Blow Up Hollywood - Fake

Ed: The haunted soundtrack for the film that never was continues. Incredibly deep and interesting music.

Edd: Is Mark Eitzel in this? Why do they allow himk to keep making disappointing music.

Eddy: These guys should sing more. Vocals enhance their already excellent music.

Plank: nice flow, varied intensity, emotional story.

Chris Berardo & The Desberardos - Pure Faith

Ed: I bet this guy is awesome live. Like Refreshments if their buddy hadn't killed hisself.

Edd: Decent amateur americana rock, between Marc Cohn and Great White. Lacks energy.

Eddy: Add more guitars and more drums, it would be Soul Asylum. Wish it were bigger.

Plank: "and me and my old friends... hoping it would never end... never say goodbye..."

Midnight Movies - Midnight Movies

Ed: Weird indie-pop with sensuos vocalist, fuzzy guitars, excellent drumming, and clever arrangements. Pure Indie Magic.

Edd: Nico sounds pretty good for having smashed her melon on that bike ride.

Eddy: Real pretty stuff like Portishead, exponentially edgy. Like a French movie run amok.

Plank: The only thing missing is the Andy Warhol cover art.

Zelienople - Sleeper Coach

Ed: Ambient rock superheroes. Filled with great sounds and moods. Not a happy day record..

Edd: Has a dark, narrative quality. Would nicely accompany some video or motion graphics.

Eddy: Crime And The City Solution on opium. Needs a kick in the ass and a girlfriend.

Plank: Slow builds to slow music. Drones. Spacemen 3 without rock. Great incidental music, tense.

Grimble Grumble - Leaves Leader

Ed: Shimmering dream rock. Downbeat and laid back and beautiful and pure. Great like older Spiritualized..

Edd: All the good of shoegaze/ spacepop with none of the filler. Floyd and Slowdive

Eddy: Like Lush mixed with Durutti Column only much more better. Curiously strong.

Plank: zzzzzz... some nice sleepy music.

Amelia - After All

Ed: Alt-Jazz? Beautiful downbeat Basia for the next millenium. Perfectly imperfect. Not jazzy enough to hate.

Edd: The band from Iponema comes walking. Depressed and sexy lounge for French hookers.

Eddy: I really want to love it, but I'm not completely sold on the vocals.

Plank: High marks for musicianship and style. Sleepy and captivating all at once.

Newstart - Remember December

Ed: Ambitious acoustic songs, brilliant lyrics, full of honest sentiments. I love everything about this record..

Edd: Good emotional honest folk, like that dude from Mineral when he was sixteen.

Eddy: Great voice, some nice riffs, it's pretty good overall, but the song structures are lacking.

Plank: The reason I do this gig. Music that makes you smile, cry, feel.

Ride The Blinds - Ride The Blinds

Ed: Nothing but pure rock music. This is hands-down the best rock record of the year..

Edd: I hated this BTO-Free shit as a kid, but these guys make it sound hot.

Eddy: Move over, garage! Rock has a new savior. This record covers more ground than Greyhound.

Plank: MC5 to Stones to Zeppelin to ZZ Top. Solid, crunchy rock goodness.

Slang - Blue

Ed: Ultra-smooth contemporary Euro-pop. Rich production, great songs, excellent guitarwork, soulful vocals.

Edd: Something about this... the ballads are sentimental. The rest is crap. Like Chris DeBurgh.

Eddy: I cannot hate this. I challenge you to hate this...

Plank: Easygoing, nice, light, has a bit of a jazz thing going on. Very Adult Contemporary.

Helen Slater - One Of These Days

Ed: An older, wiser, sweeter Alanis Morissette. So, so hot.

Edd: Her voice is really quite good, but as thin as she is. Folky, showtunet, poetic.

Eddy: Poetic and insightful lyrics set to near jazz Disney songs. She is, however, muy caliente.

Plank: I liked her in Ode To billy Joe. Better than Christian's "Ode To Jack Nicholson".

Ill Ease - The Exorcist

Ed: Former New Radiant Storm King drummer releases solo record rich with character and sonic goodness.

Edd: Kim Gordon should be so rad with the laid-back singing and whatnot.

Eddy: She played all the instruments? Kim Deal wishes she could rock like this.

Plank: This chick sounds like Cream. Sweetass bass, cool acoutrements, ultra cool vocals.

Summer At Shatter Creek - Sink Or Swim

Ed: Lushly atmospheric downbeat songs with oddly disonant vocals carried on near-solo piano. Intriguing.

Edd: Craig Gurwich does everything on this. He needs to get out and meet some people.

