17 tracks, all exclusive and unreleased. All the songs were written using the idea of 'Supermarkets' as their theme. The LP version has 2 different tracks. Track listing CD: 01. skanfrom - electronique supermarket. 02. solvent - frozen food. 03. frederik schikowski - station breslauer strasse. 04. opiate - last dr. pepper in the fridge. 05. the remote viewer - vg on hd. 06. lexaunculpt - plus and minus miss c-bug. 07. to rococo rot + d - robfrog. 08. phonem - blue skies over leuna (wish i was somewhere else). 09. dynamo - 18°. 10. isan - ghost voices. 11. geiom - understanding openers. 12. pole - sachte. 13. goodiepal - mutate. 14. arovane diskomarkt 2000. 15. styrofoam - cashier escape song. 16. roger van lunteren, n-2097. 17. skanfrom - electronique supermarket. a capella version. Skanfrom sound like Soft Cell. Their song (#1 on the disc) is my fave of the disc. It and Arovane's track (another of my faves on the disc) are the only 2 pieces that have vocals. Most of the tracks are instrumental electronica.
Faves:1,2,7,12,13,14

The sleeve of this disc would lead you believe is is a French international electronica compilation with an electro leaning. This due to the minimal graphics of the sleeve (very techno looking) and the sticker saying "compilation electro 14 titres". The bands range from France (Sonorama, Chico Ben, Melmac, Milano), Italy (Yuppie Flu), Norway (Remington Super 60, Micromars), Sweden (Club 8 remixed by Sweet Trip) UK (Cinema), USA (Figurine, Orange cake mix, the Sensualists), and Lali Puna (from Allemagne *I don't know what that translates to from French). They styles range from Rock friendly electronic pop to NCP bedroom electronica instrumentals. For 'rock' I'd choose Remington Super 60, Micromars(sadly their tracks are also on each of their latest full lengths), or Club 8. For 'NCP' I'd choose the 12 minute Chico Ben song or Yuppie Flu. Each have a sharp sound and stand out from the stylish but somewhat mellow pack they are grouped with.
Faves: 2,4,5,6

My fave of this weeks Newbury Comics adds. I like listening to this record all the way through. This disc is a compilation of the first three Lemon Jelly 10"s. I've had the second of those for some time, but have neven even seen the others in any stores. The two guys who make up Lemon Jelly (Fred Deaklin and Nick Franlen) are Graphic Designers by profession, Lemon Jelly by the love of the sounds. Dotmusic informs "Fred is the brain behind Old Street's Wheel Of Destiny nights where the wheel is spun every 30 minutes in order to dictate the style of music that will play until the next spin. He's also the DJ and obsessive vinyl collector. Nick has provided keyboards and drum programming for everyone from the Spice Girls and All Saints through to Primal Scream's recent 'Xtrmntr' and Pulp's eagerly awaited new album". People have tagged Lemon Jelly and Bent as bringing renewed interest to "nu-lounge" sound. Originally each of the three 10"s initally were released with ultra-posh sleeves that I've only heard spoke of, never seen. Almost immediately each were reissued in bland looking stickered sleeves.
Faves: 3,5,6

A compilation from Cherry Orchard's record label in France. Like Bambini's 'Mystery Date Game' and 'Voyage Romanesque' and Invicta Hi-Fi's 'Special Skool' comps this record attempts to create the cool atmosphere that Siesta and El Records have done on their international pop compilations, with just a dash of the electronic pop that J-pop specializes in so well. Every band wrote a song about Paris just for this compilation. For me the 2 standout tracks are the Baxendale cut "The New Parisienne Pop And Soul" and The Cherry Orchard's "We Could Fall In Love". These 2 tracks are classics of each of the bands that are exclusive to this disc. Baxendale remain one of my very fave bands of 2000. Le Hammond Inferno sound very J-pop on the instrumental "Stylostumpt". The track sounds very familiar though I can't place from where. It is very energetic and catchy. Merrick's (from Munich) do a pretty good song "Fur Paris gilt das Nicht" that is nice even though it's not one of my faves. It almost sounds like a mellower Francoise Cactus (of Stereo Total) singing. She even says "Crazy Horse" (the title of a Stereo Total song from 'Juke-Box Alarm') in the lyric of the track.
Faves: 1,3,4,7

