Align / Some Breaking News / Iguana During the late 1990s, just when hard rock seemed to be rising from its grave, it was buried under piles of half-assed bands whose commercial take on heavy metal was clearly geared for maximum revenue. Suckers like Creed, Godsmack and Fuel destroyed any honest momentum the genre had. Luckily, Align have arrived on the scene to show these losers how it's done. Hailing from Minneapolis, this quartet repeats the feats of other Minnesota exports like Prince and Hüsker Dü...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Monaco / Self-Titled / Roadrunner When Peter Hook created Monaco with David Potts, he had finally come to grips with the fact that his work with New Order was great, and that his artistic impulses are best expressed with thumping, urgent bass pounding against, around and behind Sumner-esque vocals. Potts is not Bernard Sumner, but you can't tell at all from the vocals. He delivers the lyrics, often positive but still a bit somber, in a very Sumneresque manner, with such feeling and yearning that the sensuality of the bass never remains subtle...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Scratch Pet Land / Solo Soli IIIII / Thrill Jockey Belgian band Scratch Pet Land was discovered by Air's Nicolas Godin (presumably a stage in his quest to prove to the world that French-speaking pop musicians don't have to sound like Patrick Bruel!) and seems to take a preliminary cue from Air's fun-loving, electronic sound. However, rather than heading straight for the disco, Scratch Pet Land's music is gently experimental in nature. While still pushing the boundaries of traditional song structure and instrumentation, it is playful rather than confrontational...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		Black Box Recorder / The Facts of Life / Jetset On The Facts of Life, Haines and musical co-conspirator cum multi-instrumentalist John Moore construct a vast sonic wonderland in which Nixey’s starry-eyed vocals are given free reign. "The Art of Driving" finds her cooing seductively over twinkling percussion and gentle breaks as she and Haines engage in an erotically charged musical conversation. "Weekend" and "Straight Life" showcase Moore’s more unabashedly pop leanings, employing ultra-smooth production and shimmering keyboards...more»
		Various Artists / The Braindance Coincidence / Rephlex The sixteen tracks on The Braindance Coincidence take the listener along a journey full of dubs, loops, techno beats and other soundscapes, giving way to several standout tracks. Bochum Welt's "Fortune Green," plays like a lullaby for children of electronica with its carefully executed and rather striking simplicity. "Psultan" by Chaos A.D. reminds me a bit of Stereolab at certain points (minus Laetitia Sadier, obviously), but with more of a trippy feel as it goes along...more»
		Fonda / The Strange and the Familiar / Hidden Agenda/Parasol The Strange and the Familiar continues LA-based Fonda's evolution from a trippy sixties-style girlpop outfit to Lush, Mk.II. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; Lush never really made a go of it themselves, so somebody else should be able to enjoy the success they could have had. Why can Fonda succeed where others failed? Because they have a bit more backbone than the competition, that's why. Yes, Fonda writes songs about sunshine and summer and love and dancing, but there's a mature hand at the till...more»
		Annie Hayden / The Rub / Merge Hayden writes pretty, tuneful songs about everyday life, normal people and regular dreams, and she sings them in a sweet, uncontrived voice. The music, most of which she performed herself, is subtle, melodic, folk-tinged guitar-based stuff, with keyboards, bass, piano and trumpet rounding things out. The orchestrations tend to be pretty sparse affairs, although a few tracks, like "Lovely to See", manage to squeeze a remarkable lushness out of fairly limited resources...more»
		Loki / Self-Titled / Open Door/March The album plays well enough in mixed company, but solitary listening provides gives you occasion to find all its intimate subtlies and delicate interworkings. Christian Goodwillie and Jeff Gibbe are the bassist and drummer, respectively, for the live incarnation of Kleenex Girl Wonder. For Loki, both play guitar, keyboard and percussion, with Goodwillie handling all the vocals. Diverging from the rough production and hook-laden pop of their day job, Loki crafts pretty, madrigal-like songs...more»
		Migala / Arde / Acuarela The components of the album -- strings, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, percussion, accordion, the lilting Spanish accent of the English vocals and the "noise" of the "efectos especiales" -- seem at once randomly placed and lovingly crafted. Listening to Arde conjures an image of twisting the dial of a short-wave radio in the Spanish countryside and picking up both the melodic, mournful music of the rural hills and the incessant chatter of the urban street...more»
		The Sadies / Tremendous Efforts / Bloodshot While an occasional Bloodshot Records release strikes me as a bit contrived -- you know, bands trying so hard to be country though they're Chicago to the bone -- the Sadies don't risk that shortcoming. It's not so much that they do everything right, but that they're claiming new territory that's less country and more '60s bubblegum, shit-kicker pop music. Some cuts, namely "Loved on Look", resurrect another mix of country and pop that passed last year...more»
		The Stereo / No Traffic / Fueled By Ramen The thing I like most about The Stereo is that they sound like a mildly-punked-up version of eighties schlock-pop stalwarts Journey. I never liked Journey, but their "best" songs made use of essential, nigh-irresistible pop elements: crunchy guitar riffs, soaring melodies, powerful drumming and a strong vocalist. Woolford takes these elements and runs them through a sort of punk rock filter, adding a healthy dose of Replacements-style attitude, a pinch of Squeeze-y vocal cleverness and a modicum of modern-day emo angst...more»
		Howard Zinn / Stories Hollywood Never Tells / Alternative Tentacles Zinn applies his exceptional wit and brilliant analytical skills, scrutinizing and suggesting several movie scripts that Hollywood producers would probably never dare to film due to their unconventional content. Zinn is known for his examination of overlooked history and its application to modern society's trials and tribulations. While you may have thought history was nothing but a terrible drag in school, Zinn employs historical study to create candid reactions in his listeners and readers...more»