I went to Alice Lee's mp3.com page and selected the "play all tracks now!" just before getting dressed for work. Her site is a fine example of a solo artist with access to an acoustic guitar, laptop computer and lots of quiet time in which to experiment with her sound. The genre of the 14 songs available on her page run the gamut from folk to trip hop. While I looked at the clothes in my closet, I listened to her rich voice sing folky songs accompanied by guitars and other stringed instruments. As "Quicksand" played, I thought, "Why, how Ani DiFranco of her," and held a pair of black jeans up to my hips and scanned the shelf for my black ribbed tank top. As I procrastinated, slowly lacing my boots, I noticed Alice's musical proclivities had taken a turn toward drum and bass. A decelerated remix of the same song was now playing. Suddenly, the jeans and tank seemed like the wrong outfit choice for the day, so I pulled out the burgundy shift that I wear with my black pearl choker. Alice's two sultry interpretations of "Quicksand" somehow convinced me that my seductive dress wouldn't look strange in the office. After some deliberation, I concluded Alice's experimental tone shared more similarities with Beth Orton's fluid style than Ani - especially when Alice's voice took on a emotionally distracted tone in "Better than Bliss." By this time, I was really late for work, but this last thought about the singer made me change my clothes once again. This time I pulled on a brown ankle-length skirt and green button-down shirt, but I kept the black pearls on and re-laced my feet into the boots. Each article of clothing seemed to represent a different snippet of Alice's music. Her roots are certainly deep in folk, but her willingness to explore other styles make her a more interesting artist. When I finally left the house, Alice was still stuck in my head. (Vanessa Moore)

The first thing I thought when I listened to Ashland was that they sounded like Rush, a la their famous song "Tom Sawyer." Then, as I explored the band's Web site, I learned I was definitely not the only one who thought that. Nevertheless, the similarities are uncanny. Singer Chad McMurray shares the same nasal voice as Geddy Lee and the four-man band certainly follows in Rush's footsteps musically. They play intricate rock that mixes time signatures as well as feeling -- making it easy to get lost in the sound. Also, McMurray's lyrics take on epic, poetry-like topics with a political, religious or fantastic bent, which I think was much more prevalent in 70s and 80s rock. I'd say his ambiguous writing style is usually heard accompanied by goth music nowadays. But with such complex music supporting him, I paid little attention to what he was saying. McMurray's voice was still there, but the words stopped registering. Taking the extra effort to follow McMurray's words is not a task that wastes time, however. He sings of "Tiny Little Pointy Headed People," and samples the voice of President Richard Nixon, as well as defending his piece of the sky in "My Sky." So, if you like to search for hidden meanings, knock yourself out. My one complaint with my Ashland experience is probably not the fault of the band, but, for a band that appears to pay so much attention to detail, they might want to look into this. Out of the six songs offered on the main page, only four would play. Also, on my PC's tool bar, the title for Ashland's Web site came up as "Your Heading Goes Here." (Vanessa Moore)

Top honors for this singer/songwriter -- a good singer, and very nice arrangements on these eight songs -- but what puts this effort over the top is the writing. Raised in Boston, honing his performing skills later on NYC subway platforms, he graduated to the city's better clubs, and has released five cd's on Circus Addict records, getting good reviews with his band the New Europeans. This album also serves as soundtrack for an independent feature film, "Down on Brighton." The song of same title is one of the highlights. Now, comparisons are the ground beef of this little butcher shop called music reviewing, and there are several indicated on the press materials, but I will add a couple of my own lean grinds -- Himmelman, Penn. (Norm Deplume)

