Orbiter Mini LP Loveless By: Eric G. Orbiter is a Seattle-based duo dabbling in a trip-hop/electronic pop fusion that wouldn’t be out of place on your local adult contemporary radio station. I probably don’t need to tell you that that is not a compliment. There’s nothing edgy or risky about this 7-song EP. The bio […]

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Q And Not U No Kill No Beep Beep Dischord By: Eric G. Other than the infrequent Fugazi album, Dischord releases have not really been cause for celebration in recent years. Q And Not U categorically ends the bad streak, however. This is the best non-Fugazi Dischord release since Hoover's The Lurid Traversal Of Route […]

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Chuck Directed By Miguel Arteta Artisan By: Eric G. Buck is hapless. At twenty-seven he still lives with his mother who's been sick for years. She sits in a lazyboy and hacks up her guts while watching daytime talk shows. Buck's room is frozen in time- like that of a child who died at a […]

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French Kicks Young Lawyer Startime By: Eric G. This transplanted New York City quartet has its feet planted in diverging musical styles that culminate in a relatively catchy mix of grating punk, trashy glam rock, and British invasion harmonies. Admittedly, the French Kicks are not very original on the surface. How many glam rock rehashes […]

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Salvo Beta Abrasive Stuttering Some Odd Pilot By: Eric G. Salvo Beta enters the instrumental electronic scene on the offensive. His beats are aggressively overdriven and his melodies are sinister. Clearly taking cues from fellow deconstructionists like Mouse On Mars, Salvo Beta's noisy audio show is a pummeling and spastic display of rhythm and texture. […]

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Reproductions- Songs Of The Human League Various Artists March By: Eric G. Unsurprisingly, 80's junkie, multi-instrumentalist, and Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt ran with the idea of a Human League tribute, appearing no less than three times under his various guises. You know tributes have gotten out of hand when bands whose contribution to the […]

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Mark Robinson Tiger Banana Teenbeat By: Eric G. Mark Robinson finally emerges from the shadow of various bands and pseudonyms with his first proper solo album. It's another batch of eccentric pop tunes played with surgical precision and recorded with sterile clarity. Robinson performs most of Tiger Banana on his guitar alone. Occasionally, electronic beats […]

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