Finally released fromForce-Inc. is the promised second full-lengther from youngster TomasJirku. From the big fuck up on the front cover (the album is named"Requins" on the cover) I'm somewhat leery of this despite myappreciation for his first release, earlier this year on Alien8. On'Sequins,' Jirku walks a thin tightrope between blonky Euro laptopglitch dub and gay designer lounge beats. Although I would appreciatePole sounding as interesting as this, the sound treatment is relativelyflat, lacking a depth or soul I'm more fond of. The disc feels long andrather tiresome if it's providing foreground music, however it wouldfit quite well providing background to a social evening indoors. Therepetitiveness contained herein could very well cause hypnosis orinduce sleep while all alone. It's not advisable to listen to thiseither in the car or at work!

Coil may very well be oneof my favorite bands, but they do have a few problems with whatsomebody in the film industry would consider 'continuity.' Hence thelatest release. While this clearly is marked as Coil, 'ConstantShallowness' (along with 'Queens of the Circulating Library' and thelive CD that came along with 'Musick volume 2') it would probably bestbe noted as a release from Time Machines. The sound sources are kept toa bare minimum (making it minimal music?) while the structure mirrorsmovements of sound waves, other than form conceptual songs. 'ConstantShallowness' also falters in the continuity scheme of things by sharingthe same Eskaton catalogue number as 'Astral Disaster,' so am I beingpicky? Perhaps the music I'm most fond of I'll bitch about the most...The sounds here are much more varied than any previous release in thisvein, 6 songs (spanning 23 tracks) stretch the senses to wonderfulsonically high and low pitches, adding pulses and lyrics in spots.Noisy and abrasive in parts, this CD comes with the warning not tooperate heavy machinery while listening. Disregarding the warning, myfirst listen was inside the car. I'm still okay but people wanderingthe streets outside who could hear the stuff were perplexed. I hopethey're okay.

By comparing this to anyother Current 93 release would be pointless, the concept here is muchdifferent than nearly everything David Tibet has released so far in his20 year career. Count Eric Stenbock, a nineteenth-century suicidalmelancholy writer is honored here with a booklet featuring his prose,"Faust". Tibet spared us from his own vocalization of "Faust" howeverand provided us, the consumers with the choice to read it ourselves,silent or out loud, creating our own album. The accompaniment takes theform of one instrumental 36-minute track, and while it's not dull ordrab, it rarely changes. Almost entirely electronic, sparse and eerie,it is clear to me this is background ambience and should not be takenout of context. Out of context, many fans will be in for adisappointment. Over the last two years, Tibet's output has stayedintentionally consistent with each release ('Soft Black Stars,' 'I Havea Special Plan for This World,' and 'Sleep Has His House'). While everyrelease has impressed me to some extent, hopes of a Current 93 album tocompile all these concepts with new material in a variety of sorts willtruly be one of his finer and most regarded works to date.

I've reached the decision that Broadcast shine much brighter on their single and EP releases than their full-length albums. This year's The Sound Made By People has been overshadowed by the group's release of the four extended-play singles that have surrounded the release.

Possibly the mostoverlooked of the brainwashed artists, Ruby Falls have released theirsecond full-length CD. Collected from studio recordings which arenearly two years old now, this 12-song disc features the NYC-based rockquartet exploring more directions in songwriting, time signature andkey changes. I'm partial to "The Brave Ones" as it was given to memonths ago for release on the compilation set to appear in THE WIREmagazine. I hope that it represents the band well, as many people don'tseem to listen to much good rock music any more these days. Ruby Falls'melodies are charming and their lyrics are strong and poetic, the bandis tight and the playing is wonderful. Fans of Ida, Retsin and TaraJane O'Neil who don't have anything by Ruby Falls should damned well beashamed of themselves.

Once upon a dark Germanapocalyptic drum-and-bass era, there was an outfit known as Disorder,which featured Panacea along with Problem Child. Years later, asomewhat full-length CD and 2x12" set has been released by PositionChrome as the second generation of Disorder. Problem (who has droppedthe Child from his name) is only featured on 2 of 8 tracks containedherein in this release which explores a more simpler, retrospectivestyle of accessible drum-and-bass. One reliable trademark of Panacea'smusic are the intros: on this release they're still here but muchshorter and not nearly as developed. Panacea fans might find this CDsomewhat clean and thin compared to his former work, while DJs mightfind this much more accessible for the dance floor.

Suffice it to say that Saint Etienne have never been bashful about their status as one of the original prime purveyors of retro bliss pop.

What's most impressive about this band is their presentation.

Holger Czukay is a founding member of the legendary 'krautrock' band Can.

Well, add this to the list of things I just happened to miss at Sonar and get really pissed off about after.