It's been a while since I've heard such straight-ahead Sab. There is something of a grunge feel to this, but I'm guessing that has as much to do with the demo-quality recording as much as anything.

Back when this style was the rage, I probably would have railed against such a sound on general principle. But, like I said, it's been a while, and I'm happy to slip back into the groove. Some extreme touches (occasional death-metal screeches), but mostly, this is straight outta Birmingham, circa 1969.

Yes, I could ask for some more creativity. Less slavish devotion to the sound. Okay, sure. But still, Abdullah does this really well. I wish the sound wasn't so muffled, but even so, this hits me in my comfortable cheese spot.

If yer lookin' for an ALL greatest hits disc, this is as close as yer gonna git. Period. O&O is the boys little concern, run from the ALL militia enclave in Ft. Collins. Twenty-two songs, with a little piece from all of the incarnations of ALL.

Okay, so my fave song, a little thing called "Can't Say", which can only be found on the "Dot" CD5 (a couple of my friends also swear by the tune) isn't here, but here's a sampling of what is: "She's My Ex", "Just Perfect", "Nothin", "Original Me" and "Just Like Them". Saliva building up yet?

Oh, come on. Almost an hour of pure ALL fun and you can't taste it? Boolsheet, my friend. I can see the shine of spittle all the way from here. Wipe it up and git on down to the store.

Really, now, is there anything else to do? Nope, unless you own all the discs already. In that case, well, I'm sure the boys won't mind you missing this little one. Otherwise...

The first side is a swirl of guitars and a vaguely insistent beat. Atombombpocketknife merges the current noise pop sound with some of that late 80s/early 90s psychedelic revival. The guitars are either a mess or intricately picked, and everything else follows from there.

So, in other words, somewhere in the universe of Don Cab, Gastr del Sol and Hurl. The flip completely trips out in a minimalist fashion, almost to the point of not existing (though, of course, that only heightens the effect).

Some new thoughts on an increasingly popular sound. I like what Atombombpocketknife does, and I certainly hope to hear more in the future.

What is interesting is what Andersson does not do. He doesn't introduce trance beats at the drop of a hat (though they do arrive eventually). He doesn't keep the sound tethered to reality with generic bass lines. What he does, rather, is meld space rock riffage (some really distorted and manipulated guitar sounds) to the deepest, least accessible sides of ambient electronic music.

In its purest moments, when Andersson stays true to that vision, the music is resplendent and, honestly, far out. Normality takes a rain check here. Such disassociative moments are to be treasured. And when the music cheeses out in the slightest way, it simply creates the need to get back to the purity.

Somewhat inconsistent, but in the best of ways. When everything is spot on, this is music that will change the way you're seeing the world. Not a bad trick at all.

Hard to say precisely why this really bugs me. I listened to almost the whole EP even before I began typing (which is unusual; I normally have some idea of what's going on before that). But I couldn't make up my mind. Do I dig this? Do I not?

Chase Ave. plays through various pop forms, almost always coming back with a vaguely hooky chorus. But not the sort of hook that can set. Blunt. No catch. And that's good. And it's not so good.

What I don't like is the sometimes awkward song construction. When the guys lose track of what they're trying to accomplish, the music can come close to stopping in the middle of a song. This might be artistic intention, but it doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds like folks who haven't quite mastered songwriting.

And yet, the playing, the wails, the overall spirit of the project is inspiring. Thus my dilemma, I can usually decide fairly quickly (particularly with pop music) whether or not the stuff works for me. I can't do that here. There's an allure I cannot fathom; somewhere inside of Chase Ave.'s sound is a nugget of gold. I just can't quite figure out what it is.

The most commercial-sounding album I've heard from a Chicago noise band. It's like Chevelle took the rhythmic attack of Jesus Lizard and fused it to the carcass of over-the-top grungeland.

Which has its good bits. Albini produced, so you know the guitars sound fucking great. The vocals, as ever, are lost, but that doesn't matter much. They're kinda wheedling, like if (and I hate to use this reference, but it must be done) Eddie Vedder dropped the heroin shakes from his voice. Just so my ass stays out of court, I'm not implying Vedder does any form of illegal substance. It just sounds like he does.

