• On the Brink of Infinity
• One Bag, Two Lumps, Three Cozies
• Only the Strong MCMXCIII
• Operation Beatbox
• Our Heat (Your Moisture)
• Out of the Box
• Outlaw: The Electro Acoustic Tribute to Bon Jovi
• Over the Wire
• Ozzfest: Live
• Papa Nez: A Loose Salute to the Work of Michael Nesmith
• The Passion of Covers: A Tribute to Bauhaus
• Peaceville Vol. 4
• Planetarium
• Porn Star--Hell Bent for Pleasure
• Prime Cuts: From Funky Beats to Funky House
• Probe Mission USA
• Punch Drunk II
• Punch Drunk III
• Punk Archives
• Punk Chartbusters
• Punk Chartbusters Vol. 2
• Punk Chartbusters Vol. 3
• Punk Chartbusters 4
• Punk-O-Rama
• Punk-O-Rama Vol. 2
• Punk-O-Rama 3
• Punk-O-Rama 4
• Punk O Rama #5
• Pure Spun Sugar
• A Purge of Dissidents
• R.A.F.R. Volume 3
• Radiant Decay: A Tribute to Nine Inch Nails
• Radio Oddyssey
• Radio Oddyssey 2: The Georgia Music Show
• Reach the Rock soundtrack
• Records for the Working Class
• Records for the Working Class No. 2
• Rev It Up!
• Revelations Book II: Popaganda, the Second Copming
• Right in the Nuts
• Ripped Up and So Sedated
• Rock Against Bush Vol. 2
• Rock Outside the Box, Vol. II
• Salsa Mundo
• Sample This! The Best of BYO and Big Daddy Records
• Saucerful of Pink
• Scavengers in the Matrix
• Scene Killer Vol. 2
• Schizoid Dimension: A Tribute to King Crimson
• Secret Agent S.O.U.N.D.S.
• Sell Out With the In Crowd
• Shake the Nations
• Shanti Project Collection
• Short Music for Short People
• The Show: Volume One
• Shut Up Kitty
• Sides 1-4 double 7"
• Sides 5-6 7"
• Sides 7-10 double 7"
• The Silence in My Heart: The Emo Diaries, Chapter Six
• Silver Lake: What a Drag!
• Skins & Pinz Volume II
• Skratch Trax 1 1/2
• Skratch Trax 2000 Vol. #2
• Skullcrushers
• A Slice of Lemon
• Slip on This
• Slow Death in the Metronome Factory
• Smoke on the Water-A Tribute
• Sociedad=Suciedad
• Something's Gone Wrong Again: The Buzzcocks Covers Compilation
• Sometimes God Smiles
• Songs for the Jet Set
• Songs for the Jet Set Vol. 2
• Songs for the Jet Set 2000
• Songs from the Better Blues Bureau
• Songs from the Wasteland
• Songs of Freedom and Joy
• Sound Spirit Fury Fire
• Space 380: Transmission Three
• Spacewalk: A Tribute to Ace Frehley
• The Spandex Experiment
• Spanglish 101
• Spill Compilation Two
• Spill Compilation Three
• The Spirit of Cape Verde
• Steinway to Heaven
• Strange Love
• Stray from the Pack
• Subject to Change
• Subterranean Hitz Vol. 2
• Suppers' Ready
• Sweet Emotion: Songs of Aerosmith
• Sweet Submission
• Swine Before Pearls
• Swing This, Baby!
• The Blasting Room
• Take Action
• Tales from Yesterday
• Tangled Up in Blues
• Team Mint
• Team Mint Volume 2!
• Techno Breakbeat
• Technotic Effect
• Teriyaki Asthma Vols. I-V
• Teriyaki Asthma Vol. VII
• Terror Farmer soundtrack
• Things that Are Heavy
• This Are Moon Ska
• This Is Dojo
• This Is Indie Rock, Vol. 1
• 3 Minute Revolution
• The Thrillbillys soundtrack
• Thugs 'n' Kisses
• To Cry You a Song
• Tooth & Nail Sampler Vol. 3
• Trance 4 Mations
• Trance in Time
• Transendence: A Dark Culture Sampler
• A Tribute to Big Star/Additional Songs by Chris Bell
• A Tribute to David Bowie: The Dark Side of David Bowie
• A Tribute to Terrible
• A Tribute to the Music & Works of Brian Eno
• Turn Me On
• TV Freak Night
• TV Terror: Felching a Dead Horse
• 21st Circuitry Shox
• 21st Circuitry Shox 2
• Two Cries of Freedom
• Tyranny Off the Beat
• UHF/VHF
• UL IV
• Ultimate Drum 'N' Bass
• Ultra Swank
• The Unaccompanied Voice
• Up the Dosage
• Versatility
• Victory Style
• Victory Style 4
• Video Sheet Metal Vol. 2
• Virus 100
• Warped Tour 2001 Compilation
• Welcome to Our Nightmare
• We're All Frankies
• What Is Eternal?
• What the World Needs Now
• What's Mine Is Yours
• Where Music Meets Film
• Who Covers Who
• Whole Lotta Blues: Songs of Led Zeppelin
• Wicked City soundtrack
• Wigs on Fire
• Wild Wacky Gift 2
• Wild Wacky Gift 3
• Working Man
• World Warped III Live
• Yellow Pills
• Young God Records Compilation 2000 A.D.
• (You're Only As Good As) The Last Great Thing You Did
• You've got the Fucking Power

V-3
Photograph Burns
(American Recordings)
reviewed in Money Whore issue #2, 3/11/96

Disjointed, haunting pop tunes that really remind me of the Magnetic Fields. Oh, sure, there's the occasional punky rev-up, but mostly this album is about not being very happy.

Okay, I can dig. Simple music that still manages to evoke a depth that many excessively-produced bands cannot achieve. And it's that depth which really set V-3 apart from the pack.

A nice, well-rounded effort. The average fan will find this stuff quite sparse and possibly disturbing. Cool. Allow the music to weave its way into your concscious being (the subconscious is way overrated, anyway) and have its way. Mood modification, perhaps, but after a while you'll feel much better.

And I don't want to leave you with the idea that V-3 is as eclectic as, say, Roger Miller. Not by a long shot. The simple fact is that in order to really get this album, you must listen. That's all. Nothing more. It can't be too much to ask.

V. Sirin
Sandy Truth 7"
(Moment Before Impact)
reviewed in issue #211, 1/29/01

This puppy plays at 33, and the grooves still take up most of the sides (side two does have two songs). V. Sirin really wanted to make the most of its slab of vinyl.

And why not? The folks have a cool way of mixing 70s pop with the stridencies of emo and the general loopiness of garage rock. Don't believe me? Yeah, it's all here. This is one unique set of circumstances, let me tell you.

Did I mention that the songs are rather long and disjointed? I guess when you mix and match as much as V. Sirin there are some compromises. The stuff kept my interest. I didn't look at my watch once.

Vader
The Ultimate Incantation
(Earache)
reviewed in issue #42, 10/31/93

Okay, so this one is pretty old. I finally got hooked up with Earache and I have this policy of reviewing everything I receive (as long as it's indie). So a little backlog won't hurt.

Tight, but still standard death metal. The regular double-fisted bass drum attack and ripping riffs. Occasionally it wanders into interesting territory, but then comes the all-too-predictable tempo change, and we're back where we started.

It's alright, but aggression is not enough.

Gregory Vaine
The Ballad of Bobby McStone
(self-released)
reviewed in issue #174, 12/28/98

A pop-song opera? Why not? Bobby McStone grows up, tried to get a deal, gets screwed, but finally ends up with a hit record because he's so damned talented. Or something like that.

Alright, so plot summation isn't one of my strong points. And to be honest, the plot is almost ancillary. These are nice jangly pop songs, chock full of hooks. Sure, there is something of a point, but if you don't want to be troubled, you won't be.

The production sound could be better. The middle ranges are somewhat muddy, but that lends a nice, homebrew feel to the songs (which helps to cut down any pretension inherent in a pop opera). Me, I wish the sound was a bit sharper. Just a bit.

But a cool project nonetheless. Somewhat over the top, but again, that comes with the territory. Might was well aim high.

Valender
The Giant Slingshot
(Smokeylung)
reviewed in issue #229, May 2002

Minimalist pop with plenty of ringing reverb. An interesting sound, one that I haven't heard used quite this way before. Though I'm sure some Pavement fans are going to start screaming at me at any moment now.

I guess that's a backhanded reference. But Valender isn't particularly pretentious in its songwriting or playing. Indeed, these songs are astonishingly understated. At times, I wish the guys would let themselves crank things up a notch. But then I realize what's going on.

Restraint has its own power. By not rocking the masses, Valender is writing by omission. While these songs are beautiful for what ca be heard, the beauty is enhanced by what the band doesn't do. I hope this concept makes sense to you, because I'm doubting it even as I write it.

Ah well. I'm gonna stick with it. Simplicity has its virtues, and one of them is the ability to make pretty music without a raft of tricks and effects. Let the music be the star. Valender's tunes certainly deserve at least that much.

Valentine Saloon
Mind Bomb EP
(Pipeline)
reviewed in issue #34, 5/15/93

You folks have been reporting these guys for quite some time, and this is my first chance to hear them.

