Anne Hills and Michael Smith, Punchy, Fight Club (sountrack), Madison Battery
Catapult, Bombshell Rocks, Drew Barrett, Pilot to Gunner
Randy Mason, Arsonists, Slick Sixty, Long Beach Dub Allstars
Welfare Gypsies, Loren MazzaCane Connors

	Anne Hills and Michael Smith / Paradise Lost & Found / Redwing Music (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "We Become Birds" I'm going to guess that most of the so-called "folk" music you've heard has been filtered through alt-rock sensibilities, so real folk music might take you by surprise. Paradise Lost and Found sounds bright and joyous, even at its most somber moments. Hills and Smith, both of whom are bright lights on the Chicago folk scene, outgrew twentysomething angst long ago. Here, you'll find several collaborative tracks, new approaches to solo material and a couple of standards -- all of them beautiful in a "Sunday Morning at the Coffeehouse" sort of way. Be warned that Hills and Smith have no indie rock edge; if you're into grim visions of modern dystopia, Paradise Lost and Found will seem impossibly optimistic and probably a bit syrupy. On the other hand, songs like "We Become Birds," which damn near made me cry, might break you of your grim-visions-of-modern-dystopia habit altogether. --
	Punchy / Punchy / Bitter Kitten Music (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "10 Miles Out of Town" Punchy seems all set to tackle America's alterna-radio wasteland. They've got reasonably catchy songs, inoffensive (if sometimes kind of crappy) lyrics, good playing and your basic gravely, altera-guy voice. "Crawl" is a memorable song, with some interesting orchestrational touches (random guitar feedback, odd vocal stylings, high school band drum cadence drum line). "10 Miles Out of Town" sports a countrified Elvis Costello vibe, although the lyrics don't really pull you in the way a Costello song might. "Don't Get Around Much," with its acoustic Soul Asylum-y feel, sounds like the single to me, although it suffers from less-than-great live radio show production. Given a little more pep and some hipper production, Punchy would fit right in with the current crop of alternarock heavyweights. --
	The Dust Brothers / Fight Club (soundtrack) / Restless (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Stealing Fat" Don't be fooled by the word "score" -- this ain't no sappy, string-drenched, James Horner-sounding ode to lost love. On the contrary, it's the electronic equivalant of getting your head smashed against the pavement 57 times, with static beats, creeping basslines and moody keyboards forming the bedrock of the sound. "Stealing Fat" starts off like an updated bossa nova spy theme, only to mutate into swells of bleeping synth and bangin' breakbeats. Other songs, such as "Psycho Boy Jack" and "Homework," mix hammering beats, odd samples and crunching guitar into tasty electro-cocktails. After seeing the film I'm astonished at how well the score complements the on-screen action, perfectly syncopating movements with beats. This score actually adds to the film -- a rare feat these days where the average soundtrack becomes little more than an annoying distraction that hinders the progression of the film. With Fight Club the Dust Brothers have created a soundtrack that can take on all comers and be left standing at the end. --
	Madison Battery / Madison Battery / Jiffy Boy (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "The Last Time I Saw You Smile" Think Superchunk with a wimpier singer and songs that aren't quite as catchy. That's a good clue as to what Madison Battery are all about. Frantic drums and bass, churning guitars and male lead vocals with practically indecipherable lyrics...Madison Battery are trying hard, but they're doing what was done years ago and adding nothing new. An awful lyrical moment comes on "Twenty-five Cents," beginning with "twenty five cents in a warm hat is not enough to feed the voices in your head". At times the songs fall into a Dave Matthews Band sort of rut, which isn't helping much. With a few more years and some added originality, Madison Battery might be able to pull it off. --
	Catapult / The Architecture of a Year / Blackbean & Placenta (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Convert to Metric" Catapult's sound should be fairly familiar -- it's that lovely, fuzzy-sweater-comfy, melodic indie rock thing, but infused with a healthy backing of idiosyncratic electronic noodling. It's not the sort of disc that makes you run out into the street and sing and dance and scream and yell and roll around and burble with the sheer joy of owning it, but you'll definitely get through plenty of long afternoons with The Architecture of a Year cranked to eleven on the stereo. --
	Bombshell Rocks / Street Art Gallery / Burning Heart / Epitaph (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Where We Gather" Street Art Gallery shows Sweden's own angry street punks, Bombshell Rocks (who came in off the street only long enough to record this album), to be reviving a somewhat old sound. It's that good old English punk sound, blended with a tinge of reggae (like the Clash) and a dollop of American punk (cum Social D) for good measure. Songs like the anthemic "Where We Gather" show the band's allegience to the street punk movement, where it's ten o' clock and you don't know where your kids are. Street Art Gallery is a rocking, rollicking rock party for your ear! --
	Drew Barrett / The Strolling Minstrel / Skyward Productions (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "City of Sin" Y'know how there's a sort of "edge" to ballads by metal bands? A sort of "we're a hard rock band but our label makes us put these ballads on our albums, so there'll always be a subtle, incipient-metal tension to our songs" thing, if you follow me? Well, that's sort of what all of Drew Barrett's songs sound like. Some of his songs boast some heavy guitar work while others are a bit more technofied, but they all meet the standards established by the Top 40 Hard Rock Power Ballad Act of 1991. Luckily, Barrett's got a good, deep voice that's well suited to his thoughtful -- but not introspective -- lyrics. Sometimes he sounds a little bit like Iggy Pop, too, albeit an Iggy Pop inexplicably given to covering Guns 'n' Roses tunes. This isn't a genre I'm fond of, but The Strolling Minstrel is a cut above its thinning crop of peers. --
