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CARELESS CARLISS & THE CANTELOPE GIRLS - THE BALLAD OF DR FELL

This is a pretty interesting bunch of songs, coming from a band whose style is as diverse as their lineup. Across the album, there's a stack of songs that take the run from old style blues influences, through to a soft metal sort of sound, all the way on to a raw barroom rock track.

One of the most fascinating tracks here is the well-titled "Some Must Whistle", a track which is a definite highlight, while the gothic overtones of "Death" plays out a moodiness through the middle of the album. Pick of the lot for me is the marvellous rough edged closing number "The Gutter" rings of sounds like old tracks from The Stooges.

Another eclectic sort of sound is the rather unusual "My Dog Doug", which is a very amusing aside from some of the other tracks. There's a lot here to like & I think the band's live performances would be pretty cool judging by the sound.

For further information, write Eleda Cantelope, 183 Cleveland Court, Brick, NJ 08724, USA or carelesscarliss@home.com

CAUGHT IN THE ACT 2000 - VARIOUS

A great title for this album (for those not in the know, ACT in Australia stands for the state of Australian Capital Territory) & anyone interested in great music would be well advised to seek out these bands at their earliest opportunity, with some real highlights all the way through this, the only problem being that these bands are unbelievably not signed to a label as yet.

Take openers The Martins for example, with their beautiful pop piece "Sleeper" a great opening for any album. Likewise, a band I have already come across before is The rUg, their inclusion "Faith" another perfect example of the excellent standard of the songwriting here.

Other great highlights include the massive grunt of Impala, who could easily be Australia's answer to the Korn phenomenon, no doubt already attracting a lot of gig goers, as would the softer strains of Exhibit A & a couple of my favourites here, Simone & The Soothsayers & Fetching Annie, who have apparently only just begun their musical career. I'd strongly urge you to get in touch with the great bands found on this album - if you're from a label reading this, there's gold in them thar hills as the saying goes & it's already been dug out to produce these bands, go get 'em.

For more information, write to Caught In The ACT 2000, PO Box 388, Mawson, ACT 2607, Australia or morgan@spirit.com.au

DINAH MOE HUM - (SELF TITLED)

This is a pretty cool selection of tunes from a band who have their cover versions pretty much down pat. They have a fairly huge selection of very diverse tunes, ranging from the rather unusual 3am, which I think was originally performed by KLF, all the way to pub rock legends Hunters & Collectors' Do You See What I See?.

Across this CD are 6 tracks, running from an old track called "No Secrets", which comes out of The Angels' back catalogue, which is very well performed, as well as "Hard To Handle", a song I think originally was from The Black Crowes. This is a great band who have their stagecraft down to a fine art, though I'd like to hear some original material & see them strut their stuff with that.

For more information, write to Millenium Business Management, c/o Roslyn Tawk at mbmanagement@ozemail.com.au

FAITH DRIVING - TOUCHING THROUGH GLASS

Sporting some superb cover art & some even more outstanding music, Faith Driving have released an ep which breaks some ground in the acoustic guitar backed vocal delivery of this fascinating duo based out of Canberra, performing since 1995 & achieving some success for themselves along the way.

While all of the tracks truly shine in quality, a couple are quite stunning in their delivery, particularly the beautiful "Today" & "Watch Over Me", which while both quite simple in their construction, are very complex in the melodic content here. The vocals are also excellent, rounding out an already accomplished package that only really has further success marked upon it. Check this band out, you will not be disappointed.

For more information, write to GPO Box 1089, Canberra, ACT, Australia or faithdriving@hotmail.com

GEOF JOHNSON - ANIMAL SONGS

A superb collection of kids songs, aimed at learning toddlers & I expect Geof to make an impact in this most difficult of markets in the near future. What Geof has assembled is a collection of songs about all sorts of animals, arranging the lyrics around great music that appeals to younger kids & makes them want to sing along.