Whatever. Chevelle's best moments are easily the instrumental bits. The guitar and bass have a nice interplay, as long as there is no singing. But eventually, the overkill kicks in and everything fades to grey.

Just too commercial (and way too grungy) for my tastes. Chevelle has gone for the big kill (when the top Albini credits listed in the press notes are Nirvana and Bush, I guess I shoulda known), and who knows, it might get there. I'd bet no, but then, I'm not a betting man.

Likker-fueled and slap happy, Custom Made Scare lends a punk edge to the rockabilly thing, adding as much grit as anything else.

Loose as a goose and then some. The songs just roll forth, natural as can be. Stories of God, guns, hookers, trucks, 454s and more. Alright, so they say a couple nice things about Texas. I can forgive about anything when the music works like this.

And work it does. Like I said, there's only two speeds: Fast and faster. Custom Made Scare gets cranked and nothing stands in the way. Nothing, see?

I'm afraid I haven't said nearly enough here. The fast and fearless music on this disc is wondrously invigorating, kinda like... no, I'd better not get into details. Let's just say this definitely works for me, on many levels.

The boys are still on Last Beat, but this album comes out here. In lieu of liner notes or lyric sheets, per se, the guys simply included a glossary of all the hip phrasings they utilize.

As in: "Gelatin: Jeffrey Dahmer's favorite snack". C'mon, these guys are fun and the riffs shine all night long. Yes, almost all of the songs concern weird segments of American culture (Marcia Brady, NASA, Christmas, etc.). That's the whole appeal.

Clever? Definitely. Classy? No. Vulgar? You bet. Darlington has no sense of shame (the three--male--members of the band appear on the back cover in panties and curlers), and that's probably why I like this stuff so much. Silly and quite possibly inane, sure, but big-assed smiles all the way.

And should we ask for more? Perhaps, but I'm not in the mood to do so. Nope. I'm just gonna turn it up a bit more and hit repeat. Smiles are always worth the effort.

More from one of my favorite no-wave bands. These guys are in the right town (Chicago) and even in the right part of town for this sound (I learned more than a bit about the musical geography of the city on a trip last summer). Just like the first disc I heard, this puppy is chock full of highly orchestrated noise and fairly lengthy samples.

The music isn't too far removed from the mellower moments of Flying Luttenbachers, which is to say that it's pretty weird and rather intriguing. Lots of instruments (horns, piano and other more "orchestral" implements) fill out the basic sound.

But the real genius is in connecting the found sound to the music, and the different pieces together. DragKing manages to craft a whole sound from wildly disparate parts, and I'm simply amazed that it holds together at all, much less so well.

On the fringe? Definitely. But DragKing has a lot to say, and it's not too painful to receive the message. In fact, if you're not careful, you might find this managed chaos addictive.

Sounds True is a label devoted to "traditional" world music artists. Hamza El Din is a master of the oud (an early fretless version of the lute) and the tar (a kind of drum). He's played with a number of western music stars (from Joan Baez to Bob Dylan to the Dead to the Kronos Quartet).

His music isn't exactly traditional. He has merged Nubian music with other Middle Eastern forms, creating his own "authentic" style. The songs on this album feature the oud and the tar, with some coloring from the nay, cello, piano, other percussion and vocals.

El Din's goal on this album is to keep the memory of his homeland, which was washed away behind the Aswan High Dam, alive and living. Thus many of the songs do have a haunted and wistful quality. Some of that, certainly, is just the way the music sounds to Western ears. Some of it, though, is also the emotional impact these songs carry.

His playing is wonderful, and while I'm not a very good judge of how "traditional" this might be, I don't hear many Western influences. El Din is quite skilled at making a huge impact with not very many instruments. This is an album which will easily leave a big impression.

More trips into the world of the "new electronic". Kinda imagine an organic electronic attack fused with a noisy Chicago pop sensibility. Samples and loops all the way, with a good chunk of the "no wave" thrown in for good measure.

