Fall Be tk& & Slobberbone — Everything You Thought Was Rignt Was Wrong Tokay (New West Records) Southern countrified rockers, grand, loose and loud, Slobberbone are from Denten, Ti Texas. The band’s debut, Crow - Pot Pie, was cobbled togeth- er for a scant $400 and sur- uw faced in 1995. The secret weapon that - puts these guys miles ahead of the competition is this: they know their instruments and they have a stellar song- writer in their midst. Brent Best — guitars, harmonica, mandolin, organ and vocals — penned this batch. He’s a gem of a story teller with a een sense of gritty metaphor, and poignant detail. Best’s poetics cover the full emotional range. - Slobberbone’s patch of American heartland is popu- lated by broken dreamers, star-crossed lovers and tar- nished losers. Whether the narrative - . revels in the particular joy of “slacking off, or gets inside the head of a man whose lungs are shot through with .. disease courtesy of too much time spent on the fac- “tory floor, the guiding “themes confirm redemption inthe little victories avail- . - able to those who choose to. _Bfasp them. ~ . - Slobberone sounds and: - feels like the American’ counterpart of the Pogues at their creative height. = tkk cx Charis Smither —'Live As Ill Ever Be. Smither i is one of those: : rare musicians who muster - ~ the skill 'and staying power to age like a fine wine. , : Thirty years into his. .- career Loe As Pil Ever Be is’ * his tenth recorded outing. —He’sa guitar picker’s picker. °. . This live.session captures - ys, him, at the.top of his game... “33 The blues notes flow from =: whi ‘acoustic guitar with a résonating elegance. Smither- has one of chose comfor “ably raggedy ‘edged Voices. “Layer in the ever present itap, tap of the foot keepiag | “time and you’ve got the - > essentials:. one man, one gui- By tar and a deep bag of great - _SOngR . :Kindred spirits: Lig tnin’? Hopkins Townes Van_. . Zandt; Dave Alvin, Bonnie Raitt (who has made : : Smither’s “Love Me Like A “Man” -a signature song). i’ The sixteen rewarding . tracks here were recorded * between 1996 and 1999 in California, Massachusetts, __Yiinia: and in Ireland. . oo = Michael Becker. fm kekkk The. Sopranos | — Music. from: the. HBO Original Series (Sony) * The smash HBO series - about the dysfunctional . Jersey mafioso family has. Spawned an equally i impres- che soundtrack album with. some of the tunes featured © -in the show’ 's first two sea- sons. 7 A3’s catchy. “Woke | up this Morning” from’ the opening credits of the show ‘leads into‘an album filled “+ with timeless classics by ' ~ Sinatra (“It was a Very ° Good Year”), Cream (“I Feel Free”) and Dylan driven Toy (“Gotta Serve Somebody”). Costello’s *Complicated Shadows”, Los Lobos* “Viking” and Springstes7"s sombre “State Trooper” are other standout gems. Longtime E-Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt — who has a recurring role on the series — also tends his musical talents to the album with “Inside of Me”. Canadian viewers finally got a taste of what TV crit- ‘ics have been siavering over when the show’s first season ran — over a year late — on CTV recently. Until the, show occupies a permanent slot on one of the Canadian © Specialty channels, this teaser will have to suffice. Pick it up or sleep with the fishes. Capeesh? | @ kkk Toad the Wet Sprocket — VS: A Toad RIP, Poor Toad. We hardly knew ye. @oekxk*. Mark Knopfler — Sailing to Philagelpiia (Mercury) The former Dire Straits frontman and guitar virtu- oso Mark Knopfler has cratt- ed a stick, polished offering in Sailing co Phiiadelphia, but it stilf pales in compari- son to his 1996 solo effort Golden Heart. Knopfler has a propensity — and a talent — for mixing history lessons with his lyrics, deftly weaving the narrative with notes, and this album is no different. The first track, “What it is”, takes listeners on a quick spin back to English Lit 161 while the title track — a duet with James Taylor — spins the imagined tale of Mason/ Dixon duo that mapped the U.S. in its early days and is easily the best track on the album. Both Knopfler and Taylor’s war- blings mesh seamlessly and the rwo have never sounded better. The shuffling, country- fried “Speedway at Nazareth” hearkens back to Knopfler’s Neck and Neck album with country pickin’ legend Chet Atkins while the chorus-driven “Do America” has the feel of - Golden Heart’s “Cannibais” and Dire Straits’ “Twistin’ by the Pooi”. Some of Knopiler’s best work has come sans lyrics — on movie soundtracks com- posed for such flicks as The Princess Bride, Local Hero and Wag the Dog. While it’s no Golden . Heart, You have to hand it to Knopfler — the man knows how to make a guitar sing like nobody’s