Jazz, as a genre label, has become almost as vague as "rock" -- it's used to describe music ranging anywhere from abstract, spacy weirdness to minimalistic, New Age piano noodlings. Mr. Angeloni's music is pretty much a citizen of the "downtown cafe ambience" kind, perhaps making an occasional visit to Beigedale shopping center to browse the selection of belts at Dayton's. The music is inoffensive enough, at first -- "Firm Grip" is clear and clean, with only snare, drums, piano, and bass used. The overall assembly of the songs is professional and tight; "Only A Glimpse," for example, uses the piano for some effective flourishes, with a fine connection between the lower and higher keys. But play all the songs at once, and it isn't long until you find that the separation of the songs into tracks seems rather pointless -- all of them appear to have been composed on a synthesizer, using the (same) instrument banks for every one. There is no variation of tonality (with the piano being the worst offender), and the absolute sameness of the general sound persistent through all the tracks make all the songs sound like one very, very long one. With this playing in the background, one could easily forget about it and it wouldn't be an issue; but an intent listening ear will have a deep hole drilled through it. Still, there is a demand for this sort of thing ... perhaps I can help Dennis out... ATTENTION EXECUTIVE STARBUCKS PERSONNEL: A+! The implementation of this contemporary synergistic music will generate win-win results for your goal-oriented market demographic! Give this "Modern Jazz Musician" a spot on your next in-store sampler disc! (Dusty Backlund)

I think I'm setting some sort of record here: yet another one-person act! This one producing a quirky, eclectic collection of good-natured pop. I call it pop, for lack of a better term, as the emphasis should be on eclectic and quirky. When it tries to be funny, it is only mildly so, the rest of the material varies from marginally engaging to uninteresting. Technical issues aside, it seems to me this suffers from a massive void of any artistic vision other than the desire to play music and write songs. At the overall skill level showing in this material, I don't think that's enough to make any of this work. Please refer to the (remarkable) King Missile song "She Had Nothing" for a summary of my review, and a concise illustration of the problem with this. (Conrad Teves)

Current R&B is such a difficult style of music for me to deal with. So much of it is pure trash and that makes it tough to give any of it a chance. However, Faithgroove breathes new life into this worn genre. Faith Rivera, a Filipina born in Kauai, is the voice behind this force. One thing I really liked about Faithgroove was the lack of arrogance that is present in so much of current R&B. No talk of her "lazy-ass-no-good-scrub" or bragging about how her new outfit was more than the GNP of many African nations. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of music Faithgroove produces. From the tropical (Hawaiian) guitar and sexy, spoken verses of "Portuguese Man O' War" to the pleasant melody of "Mirror, Mirror," they hit the nail on the head. The true gem through is, "One Big Ride." It features keyboard sounds reminiscent of Prince from the Controversy days and wonderful theme changes throughout the song. The vocals are near perfect and all the overdubs are in the right places. Beyonce should drop to her knees and worship Faith. There is a new queen in town. (Neal Mayerle)

As 20- and 30- somethings become all soft and squishy about fond memories of their Nintendo and Atari systems, it is inevitable that more and more elements of videogame culture permanently enter the mainstream popular culture, and this, of course, includes the realm of music. As a child, music from videogames were about the only kind that really moved and affected me -- there are songs from some games that I remember as being "really cool," and there are others that just will not be forgotten -- who doesn't instantly recognize the jaunty ditties from Super Mario Bros or Sonic the Hedgehog? The melodic medium of old game system soundchips is only beginning to flourish, with independently-written music-composition software now available for the Game Boy and even a beat-box interface for the Atari 2600. Fluffy Porcupine is also a devotee of these electronic analog sounds, as songs like "Lord of the Files" and "One Fine Day" use some very Nintendo-esque "instruments." If you ever played an 8-bit game console regularly, you'll hear, for instance, the distinctive tinny metallic waver or the small burble-gurgle, and try to remember what games used those sounds. I swear that "Electric Sheep" took the title theme from the Turbografx-16 game, "Bonk's Adventure," and made it into something different and (somewhat) updated. "Hypnagogic" uses a piano loop effectively on top of a spacey synth sweep, but though the timing is spot-on, the whispering part is annoyingly recorded. Despite that, it still remains my favorite of the songs, as it suddenly shifts into the "Love Theme from Legend of Zelda" or some such thing. "Softspoken" and the main part of "Manic Swing" sounds like it could have been created on a PC AdLib soundcard circa 1989 -- go FM synthesis! The "Intro" and "Energetic" have elements strongly* reminiscent of mid-70's Tangerine Dream, so videogames aren't the only influence in Fluffy Porcupine's music (although anyone into analog synthesizers should find appeal in both electronic games and space music...) To finish the album is a remixed version of "Softspoken" called "Outro," and fittingly, now has the unmistakable mark of the final credits of a Konami or Capcom game; perfectly expressing the content feeling one has knowing that victory has been achieved through the final defeat of the evil overlord/alien commander, and the world/girl has been saved, and the sunset/starscape is being flown into, and H.Kinoshita/T.Hosokawa did the Concept Design. My overall impression of Fluffy Porcupine is that, while it's fun to play "spot the sound," most of the songs need a more unique composition to be as exciting as the culture it honors. (Dusty Backlund)

