MADRIGALI MAGRI
LISCHE CD
24 strada san pietro, 14049 Nizza Monferrato, AT-Italy
Opens with a slow, dirgey rock number. Rocks out quite a bit actually. "Borderline" isn't a MADONNA cover (aw, shoot!). Instead it's a slow, dirgey rock number. Thrummed bass line and minimal drum action. The vocals are whispered. I kept waiting for the bit where they rock out, but it never came!
"Fosca" is kind of scary. A rather delicate, tremolo guitar figure with a nice bass line trapped behind the singer dude ranting like a maniac off in the corner! It's kind of crazed. "Megasama" finally gets a little rock-action going again. With chickadee singing too! And that's one DISTORTED guitar! The last track is an eight-minute exercise in dynamics. Very loud, then very very soft. Hmm. Highly experimental approach to performance. The production is good, you can hear everything very clearly. And it certainly holds your attention while it's playing.
Ian C Stewart

THE MAGICIAN
OK OK
Fiend, 19 Victor Road, Bradford, BD9 4QN, UK
A near continuous flow of collage spills from this tape into the listener's ears. No information is provided to reveal who the MAGICIAN is, but he weaves a varied collection of sounds with an approach that appeals to the gut. Harsh sonics dominate this production, demanding attention. The listener is shocked with an ever-varying atmosphere of found noises, feedback, synthesizers, electronic and acoustic percussion, distorted guitar and sampled recordings. Original and found vocal bits appear throughout, often mixed way down into a low-level babble-scape. In several passages, sound effects and pitch variations darken these sounds into an even more blistering and blurry melange. If you're looking to get agitated, this tape's for you.
Swami Loopynanda

MAGIC MUSIC
DARK TO LIGHT CD
First International Records, 11602-75 Ave, Edmonton Alta. T6G 0J2 Canada
They start very badly with a song that sounds exactly like PAUL SIMON's ''You Can Call Me Al'', so you can imagine I was tempted to take the CD out immediately, but I decided to give them a chance. MAGIC MUSIC are actually two nice older guys doing what I could only define as Eighties pop ballads. (Forget the gloomy and rather brilliant artwork and ''magic'' references, this CD's ideal cover would be all pastels and airbrush). They sound like a cross between ABC, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and countless old long-forgotten 80s people (KENNY LOGGINS? JOHN WAITE? STAN RIDGWAY? CHRISTOPHER CROSS?). It's not unpleasant, the voices are nice and the ballads wordy. The sax is dreadful instead, but what can you expect from Eighties pop if not a dreadful sax? Recommended for older nostalgics.
Paola Sorrentino

MAKESHIFT LABYRINTH ETC
THE TAPES OF WRATH #16
PO Box 2073, Seabrook NH 03874-2073 USA
Collage and live improvisations from New Hampshire's JARED PETERSON and the UK's EXPOSE YOUR EYES. A number of coherent and original pieces on this tape made my speakers shake in ways they never have before. The live bits are played enthusiastically with a somewhat tribal feeling. Lots of unusual instruments, sound samples, chanting. The collage pieces have a "live" feel about them, accomplished with artistically positioned words and sounds, rhythms and noises. The atmospheres vary from intense pulsings and grindings to a young woman's unaccompanied recounting of her dreams. The homemade cover contains a picture of a topless woman sucking up the letters of a cryptic handwritten cipher into a vacuum cleaner. My imagination was provoked by the entire package.
Swami Loopynanda

MARA'S TORMENT
ACROSS FOR SHOW CD
2 Manning Ave, Toronto Ontario M6J 2K4 CANADA
I must admit to being a big fan of synthy, ambient music, so MARA'S TORMENT immediately appealed to me. The first track, "Where We Go To Die," has some unbelievably chill sound textures...very much like BRIAN ENO, come to think of it. However, RIK MacLEAN (who *is* MARA'S TORMENT) doesn't simply lean in the ENO/BUDD/LANOIS direction -- a few tracks (like "Where It Begins" and "Symmetry") kick it with some very serious programmed drums. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your taste), some of this stuff sounds like "Violator"-era DEPECHE MODE (without words, of course), and that's OK, too. However, it's on the more ambient, experimental tracks (like "Trances, Dialogues") where MacLEAN really shines -- he allows the push and pull of the keyboard to take over, and doesn't force the songs to rely on a stiff, quantized, crankin' drumbeat. ACROSS FOR SHOW is great where it's plodding and precise, and where it just takes it easy...but the other stuff ain't half bad either.
Ben Gott

