by Mark E. Waterbury

(hed) Planet Earth - Blackout
Jive Records - 01241-41817-2
SoCal's hedPE's third album "Blackout" hones their marriage of hip hop and metal to razor edge wielded like Paul Bunyon's ax. The fierce guitar fueled power rock is laced with funky trip hop passages and fiery rhythms becomes the perfect foil for Jahred's vocals which range from rap preaching to guttural howl and every stop in between, with lyrics that drive straight into your soul. The result keeps the music fresh, from the driving "Suck It Up" to the hard core funk of "Dangerous" and the gritty metallic "Flesh and Bone." HedPE may not have been the first rap/metal band out there, but with "Blackout", they have proven again that they are one of the most innovative purveyors of this hybrid. URL: www.hedpe.com E-mail: acaganpr@aol.com

Teresa Russell & Cocobilli - Show You What Love Can Do
Mojo Loon Records
Teresa Russell is highly regarded as one of the top female ax slingers around. With "Show You What Love Can Do," she shows not only that she can hold her own with many of her male peers, but also has a deep well of songwriting talent to draw from as well. Although there are plenty of chances to hear her stellar guitar abilities, she's not overly flashy which works well with the music which is pure hard rock with subtleties of country, metal and blues. Her gutsy vocals are another dimension, adeptly handling heavy rockers like the title track and sweet ballads such as "Is This the Time." URL: www.teresarussell.com E-mail: trmusic@teresarussell.com

Queue - Waiting to Hear...
This six song debut from Queue, a foursome from the college laden area of High Point, North Carolina won't disappoint the younger crowd with influences including the Jayhawks, U2 and Coldplay. Jangly but edgy folk rock with emotive vocals and just the right hooks. "Minor Thing" melds a mellow groove with an ambient intensity. The guitars get a bit more fuzzy power crunch in the popish "Breathe," one of the more radio friendly songs. A wonderful first glimpse that shows solid potential. URL: www.queuemusic.com E-mail: Regalagent@yahoo.com

Marc Diffendal - Lava Lamp Explosion
Neon Pie Records - NPR02031
Rollicking lead track "Drop Dead Attitude" on the new CD by Greensboro, North Carolina's Marc Diffendal makes you think a bit of Dire Straits laced with strands of country, hair metal guitar soloing and an alt edge. "Break My Guitar" and "Lucky at Love" show more Brit pop stylings. The most unique aspect of this seemingly strange stew is Marc weaves the styles together in such a comforting way. The songs are hook driven but the subtle use of a multitude of styles provides serious spice and gives the music a decided edge. URL: www.neonpie.com E-mail: marc@neonpie.com

Church of Betty - Tripping With Wanda
Fang Records
When you hear the twangy sitar on the first track by New York's Church of Betty, you think retro. And there is that 60's psychedelic feel, but it's a lot more progressive. You hear further elder influences like the Beatles or Renaissance, but there is a modern pulse, evident in songs like "Electric Chair" and "Dirty Waters." Chris Rael, brainchild of this project has assembled a top notch group of musicians that contribute intricate brush strokes to the overall mosaic. Many of the songs have a snappy groove, with sly lyrics and vocals with a slight nod towards Peter Garrett. URL: www.churchofbetty.com E-mail: info@fangrecords.com

Fire-Dean - Custom Deluxe
Hotdog Records - 5313CD
Vocalist, guitarist and sampler Fire-Dean provides an intense mixture of trip hop, acid folk and the right touches of rock and alt where needed. With an extra rhythmic jolt from bassist Debbie Barry and drummer Will Amland from the group The Udders, the music here takes conventional styles and turns it both inside out and upside down. With healthy doses of throbbing electronic backdrops, Fire-Dean's vocal work ranges from Zappa-esque to Eminem to Tom Waites with several interesting sideroads. Unique and refreshing in a slyly twisted way. URL: www.firedean.com E-mail: firedean@firedean.com

Tracylyn - Good Rain
Cellar Records - CL0066
Suburban Chicago's Tracylyn Lendi has a great country voice that has a more bluesy quality ala early Bonnie Raitt with a bit of Dolly Parton inflection. The music that is the vocal vehicle is a solid weaving of more rootsy stylings and modern pop country hooks. The result is music that is unpretentious and thoroughly enjoyable. Snappy rocking songs like "Get Me Goin'" and "Sweet Charity" are interspersed with emotive ballads, especially the prolific "My Babies and I." A great balance of solid music, with something for all eras of country fans. URL: www.tracylynlendi.com E-mail: tracylyn@tracylynlendi.com

