Real tasty noise sculptures. Karmanik, the pseudonym of the man who is Brighter Death Now, has put together wondrous set of noise and sound that merges the industrial metal musings of folks like Dead World with the noise underground. The samples are sparse and repeated often, but the way all of this has been crafted is quite stunning.

Hypnotic, psychotic and purely malevolent. Brighter Death Now brings out the evil of the world in full sonic detail. Unlike some noise artists who are content to scratch and claw their way to a vicious sound, Karmanik has worked overtime to whip his sound into shape.

Like a mean version of Dead Voices on Air. Where that loop project is more ambient in nature, Brighter Death Now uses the same techniques to create a noise masterpiece. The level of sophistication is amazing, and the auditory chaos it induces leaves me bereft of sanity.

Known mostly for propagating the typical Trance sound (plodding yet steady rhythms and caterwauling guitars and vocals), the Cherubs fully satisfy that craving here, managing to drop in just enough accessibility to possibly widen their fan base.

Cause, damnit, once you cut through the veneer of distortion and mayhem, some this stuff is actually catchy. Crunchy chords mixed with just enough pop song construction to keep listeners on the same page.

Alright, the vocals are still hollered in a somewhat annoying screechy style, and if you don't make it through the first layer, this sounds like the Jesus Lizard put into a blender. But hell, man, what do you want?

I'd have settled for less, and I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality shown on this disc. Probably still a bit out there for the masses, but then, who isn't in these days?

Man, did I hope for more. Crow was the main songwriter of Heavy Vegetable, one of the more inventive pop bands I've heard. This disc is a set of 29 songs that he recorded to 4-track.

Not his 4-track, not his instruments (so he sez). The sound quality is demo-level (if that), and for some reason Crow seems to have affected a real affection for Beck. Yikes. Sure, there are some real gems here, and I'll give him credit for wandering all over the whole music universe, but while he seems to have a handle on how to rip out an awesome quirky pop song or 20, he is lost at sea most of the rest of the time.

I had high expectations for this. Well, reasonably high, as I understood before I first listened to it exactly what the point was. But there are probably only five or six really good songs out of the 29 (or 30, as my CD player notes). The rest range from "nice try" to "good God, that sucks!". A good idea that really didn't work out too well.

At least there's a soon-to-be-released Heavy Vegetable b-sides disc, and Crow's new band Thingy has recorded an EP that Headhunter should have out one of these days. They have to be better than this.

Pure lunacy. Take a guitar, fade it to a background echo with a heavy sound. Add in straight 4/4 drumming and a bouncy surf bass line. And then deep, scratchy vocals spewing forth some truly wacky shit. Bingo! You have voodoobilly. And that's what Deadbolt plays.

Lots of songs about killing folks, bad mojos and the like. Another reviewer in my are referred to Deadbolt as the perfect Halloween party band. I'll concur.

Deadbolt has been used in ESPN2 promos (I can't remember which, but the music is unmistakable) and this should have garnered a decent national following by now. I don't get quite the cool vibe from this album as I did from Tiki Man, but maybe I've just listened to that album a bit too much. Still a big wad of fun.

And don't worry; this stuff is good enough to get past mere novelty appeal. The playing is good, the production keeps everything in a smoky room. Just where it should be.

Eight takes on the Dive song "Final Report" by Numb, Monolith, Die Krupps, Hybrids, :Wumpscut:, Leaether Strip, Temple Beat and Starfish Pool. Gets a little dreary after a bit.

The original track must have been pretty dull. Most of these mixes are uninspired and uninteresting, and those are the good ones.

Take Leaether Strip. Claus Larsen usually can be counted on to crank out a great remix. But while his dissection is clean and somewhat different than most of the others, I just can't get exited. And his is one of the better cuts on the set.

Utterly pointless. I understand the motive, but the result did not deserve to be released. Better luck next time.

First set of trance (that stuff that merges the gaps between techno, industrial and ambient) that I've heard since the last Virtualizer. And Division #9 does pretty well, almost living up to that high standard.