Future Lisa is one woman and her keyboard. Cover Girl is her first demo. Her songs are very personal, and don't really seem to make a lot of sense to the listener because of that fact. I get the feeling that these are not so much songs, but rather poems of a peculiar nature set to some minimal accompaniment. She writes songs that remind me of what might be heard if Lady Aberlin from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe went through some hard times, bought a Joan Baez record, and was inspired to take out her aggression through song. That isn't to say this is childish, because this is certainly not the kind of music you play to children. It's just, uh, larval. Yes, I'm going to go with larval. Future Lisa needs to keep on practicing, take some more piano lessons, and a writing workshop or two. If she does this and adds some additional instrumentation, a more solid and interesting composition should come in time. If not, her creepy shut-in-writing-about-her-wacky-dreams-and-dominatrix-fetish persona might really become a hindrance to her. Whoops, was that too harsh? Well, so was this demo. I'm still scared. (Archie Rex)

Man, if there was ever an instance of being unable to judge a CD by its cover, this is it. On the aforementioned cover, Karina Van Ron is all decked out in leather, see-through fishnet and strategically placed black tape. After seeing the photo inside of her tied to a chair, you might expect a collection of iconoclastic, deliberately provocative songs. Boy, would you be wrong. With the possible exception of "Positive Delivery" the original material on this CD is amazingly conventional. On the whole, (digging deep in the reference bag here) I find her to be very Stacy Q mixed with moments of Madonna, except not as racy as either. The closest thing to interesting here is the Spanish-language cover of "Heart Shaped Box." With material this ordinary, I doubt Ms Van Ron will be able to follow in Stacy Q's footsteps and reach the point in her career where she can expect to hear the phrase "I'll take Karina Van Ron to block." (Conrad Teves)

Singer songwriter from Raleigh NC. limerick lyrics... amplified, likeable, but....not overly original. Strange lo-fi quality of "drought" is interesting... John Prinish. "Where do all the Feelings Go" rings truest...(Norm Deplume)

After several listens to this disc, I just can't come up with much more to say other than this stuff is adequate. It would be welcome fare in almost any working-class bar in the country. It's chock fulla zydeco-blues-rock that's sure to please most bar patrons. The harmonies are well balanced, appropriately placed and tight, along with all the instrumentation. The production is clear and sparkling. In a nutshell, this is just plain ol' good time party music. Everything is done well, but nothing is outstanding. (Archie Rex)

I think it would be best if Lost Americana just got lost. They're not the worst I've ever heard, just lame. Note to lead singer: knock off the attempt at the heavy metal growl. You can't pull it off. (Mike Mitchelson)

Some New Country by a couple of guys from Texas. I could leave it at that, but I'm getting paid by the word here. As is typical with a lot of New Country, it's mostly just pop with a twang. To complete the stereotype, simply apply some of the shtick elements common in country, e.g., include a lyrical twist to a fairly common phrase or idea to add a hint of comedy/tragedy to the story: "She bought a round-trip ticket/But only went one way." Of course, not all of Lucky Tailor's material is like that, but there is enough adherence to form to keep this from sounding unique, and the recording quality and general musicianship is not of a high enough level to compensate. Lyrically, this varies from bland to mediocre with all the subtle shadings in between. In principle, we've heard this all before, and much better. (Conrad Teves)

