BRODIE: Starfish
When it first started, I thought I might be listening to Neil Young, but by the time it finished, I felt more like I'd been listening to an American Oasis, despite the fact that the band are Scottish through and through. Three tracks and fourteen minutes of surging indie-rock-Americana that has more guitars per square inch than Rick Nielsen's dressing room. It starts with that classic electric guitar chording so beloved of many a Neil Young track, while the vocalist is similarly anguished, only more urgent and less nasally, but delivering it all clearly with passion dripping out of every pore, then the drums and bass come crunching in and the mood really changes as, instead of some languid stroll through American guitar-led heartlands, you are flung into a whirlpool of thickly chorded, strongly anchored songwriting that just flies along, reminding me of a track and band that I just can't put my finger on right now, but it's seriously hot stuff, as the band give it their all, but keeping it from being either average or cliched. It's one of those tracks that yuo like at first but ton second play you like a bit more, and then it just becomes an addiction after that - oh, those guitars. Now, normally, when you get a demo like this (oh, by the way, the production and sound are absolutely immaculate), you get an opener like this only to be let down by some kind of boring ballad on the next track, and when the second track opened with acoustic guitars and then surged into a slower, less angst-ridden piece, I feared the worst. But the track began to build and change, dynamics mixing with intensity, and it became so much more than the 'slower track' of the presentation, again with an overall sound that really works and a vocalist somewhere now between Miracle Legion and a fair few UK indie bands. Track three doesn't mess about - it gets straight in there with a thousand guitars blazing (well, not literally), as the pace increases and the intensity and dynamics of their guitar-driven songs take on new heights, and you are by now, flying around the room doing air guitar for all you're worth, as this massive slice of class indie rock scorches through the airwaves, with more than a touch of early guitar-fuelled Oasis and maybe even a touch of Foo Fighters in there too. This is one truly incredible track and you can imagine, in concert, this one bringing the house down as guitars whirl all around your ears. The band as a whole plays a storm and the vocalist could do with a bit more multi-tracking at times, but overall, this is magnificent stuff and a band that deserves to be utterly HUGE if there's any justice.

CALAISA: Lyssningskopia Demo
Seven tracker showcasing what presumably is a female-fronted band from Sweden, singing in English with no trace of accent so it's either an English vocalist or someone who's got a great command of the language, while the tracks themselves vary from quite reflective affairs to the sparkling qualities of the acoustic guitar/flute-driven jaunty folk-rock of the opener with its hook-laden, multi-tracked choruses. As songs go they have a really warm feel, one that lends itself more to the likes of new singer-songwriters such as Naimee Coleman or Patti Rothberg, but with more of a folk quality, almost Celtic at times in the feel you get from the structures, sounds and arrangements. The lead singer has a very celestial but strong voice that carries the songs faultlessly. Lyrically, mostly pretty decent, while the musicianship veers more towards the folk than the rock road, but it's all tranquil, thoughtful, endearing, strong and juts so enjoyable, music that makes you feel that all is truly well with the world. If Abba had been reborn as a celtic-influenced folk band, this may well have been the result. I loved every minute of it, but then my romantic side is coming out more as the years go by.

CARSON: Empty Scream
This band is a bunch of schoolkids. No, listen to me - THIS BAND is a bunch of SCHOOLKIDS!!!! With me yet - thought not - let me put it another way - THIS amazing band, with three tracks that would make most nu-metal rock bands proud to have come up with material as hot as this, are a bunch of schoolkids. NOW you're with me, aren't you. Yes, this three tracker just blew me away. I mean, for a start, the first thing you hear is this sizzling electric guitar squall then the band comes roaring in with a composition tha would not slound out of place on daytime rock radio. The vocalist has a kind of multi-tracked wistful yet dynamically powerful quality to his voice, absolutely in keeping with the band who roar off into the distance. Yet the composing, playing and delivery are just jaw-dropping as you swear blind that this is a bunch of seasoned veterans you're hearing. Any worries that the scorching guitar work, well recorded rhythm section and the band's abilities in general might be a flash in the pan, are dispelled on track two where another superior song resides, opening in ballad fashion before this wall of guitars erupts into life, then it's back down to the ballad before building to a roar that is more akin to a band like Canadians Mellonova in many respects, only here there's more of a mix of rock and indie, as the guitar solo, band and vocalist just power up and soar into the night skies on a song that is just superb. The final track is another blinder, as a new surging riff shoots off in all directions, crunchy and chunky, while drums and bass steam ahead and the vocalist sounds full of passion and angst as the guitarist threatens to lay waste to everything in his path, the song holding your attention, as they have done so far, throughout, at the end leaving you with but one desire - to play it all over again. Well, if I had the money, I'd sign this lot up here and now - this is one red hot talent and the lucky label that gets hold of this lot, has a sound long-term investment. One of the brightest hopes in indie-rock from the UK for a while.

