The Dwarves / Come Clean / Epitaph You’ve gotta hand it to the band, as its members have persevered through many a trying time, and after landing a deal with Epitaph they've put out an album that’s not necessarily the band’s best work (attempt a listen to "Johnny On the Spot" and you’ll wonder who wrote this pile, complete with an irritating "whoa-whoa" chorus!). But Come Clean still has some classic lines -- uncool shit your parents will hate, which may even breach your own personal line of decency...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		David Holmes / Bow Down to the Exit Sign / Go! Beat Loosely based around a screenplay written by Lisa Barros D'Sa, Bow Down... is the soundtrack to the most unholy of nightmares and the most unsanitary of people. To bring these characters to life, Holmes has assembled an all-star cast of collaborators, including Bobby G., Kevin Shields, Martina Toppley-Bird, Jon Spencer and Carl Hancock Rux, each playing out their assigned role in this most disturbingly eclectic of musical tales...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Derjason / It Doesn't Show / Smokeylung The first eight tracks of this two-part CD are titled "Side Swab and D", and they makes the group appear to be Derek Richey's own "Folk Implosion" project. The ever-evolving songs seem as wild and eclectic as Brando's, yet they're a little more mellow, with a soulful aura wrapping around them like latex, and making Derek's unique perspective again very accessible and inviting to the ears. Among the highlights in these tracks is the brothers' dance-song rewrite of the Olivias' "Define a Transparent Dream"...more»
		Kind of Like Spitting / You Secretly Want Me Dead / Hush While the lyrics steer the direction of the melodies for Ben's songs, it's done in a good way, shaping the music to come out as authentic as the thoughts he conveys. Unlike the brilliant Paul Westerberg, who tends to stumble when leaving well-worn melodies, Barnett has made it his gift to make songs that individually run scattershot across the spectrum of our moods -- never taking their leaps of emotion on cue, but as randomly as the days in any good old manic depressive's life...more»
		Laika / Good Looking Blues / Beggars Banquet The songs on Good Looking Blues are atmospheric and elusive, yet also pleasant and in one case even funny. The opener, "Black Cat Bone", combines sinister instrumental outbursts (the bass clarinet will sound forever sinister to me after my life-changing audition of Bitches Brew as an impressionable youth!) with Fiedler's seductive, half-whispered rap. It is at once diabolic and alluring, and the "little girl" quality of the chorus reminds me of Japanese cutey pie Takako Minekawa...more»
		Various Artists / Planetarium: Electronic Emissions from Richmond, Virginia / Planetary The little I know of Virginia seems to be anathema to electronic music: surely the state that gave us Colonial Williamsburg could not also manufacture its own gabber? However, the twenty songs on this two disc set were apparently culled from more than a hundred submissions. For all I know, there may be entire Virginia towns in which everyone spends their evenings tinkering with 303s. While I'm not ready to crown Virginia the new techno capitol of the world, they're certainly making some good music...more»
		Spoozys / Astral Astronauts / Jetset If you like to dance, and enjoy a good riff (sampled or otherwise), you're going to enjoy Astral Astronauts. The back of the album lists BPM rates along with the songs -- typically a clear indication that there'll be more than a little toe-tapping going on. Think big guitar riffs, heavy beats and goofy vocals that veer between B-52s-style kookiness ("Then and Now" even cops a chunk of "Planet Claire") and haughty glam-rock pouting. Despite the presence of keyboards and drum machines, Astral Astronauts has the spirit of a rock and roll album; it's bouncy, goofy and spontaneous in a way that electronic music usually isn't...more»
		Tahiti 80 / Puzzle / Minty Fresh At times, Xavier Boyer’s voice has an uncanny similarity to Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier’s; also like Stereolab, Tahiti 80 obviously has a hefty sense of irony, disguised as wide-eyed naiveté. Their irony comes in their ability to design something that is obviously impossible these days: smooth-as-glass pop songs, intelligently and artfully created. No one can sound this sweet and be this good at it unless, on some level, they don’t mean it...more»
		Ten in the Swear Jar / My Very Private Map / Random Order Wonky baritone sax propels "Sad Girl" into some down-and-dirty musical nether-world. Cheezeball effects, accordion and a great chorus combine to form a strangely wonderful pop song in "Don't Play the Drumz". "Sita Deth" should soon be a classic in the always inviting alt-guitar-rock-with-screamed/whispered-vocals genre. And not only is "When You Write (Black Angels Version)" just about the prettiest love song you're going to hear all year, but it also has lots of tweaky sound effects that go zipping around your moony-eyed little head...more»
		Test Tone Channel / Running for Words / Matlock Test Tone Channel bear no more than a slight resemblance to Stereolab, but it's a good starting point. Credit the resemblance to Chastity Alward, whose sweet, slightly accented vocals and analog keyboard stylings give Running For Words much of its pop lightness. Alward seems to be taking her cues from prog-rock -- even on the album's poppiest tunes, her melodic foundation seems to stretch toward the sky, as if yearning for freedom...more»