Daryll-Ann / Happy Traum / Excelsior Daryll-Ann are firmly ensconced in our age; it just happens that we're suckers for the same kind of jangly, gentle psychedelia that wafted from dorm room speakers three decades ago. Over 45 minutes (it's a packed album, but a comparatively punchy CD), these fourteen songs cover a lot of territory within a fairly constrained aesthetic, from the chiming opener, "Surely Justice" through Byrds-like country on "All By Myself" and the quietly contemplative "Ask Anyone", to the spare "Freedom is a Gift"...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band / Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward / Constellation Oddly, while Born Into Trouble... continues the band's exploration of classical sounds and structures, it's also the closest they've come to -- for want of a better term -- "pop". Most of the pieces here are of "manageable" length; only one crosses the ten minute mark, and another tune compensates by finishing in under five. Whereas GYBE favors thundering, electrifying musical peaks, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra hangs its hat on a framework of mournful, otherworldly sentimentality...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Soundtrack of Our Lives / Extended Revelation (for the Psychic Weaklings of the Western Civilization) / Hidden Agenda Although this six-man band is from Sweden, they have more in common with their British neighbors than with, say, The Cardigans. After the disc opens with a short instrumental, we get "Psychomantum X2000", a blatant lift of the Beatles’ "Tomorrow Never Knows"; I think they even go as far as to sample the original. The song’s opening words, "Step into my afterworld, find yourself at home," are certainly an apt introduction to the long, dark, psychedelic journey that awaits the listener...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		You Am I / Dress Me Slowly / BMG Australia You Am I have been the biggest rock band (indie or not) in Australia for quite a few years -- they've had something like three of their albums enter the charts at #1. Despite this, they have yet to make anything less than a minor dent in the US market. Previous releases have catered more to the power-pop fetishist than to the average rock fan, but Dress Me Slowly, if their record company would just let it, has the potential to bring this excellent band the legions of worldwide fans that they so richly deserve...more» FEATURED ON THE BOOMBOX!
		The Charlatans UK / Wonderland / MCA Wonderland is the group’s seventh album in just over ten years, and its seemingly endless reliance on modern technology heralds a new era of their existence. Produced by the Charlatans themselves, with assistance from dance auteur Danny Saber and James Spencer, Wonderland is the sound of a band embracing and then discarding its past in order to forge ahead into a new tomorrow. The youthful exuberance of Between 10th and 11th and Up to Our Hips is gone...more»
		Cruiser / Northern Electric / Devil In The Woods The album's first two tracks, "Personality: Goes a Long Way" and "Blown", stake their claim in an assertive flurry of insistent percussion and twittering, birdlike turntable scratching. Both songs diffuse their rhythms' nervous energy with rich string textures and the lingering, hazy drone of shoegazer-friendly guitar riffs. There's a lot of potential energy in those feedback-laden chords; they're stretched dangerously thin, like rubber bands -- and they're ready to snap back...more»
		Elevenland / Drowning Missouri / Orange Entropy The record revolves around musical cinema-verité, in which life is viewed through the parallax of a movie camera. "Red Leader" begins the album on an appropriately punkish note, with a raucous Violent Femmes vs. The Cramps Block Party that'll have you stomping your feet clear through the floorboards. Lead guitarist Chris Harford is one of those truly rare players who can play fills and solos without ever making the instrument sound trite...more»
		Get Well Soon / The Green Room EP / Self-Released When you're reviewing three CDs a week, you notice that bands often seem to walk a fine line between emotional sincerity and shock effect. The lump in my throat and my somewhat watery eyes tell me that Crissenger is quite sincere. His arrangements are more laid-back, sometimes structured on top of an interesting beat; his voice is sweet and melodic, in the spirit of Elliott Smith or Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard. Very little is forced...more»
