Jeeezuz, where the hell did all the new Goth/Industrial music go? It certainly isn’t here on this CD. I had grave doubts about even listening to it after I read the band’s promo. Any artist who actually says in their one-sheet "... is ready to be the next big music sensation." Should be avoided like the plague. Smokescreen claims to be an "experimental" alternative rock band. I don’t hear any experimentin’. The songs are about as forgettable as the next band, average sound, average vocals, average songwriting, nothing in particular to stand out. (Hey, maybe they WILL become the next big thing!) Just what modern college kids need, another alterna-rock outfit to fill the void of their pathetically empty lives. Well, I’m not buying that. Smokescreen seems to be led by the Holwerda brothers of Phoenix, AZ. Gus Holwerda (the lead vocalist) sports a bald pate in the Michael Stipe tradition and I think Luke Holwerda (lead guitaist) is guy with the sunglasses and goatee. Together they seem like they’re trying hard to keep the R.E.M. tradition alive. Kinda Counting Crows, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, et al. I’m sure there’s some big-name band out there they sound a LOT like, and that’s the problem. Even in the alterna-rock world, there needs to be at least something that defines a band’s sound. Unfortunately, Smokescreen is an amalgam of all of them. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a song on a movie or TV soundtrack, and that’s all they’d need to be the next flavor of the week. Pass on this one. It just doesn’t fit Chain D.L.K.’s musical oeuvre in any way, shape or form.

Leaf is Steve Wick (or just WICK, as he seems to prefer to be called) from Dallas Texas, and members of Biogliphic, 32nd Kalpa, Blunt Force, and other area producers, a melding of dirty hip hop rhythm, crystalline melodies, insane sampling, and smooth organic instrumentation. Or so the website info states. Influences admittedly are abstract trip hop/ hip-hop artists like DJ Shadow, DJ Spooky, DJ Signify, Subtle and Tricky. Although Leaf flirts with the dark side, the music never really gets in deep. The problem is that most of the compositions seem to lack development. It’s as if they could have really been something if the ideas were a little more expanded. Still, there are a number of strange motifs and atmospheres that make for good uneasy listening. One track, "Prism" had male and (mostly) female vocals that had a bluesy Portishead feel. That track could have gone on a little longer. Perhaps the best track on this CD is "Even Holy Things Die". The female vocals here aren’t dissimilar to Heather’s from Tapping the Vein, although I think Leaf may have had Mezzanine-era Massive Attack in mind. It ends with a rather long sample from some movie I’ve never seen, so I can’t identify it, but there are a number of spoken word/dialogue samples peppered throughout the tracks. Some of them work okay, some don’t. Even though "Made Into Self" is an uneven effort, it still might be worth checking out. You can sample most all the tracks off the Suspicious Records website, which is a pretty cool thing. That way, you don’t have to take my word for it. I’d be interested in hearing future releases from this artist. I feel like they have the potential to do some amazing stuff.

I was really expecting to like this artist. I had high hopes. The CD cover art is intriguing, I like the name "Synthetic Dream Foundation", and even the opening track, "Auf Dem See" seemed to hold promise. Sort of a techno-drive beat with pulsing trance-synth and exotic female vocals. Basically just a diva-dervish thing with not a lot of frills, progressions or changes, but it had a certain jene se qua. Things soon began to slide downward from there. The follow-up track, "Amongst the Trolls" has a lot of intricate synthwork in it but just didn’t seem to go anywhere; it just went on for too long. "Assiki: Divine Messenger " brings back the exotic fem vocalist with even a more driving beat but still never rises above so-so Goa. "Regeneration of the Damned" begins sparse and beatless, with chordal synthwork that seems to have a melodic theme in mind, goes on too long without much interesting happening, then switches gears in a burbling stew of sound that introduces a beat and eventually just sinks below the tide in some old-school synth voices. "Trapeze" combines some light piano with a fragile Kate Bush-like vocal, half-sung, half whispered. This would have been much more effective if it had followed a track with a lot of intensity that came to swelling climax, but there was none of that here. The smooth transition to the next track, "Eidolon" which begins with a light choir of female voices works very well. With the exception of the predominate use of vocal choir," Eidolon" is fairly old-school sounding. Reminded me of Tangerine Dream. Not necessarily a bad thing, just done so many times before. And it ended before it really even took off. "Ophelia’s Mechanical Wings" perked things up a bit giving "Tendrils of Pretty" some redemption and an improved dancabilty score. I think SDF needed to bring in those exotic female vocals again for this one, perhaps with lyrics and melody that could hold your attention. All in all, not a bad track, just not as spectacular as it could have been. "Puzzlebox" began with those harsh whispered vocals that reminded me of Shikee of Android Lust, but then became totally intelligible and melodic. Surprise! There are hints of Delerium in here, but only hints. Final track "How Love Remembered Lavender" isn’t much of a departure from what came before and suffers from the same syndrome of not really going anywhere. I think SDF has potential, if they can develop thematically and melodically. The synthwork/ programming is spot-on, they just have to do more than make trancey tracks. Their next release could be right on target.

Um, excuse me Mr. DJ, this is hip-hop. Last I knew at Chain D.L.K., we don’t do no hip-hop here. I don’t care if Moonstarr is an Internationally reknown remix-king, you’re in the wrong venue, bro. Be that as it may, Moonstarr remixes tracks by Rednoise Distrikt, Povo, Ivanna Santilli, Feindrestar, Jazzanova, Ennio Morricone and more. Personally, I think Moonstarr’s just a little too drum-machine happy. It’s everywhere... in abundance... with prejudice!! I’ve heard the Jazzanova track remixed before, and better. It amazes me that guys like this who chop an’ slop other people’s music like this get called "artists". But hey, that’s another subculture I just don’t have time or mind for. Pass.

Um, excuse me Mr. DJ, this is hip-hop. Last I knew at Chain D.L.K., we don’t do no hip-hop here. I don’t care if Moonstarr is an Internationally reknown remix-king, you’re in the wrong venue buddy. Be that as it may, Moonstarr remixes tracks by Rednoise Distrikt, Povo, Ivanna Santilli, Feindrestar, Jazzanova, Ennio Morricone and more. Personally, I think Moonstarr’s just a little to drum-machine happy. It’s everywhere... in abundance... with prejudice!! I’ve heard the Jazzanova track remixed before, and better. It amazes me that guys like this who chop an’ slop other people’s music like this get called "artists". But hey, that’s another subculture I just don’t have time or mind for. Pass.