Chicagoan would-be wunderkind of electro minimalism Nathan Koch, aka Emulsion, comes up with precious few surprises and twists in his latest oeuvre, to really tip the scales in his favor. The pieces are nice and melodic, but the sequences aren't variegated enough and the melodies themselves never seem to leave the cul-de-sac they're stuck in. Ostensibly inspired by the video gaming idylls of Koch's 1980s upbringing, Blue Sky Objective at first reminds one of nothing so much as early instrumental works by Gary Numan and Kraftwerk (that would be late '70s) that never made it onto a B-side.

Nonetheless Emulsion's particular program of machine-made perfection does possess some craft. Track seven, "All Robots On Sale!" is the liveliest of the bunch, and could use more weird things in it (like the farty noises occurring at the end). "New High Score" is another pleasant moment, albeit all too brief. Following right after is track eleven, "Without," a very downcast piece of genius that finally digs at the Cabaret Voltaire influences which truly gave the Eighties noisescape its bite.

Blue Sky Objective does not deliver nearly all the goods it's supposed to, and when you finally do become interested it's over all too soon. But the CD has kick-ass graphic design and would go over perfectly well at your next LAN party. (And Nathan, I sincerely apologize for the late review -- hopefully your robots have been selling.)

Invasion of the Surf Zombies is nothing less than a sincerely funny tour-de-force in Lurch-master Robbie Quine's own patented goth-porn-rockabilly style, with more B-movie cheese and sleaze than you can shake a chainsaw at. This time around, Quine has lined up some able musicianship and production to better flesh out his numbers, with vastly improved recording techniques, backing vocals, including former Porno For Pyros axeman Peter DiStefano, who provides a much better, beefier guitar sound. There is no end to the clever rhyme couplets (and triplets), sex satire, fake cornball movie dialogue and monstrosities, such as the really gnarly, gargangtuan, human-eating Hawaiian wave named Jaws, which has teeth AND acid reflux. There are also forays into Dixie-fried country ("KFDQ") and Japanese pop ("Space Kitty"), with very few stones left unturned.

Casual listeners, be forewarned -- most of Surf Zombies is incredibly raw, but all the songs are funny and witty, as only a rock 'n' roll drag queen can be. The hysterical "Tranni Troglodyte" and "I Had Sex With A C.H.U.D." (the name of a cheesy horror flick which stands for "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller") are prime examples. A couple of tracks ("Hellhound," "Gothabilly Gulch") have been carried over from his prior release, Beyond the Valley of the Barbarellatones, and unnecessarily tacked onto the end -- Surf Zombies would have had sufficient thematic content without them.

Quine's tendency for lyrical cathexis becomes a trifle wearying -- in "The Return of Mothra" he sings of the legendary B-movie monster almost tenderly, very much the object of his torch-song sentiment. But he has toned all that down since his prior CD (Beyond the Valley...), and considerable improvements in the songwriting itself shouldn't be overlooked -- many of Invasion's other cuts pale in comparison to "White Surf Trash," and the intro to "Sex Android" is one of the coolest openers to any song I've ever heard. (The rest of the song -- now, that's another story, and I'll let Robbie tell it to you.) Arrangements on "Preying Mantis" should give you at least a genuinely scary shiver, and nicely done Brian Wilson-style harmonies and a driving, synth-laced beat on "Jaguar Woman" should ultimately trump the CD's price of admission. Good for all Christmases, Halloweens, and Dr. Demento theme parties henceforth.

Here is even more of Robbie Quine and the Barbarellatones' shock-cock-rock to wet your whistle, with all the satire and twice the scatology and prurient explorations of the leading brand. This time around (as on his concurrent B-tones release Invasion of the Surf Zombies!), He enlists Peter DiStefano late of Porno For Pyros, who does incredibly tasty lead guitar on superior tracks such as "Acid Test," "Medicine Woman" and "Medicine Wheel" as well as the comically solemn "Chinese Food." And don't miss the hilarious Blink-182 send-up "Orange County," a brief ode to poor-dressing rich kids. You also get treated to many, many real or imagined details in the inner and outer life of Quine the glam rocker, including the tender, heartbreaking "Junky Girlfriend," "Chocky the Hawaiian Dirt-Cat," and the gruesomely upbeat tear-jerker "Sunset Club."

Coldsore doesn't pan out quite as well as a "work" in comparison to Surf Zombies, which has a strong unifying theme. A few of the songs ("Tranni Troglodyte," "Jaws!," "I Had Sex With A C.H.U.D.") appear on both CDs, making your overall investment iffy. But chances are there will be some cut or another you won't be able to do without. Please -- do it for Chocky.

Brain-pounding, plodding Hardcore Industrial Techno, this 5-track feeler sent out by Slayv Axis betrays little in the way of subtlety, nuance, and imagination. Nurturing nothing but a distorted, burning hunger for the dancefloor, this one-man Gabber/Trance/PowerNoise act (name of Damien Lohr) bludgeons you with cuts from his prior releases Empyrie and Remixez V.1. The last, "Suicide," is from his newest CD slated for release this very month, and it is the best of the bunch: a verse is lightly sung by a waif-sounding female (name of Jeska), and the track's beat pattern changes up a couple of times before drowning in a sea of static. Otherwise, Slayv Axis, whose MySpace manifesto bills itself as "the HateCrime SuperHero here to save you from Flower Power pascifist [sic] hippies," subjects you to questionable taste (yes, as a matter of fact "Zieg Heil" is bracketed by samples of Nazi salutes), all the goofy, intentional misspellings ("Vampyrie," "Vuxnut," "Axis of Eevil"), and relentless distortion. But the new disc, Suicide Faktory, could be just what you miserable "slayv" worms need. This is your only warning.

The actual impact of this compilation of bush-league Industrial bands, while not exactly "negative," more accurately strikes somewhere between "positive" and "ridiculous." Six of the ten artists on this 18-song sampler come from the Chicago area, all presumably under the Third Wave Collective umbrella, and are or were participants in the Chicago "Dark Gathering" events that this CD commemorates.

There are many plusses: track two, "ROSB" by N.U.T.E. rocks good and hard. Two cuts later, "Retinal Fetish" by Infinity Interrupt has a great, dream-like extended finish that includes creepy whispering and samples that recall Front Line Assembly's "Lethal Compound." A moment of nocturnal pastoral splendor erupts from track 11, CEOXiME's "One:15" -- which is exactly how long it lasts, sadly enough. Soon afterwards there follows a short, sharp, scathing attack on the Bush Administration by Things Outside the Skin ("American Way"), and a passably slick and slippery "World of Morphine" by the Off World Kick Murder Squad. Am22 turn in a sweet and slinky new-wave/old-rave flavored "Secrets," yet their bizarrely comical vocal deliveries on "Greed" and "Virus" only end up as laughable parodies of menace. BioCarbon13's vocals amount to a poor impression of Joy Division's Ian Curtis on "You Shook Me Cold" (no relation or resemblance to Bowie's "She Shook Me Cold"), and remain hilariously limp and unconvincing on the last track, "Shut Up." Jilt and GBX sound suspiciously like they have the same Rob Zombie-sounding singer, but their more rocking songs ("Release" and "Rocket") work well. However, Jilt's programming craftsmanship comes completely unglued in "Night-Blind."

Negative Impact v0.1 is, to say the least, not likely to be the pinnacle of your listening experience, but be advised -- it's got songs worth checking out (about half of these artists are on MySpace). Positive OR negative, the only guarantee is that there's no way to stay neutral upon hearing it.