CHIONE: For What You Are About To Receive
Three tracker that opens with a very mediterranean sounding acoustic guitar and bongos that play a neatly choppy rhythm lead before the lead female vocal, strong and strident, enters, bass emerges, the vocal gets the multitrack treatment, giving a really full sound, as the wide-open songs spiral higher, no actual hook as such, but essentially absolutely catchy, the sort of song that if you heard on holiday in a cafe or on the radio, you'd want to know what it was and be out to buy it the following day. Perfect summery stuff yet also quite serious, a sort of mid-range female vocal, pseudo-mediteranean answer to Judie Tzuke in terms of its feel if not its sound. Nice song. Track two starts gentler with just the acoustic guitar strumming away. This time, the vocal emerges at a much slower, more expansive manner, delivering a ballad that stretches the words and keeps the notes on sustain, as the piece becomes a mix of slow soulful and atmospheric southern europe. Halfway through, a male vocal joins the proceedings, but to me is out of place although, that said, isn't going to deliver the song any kind of blow. Very warm, almost sad yet full of yearning, string-like synth filling out the sound as it travels. The final track adds electric guitar and drums to produce a wholly stronger piece and here you feel you wish the female vocalist could raise a bit more power and possibly an octave or two on the song's intro verses, so that the song is delivered as the most powerful one on the CD but a touch too restrained still when it should go for the kill. All in all, though, a lyrically aware, semi-multi-tracked vocal performance ensures your attention is held, while the instrumental backing is fresh, superbly produced and holds it all together. A neat demo.

CHIONE: Unsigned, Sealed And Delivered
The lead track made me think of Sade with a touch of M-People so in commercial terms, things are clearly advancing for this group. The track has a distinctly gospel feel to it, but with a powerful slice of soul and a modern attitude. Not quite hook-laden enough for daytime radio perhaps, but a neatly heartfelt slice of soul-motion. Track two is more jazzy but quite strong with a huge production that gives the feel there's half a ton of vocalists on here yet it's all the work of our fave female vocalist and the presence of a wickedly evil electric guitar figure gives it added bite as the track swings through a quite forceful path wioth lyrics to make you think and some superbly delivered vocals. Track three is more a ballad which is, I suppose, very pleasant, but is not something I'm wholly into, although it's like a sort of soul with attitude style. Overall, though, this is quality stuff, but still needs that killer song to come along and take your breath away.

CNUT: This Is The Instrumentation Of Our Conquerment
Cripes - this starts with a ten minute opening track that had me in mind of a list that included Pet Shop Boys, Roxy Music & Eno, but before labels start racing towards this lot with open chequebooks, it's the influences that are felt rather than this band being any kind of sound-alike, although the lead singer does a very good Ferry impression in parts. The track lasts ten minutes and just about justifies it as an assortment of caustic rhythms and stuttering synths combine with the main key/synth melodies, although he collected vocal whoops just sounded plain ridiculous and should be dropped immediately. That said, it's still all very stark sounding and minimal, and not really what I'd want to listen to again. Elsewhere it just is far too quirky for its own good, eventually making you want to turn off way before the end. I don;t know if it's me or them, but this isn't something I'd want to unleash on a waiting world for fear of the ridicule that may ensue - next............

DAVID CONWAY: Cybermetalfunk
Am I missing something here - I mean, in the write-up that accompanies this CD, the musicians says that it is a 'homage to the godfather of electronic funk, Jimi Hendrix'. Is this another Jimi Hendrix in a parallel universe that I am not privvy to knowing about? Hendrix? Electronic funk? Give me a break - or give me a barrel of what this guy's on. Well, it's electronic for sure, full of synths, full of wicked bass and electronic/electro-percussive rhythms, a huge sound immaculately produced, and far far better in quality terms than your average demo. Only trouble is that it's so eclectic - and weird - or more the point so darned rhythmic. Hell, even the melodies are rhythmic. It's full of hulking great slabs of sonic soup with more layers, textures, rhythms and melodies than you can shake a stick at, and it has to be said that, as a rhythmic album, it's positively spellbinding. But you also get the feeling that the guy couldn't compose anything resembling a 'normal' melody line if his life depended on it. Although on track thre, some of the lead synth work sounds like ELP on drugs. So, if you want something to get you out of your seat in hip-swaying, foot-tapping, head-shaking fashion while at the same time having toe-curling, headache-inducing, stomach-churning leads, then this is the one for you - and I hate to say that, by the end, I was developing a positive fascination for the thing - I think I need help.

CRY SOUL: Demo
New Glaswegian band with a self-penned brand of rock that's sort of eighties Long Ryders, Rain Parade type of stuff, with, initially, chiming guitar chords raining down and heart-felt vocals over a crisp and fluid rhythm section, on a slow-mid-paced track that sounds almost Americana in its modern approach to things. Track two heats up a notch and the group comes out of it with a lot more kudos, as guitars ring out, slide guitar soars and the harmonised vocals sound just great. The end track is a more ballad-style offering that, for me, again sounds too stressed, too much of them trying hard to get the feel right and not making it. Overall, not bad, certainly promising.

ECHOSNARE; Sampler/Demo
Forty-nine minutes of music 'influenced by Tangerine Dream, Vangelis & William Orbit. Now, in his biog, the musician says that he doesn't pretend to have as much talent as any of the aforementioned artists - fair enough and that's fine. Trouble is, he doesn't have as much equipment as any of the aforementioned artists, and this is where so many electronic music demos fall down. It's not he musicians' fault generally, either, which is the sad thing. I mean, take this guy. He's produced tracks that have feeling, sound composed and have at least had a lot of thought, care and attention put into them. When the lead sound is piano-like, it almost comes off, but so much of the synth work is melodic, admittedly, but it sounds like it's being produced on a single keyboard and ends up being all icing and no cake. It's pretty stuff, some of it more substantial, but while you can say the musician can clearly compose, stuff like what is on this demo comes to us at an alarming rate and, sad to say, that's where it stays.

