Cerberus Shoal / Crash My Moon Yacht / North East Indie You might find Cerberus Shoal lingering on the edge of the post-rock crowd, but they're much more than that. Anchored by contemporary prog-rock, Cerberus Shoal weaves a delicate tapestry of traditional Eastern instruments, dub rhythms and mimimalist/neoclassicist composition. There's a superficial similarity to Godspeed You Black Emperor, but Godspeed's music carries with it a set of fairly static expectations and goals that Cerebus Shoal's compositions elude...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Drowningman / Rock and Roll Killing Machine / Revelation Unfortunately, this is probably the soundtrack to the next neighborhood school killing spree; this dread-laced, sarcasm ridden CD is gruesomely amusing as it viciously tears another piece from the timeline of hardcore history. "When People Become Numbers" sprays a smattering of frayed, discordant guitar lines at you while overly hysterical vocals shave a few years off of your life...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Metroschifter / Encapsulated / Doghouse If you're unfamiliar with Encapsulated’s premise, please allow me to bring you up to speed. This is a "new" Metroschifter album, but Metroschifter does not appear on it. Performing newly written Metroschifter songs in their place is a hand-picked roster of bands, most of whom you know if not love. After assigning a songs to each band, Metroschifter leader Scott Richter sent his bandmates-by-proxy a rough demo cassette, printed lyrics and a modest recording budget...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Charles Atlas / Play the Spaces / Star Star Stereo The five compositions that make up Play the Spaces employ low-key dialogue between guitar and analog keyboards, filling in only the essential details of song structure and allowing the listener to interpolate the rest. Drums inject rhythm on a couple of tracks, but the overall mood is solemn and subtle. The opening track, "Pondcup", adheres (to some degree) to the post-rock aesthetics of Papa M, Brokeback and other pensive noodlers....more»
		Ether / Music for Air Raids / Extreme With song titles given as bombing coordinates, the band creates aural landscape representations which are vivid and engaging. Like an instrumental version of the Swans, the music is somewhat disturbing with its insistent forward momentum. The opening track, whose coordinates are just southeast of Tokyo, begins with the quiet drone of an airplane which is joined by a buzzing guitar after two minutes...more»
		Jackpot / Weightless / Future Farmer For certain, the alt-country phenomenon has produced a haystack of forced and insincere records -- but in Weightless, Future Farmer might have found the elusive needle. Rusty Miller’s vocals and lyrics are convincing, sometimes even tastefully poetic. But wedged in with the farm fields, wrap-around porches and “making windchimes out of bottlecaps at four in the morning,” there’s also a good smart wit that keeps everything from becoming too damn Indie-Dukes-of-Hazzard...more»
		Mt. St. Helens / On Time, Always / Arborvitae While there are a lot of things to like about On Time, Always, the disc suffers from a less than great recording and mix, and the density of many of the tunes ends up obscuring what would otherwise have been some very nice, subtle moments. In general the sound is too muted and diffused, which takes the edge off what I assume are meant to be sharp and precise songs. The vocals are buried in the mix on most of the tracks, which brings back happy memories of trying to figure out what in the hell Bob Mould was screaming about on those incredibly dense early Hüsker Dü records...more»
		Prettypony / Micro.paillettes / Tigertuff If there are two things I can't get enough of it's masturbating and songs about masturbating. Prettypony perfectly satisfies at least one of my needs. Their debut full-length is riddled with addictive and salacious morsels that make one marvel: man, how much sex do these Indiana folks get? Their sound may be indebted to the Buzzcocks but their lyrics owe more to Pansy Division. Riding atop bouncy beds of crunchy guitar pop are confessional tales of both hetero- and homosexual conquest and frustration...more»
		The Stone Coyotes / Situation Out of Control / Red Cat The Stone Coyotes are a family band. Mom Barbara Keith is the vocalist/guitarist, stepson John Tibbles handles the bass chores and dad Doug Tibbles pounds the skins. If this screams "novelty act" to you, you're not alone; I can't pretend I was looking forward to Situation Out of Control. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I was totally wrong. Situation Out of Control rocks, as do the Stone Coyotes. They rock hard and bluesy, like the best bar band you've ever seen...more»
		Super Furry Animals / Mwng / Flydaddy Where SFA's previous album, Guerrilla, bleeped and clicked, Mwng swells and sways, gently taking your hand and slowly leading you down SFA’s yellow brick road of whimsical pop. Songs like “Dacw Hi” and “Pan Ddaw R Wawr” open themselves up to reveal layer after layer of shimmering guitars and velveteen harmonies; this is what the mid-70s Beach Boys would have sounded like had Brian Wilson not lost the plot. “Y Gwyneb Iau” is so silky smooth that you’ll swear that it was an outtake from Serge Gainsbourg’s infamous Melody Nelson album....more»