MARA'S TORMENT
DREAMS LIKE MINE CD
2 Manning Ave #1, Toronto ON M6J 2K4 Canada
VERY nice rhythmic ambient techno! Hooo yeah buddy! Nuthin' gets my FIEF in a ORATOR like some good ambient techno! Shit yeah. The production is excellent on this disc, with lots of very high-quality synth sounds. Reverby drum sounds and beams of keyboards illuminate the sky! Melodic but not at the expense of the very soothing mood. Saturnine explorations of deepest inner space. Which means "it's ambient, it's fucking good." Probably a very good soundtrack for gettin' it on.
Ian C Stewart

ARNOLD MATHES
ENDLESS FLIGHTS: THE BEST OF ARNOLD MATHES 1991-1998
audiofile round tapes, 209-25 18 Ave, Bayside NY 11360 USA
Undirectional synth improvisation pieces. Layers of fiddly synths underscored by barebones drum machine rhythms. "Reckless Abandonment" opens the most coherently employing a stabbing rhythm. The pieces are long, uncompromising explorations of sound and rhythm. "Coordinates" starts off nice and cool but it quickly turns into an exercise in "How Many Buttons Can We Push During This Song?" Which is unfortunate because the underlying theme is good enough. "Deviation" is a good synth-pop track with a solid rhythm. Closing the album is "See Ya Later Oscillator" which is a minute-long sample from a movie or TV show, about the oscillator that saved the world from robots. Kinda cool...
Ian C Stewart

MIKE MERZ & THE CAN O' WORMS
MERZWORLD CD
Archangel Media Empire PO Box 50392, Minneapolis MN 55405 USA
MIKE "MIKE MERZ" MERZ kicking the full-on BECK action, I don't know what else to call it! Track one is a rap song about da music biz, sort of. And the second song is an acoustic folky thing about da music biz. A theme! Wordy wordplay that has more in common with YAZBEK (there's my obligatory mention of DAVID YAZBEK) than MR HANSEN. Cool nerd music for a post-everything society or something. Wait, did I just read that on the CD cover? The last song, "Libra Moon," I guess, is why MERZ sticks to the yuks, the serious autobio lyrics are a bit tragic. Nice and I mean NICE Casio action in the background though! Those Tonebanks are still great! Musically this song is sort of LYLE LOVETTy with a softly spoken vocal delivery. Hmmm. Weird, cool, and smart.
Ian C Stewart

MESOMORPH
WHAT ABOUT BELGIUM?
Yves Schamp, Tussenbermen 37, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Hard, crunchy hardcore with great production and above-average songwriting. Distorted bass, crisp guitars, tight drumming and yelled vocals. Hey, it got me nodding along! And I'm tempted to do a desk-dive right about now! "Brainwashed" rocks hardest but the others are hardly CELINE DION by comparison. Four songs that fucking rock! Hell yeah.
Ian C Stewart

[MINMAE]
"326 RUE DE JUNIPER" | "POLTERGEIST OVER ENGLAND" 7"
Airborne Virus Records PO Box 16207, San Diego CA 92176 USA
The A side of this single starts off with murmuring short-wave radio-sounding noise, which unexpectedly changes into an interesting experiment in noise and feedback with guitar strumming and singing barely audible in the background. The longer second side, "Poltergeist over England," has a plodding rhythm with waves of noise woven throughout. The noise is echoey, clangy and wavering and quite interesting to listen to. It's somewhat disconcerting and I'm sure most people wouldn't like it, but I think it works rather well.
Ken Miller

[MINMAE]
"326 RUE DE JUPITER" 7"
Airborne Virus Records PO Box 16207, San Diego CA 92176 USA
Screechy howly feedback and polite acoustic strumming/folksinging sit uneasily together on the A side. "Poltergeist Over England" kicks off the B side with a relaxed drum loop and keyboard layers reminiscent of FUXA. Soothing and somewhat squelchy in spots. Space rocks!
Ian C Stewart