I really liked the title track, which I believe was from their last album. I hate to say it, but the rest is just about completely forgettable.

They get some credit for trying to sound different than all the other commercial metal bands wandering around. Too bad they just aren't much better, at least here.

Valina
Epode
(54-40 or Fight!)
reviewed in issue #269, October 2005

Valina is the other side of the post-rock coin from Ticonderoga. These guys are all about rhythm and keeping the songs in motion. They've got a lot ideas, but they make sure that those ideas spin in the blender of the rhythm section rather than strike out on their own. Which method is better? Depends on your point of view.

I happen to like both approaches, and bands that dabble (or dabbled) in each (June of 44 comes to mind) are among my favorites. Valina isn't afraid to follow the occasional tangent, but the lines are kept on a tighter leash.

Which doesn't mean the thoughts are any less vital. The intensity of this album is almost overwhelming. It blasts out of the gate and never looks back, even when things get a wee bit contemplative.

There are more than two ways to rock, even post-rock. Valina has taken one road (by and large) and it has paved that path most impressively. Grab the handle and hold on.

Valve
Parallel You
(Mood Food)
reviewed in issue #197, 3/27/00

I must say that I've never heard of Valve before, so the fact that this is something of a reunion album doesn't do much for me. What does impress me is the music itself, which is just about as great as the gushy press notes claim.

If this is the reunion, how come I never heard of these guys before? Just a question. Anyway, Valve plays vaguely atmospheric pop (basic song construction with the occasional intrusion of strings or keyboards or whatever) in a refreshingly straightforward way.

But that simple method of presentation doesn't lead to simplistic songwriting. In fact, Valve takes advantage of its spartan skeleton to wander around a bit (though never getting far from the nest). There's a nice undercurrent to each song, a piece that runs contrary to conventional theory. Perhaps it's a slightly off hi-hat cymbal or a bass line that bounces oddly every once in a while. Just enough to really hook a listener.

Boy, I am impressed. This is some fine stuff. I don't know where Valve has been, but I'm glad I got to have this taste. I think delve back in now for a deeper meal.

Vampire Rodents
Lullaby Land
(Reconstriction-Cargo)
reviewed in issue #45, 11/30/93

While most industrial bands stick to a few tried and true rhythms and basic song structures, a few dare to experiment.

Until a couple of years ago, this was, in actuality, an experimental genre. Now that NIN has sold untold millions and Jourgensen is a Seventeen pin-up, I guess it's finally time to get back to the underground.

Just remarkable texture to the songs here. Much like P.E.'s Fear of a Black Planet, there are about ten levels in each song. Layer upon layer of samples and instruments combine into an almost symphonic orgy of sound.

It's heavy; it's dance music; it's sheer pleasure. You can bathe in this untold times, and it will never get old. Like a favorite movie, you will discover a new feature with every play. How many times can you identify the "Don't worry-be happy" sample in Fear? I'm up to 133. Such devotion will certainly be rewarded on this disc as well.

I was completely prepared to be disappointed. After all, how could VR top Lullaby Land, an album that I (and many other critics) consider perhaps the best industrial album ever recorded.

But instead of giving up, the Rodents called up 18 of their closest friends to guest on vocals. And the vocals are a little more relevant this time out, though as always you have to listen to the undercurrents to understand what Vampire Rodents are all about.

The liners say it all: "All VR compositions are Sample Based Compositions (SBC). So wake up and smell it, folks!" The beats are generally contain a world beat flair, and much of the surrounding orchestration is calculated to leave the listener stumbling. While a little more accessible than Lullaby Land, Clockseed is still a compendium of discord and sonic discrepancies.

Twenty-one fucking songs. I'd be happy with an album that had just a couple pieces of this quality on it. VR may not be everyone's cup of tea, but to ignore this disc would be a crime punishable by death, in my book. There isn't an adjective I can use to compare this with other albums. Nothing comes close.

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

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

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

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

Johnny Vance
Johnny Vance EP
(self-released)
reviewed in issue #188, 9/20/99

The whole story of this tape can be distilled in the first song, "One Dance with Mia Farrow." Vance writes lines like "I found it hard to resist someone who was Frank Sinatra's lady and then had Rosemary's Baby" and "I'd never chase your offspring," puncutated with the requisite "Mama Mia" exclamations.

The music is well-crafted, if somewhat routine, roots rock. The thing about it is that Vance is so damned earnest. I mean, he really means all that silly stuff he's singing. Listen, I know that even the best songs have their silly moments that have to be carried off by the artist, but really, Vance's lyrics are beyond the pale.

Too many howlers. And I'm not saying that to disparage the feelings behind them. I watched Shadows and Fog last night, and I must admit I felt some similar feelings for Mia Farrow. But there's a better way to express them.

Damnit, though, he is sincere. This isn't phony or calculated. And while it is heavily crafted, the music is good enough to attract attention from the more mainstream folks. Vance just needs to work on making his lyrics a bit more credible.

The Vandalias
Buzzbomb!
(Big Deal)
reviewed in issue #153, 2/23/98

Three brothers (and a drummer who is not a blood relation) who infuse retro power pop with punk sensibility. Kind of imagine the Sweet (first album, Chinnichap stuff) played in a sanitary fashion but still with a Replacements-style attitude. All the requisite musical cliches intact, of course.

And those cliches get kinda annoying fast. When the band lets go and really focuses on its own ideas, rather than reaching for the grab bag f what has already passed, the results are quite a joy. The title track is a great raver, but the next worthwhile song comes four tracks later with "Hey Kari G".

This inconsistency drives the album. Are the Vandalias a retro act, or are they bringing the music forward? It sounds like the band itself cannot decide. And that wrenching question never gets answered.

Oh, there's some wonderful pop stuff (among the retroid stuff, "Anywhere You Go" is awful keen), but the Vandalias wore out quickly. Tasty, but watch out for the stomach ache.

Vanishing Point
Tangled in Dream
(Limb-SPV)
reviewed in issue #210, 1/8/01

Though some of my readers might not believe this, I do think that it's possible to overdo lush, symphonic metal. The easiest way to do this is with a heavy hand on the keyboards. American fans might refer to this as the "Europe effect" (referring to the band, not the continent). Vanishing Point dances all around that dangerous line.

Because these are grand songs with operatic (read: simple and big) themes. The guitar lines soar and swoop with ease, and the vocals also travel similarly predictable lines.

But all that might be alright if Vanishing Point didn't trick out the sound with all those keyboards. What is acceptable from a guitar (even a MIDI-ed guitar, from time to time) just sounds silly on a keyboards, particularly when they crank out drenching chords. I can't exactly explain why, except that it's all too true.

This is a case of more creating less. The songs are all decent, if workmanlike. It just that the production is just a bit too over-the-top. A little more guitar, a little less keyboard and I might have been moved more.

Vaporhead
Vaporhead
(Paradigm)
reviewed in issue #138, 7/7/97

Vaporhead takes the gang vocal theory from glam metal and grafts that onto various sorts of pop sounds. Catchy as hell, though there's little under the surface.

The songs shift through various punk and pop styles (coming damned close to stealing riffs often enough), but always keeping the tempo up and ending up with a shouted chorus. Going nowhere fast with a big smile on my face.

God, this is so throwaway. But a great summer record, nonetheless. If you want depth or musical development, well, go somewhere else. Vaporhead is out to amuse, and it does a fairly good job.

I'll probably get real tired of this in a few days, but until then I'll be just happy. I like this much more than I should.

Variable Unit
Handbook for the Apocalypse
(Wide Hive)
reviewed in issue #241, May 2003

Variable Unit is a set of seven folks from the SF area , including Wide Hive founder Gregory Howe and former Tower of Power drummer Ron E. Beck. VU is hip hop, to be sure, but the beats are (mostly) live and the feel is more Parliament than P.E.

Musically, that is. In terms of tone, VU is as strident as anyone--though the cultural references are astonishingly impressive ("you know Gary, Indiana...the place that Opie Cunningham sang about"). Anyone who can shove "The Music Man," "Andy Griffith," "Happy Days" and an industrial wasteland into one short sentence gets full props from me.

Understand that the apocalypse mentioned is as much existential as it is temporal, and then you will understand what it is VU is really going after. This is an album of thought, both in the lyrics and the music. The band jams with authority, and the rhymes and samples pose one pertinent question after another. The assault has no letdown.

One of those albums that sounds great today and will sound astonishingly prescient ten years from now. Hard to get much better than that.

The latest from Variable Unit, a new disc and not remixes of Mayhem Mystics--just so you're not confused.

This Bay-Area hip-hop/jazz collective knows how to craft some truly inspirational jams. Some smooth and some rough, but all decidedly incendiary.

If it seems like I'm not writing a whole lot about this, you're right. Variable Unit is best experienced on its own merits. I could write reams, but it would all boil down to the fact that VU is something unique in the hip-hop world: a set of experienced pros who have the singular mission of making important music and important rhymes.

Yeah, the lyrics are great, but the music behind them is even more impressive. Play it again. And again. And so on.

