Robert Normandeau / Sonars / Rephlex Sonars collects six works, spanning fourteen years, from 1985 to 1999. Despite the wide time frame in which Normandeau created these compositions, the CD is surprisingly coherent and unified. Each piece is a seamless continuum between dramatically artificial and dislocated organic sources. You're continually confronted with roiling cascades of chiming synthetics -- sounds that seem entirely unnatural at first listen. With closer attention, the layers of artificiality and resynthesis are peeled away...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Rapture / Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks / Sub Pop The musical stream of consciousness that is The Rapture seems to flow from the wellspring of acts like PIL and Television -- bands that saw the burned out cavity left by first-wave punk bands and filled it with something pop-like. The Rapture embraces a stark, angular vision of pop, blending elements of dance music with fuzzed-out, stripped-down rock. The band's highly developed sense of melody can be heard in disparate layers of their music, from the agile basslines to the catchy yet shrewish vocals...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Trailer Bride / High Seas / Bloodshot With equal appreciation for sea shanties and twanging banjos, Trailer Bride's third album draws from a full well of American music. Country and bluegrass provide a solid foundation for sharp portraits of drifters and outlaws, broken hearts and hopeful dreams, but there's nothing formulaic about this roots music. High Seas has more in common with the Southern Gothic sensibility of the Geraldine Fibbers than many of Blooshot Records' other neo-traditional country artists...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		AM/FM / Mutilate Us / Polyvinyl No matter where your current musical taste resides, chances are you've been caught up in the emo backlash -- and as such, any positive review of AM/FM will instantly trigger cries of "Pffft, dude...they're on Polyvinyl". (Don't feel alone, I put off reviewing the CD based on the same assumption). Truth be told, AM/FM aren't a bunch of sideburn-sporting guys not-so-patiently waiting to track some whiny vocals atop stolen riffs and ear-wrenching breakdowns. Rather, they're an entirely competent pop band...more»
		Ashley Park / The American Scene / Darling/Kindercore I find it ironically amusing that Canadian Terry Miles, the man behind Ashley Park, has named his new album The American Scene. While maintaining the same twee, childlike vocals and quirky instrumentation that make Kindercore the most aptly named record label of all time, Miles adds an extremely mellow and mysterious spin to the mix. Slide guitars and layers of thick keyboards haunt minor chord changes over downtempo grooves...more»
		Beans / Crane Wars / Zum While Beans sound more than a little like other bands with brief or single-word names -- Pele, L'Altra, 33.3, even Tortoise -- those bands seem to reach for at least a small measure of exoticism. Nothing could be more everyday, more run-of-the-mill, more downright bland than Beans. Of course, the Beans aren't bland, and as far as commercial radio is concerned, they certainly aren't run-of-the-mill. But the Beans are accessible in a way that so much sprawling, textural music isn't; their songs are simple, insular, conversational and direct...more»
		DJ Dara / Future Perfect / Moonshine Drum-and-bass fans jump back; Irish DJ Dara already has the American scene cornered. His Future Perfect is looking like just that -- an indication of things to come -- and his present is pretty damn good. Anyone who was disappointed in Rinsimus Maximus (I wasn't) can rest assured that Dara is in top form here. Future Perfect is a lot lighter than Halfway Home, as well. It's far more energetic and upbeat; perhaps Dara has had enough of exploring his dark side...more»
		Fightmaster / Closer Now / Bitchwarrior Before you listen to Closer Now, you'll notice that its cover art suggests plenty. Besides the fact that the name Fightmaster sounds like a bad metal band, the record label, Bitchwarrior, doesn't dispel the presumption that you're in store for a mélange of metal and cranked-up Marshall cabinets. Oh, how wrong assumptions can sometimes be! Fightmaster is practically the exact opposite of these baseless hypotheses, as their hospitable Americana-rock is much more in line with Nashville country than European metal...more»
		The Lies / Resigned / Kill Rock Stars The simple, cheerful guitar melody that launches "Accident & Emergency", Resigned's first track, briefly suggests that the band has gone the indie-pop route. Don't panic; the song's driving melody, combining an array of ultra-heavy keyboard chords and a gently chugging guitar riff, comes down like a cartload of bricks, lending a curious, cloying weight to what would otherwise be a mild-mannered pop song. "Perverse", a bittersweet ballad punctuated by a striking, keyboard-intensive refrain, helps to increase the disc's mourful air...more»
		Migala / Arde / Sub Pop Sometimes the darkest music also proves to be the most comforting. Such is the case with Migala's first US release, Arde. Migala's sense of melancholy, combined with Leonard Cohen-like vocals, lends itself to a mood that is at once peaceful and somber. The beauty in all this melancholy is that, interspersed among the reverberating guitars and mournful keyboards, you'll find an assortment of cheerful instruments...more»
		The Pearlfishers / Across the Milky Way / Marina The Pearlfishers are an intelligent, classy pop band, skilled at capturing the indescribable everyday moments of life in song. When they sing of childhood ("I Was a Cowboy"), they go so far as to describe pictures in your own house, when Dad was eight, on a horse and happy, if not thoroughly so. And when they're trying to put forth the notion that "everything works out", the members of the band break out into the signature sound of contentment and joy: they whistle...more»
		Pee Wee Fist / Flying / Kimchee I’ve been avoiding this album since I got it because I thought the name "The Pee Wee Fist" was totally stupid. Once again, my judgmental nature got the better of me. Full of resonating, heavy pop, Flying is the Kimchee Records debut from this unfortunately-named band. There’s a nice texture to these songs, kind of like a Veluxe blanket -- you know, sort of velvety, but a little thicker, with greater friction. The album comes out like gangbusters with the opening track...more»
		Rhea's Obsession / Re:initiation / Metropolis It is a bizzare notion that a band could simultaneously score on both the goth-industrial and new age charts, but the fact that Rhea's Obsession has done just that hints at how impressive their music is. This project was initiated by Sue Hutton and Jim Field, who, by combining their individual backgrounds, created a heady musical blend that touches on both ancient tradition and modern innovation. The concept of using modern instrumentation to reinterpret traditional music is nothing new...more»
		Amanda Thorpe / Mass / Cropduster Mass is the perfect antidote for Pink Floyd-induced mental disorders. Don't get me wrong -- Mass has plenty of emotion, but it's channeled completely differently than most music. Unlike The Wall, Mass has no guitar solos or bleeding-heart voices. Rather, the album is filled with rounded curves and smooth, smooooooth instrumentation, but it avoids excessive production glitz. The emotions are created subtly, and the music literally sounds like smoke...more»
		TW Walsh / Blue Laws / Truckstop Walsh doesn't showboat. None of the songs on Blue Laws, his second album, go out of their way to grab the listener's attention -- there's nothing striking, nothing unusual, nothing overtly flashy. The album is basically just Walsh and his guitar, with occasional string accents to prevent monotony from setting in. After a few tracks, however, something begins to change. The songs begin to draw you in, revealing simple and fragile, yet amazingly beautiful, melodies...more»