Hey, hey! I mean, what a fucking brilliant notion. There are pieces here which follow the dirty hip hop grooves of yer average (which, of course, means way above the mean) Wordsound disc. There are songs which sound a bit like U.S. Maple or Mount Shasta. And there are songs which can only be described as "Emperor Penguin music".

The breadth of the sound and the complexity of the pieces is stunning. It's so easy to get lost in the various mutations and sonic warps. That is the point, certainly. This is hypnotizing far all the way. And, by the way, it's really damned good, too.

Nowhere near the mainstream, but very little good is. Emperor Penguin has put forth a singular vision of the potential and possibilities of electronic music. The form need not be sterile or boring, but can also inspire and amaze. That's what this disc does.

Solo contrabass, and since I'm reviewing it, it's definitely on the avant garde side of classical music. Guberman likes to use every single sound his massive instrument can make in order to fully illustrate his musical ideas. and when I say every sound, well, I mean just that.

Guberman draws from a variety of jazz and classical schools of thought, and then throws in some stuff I really don't recognize (these areas aren't exactly points of strength in my musical knowledge bank). This is highly theatrical fare, though, full of drama and tension. Guberman is definitely trying to make a few points here.

And he does. It is easy to float within or be assaulted by the music as it escapes the stereo, and I couldn't help but react in a variety of ways to what I heard. In that way, Guberman really does a good job. There is no way to escape the music.

And, I suppose, that might make it somehow oppressive, though the disc contains only contrabass and the occasional musical vocalization (no words, just sounds). I dunno. I like music that demands attention, myself.

Dale Hawkins is probably best known as one of the guys who wrote "Susie Q" . A rockabilly boogier from way, way back when, Hawkins proves on this disc that he's still got the chops and something to say.

There is, of course, a version of "Susie Q", but simply as an appendix. Instead, Hawkins' recent compositions are featured, and he and his band rip through them with some fervor.

The sound is dated. The quality of the recording is modern, but the mix recreates rather faithfully the sound of an early Creedence, a swampy rockabilly feel. Lots of air between the sounds, plenty of room to howl. And for Hawkins, he takes every inch given to him. This sort of production allows for maximum emotional range, and Hawkins takes advantage.

A lot of these "reclamation" projects are just that, albums to give an old, deserving rocker some bucks and a nice little album. This one, however, gives a still-vital voice a megaphone. Really, really fine, in a way that gets me moving.

This sort of album is the future of the music anti-industry. CD mixed on computer and written on a CD-ROM. Liners printed out on a color printer. Distributed by the band (or some close personal friends)

Same Laces, too, somewhat silly songs sung in a devil-may-care fashion (though not quite so recklessly as the last disc I heard). Pleasant pop songs with just a hint of a bite.

But you've got to get below the surface to find that little nugget of sarcasm. I like such slogging myself, and once again I find myself really liking a Laces disc. This does sound somewhat like a one-man project (and it is, kind of), but the earnest obsessiveness is quite appealing.

Nothing epochal or earth-shaking. Just cool music wandering out to me from the midwest. I'm happy to sit back with a smile, even if it gets a little snarky from time to time.

Freda Love played in the Blake Babies years ago and more recently was in Mysteries of Life with Kathy Kolata, who had another project called the Mary Janes, where she played with Sophia Travis and Janus Hoyt. One night Love met up with Gretchen Holtz, once of the Smears, and after a while the five got together and made an album.

Holtz, Love, Hoyt and Travis each wrote one of the four songs here, but honestly, the songs sound much more like a collaborative effort. They sound like the product of a well-oiled band, though that's really not quite what this is.

Effervescent pop powered by Holtz's insistent drumming (that is the sound which really ties everything together). Four wonderful songs which simply make me ache for more.

Well, there's better be more coming down the pike, that's all I have to say. Even considering the pedigree, this is an astonishing set of pieces. All I can do is ask for more.

Songs that lurch in the night. Kinda haunting, gloomy bits, punctuated by very strange song construction. Most unusual is the way the tempo and general beat are wildly inconsistent. This adds to the uneasy feeling which is already prevalent.