Variac
Hard Starward
(Rustbelt)
reviewed in issue #226, February 2002

Thick, fuzzy and loud. But if you're thinking Variac is some kinda stoner rock outfit, you're way off base. The fuzziness here is relative; the loudness is almost accidental. These songs take their time to develop, hiding just about every element behind an almost opaque wall of distortion.

Kinda like a low-tech version of My Blood Valentine. Well, the songs are written in a completely different manner (spacey is the best way I can describe it), but the use of the sonic scrim is similar.

Beautiful songs, and in saying that I'll emphasize that the writing focuses on beauty. There's nothing harsh to the heavy riffage or distortion layer. Sure, this stuff is very loud, but it's so damned pretty it'll shock you.

I like it when bands play with expectations like that. I also like it when a band puts a new spin on a solid idea. Variac is a lot more subtle than most Detroit bands, more like Morsel in that way. Dead solid, in any case.

Various Artists and compilations:

The Absolute Middle of Nowhere Volume 17
(Limited Potential)
reviewed in issue #32, 4/15/93

There are sixteen bands on this thing, thus LimP 012 is Volume 17. Make sense?

From the famous and sublime (Smashing Pumpkins) to the somewhat obscure and tasty (The Luck of Eden Hall), this collection of Chicago-area talent reeks of a most pleasant odor.

I could list the other cool tracks and bands, but why don't you just check this bastard out for yourself? There is something here for everyone, and I couldn't find a clunker in the bunch.

Don't be an asshole and play only the Smashing Pumpkins tune. It's not the best one here (though it ain't bad). Why don't you search through and find something else even cooler.

Smile, Godspeaks loves you.

A celebration of one of the great gothic labels in the world. Twenty-two tracks from 20 bands, spread over two discs. I'm not sure how much of this is previously released (the gorgeous liner notes give extensive biographies of each artist, but don't say where the actual songs came from), but my guess is there's a bunch of stuff here that has been damned difficult to get on this side of the Atlantic.

Now, when I said gothic, I meant the real thing. None of that silly Marilyn Manson stuff, and none of the gothic pop (a la the Cure) that is so popular with the kiddies. No, this is sonic structure stuff, with a little black industrial and black metal thrown in for kicks. As the liners note, label founder Roger Karmanik is interested in the art of music, not in aligning with any rigidly-defined genre.

The Absolute Supper is a wildly expansive exploration into the true intellectual and emotional potential of music. No rules, just pure sonic power. A walk down the stairs into the dank basement of the musical experience, where a mad scientist works, readying his latest creation.

Stunning, really. I assume you can get the through Projekt (who distributed most of the CMI releases), though I got this puppy direct from Sweden. If you even pretend to be interested in the music of the mind, well, this is simply a must. No excuses.

This stuff will be on a disc someday (perhaps when the folks think of a label name, for starters), but I figured I could do better with a demo review.

Three acts: Urban Ambience, Emile "Dr. T" Tobenfeld and Beyond the Pale.

Urban Ambience is more of a jazz act than a strictly ambient one. For me, this makes it much more interesting. Sax, clarinet, flute and other instruments combine with the electronic to create some really innovative stuff.

Dr. T is a full-blown sampling and sequencing freak. He takes snippets from everyday life and melds them into some really intoxicating pieces.

Beyond the Pale is a prog-rock vision of ambience. The work is intricate but well-played. It should fall apart into a mess, but it doesn't.

Three acts with completely different ideas as to how one should approach the ambient ideal. And three ways of looking at that ideal that I've never heard before. If you are at all interested in electronic music, give these folks a yell immediately.

Well, this is techno's answer to new age music. So once you get over that, then you can really start to hear what is going on.

A lot of this is decent, but uninspired. However, check out the A.S.A., Digital Poodle and Synaethesia. For the beginner just checking this sort of music out, these are not as initially mind-numbing as some of the other pieces.

To make me really dig an ambient piece, there has to be a lot going on. It doesn't have to be fast or even coherent, but I want to know someone is trying. Just mushing around keyboards for ten minutes doesn't wash with me, and I'm happy to say these artists all do much better than that.

A decent sampler of what's around. You can probably find better, but you can also find a lot worse.

If you've been reading A&A for the past couple of months, you've seen my reviews of most of the artists on this compilation. These are the spacier of Hypnotic's vast array of ambient talent.

If you haven't had the heart to wade through all the discs on your own, then this compilation will get you started. Personally, I'm not a space music fan, and even ambient acts who aren't generally spacey picked their most "out there" tracks for this disc, so I wouldn't call all of the tracks even representative.

But if space is your game, I don't know why you wouldn't check this out. Go for the Synaethesia, Cluster & Eno (!), Virtualizer and Nik Turner for starters.

Some old (like 1971 old), some new. All stuff that Cleopatra has license to, and so one way to take this set is as a sampler platter of the rather large space music catalog held by the label.

That wouldn't tell the whole tale, though. Yeah, there are ancient tracks from Hawkwind, Chrome and Guru Guru, but also new stuff from Pressurehed and the Cosmic Couriers (featuring Dieter Moebius and Jurgen Engler). The collection is rather diverse, showing off all sorts of takes on the whole "space rock" concept, and the large time frame also helps to illustrate the long-lasting appeal of this largely overlooked sound.

Part of that diversity can also be applied to the quality of the songs, though most are quite good. Sure, this may be just another marketing ploy, but it's not a bad space mix tape, if you're so inclined.

While Tub and Antimony are the big highlights on this compilation, check out other bands like Ff and Pet UFO. Punk and disorderly all the way.

Double Deuce has a rather strong lineup, and this set takes two from each of eight bands. If you haven't been formally introduced, here's your chance. And let me say, if you like D.C. post-hardcore bands like Jawbox, Fugazi and Girls Against Boys, there's plenty here for you to dig.

Chemlab. Diatribe. Malhavoc. And, of course, Skrew. Some pleasant remixes to crank your industrial listeners out there. I got this from Metal Blade, though I assume Cargo has a few of these things as well. I think you can also find most of the tracks somewhere else, but I sure don't mind having them here.

This is a good introduction to a couple of bands that a lot of you probably haven't heard before. And good bands at that.

Why is it I can sense this real big industrial takeover of the metal universe. Matt at Relapse has been preaching this for a while, and I'm inclined to go along. After all, didn't Nine Inch Nails win the metal Grammy this year?

To start the year off right, Roadrunner trot out their spring death metal collection. Well, except for Death (of Relativity) redoing a Kiss song that has already been done too many times. Check out the new tracks from Cynic and Disincarnate for a hint of their forthcoming albums. Were but there was more.

The festival itself takes place at the end of June (6/22-6/25 to be exact), but this is the official compilation. One track each from 21 Athens, Ga., bands, all of whom I assume will be in attendance at the gathering.

Despite being the stomping grounds of folks like R.E.M., Indigo Girls, Matthew Sweet, Golden Palominos and plenty more, the Athens scene has remained astonishingly fertile since its "coming out" some 20 years ago. Daemon Records may be the best-known local label, but Ghostmeat has been putting out local stuff for five years. I looked at the catalog; it's impressive.

As is this compilation. These bands do not fall into one or two simple categories. These folks are professionals, in every good sense of the word. The people not only have a vision for their sounds, but they are (generally) able to pull of that sound in studio.

An enticing invitation to the festival. "Something for everyone" often means a piece of crap for every fool on the block. Not here. Sweetmeat for those who desire a piece.

Most college towns have some sort of music scene. Athens, Ga., has been a music center for well more than 20 years. What's cool about Athfest is that the festival focuses on up-and-comers rather than the tried-and-true.

There are a couple of old-line Athens bands featured here, such as Five Eight, but none of the "big" names that might totally overshadow the event itself. As a celebration of music, Athfest gets bands of all sorts. This preview compilation doesn't flow very well due to the wide variety of sounds propagated by the bands, but that diversity bodes well for the festival itself.

One of these days I may make the trip south to check out Athfest. The music I heard on this disc (and last year's preview as well) have given me the itch. If you're in the area from June 21-24 this summer, you owe it to yourself to catch some new music.

Plenty of folks have asked me why there aren't any all-female or woman-led death metal (extreme, whatever terminology you wish to use) bands. I usually don't answer that question directly, instead saying that there are some, but none of them have made it much past the self-released album stage.

The good folks at Dwell are trying to change that. Most of the bands here are merely guys with a female lead singer, but even that's fairly innovative.

And while the goals may be high-minded, this compilation also shows why many of these bands aren't well-known: they're not very good. While Gehenna is one of the most accessible bands on the disc, it's also one of the few with a coherently written and performed song.

I also liked the tracks from Witches, Demonic Christ and Damad. The rest were merely middling, if not worse. Extreme doesn't necessary mean shitty, now.

Enough good stuff here to satisfy anyone searching for this sorta thing. But once you take the novelty appeal off, this compilation is merely average. I'm not going to say that women don't belong in extreme music. Not at all. It's just that not many of these bands will convince people otherwise.

Two-for-one: a soundtrack and original score thang. While most of the soundtrack is eminently forgettable, Sykotic Sinfoney has a wicked FNM/Bungle-ized kinda groove that makes me truly smile. And DMT is not too bad.

