"Hybrid Still Life" is the newest release from Chicago's "Infinity Interrupt". Riddled with oppressively dark moods and textures, "Hybrid Still Life" plays from beginning to end like a detailed soundscape to a life gone wrong. You can still see glimpses of a beauty that used to exist but now only shadows and detached memories of what that beauty was remain. It sounds great I know BUT I'm a bit split over this release. When sticking to ambient textures, tones and whispered story telling (used to great effect here) "Hybrid Still Life" excells. Haunting, dark and always intriguing. If this were the entire CD the review would end here and I'd say run out and get it. However, not everything is rosy in this darkland. "Hybrid Still Life" starts to lose ground a bit when Infinity Interrupt moves away from the previously described textures and start to employ more arpeggiated synths and drums. The songs aren't bad... they just aren't inspiring and seem flat when compared to the more texture oriented tracks. These tracks just take on a generic tone that don't match up to the coolness of the ambient stuff. All that said... I still recommend this disc for anyone who is a fan of relentlessly dark music and for those fans of Cold Meat material, you will find a good deal to like in "Hybrid Still Life". Stand out tracks: "Still Life" and "Crawl".

"Traveller" is the second full length release from the Tulsa, OK. project Novachild. Revolving pads, textures, smooth transitions, the occasional guitar and well constructed beats are at the core of this disc. However, what separates this disc from the legions of other ambient releases birthed into the world is it's excellent tone. "Traveller" is not without purpose and as it's title suggests, the music is on it's way somewhere and in no rush to get there. Whether on that long road trip to nowhere or just watching the sun go on about it's business... "Traveller" is an excellent accompaniment to the passage of time. While the tempo may vary from a brisk clip to a slower pace, make no mistake: this disc was made for chilling. My only complaint about the disc sits entirely with one track and it's a shame because most of the track is well executed. The excellently titled "Yesterday is a Lonely Place" is, for the most part, a good song but it's bogged down part way through with the annoying auto-tuner/vocoder effect hammered into history by the Cher track "Believe". Not that it's anywhere near as obnoxious but nevertheless, the effect is noticeable enough to get in the way. That aside, "Traveller" is an excellent release for any fan of laid back grooves, ambient textures and creative song writing. Fans of Tangerine Dream, Drome and µ-Ziq will find a lot to appreciate with this release. Stand out tracks: "Late Sun Smooth Asphalt", "Memories and Dreams" and "Two Days Ago the Sky was Blue". The CD "Traveller" is available for purchase through Novachild's website.

Compilations are always a risky fair, loaded with bands both familiar and completely unknown, the listener can be either blown away by fantastic material or have their eardrums tortured for the length of the CD. The material can often be inconsistent thematically or have varying degrees of production quality. Fortunately, none of the these potential problems plague "fULLY aUTOMATED: The hEADaCHE re:mixes". The compilation consists of 14 remixes from a relatively diverse collection of bands all remixed by CEOXiME founder, hEADaCHE (who also provides us with a 15th track, a previously unreleased CEOXiME cover of Radio Head's "Exit Music {for a film}") . hEADaCHE levels the playing ground here. While the songs still maintain their original characteristics, going through hEADaCHE's blender-like maelstrom of beats and song reconstructions has unified them into a fantastically consistent CD that delivers the goods. Dance-floor remixes are more or less cast aside leaving room for more creative arrangements that are engaging, unpredictable and great for multiple listens. Bands featured on the compilation are Collide, Hypoid, Diverje, Soul Circuit, Croc Shop, Silvercord, LiveSexAct, Noxious Emotion, function13, things outside the skin, Bottomfeeder, Endif, Flood Damage, Five Star Reject and CEOXiME. Stand-out tracks: Endif "Ashes", Hypoid "Deprogramming Deposits of Fat" and Bottomfeeder "Maybe Someday".

SMP/Jason Bazinet has always had an aggressive sound but it's never been recorded so well as it has here in his latest release. I've always been a fan of SMP but "Crimes of the Future" is a stand out recording. The production is fantastic, the songs are varied and are consistently fresh to listen to. The CD covers some similar ground heard in past SMP exploits with a fusion of punk, industrial and rap elements tightly knit into a package much larger than the individual sum of it's parts. Only this time around Jason adds a heavier melodic element into the mix, significantly influencing the dynamics of the album, giving it a whole new dimension not heard in previous SMP releases. Stand out tracks: "This Perfect Day", "Three O'Clock", "Retro Human" and the excellent Agent Orange cover "Bloodstains".