This is the companion piece to their just released "Will Save Us All" LP. 9 of the songs on that 13 song LP are on this CD. The sleeve of this 33 song CD has all the info printed on the inside of a glued single style sleeve, making it impossible to read unless you destroy the sleeve. Upon doing just that, I discovered that the scrawl inside presented only slightly more info than peeking in did. As a result, I've named the songs as best I could for our CDR burned copy. This disc is already impossible to find, and I won't give up my copy, as this is my favorite record right now. I really thank my friend Tina Glyptis for bringing this back for me from London on her recent trip there to see The Trembling Blue Stars. Among the 33 songs here, you'll find 8 pieces that are basically spoken or sound interludes, several songs with several mixes, and the 9 songs on the other LP. You'll also find 13 songs that are so fresh that they will divide the lines. Some will hate Chicks On Speed, as The Wire did in the review of "Will Save Us All" in the April issue, but many will find a coming together of peripherals that happily existed as separate things until forced together by these 3. Their treatment of modern music is like a particle accelerator that takes modern life and accelerates it through a large circumference ring before smashing it into its components, photographing the results of the collision as they react to a magnetic field, arcing off to their final rest. They cover B-52's ("Give Me Back My Man"), The Normal ("Warm Leatherette"), and Delta 5 ("Mind Your Own Business"). The originals are the best songs though. Check out what one girl from New York, one from Austalia, and one from Munich (where they all met and reside) can do.

Six originals and one Eno cover ("Here Come The Warm Jets") make up this instrumental offering by these avant garde improvisation masters, who played in town a year ago at a space on Kingston St. in the downtown/Chinatown area. Richard Pinhas is a member of Heldon, and was part of my history by producing (and playing synth on) one of my favorite punk records, "Le Hommes Morts Sont Dangereux" by the French band Metal Urbain. The guitarist of Metal Urbain helps out on this record. My favorite piece is acalled "K". It is more guitar based, less loop centered, and has just the right touch of dissonance mixed in with its toy pianos.

Elektro, Lounge, Mondo, Technopops, New-Wave and Bossa Nova , all are in the music here. Eureka! are Miyuki Kido (vocals) and Hideaki Wac (Instruments) from Tokyo, Japan. They have the honor of being the first release on the new offshoot of the German label Apricot Records. Shibuyahot Records is named after the Shibuya district of Tokyo, where the J-pop scene is the fastest in and out of anywhere on earth when it comes to trends and fashion. Eureka! do a challenging version of Cream "Sunshine Of Your Love" that turns the leaden stomper into a techno-bossa song. Eureka! pleasantly recall Saint Etienne at other points on the record, particularly the wonderful "Where Are You Going to?". There is no hint of the Japanese accent usually so prevalent on J-pop bands, though there is plenty of the technical savvy in the electonics and production.

Holly Golightly has played in the Boston area 3 times in the last year. With the recent break up of Thee Headcoats (their final LP just came out), and the not so recent breakup of Thee Headcoatees, Holly Golightly is poised to inherit the fans of the Billy Childish empire, as if she needed any reasons for us to love her! Her band now includes ex-Headcoats drummer Bruce Brand and one-time Childish collaborator Dan Melchior on guitar. This band is very blues oriented, and less punk oriented than the bands all these folks came from. All the songs are her originals, except an excellent Bill Withers cover ("Use Me"), the Melchior penned "Can't Stand To See Your Face", and a song credited to 'copyright control' called "Pretty Good Love".

1986 14 song compilation on Mike Always's El records, the label that made it hip to be square, and gave Madrid's Siesta Records the blueprint for the wonderful path they've successfully led us down. The disc starts off with Marsden Hill giving us a easypop breeze that would fit on the latest Siesta comp. The King Of Luxembourg (aka Simon Turner aka Simon Fisher Turner aka Loveletter) does a great Monk-like version of The Monkees "Valleri". Anthony Adverse (actually a female vocaled band) do a carnivale styled cover of The Monochrome Sets "The Ruling Class" that sonds like another El band, The Would Be Goods. The 60's Arthur Brown song "Fire" (Fire, I bring you to burn) is covered by The Underneath. "Fire" was on the 1968 LP The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. However, the cover is my least favorite song on the disc. Without going into every song, I can tell you that Momus does a great song ("Paper Wraps Rock") and Mayfair charm school do a cover of Scott Walker's "Montague Terrace (In Blue)". The song I really like that I know nothing about is Gol Gappas "Albert Parker".

Luke Slater's song sounds like Ladytron with a vocodered male voice, crossed with the Arling & Cameron song "Space 1999" from their 'Music For Imaginary Films' LP. Mina, the young Berlin band who put out the series of three 10"s on Bungalow records followed by a full length CD, deliver another strong bass, beat, and Rhodes driven coaster for cruising on the Autobahn or the curving roads of Maine. Without being pop, Mina's music is uplifting and energizing, never aimless.