And, strangely, this is just another of those "roots" type of projects. Roots as practiced by the likes of Leonard Cohen, perhaps. I can't quite get a handle on the stuff, and that's perfectly fine with me.

The production is relatively clean when it comes to the music in the foreground, but much of the background stuff gets some serious effect work. A good way to do this; definitely a spooky way. Just adds to the whole.

I'll stagger anywhere to this beat. Dark and brooding, but still, somehow, inspirational as well. Got to find the depths to climb out of them, I suppose. Just another way to find the blues.

Maybe that whole pop psychedelia thing is coming around again, after all. Or, possibly, maybe it never left. In any case, Monroe Mustang wields a heavy stick as it kicks out some echoey, distortion-laden licks. Is it pop? Nah, not really, but there are some elements.

Even more than the Manishevitz, though, this is a bluesy roots album. With lots and lots of stuff piled on top. There is the whole singer-songwriter sound (Palace, Songs:Ohia, Simon Joyner, etc.), but that's been amped up and wigged out.

To good places. I like the lush sound, the full feel of the songs. These guys need that power to help make their points. All I really can say is that it works. These are moving works.

Dark, brooding and generally antisocial. No wonder I like it so much. There's lots to plumb in these depths, and I'd like to get back to that now. Cheers.

Punchy pop songs with an edge. Lots of keen guitars and highly-stylized vocals. Vocals which do not always follow the melodic lead of the instruments. Which shows a certain sophistication, to be sure.

The chords always number more than three (sometimes within seconds), and there is a more cultured feel to these songs than with most pop. Osgoods has a lot on the ball.

For a self-recorded disc, this sounds very good. A completely professional job all the way around. The songs burst forth from the speakers, everything in line. Like I said, these folks know what they're doing.

Everything works. Osgoods has completely defined its own sound and style, and it made sure that come across on this disc. Solid songwriting and playing make this the complete package.

Emo has always been something of a pop offshoot, but Planes Mistaken for Stars blurs the lines even further. The strident emo sounds and sparse emo constructions are nearly forsaken in favor of a basic (and very noisy) three-chord attack.

Each song generally has its poppier moments and its emo moments. Sometimes the transitions between the two are sublime. Sometimes they're a bit clunky. That's alright. The boys have plenty of time to perfect this insteresting formula.

And it's not like there isn't plenty done extremely well. For the most part, the pieces are written quite well, and like I said, most number of the transitions work. It's just that when they don't, well, the effect is something like a car crash.

Ah, hell, I'm bitchin' about little things here. The guys have a solid handle on the sound, and all of these songs have plenty to offer. In fact, they sond pretty damned good. I'm as impressed as I was with the track on the latest Emo Diaries sampler. Give Planes Mistaken for Stars just a little growing room, and watch what happens.

Two discs of odds and ends from one of the more visionary dark music pioneers of the decade. Peter Andersson (also the guy behind the Atomine Elektrine album reviewed earlier) knows how to take basic soundscapes and turn them into flowing, 3-D sounds, pieces which quickly envelop an entire consciousness.

Like a truly fine CD-ROM game, there are so many little spots in the music to run and hide in, to skip and jump through that repeat listens are never the same as the first. Of course it's gloomy; that's the point. But work within, and it's easy to find a wide range of emotions and ideas.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gorgeously appointed liners. Style in packaging is a Cold Meat Industry trademark, and this set is no different. The liners here are (basically) eight paintings by Alexander Nemkovsky, haunting images which only heighten the impact of the music.

Everyone involved with every step of this project knew how to do things right, and they did. Hey, these aren't throwaway bits. They're just as complete and awe-inspiring as any Raison D'Etre I've heard before. Just another reason to fall under the spell.

Bands often write and ask if they can send me something to review. They describe what they do in their own words, and with few exceptions (say, if a band were to say "We want to be as much like Alanis Morrisette as is humanly possible) I simply say, send it in, I'll give my thoughts.

