Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman / Nankuru Naisa / World Music Network This wonderful disc works on many levels, offering both immediate hooks and deeply buried emotions. The combination of traditional Asian instruments with those usually found in Western music gives the album a sound that is both familiar and alien, like hearing your favorite song filtered through the fanciful distortion of a dream. Because of the unusual influences, the album works as an introduction to musical traditions outside of many people's ken....more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Mondo Grosso / MG4 / Sony Imports "New Star", first in the three-part "Star Suite", hints at the subtle tension to be found in MG4's blend of classical Latin samba and bossa nova, early '90s acid jazz and contemporary 2-Step beats from the clubs of London: "Surrounded by ghosts of the past/With traditions and a culture that last/Through centuries her ancestors cast/She wants only to grow up fast/And be a part of the mass." The album's production is cutting-edge, combining the above-mentioned styles along with a smattering of hip-hop and drum 'n' bass beats...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Tindersticks / Can Our Love... / Beggars Banquet Unless you're one of the statistical few who married his or her high school sweetheart, at least one time in your life you've probably had a failed romance. Clinging to a glass of some kind of booze, woozily pouring your heart out to friends, you end up wishing someone could know how you feel. At precisely this point, Stuart Staples and the Tindersticks are playing your song -- or rather, many of them. Can Our Love... offers another, slightly more upbeat answer to your pleas...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Waterboys / A Rock in the Weary Land / Razor & Tie There are rewards for patience. This particular version of the album includes two bonus tracks not included on the European release -- "Lucky Day/Bad Advice" and "My Lord, What A Morning". Die hard Mike Scott fans will notice that the latter was included on the EP Is She Conscious. An added, though possibly minor point of distinction is the sequencing of the tracks. For the US release, Scott reworked the running order of the songs until he found a flow to his liking...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Beta Band / Hot Shots II / Astralwerks If you live in a poorly-lit third-floor studio apartment in a dull, rainy town -- Watford, perhaps, or Seattle -- Hot Shots II may be the soundtrack to the rest of your life. Slow and somnolent, the disc is rarely faster or more lucid than a 3:00 a.m. nacho run. Most of it sounds a lot like the end-credit song from the Monkees TV series played at two-thirds speed (see "Gone" in particular). The beats will keep you awake, of course; as always, the Beta Band favor powerful, hip-hop-derived mid-tempo rhythms...more»
		Bootleg / Hated By Many Loved By Few / Overcore It's important to note that the foundation of any good rap album is the quality of its beats, and there's a seemingly endless supply of them here. Unfortunately, there's no making out who the master behind the music is, as our advance of the album doesn't include liner notes. Regardless, Bootleg takes from his Dayton Family roots and the hard-knocks street-life of Flint, Michigan, letting loose a tirade of rage on the materialistically honest "My Money's My Mission"...more»
		Circle of Dead Children / The Genocide Machine / Deathvomit What makes an album like The Genocide Machine more accessible to those of us who aren’t necessarily extreme metal fans are the elements of hardcore and crust punk that the band uses throughout the album. "Cremation (Become the Flame)" opens like new school hardcore, then erupts into an onslaught of literally crushing noise. And then, of all the shocking things, they slow it down, letting the song dissipate into feedback and distortion. All in the space of one minute and 32 seconds...more»
		Alejandro Escovedo / A Man Under the Influence / Bloodshot With a unique perspective on family, lost love and his Mexican heritage, Alejandro Escovedo uncovers rock 'n' roll like a long-lost artifact, turning it this way and that in the sun, showing us the dazzling dapples while never hiding the tarnished edges. A Man Under the Influence showcases all of Escovedo's talents and travels, from his purist punk beginning to the story-telling prowess that's a trademark of the best alt-country. Escovedo's real success is songs that resonate deep within the soul...more»
		Love Camp 7 / Vacation Village / Fabco Dann Baker and Love Camp 7 have made the rare record that pursues and thoroughly captures the spirit, if not the sound, of post-Pet Sounds Brian Wilson. Here you have the daydreams of adults who never aged past seventeen, and who refuse to denude their shirts of buttons proclaiming their heroes' names. They assign cutesy song titles, but their songs, like "Not Cool Enough for Daryl Genis's Party", fully capture the fragile, awkward moments of adolescence with honesty and love...more»
		Mr. Velcro Fastener / Lucky Bastards Living Up North / i220 Playing a style of techno tagged nu-electro, Mr. Velcro Fastener fashion themselves after the simplistic efforts of Kraftwerk, albeit with a modern twist. While the minimalist approach doesn't score the duo any points on the conceptual scale, the increased emphasis on hooks and structured beats clearly plays to their advantage. Songs like "Phlegmatic" suffuse early analog beats with vocoder driven vox, anchoring the album in an emergent '80s sound...more»
		Neu! / Neu!/Neu!2/Neu!'75 / Astralwerks In 1971, unhappy with the direction they felt Kraftwerk was taking, Dinger and Rother left to form Neu! -- and basically, the rest is history. These Astralwerks reissues of their seminal Neu!, Neu!2 and Neu!'75 albums mark the first time that these albums will be readily available outside of the group’s native Germany. Though the duo's debut album, simply entitled Neu!, was recorded in only four days, its effect on the world of music is still being felt today...more»
		Prairie Dog Flesh / Take the Green Over the Red / Three Lobed Let's get the factual stuff out of the way right away: Prairie Dog Flesh is a Bardo Pond side project -- or, if you'd prefer, a short-staffed version of Bardo Pond. Previously limited to live appearances, PDF makes its recorded debut here. Culled from an eight year backlog of recordings, Take the Green Over the Red is the band's finest hour, making them perhaps the only act in history to debut with what is, essentially, a "Greatest Hits" record...more»
		Sapien / Under the Dark End Sky / Kazmodawn Vincent Seratti, known in his small corner of the music world as Sapien, could be considered a visionary artist. Under the Dark End Sky incorporates countless influences, creating music which veers wildly -- and constantly -- between styles, creating a situation wherein the listener will hear not only the songs Seratti has created, but also the previous artists whose work he is building upon. You may ask, justifiably, how such an act makes Sapien visionary. The answer is far more obvious than you may think...more»
		Space / New Music for Woodwinds and Voice/An Interesting Breakfast Conversation / Mutable Music Putting Roscoe Mitchell, Thomas Buckner and Gerald Oshita in a room together is as good a way as any to ensure a high level of freakiness. Roscoe Mitchell is one of Creative Music's granddaddies, having had a hand in the establishment of both the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago. He plays about a zillion instruments; here, he plays a variety of saxes and clarinets...more»
		Walker Kong / There Goes the Sun / Magic Marker What if Belle and Sebastian had hailed from Minneapolis instead of the UK? They might sound a lot like Walker Kong. There Goes the Sun has that same preciousness that fuels B and S, but the album makes references to The US Constitution and the President rather than vicars or whatever. Oh, I'll admit, the whole album isn't If You're Feeling Sinister. In fact, Walker Kong's influences are pretty diverse -- "New Fallout Fashions" sounds like ABC or the Human League ...more»