, adorned with simple, almost parochial instrumentation. As for politics? Propagandhi’s rants against human rights violations and homophobia have been replaced with a petition to get Reggie Leach inducted into the Pro Hockey Hall of Fame. So, you know. It’s a slightly different windmill to tilt at. CV

Sinead O’Connor

‘How About I Be Me (and You Be You)?’

One Little Indian Us

Sample Tracks

Remember the early 1990s? That was when Sinead O’Connor blasted her way into the American psyche, with her shaved head, militant anti-Catholic posture and some of the fiercely emotional lyrics of the decade. For as experimental and diverse as her sound has been over the years, O’Connor’s lyrics have remained her strong point. She’s naked in her desires and piercing in her emotional exactitude. After taking her sound all over the globe, O’Connor returns to familiar ground with album No. 9 in her career, harkening back to the days of “The Lion and the Cobra” and the world-stopping “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.” There’s no single track that delivers a knockout blow like “Nothing Compares 2 U,” but from beginning to end, the album is wrought with the emotional power that’s been O’Connor’s calling card for 30 years now. CV

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