Joe Luellen is a dance music machine. Coming out of the
motor city, Joe aka Sonic Disturbance, makes some pretty bumping electronic
music. He's quite talented at making beats and playing keys. At times, his stuff
can get a little too "ravey" for me, but overall it's pretty solid stuff. If you
liked Moby's earlier stuff, you will like Sonic Disturbance. Check out tracks
like "Flight School" and "Subnetmask" to get a good idea of what it's really
like. (Eddie Fleisher)
This new release from England's pop/ska sensations Spunge
features 3 live demos, 2 songs from their as-yet-unnamed 4th album, and, most
importantly, six of their favorite cover songs. Being that I'm not a big ska
fan, I'm not sure how good a job I can do reviewing the latter half (the
non-cover songs) of the album, but I will say this: as a whole, they display
more energy and guts than anything the US punk scene has spewed out in years.
Of course, the Brits aren't stuck in the bubble-punk hell that the US scene
seems to find itself in, and that's refreshing. Spunge rocks with a raw energy
I've not seen in the US punk scene since the 80's. Now on to the covers: these
are great fun. Any punk/ska band that can do a convincing cover of the J. Geils
song "Centrefold" is O.K. in my book. Other high points are their versions of
Belinda Carlisle's "Circle In The Sand" and Men At Work's immortal "Down
Under". This is a great party album. The Heathen Hippy gives it three and a
half pairs of Doc Martins. (Taliesin Govannon)
A “soundtrack” companion to the book of the same name,
‘Choosing Death’ takes on the near impossible task of distilling the history of
death metal into one 80 minute disc. It almost pulls it off, too. Just about
all the bands you’d expect to find on are here, starting with the title track
from Napalm Death’s debut ‘Scum’ and continuing on to more contemporary heroes
of heaviness like Nile and Arch Enemy. It’s hard to pick just one song to
represent bands with careers as lengthy and influential as Morbid Angel,
Cannibal Corpse, and Obituary. Nonetheless, you really can’t argue with the
choices (“Chapel of Ghouls”, Hammer Smashed Face”, and “Slowly We Rot”
respectively). And while Swedish death metal gods Entombed aren’t included,
that’s made up for by a track from Nihilist, the band Entombed evolved out of.
My only gripes: Carcass is represented only by “Heartwork”. It’s a great song,
to be sure, but something from their early grind days ought to have been on
here. Also, due to unfortunate legal issues nothing from the early Death albums
could be included. The band is still represented, but it’s the later period
track “Symbolic”. Otherwise, the only other band I really think should have
been on here that isn’t is Necrophagia. Until we get a 4 disc box set, however,
this should serve as a great introduction to anyone interested in the genre or
just make a nice mix disc for those already familiar with it. (Bob Ignizio)
Cleveland’s The Volta Sound deliver some great mellow
sixties style psyche on their latest release. Not sure who all did what on
here, but there are ten people listed as “The Players”. It sounds like they’re
all contributing, too, as Volta Sound adds flute, horns, harmonica, organ,
handclaps, and layered vocals to the standard guitar/bass/drums rock
foundation. Pretty much all the elements I look for in a good band of any genre
are here: good songs, solid musicianship, distinctive vocals, and professional
sounding production that is appropriate for the music. On songs like “There is
No Question” and “I Love You” the vibe is generally sunny and positive, grounded
by a sexy, slightly stoned groove. Kind of like if the Grateful Dead and The
Velvet Underground had a jam session together. And just when the cynic in me
was starting to say, “all right, enough of this happy hippie stuff”, the band
takes a darker turn on the ten minute acid rock jam “Faustrock”. Other standout
tracks include the simply arranged “Goldilocks” and the somber “Miss June ‘85”.
Visit
http://www.thevoltasound.com for more info. (Bob Ignizio)
Joe Luellen is a dance music machine. Coming out of the
motor city, Joe aka Sonic Disturbance, makes some pretty bumping electronic
music. He's quite talented at making beats and playing keys. At times, his stuff
can get a little too "ravey" for me, but overall it's pretty solid stuff. If you
liked Moby's earlier stuff, you will like Sonic Disturbance. Check out tracks
like "Flight School" and "Subnetmask" to get a good idea of what it's really
like. (Eddie Fleisher)
A “soundtrack” companion to the book of the same name,
‘Choosing Death’ takes on the near impossible task of distilling the history of
death metal into one 80 minute disc. It almost pulls it off, too. Just about
all the bands you’d expect to find on are here, starting with the title track
from Napalm Death’s debut ‘Scum’ and continuing on to more contemporary heroes
of heaviness like Nile and Arch Enemy. It’s hard to pick just one song to
represent bands with careers as lengthy and influential as Morbid Angel,
Cannibal Corpse, and Obituary. Nonetheless, you really can’t argue with the
choices (“Chapel of Ghouls”, Hammer Smashed Face”, and “Slowly We Rot”
respectively). And while Swedish death metal gods Entombed aren’t included,
that’s made up for by a track from Nihilist, the band Entombed evolved out of.
My only gripes: Carcass is represented only by “Heartwork”. It’s a great song,
to be sure, but something from their early grind days ought to have been on
here. Also, due to unfortunate legal issues nothing from the early Death albums
could be included. The band is still represented, but it’s the later period
track “Symbolic”. Otherwise, the only other band I really think should have
been on here that isn’t is Necrophagia. Until we get a 4 disc box set, however,
this should serve as a great introduction to anyone interested in the genre or
just make a nice mix disc for those already familiar with it. (Bob Ignizio)
Cleveland’s The Volta Sound deliver some great mellow
sixties style psyche on their latest release. Not sure who all did what on
here, but there are ten people listed as “The Players”. It sounds like they’re
all contributing, too, as Volta Sound adds flute, horns, harmonica, organ,
handclaps, and layered vocals to the standard guitar/bass/drums rock
foundation. Pretty much all the elements I look for in a good band of any genre
are here: good songs, solid musicianship, distinctive vocals, and professional
sounding production that is appropriate for the music. On songs like “There is
No Question” and “I Love You” the vibe is generally sunny and positive, grounded
by a sexy, slightly stoned groove. Kind of like if the Grateful Dead and The
Velvet Underground had a jam session together. And just when the cynic in me
was starting to say, “all right, enough of this happy hippie stuff”, the band
takes a darker turn on the ten minute acid rock jam “Faustrock”. Other standout
tracks include the simply arranged “Goldilocks” and the somber “Miss June ‘85”.
Visit
