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Sound check Mixed bagNew CDs put a fresh spin on things Lao-loam
The first single, �Kvam Pa Ya Yam You Tee Nai (Are You Trying),� is a medium-paced, modern rock song that mixes in some Britpop sounds. �Lalla Girl� clearly presents Lao-Loam�s signature style with a quirky pop beat. The songs on this album are all about love. The language is quite straightforward, so there�s no change in the lyrics. Despite a slightly harder, more mature sound, Lao-Loam stick to their style for people who love good pop-rock sounds. � VH Various Artists
Most of the bands on the CD seem to be heavily influenced by British new wave bands like The Fall and Gang of Four, as well as more recent bands in a similar vein, like the Arctic Monkeys. It�s not bad stuff to be influenced by, but it doesn�t lead to much originality, and most of the bands on this compilation sound pretty much the same. The best tracks are the ones that find interesting ways to vary the post-punk formula. �The Beast� by Revenge of the Cybermen has an interesting, synth-driven cyber-rock feel. Naked�s track �Turn on the Radio� stands out with its jerky rhythms, while �This Nite� by Samurai Loud is full of tasty riffs and hooks. The contributions from Super Dr K, Cuckoo, Tabasco and Zero Hero also have plenty of energy and flair. Mind the Gap may not contain the most original music around, but the raw energy of all the bands featured makes a nice alternative to the over-produced pop that tends to dominate the charts. � BE Rivers Cuomo
The demos were recorded over a long period of time, spanning the whole of Weezer�s output, and on some of the earlier tracks, the audio quality is fairly poor. While �Lemonade� and �This is a Way� don�t quite live up to the better moments of The Blue Album or Pinkerton, they�re still better than many songs from Weezer�s latest effort. The real gems in this collection are �Blast Off,� �Wanda (You�re My Only Love),� �Superfriend,� �Lover in the Snow� and �I Was Made for You.� The rest of the songs would most likely only interest hardcore fans. The first track is simply Cuomo doing a vocal exercise, while �The Bomb� is a cover of an Ice Cube track featuring all sorts of weird Beastie Boys-type distortion. The cover of Gregg Alexander�s �The World We Love so Much� shows a serious side of Cuomo�s vocals that fans don�t get to hear too often. Overall, Alone is a real hodgepodge of material. Anybody looking for an album�s worth of solid material will likely be disappointed. Hardcore fans will be able to enjoy the gems here, while casual listeners would be better off waiting for Weezer�s sixth studio album. � TB
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With a more adult image, Lao-Loam present their third album,
Try. This record sees them getting more deeply involved in the
production, and you can hear the development of their musical skills. The music
here is a little harder � they mix more rock with their usual pop sound. 
Mind the Gap is a compilation of 12 new Thai indie
rock bands put together by a crew that�s been organising regular gigs in
Bangkok and Chiang Mai. 
Rivers Cuomo is the frontman of Weezer, one of the most
popular acts in the American alternative music scene. Alone is a collection
of lo-fi home recordings that he made sporadically between 1992 and 2007. It
features a lot of previously unreleased songs, as well as a few covers. �Buddy
Holly,� the song that helped propel Weezer to stardom, is included here in its
original, slower form.
