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THE BACKSTABBERS To Eleven (Dead Beat Records) $7

BAD GIRLS Unauthorized Recordings (Public Eyesore) CDR $9 Public Eyesore catalog: "Unauthorized Recordings is the collected recordings from a series of improvisational sessions between Mike Khoury (Entropy Stereo. violin), Ben Bracken(Flashpapr. guitar, organ), and Michigan experimenter Wade Kergan. A widely varying series of unsettling recordings from eerie electronic pieces to crunchy minimalism to dizzying start/stop interplays approaching free jazz."

BIG WHISKEY The Bloated Museum of Treachery (Warm Freedom of Tongue) $8 Seven pieces of outside-rock in just over an hour. Don Rettman (guitars/electronics/stuff) and Dave Bryson (drums/percussion) make a big ol' sound that grooves noisily for awhile, and then surges in search of another groove for awhile, and lets the guitar feedback for a 'nother little while, and then does something else. Hypnotic and noisy. I dig that most of it has all this distorted guitar and shit on top of drumming that's in-the-pocket like a Krautrocker lost in a 'shroom-trance. And when the drummer doesfly, we're also confronted by thick walls of guitar feedback that still keep the feel of the groove alive. This CD is a perfect example of what folks can do once they "discover" the "secret" of music is simple: rhythm + sound = music. Infinite arrangements are then wonderfully possible.

MIKE BLACK Go/No (no label) $9 Press release: "Mike Black challenged himself to record and release an album in one month's time, the result is GO/NO-GO, a series of electronic songs, tone poems and soundscapes, recorded live at his home studio. The release is a DIY CD, Mike playing, recording, producing, artwork, all of it done by him. GO/NO-GO music has already been picked up by TROMA Films, played on XM Radio, and many terrestrial and internet stations. Bands: Mike has played with: Exotic Pet, Hat Trick of Misery, Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists. On Guitar Craft: Mike has also been involved with Guitar Craft, the ongoing series of courses that originated when Robert Fripp, founding member of King Crimson, began GC courses at Claymont Court in West Virginia. GC began in 1985, and Mike participated in many courses between 1986-2000. One aspect of GC is the management of surprise, for example, the participants on a course are regularly challenged to compose music for live shows, often on a days [or less] notice. Much of the motivation and aim of GO/NO-GO was inspired by the work of Guitar Craft."

BLUE CHEER Highlights and Lowlives (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $14 Dickie Peterson, Paul Whaley, and Andrew Duck MacDonald recorded 1990 at a studio in Wales. Released 2003.

BLUE COLLAR Lovely Hazel (Public Eyesore) $10 "Instant composition" from the NYC trio of Nate Wooley (trumpet, flugelhorn, voice), Steve Swell (trombone, voice), and Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion).

BLUE PINE (Global Symphonic; Canada) $10 Canadian band that evolved into Frog Eyes.

THE B-MOVIE RATS Killer Woman (Dead Beat Records) $7

THE B-MOVIE RATS / THE HELL BENDERS (split) Distilled (Dead Beat Records) $7

BO-BO (Carbon Records) CDR $8 Carbon Recs catalog: "Bo-Bo is Alex of Hilkka making noise and having fun constructing tracks from fragments of glitch, samples, and bass lines. . . . Limited edition of 50, hand-packaged with chrome silver labels on CD, enclosed in a clear clam-shell CD case." Uh-huh! Bliphop, noise precision, slice/dice, cut/paste, time lag, dogs and birds, acoustic guitar interlude, loops and drops. I like.

