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Often, you can sit & listen to music & just tune out. Acoustic guitar is not one of these mediums unless it's poorly done. So it is with this very interesting 6 track ep from Bob Burnett, who provides us with something pretty unique indeed.

Bob has gotten together a very competent bunch of musicians, his trusty acoustic guitar & a sampler & produced an innovative set of tunes that'll make you sit up & take notice, especially if you loved albums like Deep Forest's first effort or anything that's made good use of samples.

My pick tracks here were "Out West", which has a sound distincly similar to the moody trips of Portishead's best work & "Home James", which contains a sample of Band Of Gypsys, the track also featuring samples of John Coltrane & Charlie Parker. Perhaps this is a new direction in music. If so, it's an exciting & very different one.

For more information, write to burb@etrassociates.org

EYE - MANDATE

It's been quite a while since I've heard anything from these guys, all the way back to 1996 in fact. The band are a pretty cool hardcore techno outfit from Canberra who have a real political bent to their songs. This is an advanced CD-R disc which contains 4 tracks, one brand new, one from back in 1996 & 2 from last year.

Getting to the older tracks first, both "Blind Progress Through Blind Faith" & "The Party Politician Part 1" have a significant style similar to older Gary Numan music in the sounds, but the lyrical content is much more relevant to the Australian social & political scene.

Pick of the lot here though is the very cool title track, which splices together speeches from Australian Prime Minister John Howard into a very 'incriminating' set of lyrics, much more hardcore but similar to the recent tracks from Pauline Pantsdown. Look out for te new album which will be released soon. A very impressive bunch of tracks from one of the bleeding edge electronic bands in Australia.

For more information, write to PO Box 1327, Woden, 2606, Australia or eye@canberra.teknet.net.au

GLUEBELLIES - (3 TRACK SAMPLER)

Obvious comparisons with the sound of GusGus aside, this excellent 3 piece from Sweden certainly have their own sound. Having honed that sound since their formation in 1993, you'd have to expect that they'd have made some progress with their songwriting & you'd be spot on.

Apparently only a taste of what the band can put out, thios 3 track CD-R makes for very interesting & varied listening, with some great pop which has some inherent moodiness that a lot of bands don't seem able to muster when needed.

Opener "Who Are You" has a great vocal section out front, while middle track "Chemical Light" is a lighter overall mood, but it's the closer "End Up Nowhere" which took my ear the most. At around 5 minutes in length, it's quite long in pop terms & there some some fabulous moments here which use both electronic & real instruments to good effect. I'm very interested to see what a full album of material is like from this band.

For more information, write to Peter Briggs, Exrcisgatan 13, 211 49 Malmo, Sweden or kick.start@telia.com or arnolfini@ebox.tninet.se

GREG WILLIAMS - RELATIVITY

With a number of comparisons between Greg Williams & other artists including Tom Petty & Matthew Sweet seeming pretty valid, I'd have to add one more to the list, that being Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Greg's music having that fantastic lead guitar sound that characterises Shepherd's albums.

Also mentioned in the press release is a distinct feeling of 70s rhythm & blues, but I prefer to compare the blues aspect to that of Robert Cray, the songwriting here certainly having some emotional impact, but it's more out & out rock & roll here for the most part.

There are some really outstanding tracks here, including "Premonition", which is one of the more laid back songs, while others like "Mourn For The Train" & "Ariel" showcase William's ability to combine both rock & blues in the one song. Very impressive, especially for fans of people like the aforementioned Kenny Wayne Shepherd or to a lesser extent, Goerge Thorogood.

For more information, write to Street Legal Records, 22W Bryan St #158, Savannah, GA 31401, USA

MJB - C'MON SLACKER

A single person band, MJB is in the vein of great mix 'n match artists like Beck & has the essence of Pavement's unusually wired tunes, this CD containing no less than 16 tracks, some with vocals, but many excellent instrumentals packed in amongst them.

