Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Her Pips have peaked, but the veteran Knight soldiers on with songs associated with her musical heroines. Produced by Tommy LiPuma (Diana Krall) and Phil Ramone (Ray Charles), this classy collection features the former Motown vocalist applying her elegant pipes to Lena Horne’s “Stormy Weather,” Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth” and Mahalia Jackson’s “Come Sunday.” Although Knight never met Billie Holiday, her soulful takes on “The Man I Love” and “God Bless the Child” do even Lady Day proud. June 6          

She’s one of Canada’s most diverse artists, a singer, poet, actress and erstwhile circus performer (Cirque du Soleil’s 2003 erotic cabaret Zumanity). So it’s no surprise that Starr’s fourth release, her most commercial to date, should run the gamut from blues and rock to her “hippie hop” brand of provocative urban music. The edgy “Step Back” and the flowing “Rock the Boat” are stirring missives from the racial and sexual battlefields, while “La Le Lala” is breezy pop and the title track a sexy rocker worthy of Liz Phair.  

It’s a long way from the dream-pop of her band Stars and its signature song “Your Ex-Lover is Dead.” But Millan, leaning more to twang than the torch of labelmate Feist, has clearly been aching to croon some lonesome country tunes. Her long-awaited solo debut, featuring bluegrass musicians Dan and Jenny Whiteley and members of Broken Social Scene, is full of plaintive songs like “Come Home Loaded Roadie,” “Pour Me Up Another” and “He Brings Out the Whiskey in Me” about love, loss and, yup, the bottle.