Chocolat is a big pop star in Japan. I've read a translated article about her in Beikoku Ongaku (the great quarterly Japanese fanzine that comes with a full length compilation CD each issue) where she said she idolized Carole King (it never ceases to amaze me what icons foreigners pick out of the vast US tapestry of pop history), and I can see that in her full voiced vocals as compared to the breathy whispers of some of her Japanese contemporaries, or the childlike vocals of others. She has a handful of different sounds in the songs on this CD, ranging from contemplative new age pop to celebratory anthems. I think you'll enjoy listening to this disc, a record we'll never see in our record stores as it is from Japan and tailored for the Japanese market, not ours. Thanks to NYC's Other Music for bringing J-Pop to our reach, allowing us to hear such bands as Chocolat, Hi-Posi, Yukari Fresh, Cubismo Graphico, Montparnasse, etc., etc., etc.

The full length by a band which has entirely hooked me since adding their 'Uranium Girl' CDEP 3 weeks ago. This record and the (much more big budget) Ooberman full length have been spinning quite frequently in my house. There are 2 CD-ROM videos on this disc as well, just as the 'Uranium Girl' EP had 2. One of those 2, 'Christina Terrace', is just THE BEST. Many of these 11 songs first appeared on earlier singles, but 5 are previously unreleased or other versions. Edwyn Collins (Orange Juice) plays guitar on one song, and produced two. Modesty Blaise are a really great band for you to discover if The Monkees blended with early Beatles sounds good.

8 song EP that has (maybe) my favorite Spring songs on it. Spring are a female vocaled continental rock band from Paris. A few other Spring CD's and 7"s have been added to WZBC's playlist, most recently the 'Something Beginning' 7" on December 14th and 'The Last Goodbye' CD on October 26th

Magnetophone means "tape recorder" in French (and Polish as well). Magnetophone are Matt and John from West Midlands in the UK. "You Should Write Music" is an instrumental with an echoey bass, Vini Rielly-ish guitar, and no drums; kind of reminiscent of Wisdom Of Harry's 'Almond Orange' single. "Monitor Rocket Science" sounds like an instrumental version of Suicide's 'Rocket USA' slowed down, with a synth wash over it to chill it out, but an incessant machine like rhythm buried deep, running faster than the music it's submerged in. We also have a 12" from them which came out on Static Caravan which was added in the October 12th 1999 gullbuy

Pretty great single by the Brooklyn NY guy Christian 'Xian' Hawkins, who made a name for himself by teaming up with Simeon last year for live shows and recordings as Silver Apples. This review copied from The Skinny says it well, except he doesn't compare the B-side to isan, which I hear strongly in the song. "I don't care what your particular bend on music is--these are the type of tracks anyone would love to emerge with after an extended rainy day hibernation in the studio. Sybarite, who had two stellar songs on Emanate's first release (the Emanated compilation), is Xian Hawkins, multi-instrumentalist who performed with Silver Apples during their reunion. "meusic" makes you feel warm all over--the perfect reminder that guitars absolutely belong with programmed beats and synths. Sharing as much with rock as downtempo electronics, it's a pop song of the most emotionally mature kind. "invisble magnetic missive" is less catchy, but has the same lo-fi organic quality as the flip. Two more superb offerings from this label--grab them while you can...this white 7 inch is limited to 490 copies". ~d. keast, The Skinny. These two tracks can easily meet with the best pieces of Kreidler, To Rococco Rot or any indie rocker from the UK

Katerine's third proper full length, following up 'L'Education Anglaise' and 'Mes Mauvaaises Frequentations', as well as his many side projects and collaborations, such as Notre Dame ansd Les Soeurs Winchester. He is the new 'Serge Gainsbourg' of Paris, even immortalized on The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group's 'Sniff' CD in the Stephanie Ruiz song "Katerine", where she talks about how how she's "in love with the voice of someone she's never seen", and how she "won't fall in love until she meets Katerine". Hopefully her tongue is in cheek, as she's married to Jim Ruiz; but you can barely help but feeling the same way as you hear his smooth voice on that song. On this CDR we have almost all of the 2 CD's in his newest set, all pretty amazing: Amazing when you consider how unavailable such good music is, and how easily available thousands of crap CD's in it's place are.

3 song 10" on this Munich trio's own label. The first song is a well produced seven and a half minute disco song in the special style that makes Chicks On Speed so perfect. Listening to it you can hear the connection between them and DMX Krew. Tracie of Chicks On Speed sings on a song ('Good Time Girl') on the new DMX Krew record We Are DMX, and sang on an older DMX Krew single 'You Can't Hide Your Love'. Like that band, the sound on 'Glamour Girl' is Elecktro with a steady beat and catchy flourishes. Flip over the 10" though, and you have a (literally) other side to Chicks On Speed. "Special Intro" is a two minute electronic invocation of their name to the rhythm of Queen's 'We Will Rock You'. The killer is "Turn Of The Century", which blends a sound as radical as Cobra Killer or Lolita Storm into the patchwork of sound they draw from. Chicks On Speed are my pick to conquer the underground in 2000, and this 10" is only one of the many releases they've had that are impossibly hard to find.