The Dialtones, "So Many Girls" (7"). If crazy dirty rock 'n' roll is your style then The Dialtones will be serving your ass on a platter for you. On "So Many Girls," these guys kick out a full-on rocker influenced by the mighty Kinks. With the Fro side of this disc the Dialtones are hosting a drunk fest with the Devil Dogs and The Hellacopters there to drink all the booze and maybe toss in a few guitar leads for good measure. My favorite is "So Many Girls" which kiss ass! Available through Bad Afro.   -Steve Weatherholt.

Balligomingo, "Heat"/"Lost." With the current success story behind the Bill Leeb/Rys Fulber project Delerium, it's no wonder that many bands are jumping on the ethereal-jungle dreamy-female vocal bandwagon. And this single by Balligomingo is by far the most interesting one I've heard.

This single contains two tracks "Heat" and "Lost," both of equal weight in the quality category. Ethereal ambience dreamcast to a host of jungle drum & bass with an overlay of female vocal. The programming, mixing and production are top notch. These guys obviously have some very serious gear and a good studio to work in.

The drawback with Balligomingo--and really all the bands I've heard in this genre--is that the music is so stylized that it's difficult to tell one project from the other. For instance, you could have told me that Balligomingo was Delerium and I wouldn't have batted an eye. Nonetheless, it makes for a good listen and heck, light a candle and put this cd on and some other flames may be lit as well.

One thing you must do is check out the Balligomingo website. It is the most amazing use of high tech web tools that I've seen. The entire concept is stunning. Make sure you have a good modem and download Flash if you don't have it. It's pure eye candy. Available through Experience Soundscape Productions.   --Jeff Ashley.

Lard, '70s Rock Must Die (EP). Part of the Lard shtick is the melding of Ministry's guitar pyrotechnics against Jello Biafra's biting and oftentimes humorous political/social ranting and raving. For three albums it has worked well, but with the release of their latest EP, '70s Rock Must Die, I think Biafra might well have lost the plot, or at the very least been sidetracked by an overindulgence of ego. The EP's title track is a seven-minute opus that purposely sounds like AC/DC. It starts off great, with Al Jourgensen riffing out his best Angus Young and Jello mimicking the vocals of Bonn Scott, but the plot doesn't change. After seven minutes it still sounds like AC/DC, with the only difference being Jello's lyrical mockery of that cock-rock decade, the '70s. The other two tracks, "Volcanus 2000" and "The Ballad of Marshall Ledbetter" fare better, mostly because they're classic Lard, but they both still sound lacking. There's no "Mate Spawn & Die," "Drug Raid at 4am" or "War Pimp Renaissance" feel to be found anywhere on this. I understand the joke, but it's almost as if their own self-indulgence is exactly what they're ranting about, which is too bad because Jello's contributions to the new Pitchshifter and Makers albums are right on target and very much worth the money. Stick to Lard's back catalog and skip this one. Available through Alternative Tentacles.   -Craig Young.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Scar Tissue." The "Funky Four" have indeed returned. The reunification of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with former guitarist John Frusciante marks the return of beautiful times for the band, and their single "Scar Tissue" is evidence. Track one is familiar from radio overkill, but can you help but be ravished by these wonderful "lonely view" hooks and smooth note saturations from Frusciante? Two and three are Californication outtakes: "Gong Li," a beautiful Pepper ballad in the vein of "My Friends" or "Soul to Squeeze" with aquatic guitar breaks between verses that draw the awe, and "Instrumental #1," which is just that, a funk instrumental with some swift Flea beat and more Frusciante gold. Worth the four bones if you enjoy album residue. Available through Warner Brothers.   -Al Cordray

"She had hips like a truck...thighs like what, what all night long
let me see that thong, baby
I like when the beat go
baby let your booty go
baby, that thong, tha, thong, thong, thong..."

Of course, songs about the booty aren't new. From the blues to rock to funk, the bottom has been the theme for songs for ages. Old school funksters James Brown, the Ohio Players and George Clinton (Funkadelic and Parliament) have had many songs dedicated to the booty, it doesn't mean that the perpetuation of the clichéd language should continue. I'm not supporting misogyny in any way but if you're going to go that route, be original. That's the main problem of this song: "Thong Song" isn't a refreshing new sound for the year 2000 like "Hot Pants" was musically in 1971.

As an advocate for anti-censorship and First Amendment rights, I'd hate to eradicate all music that doesn't meet certain standards, be it creative or social. I'm no elitist but c'mon, there's something wrong when hip hop artists with more creative vision like The Roots, Common, Amel Larrieux, Blackalicious and Da Grassroots aren't getting any airplay. I guess the only props I can give Sisqó is that he's courageous enough to put a terrible piece of music out with his name behind it. Obviously this is more validation that the state of R&B is pretty bleak. Available through Def Soul Records.   -Hope Lopez.

A couple other vinyl releases which only serve to whet one's appetite are from the technoid offshoot of the Ant-Zen label, Hymen. Label head Stefan Alt has settled for an inspired design on his 12", putting them in plain brown wrappers and doing all the art as a series of postage stamps attached to the outside. The Torsion 12", Jackson's Private Zoo, is a more beat-oriented release than you would normally expect from John N. Sellekaeres and Olivier Moreau (you can find them in Xingu Hill, Imminent, and Ambre). Jackson's Private Zoo delivers up four deft, cinematic travelogues which were recrafted in 1999 from material four years earlier. Following their first collaborative release, Big Time Satellite (from 1997), these tracks show a refined sense of expansive beat atmospheres that both bite and soothe. Also from Hymen is Starfish Pool's Illusions of Move-Chapter Blue 12". More beat-laden than atmospheric, these six tracks hum and pop around tight, insistent rhythms showcasing the truth behind the label motto of "technoid rhythms for collapsing people." Hymen seems to be the place to settle yourself down in when the power electronics of Ant-Zen have fused too many of your capillaries together and you want something that will remind that you are still breathing, but won't bludgeon you.

And speaking of the Internet and good stuff, check out Parc Mutzle. They released a 3-track CD EP not too long ago that is 24 minutes of ambient serenity. Mixing scattered beats, skewed vocal samples and languorous tones, these tracks are just enough to drop you into slumber after a long day. You won't find this in any store and that's not a bad thing. I'm beginning to think all the marvelous music is to be found elsewhere. It's almost like a treasure hunt, seeking music on the Internet. And when your avatar's axe hits the spot, the gold starts pouring out of your speakers immediately. There's a pot of the shining stuff at Parc Mutzle.   -Mark Teppo.