Eddy: *shrug* I'd rather hear the full, non-stripped down version before deciding if it rocks.

Plank: Pretty good piano player who sings like that damned Stuart kid from Mad TV.

Lonesome Brothers - Fences

Ed: Pleasant semi-drunk semi-country music. Like some good ol' boys doin' what they like best.

Edd: Mild, pleasant country folk. Light-hearted like Colorblind James meets Barenaked Ladies.

Eddy: If I didn't know any better, I'd swear these dudes were from Canada, eh.

Plank: Do "There's a hole in my shoe and the mud's seepin' through". That'n makes me cry.

Warbaby - Dogmatic

Ed: Remember the last good Ministry record? This tries to pick up where Al left off.

Edd: Monotone vocals, grooveless dance industrial beats. Too fast to be interesting.

Eddy: Tin can industrial. Sort of...

Plank: Lite industrial drum and bass. Gutless Prodigy rip-offs with thin guitars and thinner production.

Endicott - The Words In Ink Don't Lie

Ed: I've just been informed this is called scream-o. So far, I'm not impressed..

Edd: Screamo. Not punk, metal, or emo. Pissing off a new generation of people who like music.

Eddy: Adequate punk rock, edging towards hardcore. Well produced. Nothing overpowers.

Plank: You have to take the antibiotics all week, or that strep will never go away.

Adam Panic - We All Do

Ed: Nice rock music... like Cracker, but not as absurd. Great lyrics and rhythms.

Edd: Sappy, jangly, organy music, not as threatening as Rembrants, Smithereens. The Turtle kicked their ass.

Eddy: This should have been the theme to Joey.

Plank: Damn, does everyone have to try to sound like Chris Martin?

Lorna - This Time, Each Year

Ed: The poor man's Stereolab. Dream-pop that is actually dreamy. Amazing varied instrumentation, great production.

Edd: Music from/inspired by Georgie Girl. Best French Horn since Little House On The Prairie.

Eddy: Oddly captivating. Male vocals stellar, female vocals - duct tape her mouth.

Plank: mmmm... I love them Lorna Doone cookies.

Sons Of Armageddon - The Softest Touch

Ed: Trancey trip-hop filled with cool beats, loungy horns, exceptional samples, and great grooves.

Edd: Impressive acid jazz with real instruments and weird synth blips. Hip, yet listenable.

Eddy: What Miles would sound like if he'd lived long enough to come to his senses.

Charlotte Martin - On Your Shore

Ed: We have a new Tori Amos! Great vocalist, interesting vocal rhythms. Pop genius, she's cute.

Edd: I like it, but why do all female vocalists sound like they're 12 years old?

Eddy:Beautiful voice, nice modern folky Jewel that really does nothing and goes nowhere.

Plank: She ain't no Mindy Smith.... Vanessa Carlton... Tori... Natalie... Sarah...

Strata - *Strata

Ed: More of that semi-metal all the kids go crazy for. Great guitar, no more screaming.

Edd: Nu-metal with style and dynamics. Not bad... nothing to distinguish them either.

Eddy: For a name like Strata, the music doesn't seem very multi-layered creatively.

Go Betty Go - Worst Enemy

Ed: Great girl punk. Doesn't make me want to fight. The Spanish songs rock... hard!.

Edd: X-ray Specs wearing Converse. CBGB's punk. Simple and tasty..

Eddy: I'm all for chick rock, but ladies find your own sound, don't imitate No Doubt.

Plank: All girl latina punk band... I sooooo like them better than The Nerd Vomits.

Corey Landis - Feast Of Scraps

Ed: Darkly moody songs in a drunken manner. Excellent lyrics, interesting musicality, depth and soul.

Edd: Rollicking DIY blues folk. Gritty and real. Great lyrics. I will buy him a drink.

Eddy: The words are prolific... the singing makes me want to run screaming from the room.

Plank: It's like Bono singing Tom Waits, or is it tom waits singing Bono?... with a swagger.

The Great Depression - Unconscious Pilot

Ed: The ultimate Scarborough Fair shoegazing rock band. Brilliant Ride-like walls of guitar and vocals..

Edd: Dreamy, drony tones like the Church without choruses. Too mellow to kill yourself over.

Eddy: What an inocuous wash of sound.

Micah Dov - Glide

Ed: Nice downbeat acoustic G. Love, but more hippy oriented. Nice vocals, great guitar work.

Edd: Stevie Wonder + Everlast x acoustic jazz guitar = Spin Doctors.

Eddy: Looking to get laid, eh? Jack Johnson city, man...

Plank: Way to go G.Love, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz... but not nearly as good. Nice, but lacks soul.