MJB + VARIOUS ARTISTS
CHOP SUEY
Semper Lo-Fi, 11 Orchard St, Cold Spring NY 10516 USA
MJB gets weird, but then goes back to normal again, in this nice collection of collaborative pieces, wherein his smooth pop songcraft is bounced off the talents of many other underground pop names, interspersed with some experimental sketches. Starting with a decayed piano lick, and then into that trademark summery jangle for collabs with RAY CARMEN, JOEL BACHRACH, KD SCHMITZ, DAN SUSNARA & several others. I think some of these tracks may be cover versions… Excuse me, but one hometaper doing a cover of another hometaper's songs is really damn cool. I've wanted to do a whole tape covering some fave underground tunes for ages now. This tape has the feel of a bunch of friends getting together and doing music in a basement rather than the mail collabs that they must be. I particularly like "The Forever Springtime Dog" with LAWRENCE SALVATORE, and "Sweet Adonis" with KEN CLINGER. Also good is "Send in the Clouds" (despite the BARBARA STREIDENT reference) which is solo MJB getting about as close to industrial dance as you're ever likely to hear. Really, nearly the entire tape is fine listening, the only times the tape bogs down is when several versions of one song are presented back-to-back. Come on, just choose a version & get over with it, we all already know you're clever by now. Anyhow, get this tape and pretend it's not winter.
C Reider

MJB + VARIOUS ARTISTS
CHOP SUEY
Semper Lo-Fi, 11 Orchard St, Cold Spring NY 10516 USA
Wow. MJB's collaborators on this tape form a virtual who's who in hometaping. "Still In Love With You" is a charming and unpretentious love song (with lyrics by MJB), sung by RAY CARMEN, who also does the instrumentals. Faithful AUTO readers will remember RAY's interview in #7. His fellow interview subject KEN CLINGER is here too, with vocals and strings on "Sweet Adonis". KD SCHMITZ appears several times: the catchy "Oh My Prayer'' (nice guitar work by MJB on this one), the tell all "Secret Beach Boys Fans", and several versions of "Ten Thousand Things". All fine songs, with the same quirky wit that characterizes KD's justly famous zine TEN THOUSAND THINGS. Variations on a theme: there's the spacey instrumental "One Thing" (one of two pieces credited to MJB alone) and then there's "And Another Thing" and "This, That, and The Other Thing", and "and One Last Thing", all featuring drum samples from some guy named IAN STEWART. And that's mostly just Side One. JOEL BACHRACH's "The Club Tour'' provides a high point on Side Two. The low point, by far, is KEN MILLER and MIKE BOWMAN's "The Winkle Wings Variations" (4 versions), with its incredibly annoying "ping, ping" sound like a communication satellite or something. If only this was a CD, I'd have skipped it after the first time through--this is a great tape otherwise and I've played it several times. MIKE also has writing credits on the poppy "Letterbombs" (with ALEC CUMMING) and "Miss January" (with DAN SUSNARA), both of which I liked; KEN will just have to forgive me for hating his single contribution . . . (we've been trading zines for a while: check out SHOUTING AT THE POSTMAN!). Contact info for all the artists is given in the liner notes. Get this tape!
Indy Ana Jones

THE MONDO CRESCENDO
GET FADED CD
Blackbean And Placenta, 124 Ventura Ave, Oxnard CA 93035 USA
This spacey little EP is a real pop gem, consisting of six songs chock full of sweet female vocals floating over chiming guitar harmonies. The songs are catchy, with memorable riffs and light, unobtrusive lyrics about love and spaceships. THE MONDO CRESCENDO is a band THE JETSONS would have listened to, with a real 60s-space-pop kind of sound. Every song is terrific, but particularly "Spaceship Terrific" and "Shhh" (which, for some reason, reminds me of WALT MINK.) As an added bonus, the cover design is very nice as well. Basically this is one of those CDs you pull out when you want something you can sing to without having to think very much. This is probably one of my favorite new bands I've heard in a long time.
Nicole Wolfersberger