Wow! This demo is just about the best thing I've heard all year from the local scene. The intro falsetto vocals on "Collide" creep up my spine and really give the sense of impending sonic explosion...then they deliver the aural equivalent of Emeril Lagasse...BAM! The chorus is a massive assault of alt-power-rock the likes of which I haven't heard in a long while. Cripes, I was playing air-drums in my living room to this on my first listen! "Under" and "Mechanical Failure" are great songs with killer guitar hooks and choruses you'll be humming to yourself hours later. The slower "Now and Evermore" is the only song I have issues with. It's a bit too pop-y and takes more than a few cues from power-pop-ballad cliches. Overall, the performance is perfect. The mix is sharp and wonderfully balanced. (Awesome kudos to their producer/engineer, Jason Orris, for cooking up an incredible sounding product. Local musicians, get thee to the Terrarium for your next project!) MtoM seem to hit the bull's eye that bands like Creed, Nickelback and Puddle of Mudd are shooting for, but always missing. Not that I can peg MtoM in the Hard Rock or Nü-Metal genre. On the contrary, they seem to bridge almost every sub-genre of rock I've heard over the past ten years, sans rap-core. What does that mean? The answer is mass appeal, baby. Personally, I think the vocals are a bit too emotive at times, but I can't deny that the guy can sing really well. Despite my indie-hipster scruples telling me to hate this because I'll be seeing them on MTV2 next year, I love Mars to Mercury. This stuff is radio ready and ready to please. If there's any justice in this world, we'll all be hearing more from this band in the future. See you at their next show! (Archie Rex)

This crew from the U.K. specializes in what they call a combination of pop and hip-hop. DJs create the music and Zoe Stafford provides the vocals. The problem is that the combination is similar to that of a tornado and a trailer park -- they just don't mix. Individually, the music and beats can hold their own. The same can be said of Zoe's vocals. But nothing comes together well for this band. One listen to song, "Never" and you know you are in dangerous territory but then comes "Come Home" which is just annoying and cheesy. Now for the predictable attack on the band's name. How about, "One Window, shut it." No, better yet, "One Window, Close the blinds." Even better, "One Window, throw a rock and smash it." Wow, those were as bad as the music I was subject to. (Neal Mayerle)

One man's trash is another man's cult favorite. Okay, so Mark Spiewak is Pearlcopper. He is hard of hearing. His press copy says he wears his hearing aids REALLY LOUD so he can "live with Rock'n Roll everyday." Spiewak's singing consists of a lot of Adam Sandler-esque screaming, which isn't all that remarkable (especially for a singer who is nearly deaf -- I hope this site is a joke because nothing this bad gets produced on purpose), nor are his barely coherent lyrics. At one point during "Rhythm of Time' - gods version...," he repeats "don't give up," while a guitar riffs in the background and a synthesizer gets the hamfist treatment. He seems to be taking his words to heart. You'd have to be deep into the Avant Garde movement to not give up on this artist. (Vanessa Moore)

Funny thing happened right before I began reviewing this CD: The other day, a lady friend was cleaning out some of her junk from college a decade past and came across two one-hitters. How does this relate to this review? Read on, my children. Reed Dickinson's CD is described in his press release as pop/rock "in a style closer to the albums of the 1960's with an eclectic mix of music which makes a statement and entertains rather than just a bunch of songs that sound like every other song." I can appreciate that. But one of the benefits (?) of the 60's and early '70's music scene was a lot of pot. A LOT OF POT. A LOT OF POT was the reason a slightly above-average band from San Francisco called the Grateful Dead was able to achieve a legion-size following. A LOT OF POT is why we thought a lot of music was cool when it really sucked the high hard one when brain activity returned to normal levels. I can recall someone telling me (someone very stoned) that one would have to smoke around 200 pounds of the wacky weed in one sitting to actually die from marijuana poisoning, therefore making it a much safer drug than alcohol. If that moronic factoid has a shred of truth to it, I think I would have to smoke at least 195 of those 200 pounds of weed to listen to Mr. Dickinson's album in it's entirety. This is where the lady friend's one pot-smoking paraphernalia comes in. Not that Dickinson looks like a stoner -- far from it, actually. He was the guy wearing the Izod button-downs in high school. But if he can appreciate eclectic 60's albums without the aid of some sort of mellowing agent, he is in a class by himself. And he can have it to himself. I don't think I used the phrase, "Oh my fucking God!" more in one hour. And I feel bad slamming the guy because it's an earnest effort and the production is top notch and he doesn't seem full of himself, but come on. There's lyrics like, "Tall evergreen so old/I am your favorite friend/In the wind you will bend/Your story be told," and then "Candy apple babble, you're rotten to the core/Cutie tuttie-frutti you make me want you more." Fuck the pot and head straight to the liquor cabinet. And his voice...oh just stop. Please.stop. Check out Wilco, for starters, Mr. Dickinson. There is eclectic MODERN pop artistry out there that is significant and intelligent. (Mike Mitchelson)

