Mining the same musical ground as Chemlab (metal guitars, hard techno beats and distorted industrial vocals), Acumen doesn't quite manage to live up to rep of its labelmates.

Sure, this is a perfectly enjoyable disc, particularly on tracks like "You Can Deal with This" and "Queener", which keep the beats moving and the guitars slashing. Real club potential in both of those tracks. But much of the rest sits a bit too close to mundane territory for my comfort.

After all, there are only so many Megadeth riffs you can set to dance beats. The lyrics are angst-ridden vitriol, like most other acts that populate the techno-industrial (or is that cybercore?) universe. Despite the odd catchy track, Acumen finally fails to create its own reality in this virtual musical world.

Enough talent to keep me hanging on, but just barely. I'd like to hear a little more experimentation and original thought. Stuff that really makes my head spin.

A My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult side project that suffers from much the same problem as the main act: lack of a point.

As less money went into this set of tunes, the production isn't so grossly overdone (leaving a nasty glossy hangover), but the general lack of creative thought in the songwriting is pretty distressing.

Sure, this makes for decent mindless club usage. Get enough beers in me and I'll step out with this stuff. But that doesn't really excuse the lack of quality. Recycled guitar riffs over recycled beats, with inane vocals to boot. I know why this was made (plenty of folks still inexplicably subscribe to the MLWTTKK gospel), but that doesn't mean I have to dig it.

This didn't have to be so dull. Sounds like someone scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Die Krupps is one of those bands that hasn't taken nearly enough advantage of technology when creating its metal-industrial visions. FLA has proven time and again that it can make cool music out of just about anything. The results here are easily predictable, and predictably good.

Fulber and Leeb add a nice techno sheen to "Metalmorphosis", "The Last Flood" and "Scent". The stuff is still a bit pile-driving at times, but the FLA touches are obvious and quite welcome. A whole new atmospheric metal sound that Die Krupps might do well to imitate in the future.

Die Krupps re-works "Neologic Spasm", "Barcode" and "Transparent Species" (all from the most recent FLA album, Hard Wired) much the same way FLA itself has added guitars and other aggro elements in the past few years. Basically, these tracks now would sound more at home on Millennium, which is certainly the heaviest FLA album. Not a bad thing at all.

Both of these acts have nice side jobs remixing just about every band under the sun, and here they prove they can do each other well, too. A cool set.

Pretty cool post-punk pop (or what some folks call emo-core, I suppose), with an odd lounge twist to the chorus of "Superhighway".

That tune is a nicely catchy ditty reflecting on the apparent pointlessness of some people's existences. The lyrics are rather oblique, and I kinda like that. Not overly pretentious, not overly cynical.

The flip, "It's Not Funny", is also fairly reflective. And a sing-song chorus. I get the feeling 50 Feet Tall doesn't really care much more traditional song structure, but merely uses it to make fun of the convention. Fine by me.

Didn't completely knock me out (it did come close), but I hear plenty of potential. If these folk can crank out an album of material that can stand up to this single, then I'd be mighty impressed, indeed.

Strident lead guitar, turgid bass and drums and completely hollered vocals. Stuff that could easily be coming from hardcore or pop backgrounds. Not for the easily scared.

And it took me a while to really groove on Frodus. This stuff is painful. Even though the rhythm section is mixed way below the ever-present guitar, and thus doesn't pack the wallop of, say, Glazed Baby or Snapcase, Frodus manages to convey a truly frightening musical vision.

So the key words here are pain, suffering, fear and loathing. The noise trio format has been catching on in the past couple of years, and Frodus is another great example of what three folks can do when there's nothing good to watch on TV.

It took me a while, but I came around. A fine album (the production really brings out the best in the band; this is the finest knob work I've heard in a while) from what has to be a great live act.

Boisterous pop that was mastered at an astonishingly high level. This puppy simply pounded out of my speakers at a much higher volume than any of the other discs I reviewed this week.

Nothing kinky, nothing strange. Half Hour to Go cranks out full-on pop music at max volume and intensity. Some tracks are gorgeous gems (like "Theatre in The Round"), while others take a while to really find their stride. Don't worry, they get there eventually.

Some bands just have a knack for this sorta thing. Half Hour to Go is obviously one of them. The guys know that simple is often best, and while some songs do have nicely complex structures, the overall goal is simplicity itself.

Far too pleasing to leave on a rack somewhere. Half Hour to Go is one of those bands that leaves everyone wanting more.

Digging into a world-wide bag of tricks, Loop Guru crafts songs based on the totality of life and music on the planet. A sweeping statement? Yes, but then from the very first song this album simply sweeps you away.