You must know: this is a soundtrack for one of those direct-to-USA (and Gilbert Gotfried) things. So you can expect the cheeziness of the vocal tracks. But the BOC score is something else again. Yeah, it's commercial at times, but I haven't heard Buck and Co. this adventurous in at least a decade. Hang with the score: it is the goods.

That's Pat McKeon Record company, just in case you get any ideas. A collection of the heaviest L.A. has to offer. Production leaves some of the tracks a little muffled, but that rather adds to the flavor. Most of this is your traditional thrash, but death and grindcore are beginning to make inroads even in the aerosol capitol of the world.

If you don't find something you like here, you didn't listen very hard. My personal fave is the Psychosis track, but everything here is worth a listen. And maybe you can say "Hey, I played a song by them a long time ago..." when they get deals.

Why would suck diverse bands as the Levellers and Napalm Death show up on a benefit compilation disc? When the proceeds go to AK Press.

Cool tracks also arrive via NOFX, Pitch Shifter, Propagandhi, Cain, Chumbawamba, Tribes of Neurot and many other cool bands. From punk to pop to noise to death metal and beyond, these bands are helping to celebrate one of the more interesting presses around. I've got a really cool book they published some time ago on how to sabotage your corporate bosses. Lots of great ideas there, and I even used a few.

As for the music, well, plenty of covers and other messy things. Some really nice stuff (I did mention a few highlights; you can find yer own), but the point is, you should get yourself exposed to some revolutionary thinking. Sure, you could just go to your local with-it bookstore and pick up AK Press books by Noam Chomsky, Murray Bookchin, John Yates or Jello Biafra, among others. But hell, why not buy a CD with cool songs on it, to boot?

Whatever. This is a good collection for a great cause. And in case you're one of those Abba freaks, there's a rendition of "Waterloo" by the Agnetha, Bjorn, Sven, Frida and Lars Fan Club, aka Bjorn Baby Bjorn. Such weirdness as I couldn't have invented in my most drug-induced hyperactive mental state.

A year or so ago, I got an e-mail asking "Do you like music from Japan?" I said sure. And so I've been getting these updates from Big Fish Music. Finally, a taste of what the folks have been talking about.

Fourteen songs from many of the labels Big Fish Music deals with. Most of the tracks are somewhere in the electronic pop universe, though there are a few dissenters from that stereotype. All of this is stuff which is unknown over here in the U.S.

A bit off-beat for the average American, I'm afraid (though anyone reading these reviews shouldn't be scared off). In short, even the pop bands make their music a bit complicated. Me, I like complicated.

As with most samplers, the quality (both musical and sound) varies widely. There is something to attract most any music fan, and this confirms my answer to that e-mail. Sure, I like music from Japan.

I'm always stoked to get a new sampler from the Big Fish folk, and this set is no different. There is the requisite pop punk element (Big Fish's stock in trade), but plenty of other cool sounds as well, stuff that wanders all over the map.

Not exactly a label, Big Fish is more of a distributor, and these are songs from CDs and tapes in the store. The set is most tastefully done, with an obvious eye to including some of the more original and interesting items lying about.

Just another quality set. Big Fish is a great place to start scoping out the Japanese music scene. They don't have everything, of course, but what's there is quite good. This sampler simply proves that more.

A big chunk of (mostly) Seattle talent donates tunes recorded live at the Crocodile Cafe to a compilation benefiting the Northwest AIDS foundation and Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County. Not a bad idea.

And while the hipsters will check out the Presidents of the USA, Spinanes and Mad Season, those with a more pop mood will like the Minus 5 (featuring Scott McCaughey, Jon Auer, Kurt Bloch and Peter Buck), Built to Spill, YFF and Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver. Yes, plenty for everyone.

The live production is sparse, which benefits the lighter bands, showcasing some nice songwriting. But there isn't a bad tune (or even a bad band) in the set. A nice load of fun, and a good cause to boot. Why not get happy?

The only unreleased track here is from Edge of Sanity (and I'm NOT bitching about that one). The only reason to buy this is if you're interested in hearing what one of the top European metal labels has to offer you this year.

Plenty, really. I've been knocked out by the Edge of Sanity, Cemetary and Necrophobic albums recently released, and much of the other stuff is pretty good. But if you know what Black Mark is all about, this set is useless (unless you want a preview of stuff you haven't bought).

Cheap compilations bum me out. The Edge of Sanity track ("Murder Divided") is quite fine, but as the rest of the set contains previously released (though some is excellent) stuff, I can't get too excited.

The biggest names of the Black Mark line-up doing covers. That's the whole theory.

And when you consider that some of this has been released before (including Edge of Sanity's awe-inspiring cover of "Invisible Sun"), well, there's very little to get excited about. Honestly, who cares about Necrophobic doing an Autopsy song (though it is much better than the original) or Quorthon doing "God Save the Queen"?

More interesting are bits like Soulquake System doing The Prodigy's "Firestarter" or Corporal Punishment sludging its way through the Pet Shop Boys's "It's a Sin". Other odd pairings include Hexenhaus doing "War" (a truly weird track) and Morgana LeFay giving the hardcore techno treatment to "Parasite", one of the rawest Kiss tracks ever.

There are a few good laughs (that Morgana LeFay track in particular is simply bizarre, particularly considering what that band usually sounds like), but unless you are a big fan of this sort of stuff, I'd stay away.

I hate to quibble, but most of the tracks here aren't exactly industrial. Gothic, sure. Electronic, okay. Industrial? Well, that's a tired term. But with acts like Die Krupps (a remix from the band's own Metallica tribute), Razed in Black, Birmingham 6 and Spew, well, maybe industrial isn't such a bad term after all.

Not nearly as cool as I figured it would be. Back in college, I tried to craft a Metallica house mix, splicing samples and beats on tape. Didn't work real well. I'm not so good with my hands. But I figured these folks would do better.

But I don't hear any real nuances to the music. And there are a couple repeated tracks. Metallica has recorded a ton of songs. There's no need to repeat on a 13-track tribute album. I understand the process, but still.

Didn't blow me away. Kinda dull. Which is really too bad.

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.

The cover calls this a "dark metal" compilation. Everything from the goth edge to traditional death metal to black metal to folks who kinda throw in the kitchen sink. Tiamat, Amorphis, Mayhem, Love Like Blood, Danzig, Hypocrisy, the Gathering, Therion, Umbra et Imago and others are present.

What I like is the diversity of sound present. All of these bands do have a few things in common, but the relationships aren't obvious at first blush. This set helps a listener to sit down explore connections on his or her own.

And, really, the quality of the bands and songs just can't be overstated. Some of the best in the business, really. This set is joy to hear. Some folks put in a lot of hard work, and it paid off. Quite the toy box.

A German tribute to the Ramones. Not all of these are Ramones songs, either. Included is Motorhead's "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." (from 1916), Nina Hagen and Dee Dee Ramone singing "Lass' Mich in Ruhe", the Badtown Boys' "Dee Dee Took the Subway" and the Dirty Scums' "I Wanna See the Ramones".

There are also a few Ramones tunes translated into German or Finnish or what have you. That's pretty interesting. But what isn't as good are the run-through performances. I mean, almost all of these bands are monster Ramones fans. And these versions (even in different languages) don't sound terribly different that the originals.

But I've gotta give some creds for the inclusion of the songs about the Ramones. They're all fun, though most can be found elsewhere. In sum, this disc is about average when it comes to tributes. Amusing, but not vital.

Big names play songs that Jimi Hendrix made famous. Michelle Shocked, Eric Gales, Vernon Reid, Walter Trout, Eric Burdon, Trudy Lynn, Taj Majal and more dip into the blues pocket for this tribute.

For the most part, the artists tack a different direction than Hendrix on these renditions. No one tries to replicate his guitar work. Rather, the artists seemed to want to tap into the spirit, not the sound, of Hendrix.

That's the best way to go with a collection like this. There was only one Jimi Hendrix. His writing, playing and singing has inspired just about every guitar player of note in the last 30 years. He can't be replicated. Bu he can be celebrated.

And so he is here. I certainly didn't expect to be moved anywhere near as much as I was. I've heard three previous Hendrix tributes, and none of them did anything for me. This one works. Extremely well.

Part of the "This Ain't No Tribute" series (I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'll go with it), this set features 12 blues artists doing E.C.'s stuff. Well, except for Bo Diddley, who simply has rerecorded a song of his which Clapton made a bit more famous ("Before You Accuse Me").

Like a lot of Clapton's "blues" stuff, a lot of the tracks sound a bit overproduced and excessive to me. Clapton came of age as the "more is more" production style first reared its ugly head, and he's always seemed to succumb to its influence.

As Clapton himself so aptly proved on Unplugged, there's just no good reason to rerecord "Layla". Eric Gales and Derek Trucks do a decent version, but it lacks the fire and pain of the original. It is nice to hear Koko Taylor, Otis Rush and Pinetop Perkins, among others, but I've heard them better in other places.

Tribute or no, this disc still suffers from being precisely what it claims not to be. The comparisons are inevitable, and here, no one has really improved on the original. Which is too bad, because I think some stripped down versions of these songs might sound good.