MORE MISHAP MUSIC comp
Mishap Productions 846 Pine Flat Rd, Santa Cruz Ca 95060 USA
Enlightening roster run-down of the label JAMES CALL calls home. POPE JOHN PAUL III does an okay little folky acoustic song with an organ solo at the end, followed by "I Like Girls," which is straight sequencing and lounge-liz vocals. More importantly is JAMES CALL "Tick #2," which is pretty much just like the version on POWER but with different lyrics and a buried vocal track. MIKE GARLINGTON gets kinda NICK CAVE on "Omah Devoe" and "Daisy Doright." Highly NICK CAVE with TOM WAITS overtones. JAMES CALL reappears on Side two with "Am I The Only One Who Isn't Joking?" which obviously rules. The POPE returns also for "Booze," which is quite silly. At least it's short… ENDORPHIN runs a sort of rock-rap schtick on "White Boy." Mishap clearly has great taste in indie artists.
Ian C Stewart

MOTHERS AGAINST SEX ASSOCIATION "Pause"/"I'll Be Your Sister" 7"
Hiljaiset levyt: PO Box 211, 33201, Tampere, Finland
"Pause": angular JAWBOXy rock with atonal guitars and tribal drums. And viola! Very rhythmic, with lots of screaming and weird noises thrown in. Gotta love tribal drums like that! Definitely fucking rocks in a very odd way. Nod along now and ask questions later, I guess. "I'll Be Your Sister" opens with a pick-screech-down-the-strings like I haven't heard in years! This song takes the elements as previously discussed and shoots 'em back through, even tighter, and faster! Fucking rock, man! Harmonized guitar solo and frenetic bass playing! The singer sounds very MUDHONEY. The songwriting is excellent, and very well-recorded. Worth buying if you like to Rock!
Ian C Stewart

MOUTH ODOUR
"REFRIGERATOR" 7"
Boing Being, Hyytialantie 9, 35500 Korkeakoski, Finland
"Good ole Boing Being," you'll be sayin' soon. Really another good 7" of gear shifting rock punk, kinda like a punk rock and roll band that got twisted a bit and played shows with the more energetic good "indie" bands like DISINFORMATION PLAN, SHINER, and other good uns who aren't afraid to use the jerk-on-a-chain chord changes and stripped down hard rock logic argued by SACCHARINE TRUST in the olden days and early DEVO previous to that. Mid-tempos, clear singing without devolving into the dreaded pop-punk-emo lip piddle. A nice way to split 11 minutes into 6 tunes.
Cin Delane

MURDEROUS VISION
LOATHE CD
Live Bait Recording Foundation 423 7th St #3, Fairport Harbor OH 44077 USA
Ghouly new age? Atonal synth action with spoken samples. Industrial Noize Goth? Backward soundfeck. Followed ten minutes later by distorted layers of drum samples, guitar samples, and distorted vocals. "Cesspools Ov Thee Underworld" cloaks itself in so much delay it's just a big pile echoes. Hey, that's noize! I'm getting out the dictionary! You can't expect to just SWATHE all over the FILIBRATION like that! Although the chick-scream in the middle is nice. Nice touch. "Skin" rocks the first coherent drum rhythm of the album. Lots more drum samples and weird synth bass bits. And the vocals are a little troubled, sounds like home boy has got something on his mind! The production ain't all bad, but kinda loses the plot on "Beloved." What's up with those vocals?!? Can't hear anything else once they start! Otherwise it's a decent enough piano/organ/drum machine mope track. "Numb" reminds me of that ROZZ WILLIAMS solo record where he did all the talking over the music. You know the one. "End" is a vast noisescape with lots of twists and turns in its ten minutes. It's ghouly but it's noizy too. Something for everyone!
Ian C Stewart

MUSIC FROM THE FUTURE
RANDOM NOISE GENERATION
Fantasart Productions 1615 Williams St, Denver CO 80218 USA
Anything but "random." An hour's worth of synthesized productions that have the air of some very careful layering. The atmospheres vary from overlapped pulses colored with occasional spacey sound samples to grandiose chords framed by synth drum loops and analog synth textures. The skillful use of sound effects in the production converts the machine-like techno noises into something almost organic and approachable. The pieces all have rhythms and pitches that slowly evolve, continuously seeking out the edges of the known sonic world. The cover art provided no names for the talented synth twiddlers in MUSIC FROM THE FUTURE. Too bad-- they deserve some credit for knowing their craft.
Swami Loopynanda

