- Cadence Weapon - Hope in Dirt City (Upper Class Recordings) Rating: 7 (out of 10)

Cadence Weapon lives up to his name on Hope in Dirt City. Canadian rapper Rollie Pemberton, born and raised in Edmonton and now based in Montreal, uses that moniker as his nom de plume. "Cadence," from the Old Italian and Latin cadentia, cadens and cado ("to fall") refers to rhythmic inflection while "Weapon" etymologically gets lost in the conceptual mists of ancient Germanic time - although "rock on" probably nails its meaning best in translation.

The new album is a rhythmic attack on the senses. No two tracks take the same approach. On this, his third full-length release, Cadence Weapon experiments with his sound more than in previous outings, pushing the music in many different directions.

Not everything succeeds but Pemberton keeps searching for higher ground and it's fun to go along for the ride. Cadence Weapon is a formidable hiphop talent because he refuses to play by somebody else's rules.

- THEESatisfaction - awE naturalE (Sub Pop Records) Rating: 7 (out of 10)

Seattle duo THEESatisfaction (MC/ rapper Stasia Irons and singer Catherine Harris-White) or as they refer to themselves "the Queens of the Stoned Age" shine on their debut release, awE naturalE.

Known for their stellar work on Shabazz Palaces' brilliant 2011 album Black Up and a series of self-released mixtapes THEESatisfaction drop their latest on Sub Pop Records.

Like Cadence Weapon they break outside the box bringing jazz and other references into their neo-soul/avant rap groove. -

John Goodman

UPCOMING RELEASES

New and upcoming CD releases: June 5

Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Americana; Shawn Colvin - All Fall Down; Patti Smith - Banga; Alejandro Escovedo - Big Station; Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Big Moon Ritual; Japandroids - Celebration Rock; Kelly Hogan - I Like To Keep Myself In Pain; Liars - WIXIW; Shonen Knife - Pop Tune. June 12

Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe; Giant Sand - Tucson; Hot Chip - In Our Heads; Wintersleep - Hello Hum; The DBs - Falling off the Sky. June 19

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do; Can - The Lost Tapes; Justin Bieber - Believe; Kenny Chesney - Welcome to the Fishbowl; Lita Ford - Living like a Runaway; Neneh Cherry - The Cherry Thing; Lostprophets - Weeapons; Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania.