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When you loaded this page, I was listening to:

Courtesy of Kung Tunes

	Cake - Fashion Nugget - 48:14 - 1996
	I was afraid that if I got this it wouldn't be any good besides the single. I was right. "The Distance" rocks, no doubt about it, but what follows is a stream of really boring college rock. Lame lyrics that smell like the product of bong water and philosophy 101, often urge you to the remote. Their brass makes a nice accent, but too late to save a drowning witch. Did I mention the cover of "I Will Survive"? Wretch, is this for real?

	Carcass - Swansong - 49:45 - 1995
	As the story goes, these guys split up, the album was left unfinished and hanging in limbo, Earache bought it and finished it. Well, the result brought forth very slick production, and what many feel is their best release to date. Having only heard this one, I don't know, but it just doesn't do anything for me. I want to like this album, but just when I start thinking "this isn't so bad" the lead guitar comes in and reminds me why I don't care for it. It tends to dip into that cheesy mid 80's metal sound from time to time (not Bon Jovi, but Grim Reaper or Overkill) plus it's a little to sing songy for me.

	Carcass - Swansong - 49:45 - 1995 re-review
	I had to upgrade this one at least one bar at this time, because I am starting to like Carcass a little more now. Often in music as in life, you have to learn to appreciate things for what they are and not what you want them to be. Such is the case here: when I was expecting some good ol fast paced devil rock a la Deicide, I was sorely disappointed. However, given some time to listen to this under fewer predisposed conditions, I'm growing to like it. Carcass has something melodious in their music that's kind of catchy.

	Celtic Frost - Into The Pandemonium - 48:21 - 1993 (87)
	After hearing their cover of "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voo Doo, there's not really much you can do, other than scratch your head, and wonder why. I mean, I guess that's pretty cool: it's nice that a band pay's homage to another band, that's nothing like themselves, but this is just too weird. As for the rest of the CD, the music's not too bad, heck, there's even one or two that get kind of good, but the singing is horrible. At times, it sounds like Austin Powers crossed with Elmer Fudd with a tooth ache. Then out of nowhere comes orchestration with French female vocals, and an "iddustrial" song. This thing is a joke that tends not to be funny, which is pretty typical with black metal. (which this kind of is, or tries to be)

	Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust - 49:25 - 1995
	Formerly known across the ocean as the Dust Brothers, this proficient dance floor duo has often collaborated with other artist, such as the Beasties, to name but one. The Brothers Chem, pretty much forced the label "electronica" to surface, because it became so popular, and being a conglomerate of styles, people had to dub it something. The foundation is more or less based on elements of Techno, and Hip Hop, and fortunately is almost all instrumental. This CD starts off really, really strong, with our boys weaving some pretty wicked beats together, but gradually the pace grinds down to a slow halt toward the end of the CD.

	Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole - 63:29 - 1997
	At their best, the Chemical Brothers are engaging, tantric and will definitely get your groove on. At their worst they produce boring and never ending tracks. The first bunch of tracks are definitely an example of how creative they can be, as they seamlessly weave tracks into each other without ever missing a beat. I guess there is really only one song I don't like, and one song that is good, but you're likely to blow your speakers listening to, because there's this really annoying loud bass hum that doesn't really serve any purpose in the song. I feel like they should get the bump bar rating simply because it seems appropriate to the music. (I really like the photos in the booklet)

	Circle Jerks - Group Sex/Wild in The Streets - 41:39 - 1980/88
	Man, you just can't beat the Circle Jerks, they are raw energy. The pace is frantic, high strung and rebellious. They just don't make yell-a-long material like this and the Dead Kennedys anymore. One tune they cover is the Black Flag favorite "Don't Care", and "Wasted", a song that Black Flag covered is on here. It never really occurred to me that each of these albums were so short, because at 14 songs apiece, these guys really run you through the paces. The music is generally driven by the lyrics and relentless snare drum, and backed with good solid simple fast chords.

	Circle Jerks - Wonderful - 33:37 - 1985
	Back when I was a younger lad, I played the crap out of this album (now CD), and now that I'm an old codger, the appeal hasn't faded one bit. This is one of the tightest, slickest produced, and um.. pop like, punk album's ever made (in it's day). The lyrics range from being funny to your stndard synical punk social observations, and all beg, nay demand, to be yelled allong with. Wonderful is a second generation punk classic, that still holds up strong today! I think Keith Morris may have ended up baking his brain, but the Circle Jerks were an amazing group.

	Stanley Clarke - Live 1976-1977 - 64:30 - 1991 (76-77)
	I don't listen to Jazz very much (mostly because I'm to ignorant to know where to start) but when I do, I think it's more because of the quality of the sound than the actual music itself. I'm not sure why, but Jazz artist just seem to have outstanding production. This CD is a prime example: here is a collection of live material from 1976 that by all accounts should sound less than satisfactory, but it sounds almost as good as a triple D studio recording made yesterday. At any rate, Stanley Clarke is a well renowned bassist, and this is a pretty good CD. I guess you would call this progressive jazz, or perhaps fusion.

	The Clash - The Clash - 43:33 - 1979
	Basically, the popularized face of punk in it's beginning were The Clash, and The Sex Pistols. Of these two ambasadors of a brave new world, The Clash would take a less combative approach, at least musically. To draw a modern day comparison, The Clash were kind of like Green Day, in that everybody thinks they're punks, because they look funny, and play harder than your average band. However, if you hold them up against a band like Napalm Death, then they might as well be on Sesame Street. Their reggae tendencies are apparent right from the start, as heard on their cover of Lee Perry's "Police & Theives". There's also a damn descent version of "I Fought the Law".

	The Clash - London Calling - 65:58 - 1979
	Every time I listen to The Clash I have to wonder why they were labeled as punk pioneers, because I don't consider anything they did past the first album to be anything near punk. But I guess in those days if you had a funny haircut and sang about something other than love... they've got to tag you with something. I would label The Clash as a really good rock band with strong reggae tendencies. London Calling is one hooky as hell CD. Catchy melodies and a full but simple sound are in abundance on this 18 song epic.

	The Clash - Sandinista - 145:00 - 1980
	I'm still not quite sure how one of "punk's" original bands was able to pull off a 3 record album set. Even Kiss made their solo albums separate, so you didn't have to buy the lame members albums. I think it's probably because at that time, punk was really cashing in, and the record companies were seeing green. The funny thing though, is that this set is anything BUT punk. If anything it should be called The Black Album(s), because the music spends a lot of time covering genres like Reggae, Motown sound, and even Gospel (of all things.) There's quite a bit of variety on these songs, with a wide variety of instruments as well. If you're expecting some hard old punk music, you're not going to find it here, but if you're in the mood for more mellow "alternative" pop songs, this is the place.

	George Clinton & P-Funk Allstars- T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. - 75:03 - 1996
	One of the founding fathers of funk, George Clinton is back (that's not to say that he's ever been away, just that here's another) with an allstar cast of co-stars. Most of these tracks follow a very cool pace, but are all solid grooves to be sure. Eventhough I don't conciously think a whole lot about what I'm hearing, I often find my body, if not my mind, submited to the rhythm. Some parts remind me of Stevie Wonder, some remind me of Prince, and some Dr. Dre..

	CLOCKDVA - Burried Dreams - 62:21 - 1990
	I'm told Jeffrey Dahmer was into this CD, I don't know if that's true or not. Falling under the WaxTrax umbrella, CLOCKDVA have a somber, slightly dark, slightly ambient sound. It's the kind of thing that I wouldn't really want to listen to unless it was in the background while I was reading or taking a bath or something. There's some pretty good ones and some slightly annoying ones but all in all, nothing to thrilling. Buy something else.

	Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber - 49:26 - 1997
	I've always thought self titled albums were a pretty lame concept, or lack thereof. And speaking of lame, looking at the picture of this band gives me visions of a pro-mo shot for the punk kids in "My So Called Life" or something. These kid's hardly look old enough to have fuzz on their naughty bits. There's even a girl, not that girls don't rock, it's just not common. The remarkable thing is that they rock! They sound like a mix of Brujeria and Prong with a little bit of KoRn (which tons of bands do these days.) Deep crunchy gituars, big metallic bass, this is definitely one to check out.

	Con Funk Shun - The Best of Con Funk Shun - 77:48 - 1993
	Take Earth, Wind, and Fire at their most whinny, and you kind of get Confunction. Maybe I'm missing some historical context perspective or something, but all I can see this giving rise to is crap like Boyz to Men. Although not necessarily bad, this CD is not really good either. The only redeeming quality I can find about these guys are there name. Mostly "slow jamz", this thing is a real sleeper.

	Corrosion of Conformity - Blind - 00:00 - 199
	I've never been a fan of CoC, not back in their skate days, or now in their Skynard years, however, this CD, which catches them somewhere inbetween, is an exceptional CD. More later...

	Cramps - A Date With Elvis - 00:00 - 19
	Hey, shut the door, were you born in a barn! Milk this Flossy, I'll buy you a diamond ring. (no review yet)

	Crass - Christ the Album - 96:25 - 1989?
	This is the stuff red blue & green liberty spikes were made for. This is the definitive political, social class, anarchist punk. Quality varies a lot as they jump around from live material, home tapes, etc., but with Crass, quality is not much of an issue. Crass' sound is very primal and raw, and quite often annoys me at this station in life, but at the time seemed more exciting. Crass is mostly concerned with political issues which are generally related to class structure. Most of their albums came with posters as the sleeves, which left you with a really cool poster, and nothing to protect your album.

	Crass - Stations of the Crass - 79:24 - 1979
	Stations was probably Crass' finest hour, although not my favorite. All the classic Crass anthems can be found here. I'd hate to acuse Crass of being musical, but there are some pretty catchy rant's, from this band who were probably more political than musical anyway. You can really see a differece between most music, and what Crass were doing, there's nothing happy about what they do, it's all brass tacks, anger, and rebellion. "Punk Rock" has evolved light years away from its beginnings, but if you want to check out one of the forefathers at the genisis, look up Crass. (check out their disco track too)

	Jim Croce - Photographs & Memories - 41:16 - 1985 (74)
	To those greedy fucking whores with the major labels who would conspire to deprive me my god given right to pirate songs via Napster (or in my case Macster), I submit the following example that the dishonor system WORKS. When I was a little kid, I used to enjoy campy songs like "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" & "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" (thats what we had instead of Barney in my day). As I've grown older, I have come to appreciate his other more soulful folk music. Well, after having heard these songs on the radio for 25 years, I decided to grab some off the internet. Although I had a perfectly good copy of every song I wanted, at that point I decided that I liked it enough to warrant purchase. Bing, bang, boom, the corporate whores get my money on a product that they haven't marketed (or paid royalties on I bet) in about 30 years.

	CroMags - Age of Quarel- 37:22 - 1993
	This is when the CroMags were good. More later.

	Crowbar - Crowbar- 37:22 - 1993
	Crowbar puts the heavy back into metal, both in physical stature and in the fat, deep, grunting, and relentless power chords that define their style. Their hallmark is their slower "ballad" style that trudges through like a tank and assaults you with vocal anguish like a prison rape serenade. But don't get me wrong, I hesitate even using the word "ballad". These boys are tuff, and just when you're all balled up brooding with rage, the kick into high gear and release the anger like a monster truck in your high school parking lot.