From Zurich Switzerland. Beat Soler is the person who calls himself Seelenluft. His record is on the German label that Sofa Surfers and the Austrian Mum (as opposed to the Icelandic band of the same name) are on. This disc is my second favorite of this weeks Newbury Comics adds. He also has a great website which has quicktime full length videos of 8 of the 13 songs on the disc. The tweaked "Ghostmoving" and easy "The Blue Tiger Family" might be my faves on the disc. "The Blue Tiger Family" is mostly instrumental downbeat with 50's easy listening samples a la Tipsy. From his website you would believe that the whole disc is very lounge. That is not true at all. "Ghostmoving" is more like Schneider tm than Arling and Cameron.
Faves: 3,4,5,9,11

Ordinary Psycho originally came to my attention through a Rough Trade update which compared them to The Divine Comedy. I bought the record based on that reference and found something entirely different when I slipped it into my CD player. I thought The Doors was a closer reference. I have been corresponding with vocalist David Gulvin since he spotted my Ordinary Psycho review in an old gullbuy. He has been great to WZBC sending us his stuff. The New Gothic LP (I figure the title is a homage to the font and the bookwriting style) takes 6 songs from the debut record (including their glorious version of Ultravox's "Hiroshima Mon Amour"), a song from the picture disc 7", and 2 new songs. The new songs are "Jacques de Molay" and "Worshipping the sun". Here's what Metal Hammer (who included them on a free CD that comes with the January 2001 issue) have to say about them: "Who says old goths never die? Ordinary Psycho are here to prove that the bat obsessed purple nasty drinkers of old have passed firmly into the realms of history. Standing in their place is a modern equivalent steeped in gloom and mystery but with far less pretentions. Ordinary Psycho are The Mission minus the twatiness."
Faves: 2,5,9

Yukari Fresh has put out 3 very fine records on Escalator Records. The first time I heard her was on a split 7" with Stereo Total that Bungalow put out. The song on it ("Yukarin Disco") has become her most well known song. This EP even has a version of it which includes samples from Arling & Cameron's "We Love Dancing". The layout of this EP is strange. Basically there are 4 songs, though they are layed out between connected tracks. In other words, to play the second track you play song numbers 2, 3, 4, & 5. To play the third track you play #'s 6,7, & 8. The fourth is #'s 9, 10, & 11. The only song that stands alone is #1. If you want to play this on the air you have to turn off the autocue control on the CD player. If you're listening to it at home it's not a problem - just sit back and let it flow in it's glorious and unusual manner. Is it worth the hassle for WZBC DJ's? Yes - especially since this is the first disc we have from her. It seems like it was to have come out just before her second record, though the catalog number of the EP places it much more recently (her 2nd record is escd008, her 3rd escd010, this EP esc015).

Tim "Love" Lee was a member of Kimberly Rew's post-Soft Boys band Kathrina and the Waves ("Walkin’ on Sunshine") as Alex Cooper, playing drums . He left them and eventually became a trip-hop producer influenced by the smarmier side of Italian soft-porn soundtracks and the singles-bar scene. Tim "Love" Lee formed his own Peace Feast and Tummy Touch labels in 1996 to release tracks by Groove Armada, Waxploitation and his own name. "Peace Feast" is named after a poster of the 1960’s. Peace Feast was the name of a music Festival like Woodstock. "Tummy Touch" is the name of a poem by Vaughn Bodé. He is a famous comic artist, his comic "Cheech Wizard" is very popular and he also wrote a poem called "Tummy Touch". A great interview from a German electronic music mag called OUK is a good read, should you be curious about Tim. Fave: B-side