Um, just what it sez. Acts like Para Despues, Martin O., Bonehead, Seelenluft and Voight Kampff take on various James Bond theme songs. From the familiar basic tune to some of the better-known big-name artist themes. "A View to a Kill" and "Goldfinger" each get done twice, for reasons that aren't quite apparent to me.

The renditions are amusing enough, though they all follow the same layering technique, slowly adding one track after another until a comprehensive whole is achieved. I know, this is common in electronic circles, but at least one of the songs might have gone a different way, hunh?

At best a novelty collection. The songs are all rather well-done, but I'd rather hear these same acts working on some truly inspired music instead of stuff like the worst Duran Duran song in existence.

Oh, sorry, I let my personal feelings drip in again. Whatever. If you really like that old James Bond stuff and want to hear it reinterpreted in rather rote electronic fashion, well, here it is. Cheers.

A few Epitaph bands and some friends (Helmet, Beasties and more) contribute mostly covers, live tracks or previously released material to this disc. I don't have a CD-Rom, but my brother does, and he says the computer element of this thing is rather underwhelming.

As a compilation, the stuff is alright, but I've heard most of these songs before. They can found in other places, often with a better version. I applaud the idea of merging the possibilities of computers with the spirit of punk music (um, well, that's what I'm doing with A&A, after all), but the execution just isn't right.

Maybe next time. The one thing that bugs me is that this reeks of monster label-itis. Now, in general, the folks at Epitaph are just as cool as they were three years ago before the Offspring sold a ka-zillion copies, but this seems a bit contrived and below the Epitaph spirit. Better luck next time.

While now hailing from warmer climes, Taang! has long been known as THE Beantown hardcore label. Whether introducing the world to the Bosstones, Bullet LaVolta and Sam Black Church or releasing retrospectives from SSD, Battalion of Saints and others, Taang! has been the first and last word on that scene.

Eleven bands; 12 songs (Wrecking Crew has one original and covers the Battalion of Saints tune "My Mind's Diseased"). You get to hear early Only Living Witness, Sam Black Church, Eye for an Eye and much more.

Not really an essential collection, but a nice historical compilation nonetheless. And you can't argue with the tunes. If somehow you missed out on this scene when it was most fertile, this disc will give you a primer lesson.

My general opinion of tributes oughta be well-known by now. They're best when they focus on a rather less well-known artist. Even better is when the bands doing the tribute don't sound much like the artist getting the tribute treatment. That way fewer obvious comparisons can be made.

Neither is the case here. Everyone knows just about all of these songs (and if you don't, well, why are reading this?). And the bands recruited all fit (loosely) into the electro-industrial complex.

The renditions are all similarly good, but they don't rework the originals much and as such come off as very pale imitations. The album did make me want to pop a NIN disc in the changer--just to get rid of any memory of hearing this tribute.

Thirty-three tracks from 33 bands. A good number of the songs are taken straight from the bands' Skin Graft albums, but hell, as a label sampler, this is still most impressive.

Few labels have had the prescience or guts to release music of this caliber. As exemplified by U.S. Maple, Dazzling Killmen (whose former members are involved in quite a few SG bands), Zeni Geva, Yona-Kit and Space Streakings, the Skin Graft roster of releases is second to none. It's music regular folks hate, but that's exactly why it's so important. These folks take serious chances.

And while there have been some serious artistic messes along the way, this disc is ample proof of Skin Graft's place in the space-time continuum. The folks at the label call it Now Wave. They're riding that wave into the breaks. Taking risks is the only way to advance, and Skin Graft has provided one hell of a stage. One trip through this disc should make that perfectly clear.

Another "what's on tap" sampler from the O&O compound in Ft. Collins. Three tracks each from Wretch Like Me (which features ex-members of My Name), Someday I..., New Rob Robbies, Tanger and Bill the Welder. Every single song recorded at the Blasting Room, thus paving the way for an ALL/Descendents world domination plan to take effect.

There's a reason the Wretch Like Me tracks are at the top. They are amazing. The My Name connection can't be missed, and the writing is as complex and sharp as ever. I can't wait to hear the album.

The rest isn't quite so amazing, but impressive nonetheless. Someday I... is a nice emo outfit that knows when to kick out the jams. New Rob Robbies have a great off-beat pop feel that wouldn't have been out of place on C/Z back in the early 90s. Tanger turned to Steve Albini to record their album (these tracks are merely demos or something), and he's a perfect fit for their strident hardcore grooves. Bill the Welder is the almost-legendary ALL/Descendents roadie band. Nuff sed there.

Um, a pretty impressive lineup. I mean, there re very few things connected with the A/D boys that suck, and these bands are up to my expectations. I do hope the buying public agrees. Fine music always deserves an audience.

Further into the dub. Some Wordsound acts here, some folks like Bill Laswell, and some pals from around the world. The past few weeks I've been seeing some extremely well-deserved press on the whole Wordsound crew and the experience it kicks out, and this disc gives the reasons why.

Well, this is just the dub side of the works (or the "Crooklyn Dub Outernational" side, as the disc says), but it's more than impressive. What all the acts here show is that a genre or sound should be merely the starting point, not an all-inclusive and limiting structure.

See, this disc is all dub, and while there are elements that each track shares, often enough it would also be quite easy to say that no track sounds at all like another. The creativity is the thing, and this set has that. All that.

So don't think of this as merely another dub collection. This does come from the mighty Wordsound laboratories, after all, so you know the concoction is of the highest quality. Trust and ingest.

Being a set of 11 singles and EPs that TKO put out in 1997 and 1998. If you never found these releases in the first place, well, see if this collection pricks up your ears.

Among the bands: One Man Army, Templars, the Truents, the Forgotten and Dropkick Murphys. The recording quality varies from band to band and sometimes even song to song. Not all of it is stellar, though much of it is.

More for the completist, I suppose, but there is plenty here to recommend the disc on its own merits. Lots of good songs and few fun covers. Can't ask for a whole lot more from a package like this.

A host of stuff licensed from One Records in England. Like, say, Primal Scream and St. Etienne remixed by the Chemical Brothers. Actually, there are six Chemical Brothers remixes, and the other five tracks borrow heavily from the big beats laid down by Rowlands and Simons.

And once again, my favorite kind of electronic music, stuff which relies on innovative beat work. Rather than using a drum machine, most of the tracks here are sampled and reassembled, leaving the sound somewhat more organic.

The sounds are so similar that it's hard to distinguish one act from another. It all sounds like lesser Chemical Brothers work. Still good, but without the highest spark of genius which characterizes the real thing. Remixes are nice, but not the best part of the story.

A pretty cool collection. If you're having troubles finding big beat stuff in your area, chances are this puppy will be in stores. And maybe it will lead to greener pastures.

Twenty songs from 17 acts celebrating five years of the wildest (and quite possibly coolest) Texas label.

Most of the tracks are unreleased, and those that aren't are pretty damned obscure (like off some 7" you never had a chance to buy, probably). For those future-looking sorts, check out the new Pain Teens track and the two songs from Starfish, which just about completely rule.

Quite nice of the folks to end with the Roky Erickson track "You Don't Love Me Yet". This is one of my favorite Erickson songs (I love the Bongwater version on the tribute album of a few years ago), and he does it so well.

If you're on the consumer end of things, this is a cheap thrill ($6.99 or less), and all net profits (good legal terms) go to charity. No good reason not to enjoy this disc.

Punk bands playing Clash songs. I know, I know, there's a great straight line that follows such a pronouncement, but hell, why go there?

What I will say is that Chord did get a nice, diverse set of bands. And when you kick off with Dave Smalley's minimalist version of "Death or Glory", well, it is apparent that this won't suck. On the other hand, is it necessary to do a tribute to the Clash? I mean, I don't think there's a person under 40 who doesn't know who the Clash are. Really, now.

If you crave hearing Clash tunes cranked out by generally less-talented punk bands, be my guest. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Now, if a bunch of Tejano bands got together for such a set, I might be interested. A little. Maybe. If I had a couple beers in me...

Friction is out of Chapel Hill, and most of this is college pop that sounds influenced by the likes of Superchunk and R.E.M. and other southeastern superstars. And many of the acts take off in rather cool directions.

A cool collection of 25 songs (with some odd interludes thrown in). Some of this goes out on the edge of pop reality, and for that I commend the compiler. Balls is a good thing to have when putting this sort of gig together.

Yeah, sure, old-timers and name-droppers will jump on the Kirk Ross & Chris Stamey track, at least until they notice the length (nice joke, folks). But there is plenty more to find whilst wading through the mire. A real treasure trove for the adventurous pop fan.

A collection of club-ready stuff that has enough guitars and general noise to satisfy the staunchest loud music aficionado.

Yeah, so Chemlab is here, too. Also great stuff from Gracious Shades (though the track isn't new), Hate Dept., Schnitt Acht, 16 Volt (yet another Hate Dept. remix of "Skin"), Naked Lunch and more.

The moods range from goth to metal-hacking-industrialism (I know, I stole that). Fourteen tracks, about half-and-half old and new. But as you probably haven't heard most of the re-released stuff, then dig in with abandon. A good set.