ETHER FLYER: S/T
Now this is good - really good! Of all the demos presented to us to date, this is the best. Four tracks from two people on programming, bass, guitar, beat knowledge and samples - plenty of samples. The first track is a sort of lurching ambient dub with a touch of caustic Can in there too, as the bass, drums and scratchy guitar vie with the sample bursts to superb effect, all very full mixed and atmospheric. The second track is simply fantastic - the sample from Peter Cook/Chris Morris bringing a smile to your face as the strings set the scene, then the track launches into a rolling rhythm, heavy bass bottom end, more string section on top and a very Czukay/Liebezeit lead rhythm coming to the surface, as backdrops and samples change scenery, a quite addictive track. Track three is highly charged and moody, with some great voice samples including a classic Black Panthers line, while musically it's a sort of brooding, rolling ambient dubby type of thing but so much more atmospheric and dark thatn you'd think, yet again, it's so superbly constructed as to be totally engaging. The final track is more solid than ever, a little slower but with some fantastic rhythmic textures, distant strings, more lurching rhythms and that almost cloudy sky approach to the heart, all very eerie but, again, superbly constructed elements meshing into one gloriously cohesive whole. I don't suppose you could get sample clearance to put any of this out officially in a million years, but I'd love to hear more of it, that's for sure.

ETHER FLYER Noises You Get Used To
So, it goes like this - we say good things about demo - tell band- they like what we say - band sends full album worth of the stuff and requires further opinion. Band includes tracks from previous demo but we lose previous demo so have to review album from scratch............and this is what we heard. The album opens with a shuffling set of multi-percussive drums rhythms to which is added a neat jazz-dub bass, distant electronics and the whole thing has a rustic demo quality to it as the tinkling melody lines and clipped bass, then suddenly hit a groove and the picture is transformed to one of classy rolling melody lines as rhythms, and vice-versa, scratching and samples appearing all over the mix as the track drives from the fantastic to the sublime, the final section possessing a huge muscular drums/bass rhythm, a rippling piano chord and that addictive atmospheric quality. There are ten tracks, so at this rate, we are going to be on page three before this review is complete. Track two is superb, as another deep bass launches a rolling rhythm pattern over which samples, clipped guitar lines and scratching are layers in a collective cloud of driving ambient dub. Further layers come from a flying flute line, resonant bouncing guitar-like chords and the overall effect is simple yet effective. Track three opens with a jazzy intro that reminded me more of a dubby early Lard Free with what sounds like a bass sax out front of more rolling, less dub, percussive rhythm bases, and again all the layers and samples combining to create another multi-textured groove-laden jazzy-dub cauldron of delights. Then a track that sounds more like a foggy Can outtake with sparing guitars, resonating bass, rolling drums and that faint dubby quality, the overall effect being right out of the seventies. Then THAT track with the Peter Cook sample and I don't know what it is but that sample is the perfect atmospheric intro for what turns out to be the best slice of what I can only describe as gloriously dark ambient dub with a slight Can-like quality to it - superb. Following this comes an initially lumbering section of industrial electronic sludge before a beautiful passage of strings, piano, deep bass and crunching drums appears and the whole thing lurches forward in classic dinosaur fashion, with a sample that sounds like Can's Malcolm Mooney being strangled in the far distance, as the piece becomes increasingly bizarre - and then just ends. Track seven represents the first glitch on the album as a really directionless piece of seemingly disparate electronics just sort of swirls around with out doing too much at all. Track eight returns to the rolling rhythms but here the combination of an almost squeeze-box-like lead melody combined with the drum rhythm that sounds like someone banging on the side of a wardrobe, allied to ever increasing layers of foggy electronics, creates a track that improves with every play. Track nine is the first sign of speed on the album, as the bass and drum rhythms accelerate, caustic electronics whine and whirr, while an almost typical drum 'n' bass rhythm is unleashed underneath, a distant siren-like synth call evident in the background, and for me, a decent track but a bit out of place with the feel of the album to date. Finally, the last track with an echoey drum rhythm, swirling synths, clattering percussives, a somewhat strange set of lead melodies that sound like backward strings at one point, lead to a higher register drum pattern but the track falls off the cliff at the end, never having really been sure of where it was going in the first place. All told, as a potential album, the sound quality needs improving for a start, but musically, up to the last two of three tracks, it's a gem and unlike very little I've heard around today - great for fans, a nightmare for marketing.

EX: Ex
This is where I hate getting the things - it can be so personal - vocalists, I mean. You all know that if you get an album where you simply don't get on with the sound of the guy's voice, no matter how good the music, you are simply not going to appreciate what the music as a whole has to offer. I'm afraid this is the case here. It's largely languid, rhythmic songs inhabiting a sort of downtempo ambient dub area, with the emphasis on dub, and I'm afraid the songs themselves, for me , weren't very memorable and I really didn't get anything out of this at all -hopefully someone else will.

FAT MONKEY: Demo
Two tracks that are kind of poppy, kind of indie, but really there's nothing there to provide that spark and it failed completely to move me in anyway at all - this is not a reflection on the band, I hope, but musically, missed my tastes by a mile.