The first new Mina stuff since the three 10"s which led to the Bungalow CD. The a side “tba" will be on their forthcoming album, released on bungalow records in february. "A to b", the flipside track will remain exclusive. The cover layout goes along with that from their first ep ever, which was released on lok in 1997. From the very first note of "tba" you can recognize Mina by the Organ tone. They are a young Berlin band that have a somewhat unique sound. The organ reminds me of the Birmingham UK band L'Augmentation. L'Augmentation also put out a great 7" as The Bee Men. "A to b" is a bit more electronic and has a strong bass part that reminds me that Bass is also the signature sound of Mina. A nice 12" which shows that you can move on successfully past the dreaded 'post-rock' sewer of 1999. I'll be curious to hear what Tortoise do on their upcoming full length. Fave: B-side

Two discs with 14 tracks on each which present an overwhelming listen due to the similiarity of their style and the incestuous nature of the tracks chosen. The first disc is bands or people doing original songs, the second disc is remixes of songs by one of the other artists. Arovane are the only ones who get to put a second original song on disc 2. Four of the songs on the second disc are remixes of songs from disc 1. Despite the Smiths related title of this comp there is little that would remind us of the Mozz. All the tracks would fit squarely into the 'electronica' tag. My faves are E*vax, Phonem, Arovane, Lali Puna, B. Fleischmann from disc one and Tied & Tickled Trio remixing Kandis, Kandis remixing Tied & Tickled Trio, Flowchart remixing Lali Puna, and Schneider tm remixing Micha Acher on disc 2.
Faves- (disc 1): 7,8,9,12, & 14 (disc2): 3,4,8, & 11

Nicoletta Gerlach is a West German female DJ recording for the excellent Japanese J-Pop label Escalator Records. Her record is mush more lush and smooth than many of the other hyper sounds of Escalator artists. In fact Nicoletta many times sounds like a cross between Donna Regina and Club 8 (try "Friendly" & "Nothing I Want You To Do"). I like those two songs a lot. Then there's my fave on the disc "Take-Away-Girlfriend" which is really strong bright electronic pop like the best of Escalator's J-pop discs - Totally great. Most of the songs have Nicoletta singing, thought there are a few instrumentals that I like, such as "Organetta 1" and "Daisy". The king of the (not quite) instrumentals on this disc (for me) is "Bossa Without Words". It is sublime, and has lots of backing vocals to give it the mood. Sometimes Nicoletta sounds like the (excellent) Laila Amezian on Siesta Records. If you've never heard Laila Amezian's 'Initial' record you would do well to investigate it. Nicoletta plays acoustic guitar, drum and key, live and programmed. "Friendly" was also the A-side of a 7" on Escalator Records.
Faves: 1, 4, 9, 10, & 13

Shizuo (pronounced "shit-soo-oh") is David Hammer. He has been linked to the Club Suicide, Zen Faschisten, & DJ Scud. He went from being Atari Teenage Riot's sound engineer to a DHR recording artist to recording on his own label. This is his first release on that label. All 4 songs have much more color than DHR stuff usually does, with the exception of Lolita Storm, who I still love. "More Morphine" was written with DJ Scud (Londoner who runs Ambush Records and in collaborotation with NYC's I-Sound, Full Watts). It is filled with vocals and is like a male Lolita Storm. "Nuerology" is like DMZ, The Twinkeyz, or Lou Reed filtered through The Cramps and then some. "16 Licks" goes extreme at the end of each bar. It starts with the guitar lick from "Keep Me Hanging On". It goes on to sample vocals from Crass and David Bowie. "Dealing Drugs" has spoken samples that provide the feel for the song. It is sparse in spots and has the noise wash in others. It ends with a looped vocal that has to be manually lifted from the turntable (locked groove). This single is actually pretty good if you like life hard.