Fourteen more tracks, constituting a follow-up to one of the better compilations of the past few years. Hate Dept. and 16 Volt take a second bow, but the rest of the bands are new (or at least have new names). "Coldwave", if you're still not familiar with the term, is a sorta catchall category of vaguely gothic industrial music. This can take the form of regular band, like 16 Volt, or seriously modulated electronica, like Acumen Nation. The main point of reference is a tendency toward aggression.

As before, most of the tracks here are unreleased, at least in the U.S. There is a decent showing from the Fifth Colvmn and Reconstriction labels, with plenty of overseas help as well. Once again, this set has been put together with maximum care and quality control.

Most sequels suck. This one carries forth the same attitude from the first, and works to find new and innovative electronic-oriented bands. Good stuff abounds.

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.

Corporal Blossom is Layng Martine III, and he's put together perhaps the finest Christmas carol compilation since A Lump of Coal (still the gold standard for "alternative," yet traditional, recordings of carols).

The Corporal Blossom tracks (there are four) are assembled from a wide variety of previous recordings. So you get Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and many others singing "White Christmas." The other artists come at the songs from similarly inventive viewpoints, reinventing the pieces even while giving homage to them.

A few of the songs have been deconstructed a bit more than others, and certainly the collage style of most of these recordings can be a bit off-putting. Also, Lustmord's version of "Silent Night" is much more Simon and Garfunkel than Mormon Tabernacle Choir (if you've never heard the S&G, dig up a copy of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and throw on the last track. It'll give you a whole new appreciation for those boys).

Not the sort of album that would be welcome in the Cleaver household, of course. But for those who have a little tolerance for truly inventive (and not insulting in the slightest) renditions of old holiday favorites, this set should be a happy present.

The finest compilation I have ever received. The only one with as much good music that I can remember was the Epitaph one of a couple of years back, but what really separates this from any competitors is the work that was put into the design.

The whole "Relapse story" and succeeding bits of information are cool and also funny. Especially amusing are the pictures of the "suits" in charge of this enterprise. And topping everything is the "Relapse Building" photo (with computer enhancement). Very nice.

As for the music, if you put Dead World, Candiru, Anal Cunt, Disembowelment, Deceased, Amorphis and others on a disc, how can you go wrong? I mean, really.

A sampler from Howlingbull. This gives me a better idea of what the label is all about. Strangely (or perhaps not so), a lot of these bands fall under the "prog death metal" or "prog extreme hardcore" sound, or at least somewhere along the continuum thereof.

Basically, these bands approach the extreme from a technically advanced standpoint. There isn't a lot of mess and fuss in these songs, but rather there's power and rage. The heaviness of the sound comes as much from the production as from the playing itself.

I really haven't heard that many bands ply these waters, and here Howlingbull has an entire lineup. Certainly worth a listen if the idea intrigues you.

It's no secret: Crazed is the management arm of Megaforce (or is it vice versa by now?). And this brings two tracks each from seven artists on the Crazed roster.

A special note: Dog has now changed its name to Love in Reverse, so make sure you don't fuck that up.

Personally, I dig the Bif Naked tunes (easy pop that just makes me smile), and the Love in Reverse (formerly Dog) is pretty interesting, if a little overproduced. I'd already heard much of the stuff here, so no big surprises. A cool listen.

Got a load of good guitar players together? Why don't you have them play Cream songs note-for-note, just in case no one has heard them like that before.

The cool thing about Cream was the way Bruce, Baker and Clapton reinvented blues as hard rock and made it popular. Jimmy Page took note, changed his style just a bit, and there was Led Zeppelin. Funny how things work out.

Anyway, there just isn't anything fresh to these takes on Cream's takes. Sure, if anyone is going to do this tribute, it should be the folks at Shrapnel. But where their tribute to Albert King brought a whole new audience to a (relatively) underappreciated performer, this and the Deep Purple tribute seem to be mere cash-flow accelerators. I'm just not a fan of that.

I really don't understand. Blues Bureau put out a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn a few years back, containing many of the same songs reprised here. The guitarists represented include Steve Stevens, John Sykes, Steve Morse, Trevor Rabin (?!?) and Stanley Jordan.

The tracks are mostly insipid run-throughs, with truly dull vocals. The production has left everything fuzzed out, which isn't the best way to appreciate the music. The blues is almost always better sharp, with all the imperfections out in the open. These performances are rote and boring.

This was licensed from another company (Triage), which might explain the repeated tracks and such. It doesn't explain, however, why the folks at Blues Bureau (which also means Shrapnel) thought this collection was worth releasing.

Cue's is a record shop in San Francisco, but this disc features nationwide talent. While the vocal styles varied, one common trend is that these acts sure know how to lay down the grooves.

The production rules. These songs all sound great, and many of them feature sharp rhyming as well. A wealth of creativity flows from this disc. Whoever selected the tracks for this set did a great job. The songs are complimentary in styles, and the sequencing keeps everything moving right along.

Anyone interested in hearing some fresh new talent ought to pick up on this album. Sixteen tracks, and they're all good. Not a clunker in the bunch. Quality of the first order.

Much more so than the first collection, this set from Cue's focuses on the DJs. These songs are DJ-driven, if not outright instrumentals. And like that first set, the beats here are absolutely divine.

That's pretty much the key to the set. A big boatload of slammin' beats, from the experimental to the secular, if you know what I mean. There's plenty here to enjoy, use and abuse.

Alright, so perhaps this one will appeal most to DJs. Any beat fan will find something here to get off on as well. Just keep cycling through; something you'll like is bound to show up sooner or later.

Alright, this is high concept. Pulp Fiction dialogue and songs reworked in a cyberpunk context. For example, the "Royale with Cheese" segment is reworked into a discussion of German music terminology (industrial vs. electro body music, etc.). The music is typical Reconstriction fare from the likes of 16 Volt, Society Burning, Christ Analogue and many more.

The spoken parts sound a little hokey. The folks aren't great actors, and they overwork the stuff. Though I did like the Gibson-esque patter. An interesting interpretation.

And while some of the music sounds like rote walkthroughs, Collide's take on "Son of a Preacher Man" is thoroughly original. I still prefer Dusty myself, but this is complete makeover.

There are a few glitches. Some songs get done twice (including "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", which was already a cover on the soundtrack), and like I said, some of the stuff isn't particularly overwhelming. Still, I like the idea, and in general, the execution. I don't know what inspired this, but it sounds good to me.

A short (40 minutes) primer on the history and line-up of one of the more eclectic labels around.

Daemon, of course, was founded by Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls as a label devoted to the Atlanta scene. As the video shows, the focus has widened quite a bit, though remaining true to the vision of spotlighting young and unheralded talent.

Forty minutes really isn't quite enough time to tell a complete story, and most of the time is spent reminiscing about the various artists who have been involved with Daemon. A lot of little thoughts, if you will.

The bits are tied together by interviews with Ray and the Daemon staff. The observations are thoughtful, but not stilted. After all, running a record label should be fun. The focus should be on the music. And if you know anything about Daemon, you know that's the case.

If you want to know where Quantum Loop intends to play, this here's a good blueprint. A number of 21st Circuitry acts (as you should expect) and plenty of other sorts. The tracks here are generally remixes, although there are some exceptions.

A nice showcase of experimental electronic stuff, all on the very mechanical and sterile side. While certainly there are references to Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk, etc., all of the music here can directly be traced to the early days of FLA (whose influences include, well, see above...). That's not a bad thing. And while the roots may lie in Vancouver, the threads have spread worldwide, with plenty of variation and improvement.

Some of the best tracks are by folks apparently without recording deals. I really dug Octaine's "Reflecked to Dust" and Nerve Filter's "Ritalin", and neither of those has any reference to a label or such.

Dark techno? Well, not really in a gothic sense. But the level of originality is high. A good sampler, one that makes me want more.

Like you could pass this up. 21 tracks from some of the finest death metal and grindcore acts in the world. This disc shows just how fucking amazing the lineup is on these labels. Moving from track to track, your brain is slowly pulverized into a hypnotized mush. Twenty-one fucking great songs! How can you resist?

This monster compilation contains 38 tracks (from 38 acts), 23 of which have not seen the light of day before this release. Some of these are on upcoming releases (like the title track of the new Benediction), but some are just for this set.

Far too much to go into any detail, but it is nice to hear new stuff from Dead World, Dismember and Pungent Stench. And while I had reservations, the Pungent Stench track is quite good. I'm still a little wary of the upcoming album, but "Tony" does easy my concern somewhat.

Lots of young bands on here as well. If you want to hear the future of the Nuclear Blast-Relapse stable, dig into tracks from Konkhra, Cradle of Filth, Enemy Soil and others. A great set of deathly sentiments.

Eight bands, two songs each. Most of the bands are from Connecticut, but a couple are from New York and one is from all the way south in Virginia Beach. Fairly commercial fare. One band says (I hope as a joke) that it is the best thing to come out of Connecticut since Michael Bolton.

There is a nice variety of styles, though like I said, all of this sounds like it is aimed at a fairly mainstream audience. Most of the songs were at least listenable, though nothing really knocked me out. Some solid work.

For those who like to hear what the great unwashed unsigned are doing. There is a second collection (reviewed below). And if you want to be on a future set, write the label. Simple as that.

