REVIEWS AND PRIMECUTS

I can't really place the time. Not a place either, but a feeling. Like wasn't this on pop radio, the old AM of latteryear, the internet radio of yesterhour. I know it well, the feeling of the guilding, the place. Solitude. Contact: Safe House, POB214,Poultney, VT, 057640214

"We've Reached The Ocean" is celestial floyd-trippus, floating through the sparseness of "Fall Song" into the psychedelic funk-a-feel "We Need To Talk", a vibe shifting shanghai on the cortex. I hear Trower behind "First Rain", my how those 73's and 75's reverberate through my interior. The roasting of the "Noodle" compels me to patch in my old Minimax, my conscious is immersed in retrospect. I feel whole, floating, composing, roasting, the Noodle is supreme. There is "Thin Air" more hallucinations, jazz phrases, sunsets and nebulas of sound, forms of texture....paroxysm by guitar......damn it is beautiful!

The Burnt Noodle Speaks! "DON'T LOOK DOWN"...I feel the waves of the rush...I am only a "Noodle In A Nutshell"....I am spent....Contact: POB 1601, Forestville, CA (only the west coast trips like this!)....(707) 824-9786 email: Lamb@pon.net

Whoa! Damn this is some of the darkest, heaviest hell-raising shit I have been victim of in the sonic assault blasting forth from Michigan's Medea label. The Lords Of Algol are a group of demons who scream, blasphemy, destroy and obliterate your very soul as your senses are tortured with visions of demonology, death, conquest and conquer. Better conjurors of the angels there have not been. I let a teenager buy a copy from the store and hs mother says he is still in the hospital and she wants some of the shit I gave him.

Af first blast, "Toadchrist" comes off as an average black metal rant, but the sheer intensity of the blackness begins to envelope you as the Master surmises in "Disciple of the Mysteries". It is with the force of a gothic death angel that "Pitiful Lord Deceiver" takes you, the ending conjuration "This Is My Blood, Drink Of Me" casts the spell secure and you're spun into a world of madness spiraling down into the pits of an enveloping hell. By the time, a few cuts later, of "Sol Invictus" you have no choice, a slave to the grind you have become.

High priests Mythras and Amun are the orators of this desent. Either by invocation or just plain force of vocal, throughout the anthems of "Magnum Opus" and "Son Of The Widow" the listener is not given rest, the barrage of spine shaking volume from Xisuthros and Hod lend character to the pit. It is not without a great deal of blood that you will escape the "Dissension of Worm". Face it, the Lords of Algol rule you pitiful people, praise them or face them, either way it'll be gruesome. $11.00 CD from Underground Records, 6422 Hwy 140 NW, Adairsville, GA 30103. Free US shipping. http://ustore.webjump.com

If you're like me, and have lost your ass many times over to the Pawnshop, you get a bit of attention just in the mention of that famous US institution, where you get about a 5th for your stuff as to what it's worth. Yet you do it again, you give, they take...kinda like the boys in the band, they'll give it to the gal, but in the end, she takes. Three Brass Balls that they are "Wild Rose" with its east coast pop feel sets the stage for most of Sean and his crew's offering. Brooklyn crew that they come by naturally, they like romantic ideas, like being lost in the "Jet Stream" or trying to decide "Who's To Blame"...strumming and be-boppin' the whole time. I thought it was Radiohead for a second, but I remember Pawnshop is on Home Office Records (the big HO), so in "Reality" it was a "Trip", with what I mistook for a cali vibe, but it was only the gutters of NYC shimmering with acoustic fortitude. I also got the island cruise on "Don't Dig", but then I remembered, radio is paid for, and my patience was ended. The psychedleic movements of "Temptation" had me thinking of an old HO I once knew, but alas, I am but a "Stumblin Fool" after the last few rounds....wait, I think the album is over......bartender! Contact: Home Office Records, 173 Clinton Street (home of the "sweet tasting" cigar), Brooklyn, NY 11201. Email boss@web-ho.com

Slug 'ol grindcore punk. Spite are like that first shot of whiskey after a few days of wide eye...relaxing to the point you wanna kill somebody. The Opulence! label out of the Wilmington NC area constantly put out killer stuff. Spite fit in and lash out, definitely music to accompany the Cobain suicide. Refreshing, hardcore, and slamming. "Industry" tell it like it is, you get used, used up, then totally fucked. Whatta business!

From the passionate "Fuck You"'s of "You and I" to the blatant hardcore of "At Least" Spite like to tell you like it is...mainly with alot of G*DD@m$ cussing, insults and heavy volume. The ironic spin of "Weapons" cannot be dismissed...and "YOU SON OF A BITCH" which introduces "Witness" is vintage Sabbath, but without Ozzy harping about love....no, Spite are harping about FUCKING YOU UP! Contact: Opulence! POB 2071, Wilmington NC 28402-2071 Email: kenyata@juno.com

If you like bluesy riffs, strong leads & vocals, and the almost forgotten art of harmony, Diggin' Taters is (literally) a primecut select. I like the rug-box effect on the fuzz guitar on "Your Shoes", it's like they put the mike in the cabinet with the amp. As an opening song 'Your Shoes" displays the trademarks of the band; precise riffs, tight bottom, outstanding vocals, melody and coolness. Diggin' Taters can boogie on the backbeat with the best of 'em, then server up some grungy funk over a running wall of bass guitar. Greg Stantz is the in between for Benjy Johnson and Clay Howard's six string sting team, which in turn is laid straight by the volcanic vocals of Howard. You will be hard pressed to find a better drummer than Rodney Young, he is as steady as lead and just as heavy. This is a great band.

About half of the songs on this album are singles material. From the hard blues feel of the opening cut, to the harmonious vocal spatter cut with power-chord guitars of "Song In Gee". "Guess Which One" has the good edge, something to think about and something we all do, guess ourselves. It's be my choice for introducing Diggin' Taters to the world, it's simple, it kicks ass. The funk rears it's twisted way on "Simple Song", and some neighbors of mine - Mother's Finest - immediately comes to mind. It is the power of "Halfor Whole" with it's swelling verse and change of gears that makes the band competitive with any of the "power-rock" crap the major industry is selling you. Spend your money a little wiser and buy some Taters.

My favorite is "Secret Life", it's a bit rawer with an overbearing attitude. I especially like the wah lead with it's snakey feel. It is the classic arrangement of "Find In Me" which follows that cements the saying: The Boys may be Diggin' Taters, but they're plowin' gold (yuk yuk)...A&R people pay attention - Recommended - Contact: 3255-B Cypress Park Rd., Greensboro NC 27407.

Like "zilla after the last nuclear strike....Fluidrive wake up at the beginning with some heavy, rip-roaring fire of their own. This is a band that makes Limp Trisket look like lassie vs. dobermann on blast, and Fluidrive is the dobermann bitch, full of juice, ready to cook..... Fluidrive is immediately, on "Khe Sanh", already pumped to kill..this band gives you grindcore, makes you want to buy some more. Underground has the best shit, Fluidrive are so damn potent, your ass burns for hours. Eat some more...GET TOUGH!!

You hear the cries of the tar-man on "Come Clean"...and a loose vibe heavy on the grind around "Reflexive" showcasing a tight band's bottom (Guthrie/drums & Breault/bass). Remember, the Underground is a world apart from what you probably hear in the monopoly dominated "free world"...so there is some character here, like domination......."Fat Man" is home dog, like if you've never seen the local "ho" kickin' on some fat dope doin'-dealin bastard, you might think, what the fuck..but if you know the ho, you know she's on the line, and ready to stick your ass, anytime, to pay for her life of sleazy crime .......Yes, this actually has language the radio would tolerate, but labels are already wide-open, another hole to plug may be too n$$$$.... So, as Fluidrive says in "Winter Of Discontent".....LIKE THIS....ball-bustin' whatever the season....

Contact: _recommended_ Groovin' In Guadalupe POB 23822 Tempe, AZ 85285 Email:
info@fluidrive.com

First couple of tunes...nada....like some stoned out Beatles britney-feeling smalt....Third tune, "One Trip Away" rocks a little better. I could actually listen to this album in regular rotation after a couple of weeks of it being there anyway. "A Quiet Dedication" goes back to that Beatles thing, and I get really mellow with "Music For The End"....a definitive title if there is one. Phaser plays relaxing stuff and manages to pull off a couple of decent rockers; "Waiting" is there. It's got a strong pulse and nice harmonies, and a good rave up chorus. Cool lyrics too.....The Skalsky brothers and crew are pretty cool. Contact: 202-332-3442 Email: phaser555@aol.com

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