by:James Lyon, Dave Katzman, & William Phillips

In a world filled with bands copying a sound they know will sell, it is hard to find an original way to make your own music, The JLDJ seems to have found one.

The lyrics for the majority of the songs are nothing more than two or three word descriptions that add up to form the idea behind the song. An example from Falling Stars:Laser white/Frightened eyes/Can’t disguise/The changes.

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The lead singer has a soft, hushed voice that sounds a lot like Geoff Tate from Queensryche; he delivers the vocals in a rushed, excited way in an attempt to bring a little more depth to the music.

The band’s sound consists mostly of keyboards and synthesizers that give the music a very simple feel to it, and the music is usually pretty good. The songs are also not bad considering they get their point across without rambling on forever like some singers do today.

The simple fact is I liked this CD, and at the same time I didn’t. I would recommend it, and at the same time I wouldn’t. For some reason, the band has a good idea, but it need to develop its technique a little more before the next album. They seem to be standing in a proverbial purgatory. The group could easily become popular or easily forgotten depending on what it does with its sound.

I should give this a grade of C, but I respect The JLDJ for attempting something different. Some of the songs are actually pretty good in a weird sort of way. They offer a little variety in a time when variety is hard to come by, so it gets a…

Don Caballero Don Caballero 2 (Touch and Go)

Imagine the bastard son of Heavy Metal and Post-Punk procreating with the beautiful daughter of Jazz and Avant-Garde. Their union would produce a child named Don Caballero.

More chaotic than For Respect, Don Caballero’s first album, the eight-song release by the Pittsburgh group has no lyrics, not needing any to produce feeling or emotion. Each song flows like an unpredictable weather pattern, sometimes tranquil, sometimes stormy, sometimes raining as the sun beams down.

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The structure of the songs is loose, but the musicians play tightly, moving from rhythm to rhythm without transition at times. Drummer Damon Che is all over his kit, playing fast and frantically like the Muppets Animal, even when the dual guitars and bass settle into a mellower groove. Che’s drums continue jazzy even as the other instruments move into different realms, providing the anchor that keeps Don Caballero 2 tethered to Earth.

The jazz dips into the avant-garde at times. At the end of the 11-minute opus please tokio, please THIS IS TOKIO, feedback whines for more than two minutes straight, accompanied by a sound that could be a power drill on a cymbal and punctuated by rim shots and roto-toms.

If I was to imagine jazz for Generation ecchs, this is probably the aural vision that would come to my mind.

Kool G Rap 4,5,6 (Cold Chillin’ /Epic Street)

Kool G. Rap is back after a two- year absence from the hip-hop scene with his long-awaited fourth project, this time without long-time companion D. J. Polo.

Known as the microphone celo champ, Kool G Rap’s hard-hitting voice flows like the Nile over butter tracks such as Happy by Surface.

Kool G. Rap’s lisp complements the banging energetic tracks throughout 4,5,6. His lyrics bring hip-hop back to its essence with his illustrating rhymes. He takes the listener’s mind to a new plateau, where one can visualize what he is rhyming about.

4,5,6 is like a horror movie script about the social ills and lifestyles of the inner cities in America.

4,5,6 is surely a straight hit like celo, the dice game it is named for.

(William C. Phillips III) A