NAPALMED | GOVT ALPHA
split 7"
Napalmed: Radek Kopel, Lipova 1123, 434 01 Most, Czech Republic
NAPALMED's side (@ 33 1/3) features shards of tremoloed feedback and voice samples, hyperdistorted bass guitar slaying, buzzing noises, etc etc all fading in and out in time with nothing. Damn it, and I already HAD a headache! GOVT ALPHA's 45rpm "Sludge" side is totally over-the-top windstorm screech. How long can it go on? Fucking shit, man! Something tells me the guys at the mastering plant where they pressed this record either hate these guys' fucking guts, or they worship the ground the walk on. Me, I need an aspirin! Huge time!
Ian C Stewart

NO MOTIV
AND THE SADNESS PREVAILS CD
Vagrant, 2118 Wilshire Blvd #361, Santa Monica CA 90403 USA
This is a high-energy rock band that's a little too polished to be hard core, and a little to fast to be anything else. The songs are really good melodic punk, although the dynamics of the band are somewhat limited to loud and fast- the whole album of 11 songs is only 31 minutes in length. "Sunday at 6:00" is a sad tune about losing your girlfriend, "So What" is a great one that has a cool time change in the chorus. "Somewhere" is another sad song that sounds like METALLICA with the lead singer from GREEN DAY. ""Empty" another sad power ballad that has a chord progression in the chorus that I know I've heard somewhere else. Unfortunately, they don't have an entirely unique sound and they remind me of a lot of other bands, both in the world of punk and metal, not that it's such a bad thing- they're are plenty of people who like that sound.
Ken Miller

NUCLEAR TRIBUNAL
ATTACK OF THE SALAMI SMOKERS FROM VENUS CD
Poserslaughterslaughter Records, PO Box 180141, D-10205 Berlin, Germany
Glug! It's all above love, I suppose. Full on power/death meatal rootage jerked thru a sensibility that mixes enuff humour and "War Of The Worlds" style reportage fear to break the themes outta the norm for such grunt. I don't get much from the OTT/thrashing side of it but the snot thick intro bridges suit me nicely, but after that, as a wise man once said, "lets polka"! Maybe LAWNMOWERDETH's German kids?
Cin Delane

ONE STAR
"THE JELLY IS SET!" | "METAPHORIC" 7"
Blackbean And Placenta, 124 Ventura Ave, Oxnard CA 93035 USA
Slow and groovy, drums, bass + synth action with guitars and Japanese-to-English singing. Highly groovy and infectious, had me nodding along and dancing around and pointing at the speakers. Hey wait, there's a SONG in there under that grrrooove too! "Metaphoric" is more lounge-bliss than latent booty-action. Slow guitars, drums, bass and keys almost add up to GALAXIE 500! Another sweet fucking record on Blackbean And Placenta! Go figger!
Ian C Stewart

OOER, MISSUS CD comp
25 Records, PO Box 3006, Poole BH12 2HU UK
http://www.ids.co.uk/25records
Exhibit B on why cover art is irrelevant to review-writing: a sliced-open cadaver. And the writing on the cover! That font is more hideous than death. Plus band names like OSMOSIS and THE DEAD IN CHRIST. Hmmm. Any bets? Well, you're probably wrong. The first track, THE HOLSTEINS' "Medicine" is a fine guitar pop choon with layers of female vocals. Track two, POPSHOP's "Of Venus Sent" is more of the same, sort of. Cheery pop with acoustic and electric guitars and layers of female vocals. Would make a god-damn fine single on its own. CORD starts off with a distorted drum loop so fine I'm off to sample it now for my own personal use...the whole song is distorted with typical 90s Brit swagger. Real hands-in-corduroys-nodding-to-the-floor diggit. CURIOUS OYSTER's "Fur" comes on with an orchestra of drum machine bobbles and then digital-effected guitars and loping bass. They have a working knowledge of the gospel according to COCTEAU TWINS and maybe SIOUXSIE too (must I say again how little I know about her?!). Drum machine, effected guitar, pretty female vocals. Sounds like a familiar recipe. I'd buy a single from 'em, shit. MONITOR LIZ goes totally NUMAN on "Ian McMartian." Buzzing analogue synths with live drumming. And vocals that could've been recorded in a crowded cardboard box. Guitars kick in on the chorus. Highly awesome! ROBERT BEVAN-JONES does a mid-70s soft rock ballad type thing, which is terrifying. You can hear the orange shag carpet in the recording, somewhere between the organ swells. Yikes! THE HAMPTONS sound like a real band on "Don't Bypass My Heart" with a chorus not a million miles removed from that "Freak Of The Week" song I keep hearing at work when they have the "alternative" station on. OTHERWORLD sounds like a chorus of acoustic guitars and pianos and drums and singers, it's kind of startling actually. The instrumentation is over the top and fussy in a way that would guarantee them instant fame in Canada, where such things are coveted. THE DEAD IN CHRIST's "Lorena Bobbit (Where Is Your Smile)" is cruddily-recorded 2-note metal drone action. The echo effect on the vocals makes it sound like it was recorded at an amusement park attraction where you can go in and make a karaoke tape for ten bucks. WALKING WOUNDED are frighteningly accomplished musicians. "The Gypsy Dance" is pure Moroccan violin, bass and hand percussion. With harmonica too! If they walked around London playing this stuff, they would be constantly pelted with spare change. They could pay their rent with spare change. "Four Colours For You" is a ballady type deal with accordion and acoustic guitar plus singing. Sounds like a Mediterranean POGUES. But what the fuck do I know? ...So what's up with that fucking CD cover anyway????
Ian C Stewart