Six more relatively unknown bands, two tracks each. Some of the bands here have sent me discs for review, with Green & Checkers' rating as the best of the bunch. Lunar Plexus is also interesting, and the rest are decent representations of different sorts of music, though nothing spectacular.

I like the concept behind these discs, even if the music isn't always inspiring. Unsigned bands need space to grow, and this is as good a place as any.

Again, if you're a band looking for exposure, send your tapes in to the label (address in my label info section). Good luck.

A bunch of punkers get together to help the Pax Organization, an anti gun violence group. And not just any punkers, either. Dag Nasty, ALL, NOFX, Blanks 77, Youth Brigade, Pinhead Circus, Agnostic Front, Divit and 17 more. Plus 15 mp3s on the CD-ROM part of the disc.

Did I mention that every song here is unreleased? Yeppers. A whale-load of adrenaline and it's for a good cause, too. Hard to go wrong.

I just finished jamming through the songs, and most of them are great. I didn't hear any that outright sucked. Hard to find such a solid compilation anywhere. If it were ust the cause, I'd be recommending this. But shit, the music's pretty damned good too. A winner all the way around.

The first U.S. release for an experimental/noise compilation featuring tracks from Merzbow, Fat Hacker, Zoviet France and Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth, you dork!). Nice pedigree, nice set of, ahem, tunes.

More of the well-produced tape loop style here, as opposed to the general chaos of the Peach of Immortality. Many of these tracks are immaculately and meticulously produced sets of noise. You can feel the texture and luxuriate in the quality.

And due to the obvious effort, this is the sort of experimental compilation that your average listener might start to comprehend, with great effort. Not accessible to the mainstream, mind you, but the sort of person who thinks old Sonic Youth is cool (though he's not quite sure what's going on) might find this to be an acceptable doorway to the electronic Pandora's box that is this music.

A very well-considered set. Worth whatever the price stated.

Not a whole lot of what I'm used to calling trance (which I understand to be your basic ambient wackiness with the odd house beat behind it), but why quibble? Plenty of cool stuff inside.

I particularly dug the Synapse Interrupt track, "Beyond", which threatened at times to get into the trance zone at times. Samples of William S. Burroughs, George McGovern and other folks going on about freedom, activism and life in general.

And there are other high points as well. Obviously, as this does come from the ambient universe, the tracks are generally long and you have to wait them out to get the full effect. But you already knew that.

This one's worth the effort. A good set of musicians who try to expand the realm of the subconscious, without offending the intelligence of the conscious. A good idea, that.

A cool roadmap to the emo universe. Plenty of previously released stuff, but chances are you never saw it in stores. Bands like Boys Life, Mineral, Christie Front Drive and Drive Like Jehu (in a special this-time-only indie setting) helping to define and expand upon one of the trendier sounds around.

Simply put, a great idea. If you kinda like this moody, kinda excessive form of punk, well, this is a good spot to start your education. Alright, so some big names like Texas Is the Reason and (insert your favorite band here) aren't included. Big deal.

Mostly because this is already a horn of plenty. Instead of being just another cheesy label sampler (hey, I know they've got their purposes, but still...), this disc fulfills a higher purpose: collecting history. And unlike those nasty techno collections that now fill cutout bins, there's no filler here. Just good music.

A pretty decent blueprint for similar collections, really.

Cardinal Woolsey, Jenifer Convertible, Baby Steps and more. Plenty interpretations of the alternative pop ideal, many leading back somewhere into dB's territory. Can't complain about that.

Now, of course, these bands are in NYC, not north Georgia. And most of these bands have come a long way from simple, sweet harmony land. Particularly cool are tracks from Bite the Wax Godhead (traditional anglo-pop laid over hip-hop beats) and Baby Steps (guitar by Kris Woolsey of Cardinal Woolsey).

Obviously, there is some carryover between bands, but most of these acts are the main projects of the people involved. A nicely diverse set from a group of NYC bands (um, okay, East Village bands). If you're wondering what that scene is doing these days, stop by for a drink. To check out the cyber soap opera that kind of inspired this set, go to http://www.eastvillage.com.

A cool way to learn a bit more about the electronic side of Fifth Colvmn, a nifty side label by the name of Full Contact.

Rare and unreleased tracks from the likes of Chemlab, C17H19N03, Shinjuku Filth and more. In case you've missed recent releases from all those artists (and more), this compilation will get your head in the right space.

The range of possibilities in electronic music is pretty wide, and this set shows that quite well. Even those in the know might well be interested in giving this the once over. A worthy set, indeed.

Cleopatra did something like this a few years back, and it wasn't really great. But much of that was more industrial, and too many of the folks tried to ape the Floyd. Never good for a tribute.

The 'electronic' referred to in the title fits more the current definition, lots of drum 'n' bass with other subgenres mixed in. Even though the arrangements are rather close to the originals (there aren't any wholesale reworkings), the modern rhythms put a whole new spin on the Floyd.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of the band (don't own a single album, actually), but I know all these songs. In fact, if you know Pink Floyd at all you know these songs. The compilers didn't dig deep into the vault. But then, if you're going to put together a club-ready tribute, you probably shouldn't.

I kinda like this better than I think I should. It is fun, and these renditions put a peppy finish on the pieces. I had agood time. A bit of a surprise that way.

An outgrowth of the Northwest Elektro-Industrio Coalition, this disc showcases rare tracks from bands like Kill Switch... Klick, SMP and Noisebox. Oh, and plenty more.

The liners note the industrial heritage of the area (Skinny Puppy, FLA and Numb, for starters) and give an informal history of the NEC. If you still think Seattle is about grunge, you've missed a lot. From pop to this stuff, the Pacific Northwest is home to many diverse sounds. This disc gives great notice about many members of the NEC.

Of the bands that I haven't heard before, I'd like to recommend the tracks from And Christ Wept and Waiting for God. You should plow in and find a few favorites of your own.

Another sampler from one of the top distributors of Japanese music. Not only are 10 bands represented here, but 10 labels as well. And in case you were thinking that there was any one type of music on the menu, free your mind.

Because these 10 tracks have very little to do with each other past the fact that they were recorded in Japan. From pretty pop to jazzy torch to blistering post-punk blues (and plenty more), this set has just about something for everyone.

In the good sense of that phrase, of course. There's no pandering here, no presentation of mindless goo for the masses. Big Fish Music finds the good stuff lying underneath the surface and then drops me a line every once in a while to show off. Showing off is called for; there's a lot of good stuff here.

A nice collection of recent and soon-to-be released stuff from Cleopatra.

This is stuff from their industrial/techno/etc. line of things. So you get pieces from Laibach, Spahn Ranch, FLA, Digital Poodle and more.

I've heard almost all of this already, and I liked most of the tracks the first time. But if you're trying to figure out what you dig, then get in.

Yeah, another cheap-ass compilation to introduce the label's first-half of 1997 releases. The Sunshine Blind is already in stores (and reviewed a couple issues ago), but there's plenty more to appreciate.

April sees the release of the new Hanzel und Gretyl, and I really can't wait. Two tracks from Transmissions from Uranus appear here, and they but whet the appetite. I'm ready now, damnit...

Bile has one track from the forthcoming new album, and one from the last album. It's Bile, and I think you already have an opinion there.

And finally, a couple bands new to me. Heavy Water Factory is a somewhat poppy industrial outfit, and the tracks here sound pretty damned good. Fueled is also an industrial band, with plenty of gothic and metal overtones. The mix on the tracks here seems a bit weak, but perhaps that's just a function of the sampler.

This puppy is priced at under $4, so if you really need to hear some new Hanzel und Gretyl (and I sure did), then that alone is worth the cash. And the rest is a nice bonus.

Presented by Miss Pussycat (procurer of that most strange Flossie album I reviewed not long ago), this set of tunes from New Orleans bands proves that weirdness exists just about everywhere.

With such artists as MC Trachiotomy, Larry Lamborghini and his Hate Brigade and Inky Blinky & the Kind Bros., well, I suppose you can guess what's coming. The names are only the beginning.

Oddly, the songs have plenty of access points. But once reeled in, there's no way out as the pieces spin out of control. Not silly, not inane, but certainly strange. Weird. Trending toward bizarre at times.

Thus, of course, a cool little mind trip. If you need to get rid of some annoying yuppies who have mistakenly happened upon your house, this might work better than serving chardonnay with steak. Unless they jump into the groove. Then you might be in trouble.

Five bands with three tracks each (well, two for Dysphoria). Down the list...

Cruxx: Decent chunky riff band, trying hard to sound like Anthrax, Pantera, Metallica, whoever. Great sound, need work sounding original.

Soul Grind: Death metal guitar riffs with hardcore vocal style. The sound is a little muffled, but I like what these guys are doing. Great sense of the potential of rhythm.

Suiciety: Clanging death metal, with a brilliant sense of distortion. Nice production, great songs. Definitely the high spot.

This: Heavy funk (descending into metal) that wanks a bit much, but isn't completely insufferable. The guitars do have a cool sound, and I'm pretty sure these folks don't take themselves too seriously. Goofy lyrics.

