Short Bursts #1, July 2004  

Deluged with some great records the last couple of months, I’ve decided to start a column to give you a little taste of some of the great new artists out there.  Thus Short Bursts was born.  Let’s get right to it with these five:

A fine eponymous debut from pop singer/songwriter Jennifer Marks comes to us courtesy of the Bardic label.  This gal’s got the looks and the chops—she would have been a fantastic Lilith Fair headliner if it were still up and running.  Radio-friendly tunes like the first single “Live” and the folk stylings of “Raggedy Ann” have the potential to have the masses entranced.  

(5/10)

Las Vegas rockers The Killers’debut Hot Fuss is an interesting mix of synth pop and radio rock, building on the successes of newer groups like Hot Hot Heat and Franz Ferdinand.  Highly danceable and infectious, “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Somebody Told Me” could become mainstays on a nation of music geeks’ mixtapes.  

(6/10)

The industrial/EBM music of Central and South America is growing in profile on a global basis with the success of acts like Hocico, whose abrasive brand of death disco has earned them a lot of praise.  In that vein is the self-titled debut from Argentineans Punto Omega (on Metropolis Records).  With instant genre classics like “Guerra en los Cielos” and “Tempestades De Cambio” alongside moody slow numbers like “La Fusion” (which features the downright scary Thomas Rainer on vocals), Punto Omega stand to change the very face (and Germanic bias) of industrial music forever. 

(8/10)

On a somewhat smoother tip is the debut from Asura entitled Lost Eden.  Following in the footsteps of the mellow works of Moby and Enigma, Asura’s interest in mingling global culture with electronic beats yields interesting results in compositions like “Raindust” and the gorgeous “Requiem from nowhere”. 

(6/10)

Memphis songwriter Andy Grooms (playing with friends as Andy Grooms Living Room) puts forth Grateful To Burn on the successful Makeshift collective label.  The result is quirky and intimate and carries with it the subtle shades of a steamy Memphis evening.  “Mary or Mephisto” and the title track are exceptional tunes, and “The Great Headlight” officially puts him way above that Cory guy in my book as a songwriter of merit.

(7/10)

That’s it for me for this month!  Come back at the end of August when I’ll have more records you haven’t heard but need to check out…