ORIGIN
A COMING INTO EXISTENCE
Paul Ryan 4324 Maryland Ct, Topeka KS 66609 USA
Oh my GOD this is heavy! After all of the Century Media stuff we've gotten here at AUTO, ORIGIN is a contender in a somewhat similar vein. Though I must say that ORIGIN is actually HEAVIER than 90% of CM stuff. Bear in mind I am not the Master Of Metal that I once was. But I do know what rocks, and this shit definitely fucking rocks. Metal, obviously. Tighter than I don't know what, but fucking tight anyway. This is clearly a band that logs many hours in rehearsal every week. The riffs are way chuggy and the vocals are pretty much all screamed/yelled. There are very fast thrash beats that border on being pure blasts, but they never get out of control like most blast-beat grind. ORIGIN's riffs are very technical but they also groove like a mutha. The production is excellent as well, very professional-sounding. "Manimal Instincts"... grrrrrrrraugh! Were I resident of Lawrence Kansas, after high-balling with CHARLIE GOFF and glooming out with LARA HAYNES (of WORMWOOD, the goth-core band), I'd probably track down ORIGIN and check 'em out. And if they played in Columbus, yeah I'd stagedive.
Ian C Stewart

PBK
THE MESCALINE TRACKS
PO Box 7786, Flint MI 48507-0786 USA
A 1997 tape of tremblingly calm neuro-weirdness from abstract sound master PBK created while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. PBK once again creates a work that is so far out of the field of "normal" sound that the music itself is often less describable than the imaginary visions it summons: Being swallowed down a quivering esophagus. A rising flood of jangling water and popping metallic bubbles, flowing less like water than like a tumbling swarm of insectoid robots. A floating host of angeldogs chanting strict regulations from behind canvas curtains, their vocal cords as big around as streetlamps. Startling jolts from an electronic brain enduring a seizure. A far beyond excellent set of mind-stimulating, challenging sounds to let yourself fall deep into.
C Reider

FRANK PECK
WORLD OF PECK
KAW, 2 Carmuir, Forth, Lanarkshire ML11 8AR UK
My affection for this man's recordings is well documented. So what the fuck do you expect me to say about WORLD OF PECK!?!? It's beautiful, stunning, and hits you right in the gut. MARK (aka FRANK PECK) is the master of the slow-ballad, earnestly strummed on an acoustic guitar with lovely vocals on top. Perhaps I overstated the MARK EITZEL comparisons before, but who else is doing this kind of stuff? No one in MY record collection. These songs were all recorded in a highly lo-fi manner, which, for me, adds to the charm. Gloomy and romantic and with the occasional cheap keyboard thrown in, and melancholier than two motherfuckers. "My Blood & My Bones" will reduce you to tears! Brilliant! Bring on the CD box set already!
Ian C Stewart