	Crowbar - Time Heals Nothing - 37:22 - 1995
	Crowbar's marketing sucks. The covers are too similar, and there's too many releases in and around the same year. So, you're left wondering what to get, not knowing if you're going to get stuck with a live or re-release comp, or something else that you're not ready for at this stage in your collecting. This is the only band that could stand a chance in a caged death match with Poison Idea. I bet these guys kick live. I might have to get the live one & find out, since I live in nevergonnahaveashowland. (Oh, the review: eah, it's o.k.. not as good as the other one)

	Crumbsuckers - Beast On My Back - 34:59 - 1999 (88)
	FINALLY B.O.M.B. got reissued!!!!! I have been relentlessly searching in vane for this stupid CD ever since mine was stolen at work about 6 years ago. This CD didn't get much notice at the time, (unless you count my tireless efforts to convince everyone this was one of the best CD's of all time) probably due to their cover that doesn't contain one iota of "cool." In my book this CD was just short of revolutionary. In a time where metal mostly sucked, there was a term for bands like D.R.I. that were making a shift from the borders of hardcore: "crossover." But D.R.I. didn't go anywhere near the distance that the Crumbsuckers did. More hardcore and less metallic than Agnostic Front, the Crumbsuckers biggest appeal (for me) was their constant time signature changes. 11 years later BOMB still kicks ass!

	The Crystal Method - Vegas - 61:16 - 1997
	The most obvious comparison would be The Chemical Brothers. These two "bands" are similar in several ways but, that's not to say that they're identical. TCM's flow a bit more laid back, but at the same time they can keep it up longer than the Bros. Chem. In other words, what they lack in intensity, they make up for in endurance. There's a touch of a Thrill Kill (drug/sex) vibe that sometimes alienates me until I can hit the rite frame of mind. The biggest problem with this CD is that, although it's very good, nothing just jumps out and excites me. 10 years ago, this would have been a breakthrough CD, but today it's just riding high on the "electronica" wave.

	Cubanate - Interferance - 50:49 - 1998
	I've pretty much been on a dry spell lately with music, but I'm happy to report that Cubanate has blown a fresh breath of air into my otherwise stagnant life. Their sound is very similar to another CD I've taken a shine to, www.pitchshifter.com, but Cubanate have more of an aggressive edginess. Both CD's meld jungle with metal into a type of hyper cyber-metal hybrid, whereas Pitchshifter is a little more direct and angry, Cubanate is perhaps more sinister and full of hooky grooves. I have been searching for a good aggressive keyboard based band, and now with bands like Cubanate, Pitchshifter, and Puncture, I think music has finally evolved into the sound I was after.

	Cypress Hill - Black Sunday - 43:39 - 1993
	Cypress Hill is to rap what Black Sabbath is to metal, only not to such a high degree. Their sound is dark and heavy as hell. Often based on a very simple but "phat" bass loop, juxtaposed against some high pitched squeal or another, and is tied together with a kicking drum track and the boy's nasal vocal stylings. Although most of the lyrics deal with getting stoned (their #1 priority) or murder and the like, they are very well written. "Had a bad dream, woke up in a casket, now I can't even get back at the bastard" Filled with vivid imagery, both stated and implied, do not overlook this CD.

	Cypress Hill - IV - 62:39 - 1998
	The first two Cypress releases opened new doors that made a path to a whole new dimension in rap. The third was a little stale & probably suffered from too much prior success. Well, IV doesn't light any fires either, and finds our dialated anti heros doing more following than leading. Then again, I guess that's the nature of the herb after all. However, if you like Cypress, you should like this one, because it's a lot tighter (and brighter) than Temples, and has energy reminiscent of their debut. So, even if they're not breaking new ground, they are still doing their thing well.

	Cyborgasm - XXX Erotica in 3-D Sound - 64:03 - 1993
	I've got a lot of goofy crap in my collection, (just go look in my Roots section if you don't believe me) but this CD (which was given to me as a "gag" gift) takes the cake. These guys went through a lot of trouble to record this "stimulating" series of sexual misadventures, that is recorded in "3-D" sound. (Fully digital + some interesting recording techniques) As the instructions say, your meant to put on your headphones, and cover your eyes. (It doesn't mention rubbing your naughty bits) The making of their CD's was featured on HBO's Real Sex series. If hearing people overact orgasm's is your idea of a good time, then this is for you. Also, if you get bored and have a good car stereo, try blasting it downtown, around lunchtime.

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