A few remixes (and a live track) of songs from the recent album The Eternal Sky. Nik Turner and friends have gotten a few trance and ambient types to redo their techno space concept vehicle, and the results are better than the album.

Eternal was just so stilted, so sterile. This EP strips off most of the sharp corners and makes the whole a bit more palatable. This sort of music doesn't have to be dull, and the remixes prove it.

Even the live rendition of "Soul Herder" is much more alive than the studio track. I thought Turner's live set of a year ago was full of an improvisational feel that most space artists never can achieve. And then the Anubian Lights album just really let me down. But this EP gives me hope. If the folks can just follow this path, and not the earlier one.

Self-produced (and self-released) spacey stuff that was mostly recorded live (the guys admit to a few overdubs). This disc (packaged in a color photocopy sleeve--very cool) rambles all over the prog/space/whatever universe first traveled by the likes of Hawkwind.

The lyrics are pretty damned silly (they sound like typical 70s mystical shit), but since most of the tunes were kinda improvised on the spot, I suppose you don't want any real sharp, soul-searching diatribes.

For a "jamming" album, this stuff is pretty tight. I'd say the guys have a good sense of how to make music, and if this is what their improvisations sound like, I can only imagine what real crafting might do. Yes, I know, that just might ruin everything. But then, producing an album like this is pretty risky, too.

As long as Beyond-O-Matic doesn't take itself seriously, future albums should be pretty good. The only real mistake they guys could make is in getting a monster advance and really overproducing the album. The appeal of this disc is in its understated simplicity. That's the real secret to good space stuff.

So you're a self-described "polinstrumentist". You sing in such a way that your label has to say "The language used by Paul Chain does not exist. It's purely phonetic." You want to make an album that brings to mind all the good and bad parts of the Black Sabbath legacy. Who do you call to put in a couple guest vocal shots?

The guy whose band has profited the most from the Sab rehash game, Lee Dorrian. Of course. Dorrian's lyrics are much easier to understand (and they're listed in the notes, too). And how could you mistake that growl for anyone else?

Not terrible, but still just a pale shade compared to the original. The production is pretty weak, so even the fattest riffs sound drained and thin. I've heard much better, even in the rehash circles.

Four gothsters from France weigh in with their first US album. The press says this shows "that Europe doesn't have a monopoly on dark music...". Um, last I checked France was part of that particular continent, and even that particular Union. Oh well.

And at times the band also works too hard to make a cool point. The intros to the songs are often overwrought and just plain silly. Once the songs get going, the cool pop sensibility of the band takes over, and things get cooking. Corpus Delicti has a very good sense of that early Cure-meets-Sisters sound that the kiddies love, and a lot of this is most tasty, indeed.

Now, anyone who can explain why the world needs a goth version of "Suffragette City" gets a free beer next time I'm in town. Because the rendition here doesn't make any sense and is pretty much note-for-note the Bowie original. I understand the goth slaving to Bowie, but not with this song. Whatever.

But slight missteps aside, Sarabands is rather enjoyable. Not the greatest goth album in history, but a pretty good one, anyway.

This replaces the CD Convergence, which first tried to assimilate the tracks from 1988 FLA releases Corrosion and Disorder. This one does trick correctly, while filling out the disc with a few bonus tracks.

Those expecting to hear the full-force techno death metal rantings of the current FLA mode will not quite be prepared for this. The music is less techno and more a real industrial sound, with the goth overtones which persist today. Also, the emphasis is on the music, with the vocals almost serving as window dressing (or an additional instrument) at times.

For anyone who wishes to more fully understand the evolution of FLA, though, this and the Total Terror retrospectives (which focus on tapes Bill Leeb made back in 1985 and 1986) will help to explain why so many consider FLA to be one of the most innovative and creative electronic music acts of the past 10 years. The breadth of composition and construction even on this disc is stunning. While most of these tunes are eight years old, they are right in line with today's music.

I've not found an FLA release that I haven't loved. This is not terribly commercial or anything like that, but those who demand quality and creativity can stop right here.

Another of those guitarists who really dig the classical music. Housholder is an impressive technician, and while he can be faulted for deciding to play with Love/Hate for a time, a job's a job, man.

After two undistinguished albums for Shrapnel, Housholder has decided to really tear into the classical side of things with a fury. This side of his playing has always been evident, but before he seemed almost shy about letting some of those influences out. Not now.