DW Holiday - Technical Difficulties, Under The Influence...

Ed: Ambient Space-rock with understated beats and great atmospheric sounds. Music to take drugs to.

Edd: Reminds me of the six months I spent listening to The Final Cut when I was 16.

Eddy: I feel totally wrist-slitty. If that's what they were going for, good job..

Plank: When they finally pulled his body from the wreckage, Stairway To Heaven was still playing.

Call Me Lightning - The Trouble We're In

Ed: Wacky off-center punk rock, probably urged to vent by their therapists. Yeah, I wanna fight.

Edd: The Jello Biafra Experience. Sly And The Firehouse Stone. Yo La Santana. Bootsauce Collins.

Eddy: Even the quirky cover art can't redeem this album.

Plank: I think these boys have some undealt-with issues.

Day At The Fair - The Prelude

Ed: Power pop punk goodness, only with great thinking man's lyrics. A little emo leftover.

Edd: Use more than three notes, you whiny pukes. What's another word for hideous?

Eddy: I like this. Blink 182-ish. Is he cute?

Plank: Best album art of the year.

The Dreadful Yawns - Early

Ed: Great indie-alt-indie-country stuff. Nice mellow music, off-key vocal, awesome guitar work.

Edd: It's not that they're off-key, It's the tension as they try to land a note.

Eddy: Yawn? Couldn't even hope to. Find the pitch, dude... NOW! <hands over ears>

Plank: do do do do feelin' groovy... but he definately ain't no Paul Simon.

Mark Mallman - Mr. Serious

Ed:Insane piano-pop, inklings of Elton John and Paul McCartney. Great songs from a madman.

Edd: Owes a bit to Queen and Joe Jackson. Heisted "Rocking In The Free World" in it's entirety.

Eddy: Amazing depth of lyric. Very well arranged and produced pop songs.

Plank: Welcome to mallman in the morning. Happy mallman to you....

Callaghan - Almost Over

Ed: Really amazing debut e.p. from London's poppiest rock band. Coldplay-ish, but a bit more brash.

Edd: Another Dave Matthews, mixed with Brit-pop sapfest. Boohoo, look at my shaggy football hair.

Eddy: Great beat and tunes. Damn, they're trying too hard to sound like Colplay..

Plank: Ouch, not terrible, only cause it sounds like anything... I'm a little desensitized to it.

Adam Mugavero - Breathe

Ed: Quirky NYC songwriter, fascinating lyrics and laid back arrangements. Acoustic guitars and strings are nice.

Edd: Quivering vulnerable waif-folk and curious busker music. Very diggable, yet pretentious.

Eddy: Interesting background, but the vocals make me very frustrated... Finish a phrase!

BJ O'Malley - Good Girls Get The Blues

Ed: This album is filled with great country blues guitar, good songs, bad singing.

Edd: Romping stomping delta blues and country... Too bad she can't sing.

Eddy: The vocals don't do much for me, but the slide guitar is sweet.

Plank: What's BJ stand for?... because this sucks.

Vero - How Does It Feel?

Ed: So, Creed has hit the UK now... adequate semi-metal, but better somehow.

Edd: Stone Temple Of The Dog In Garden Chains. Nu metal withy three note vocalist.

Eddy: Great guitar tones. Great riffs. I also liked Soundgarden and Big Wreck.

Fell Boyz - Concretedogbicycle

Ed: Jazz combo mostly, but occasionally not. Competent jazz... excellent production... I don't hate it.

Edd: Decent street jazz, better than fusion, but should have Van Morrison or Aaron Neville singing.

Eddy: Where are the 40 year olds asking to buy me a drink?

Plank: Great samba, awesome drumbeat, but lacks oomph... and pa-pa.

Highroad No. 28 - Dynamic Introspection

Ed: Two Aussies making bedroom metal, slow rapping, trying real hard. Adequate musicianship - lacks energy.

Edd: Sludgy metal without any screaming. I like the lazy vocals..

Eddy: Blind head nodding - but not a clue as to what it's about. Choose a different note.

Plank: Don't play too loud. Me mom's sleeping downstairs, mate.

Mind In A Box - Lost Alone

Ed: I've got new favorite club music! Finest use of vocoder EVER! Nephilim on keyboards..

Edd: Industrial cabaret. Initially not annoying. Gentle beats and cool alien Sex Fiend vocals. Spooky Kraftwerk.

Eddy: I'm alone in a dark room, lights lflashing... makes me want to dance - big time!

Plank: Creepy feeling techno, awesome beats and synth lines. Very Sci-Fi.