PINSTRIPE
ASTRONOMY CD
Garbage Czar Records, PO Box 207129, New Haven CT 06520 USA
Angst-ridden music with acoustic guitar, drums and bass tends to make one think of the VIOLENT FEMMES, but PINSTRIPE has some really unique ideas and intelligent arrangements for their songs. Sadly, the 8 songs suffer from muddy recording and low vocals that force the listener to play it loud in order to hear the lyrics and the subtleties of the guitar work. The opener, "Seeing the Car" is upbeat and interesting, with a great bridge in the middle. "Suspension" follows with a great brooding rhythm, sparse arrangement and melancholy lyrics. "Don't Expect" is a great, introspective instrumental that really shows the dynamics of the band. Overall the songs are great, but poor recording bogs down the CD. Given the right producer, this band could be spectacular.
Ken Miller

PLATYPUS
NINJA MONSTER 7"
Weird Dreams, Mika, Orontie 1 as.2 , 53500 Lappeenranta, Finland
Progressive instrumental post-rock? Math rock? The first song on the A-side, "Monkey Robot Hell" is new-wave post-rock with some goofy-ass insane vocals on the top. Next is "Venom Of Love," an uptempo out-rock improv with loads of irritating keyboard sounds and a straight live drum beat. The B-side "Tron" (labeled "spede metal"), features a diddering synth figure beheld by barely contained live drums and scree-tar fury. The bass just sort of is, which anchors the song and keeps the whole thing from degenerating into a 5000th gen MOTHERS rip-off.
Ian C Stewart

PLUNDERSHOP
THIS IS PLUNDERSHOP
Kylie Productions, 509a Old York Rd, Wandsworth, London SW18 1TF UK
Noise, pop, and noisepop with all lines blurred. The songwriting is very good. Guitar-based modern rock type stuff with way-catchy vocal lines. The singer has a good voice and the songs amble easily with a classic coolness. "In The Course Of A Day" grooves past like a folk-rock SONIC YOUTH. The song disintegrates into a black hole of noize, a rainstorm of digital delay and sound fx fun. "Your Skull Has A Little Hinge" is a contender for SONGTITLE OF THE WEEK, definitely. "Miss Anthrope" is a well-chosen cover (written by GEORGE WILLARD) which should be a single for somebody somewhere! So fucking classic you wonder where it's been all your life. Acoustic (or very clean electric) guitar with bass and a freaked-out noise guitar track in back, and the plaintive vocals up front. Damn fine!
Ian C Stewart

POKERFACE
NEXT! CD
PO Box 127, Center Valley PA 18034-0127 USA
Jeesh...2nd sorta thing I've heard that seems like an ultra-commercial hack up from '83 'er so. This is one is like a slicker much less artful, (ahem), DON HENLEY record playing AOR genre-bop. Is this what session guys do on their days off?
Cin Delane

POSTMORTEM
REPULSION CD
Morbid Records, Postfach 3, 03114 Drebkau Germany
Metal has never died in Europe. Resulting in lots of really talented, but really standard thrash bands. POSTMORTEM fit squarely into this category. Although hard to find anything particularly wrong this release, it's harder to find anything right with it. The guitars predominantly ride the chunka chunka chunka e-string stutters and the vocals are your usual growly, hoarse almost understandable bark with zero range and zero dynamics from song to song. The one element that holds POSTMORTEM back is the drumming. It's very weak on the whole, relying on a boring kick-snare-kick-snare approach through most every song. The double bass stuck in the fist song "Epitomize" is completely unnecessary and does nothing for the intensity or movement of the song. The only redeeming factor I get from a complete listen is the intelligent structuring of the guitars. Although rarely straying from the used thrash picking, they do occasionally sparkle with an odd-timed riff or break (like the jerked guitar line of "Clockwork Black"). But again the drums lessen this song with their attempt at being tricky by throwing quick, meaningless fills on the ends of the measures. "Gutterballs" has a nice skipping pace and the epic slowed down chorus finally shows the drummer attempting some different approaches (proving he does have some talent when focused). If the bass ever strays from following the guitar, I never heard it. "Beyond the Bounds" has a completely used guitar riff, but with the slower (but typical) drum beat, this song makes my head nod along - but again, nothing new. Good song though. It pulls the listener through a (rare) subdued softer picked interlude before stumbling back into the chompin' beginning. "Inside the Clockwork" has a steady, pounding and eerie beginning which shows POSTMORTEM's ability to write some decent movements that aren't entirely used before them. POSTMORTEM play Euro-thrash reminiscent of 80's thrash before it became acceptable. If not for the fact this kind of thing has existed in a thousand forms before, POSTMORTEM rip. They have speed, energy and technical prowess that probably are great to experience live...but only for the true metal fan. If you gave up on thrash metal type stuff - POSTMORTEM will not bring you back to the fold. However, if you never left, this might rock ya.
Bushman