For the first time, I think I can hear Housholder. Him, that is, not some producer or someone's idea of what he should be. And that alone makes this album much better than anything he has put out before.

Yeah, a lot of this has an Yngwie feel, except that Housholder is not a shred-o-matic type of player, and there aren't any silly lyrics to fuck up the music. Bombastic? At times. Overwrought? Occasionally. But for the most part, Housholder cranks out solid electric classical-style guitar word, with nice accompanying arrangements. He knows the music, and it shows.

Introduced as "the voice of rock and roll", Hughes (or the announcer) seems to have forgotten that he originally played bass for Deep Purple. He wasn't a singer at first.

Not that he's dreadful. It doesn't require a great set of pipes to bellow 70s bombast. But it does take a good set of lungs, and Hughes proves he has that. Oh, don't worry about the odd sour note. That's just the way it goes.

The best moments on this disc are the Deep Purple songs. While the Hughes-penned tracks are alright, there's a reason he's not a big star anymore. He can't write the kick-ass rock song. Which is why most of this disc is tepid, and I've heard the Deep Purple songs done much better. This isn't completely terrible, but there is no reason Hughes is still touring and recording.

The second disc from these New York boys shows a massive shift in direction. This movement was probably pushed by the production of Steve Thompson (mixed by Thompson and Michael Barbiero). Remember Thompson and Barbiero?

They produced most of Tesla's albums and mixed Appetite for Destruction, among other things. There was a time that Thompson and Barbiero defined a pure metal sound. And they try and replicate that here.

And do a decent job, really. The main problem is that Lie of Agony has decided to become a nouveau grunge band (a la Alice in Chains), forgoing the metalcore and prog leanings of River Runs Red. The main problem is that they still aren't writing interesting songs.

The main problem with the debut was that Life of Agony tried too much, putting too many things into the music. Here the band has settled into a sound, which really should have helped. Unfortunately they picked a dull sound, and often don't spice things up much. Towards the middle of the album an occasional Type-O goth style is mixed in, and the songs are much better. "Other Side of the River" and "Let's Pretend" could almost fit into that whole early Warrior Soul sound that I really dig.

Most of the album, though, is full of overblown pomposity. Thompson and Barbiero really know how to create a full sound, and Life of Agony sounds great. And at times, the songs really kick in as well. But too much of Ugly sounds uninspired. This is better than the debut, but the band has a ways to go.

Pleasantly tuneful in-yer-face punk pop. Liquor Bike keeps the adrenaline flowing freely, not bothering too much with tuning or even coherent chord choices. And honestly, you're just not gonna notice.

This band has a bunch of 7"s out there (so sez the press), and I'd like to hear them so as to get a really good feel for what Liquor Bike really likes to do. This reminds me a lot of fluf (if fluf were to take inspiration from Superchunk as opposed to Husker Du), and that's not a bad thing. In fact, both of the tunes here are quite nice, if a little under-produced.

More than worth searching out. I'd love to hear a full set.

A trio of pop punksters (or "bubblepunk", as one song calls it) who also style themselves after the Ramones (Fil McRackin, Spot McRackin and Bil McRackin). Rampant silliness from north of the border.

Unlike most B.C. punk bands, the McRackins are NOT bass heavy, but sound like they belong in sunny southern California, soaking up rays and scoring the babes. And who knows, perhaps they will do just that.

The songs generally have something to do with food, though the foibles of teenagers in love also get their fair share of attention. But remember, this is not a main course, but just a light serving of musical dessert. Candy (or bubblegum) for a short snack.

And I don't think the boys have any higher ambition. This is fun, underproduced poppy stuff. Yeah, you eat too much and you'll get sick to your stomach. But in proper amounts the McRackins are quite tasty.

The one and only live performance for Nailbomb, which is Max Cavalera (Sepultura) and Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel). Of course, since these guys are playing the guitars, some special guests have to fill in behind them.

Dave Edwardson of Neurosis fills in on bass, and Igor Cavalera (Sepultura), Barry C. Schneider (Tribe After Tribe) and D.H. Peligro (DK and more recently, Peligro) switch off on drums.

I liked the sterile, heavy sound of 1994's studio disc, Point Blank. The live versions are much fuller, but in all, Nailbomb sounds just like an imagined confluence of Sepultura and Fudge Tunnel. Most tasty to my buds.

