Who: Lori Nuic
Where: Toronto
What: Alternative Soul
Contact: lorinuic@yahoo.com

The mention of her name doesn’t generate instant recognition yet but there’s a good chance many of you have already heard what Toronto’s Lori Nuic can do to a piece of music with those very impressive pipes of hers.

In a relatively short time, Nuic has racked up some serious credits, winning both the Flow 93.5 Honey Jam Hook-Up Prize and the Canadian Music Week Urban Star Quest. She nailed down a spot singing back-up vocals on Canadian Idol and caught the right ears at the Rhythm of the Future talent search.

Now she’s coming after you with her debut CD Red Book Chronicles, a gutsy, groove-driven set of soul, R&B, funk and rock tunes that showcases her talents not just as a singer but as a songwriter too.

Nuic co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs on this set, collaborating with a team of writers that included Nelly Furtado’s guitar player, Adrian Eccleston, hip-hop star Saukrates, and Colin Munroe, all of whom also played a role in producing this record.

Lyrically her material focuses primarily on the ups and downs of love and relationships. But that merry-go-round isn’t her only focus. One of the album’s best songs looks at how to make the best of a bad situation over which you have no control.

That others have already begun to recognize that is evidenced by some of the opening spots Nuic has secured. Simply Red, Raul Midon, Jully Black, Shawn Desman, and Divine Brown have all used her to open for them. And why wouldn’t they? At various times her voice reminds me of Chaka Kahn, Angie Stone, and the aforementioned Nelly Furtado. If you’ve got a pulse, Nuic will find it.

Who: New Pornographers
Where: Vancouver
What: Indie Rock
Contact info: Joanne Setterington, Indoor Recess, 416-703-5217, joanne@indoorrecess.com.

Ten years after coming together for the first time in the studio to make bright, shiny new music, Vancouver indie rock powerhouse The New Pornographers are still a creative force to be reckoned with.

Challengers, its fourth album, finds principal songwriters A.C. Newman and Daniel Bejar once again making music that is both cerebral and intuitive. This time out it’s also somewhat less frantic than its predecessors.

Challengers has been described as the band’s most organic sounding record to date. A most accurate descriptor, and it certainly applies when describing the instrumentation they went with. They relegated the use of what they describe as “beepy synth” to the back burner, opting instead to go with a sound built on ”real instruments.” Essentially they’ve opted for basic guitar, bass, piano, organ, mandolin, and percussion, augmented, when it seemed appropriate, with a full string section, harp, and flute.

The melodies are bright, infectious and highly memorable, suggestive of the heyday of acts like ELO, Fleetwood Mac. There are nods to Roxy Music and to the The Move, the band both Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne played with before ELO. I can almost hear the influence of Blackberry Way.

Lyrically there are songs about love and sex, hope and joy, good times and not-so-good times.

Much of the album was recorded in Brooklyn, a city Newman has spent a good deal of time in of late and which provided the inspiration for some of the songs here. Other recording was done at band member John Collins’ studio in Vancouver and two other Vancouver studios.

Who: Quartette
Where: Toronto
What: Folk/Roots/Country/Bluegrass
Contact: S. Brock, 35 Fraserwood Ave, #1, Toronto, ON, M6B 2N6, www.quartette.com, service@quartette.com

You’ve got the desire to mix things up a little on your new record.

Who do you call? You call Colin Linden.

Working with Linden, Quartette’s four critically acclaimed singer-songwriters, Sylvia Tyson, Cindy Church, Gwen Swick, and Caitlin Hanford, have crafted a record in Down At The Fair that will delight longtime fans and probably add new followers to the fold.

The quartet’s desire was to work within a grittier context than they had traditionally done. That’s clear from the lead-off track, “Down At The Fair,” and the track that follows, “Twenty Shades of Blue,” both of which feature some very tasty guitar work by Linden. “Who’s Foolin Who” also follows that rootsy/bluesy path.

But while it’s certainly got plenty of grit, Down At The Fair does not, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute a radical departure from the norm for Quartette. Yes, you do hear more electric guitar, more punch than you’ve come to expect from the band, but this is not The Band taking Dylan down electric avenue.

And if you’re looking for more of what you’re used to, the soulful roots/country numbers or those pure folk gems with those gorgeous four-part harmonies, they’re there. Just listen to “Sing A Song of Sadness” or “Marie Antoinette.”

There’s actually a lot of variety on this record. And I suspect that will always be the case with Quartette. How could it be otherwise when you’ve got four artists with such diverse tastes and influences.

They also got help from some other ace sidemen, including guitarist/banjo player Carl Jackson, fiddler Stuart Duncan, mandolin/accordian player Fats Kaplan, and keyboard player Richard Bell, who’s since died.