The Anubian Lights / Naz Bar / Crippled Dick Hot Wax Somewhere in between groove-laden electronica and intriguing, neo-space-lounge ambience is The Anubian Lights' Naz Bar. Tracking a course that goes far beyond the typical orbit, The Lights have created one of the most intoxicating and invigorating electronic releases in recent memory. Supposedly known for their wild and eccentric record collection, Tommy Grenas and Len Del Rio prove that they've not only done their homework but have brown nosed for plenty of extra credit, too...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Members of Tinnitus / Tactics for Instant Music / iDeal/Conspiracy I think that this record should be given to every group of guys that gets together and decides to start a rock band. First they should be told "Don't start a rock band! Please." Then, if they insist, they should be given this record and told "Don't start a rock band! Please. But if you must start a rock band, it has to be cooler than The Members of Tinnitus. If your band isn't cooler than The Members of Tinnitus, then you have to turn in your guitars and learn to do something useful, like designing highly efficient solar-powered personal jetpacks"...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Projektor / Red Wolf Glass / Endearing It's not that Projektor are angry; impassioned would be a better description, but their passion is close enough to anger to fit the popular ideal. More importantly, such fervid emotion allows for greater perspective and greater artistry than raw anger. Unlike less talented groups, who use big riffs and glitzy production to cover up their lack of musical substance, Projektor knows their way around an axe. They're transatlantic cousins of the Catherine Wheel, channeling the guitar-pop of the Stone Roses...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Clientele / Suburban Light / Merge The band seems content with their minimal, three-piece structure, and it works completely in their favor. Simple Belle and Sebastian-esque drum beats and basslines scurry beneath Alasdair Maclean’s gorgeously picked, Nick Drake influenced electric guitar and permanently reverb-soaked vocals, his voice coarse and wise enough to warrant a casual early Bowie reference. Occasionally psychedelic backing vocals, short, smart guitar solos, organs and bells subtly flesh out the mix...more»
		Mark Eitzel / The Invisible Man / Matador The Invisible Man is perhaps Eitzel's most intimate effort to date, and he completed most of it on his own, with minor recording assistance from a scattering of friends and colleges. Combining acoustic and electronic elements isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but in Eitzel's hands the result is seamless to the point where it's almost unnoticeable. All that's retained in the transition from one track to another is the pureness of music. The means to that pureness seem almost unimportant...more»
		Peter Green / Macbeth: An Original Score / Rephlex Macbeth's tale of treachery, murder and retribution translates readily to almost any sociopolitical grouping, from corporations and governments to organized crime and alien worlds. Accordingly, while Peter Green's striking electronic/electroacoustic Macbeth score, commissioned by the United Spirits Theatre Company for a production in London's West End, might seem risky and ground-breaking to listeners whose idea of cutting-edge theatre is Starlight Express, it really isn't...more»
		Kristin Hersh / Sunny Border Blue / Beggars Banquet/4AD On Sunny Border Blue, Hersh plays all of the instruments and produces herself to stunningly ferocious effect. Even without a band behind her -- the Muses split in 1997 due to financial difficulties -- Hersh can fill a room with her voice, with quiet exactitude or harsh anger. Songs like the album-opening "Your Dirty Answer" lay bare wounds which sound raw: "It's not my fault/It's not my fault you don't love me," she sings with seemingly righteous indignation...more»
		Juno / A Future Lived in Past Tense / DeSoto I read a review of Juno’s first album, This Is The Way It Goes and Goes and Goes, which described the band as believing that the best way to get from point A to point B isn’t a straight line. That’s about as apt a description of Juno as you can get, and it holds true for A Future Lived In Past Tense. This one’s like an atmospheric journey, riding a wave of sound as it glides across the planet’s surface. First the sea, then the tundra, then we're in a rolling meadow somewhere...more»
		Rovo / Imago / Incidental Imago begins with the tectonic roar of "N’Dam". Sounding not entirely unlike a Stravinsky soundtrack to a boxing match between Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, the song staggers about for the better part of eight minutes, tossing off chunks of white-hot melody and frenetic breakbeats as it goes. From there, things only get stranger, as "Horses" kicks in with a flurry of tribal percussion and ghastly echoes, eventually culminating in a cacophonous finale that would make Mike Patton proud...more»
		The Russian Futurists / The Method of Modern Love / Upperclass The Method of Modern Love is a confident collection of reverb and synthetic beats overlaying a fuzzy, yet altogether infectious production job. Lyrically, the album tends toward life's most enduring subject -- love -- and never veers from its set course; some songwriters have built their careers on discussion and dissection of the topic, so an album's worth isn't nearly as trying as one might expect. If the Magnetic Fields come to mind, you're on the right track...more»
		The Third Eye Foundation / I Poo Poo On Your Juju / Merge Just as girls named Bertha occasionally grow up to be thin, I Poo Poo On Your Juju rises above its name to deliver a wealth of worthwhile material. Many artists can't even remix their own material interestingly, so Elliott's ability to expand the scope of other artists' work is certainly impressive. He has a knack for making music...spooky. Listen to "La Dispute", by French minimalist pianist Yann Tiersen, and you'll see what I mean. This is actually a rather extreme instance...more»
		Turin Brakes / The Optimist LP / Astralwerks Remote from anything electronic, Turin Brakes represents a sort of acoustic, folkie renaissance. They write simple, emotive songs that highlight singer Olly Knights' unique voice and guitarist Gale Paridjanian's bluesy slide style. The Optimist LP, collects previously released tracks from their first three EPs, as well as a slew of new material. They at once command a strong sense of pop, expressed in beautiful melodies and lush arrangements, and a rootsy organicism that recalls artists like Van Morrison...more»
		John Vanderslice / Time Travel is Lonely / Barsuk While the album achieves continuity through musical interludes between its tales, the wonders here lie entirely within the individual songs. Poetic, evocative and stirring, Vanderslice weaves short stories that paint detailed and glowing pictures in the space of a few lines. Melodically, Vanderslice's choices bring to mind the aquatic feel of Ween's The Mollusk; he uses instrumentation that furthers the mood created by the lyrics, with smashing results...more»
		Waltz For Debbie / Gone and Out / Hidden Agenda While the band's music comes across like the perfect soundtrack for all those movie moments when Eric Stoltz gives a drummer girl earrings, Waltz for Debbie are not fluff. They're not even about the operatic highs we receive from a first kiss or a final farewell. Believe it or not, the duo of Martin Permer and Annica Lundback are realists. While their unsparing directness bears a whiff of Bergmanesque camp, their dramas cry less and contain far more of-the-moment observations...more»