This column reviews albums & singles released worldwide (i.e. not in a particular country). If your company wants an album reviewed on these pages, then you should read this. If you are in an unsigned band & you'd like your demo tape or CD reviewed, you should go here instead.

An interesting selection of what I'd term a cross between traditional celtic & folk sounds by Burn Witch Burn, which features a former member of the Dead Milkmen band fame. Fans of that band will certainly be very interested to see where the journey of this album takes them.

Set across a backdrop of medieval styles, the album certainly takes a different track to the rock or electronic outings being released by the majority of bands these days & the songs here manage to summon a feeling of old & new styles, with highlights being the brilliant "Treetop Of Flotilla", "Citadel" & "New Tsar & Catapult / Drowsy Maggie". There's most certainly a fresh feeling to this whole album, so find something very different to listen to here.

For more information, write to Hoopla PR, 8455 Beverly Blvd., Suite 402, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA or info@hooplapr.com

JEFF DERNLAN - LOST IN THE FRAY

It's been a long time since I've heard an album that grabbed me like John Cougar Mellencamp's Scarecrow. The general feel of Jeff's album is a cross somewhere between Scarecrow & the most recent material from Jon Bon Jovi, sometimes moving towards country, other times more towards a more traditional rock & roll sound.

Although the title track here is a very impressive number, the opener "Skinny Legs", with it's great funky guitar licks & Jeff's very competent vocal style really stands out across the album. Late in the album, on both "Trigger" & "Delivered", there's a much more traditional country rock feel. With a bit of promotion in the right places & some decent airplay, Jeff will certainly make a deserved impact.

For more information, write to Full Nelson Records, 4908 Georgia Ave, Nashville, TN 37209, USA or christy@jeffdernlan.com

KYLE BRUCKMANN - ENTYMOLOGY (SOLO IMPROVISATIONS)

Like John Lennon & Yoko Ono's various improvised recordings such as Two Virgins, a lot of people won't comprehend what musician Kyle Bruckmann is doing on this album, but the sounds he's assembled, made with instruments that would normally be used to make classical or jazz music.

Taking the less traveled road, Kyle manages to extract some truly remarkable sounds from his instruments, from the almost alarming opening moments of the album & moving into the quite fascinating soundtrack until the end. I won't profess to understand what's happening here, but it's a remarkable collection of sounds.

For more information, write to Barely Auditable Records, 2649, W Walton, 3, Chicago, IL 60622, USA or mail@barelyauditable.com

LONE WOLF JAMES - PREY

A very interesting album this, from a US based artist going under the name of Lone Wolf James. Like Ben Harper & a select few others, this album manages to make the acoustic guitar into a somewhat more powerful instrument, with some great moments across the length of the songlisting.

With a slightly quieter opening than some of the others, the first track in, "Badd Blood" is very impressive, after a short while, the percussion kicks in & really rounds out the song. Another great highlight is the great vocal performance behind "Not Gonna Fall" & also "Alive", which is my pick here. If you want to hear music with a somewhat different approach to the use of acoustic guitar, then this will be of great interest.

For more information, write to Bad Moon Productions via lonewolfjames@yahoo.com

PENNY SAFARI - THE SAFARI INN

A wonderful Australian band, Penny Safari's sound is at the very least as good as anything the major labels are releasing, most likely recorded on a fraction of the budget & interestingly enough, sounding equally as good, most likely because of that. The music here sounds fresh & spontaneous & will please fans of great rock no end.

Starting out as they intend to continue on the opening track "My Crime", the band's music hit's it's stride immediately, bringing guitar to the fore & showcasing frontman Jamie Durrant's exceptional vocal abilities, which are great.

A very hard album from which to pick a single, but a real contender here would have to be the brilliantly infectious single "We Love You", though my personal favourite here is the more relaxed "I Saw The World". I also loved the slight irreverence of "Punk Rock Idol" & the more traditional rock feeling of "Two Hands To The Sun". Definitely one of the great Australian bands - no question.