So then I feel bad if it turns out that the band plays a style I really don't dig. Simon is on the borderline there. There is a definite Dead-again, Blues Traveler sorta riff working, but rather than cheesing out, Simon keeps tightening the grooves. I like that part, and while there are elements of the sound that annoy me, on the whole, this is a strangely appealing set as well.

It's the tightness of the lazy grooves that works, a nice dichotomy which keeps the songs spinning from one point to another. And these songs are certainly in motion at all times.

This puppy surprised me. I really didn't dig the way it started, and I ended up impressed. It's always nice when that happens.

Dummy is just the flip side of Side 1, as it were. The Smooths play that punched up ska which the kids like so much these days. This isn't so plastic as No Doubt or what the Bosstones are doing these days, but it's getting there. Lots of commercial potential here.

But you know how I am with such pronouncements. Anyway, this isn't so light that it bugs me. In fact, the Smooths are quite careful to pack the songs with multiple grooves, even as the hooky choruses are cranked out with heavy guitar accompaniment.

And really, it's only the choruses which bother me. Otherwise, this is simply solid pop ska. The horns are used mostly for coloring, But at least they have complex parts to play from time to time. They're not just the instrumental version of background singers.

Ah, but still... You knew that was coming. This is an easy listen, but just as easily forgettable. Like I said, a bit too commercial in tone (if not intent; I can't judge that) for my taste, but I can think of more than a few folks who would lap this up with or without a spoon.

Following what seems to be the trend in emo these days (at least as propagated by Deep Elm), Starmarket infuses a good amount of power pop feel into the traditionally edgy sounds. A bit more seamlessly than Planes Mistaken for Stars, and in some different ways.

An extremely raucous album, not at all contemplative. Starmarket is always in motion, ripping and wailing. The guitars have a cool crunchy feel, and the songs just pop out of the speakers, alive and screaming.

This is really more an adjunct of the Archers of Loaf/Treepeople pop sound than emo, if you ask me. And again, if you care, I'm perfectly happy with that. It's hard to go wrong following in the footsteps of legends.

Just another great album, the sort of thing which doesn't pass the desk very often. Starmarket has all the tools, and they're all on display here. I can't begin to describe the wonders of this disc.

Southern-fried rock which might have been reasonably palatable if not for the heavy-handed production job laid down on the tracks. Everything comes out so thick, the songs lose any sense of motion they had.

But, of course, that's what happens when folks want a hit, I guess. Sunset Heights has a nice blues base to the songwriting, with the usual southern guitar licks and wailing that you'd expect. The music just doesn't need to be amped up to kingdom come.

Not at all. This is not epochal arena rock. It is, like I noted, just yer basic blues and boogie, with window dressing. Remember the first Black Crowes album? Kinda sparse in the production, and that worked real well. Let the playing and singing come through and make an impact.

Boy, with a different knob job... but I get to deal with what's here. And this stuff is just so overblown and puffed up that the original ideas seem drowned out. Too bad. I think there is something here worth hearing.

Subdued, somnambulistic pop. But just because it moves slowly doesn't mean there aren't some truly intriguing ideas flowing. In fact, the band's flow is one of the more impressive features of the disc.

And that's what Tappan Zee does best: Connect the dots. Putting all the parts together into a coherent and attractive whole couldn't have been easy, and yet, here it is, all done up in a neat package.

And when I say subdued, I'm not talking Codeine subdued. More like the Moon Seven Times (Anne Viebig's vocals in particular), with perhaps an additional kick. This is not dull stuff; it's just not bouncy power pop.

A bit more introspective, and that's fine with me. Tappan Zee takes its time to explore a few thoughts, and the process is a pleasant one. I'll take this ride any time.

The first release on the LunaSea label, which is brought to you by the folks at New York's Luna Lounge. If that makes a difference to you. Travis Pickle cranks out a pop sound, one mostly devoid of bounce but with added shimmer.

If you recall what I said about Tappan Zee, a lot of that applies here. Travis Pickle picks up the tempo a bit more, but all the shiny edges have been removed. This is music which fades from the surface, but has a lot going on underneath.