business. win Geddy Lee's sole CD. » Seattle (Soundgarden/Pearl .Jam/Temple of the Dog) Grummer Matt Cameron and (kd lang’s) Sen Mink help make Gedrly Lee's CD My Favourite Headache one ta ~~ remember, The solo debut of the voice and bassist extraordinaire behind the tegendary power trio Rush is in stores » this week with the title track the first single off the album. For a chance to win a copy ot My Favourite Headache tell us the name of your favourite . ‘ Rush album. Send your entries to Geddy Lee Contest, North Shore News, 1139 . _ Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2H4, Attn: John Goodman...You can fax’: :. entries to 985-2104 or e-mail to . Deadline for the contest is Retr aspecti ve (Columbia) Alas, nothing signals the last gasp of either a desper- | *, ate of defunct band like the | release of a greatest hits col- lection, a.k.a. the “retro- spective”; with one or two new songs, a few remixes, five tracks or. “previously unreleas¢d” material, it usu- ally mars a band’s flag at half-mast. fous: UK. the Wet Sprocket, which © broke up in 1997 after ten years together, follows suit ‘with this release. With a - string of snappy, harmony- 20s in the mid- °96s, the band — which had a huge following overseas — : began to attract the ears of - : deejays and their North American audiences. PS documents some of. the band’s better bub- blegum moments from the -: In Light Syrup, Coil and | Duclinea albums, among ‘others. Some of the high notes - include such brain-invaders as “All I want”, “Good Intentions”, “Crazy Life” and “Walk on the Ocean”. p mainstay Toad S : id Nov.24. 5 p.m. CDs courtesy Universal Music. Below are some of the changes t to the AirCare Program «. that jake effect Monday, January 1, 2001: AIRCARE II FEE STRUCTURE . 7 1991 and older vehicles will continue to receive an annual ASM test for $24. 1992 and newer vehicles will receive a more comprehensive biennial test for 348.- All vehicles will be charged $24 for re-inspections. -AIRCARE EXPIRY DATES The AirCare expiry date assigned to a pass or ‘conditional pass results ‘will depend on the type of test and result. 1991 and older vehicles will reccive a 363-day expiry | date for a pass. 1992 and newer vehicles will receive a : 726-day expiry date for a pass. All vehicles will receive’ a 90-day expiry date for a ‘conditional pass’. 90-DAY EXPIRY DATE FOR CONDITIONAL PASS | If your vehicle receives a conditional pass, you must purchase your vehicle license and insurance within 90 ‘days. Once ihe 90-day limit expires, your vehicle will ‘need to have another AirCare inspection before“ re-licensing. Vehicles that are sold after the 90- -day period, will require another AirCare inspection asa condition to re-licensing. : Visit our website at www.aircars. ca AirCare stations within the Greater : ca a Vancouver Regional District are operated by rrans/Tink EMMYLOU Harris’ Red Dirt. Girl is her first studio. album since 1995's Wrecking Ball. Do RB tkewek Emmylou Harris — Red Dirt Girl (Nonesuch Records) Too long in exile, Emmylou. The folk and country maverick resurfaces with her first studio album since _ 1995’s Grammy award-win- ning Wrecking Ball, the Daniel Lanois-produced gem that breathed new life, into Harris’s career. It’s a flawless continuation of the innovative stylings of that classic album, and a must- have for any fan of this siren’s distinctive sound and . songwriting style. ne Red Dirt Girl is so com- plete it’s hard to pick out high points, but the title track, “Boy from Tupelo” and “The Pearl” are pitstops that will likely see action on your CD repeat button. You can always measure a singer by the quality of. company they keep — and Harris is way up there. She’: s teamed with country, folk . and rock stars for years, and, . ’ she cails in some of the favours on Red Dirt Girl. Popping up to lend a hand on the Malcolm Burn?) produced p project is hus- . and-and-wife team Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa _ on “Tragedy”, Patty Griffin on “My Baby Needs a Shepherd’, Kate McGarrigle -. on “J’ai Fait Tout” and “Boy From Tupelo” and. Dave Matthews on “My Antonia”. . . Since she hit the music scene in the mid-’70s, ‘Harris has collected eight gold albums and sight Grammys.” Red Dirt Girl should” make it nine in’ ‘both cate-, gories.. nw — fas: Christian Sorensen ‘Brkt ‘Susana Seivane (Green Linnet) “: Galician piper Susana Seivane impresses in her:solo:: debut with Green Linnet. | Records. The label, special- izing in music from the Celtic diaspora, treats. us to -- one of northern Spain’ 's tis: ; ing stars... The 23- year-old. Seivane, from a family of gaita ’ (Spanish pipe) players, , forms new. compositions with a: traditional ‘ensembI.