There are too many elements to fully appreciate in this review. Plenty of Indian (as in the subcontinent) instruments, beats and ideas, as well as bits from the Caribbean, Africa and South America. All swirled into an ambient-dub-jungle rhythm base. I'm not sure who could hate this.

Perfectly entrancing. Club ready, but erudite enough to play for music theorists and classical aficionados. I'm sure this was painstakingly assembled, but the finished product is a seamless symphony of glorious sound.

Hey, I don't get this excited about an album very often, but trust me here, okay? Loop Guru has put together an album that folks will be talking about for a long time. Exciting is hardly the word.

Jangle pop with a bit of a grunge edge (these folks are obviously monstrous Big Star and Posies fans-who isn't?). Bit of that swirly guitar making everything just a bit fuzzy. Mouthwatering.

"Sunday's Here" is one of those happy summer songs that always make me feel like there isn't a cloud in the sky. Nothing complicated; just fine pop stuff.

And the flip follows the same way. "Blown Away" is a bit more downbeat, but only slightly. I do wish the production had left stuff a bit cleaner (the bass kinda gets lost from time to time), but I can simply pretend this is one of those pop stunners from the late 60s-early 70s. A certain slab of glory.

Three women cranking out plenty of that retro 50s and 60s stuff: rockabilly, surf, etc. That old time rock and roll, with enough energy to power the whole Pacific Northwest. Hell, they even cover a Wanda Jackson tune (and she hasn't charted since 1961).

All three sing, all three write. Of course, they all seem to like the same stuff, and while it's easy to discern the different vocals, the effect is the same. Very simply very good.

All doled out with a fine sense of humor, to boot. Yeah, some of this stuff is pretty sophomoric, but it's fun enough to keep me happy. I'm not sure exactly where Maow plans to take itself, but I'll wallow in the mess right here for a while.

If you're into this sort of stuff (Southern Culture on the Skids, Rev. Horton Heat, Hi Fi and the Roadburners, etc.), then Maow will fit right in. Might be a tough sell for some, but I dig. Silly enough for rock and roll.

Two songs, over 52 minutes. Talk about high concept.

The gothic overtones on this album make Edge of Sanity sound positively poppy. Indeed, there's a lot more new age flutes and keys than anything else. Oh, I shouldn't forget all the moans and groans of the choir.

If you like stuff like the "Behrial" on the last Pan-Thy-Monium, are simply into overblown gothic stuff that goes on forever or happen to be reading the Lord of the Rings again and want suitable music, you'll get it here. I think this is pretty excessive, but there is that part of me that says "Take it to the edge, man!". Mortiis certainly has.

Some folks that seem equally influenced by Treepeople and Uncle Tupelo (two of my faves, so no complaints in that department).

I wish the songs did a bit more than they do. I get a real feeling that something's missing, though I'm just not sure what that might be. One of those nagging thoughts that really bugs me.

I dig the a-side ("On the Rug") just a bit more than the flip ("Slowpoke"), mostly because I like the riffwork on that tune. "Slowpoke" actually digs a lot more into that whole Archers of Loaf/Treepeople/Jawbox/etc. sound, but without really crafting a new sound for Muler.

Good, but uninspired. Muler needs to really define itself a bit better within this sound. Too many bands sound just like this.

Ambient-tinged ethereal pop, not unlike the Moon Seven Times or recent Dead Can Dance. And, luckily, much more interesting and less annoying than Enya.

The beats generally follow a slow funk mode, and the rest of the music seems to follow. Wails of guitar, plenty of synth and keyboard effects and, of course, the aforementioned vocals. This British Columbia band gives the "Vancouver sound" a whole new meaning.

And because Perfume Tree really is a band that performs this stuff live, you lose most of the pretension and self-indulgence that this sort of music tends to engender. What's left are some cool sonic sculptures with whipped cream vocals.

Very nicely done.

The sign over the Rats of Unusual Size entrance reads "Leave your brain at the door". I'm happy to comply, but even so, this set has a few more clunkers than usual.

The usual guests and malcontents show up in various spots (that John S. Hall track is #17, part of the "official bonus portion" of the CD), and the music is pretty derivative and lame. Of course, I could write that about anywhere. The point with any Rats album is fun.

And I'm afraid some of the tunes (the "Shatner Rap" in particular) sound far too crafted to be taken as goofy humor. Yes, sometimes stupid stuff just can't pass for clever, even in a world ruled by Beavis and Butthead.

Kinda a bummer, really. I generally like what the Rats do, but this effort seems just a bit too forced. Some nice moments ("Aargh!!!" and the weird Sesame Street intro in the bonus parts), but a lot of stuff that sounds suspiciously like filler.