F.L.A.G.: S/T
Just two tracks, but what gorgeous tracks they are. For a start there is this light and airy female vocal that warms the cockles of your heart the moment you hear it, captivating you totally, as the sparest of string-like synth backdrops, crisp percussive rhythmic support and resonant piano/guitar sound so celestial as the whole track is totally magical, the wordless vocals and sonic landscape just sounding so beautiful as the track progresses. The second track is more structured, in song-terms, sounding like a cosmic Shop Assistants or Darling Buds, as the gorgeous voice sings a truly wondrous song as the guitar, synth, bass and drums sound so fluid and heavenly, as the song itself unfolds to utterly captivating and emotion-wringing effect. Brilliant doesn't even come close and I have to hear more of this - much more. OK, so it's not for our label, but someone somewhere could do huge things with this if these two fantastic tracks are anything to go by.

F.O.B.: Love's A Woman's Game
Look - take note - you do NOT put in your press release that 'music history has been rewritten with.......' especially when the stuff on it is so darned appalling that even Radio Two is highly unlikely to give it the time of day for being too vacuous and faceless. Musical history rewritten? Give me strength - this is a collection of tastily assembled and orchestrated, well produced torch songs, ballads and stirring almost theatre-like anthems, with a female vocalist who can sing but nothing - and I mean NOTHING - that separates it from a million and one bands doing the same sort of thing here and all over the world. You'd get more substance from a heated jelly than you do out of this thing - hideous.

FREEVIEW: Demo
It always pays to hear the CD before reading the promo blurb, just so that, when the CD starts and the first comparison that comes to mind is undoubtedly Pearl Jam, you can then turn to the promo sheet to spot that you were absolutely right, since they quote them as just one of a number of influences that have gone to create their music. The opening track is a rampaging slice of rock that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Pearl Jam album, and is sheer class from start to finish, right down to the Vedder style vocals and some furious guitar work, all superbly produced. Unfortunately, for me, the following ballad just sounds plain ordinary and any magic immediately evaporates on an all-too dull track, the vocalist trying hard but the backing too restrained, the vocalist too strained. Then, just after the two minute mark, suddenly the track moves into guitar-driven overdrive and, while not exactly being 'rescued', certainly improves. The final track is another slice of rock thunder, this time more intense, slightly less Pearl jam in feel and sound, altogether more grungy, with some wicked wall-to-wall guitars/bass/drums, and a vocal that just about works, the guy again not quite having the vocal roar to make it turn from great to positively awesome, though you get the feel that, in time, this will happen. Excellent, in the main.

GOG AND THE NEVER ENDING FAIRY FAILLIE: Demo
Three tracks and twenty-one minutes of chilled-out ambience with rhythms and samples, electro-percussion and synths, tinkling electronics, organ-like backdrops, ethnic chanting - the works. Soubds great huh? Well, actually, there's something missing. The opener for example is downtempo ambience but somehow strangely stark sounding and never really getting anywhere, lost in its own circulating ambience that goes round and round and round and eventually just disappears. Track two is a lot more substantial, still far too stark for my liking, with a tinny drum machine sound too, but then seems just to be recycling a lot of the ideas from the first track in terms of construction, sound and dynamics, failing to fulfill the opening promise. Track three is fuller-sounding and at least different, but it substitutes melody for experimental, rhythmic for weirdness, comes across as quite fascinating but not exactly making your heart beat faster, and - guess what - yep, ends up with the same sense of unfulfillment as the rest of it. Sorry, I do hope the 20,000 copies that have been produced as a free giveaway are greeted better by others than I have done - best of luck, mate.

GUINEA PIG: S/T
Five tracks and twenty-three minutes of ambience, but perhaps not space music in the normal sense, for here we have the addition of percussive beats, rumbling bass, as drones and electronic layers conjure images of bleak and other-worldly lands, at first somewhat angular and edgy, but settling down into some smoothly travelling sonic delights as the seven minute opener continues. Track two introduces more of an obvious rhythm with lightly galloping electronic rhythms moving in cyclical motions against the sweeping cosmic backdrop, and this is largely the flavour of the piece. Track three is the most spacey yet, as rhythm-free textures and layers move in a fog-like manner through the inner recesses of your mind. Track four is more stuttering with twittering percussive rhythms, almost drum 'n' bass territory, while factory-like electronics burst into life all around the central framework of the track. Finally, the end features a gorgeous smooth landscape of electronics and textures that is the most cosmic and, I have to say, enjoyable, track on a pretty fine set of music, overall.

JOHN R HAZEL: Night Views
A synth album and right from track one, you are aware of several things. One is that the guy can certainly compose a melody and a tune. Next, unfortunately, is that the guy has equipment limitations. Good tunes or not, there is a sparseness to it all, indicative of, although not necessarily the case, that the musician is playing it on a relatively modest setup. The problem with this is that the market for this style of music is overcrowded at the best of times, and it really needs something particularly exceptional to shine through. This, while incredibly pleasant and easy on the ear, is sadly just too simple. The whole thing is neatly created and parts of it sound almost classical, but it's really what you'd call an 'easy listening, almost MOR' synth album, and, for me, just too bland to promote. Ideas are at work but it really needs a lot more than this if it's not just to become another face in the crowd.