The bass is fuzzy and brassy, and the guys incorporate all sorts of beat patterns into the mix. This stuff doesn't get dull, certainly. Plenty of stuff to throw onto the dance floor, as well.

Each of the nine tracks is different from the others, a trait generally lacking in this sort of disc. But Division #9 has done a fine job of traversing the wide expanses of the electronic music universe to craft these pieces. That care and work is evident and quite appreciated.

Power pop that has obviously been schooled on everything from the Beatles to Nick Lowe to Squeeze, and everything in between. Yes, Brit-pop from the Great White North (Winnipeg, to be precise), and it's pretty glorious.

The mix here is a bit bass heavy (I couldn't quite equalize out the problems, even), but the hooky nature of this stuff would apparent even to a tone-deaf earthworm. The A-side is a mid-tempo shuffler that sounds like any number of songs you've heard before, but still somehow different. The flip has two songs, the first ("Review") somber and sample-heavy, and the second ("Farewell") more biting.

Love to hear a full-length. I can hear more than a little potential in these three tunes, and a complete set (with better production) should begin to satisfy my curiosity and craving.

Fonda plays the contrabass, and Stevens handles the piano. I've heard Stevens work before (on a Stevens, Siegal & Ferguson album), and I was impressed then. Fonda's bass work is at least as good, and the two surround themselves here with a set of fine musicians.

The sound is somewhere post-bop (my jazz etymologies are pretty poor), not unlike the stuff you might hear on early Branford Marsalis works, though obviously with more attention paid to the piano and bass.

Lines that seem randomly chaotic always come together before the end and make everything much clearer. This music challenges and subsequently rewards the listener. My kind of stuff.

I haven't heard a new jazz album this good in a long time. The members of the band obviously know each other pretty well and know precisely how to complement the other players. The music sings, swings and reverbs through all sorts of moods. Fully textured and wondrous.

I'm beginning to confuse even myself. I really liked this album, though I suppose that should be clear by now. If you like inventive and original jazz music, then you will love this disc. Period.

Certainly loud, certainly annoying. Maso Yamazaki is a rather prolific noise artist (as many are), but I'm not sure why folks are so interested.

While momentarily amusing, the tracks on this disc sound almost entirely alike (and they have names like "Inner Mind Mystique 1", "Inner Mind Mystique 2", etc.). There is little differentiation in modulation or dynamic levels. Just an almost continuous sheen of noise. I like that, but only so much.

I've heard much better noise stuff in the past few weeks, and even this week. Perhaps her other stuff is a bit more creative. I hope so, because this effort simply doesn't impress me.

The blues is one of those things that is simple to learn but next to impossible to master. The career of the Blindside Blues Band is a case in point.

Now with only Mike Onesko left from the original line-up, the band still cranks out songs that are technically correct, but somehow come up empty in the feel department.

Shrapnel head honcho Mike Varney helps out on guitar and also wrote about half the songs. Aynsley Dunbar stopped by to pound the skins, with James Lomenzo on bass and Parris Bertolucci on keys. The problem here isn't the playing, per se, but the visceral impact of that playing. These folks sound like they're merely whipping out an arrangement, not expressing some deep-felt emotion.

Passable blues songs, played just like Don "No-Soul" Simpson would have done it. That's the real shame.

Somewhere between prog rock and atmostpheric pop, with a definite Todd Rundgren feel. Not a bad way to go.

The production is low-demo quality, rather mushy, but it doesn't hurt as badly here where the band is obviously going for a bit of an other-worldly sound.

Spacey as it is, Phreeworld has a tendency to use the same rhythm track from song to song, and when it doesn't the result is more like some free-form Pink Floyd thing. That works, but barely.

I have no idea if this sort of thing is as all commercially viable, but Phreeworld manages to pull it off well enough. There are plenty of places for improvement, but nothing a good set of live shows wouldn't cure. Work out the dead spots and hone in on the sound the guys are obviously working toward.