		Jindra / Guitar + Voice: Volume I / Self-Released Yes, Guitar + Voice: Volume One is a single acoustic guitar accompanied by a single voice. There is no bass or percussion, and not a keyboard or string section to be heard -- nor is there even a backing vocal harmony. Guitar and voice. It's really that simple. This much simplicity can sometimes be difficult to listen to; there is nothing to distract, so the listener is forced to really listen. Somehow, Jindra makes this less of a chore and more of an enjoyable experiment in attention-span measurement...more»
		Marion Delgado / An Unfocused Lens Serves a Purpose After All / Bug This band is composed of a group of intense young men who are very much in touch with their feelings; specifically, they feel deeply about the emotional subjects touched upon on An Unfocused Lens.... They discuss relationships (both platonic and romantic), employ interesting melodic and vocal textures and leave the listener feeling both a bit of the pain that the breakdown in human communications can produce and a satisfying sort of catharsis. In other words, it's yet another well-made emo album...more»
		Edoardo Marraffa / Solo / Bassessferec Edoardo Marraffa has spent the last ten years immersing himself in Italy's musical avant garde, and has become the ideal "free jazz" musician. He is not screechingly pretentious, though he certainly can make noise; neither is he a false messiah, exalting the listener's role in music or proclaiming the death of old melodic structures. Instead, Marraffa is a wandering thinker in a communal art form. He wants to discover an unknown aspect of living, or just an aspect of his profession (which is his life), within a quandary of notes...more»
		Per Mission / A Ritual Loop / Monitor The disc was buffed up by the San Fran sound-masters of Matmos, but the rough cuts must have been impressive on their own, given that this album is the brainchild of Jason Noble (Rachel's), and features members of Rachel's, Shipping News and other such seminal/weird acts. This all-star creation has already appeared on a compilation disc and cassette-only release, but this is the first time it's been let loose in a full-length style. And it's surprisingly good...more»
		River City High / Won't Turn Down / Big Wheel/Doghouse From the band photo on the cover, replete with cowboy hats and greasy hair, I was expecting a bit more punkabilly -- so River City High’s melodic hardcore kind of caught me off guard. Once I managed to assuage my (minor) disappointment, RCH totally won me over. This is the good, energetic stuff. There’s not a shred of irony on this disk; if there is, it’s really easy to ignore it and just unabashedly rock out. Won't Turn Down is River City High’s first full-length...more»
		Sexy Finger Champs / Trash Hits The Rock / Sexy Finger Company The Sexy Finger Champs are poised for rock 'n' roll success. Sultry, sexy pretentiousness trickles out from under Chepo Pena's well-worn mesh shirts. Hotter-than-Hell bassist Rebekah strokes her bass's neck until it squirts out unmistakably catchy rhythms. Voluptuous vocalist Kerri Beets provides the band with her unique brand of fashion sense(lessness)...and the skin-tastic, underwear-less Snoopy relentlessly pumps his big stick(s) on the drums...more»
		The Shebrews / Off With Their Hearts / Grimsey While I'll posit that most listeners have yet to come across The Shebrews, members Stephanie Winter (Legendary Jim Ruiz Group) and John Crozier (Hang Ups) make them a sort of minor-league supergroup. The eight songs on this full-length mark the first collection from a group that has, over the last five years, released only intermittent singles and compilation tracks. Billed as "the last set of love songs you'll ever need", Off With Their Hearts obviously takes the light approach...more»
		Überzone / Faith in the Future / Astralwerks Faith in the Future's virtuoso techno performance is like an all-you-can-eat BBQ smörgåsbord: meaty, spicy and full of variety. It's no wonder I love it. The CD opens with a voiceover -- "He hoped to arouse (the) kind of enthusiasm for fresh and dynamic innovations." -- which is an ambitious, albeit fairly conventional goal. However, Überzone -- aka Q -- succeeds, turning nu skool techno into a ferocious party in a way that hasn't been done for years...more»
		Dar Williams / Out There Live! / Razor and Tie Dar Williams is one of those rare artists who can throw her entire personality into her music. Like the songs of Elizabeth Elmore, Joe Ziemba and Bobby Wratten, Williams' melodies follow her pulse. This means they sound completely natural, shaped as much by her life as by her talent. It also means that her words ("And February was so long that it lasted into March/And found us walking along a path alone together") are just another vehicle for the song, rather than the only thing driving it...more»