	Pilot to Gunner / Hit the Ground and Hum / MeToo! (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Wires" Harkening back to the 80's sound of Discord Records' bands, Pilot to Gunner takes aim with varied rhythms and diffident vocals. Musically speaking, this quartet is practically faultless as it delivers jangly guitars, thudding drums and superb bass lines that cement it all together. The slightly crazed-sounding vocals of Hegarty and Padden could be classified as "emo," as an intense, painful twitch only partially hides the tender fragility of the duo’s feelings. However, these five songs are by no means passive heart-warmers, as PTG will send a sharp shiver down your spine with charged rock that's anything by subdued. --
	Randy Mason / Halfway, Through Night / Randy Mason (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Black Dove" Ms. Mason's work will be welcomed by those of you who have a few Heart albums stashed in the back of the closet. There's a gentle edge of psychedelia to these songs, and the lyrics create a mood so mainstream-mystic that I half expected huge clouds of patchouli fumes to come billowing out of the CD player. Also, and apropos of nothing, the back-cover photo gives me a maddening urge to refer to Ms. Mason as "Carla". Go figure. Ms. Mason has a beautiful voice, and her songs take full advantage of it; her lyrics, on the other hand, are a bit too facile to withstand repeated listening. With such a fine vocal instrument, Randy Mason should be telling far richer, more complex tales than those she spins on Halfway, Through Night. --
	Arsonists / As the World Burns / Matador (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Venom" I caught Public Enemy live a couple of weeks ago. PE makes a big impression, and it took a few spins before As the World Burns found its way out from under the PE shadow. It's unfair to evaluate the Arsonists on the same scale, although Q-Unique's Rock Steady peerage merits immediate respect. Complex lyrics are delivered with a degree of verbal dexterity you'll never get from MTV-friendly rap, while samples and loops are, for the most part, subtly used and carefully controlled. Some of the best moments here might already be familiar -- "Halloween", "Seed" and "Session" first saw light on the Arsonists' early 12" singles -- but you're bound to find some new favorites, too. As the World Burns doesn't hit as hard as PE or the X-Ecutioners, but it's head, shoulders, torso, legs and feet above the gangsta pap that's being fed to the mainstream. --
	Slick Sixty / Nibs and Nabs / Mute (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "The Wrestler" Hot UK trio Slick Sixty deserve the media hype that they've been getting overseas (and are starting to get here in the States). Nibs and Nabs is filled with the best funky hip-hop beats, electronic wizardry and soulful acid jazz -- but it doesn't stop there. Add some bhangra beats, engaging guitar licks, turntablist scratching, multiple Moogs and lots of loops and you'll just begin to get the drift of Slick Sixty. This debut album is actually a collection of the group's releases over the past few years, but sounds as fresh as ever. The essence of Howie B., Fatboy Slim and Air slips in and out of the tracks, yet not one song sounds lifted or copied -- at least, not enough to warrant complaints of thievery. "The Wrestler" (a former NME Single of the week) boasts remixes by Lionrock and the Mad Professor, each of which are as great as the original. With tempos and beats catchy enough to make the most jaded roommate bob his head along with the music, Slick Sixty are headed for stardom. --
	Long Beach Dub Allstars / Right Back / Dreamworks (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Righteous Dub (feat. Barrington Levy)" Still itching for more of the Sublime-tinged reggae that rolled over the radio stations a few years ago? Surviving Sublime members Eric and Bud have regrouped under the LBDA moniker and drafted such promising celebrities as Barrington Levy, Half Pint and the parlous HR of Bad Brains to tear through everything from old school dub,to a bit of ska and a dash of steamy hardcore. Bass-heavy dub rhythms will make your head bob as quarrelling guitars and brassy horns suggest that the band can whip out just about any genre that they please. --
	Welfare Gypsies / upstairs/downstairs / WG (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "Another form of the blues" The good folks in Welfare Gypsies are all clearly accomplished musicians, and their songs, generally in a blues-rocky, semi-funky style, are pleasant. That's not quite enough, though, to pull upstairs/downstairs away from the Adult Contemporary pack. "Another form of the blues" is the most interesting song, largely due to Shaun Booker-Chitison's energized, gospel-tinged vocals. "I am a wipe out" shows off the band's prodigious live chops, although again Booker-Chitison's vocals provide most of the interest. In general, Welfare Gypsies seem to suffer from a bit of over-polishing -- I bet that if they stayed up for 3 or 4 days, forgot all about music school, stuck some Fugazi stickers on their gig bags and ate a few giant burritos before their next recording session, things would turn out much better. Upstairs/downstairs isn't a bad CD at all -- it's just a lot less than I think it could be. --
	Loren MazzaCane Connors / Airs / Road Cone (CD) Sample 30 seconds of "The Death of Shelly" Loren MazzaCane Connors is the prolific Irish improvisational guitarist who wowed us last year with his mini-epic Evangeline. With Airs he is more introverted than before. This introversion is reflected in the fact that all of the 19 "airs" are untitled, and play as if Mr. Connors was letting us peek inside his brooding emotional world for 3 minutes at a time. A remarkable feature of these solo works is their apparent fragility. They are ephemeral -- musical snapshots which vanish upon development. The only named track on the CD is track 20, "The Death of Shelly" (as in Percy Bysshe), and its mournful wailing is a perfect eulogy to the soulful poet. --