The two studio tracks are the last Nailbomb recordings ever, as raw and dirty as the live recording. It seems Alex and Max wanted to get a real scratchy sound, and they found one. If you have Point Black you probably don't need this, but if you're a completist type of fan, you won't be disappointed. And if you have never heard this project before, then by all means dig in.

Puerile, tuneful, and pretty damned amusing. If you think the CD cover is somewhat rude, you should see this poster the kind folks at Epitaph sent me titled "Eating Lamb". It involves man, beast and the number 69. Surely I don't need to elaborate.

The latest installment in the phenomenon that is NOFX is cleaner and tighter than previous, as usual. Sure, there is even a real live serious point now and then, but not unlike a NOFX show, most of this is around just for fun.

Anyone who claims to like punk music should already have heard of these folks, and really, Heavy Petting Zoo will not garner the band any new fans. It is a solid album, but probably not the band's best. I still vote for White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean by a nose, but this is really splitting hairs.

NOFX will never be counted among the best bands of all time. But in terms of total entertainment value, so band works harder or comes up with more. These boys surely know how to keep smiles on the faces of teenagers (and teenagers at heart) everywhere.

A couple doses of meandering pop music. Not Rebecca has serious ties to the Chicago punk community, but the sound is pretty damned polished smooth. This is not a bad thing.

In fact, the boys have a very good feel for the pop song. The b-side. "Side You", is quite reminiscent of a crunchier Green Day (and remember, at one time Green Day was also the pop band for a punk community). Lots of reasons to like this one.

A weird 90's fuzzbox approximation of trippy 70's pop, like if Superchunk decided to cover some James Taylor song, and kept the tempo real damned slow. The a-side, "Strawberry Sam", is a song about a birthmark (just like the enclosed note sez). Way overwrought and dramatic for such inane lyrics. Perhaps the folks are trying to paint some "brotherhood of man" picture, but even looking for it, I can't find the point.

The flip, "Wallflower", is another tune about folks on the outside looking in. It's about as dreary as the first song.

These songs did not need to be this pretentious and dull. The playing and production are alright, but I just can't understand how all this is taken so seriously by the band.

Four moody, thick pop tunes. The sound is lo-fi, and the mood is dark.

When Slot finally kicks in, like in most of "Of Strikes and Spares", the stuff is pretty acceptable, if uninspiring. Vocalist Sue (no last names given) prefers to croon along in a sort of monotone, not bothering much with concepts like melody or emotion. That bugs me a little, mostly because the band also plays that way. The sound is constant and unchanging. While perhaps interesting as a side note, to hear this sort of thing over and over again gets kinda numbing.

If you're into pain, a numbing sameness and that sort of thing (say, you're an old Codeine fan), Slot will fill the bill. I want more, myself.

A nice collection of "classic punk" tunes. In fact, if you don't have these tunes in your collection, you really have done much of a job collecting early 80's punk. From X ("Los Angeles") to Suicidal ("Institutionalized") to Fear ("I Don't Care About You"), this is really a primer on punk's early greatest hits.

You have to remember that a lot of this stuff was considered pop even way back when. There's no DK or many of the heavier and faster hardcore acts of the same period. But hell, you can only fit so many songs on one disc, and this does alright.

I do wish that more attention had been paid to some of the more overlooked punk bands of the past, but if you're just digging in, then you have to start somewhere. A good compilation for the novice.

Kicking off with a bluesy version of Barry White's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby," Bittersweet serves notice that the Volebeats really are back.

I got an advance of the band's last album (never saw the disc), and I quite liked it. Blending a nice ringing guitar sound with that college country rock feel bands like the Jayhawks have propagated, the Volebeats really take this stuff to a new level.

Every word is earnestly sung (sometimes achingly so), and the music is a seamless amalgam of country, rock, folk and blues. What's even more astonishing is that Keir McDonald is also the guy behind the awesome Medusa Cycle album I reviewed a couple issues ago. You might remember that as a wonderful industrial ambient pop album. Many of McDonald's Volebeat bandmates helped out on that disc as well.

What all this means is that these folks simply know how to make great music, regardless of genre. The Volebeats are worth searching out, even if you have to drive to Royal Oak, MI to find Third Gear Records (I can give you the addresses of a couple cool records stores there, if you want to make the trip).