Veering from acoustic ambient to atmospheric pop (all mostly instrumental), Scenic sounds like nothing less than an odd pairing of Pink Floyd and Pavement. Of course, I've never liked Pink Floyd or Pavement (hey, no death threats, okay?).

Man, are these folks really trying their asses off. You can hear it in every song. Massive instrumentation and overdubbed everything, like My Bloody Valentine at its most masturbatory. If it only went somewhere...

Well, actually, I guess it does. But still, this seems like an awful lot of work to arrive at a sound that differs from easy listening only in the number of instruments used. Perfectly pleasant, but far too often perfectly dull.

I give the folks higher marks than they probably deserve just because they worked so damned hard. I just hope they think they got their money and time's worth.

This is one of them enhanced CDs, the ones that play on your computer as well. They don't play on mine, though, since I don't have a CD-ROM. Oh well, I'll just stick to the music.

There's a silly rumor that lounge music is monstrously popular among the kids these days. Scortia plays a form of lounge jazz that harkens back to the glory days of Booker T. and the MGs. Unfortunately, this sounds much more like the recent Booker T. comeback attempt.

Just not a lot going on here. The musicians are certainly competent, and Scortia is a nice enough guy to let all his sidemen shine. But the music is completely non-offensive, to a fault. Nothing here makes me perk up and take notice, or do much of anything else. It's just kinda dull.

Ace production; the stuff sounds great. Just wish it said something, too.

Six songs, all exhibiting wild creativity and manic musical tastes. The sort of thing Thought Industry and Faith No More crank out successfully from time to time.

Spooge tries very hard to make all the disparate elements work together. At times, it works. In particular, the first track, "Ewe Are in My Dreams", starts off completely disjointedly, but by the end it really whips itself into a crazily cool song.

You also gotta love a song that ties the suicides of porn star Savannah and Kurt Cobain (in a really shameless Temple of the Dog rip-off sound). The song itself is a little less then successful (as are many parts of the tape), but there are enough laughs to keep going.

When a young band is this ambitious, I hate to be discouraging. But Spooge needs a lot more work to make the chaos approachable. Oh, the potential...

Fuzzy Finnish metal, kinda in that Sentenced and Cemetary sorta vein. I think some of the fuzziness is merely a result of the fairly poor production, but I like the overall lo-fi sound. Got that Incantation feel, you know?

Sunride likes the epic riff and keeps everything moving nicely with a crack rhythm section. Perhaps a bit more precision in the booth could bring out some of the subtleties that I think got lost, but overall the presentation is quite good.

I know plenty of folks who really dislike this more commercial side of death metal (and Sunride doesn't even claim that genre, anyway, so don't get pissed at the boys), but I think it's a natural fit. Sunride has that innate sense of how to put together this new breed of epic rock, and does it well on this 5-track tape.

The usual array of guests (Athan of Spahn Ranch and Jared from Chemlab among them), the usual awesome sample work from Daniel Vahnke and the usual result: a great disc.

Try as I might, I keep running into folks who don't quite get the Rodents. I guess this is an acquired taste, though I didn't have any problem succumbing years ago. On this album, Vahnke has managed to vary his beat work even more (perhaps inspired by his recent Ether Bunny project), making the songs even more intriguing.

As sample-heavy industrial acts go, no one can touch the Vampire Rodents. The level of sophistication in the sound is simply sublime. In another move somewhat reminiscent of the Ether Bunny album, there is a more jazzy feel to some of the tunes, adding to the goth and aggro elements already in abundance.

I've never been quite able to properly review a Rodents CD. I simply am too in tune with what Vahnke and Co. are doing to be terribly objective. Another CD I love. Can't bitch about that at all.

This album is Gene Williams. Oh, there are a few small guest slots (mostly where he wanted a real drum sound), but the vast majority of sounds and ideas here come straight from Williams' head and hands.

For an album composed and performed mostly on keyboards and computers, Williams has crafted a very human sound. The beats are funky, but not overbearing. The samples are relevant and insightful (some moments reminding me of the Bomb Squad's best work with Public Enemy) and the music manages to lilt without pandering. Smooth, but not boring.

Very impressive, indeed. Williams plays reasonably well, but he's a master visualizing his work in progress and then assembling all the necessary pieces to complete the sound. Is it jazz? Rock? R&B? Sure. All of those, and even more. Williams borrows from everywhere and has found his own niche.

Williams deserves all the hype he can manage. He is one of the few people who can take the lessons of the past and incorporate them into a whole new sound. Exciting is hardly the word.