****
Memo to everyone who's considering meds or murder: Try Deerhoof first. No other band on earth makes me as happy as they do, with their simple blocky guitars, chirping vocals, spasmodic drum explosions, and amazing sense of melodic humor. Their songs are like a series of giggles, packaged in pink inflatable peanuts and shot into outer space. Apple O', their follow-up to the brilliant Reveille, is even more joyous, with a stronger emphasis on wacky pop melodies, as opposed to a voracious distortion. At the same time, songs such as "The Forbidden Fruits" apply vaguely jazzy, atonal chords, recalling some of the members' work in Curtains. Similar to Reveille in approach, it's just more and better, and more mysterious. Fill up your tummy. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Wackies Sampler, Vol. 1

(Rhythm & Sound/Basic Channel)

****

ADRIAN SHERWOOD

Never Trust a Hippy

(Real World Records)

****

DJ SPOOKY

Dubtometry

(Thirsty Ear Recordings)

****
Wackies was a Bronx-based, '70s and early-'80s dub and reggae label/studio/soundsystem run by Jah Upton, Lloyd Barnes, and Munchie Jackson. They produced and released songs by reggae superstars like Horace Andy (who is currently famous for his collaborations with Massive Attack), and obscure singers like Love Joys, an all-female group that came from Brixton, London. (I was informed by reliable sources that the local label Light in the Attic attempted to obtain the rights to reissue Love Joys, but was beaten by the German-based Rhythm and Sound, which is reissuing a considerable part of Wackies' catalog.) Wackies' dub is not futuristic, dangerous, ancient, or thunderous, but warm and supple. For those curious about dub, this sampler is perfect; for those obsessed with dub, the entire reissue series is a must.

About the time Wackies was at its peak--the early '80s--London's Adrian Sherwood started the On-U Sound label, which went on to release the New Age Steppers, London Underground, and Dub Syndicate, and also new work by original Jamaican dubmasters like Lee "Scratch" Perry. Despite having produced more records than you and I can remember, Sherwood has never released his own work proper. His new CD, Never Trust a Hippy, is, after all of these years in the dub business, his debut. It is also one of his best projects, and represents his deepest excursion into sci-fi dub territory--it's futuristic, global, and driven by high-tech dancehall bass and beats.

The spacy/trippy sound effects that fall like fading stars and exploding spaceships across the electronic dubscape on Never Trust a Hippy recall similar special effects that dazzle the dubscapes produced by New York City's DJ Spooky and Portland's Alter Echo, both of whom are on a new CD, Dubtometry--a collection of remixes of tracks from Optometry (2002), DJ Spooky's remix of a jazz set by avant-garde pianist Matthew Shipp. The best mix is the opening cyberstorm-dub by Alter Echo, but other mixes produced by Switzerland's DJ Goo and Vancouver, BC/the Netherlands' Twilight Circus (to name a few of the remixers) are by no means unworthy or dull. What Dubtometry makes clear--as does the Sherwood debut and the Wackies sampler--is that though it started in Kingston, Jamaica, dub no longer has a geographical center. CHARLES MUDEDE

VOIVOD

Voivod

(Chophouse)

***
Voivod--the Sonic Youth of progressive metal--have continually amazed and rarely been rewarded. Original vocalist Snake has rejoined the most unified Voivod lineup for a self-titled 13th album that plays highly on some of the band's strengths (songwriting, musicianship, integrity) while wholly ignoring others (prog-rock virtuosity, sci-fi concepts, psychedelia). They've been singing about nuclear war since 1984, but this disc also covers atheism, apathy, selling out, and the will to persevere, all in a refreshingly direct political and emotional way. Neither trite nor didactic, the words create a different kind of concept album that manages to deliver a bleak message with a light of hope, not unlike Sepultura's Roots or Pink Floyd's Animals. Many listeners will still wrestle with the alien enunciation that comes from Quebec, or opine that bass player Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica) has come to ruin the band. It seems obvious that quitting the biggest metal band in the world to join the best is nothing short of a triumph of altruism over greed, though. Fans of Cave In, Queens of the Stone Age, and Opeth may find Voivod to be a perfect gateway into one of the richest back catalogs this side of King Crimson. NATHAN CARSON

THE WHITE STRIPES

Elephant

(V2)

****
White Stripes frontman Jack White carefully balances on a tightrope connecting the innocence of the past with the trailblazing spirit of the present. On his band's fourth (and most excellent) release, Elephant, he playfully teases a sense of shy restraint in his lyrics, speaking of courtships with lines like, "I want to hold your little hand if I could be so bold" ("Hypnotize"), or repeating, "I get nervous when she comes around" ("The Air Near My Fingers"). False modesties, coming from a man who so brazenly plays guitar with the sex appeal of Jimmy Page in a pair of crotch stranglers, and can wrangle his vocals--and guitar--into a dozen different characters within the course of one album. But then again, White's best asset is that, other than his attire, he's rarely predictable in his performances, shifting with aplomb between the bombastic narrator and the old-fashioned gentleman. Either way, it seems he prefers to remain a sly trickster in his vaudeville plays on pop, garage, folk, and blues. Elephant opens with "Seven Nation Army" and what sounds like a bass thumping out a disco rhythm but is actually White's guitar fed through an octave pedal. "It's True That We Love One Another" is a ménage à trois between Jack and drummer Meg White, with Brit Holly Golightly as the third wheel in a game of flirtatious words, most likely riffing off the media's insipid fascination with the nature of Jack and Meg's ex-relationship. All in all, Elephant lacks the quick-hit fixes of the band's earlier work, instead stretching out into new musical arenas that prove that even under the pressure of their most popular peak so far, the band is still able to reach creative new heights. JENNIFER MAERZ

**** Barry White *** the White Stripes ** the White Album * Whitesnake