In other words, the stuff sounds simple, even though that's the furthest thing from the truth. Travis Pickle does the smooth, easy-going style right, providing enough shifts to prove that it knows how to bridge musical ideas. In fact, I'm thinking the band is quite good at most of what it does.

All tied up in a slightly lo-fi sound which neatly encapsulates all of what Travis Pickle sets out to do. Hey, this one works for me. And that's all I need to know.

I always admit it when I'm stumped. United States Three meanders about the pop landscape, most often with muted and disjointed melodies and any number of unorthodox instruments.

It s a tribute to these folks that while none of the songs sound much like each other, taken as a whole, there is a distinctive band sound. It's a weird one, and the songs aren't sequenced in such a way as to create easy access (the title track is one of the stranger songs on the album, but it's sitting right there at the beginning). Perseverance is key.

The recording is not good, but the production is pretty sharp. In other words, whatever picked up the instruments also picked up a lot of outside noise (scratches, whatever), and a lot of the mikes pinned the levels. But the final mixdown is great. I'm thinking this is intentional, and it really does help create a coherent band sound.

A more mutant version of the Brian Jonestown Massacre (go to some early BJM albums for something of a taste), though with more generalized pop notions. It took a while, but eventually I came around. Most impressive.

The Blasting Room, of course, is ALL's house studio in Ft. Collins, Colo. When Bill Stevenson and Stephen Edgerton finally figured out that it would be cheaper to record in their own place, they built this puppy. And so a multitude of bands has made the trek, and this here's a collection of some of them.

Also helping to propagate the ALL sound is Jason Livermore, who engineered a good number of these tracks as well. There's stuff from ALL and the Descendents (duh), My Name and Wretch Like Me (I wondered where those guys went), MxPx, Welt, Lagwagon, Drag the River, Shades Apart and more.

This is mostly just a way of saying, "check us out". It's also a testament to the yeoman's duty that Stevenson and Edgerton (and Livermore) have done in putting young bands' ideas down on tape. I'll be looking forward to many more years of blasting.

Way, way back when the earth was green, there was an album called Shut Up Kitty. Lots of dark industrial/synthcore/whatever acts doing popular songs of the previous ten years or so. And now, as Chase is wrapping up things at Reconstriction (the albums will still be available from Cargo, but no new releases are forthcoming), we get this final valentine.

The same incoherent mix of covers (everything from "MMMBop" to "Ice Ice Baby" to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" to "Diamonds are Forever"), the same sorts of bands. The same mixed results.

Tinfed's "Policy of Truth" is real impressive, as are the WFG All-Stars's "Ice Ice Baby" (really) and Oneiroid Psychosis' "Animal Magnetism". There isn't anything up to the level of Non-Aggression Pact's astonishing reworking of "Boy", easily the highlight of Kitty, but since that's probably the most amazing cover I've ever heard, well, that's alright.

A first class send-off. Lots of fun, plenty of things to smile at. And, without getting too cheesy, this is the perfect moment to thank Chase for his tireless efforts at getting some amazing music to the masses. Good luck in whatever it is you're up to next, man. It's bound to be great.

Kinda new wave sounding stuff, rough pop based around sparse drum beats and an organ. Some guitar, and when that kicks in, the sound is more modern. In a retro fashion. Am I making sense?

I hate it when that happens. We Ragazzi is the sort of band that does that to me. As soon as I lock on to something, the rules change. And it's not like the band is playing anything complex. This is basic basic, nothing surprising or shocking, except that each and every turn surprises me. I'm back to where I started, I'm afraid.

Try again? The lyrics are poetic and somewhat intentionally offbeat. There is a greater point beyond the strange juxtapositions of words and the non-rhyming lines. I can't tell you what that purpose is. The music simply keeps bobbing along, driven by that incessant organ and drum beat.

I can't compare this to anything, really, and that's a pretty high compliment. We Ragazzi has crafted something truly unique. Is it really good or am I simply overwhelmed for reasons I cannot quite discern? I can't say. But I will listen again and try to find out.