All Natural / Second Nature / Thrill Jockey Rap has recently enjoyed a resurgence in quality, due in no small part to artists like Mos Def, Jurassic 5 and Company Flow, who with their stinging rhymes, streamlined production values and overall positive message, have turned the tables on the tepid world of mainstream rap. It is from this proverbial "new school" that Chicago duo All Natural have emerged. Just one listen to their sophomore effort, Second Nature will prove that they are at the epicenter of the current hip-hop renaissance...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Multiple Cat / The Golden Apple Hits / Plow City When The Golden Apple Hits arrived chez moi, my initial thought was that I'd received yet another installment of Deep Elm's Emo Diaries. This was due in large part to uncannily similar packaging; The Golden Apple Hits sports the same distinctive cursive font, simple design and limited color scheme that has become synonymous -- in my mind, at least -- with the burgeoning array of Deep Elm compilations. Closer inspection revealed that I couldn't be more wrong...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Tennis / Europe on Horseback / Bip Hop Glitch is usually classified under the rubric "IDM", or Intelligent Dance Music. As usual with such taxonomies, most musicians working in the field disassociate themselves from the label, although it's in fact rather complimentary, especially considering that you can't really dance to it -- a fact which seems, unaccountably, to be conflated with intelligence. Europe on Horseback is, as Peter Buck once described REM's music, "the acceptable end of the unacceptable stuff...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Daevid Allen's University of Errors / E2 X 10 = Tenure / Inner Space Daevid Allen's University of Errors may not fall under the electronic robot pop dichotomy, but it hails from another genre of absurdist perspectives and consciously spastic freak-outs -- psychedelia. Allen, as some of you are hopefully aware, was a founding member of both Prog/Art-Rock purveyors Soft Machine and New York psychedelic wizards Gong; E2 X 10 = tenure, his second album with backing band The University of Errors, continues along the same incomprehensible path as previous projects...more»
		The American Analog Set / Through the '90s: Singles and Unreleased / Emperor Jones Through the '90s, which collects mostly unreleased material, catches the Texan quintet blissed out on a variety of Zen-grooves. Their songs typically proceed by introducing a mid-tempo beat, over which the band uses repetition to weave dense melodic fabrics. The group never hurries through its songs, but prefers to invoke a mood and explore its possibilities. Dominated by vintage synthesizers, their music has a rich, plush feel, never becoming overly saccharine...more»
		Aviso'Hara / Our Lady of the Highway / Vital Cog Though I knew nothing of this band until recently, these guys have actually been around since '95, contributing to numerous compilation albums in addition to releasing a couple of singles and the full length Good Night, Sweetheart. Somewhere in the midst of the usual indie-band touring-like-crazy, Aviso'Hara rounded up their producer/engineer friend Wayne Dorell (Whiskey Town, Chavez) to help piece together what would become Our Lady Of The Highway...more»
		Françoiz Breut / Vingt A Trente Mille Jours / Labels/Virgin France Vingt A Trent Mille Jours isn't one of those super-sugar-sweet confections favored by Bertrand Burgalat and the Tricatel crowd. Breut's music -- penned for her by numerous friends, including past collaborator Dominique Ané -- is far more subtle and introspective, mixing torch songs, downtempo bluesiness and skeletal trip-hop. Straightforward guitar structures are backed in turns by piano, strings, flute and keyboards. Avant garde pianist Yann Tiersen adds some vibraphone action...more»
		Candies / Leaving Our Homes / Turn Post-punk has never been so multifaceted, unique and well thought-out. At peak moments, these songs seem to spread through your mind like a series of small musical explosions. The instrumental portions of Leaving Our Homes (about two thirds of the disc) are an impressive blend of Brian Eno-esque ambience and modern punk, offering more variety than the former and more thoughtfulness than the latter...more»
		Clem Snide / The Ghost of Fashion / spinART The Ghost of Fashion is an album where everything comes together like two nouns in a book about fucking. The relationship between the music and the lyrics is appropriate and natural, while the highly imaginative wordplay ("And it was 'all you can eat' at the Sizzler that night/ My steak-burning Joan Jett of Arc") even falls nicely on the printed page. Place the best phrases from any of these songs side by side, and you have images to burn the night away...more»
		Dan DeChellis / Chamber Music / Sachimay In his improvisational works, including the three pieces on Chamber Music, DeChellis plays piano in an almost of stream-of-consciousness style, flitting between keyboard runs, churning out disjointed dialogues, off-kilter scales and occasional moments of classically-inspired clarity. Sometimes, as on "Deliberate Steps", he'll play in a tentative, exploratory fashion, while on "Conversational Quench" he's at the forefront of the action, assailing his keyboard with an almost brutal energy...more»
		H20 / Go / MCA So, Go is staring at you in the record store and you note that MCA Records has plastered its major label logo on the back of the CD cover. Do you look elsewhere, or snatch up the case? Ultimately, all you need to know is that this New York City quintet has churned out another round of its positive, melodic hardcore, and that it will test your own singing and air guitar-playing skills to their fullest extent. The opener, "Role Model", sounds like something out of H20's back catalog...more»
		Sister Flo / Laurie Moore / Hans Soo Voice Although Sister Flo is a fairly new band, at least two of the members are veterans of Helsinki's music scene; guitarist Petri Nakari, for instance, used to be in Napanöyhtä. The members' previous experience stands them in good stead on Laurie Moore. Nakari is a Jason Falkner fan, and patterns his vocals accordingly, while also tipping his hat to Barafundle-era Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The quietly strummed guitars take precedence, sharing the stage with the vocals...more»
		The Starve / Self-Titled / Self-Released It's ironic that out of a sea of flashy cover art and praise-happy press kits, the best album is a CD-R wrapped in an old Pabst Blue Ribbon 12-pack case and held together with duct tape. The band's name, The Starve, is hastily written in marker on the front. No press kit, no info...just fucking garage rock and roll in the best possible way. This is the music Greil Marcus masturbates to. It exists in a world where there is no such thing as the day -- only never-ending Saturday nights where the cigarettes never burn out...more»