RICHARD K: The Blue Planet Experience
Well - it's electronic, rhythmic, beaty, bouncy, solid and melodic; it's catchy, instant, full-sounding, has a sense of purpose for both home-listener and dancefloor diva, but there's nothing in it that says 'look at me - I'm anyway different from the mass of similar trance/techno practitioners out there'. It's got all the right ingredients of rhythms, acid synth swirls, beats and layers, lead lines flowing on top of a rhythmic cauldron that bobs along merrily, but there's no real identity, He comes quite close to being Mark Shreeve on track four, with its lead melody that rises through the mix and the first thing on the CD that genuinely send a shiver up your spine as you warm to a very commercial and accessible but, in this case, well delivered composition. Track five shows more originality as half-whispered vocals join the proceedings, the pace is decelerated slightly and the overall feel of the track more eerie but then the beats and melodies take over more and the track actually turns into a neat slice of echoed, multi-synth music that is more synth than trance but crosses both lines easily enough. Track five drops the rhythms altogether to show off his more symphonic compositional side, while the final track returns to the earlier territory, only again the sequencers and beats straddling a line between synth and trance that will probably not sit so easily with either audience. If you like melodies, it's choc full of them, if you like rhythms it's got them by the score, but if you want originality, you'll have to look elsewhere. For its style - synth music brought into the '90's arena - it's well enough played, produced and composed - but I need more than what is on offer here - a lot more.

STEPHEN KING: S/T CD
On track one, the musician clearly indicates that he has the ideas in his head and is prepared to use them, so you get a near six minute track that features synth melodies, the briefest of guitar leads, even briefer samples, then back to more synth melodies, all over the chunkiest of rhythms, albeit a bit one-dimensional. The problem here, is that there are good ideas at work but the textures need to be explored and the rhythms varied, so that a track like this should last around eight or nine minutes and have a more varied rhythm pattern. Clearly the musical result is good but strangely too much of a good thing in too little space, where the lead work is concerned, while the rhythm needs more to it than just the chunky plod. The second track decelerates the pace and shows even more that when it comes to melodies, and this time tunes, the musician has talent, turning in a quite emotional set of leads across the synths, keys and effects, although again, ideas that could easily have stretched to greater length and, sadly, again, another rhythm base that, for the melodies involved, needed to be more varied. Finally, the three minute closer is a beat track, somehow getting it spot on by not trying to throw too much in and letting the guitar work do the talking set against a multi-layered synth backdrop, but a rather weak drum machine rhythm, so that the strengths of the lead work more than offset the lacklustre rhythmic backing. Good stuff, but needs more development before being a finished set of tracks that would be taken up for release.

DAVID KOVACEVIC: Singer Songwriter
Whereas Mr Wilson (see below) is stuck in the seventies (fine if you like that sort of thing), this guy is well and truly rooted in the eighties (eighties pop at that - fine if you like that sort of thing) and it's all exceedingly bouncy, sometimes more electronic, sometimes more guitar, but some tracks seeming to have a reggae heart which, rather than adding to the commerciality ends up being more at odds with it. Throughout the album, you are reminded of several great pop acts of the eighties, Spandau Ballet for one, but you get the feeling that the songs couldn't even get arrested at a Metropolitan Police Convention - there's nothing memorable even though there are plenty of hooks and much of it is severely cliched. Not for me I'm afraid, but I'll bet there's a few out there that will....

LE DEUX: Le Deux De Nous
Starts off as 'Hounds of Love' style Kate Bush, with a haunting quality to the song, some neat synth and piano backdrops, a sultry female vocalist who's largely lower register in comparison to Ms Bush, and a resonant rhythmic backing from synth and percussion, on a song which, while not exactly the most commercial of things, is still quite transfixing. The follow-up track is in similar vein while track three gets altogether more strange, bouncy synths and poinging synth bass leaping about the place as the vocal, low down and eerie, intones the song, but not a style that I found particularly hypnotic. Track four is back in Bush/Amos territory but the voice is a bit too far back in the mix and the synth overpowers a bit, but it's a neat track with more of that haunting quality that kept you hooked for the first couple. The industrial depths of track five just do not work, while, track six is again more exploratory as whispered but firm vocals fight with the string synths and rumbling percussives/sequencer. Overrall, it's original, for sure, quite dark in many ways and I could imagine in a much bigger studio, the result appealing very much to the darkwave industrial heavenly vocal audience.

MEGABOP: Interworld
Hmmm....the spectre of all sorts of eighties electro-bands is alive and well inside the pulsing heart of this electro-pop machine - Human League, Yello, M and a ton of others who all probably had a hit then faded away, but whose names refuse to come to mind. It really is amazingly well produced, with every element crystal clear, loads of harmony and multi-tracked vocals, songs with extremely (I hope) tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and some that are horribly catchy if you know what I mean. They really should form an eighties tribute band instead - but someone, somewhere will get something out of this - only it won't be us.

MINDZEYE: Parallels
Two track demo from a band whose promo blurb screams out at you in big letters "Sign Us Up" as the first thing you see. So, should we? Well, on the strength of this, a definite 'yes', only we can't so some other lucky sod will have the privilege. Actually, it's more a one track demo because the title track lasts nearly seven of the nine minutes, so let's deal with that. It starts in fierce fashion with the sound of surging prog-rock synths, electric guitars, bass and drums, all with a depth, power, resonance and dynamics that are simply divine, let alone the xcellent production which transcends mere demo status. This section drops to reveal the vocals, the all-important bit, and they're pretty darned fine - needs bit more overdubbing or harmonies, or maybe just extra production, but for what is essentially a live raw vocal, it's fine and certainly in keeping with the music. The track itself charges and dives through assorted passages, with some red hot electric guitar leads dominating the solo space, with synths coming into their own and witht he guitars later on, but the solo space kept to just the righr length as the track twists and turns, but a full enough sound for all that. I have to say that I was absolutely riveted to the whole thing and, as a cracking example of thoughtfully composed, superbly delivered prog-rock, this is one to treasure and bite your nails in anticipation of their first full-length album which, on the evidence of this demo, should be outstanding.

