Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

What is it about Vancouver and Black Sabbath? First there was Black Mountain and its lo-fi offshoot Pink Mountaintops, both of which clearly worshipped at the altar of Britain’s gods of noize. Now along comes this new four-piece band that is equally indebted to Sabbath’s heavy-metal thunder. Pride Tiger’s debut album is a modern metalhead’s dream, from the boisterous opener “Let It Go” and the boogie workout “What It Is” to the voodoo crunch of “White Witch Woman Blues.” Ozzy’s progeny. June 19

Through the ’90s, Cox dominated the Junos as Canada’s top r&b vocalist. Then the Toronto-born songbird, a former Céline Dion backup singer, flew south to further her career. Now, following acting roles and taking the lead turn in Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, Cox is back with this tribute to her childhood idol Dinah Washington. Featuring big-band numbers (“All of Me”), sultry blues (“Misery”) and evocative ballads (“This Bitter Earth”), the album stretches Cox’s range and proves her versatility as a vocalist. June 19

The first breakout act of electronica is also the movement’s longest surviving one. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have kept their block-rockin’ beats fresh by collaborating with artists as diverse as Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, the Flaming Lips and k-os. On their sixth album, the Grammy winning duo teams up with the Pharcyde’s Fatlip on the zany “Salmon Dance,” singer-songwriter Willy Mason on the hypnotic “Battle Scars” and U.K. buzzband the Klaxons on the dizzying psych-synth workout “All Rights Reserved.” June 19