Massiv Da Bigman - Global
Mass Appeal Records - MA5528
While many rappers are mellowing a bit, New Orleans' Massiv Da Bigman says a big 'f**k that' with this disc. Unexpurgated and raw, Massiv reminds the music world that rap began in the harsh streets of inner city America, and he pulls no punches at driving his point home. Even though the lyrics are brashly vulgar, he obviously believes in what he is saying, the expletives in this case augmenting his messages rather than being used for shock value. Comparisons can be drawn to another "big" rapper; the late Biggie Smalls. The sampling and throbbing beats in the background is a well crafted avenue to drive Massiv's gritty poignant street poetry through. URL: www.massappealrecords.com E-mail: peliroja23@aol.com

Jeremy Park - Phase 1
L.A. singer/songwriter Jeremy Park whets the musical appetite with this four song demo. The snarling alt rock hooks with a folk edge are graced by Jeremy's intense voice, which finds a nice midground between Billy Bragg and Gavin Rossdale. The rocking lead track "My Life" is balanced but the emotive alt folk of "The Great Unknown." In this first glimpse, Jeremy shows the ability to write songs that could be radio friendly, but edgy enough to attract an underground crowd as well. URL: www.jeremypark.net E-mail: jeremy@jeremypark.net

Judge Drain - 3 song demo
Four headed metal monster Judge Drain is another band that gives hope for the future of metal. One of the reasons is the fairly melodic vocal approach, injected with occasionally gruff forays in the right places. Musically you can feel influences like Overkill, Tool and early Metal Church, with guitars that are more power than mere noise and solid metal hooks backed by thundering rhythms. A bit raw yet but they show solid potential especially with songwriting as it's just a bit different then everything else out there. URL: www.judgedrain.com E-mail: mailto:LionessMgmt@aol.com

Book Review: Famous Wisconsin Musicians by Susan Masino
Music journalist Susan Masino has turned her perceptive mind, writing talents and research abilities towards letting the world know about the musicians and bands who either emanated from her home state of Wisconsin or had prominent involvement at some point of their careers and/or lives with the Badger state. The book actually starts off with a forward written by perhaps the most famous Wisconsin musician; the legendary Les Paul, followed by Masino's introductory brief that provides a glimpse of how closely knit a family Wisconsin's music scene could be at times. Masino launches into thirty-two in-depth chapters about musicians ranging from old standards like Luther Allison, Liberace and Woody Herman to modern rockers such as Butch Vig, Dokken's Jeff Pilson and R.E.M.'s Bill Berry. Culling info from various avenues including her own interviews with the likes of Les Paul, Adrian Belew and Carl Allen, Masino provides interesting facts, anecdotes and stories about each musician that often shows how small a world it really is with the multitude of famous musicians who have connections with Wisconsin and its indigenous musicians. There's music history such as how Les Paul helped bring tape recorders to America, how singer Hildegarde became one of the first musical TV stars and the Chordettes' friendship with George Burns. Gen-X readers will enjoy the chapters on how Butch Vig's production of Nirvana's "Nevermind" helped lead to his success with his band Garbage, and the almost surreal way that Milwaukee faves the Violent Femmes were discovered. A later chapter has smaller blurbs on musicians with Wisconsin connections, including a famous incident when Elvis broke up a fight at a gas station while on his way to a concert in Madison, and the fact that the score for the "Wizard of Oz" was penned by Wisconsinite Herbert Stothart. This book is great not just for folks from America's Dairyland, but with so many facts and stories that your average person probably did not realize about famous musicians and bands it can be enjoyed by music fans from all across the nation. As she proved with her previous e-book "Rock and Roll Fantasy" as well as with numerous regional publications, Masino is a prolific journalist with a flair for lively writing in formats that other writers tend to take too much of a utilitarian approach to. Her painstaking research in looping one corner of the Heartland into the world of music results in a book that is easy to read and also intelligent, intriguing and quite enjoyable, even if you thought cheese and the Green Bay Packers were the only famous aspects of Wisconsin. Available through http://www.badgerbooks.com