Barcelona Robot Trouble Ep March By: Eric G.
I bet Matt Sharp of The Rentals is really pissed off at Barcelona for putting him to shame. Barcelona mixes an indie rock ethos with retro-synthesized computer rock and nerdy male/female vocal interplay, which is precisely what Matt Sharp has been desperately trying to emulate [...]

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Small Time Crooks Directed By Woody Allen Dreamworks By: Eric G.
Woody Allen comes full circle with a slapstick comedy about bungling, white trash criminals in his first picture for Dreamworks. Not since Take The Money And Run has Allen been so overtly about getting gut-busting laughs. He doesn’t go for the [...]

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Dianogah Battle Champions Southern By: Eric G.
I can’t just say ‘I don’t like it’ or ‘it’s boring’, so I’ll bore you with the details of why this is so boring. The musicianship is stellar, but so what? The guys that back up ‘NSYNC are probably really talented musicians, but that doesn’t [...]

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Sleater-Kinney All Hands On The Bad One Kill Rock Stars By: Eric G.
Corin Tucker's earthshaking wail is impossible to fake. She sounds so honest and sincere, especially when she's angry, and anger is the best emotion for her voice because it makes the hair on your back stand on end. In [...]

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The Cure Live @ Lakewood Amphitheater, Atlanta 05/18/00 By: Eric G.
If you’re not a fan, watching a Cure concert is the emotional equivalent of watching a fungus grow: the murky, effects-laden swell of guitars all blur together with Robert Smith’s antagonistic whimper, sounding like a slow wash of tuneless angst, but to the [...]

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Belle And Sebastian Legal Man EP Matador / Jeepster By: Eric G.
This three song EP is a quick teaser to get people excited about the band's forthcoming album, hilariously titled (in the grand tradition of Morrissey), Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like A Peasant. Though none of these songs is featured [...]

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Stereolab The First Of The Microbe Hunters Elektra By: Eric G.
Just a few months after releasing the long-awaited Cobra Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night, Stereolab churns out another EP, begging the question of whether this a response to the lukewarm reviews of Cobra Phases… or just another characteristic over-saturation of [...]

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New Wet Kojak Do Things Beggars Banquet By: Eric G.
Ignoring the smarmy joke factor inherent to this band, New Wet Kojak manages to overcome its self-imposed limitations with solid songwriting and dynamic playing. Scott McCloud and Johnny Temple from Girls Against Boys lead this quartet down the lounge path with hyper cool [...]

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Sick Bees My Pleasure Up By: Eric G.
Some bands have that unique ability to sound completely disturbed without really being showy about it. Sick Bees is one of those bands. On the surface the sound isn’t too unfamiliar: bipolar, discordant guitars, strained female vocals, and volatile dynamics, but at the core [...]

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John Dugan D!1 Her Magic Field By: Eric G.
John Dugan’s solo debut EP (after having left the Washington DC trio Chisel) is a weird amalgam of Britpop, post-punk, and ambient prog rock. Dugan assumes the role of multi-instrumentalist here, playing everything himself, despite being predominantly a drummer. The weakest aspect of [...]

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Sweep The Leg Johnny Sto Cazzo! Southern By: Eric G.
The cacophonous skronkfest known as Sweep The Leg Johnny is a beautiful brutality. This band adheres to very little in the way of traditional structure. It’s no free-form festival of noise- it definitely has structure, but the musical direction is often unpredictable. [...]

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Bangs Sweet Revenge Kill Rock Stars By: Eric G.
Sweet Revenge would be if this album took over commercial radio. Bangs churns out old school Ramones-style punk and inserts a fifties bad girl flare along with some of the catchiest hooks to come out of the Northwest in a decade. With Sarah [...]

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Maquiladora White Sands Lotushouse By: Eric G.
Maquiladora explores a lo-fi, ghost-town-saloon aesthetic not too unfamiliar but slightly askew with a whole host of vintage instruments and versatile voices, creating an album of remarkable craft and beauty. The band certainly takes cues from Neil Young, Tom Waits, Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen and probably even [...]

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Hefner Boxing Hefner Beggars Banquet / Too Pure By: Eric G.
Hefner is a pure pop outfit that plays the self-deprecating songs of Darren Hayman. Hayman’s voice is very English and very strained, but he delivers his heart-felt musings with a tone not too unlike Jonathan Richman’s exaggerated inflection. Hefner’s inherent cleverness [...]

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Seely Winter Birds Koch By: Eric G.
Seely sounds like Stereolab only on the most basic level; careful listening reveals that Seely inhabits its own unique and heavily stylized world. The bass tones and the propulsive rhythms are warm and fleeting while the guitars pluck out beautiful arpeggios that float above the fluttering [...]

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Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai Directed By Jim Jarmusch Artisan By: Eric G.
There is no way to tell from the previews how stylish this movie actually is. All you see is Forest Whitaker swinging a sword alone on a dank rooftop covered in pigeon shit. The promotional company obviously [...]

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