Geof covers more conventional animals like dogs, birds, cows & ducks, as well as providing an interesting & educational way for kids to learn about more exotic animals like camels, rattlesnakes & elephants, with great musical arrangements with styles like the more traditional sounds similar to Old MacDonald & even a great latin feel on one track. Seriously, take a listen to this if you have kids & want to keep them absorbed for some hours.

For more information, write to PO Box 71231, Marietta, Georgia, 30007, USA or midisong@mindspring.com

JILL ADAMS - FALLING OVER

Defining the music of Jill Adams is certainly not a task to take lightly, neither is the listening & it's certainly far from a painful exercise to listen to the beautifully moments recorded here, fronted for the most part by Jill's amazing vocal style & her great acoustic guitar playing.

Formerly of Exploding Daisies fame, Jill is certainly no stranger to quality music & it's quite a twist to the style here with a much more stripped back feel to the presentation. Outstanding tracks for me are the haunting opener "Falling", as well as my favourite, the closing number "Corn Boy", which turns itself inside out with a great melody which pervades the whole song, plus another great highlight "Close To Me". I'd wholeheartedly recommend making the effort to check Jill's music out - a wonderful experience.

For more information, write to jillwow@telstra.easymail.com.au

MIND'S EYE - PULSE

A pretty cool 3 track single which will impress anyone who's into your mid range rock, from California based 3 piece Mind's Eye, who I know little about, other than their performance on this CD is pretty good indeed, sounding a little like some of the better rock tracks from bands like The Screaming Jets.

While "Save Me" is probably the one that will grab most people with it's melodic guitar driven rock, it's the slightly bassier "Now" that impressed me the most, while "Made For Me" is also a great track in it's own right. Mind's Eye are a dead cert for the rock set & if you love great rock with a slightly hard edge & a lot of melody, then this'll be for you.

For more information, write to Protege Entertainment, 4230 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 USA

MOONBABIES - JUNE & NOVAS

A band & debut album that demonstrates all that's wrong with the music industry - they're still unsigned, despite this album being freely available for all to hear & their talent is immense, even in this, their debut full length album.

Anyone hearing this album should be immediately hooked & there's a lot to explore style-wise here, with some floaty electronic things & some more down to earth pop rock happening, fronted by one of the Swedish based duo's vocals, Carina & Ola.

There are a couple of the most stunning tracks aurally, "Piano Hammers" is a dreamy feel with a great melody running through it, as is "Kissing Underwater", which is just as the title would indicate, the title track of the album as simply constructed with more traditional instruments & vocals, while the pure joy of the distorted vocals & guitars on "My Buddy Buddy" will have many a Nirvana, Jesus & Mary Chain or Pixies' fan's heart racing in anticipation.

All of this is set off by the fabulous opener "I'm Insane But So Are You" & closed out by the more introspective "Winter Broken Time". I guess it's only a matter of time before the band gain a recording contract, but in the meantime, get yourself some real enjoyment & grab the album by contacting the artists themselves.

For more information, write to Moonbabies, Kamrergatan 7a, 211 56 Malmo, Sweden or moonbabies@spray.se or Duckweed Records, 2442 NW Market St Box 354, Seattle, WA 98107, USA or duckweedseattle@yahoo.com

ORION 321 - BOTTOM OF THE SKY

Quite a while back, I reviewed this Canadian 5 piece's debut 3 track ep & it's with great anticipation & checked out this preview release of their debut album & I have to say that things have improved beyond what I'd thought possible, especially as that original ep was so cool by itself.

The band have expanded on their rock theme, grabbing a handful of electronic effects & running the melodies out very strongly, bringing in their great brand of fuzz-rock in parts & also having the ability to move out into more pop oriented musings.

The opener is a fast paced slice of very cool pop that will most certainly have an effect on any listener & is excellent fodder for a commercially oriented radio rock format, while "Give Me Love" & "Lucy Met The Rocketman" are both in the lighter edged pop rock that the band have also taken a shine to, all excellent single material.