For more information, write to psafari@netc.net.au

SCOTT ROSENBERG - IE

The improvisation scene has shown no signs of diminishing & here, Scot Rosenberg, from the San Francisco are in the US, provides us with an album that seems based on a sort of mutated classical music composition, spread across the length of this CD.

While it's not really my taste, there's quite a market for this sort of thing & IE stamps Scott's mark on the arrangements, the closing track providing an interesting piece, punctuated throughout by short periods of silence, which really make you take notice. For classical music listeners or those who like a good deal of experimentation, this might be of real interest.

For more information, write to Barely Auditable Records, 2649, W Walton, 3, Chicago, IL 60622, USA or mail@barelyauditable.com

SEA OF GREEN - NORTHERN LIGHTS

Close your eyes & imagine you're at a gig where Fu Manchu, The Melvins & Monster Magnet are all playing on stage together & you'll be somewhere towards understanding where this very cool Canadian band are at. Australian fans could possibly also add Tumbleweed into that mix.

The opener "Move The Mountains" is certainly one of the highlights here, with it's slow grind, though the somewhat more upvibe "Look To The Sky" & the insistent basslines of "Change With Me" & "In The Sun" are certainly well up there. If you're into good vocals, good guitars & just a great sound in general, then Sea Of Green will definitely be of interest to you.

For more information, write to 12th Planet Music, 221 Balliol St, Suite #1411, Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1C8, Canada or twelfthplanetmusic@yahoo.com

TELTO - BUGGED

Originating in 1995 as a duo & subsequently moving into a 3 piece outfit later, US based Telto have a great style that takes many forms across this album. The band play semi-punk feel songs that remind me a little of a slightly less aggressive Hole, while comfortably adding some haunting slower tracks throughout & also managing to have that 'epic' feel about a couple of the tracks here.

One of the catchiest aggressive numbers here is the unusual "8 Ball In Your Fruit Bowl", while the following couple of tracks, "Over The Sink" & the beautiful "Buttonhole", which are both of the slower variety of songs, where vocalist Leslie Dean's voice is at it's most impressive.

In similar fashion, there are some other superb moments, like "Anesthesia" & "Blue", which is my favourite alongside closing number "Touch", a real epic number at nearly 8 minutes or so, which manages to combine the best moments of the slower tracks, with the guitar oriented feel of the more aggressive numbers. Definitely worth a good hard listen.

For more information, write to D2 Records, PO Box 225313, San Francisco, CA 94122-5313, USA or telto@telto.org

TOMAS MICHAUD - PASSION DANCE

For those who love instrumental acoustic-based guitar albums, then Passion Dance, from Tomas Michaud, will be of great interest to you. Utilising his interesting playing style, which I'd term 'soft flamenco' at times, Tomas' music has a great feel & equally impressive production.

The opening songs are certainly impressive, but it's only once we get past the first few tracks & into "Tiger & The Butterfly" & beyond, that you can really begin to settle in, though repeated listening gives you a better perception of the sounds here. The pick of the lot here for me were 2 songs paired towards the end of the album, the wonderfully soft edges surrounding "When Your Eyes Meet Mine" & "Alma (Soul)". While targeting a totally different market than Joe Satriani, given time, Tomas could certainly have the same impact.

For more information, write to Starland Music, 1631 Park Street, Alameda, CA 94501, USA or Tomas@Starland-Music.com

VERNON NEILLY - KALEIDOSCOPE

With a career in the music industry spanning 30 years, Vernon Reilly's music is understandably polished & the majority of the songs here fall into the R & B category with little wonder, some fairly good production techniques really enhancing some of the music here, which for radio play would really suit daytime commercial FM airplay.

There are some instrumentals here that were pretty good, but the absolute pick here for me is the interesting "Midnight Passion", which is oh so smooth & funky. Also of great interest was "Nassau Party", which is again a very smooth piece. There's quite an array of different songs here & one of the most notable moments on that front are the interesting effects of "Galactica". Well worth looking at.

For more information, write to Tag It, PO Box 451594, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA or stratagem@taggin.com