JEWL MOSTELLER: Popera
A couple of tracks from a female whose looks, as a red-blooded male, immediately draw you to the thing for a start. Listening to it reveals that you're in dance territory, specifically the door marked 'trance', as the opener steams in on a gorgeous wave of ambient-trance before the vocal diva enters. It's then you get the shock of your life as this huge, operatic vocal comes surging out of the ether, pitch-perfect and sounding juts so strange aginst a classic trance-style backing. Between this and the odd whispered spoken-word passage, you are in a land of operatic trance that is just so weird as to be totally engaging, on a sort of Euro-trance level. Bizarre, but as a track, I can imagine it becoming quite addictive, if the vocal doesn't get to you first. The second track carries on in similar vein but setting a hymn to a trance backing and delivering the vocal in an opera style is, for me, a big mistake and I'm afraid misses by a mile. But that voice and the first track could well deliver the goods to a lot of people.

NACOYA: Demo
From Scotland, there is a decided feel of Stone The Crows in here as a Maggie Bell style vocal leads what is essentially a rock-soul band through teo tracks that wouldn't have sounded out of place on an Average White Band album. She puts her heart and soul into the emotive vocals while a sort of mix of wah-wah guitar, organ and funky, steaming rhythm section sail through the two tracks with ease. Not in any way my 'sort of thing', but it's certainly well done, that's for sure.

JAMES NEWCOMBE: Incubator Demos
This guy takes an interesting approach to the way he sends his music demos. You see, what we have here are eight tracks in eight minutes, a bizarre thing to do but each miniscule piece being a taster of what the guy can do. The thing it reveals is that, as a solo synthesist/keyboards player, he clearly can play with atmosphere and warmth. All but two of the tracks are delicate pieces that do make you want to hear whole things, although while the playing and composing is good, the mood favourable, the feel mixing prog and synth, it's arguable as to whether there's enough going on to distinguish itself from many other similar artists. But I'd definitely like to hear whole pieces.

ORIGIN BLOOD: Demo
Hellfire - is this band good or what!!! Someone's been overdosing on their Metallica albums, yet it's got a clear sensibility of nu-era metal with the complex anthemic qualities of a band such as System Of A Down, right down to the vocal range of wicked lead and harmonised chorus. Musically, they have got the songs spot-on with some surging rhythms and storming guitar work, as the less extreme end of death metal, the modern feel of nu-era metal and the sheer overwhelming monster that is twenty years of classic metal, all combine on one glorious metallic assault. But the real key here is the song-writing and arranging which are at an optimal high, ensuring maximum metal enjoyment from start to finish. I played this CD all the way through - just couldn't stop - and to be honest, can't wait to go home tonight to repeat the experience - even louder!!! This band should be big - no, huge!!!! Superb.

PHOSPHORIC: S/T
Same problem as the "Ex" thing with, this time, a female vocalist the sound of whose tones just left me right cold indeed. Even worse, there was just nothing about the songs that appealed to me and the only thing you can do in a case like this is say 'best of luck and thanks anyway, but I'm not the man for you'.

REWIND: 3-Track Demo
Nineteen minutes is noticed as you put it in the player, while, musically, the first thing you notice, is an intro that is right out of the cascading feel, if not exactly the sound, of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", only here with an added acoustic element, but then it leaps right into the main body of the song, changing mood and shape with a soaring female vocal and a more overtly folk-progressive feel as male vocal is added and the track becomes stronger, dual vocals intertwining and playing off each other to a quite gorgeous extent as the song unfolds, vocals upfront, prog backing intact but more delicate than most with drums, bass, flute and a sort of restrained electric guitar in there too, plus more of that Floydian acoustic guitar sound. Overall, a seven minute track that is remarkably good for a demo and more than holds its own against many in this field. Track two enters on a more forceful guitar lead that hooks you right from the start, settles down a tad, a vocal (male - would have preferred the female one here, but that's just personal preference) begins and the song, this time more of a brooding builder, develops and rises as the arrangements add more guitars and rhythm section, but the vocal is really too dry here for the strength of the songs as a whole, and you really do feel that the female voice would have worked a whole lot better. But it's a fine track in itself that could have been a real gem. Track three is a bit more Floydian, more for the guitars as synths are absent, although a mellotron-like backing is there at the back and what sounds like a slithering slide guitar adds a neat dimension to the arrangements. Again, the vocal is a bit dry but the song achieves its aims and builds superbly, showing its class and that this lot can ceratinly deliver the goods when it comes to writing and playing, arranging and producing. So, better vocals, and this could be seriously hot stuff.

RINGO LEVIO: A Secret Mind Of Evil
Now what principal someone uses to send to you a demo lasting just five minutes when you are not a radio station, I'm not quite sure, but if the idea is to leave you wanting to hear more, then this lot have certainly succeeded, for this is superb. Based around speaker-panning ambient electronics, deep resonant electronic bass, chunky sounding electronic percussion, a mysterious spoken-word sample and a full-sounding mix with an air of darkness, this is amazing stuff, that's so atmospheric, so solid and something I'll be playing one hell of a lot as it rolls inexorably by. Superb - more please.