The pick for me though is the wonderful deep ended bass offering "Almost Anything", which apart from that superb bottom end, grabs a fistful of fuzzy guitar & an excellent vocal performance as well & this track would really suit the 'alternative' format as a single, depending on which style the band were aiming at. This is a very well rounded album that fans would do well to check out.`

For further information, write to Kevin Lucas, 209 Front St, Stratford, ON N5A 4H8, Canada or bebop@sentex.net

PEGGY GREEN - SONGS OF NAKA PEIDA

A fascinating album of acoustic guitar instrumental, which reminds me of so many artists, but yet is so unlike any of them as to be from a different world altogether. The style is well & truly restrained, but so free flowing at the same time, creating a wonderful atmosphere of calm when you listen to it.

It's an album that needs to be listened to from start to finish in order to get the whole ambience, with the opener "Fair Affliction" a great example of what's in store, moving from the bluesy strains of "Wrong Stop Blue", to a more Eastern sort of flavour on "Koroen". Closing out is a 'medley' of sorts in 3 parts called "Improvisations In The Moonlight Dawn". While there are comparisons to be made here, I think it best that the music stands & impresses on it's own merits.

For more information, write to 169 Hollyoak Rd, Briancliff Manor, NY 10510, USA or pedalist@nakapeida.com

R.B.T. - (SELF TITLED)

This is an interesting band, actually called Road Best Taken, coming out of the Newcastle area of NSW in Australia, with an entire album of original material, at times really hitting the mark, while at others just slipping their standards a little, mostly I suspect due to the fact that they're trying a little too hard to gain that live sound on record.

Styles here run wild, but the band excel with the slightly distorted guitar fuzz, while the melodicism of opener "Solace" is a great intro to the band. The pair of highlights for my liking include "Scratch" & "Wide Awake", which is my favourite of all & an excellent closing moment for the album. While there's still a bit of polishing needed to the recording technique used on this album, it's definitely a sound you should look into.

For more information, write to Millenium Business Management, c/o Roslyn Tawk at mbmanagement@ozemail.com.au

SHUSH - (SELF TITLED)

A band coming out of Manchester in the UK, Shush have a great rock sound that's a softer blues edged feel for the most part, Shush have have a pretty cool sound which will make you pay some attention to the instrumentation, while the vocals over the top of it all are also well worth your attention.

In a sort of modern day thing, the band are not officially releasing any of their music, preferring instead to make it available via their website for free, so if you want to check it out, there's your cue. Across the 5 tracks, there's a mostly rock based feeling, the most upvibe being "Tell Me", while the closing track "Do Make Me Feel" in contrast to the others here, being an electronic effects driven number. Take a listen to some interesting variations on more traditional rock, Shush are well there.

For more information, write to i.drumm@salford.ac.uk

VALHALLA - (SELF TITLED)

It's hardly surprising that anyone who's heard this band's music is enthusiastic about them & it's a wonder to me that they've not yet had more exposure on radio, but it is early days as yet. The band had the good fortune of having Screaming Jets' member Grant Walmsley do production alongside Mark Tinson, so the sound is excellent & judging by a live review I've checked out, it won't be long before the band get some more adoring fans.

The band manage to grab your attention with a heady blend of pop infused pub rock, performed with a hard driving lead guitar & a very competent backing band & excellent vocalist as well. Opening up is a track simply called "Untitled", which is a major highlight, as is the more 'ballad-like' "Glad You Are Gone" & "Don't Ask Me".

Getting somewhat more adventurous, the band close out with the only cover version here, performing a classic track with great skill, Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World". Most definitely a band who will go on to bigger things, but they certainly don't need much in the way of improvement.

For more information, write to valhallarox@hotmail.com or Millenium Business Management, c/o Roslyn Tawk at mbmanagement@ozemail.com.au