Opening up are a couple of brilliant examples of MJB's style, with "I Shot The Invisible Man" & the title track showing the vocal styles, but in my opinion, the instrumental songs are the key to this album.

One of the picks is "Smurf Nazi", which has a wodnerfully raw edged guitar out front, but the closing number "expert@amateur.com" is far & away my favourite here. If you like music that's got that 'home made' feel to it, but also has good production values, then look no further than this release.

For more information, write to Semper LoFi Recordings, 11 Orchard St, Cold Spring, NY 10516, USA or 76365.400@compuserve.com

ODYSSEUS DOG - DEMENTED RAVINGS OF A MIDDLE CLASS WHITE BOY

An Australian based project driven by Ian Robertson, who has been recording his own music since way back. A lot of the material here is older stuff, this album's worth released primarily so he can get this clear & work on releasing some later material.

With the album dedicated to the late, great Frank Zappa, it's little wonder that a lot of the songs here are definitely in the mould of Zappa's music. The opening 20 second number "Up The Duff", sporting all the hallmarks of Zappa's eccentricities in his music.

On the other hand, songs like "Never Met An Angel" & "Coffee Blues" sport a more commercial style, but there's still a lot of the essence of indie music at work here. Self admittedly, Ian says of his own work that performances could be better, but a lot of work has obviously gone into the making of this album that it's hard to criticise. It'll be interesting to see where he heads from here.

For more information, write to Agnes Records, PO Box 164, Cremorne Junction, NSW, 2090, Australia or agnesrecords@bigpond.com

SOUNDMASTER 40 - (SELF TITLED)

Fans of the sadly departed Dinosaur Jr need look no further than this fantastic 8 track album from Norwegian band Soundmaster 40, a name which apparently comes from a series of radios produced in the 70s. The sound comes from the 3 piece, which is primarily driven by the very competent & together bands guitar laden sound, vocalist Henry Bronken sounding spookily like J Masic of the aforementioned Dinosaur Jr, especially on "Let It Show", even the instrumental sections of the track sporting that influence.

Most of the songs here have quite a brisk pace to them, from the opener "She's Never Alone", seemingly a song about a failed relationship where the boyfriend can't seem to let go, right through to "My Evil Eye", which is the second last track.

The closing number "The Woods Of Yesterday" is something of a nice oddity here, reminding me essentially of the Beatles' song Norwegian Wood for sound just a little, while it pairs up very well with my favourite track, "The Obituary", another track as you'd expect from it's title to be a less aggressive sound. This is the band's 3rd demo & as the band themselves say in their bio, it can be but a matter of time before they get their big break.

For more information, write to O. Bronken, CM, Churchillaan 165, 3527 GX Utrecht, Netherlands or soundm40@hotmail.com or oivindbronk@hotmail.com

TANGLETOWN - (SELF TITLED)

A very interesting album of 14 excellent songs & a pretty well-stacked band including people who have performed with Prince, Edna Swap, New Radicals, Barry White & others. Primarily driven by frontman Micheal Sherwood, who is the vocalist & keyboardist, the songwriting is quite outstanding, reminding me at various times of the best Hall & Oates songs & even at times of Wang Chung.

Opening track is the title & it's a wonderful conglomeration of lighter blues & pop with a fascinating vocal style, running into the second track, which is similar in style to the opener. Other notable numbers are "Walking On Water", the slightly darker sounds of "Learning To Breathe", "The Censor" & closer "Where Has Everybody Gone", which is followed by what sounds like an early recording (childhood) of Micheal Sherwood's piano skills.

Another track which has some interesting lyrics is "http://www.miscom.com", a track that sounds like a web address, but is about the sheer volume of information available online today. Certainly a lot here of interest to fans of many genres.

For more information, write to Skywriter Records, 4718 Saint Clair Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91607 or julius@earthlink.net or sherwood@pacificnet.net