THE BON VIVANTS Black Honey (Gulcher Records) $11 DO YOU REMEMBER ---- that legendary Big Star gig at the Matrix in '66, or how 'bout Moby Grape's killer punk comeback on Dangerhouse in '77, or yeah, the fragile beauty of that period when Garcia & the Warlocks '65 mutated into Mark Smith & the Fall '78--remember? No? Well, the Bon Vivants remember these things and many more--whether they "happened" or not. Heck, on this new Gulcher CD, they "really" do a cover of the Mothers' "I'm Not Satisfied" that has the brain-scrubbed freshness of, say, the Daily Flash or the Sons of Adam, rather than Zappa's cynical crew. Post-punk 'n folk-rock (NOT "freak folk"--eeek!), power-pop 'n acid-rock, howlin' at the Georgia moon like a lonely 16-year-old geek even as you stare at so-called middle-age in defiance. Television Personalities Soft Boys Swell Maps 'n Mr. Barrett hisself--post-Cale VU and the ghost of Arthur Lee--kids still 70s-drunk and runnin' free! SNAP! MANGLE! POP! The Bon Vivants come from Atlanta, Georgia. That's Ben Young (rhythm and freak guitars, vocals), Rob Parham (rhythm and lead guitars), Ben Lawless (bass), and Jeff Patch (drums). In 2006, they released a 10" record called SOUL ACTION. It came out on Ben's Old Gold label, which has generally released noise, improv, and experimental stuff. The members of the Bon Vivants worked their way through all of those more outside approaches before settling on a song format for this band. It adds a lot to what they're doing now: the deep knowledge of noise and improv combined with structured pop-rock songs. And on their new Gulcher CD, things come into even sharper focus--the lo-fi cassette sound of SOUL ACTION is gone, revealing the band in crystal clarity and sounding better than ever. Dig the staggered wham-bam of the opening "Entropy," the druggy phased DMT-pop of "Reappearances" (love that guitar solo!), and "Interzone" with its hand-clappin' folk-punk-pop and William Burroughs title. There's the very, um, round and, er, totally stoned "Banana Song" (Hackamore Brick? Donner Party? yer mama gittin' wasted in 1971?). Dude, where's my mañana? You gotta hear the string-driven explosions on the scorchin' "Umbrella," and the extended Television-ish jam on "A or M." Extremely nice stuff. And how do these wise guys close the proceedings? They play a chooglin' country-rocker that sounds like a very loose take on the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville"! But you know, there's nothin' "retro" here (more like "timeless")--and that's the trick, that's the magic. How come rock music won't just DIE? Because men like the Bon Vivants LIVE!

THOMAS BORGMANN/WILBER MORRIS/DENIS CHARLES Organic (The Lotus Sound) $9 Heaviness from three musicians riding different crests of the free-jazz wave, reveling in the moment at a show recorded in Germany, 1997. The great drummer Denis Charles played with Cecil Taylor and Archie Shepp in the 60s; Morris (bass) has done time with later free-jazz eccentrics Arthur Doyle and Frank Lowe; and I don't know saxophonist Borgmann's background (he's the blonde guy). The playing is relaxed, confident but searching. Morris is subtle and fluid, with Charles' explosions breaking things up. Somewhere in the middle, Borgmann demonstrates his European precision while yearning for the spiritual release of Ayler and Coltrane. And not a single indie-rock sideman in sight!

DANIELE BRUSASCHETTO Poesia Totale Dei Muscoli (Bar La Muerte; Italy) $12 Solo CD by Italian singer-songwriter known for his work in the early 90s with outside-rock combos Mudcake and Whip, as well as co-producing My Cat Is An Alien. The songs here are all in Italian (with English translations included in the booklet), generally delivered in a casual "folk"-like manner, but with full rock-band backing. There are some nice detours into noise and minimal-like groove. Quality sounds. Dig.

BUGSKULL Snakland (Scratch Records; Canada) $10

BUGSKULL & THE BIG WHITE CLOUD (Scratch Records; Canada) $10 Sound-based exploration and spacescape by Sean Byrne (Bugskull) and Phil Quistlund (ex-Sone).

BUGO Sentimento Westernato (Bar La Muerte; Italy) $12 Excellent 2001 album by Italian avant-folk-rocker Bugo. It's all in Italian, with no translation, but don't let that distract your ears. The band numbers are especially pleasing--loose, fugged-up folk-blues with spazzy guitars and kinda funny vocals--like Dylan backed by the Holy Modal Rounders instead of the Band--the same sorta cracked-up fallin'-down blooz done so well by Half Japanese and Mosquito. Except Bugo is popular in Italy--the overload-distorto fuzz-riffer "Benzina Mia" was a hit in his home country!

BZ BZ UEU Uhozmerigotz (Music à la Coque/Wallace Records; Italy) CD EP $9 Energized avant-rock and free-jazz-isms on this excellent second CD from Italy's Bz Bz Ueu, recorded in late 1999. Horns squawk, guitar wiggles, and rhythm section moves with ease from highly structured angle chasin' to skronky breakdowns. Diggers of early MX-80 should feel right at home.