With every page (yes, there were PAGES) of their media kit laminated, my first thought (based on much experience) was the equation: Time + Effort into PR = Shitty Band. Pleasant surprises are few in my life, and this was one of them. I'm NOT saying these guys are the king shit, either, but they are capable of wailing. Their blend of blues, funk, Louisiana jazz, and a little Dixieland here and there could translate into a hell of a live show. Any band that has room for a trombonist, not to mention title a song "Too Close to the Liquor Store" and make it work is o.k. in my book. If this band makes it up north to play a gig, I might make the effort to see them. (Mike Mitchelson)

Now I know full well that the D.I.Y. aspect of punk rock is one of the best things about music -- the fact that if you want to play music and record a record then there shouldn't really be anything stopping you. I also know full well that a lot of great bands have come and gone that subsisted on little of what is generally regarded by the masses as "talent." Does this stop me from cringing every time I listen to an MP3 by this band? No. No it does not. Here is why: PROBLEM #1 -- The drummer. Yeah, crash those hi-hats over and over and over and over every two seconds! PUNK ROCK! And to hell with keeping the beat, man, that's for hippies! PROBLEM #2 -- The production. What I am guessing they did was take a 1982 Panasonic boom box with dying batteries, set it on a windowsill in their practice space about 30 feet from where they were actually performing, used a hastily-constructed microphone made out of a broken cell phone receiver and a Whatchamacallit wrapper, then hooked the boombox into a VCR which was hooked up to a TV which was hooked up to an Amiga with a rudimentary sound editing program that can only output .au files. They then converted the .au to MP3 using a haX0r3d shareware program developed by a Malaysian high school student. PROBLEM #3 -- The lyrics. One of the songs' choruses goes "Abbey is a punk/Oi! Oi!" They have another song about how their drummer likes to get totally fuckin' wasted dude. If these guys were rappers I'm guessing they'd build an entire song around the old "throw your hands in the air/and wave 'em like you just don't care" line. PROBLEM #4 -- Their names. All the band members took on the last name of "Addickt." Jesus, no. I also am guessing that the only reason they spelled it with a "k" is because "whoa, that totally says 'dick' right in the middle of our name!" Argh. PROBLEM #5 -- "Mashed Potato". HOLY SHIT IS THIS SONG GREAT. Yes, it's sloppy and kind of clumsy and the lyrics are cliche, but for all its faults it's GREAT power-pop. The problem, of course, is why can't the band do more songs like this? Damn. PROBLEM #6 -- Actually that's about it. But it's a few problems too many. (Nate Patrin)

This has to be the most comfortable rock album I've ever listened to. Musically, this reminds me of early Dire Straits or Hot Tuna. There are some country/bluegrass influences here too. These tunes would be ripe for radio play if they weren't so long and mid-tempo. Yes, most of these songs are a bit on the slow side, and by track 5 seem to stretch out every strum for about as long as it takes to yawn and take a sip of lemonade. This is moseyin' music. This is cross-country Greyhound bus ridin' music. This is boxcar hoppin' music. The vocals are tight and in tune, but the voice itself isn't that memorable. They seem to be more suited to the more country styled tunes rather than the rock stuff. All in all, a good effort. Pleasant and listenable on Sunday afternoons. (Archie Rex)

