Choice Cuts: June 2003 - Page 2

Highlight Tracks: "Bluebird of Happiness" and "Sixteen Ways"

For More Info: Visit http://www.temporaryresidence.com

Artist: CALIFORNIA SNOW STORY

Album: One Good Summer EP

The Scoop: Perfect in any season, especially for those of you who don't live in California (suckers) but have daydreams about warm winters, palm trees and lazy afternoons spent curled on a blanket next to your sweetheart. This quartet of daydreamers calls Glasgow home and, while they do borrow an general atmospheric page or two from their famous countrymen Belle and Sebastian, California Snow Story keeps things less philosophical, less jaded, and more upbeat. Think B & S meets Acid House Kings, perhaps. Reviewers have groaned about the short running time, and it's true that the EP does feel slight at a mere 16 minutes, but-unlike most EPs-there aren't wasted minutes. No leftovers, no clunkers. David Skirving demonstrates an inarguable knack for crafting breezily pleasant yet markedly melancholy pop songs. He and the sunshine-voiced Anna Barrek take turns at the mic, while Skirving's jangly guitar lines connect the songs together.

Highlight Tracks: All five tracks are comparably strong, but I'll go with "Snow in Summer" and the quietly devastating "Lovestrange" ("You don't say / the things you used to say").

For More Info: Hop to http://www.californiasnowstory.co.uk

Artist: DEATH ON WEDNESDAY

Album: Songs To ____ To.

The Scoop: After a successful debut (Buying the Lie), Southern California's Death On Wednesday set their sights high for their follow-up EP. Influenced by the eclectic, what's-next feel of Exile On Main Street and London Calling, the power-punk band understandably falls short of those landmarks but does showcase an impressively elastic range of genres on Songs To ____ To. The closest parallel to the band's punk-shaped but good-natured sound is the Smoking Popes; frontman Nate Lawler has a put-upon charisma similar to Josh Caterer's. He also wrecks a time-honored theory from my personal life that anyone named Lawler is nothing but skirt-chasing, rum-swilling, cow-stealing trouble. When you're not singing along with his infectious choruses, you'll be air-guitaring along to Jeff Saenz's crunchy hooks. Death On Wednesday was aided in engineering and mastering by three, count 'em , three Grammy winning punk veterans (Michael Rosen, Tone, and Gavin Lurssen, whose combined credits include AFI, Rancid, Green Day and Blink-182).

Highlight Track: "Wait For Love"

For More Info: Visit http://www.deathonwednesday.com or http://www.sidecho.com

Artist: DJ SPOOKY

Album: Dubtometry

The Scoop: "Fusion" and "remix" are two of the more cringe-worthy words in music, but DJ Spooky (That Subliminal Kid) is an exception to the rule. A remix of the well-received Optometry, an album that blurred the line between jazz and electronica more successfully than most albums before it, Dubtometry is less academic and more primal, less conceptual and more urgent. Whether it's a better album, of course, depends on which set of criteria the listener favors. Despite their legendary status, it's a stretch to give Mad Professor and Lee "Scratch" Perry headline mention (their names appear prominently on the cover) when they really don't show up for much more than cameos. The other main grievance, noted by most reviewers, is the big egg that Negativland lays ("Asphalt rmx"). But most of the collaborators fare much better, leaving the intriguing aspects of Optometry more or less intact while extracting and embellishing the urban rhythms, making an remix album that is both heavier and sexier than the original. J-Live even brings in a full MC attack on "Optometrix." The real stand-out, though, is the fairly unheralded DJ Goo.