PRAYING FOR OBLIVION
THE TECHNOLOGY OF MASS EXTERMINATION
Android Productions 94 Fayette Ave, Buffalo NY 14223-2708 USA
Holy god that's noizey! The credits say it all: "Android: drum programming, loops, effects, static and frequency manipulation." Mix it all together and distort it to fuck and hey! You've got a new tape! Noize peeps will dig it because they do, and those of us who have never gotten it won't. It's confrontational and extraordinarily annoying. There's blood running out of my subwoofer! Are you bitches happy now?!?!?
Ian C Stewart

PROJECT W
"SNAKE LEGS" 7"
Apraxia, PO Box 85155, Seattle WA 98145 USA
A free-improv trio; a drummer, a cellist and a player of alto saxophones, their output pressed on lollipop red vinyl. The thing about free-improv is that you can't really describe it other than to say, 'it's free-improv'…you've both never heard it before, and have heard it all before. I could do like DEREK BAILEY, and say that it's pointless to listen to this because recorded free-improv defeats the entire point of improvisation, and that you may as well listen to a nature recording, but I'm no DEREK BAILEY, and I'm also no DAN QUAYLE. So, I'll say, this is pretty good stuff… A full length recording would drive me up the fucking wall though.
C Reider

PSEUDONYM
PIG TAIL WORLD CD
PO Box 782, Brookline MA 02246 USA
OK, I'm not that big a pop person so there may be a whole fuckin' boatload of this post indie BRIAN WILSON/BEACH BOYS stuff floating ashore. That said, this is my favorite pop rock based melodic disc since the APPLES IN STEREO. Honest to gosh great catchy songs which have some of the lighter break of the 90's "shoe gazer" bands had and that the CARDIGANS touch upon now and then. Like if the SUNDAYS were better, less produced, less obvious and had a guy singer who could structure his melodies to tail off like the afore said MR B WILSON and they pulled their tunes thru a jar of syrup labeled STONE ROSES, especially the "Fools Gold" style. His voice isn't as magical as WILSON's but what the fuck is? Put a couple of these songs in a Chick/Date movie and these guys would be swimmin' in cooze, booze and cash. He oughta write all of EVAN DANDO's singles. Pledge your undying love and support.
Cin Delane

PSYCHOPLASMA | CIRCLE split 7"
Metamorphos, Rantamaki 2 B 6, SF-02230 ESPOO, FINLAND
PSYCHOPLASMA sound like a better version of the SISTERS OF MERCY LP that a few losers clutch to their dumb no-brain. A much better version, less overtly spooky and a tighter lopping rhythm carry along a decent tune. CIRCLE are a more drone tribal affair, which I am assuming is meant to be played at various speeds. I like the 33 rpm cause I do. You as the interactive consumer may wish to hear their harsh oscillating one-note keys over the bashing of guitar and drums at 45. Either way they could open for SIX FINGER SATELLITE if those guys make the wise move away from playing with fucking punk bands. Although not as harsh it brings to mind NY's nowave movement-let of the late 70's and aggro keyboard Kraut rock dinking with some sorta outerspace surf thing cut in half. They are looking for distribution, so some one either sign'm up for some new stuff or import some of this stuff. I mean, I would if I had been the cool yuppie I shoulda been insteada the loser I am… OH! I should mention SAVAGE REPUBLIC and some of the band on an oil drum stuff for the CICLES people. Thank you.
Cin Delane

PUNISHMENT REINFORCEMENT INTERROGATIONS / HOMOGENIZED TERRESTRIALS split 7"
Knot Music PO Box 501, South Haven MI 49090-501 USA
Noize. Not much else to say. Feedback shards that make my scalp tingle. Golly but I wish I were joking! Now make it stop! PRI "Squall Dissection." Title says it all really. Feedback and not much else. HT's side ain't much different. What the fuck did you expect? These mofos are armed and hostile! And I don't care, "Law And Order" is on.
Ian C Stewart