They're from New York. They play punk rock. The list their influences as the Ramones, the Dictators, Rocket From the Crypt and Motorhead. They call themselves the Orgasmabots, ferchrissakes, how can this possibly be disappointing? Well, I don't know how they pull it off, but they do: the Orgasmabots' music is boring. Or at least it's boring as noisy bass-heavy punk rock can get, I suppose. Sure, "Up the Wahzoo" is a pretty interesting song with its flamenco influence and its nimble guitar playing -- hell, it's one of the best songs I've heard yet in an online submission. But the rest is punk by the numbers -- you've heard it all before: the voice, the riffs, the basslines, the lyrics... well, maybe not the lyrics, since I can't understand them two-thirds of the time and therefore am unable to determine whether or not they're cliche or not. But then again, this is the kind of boring, shrug-worthy submission I don't mind getting: there is no indication whatsoever that these guys won't improve in the near future, and their music is merely not noteworthy as opposed to aggressively crap. I doubt the Orgasmabots have long to go before they find the winning formula; when they do I wanna be the first to hear it. (Nate Patrin)

Excellent packaging is the first thing you notice here -- bright orange slice images; a simple idea well done. The Problems, who hail from New York, are a sort of folky band begun in the late 90's and given a boost by touring with the Smithereens. Its a decent sounding mix, the first song is great -- "This Town." Song 11, "The end of the line," is among the best of these 17 songs, with the whole formula purring like a fine old tractor. A bit smoother than locals Pushin' Daisies, its a similar folky rock with a country backbeat and a nice blend of talented voices and instrumentalists. Guitars of course, bass, drums, violin, mandolin, kind of a classic mix. Some songs are better than others, and the writing ranges from real good to sort of ok. The best songs have nice vocal blends and a hook. (Norm Deplume)

Shades of Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon! This kind of bouncy dance hall rock has been missing in action for awhile, short of a few attempts by the likes of Dire Straits, etc. This is definitely a live act, ready to please a crowd that wants to dance, and their mid-sixties rave-ups, roller-rink rockers, big beat ballads and sugar-shack shakers would have plenty of happy takers. You could work out your twist, frug, pony, whatever, ...think happy wedding party at the VFW. The Redeemers play a pastiche of pop stylings with panache -- peppy stomps that have a warm authenticity and the drive of real horns. Obviously a labor of love, my only criticism is that the lead vocalist is not extra great -- sounding a bit like Gary Busey's Holly, but real instruments, vintage tones, and tight arrangements -- short and sweet songs are kind of winning. This DC area band recreate styles from about 1958 to 1966 to maybe early seventies -- high skool hop to byrdsy pop... and really, the real actual radio sixies, not the re-imagined FM top hit list. An esoteric note: they do a a cover, recorded live, of Hawkwind's " Silver Machine," a good song, too. ( With a short Seeds nod) , winding up the cd with a Jackie Wilson medlee. And hey, a theremin! (Norm Deplume)

It is one thing to fail miserably in creating a good album by being incompetent, or being steeped heavily in the cliches of a miserable subgenre. I hate that kind of crap, and I can guarantee that if your band's guilty of such things, I won't be easy on you. But even worse is to be competent at an entertaining genre -- and yet be so innofensive and by-the-book and slick that everything that made the genre great is completely sapped out of your music. Venus Throw, I am looking in your direction. I can tell you guys like your Cramps albums, maybe a bit of Southern Culture on the Skids and the Supersuckers and the good Reverend Horton Heat as well. Why, then, did you apparently pay zero attention to what made those bands great while recording this album? There is none of rockabilly's underlying menace, not enough unhinged bravado to the vocals, no genuine sense of enjoyable sleaze. Hell, even the cartoon cover art tries to look all badass like Coop, but it looks more like something from Gasoline Alley. Good rockabilly sounds like it was made to score a knife-vs-bike chain fight, the combatants full of fury as they clench on their toothpicks, swinging wildly and without abandon just so long as they don't get any blood on their new boots. This sounds about as raunchy as an Applebee's commercial. (Nate Patrin)