Dysphoria: A real in-your-face death metal attack that needs a little more beef from the knobs (a la Incantation). Still, the two songs are completely vicious and speed-driven. Not terribly original, but this is adrenaline overdrive city.

A nice collection of bands, certainly worth checking out.

An impressively appointed set, two discs filled with House of Blues artists, other blues greats and a few classic tracks. It's precisely a set like this which shows that Dan Akroyd's heart is in the right place, even if the actual Houses of Blues are garish tombs which more often than not feature rock bands.

Ah, but I'm not here to be mean. I don't know what this retails for, but the breadth of sound and quality of the songs rivals those great Alligator anniversary sets. Anyone who wants to get closer acquainted with some of the finer blues artists around today (and hear some of their influences) would do well to check this out.

All colors of the blues are represented here, branching out to folks as eclectic as Taj Majal and Dr. John. Enjoyable listing, as the very least.

A good starting point, and in any case a fine blue mix. Like I said, it's stuff like this which makes me feel good about the House of Blues, no matter how excessive parts of that enterprise can get.

One of the biggest problems with a lot of spiritual music is that the message overshadows the music and the performance. Another way to put this is that the stuff is boring. Now, it's important to realize that the vast majority of soul superstars of the 60s, from Sam Cooke to Aretha Franklin to Tina Turner, started their careers performing in church. So if such exciting folks could "do God," why is so much religious music dull?

Well, this disc kinda answers that question, and probably not in the way it would like. Folks like Andrae Crouch and Walt Whitman and the Soul Children show off the good side with exciting performances (the live tracks here far outshine the studio recordings), but much of the material here is, well, uninspired.

When I was growing up, "joy" was a big word in church. There was joy everywhere. If someone was "on fire for the Lord," that was considered a pretty good thing. And yet, much of this material is keyboard-drenched ballad stuff, and the singing just doesn't have the requisite fire. It's almost as if the performers and the producers alike just don't want to offend anyone.

Let it loose. There's a reason Crouch and the Mighty Clouds of Joy have been mainstays on the gospel scene for ages and ages. They spread the joy, not worrying about what people think. They're proud to get up, get down and holler in praise. I wish there was a lot more of that here. I hear bits and pieces, but the package as a whole is merely spotty.

The subtitle here is "An explicit odyssey into Swedish agricultural sounds". Well, I don't know either. But this Cold Meat Industry, which means extreme music, dark in all senses of the word.

And the darkness here sounds a lot like Japanese noise. You know, Merzbow, that sort of thing. Heavily distorted electronic stuff, with some strange spoken-word bits that pop in and out.

Twenty-two tracks from 22 bands on two discs. Enough pain and suffering to kill all the cats in the neighborhood. And as ever, the gorgeously-appointed liner notes.

Plenty to go around. Oh, I know, this is an acquired taste, but it makes me happy. Just the sort of thing to send my brain reeling. And we all need that from time to time.

If yer gonna write a vampire rock opera, you might as well go all out. Write grand songs with big guitars and lots of broadly-drawn characters. Make the stuff sound like "Hair" meets Meatloaf. Well, in any case, that's what Thomas Kugler did.

And for all the cheese, this is fun. The recording is uneven (mostly in the vocals; the music generally sounds smashing), and that's a bummer. But generally, I'm amused.

I'm not going to go into plot details. That sort of close inquiry would really detract from the fun here. As a musical, "Evensong" is way too overwrought. But as a couple discs of overly grand 70s flashbacks, well, there's plenty here to love.

I'm probably not giving the rave Kugler and company wanted. To be honest, I wasn't wrapped up by the story at all. Dramatically, not much is going on. But the music has an intense charm all its own.

Much more than just an ambient collection. City of Tribes seems to specialize in getting these folks who practice a form of experimental music that bridges the world beat and ambient worlds.

Yeah, I like folks like Loop Guru, who take all this and add addictive dance grooves. But the artists here rely much more on unusual instrumentation and a live-sounding arrangement to make their musical points. Whereas almost all ambient music has definite sequencer roots, these songs are much earthier.

Not to say that this stuff wasn't cribbed together in studios. Of course it was. But great care was taken to keep this music grounded in the "real", as it were. And that care has real results.

Ten different artists, ten different tracks. All impressive, which makes this set indispensable to anyone who cares about innovative music. One of the most impressive compilations I've heard this year.

Another trip through the organic ambient, that region of space where folks use electronic and exotic instruments to create unique soundscapes. And unlike many label compilations, this disc is not exclusive to City of Tribes artists, and most of the tracks here are previously unreleased.

The COT folks have immaculate taste in these here parts, picking the best of their roster (tracks from Stellamara, Trance Mission and Kenneth Newby albums) and combining those with, well, stuff they like. A top-notch compilation is the result.

If you're even the slightest bit interested in this side of the electronic universe, then this or other COT compilations will give you a great introduction. A new universe awaits.

As you might expect, this is an uneven set of songs by young bands.

And with that negative comes the positive: some of these guys are really trying to go beyond the obvious and derivative. In another word: potential.

Much like the Columbia (Mo.) compilation I reviewed earlier this year, there is everything from metal to mellow to an odd retro-eighties sounding band.

You can find something you like, and probably something you'll hate as well. I'm sure half of these bands are no longer together. But remember: this is the ground floor of the music industry. One must always keep in touch with the source.

Something of a dancehall reggae variety show, complete with skits and everything. I have to guess (I can't find the press info that may or may not have arrived with this disc) that the twenty or so people on the cover are the folks who have worked very hard to take a well-established sound to the next level.

Or maybe a few past that. There's everything from a P-Funk kinda grooves to truly inventive beat work--dragging in jungle, drum-n-bass and other electronic trends.

The rhymes don't suck, either. In fact, one of the things I've always liked about dancehall (and despite all of the new wave ideas, that is where this disc resides) is that the rapping is on the beat. Rhythmic. Call me old school, but you've gotta at least acknowledge the music when you're laying down some rhymes. If you're just talking over music, you sound just as dumb as those beatniks did back in the 50s.

There isn't a consistent sound or feel on this album. The songs really jump all over the place, through the sequencing does provide a great flow. I'm still not entirely sure what brings all of these people together, but whatever that may be, this is one fab album. Absolutely smashing.

Back in 1995, Bobbito Garcia started Fondle 'Em Records as a way to kick out some of the best New York underground hip hop. He's decided to hang up the label, but not before dropping this shout out.

A wide representation of the stuff Fondle 'Em has released over the last six years, including the track featured on the final 12" (reviewed in this issue), "Fondle 'Em Fossils."

The production quality is uneven, and certainly some of the tracks are stronger than others. Only makes sense. After all, when you're in the underground you're taking more chances. And sometimes those don't come off.

But most do. And this collection can blister at times. A worthy celebration, to be sure.

Another compilation from the Fifth Colvmn folks, featuring tracks from the new Chemlab and Final Cut albums, along with stuff from Vampire Rodents, T.H.C., Acumen and more.

Unlike the Echo compilation, this set relies much more heavily on tracks from albums. Just a nice a starting point for the uninitiated, but not as important for current fans.

As for the unreleased stuff, there are remixes of Dessau and Trust Obey songs, and "Blind Acceleration" by Vampire Rodents is previously unreleased. Worth the price of admission, I might add, but I've been hyping VR for ages.

A reasonable set, but not enough unreleased stuff to move it past simple commercial sampler appeal.

Just another label compilation, mostly featuring stuff from recent and upcoming releases. Of course, this is a Fat wreck compilation, which means the music is tasty and tuneful punk rawk.

There are unreleased tracks from No Use for a Name and Avail (and a NOFX tune that was previously available only on 7²). After that, just a track apiece from most of the Fat Wreck lineup. Which ain't bad.

A nice little mix tape. Okay, so they didn't use my favorite Ataris song ("My So-Called Life"), but I'll forgive them. This time.

Yes, it's another set of songs from the Fat Wreck roster. All 20 songs can't be found anywhere else. Like "original" movie soundtracks and stuff like that, that does lead to some ups and downs.

Still, when you get stuff from NOFX, Lagwagon, Swingin' Utters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Frenzal Rhomb, Propagandhi, Sick of It All, No Use for a Name, Tilt and more, well, it all doesn't suck.

For the price, I'd say this puppy is more than worth a spin or few. I found plenty that I liked. Would that all samplers worked out this well.

If all you think Lawrence (Kansas) bands sound like Paw and the soon to be heard Stick (bleah), this should shake you a few nice ways.

Well, actually, some of these bands are from places like Milwaukee, but most are within a stones' pitch of Lawrence, so why quibble.

A lot of what wanders in here is truly strange fare, almost indescribable. Some of it was obviously recorded on a jam box (or at least it sounds that way). These are things that work in favor, obviously.

Many of you know Hum and Dis (once called Dig), who are now resting comfortably on Poster Children's 12 inch records. I would steer you towards Kill Creek and Dracomagnet, just as starters.

(Mostly) Kansas rock (etc.) that doesn't suck. Sounds like a bad MTV concept, but it is a fine disc.

This collection is split into "dance/dub" and "festival stage" discs, though most of these bands are so deep into sound collage that even those distinctions don't always hold water.

Like the British Underground disc, this set is financed by the Arts Council of England