(THE) SEPIA: Demo
Starts off with a sequencer line, then a few seconds in, it bursts into this heavy duty industrial blast of percussive beats, throbbing bass, swirling synths and flowing leads, making no bones about going for in for the kill right from the off. But it's not all nail-your-ears-to-the-floor, as they have a good sense of dynamics, taking things right down briefly before reassembling the maelstrom. As a mix of synth, trance and industrial, it's got the right elements of commerciality, home listening enjoyment and foot-tapping industrial dancefloor appeal. Track two starts right out of the Weathermen stable, almost like an instrumental rendition of their classic 'Poison' single with this massive synth bass line, chunky percussives, pounding bottom end and an array of synth leads soaring all over the place - pure heaven and one storming track that is catchy industrial electronic dancefloor at its best. Track three is slightly slower but no less solid, although a touch more ethereal on the dynamic bits, but there's this huge weight of electronic drums pounding the beat as the synths fly and flutter on top, with a canopy of string synths all around the central framework, and again, another catchy but really solid slice of instrumental excellence. Finally the fourth track and this time they take it as a more flowing type of track with more layers than ever, more melodies and less pounding, yet illustrating they can deliver this type of track with strength, delivered with a passion for what they are playing showing a human heart at the centre of the synths, drums and sequencers. This is first rate stuff and the sort of thing that was done so well in the industrial eighties, but now, with modern technology, sounds even better, the crucial thing being that they can compose a good tune or two along the way. Hot stuff.

NEIL SMITH: Demo
Six tracks in sixteen minutes and things don't start too promising with a track that is led heavily by this xylophone-like percussive rhythm and a sort of oboe-sounding instrument, yet overlaid with a most exquisite synth layer and featuring several piano forays that have all the heart and feel of classic Clear Light - with less of the aforementioned percussive/reed passages and more electronics substituting, this would be a very good piece indeed. Track two is slower and more languid with a neat line in tasty leads from piano, guitar, string synth and percussion, full of melody but in danger of veering too much toward easy listening territory in terms of synth/keyboard music enjoyment. Track three is also relaxed and laid-back but here there is an electric guitar lead over the drums and synths that takes you to heaven and back, again with touches of the Verdeaux piano stylings in there. Here, too, there is just not enough power there and it strolls rather than strides, but it's still one superb track when all's said and done. Track four is based more around the piano as lead with assorted layers of drums and string synths backing it all up, only a couple of minutes yet the final half largely wasted after the promising start as the track suddenly, for no apparent reason, stops and changes mood completely. Track five has all the feel and to an extent the sound of that awesome bass synth so prominently used on the excellent series 'Robin Of Sherwood' by Clannad, but then he goes and buries the effect in lashings of synths and melodies, creating a track that is more icing and less cake as it goes. It's good but with more mood, more of an eerie feel and a bit more restraint in the instrumental department, it could have been better. Final trackl is really a piano/synths piece that's got classical leanings, is very melodic, and highly reminiscent of Verdeaux's Clear Light once more, and could actually almost have been a lost demo from the original "ClearLight Symphony" album. Promising for sure, it need someone to put him on the right track so that an eventual album would sell.

SPACE JUNK: Demo
Playing a highly intence brew of music, this is a kind of weird space-rock inhabiting a world where grungy guitars and echoing piano (yes, piano!!!) sit side-by-side as songs that run the gamut from slow and strong to all-out attack, are revealed. The guitars and bass are more stoner than anything while the vocals are sort of holllered, and the drums pound away, but it's the occasional presence of that piano that unnerves and seems oddly out of place. Overall, can't say I liked it much and to be honest, it failed to inspire me to anything other than recognition that someone, somewhere will get off on this.

SPIRITUAL PREJUDICE: Demo
Interesting first track that sounds like a fuzzed-synth rendition of some lost Ayers or Wyatt track, that comparison simply down to the brief way they come in with the wordless vocal in the middle bit, but in the main, it's synths and quite wild. Track two again features a mix of electronics that you'd never think of putting together as a bouncy sequencer rhythm, piano melody, church choir, bass synths and electro-percussives stride manfully along as a brief refrain from, of all things, a blues harmonica, adds a whole new dimension to what is a standout track, that becomes more and more addictive with every play and a totally novel idea done to perfection. In the first few seconds of track three, there's acoustic guitar, a weird classical piano run, bass synth, percussives as it suddenly transforms into a song led by a female vocalist with a chunky drum rhythm, wicked bass line and haunting voice, as string synths emerge and a quite beautiful song emerges as synth melodies enter in brief bursts, on another highly engaging track. Track three is more subdued initially as lilting bass, far-off female voice and electronics are heard before the song proper starts and a neat slice of percussive driven ambient dub-meets-heavenly voice emerges with piano and synths providing an exquisite musical backdrop to another haunting song. Track foru is more sublime drum 'n' bass as the vocals combine with a chilled-out rhyth and acres of synths, deep bass and elctronics with a decided ambient dub feel pervading the process as well to great effect. Track 6 is multi-layered and reflective combining many elements of aforementioned instrumental landscapes with wordless voices and a generally spacious setting, while the final track continues in a similar vein only more solid with a deep, dark rhythm bass and some really engaging percussive work as eerie synths, choirs and string synths bring the demo to a beautiful end. Very good from start to finish, this is both commercial and musically satisfying, working on many levels and, while it's not the musical style we would want for our label here, in the wider horizons of the music industry, somebody should, and that's for sure.

