One of my main criticisms of Merzbow is the lack of quality control. Everything he records seems to be released whether it’s good or bad. The idea of good noise, however, is oxymoronic, but in comparing this release to some of his better works and other more fruitful collaborations, it nearly ends up as a complete dud. Akita’s contribution is nothing but “Merzbow by Numbers” and only some deft work by Tamarin makes this record anything more than bargain bin fodder.

Edward Ka-Spel's appearance on the upbeat and bubbling "Globally Yours" is the cream of the crop as far as this record is concerned. I avoided listening to this record for longest time after reading the puerile lyrics for "Monoball," but after giving it a chance it's now obvious that this release needs memorable tunes more than anything else.

The lost and forgotten member of Company Flow is back with a gritty andsearing if slightly uneven clarion call-out. Long playing the Flav toEl-P's Chuck D, Bigg Jus hit an early peak as one-third of industrylegends Co-Flow. But unlike El-P, Jus has yet to make a solo effortworthy of holding a candle to Funcrusher Plus.

The third single off Thrills,Allien’s most recent full length is actually one of my least favoritetracks from a record that has taken some time to get used to.  After Berlinette,the artist’s blissful attempt at incorporating glitch and pop elements into herunique blend of sleek post-electro and handmade futurist techno, Thrills seemed a rather straightforwardattempt at bringing her art back to the dancefloor: it's certainly addictive butfor many a sideways step. 

Landing's latest full length album is more of a single symphony than fiveseparate tracks; Brocade is not a song-based album but one longcontinuous work. The music unwinds at a leisurely pace and is bestappreciated all in one sitting.

Prefuse 73 follows up his last, guest-filled full length with thisstripped-back instrumental "mini album" dedicated to the rigors oftraveling to promote and perform his music. This is cut up hip hop forthe short attention span set, and should satisfy the folks who criedfoul when he littered his last hip hop record with (gasp) rapping!

Neil Campbell’s sixth volume of his solo efforts away from Vibracathedral Orchestra’s more democratic accommodating approach is an outstanding collection of different musical pieces. Volume 6 is probably the best yet, running the musical gamut between experimental, melody, drone and fun. The only way I can think to recommend this series anymore would be for me to go around selling it door to door.

Very little on this eleven track remix project moves me to endorse it. The prospect of Gruntsplatter and Troum remixing Aidan Baker's varied catalogue is exciting, but many of these revisions add up to little more than frivolous games played with choice sampling material.

With the recent explosion of interest in the noise scene, a number ofartists, some worthy and some not, have gotten a taste of (relative)success that in years past would have been unheard of. ChristopherForgues, the man behind Kites, utilizes a phalanx of pedals, circuitbreakers, microphones, and amps to achieve his unusual and bracing takeon music. Live, he screams, hisses, and flails into his mics and amps,achieving an unworldly scream of sound that it truly impressive for aone man band.

The first release in this series began with a live performance and is now a mutant of short interference bursts and quiet signal burps. All of the sounds on this third volume use the second volume as source material. This method of "recycling" noise has compressed Wiese's maniacal signature and made him both more listenable and frustrating.

Onhis latest solo album (the first since the disbanding of Guided ByVoices), Pollard slides through varying styles and approaches, craftinga diverse and captivating release in the process.

This, the first of three limited edition Death Row Radio 7" singles coming in 2006, contains the gentlest ‘fuck you’ to creationists I’ve ever heard. If the child behind the voice of the A side can understand and explain the origins of the universe, then maybe there still is hope for the knuckle-dragging right wingers of the world.

Tara Burke's music is a shining example of what is horribly wrong with all this New Weird America crap. For all of its cerebral machinations there is little emotional impact, almost nothing human capable of taking me from the mundane to the apparently odd world of psychedelic composition. Some of the music may sound nice and full, but I just don't connect with it.

Almost in reaction to Modeselektor’s recent foray into poprealms with Hello Mom!, Bpitchinaugurates a new series of DJ mix CDs with a disc from the prolific Kiki, aFinnish producer with several singles and a full length on the label and many,many compilation appearances elsewhere.

Modeselektor's debut full-length release focuses their technicaldexterities on a brilliantly diverse collection of robotic pop andround, hazydub currents, full of guest vocalists, humorous suggestion, and energythatfeels entirely organic despite the continually wow-ing productionplays. 

Mike Cooper is a difficult artist to situate, straddling as he doesseveral radically different musical spheres.  There is thesinger-songwriter of the 1960s, working in a traditional folk-bluesvein alongside legends like Son House, Bukka White and John LeeHooker.  There is the free-improvising maverick of the 70s,producing genre-defying free-folk-jazz with improv luminaries such asKeith Rowe, David Toop and Max Eastley.  Then there is the mostrecent phase of Cooper's career, producing idiosyncratic modern exoticacombining his passions for Hawaiian lap-steel guitar with fieldrecordings, dusty record loops and forays into drone and noise.

Hard techno purists have come to rely on the handful of twelve-inchesfrom the Collabs series, brainchild of Joachem Papp (a.k.a. Speedy J)in partnership with select formidable co-conspirators. Here, one suchparticipant, globetrotting DJ/producer Chris Liebing, adds hisdancefloor know-how to the mix, yielding powerful results.

This five-song EP is just what the title says: free music. The entire album can be downloaded from the 50FootWave Web site,along with artwork, and the band is encouraging downloaders to sharethe love through online file sharing, burning CDs for friends, oranything other means they can think of. And music this good should beshared.

Once again a small collection of Four Tet music is packaged with a comprehensive all-inclusive DVD of Four Tet videos and once again the results are thorough enough to please everybody.

TheDanbury, CT-based Equation Records is home to Troum's latest release: afantastic picture 12" disc LP with four new Troum mini-masterpieces,limited to 500 copies and hand numbered with as much loving care asTroum put into their music.