Sample-driven noise that ventures more into sound sculpture territory than just basic refined chaos. This is precisely what the term "industrial" meant to a few of us about seven years ago.

The main perp is Steve O'Donnell, though Relapse co-head honcho Bill Y. helps out from time to time. Eleven sets of controlled insanity, all created using the rational sounds of everyday life (merely modulated out of all context).

What I like most is the creepiness of the whole thing. I've heard all these sounds before, but never with such sinister and compelling overtones. Pica produces music that my mind loves to tunnel through, to try and find what nuggets are beneath the surface. A wonderful meditation device.

The best of the noise stuff I've been through this week. Pica is obviously set to my wavelength, and perhaps to a another few scattered wackos. I sure hope so.

Moody industrial dance stuff. Not moody in a Goth sense, but in a more sparse way. As in the absence of emotion, but still depressed. I suppose that makes no sense at all. Sorry...

Still, I try. There are some seriously quiet moments here, and I quite approve. Scar Tissue knows how to make use of every tool at its disposal. The beats are from scattered influences, and the music rather foreboding, in a sterile way.

Cold hate, as the song goes. I'm not sure if this was the intent, but I can almost read electronic dreams into what I'm hearing. Years after the fact, Scar Tissue has created a perfect soundtrack for Bladerunner.

The odd dynamics will throw off folks looking for a more conventional electronic attack, but that's a casualty of life. Scar Tissue has a very good feel for its sound, and I like that sound quite a bit.

Loopy hardcore rantings that share as much with eclectic pop construction and sound as more "punk correct" icons. But is this a good thing?

Not most of time here, anyway. Thumbnail can't decide what riff it wants emphasize in any given song, and the general sound is one of complete anarchy.

I'll give the guys points for trying something unusual. Now, sane people don't do things like this, but if it had worked, I'd be calling it genius. As it is, I'll call it pile-driving pop. With a Creedle chaser.

Striving for greatness is a wonderful thing. And I can appreciate such stuff, even if it goes bad. But I don't have to groove on it.

A set of coolly electronic tracks from the likes of Martin Rev, Severed Heads, Carlos Peron (Yello) and more. Very European, kinda dated in sound.

But still compelling. The tracks selected are fine works, and on the whole the set shows off how many different artists can paint around the same approximate center. The sticker on top calls this stuff ambient, and some is, but more of it falls into whatever Kraftwerk was doing way back when (and "electronic" doesn't do it for me).

If you want to have a sense of history and hear what a few "old masters" have been up to in recent years, then this set should help fill that gap. Intriguing tunes by artists of great renown.

A nice collection of songs from the first five years of 21st Circuitry. Bands like Hate Dept., Xorcist, Gracious Shades and (just reviewed) Scar Tissue. But only one of these tracks is unreleased, and that's just a remix.

So if you haven't gotten acquainted with 21st Circuitry and want to delve into the more conceptual realm of industrial dance music, then by all means apply here. The 14 tracks will serve as a more than adequate introduction to the awesome line-up on the label (even if Hate Dept. has moved to Neurotic).

If you are as aware of the great bands on this label as I am, then this compilation should hold no interest for you. A nice set, like I said, but nothing new or unusual included.

Cool composers find ways to incorporate disparate types of music into each other. Matt Wilson wrote most of the songs here, and while it is some seriously aggressive jazz music, I can sometimes hear inflections of folk and bluegrass music.

Some of that is simply inherent in Wilson's percussion work and in the sparse production of many of the songs. While much of this follows both bop and cool schools, there is an echo of another form altogether, and Wilson isn't afraid to let it in.

I've often been annoyed by drummers who think that playing fast and loud is the way to show off talent. On "Old Porch Swing", which Wilson plays on his drums with no accompaniment, the tempo is slow, but Wilson's skill expresses more than even words could say.

Some of the time I think he gets a little too happy about his drumming, but for the most part Wilson allows his sidemen to shine nicely. The alternating moods of the songs provides nice counterpoints, and makes the overall experience very pleasurable.