TERMINAL THREE: Humpty
Well, you can't deny we don't get the whole range of music sent to us here at CDS Towers - this one's a four track demo that opens with a sort of restrained bluesy version of old style Dire Straits only with the lyrical development of a backward monkey. You sort of sit there wondering where it's all going, only to realise it doesn't. Then comes track two and you realise, even hope, that they've got their tongues firmly in their collective cheeks, for anyone who starts a song with the lyrics, 'she was thirty-eight stone, looks like a gorilla' cannot be serious. Yet it's all delivered with an air of menace as a hazy phased vocal and this percussive based cloudy backing lends the song a starkness it probably deserves. Track three is similar only here it's less easy to hear the lyrics but by now you're past caring - trouble is then you hear the lyrics and it gets even worse, so you forget track four, turn off and cast it into the demo mire, never to be seen again - sorry people, back to the drawing board.

THREADNEEDLE STREET: March 02 Demo
Three tracks and fifteen minutes may not sound a lot, but tin these hands it amounts to much more. 'Aunt Edith Is Coming' starts things off with a wickedly resonant slice of rolling dub rhythms, melodic keyboards, sweeping strings and surrounding synth backdrops, as all the time this shuffling percussive and low-end bass rumble propel the track forward in a gloriously smoky haze of psychedelic dub majesty. The whole thing is quite supreme and utterly engaging, the sort of track you simply can't wait to play over and over again. Actually when it ended around the seven minute mark, I found myself wanting another fifteen minutes or so - loved it. 'Yesterday Dub' opens with beautifully mournful cello sounds, as another gently paced but strong-sounding dub rhythm begins, a spoken word sample emerges as the track is graced with a subtle string synth line, classic dub stylings and a sort of floating, flowing river of relaxed ambience that totally chills you out as the rhythms and soundscapes cruise effortlessly onwards - again quite superb, and also at four minutes, could have done with more...........which is lucky really, as the third track, 'Yesterday' carries on where the previous one left off - then you realise it is actually the same track, only here with an added vocal, thankfully largely multi-tracked and sombre, in keeping with the feel of the track as a whole and working pretty well, altho' leaving the vocal lead free and solitary seemed a tad out of place when it happens, but that's only a few seconds so nothing to spoil the overall effect. One fine and quite addictive demo full of downtempo ambience and wonderfully chilled.

ALEX TRONIC: Demo
Hmmmm....hate the name, but love the music. Two tracks that mix breaks and synths with ease to produce something that is really muscular yet with all the warmth of great ambient synth music and the melodic content of the best flowing synth music. The first, five minute, track has a really solid electronic percussive rhythm at its heart, while over this, an assortment of phased and flowing multi-synth leads fly along on top, but all with a huge canopy of sound, so that both rhythms are lead layers are at the forefront of proceedings. It's all good solid music - the sort of thing you never tire of hearing. The second track has a feel to it that is just sublime as mid-paced chunky rhythms of the electro-percussive variety drive along a top layer of very warm string-like synths, flowing cosmic synths and, surprise surprise, an electric guitar lead, used sparingly for maximum effect. The sound is actually a bit tinny but you almost feel that's by design, but there's no disguising the mix of rhythmic, melodic and cosmic ingredients that make this track both accessible and easily digestible without being overly sweet at one end or too industrial at the other.

VELDT: S/T
This is a trio from Brighton who are moving into some quite individual electronic music realms. The opener features some quite industrial sounding but at the same time melodic electronics and electro-percussives plus guitar distance and a smooth, higher register voice that glides over the deceptively harsh background, the two atmospheres playing off each other to great effect, as it hooks you firmly and squarely. Track two features a phased vocal, more of the sweet-sounding, hushed vocal and layers of electronic and percussive rhythms, this time slower and less hard, as the song unfolds, its two vocal elements adding to the strange and rich nature of the flowing composition. The final track leads with a sort of foggy drum 'n' bass rhythm, but adds layers of guitars, percussives, electric piano and theremin-like sounds, as once more, the vocals emerge above the heady electronic atmospheres. Overall, I wouldn't exactly say it was my cup of tea, but it is splendid stuff for the genre, and quite unique in many ways, a factor that I hope will lead to greater things - you could actually imagine them being able to do some incredibly sounding ambient remixes of other people's works if this is anything to go by.

XANNONH: Demo
Our first musician from Barcelona for a while and a guy who can sure write a good tune, with much of the work done on piano, proving that he can play, compose, deliver with feeling and produce a good sound. But sadly the synth work, as with so many of these demos, yet again, is far from what you can release as a commercial venture, although I have to say that at least this guy attempts to chuck in more layers than most. While the opener is OK, if nothing special, the second track does have a distinct Mike Oldfield quality to it, and it just makes you wish someone could unleash this guy into a studio filled with decent equipment, for the talent is there. Track three is another nice synth melody above gentle electro-percussive rhythms but here with added spice from sitar sounds, swirling space synths and a solid percussion line. Not a bad track it has to be said, but still not enough to make the thing be greete with acclaim by a discerning and electronically overloaded listening public. Track four is more melodies, more rhythms, generally a lot simpler and sadly more vacuous. Elsewhere, other tracks follow a similar course. It's all well enough done, but there's nothing here that makes you go 'whoooaahhhh' ands want to play again - and if that's not there, you haven't a hope.