For the Record

In Sounds From Way Out
By John La Briola

During a stellar NASCAR year when Toby Keith connected stateside with more hearts and minds than the Dixie Chicks, it seemed that folks preferred their scenery to go round and round rather than venture down the road less traveled. Here then, y'all, are ten curious roadside attractions that got lost in the shock 'n' awful shuffle.

1. Aurora Sãnchez-Sousa, Genoma Music/The Genomic Sound
What do you get when you assign musical notes to the nucleotides in an arbitrarily chosen strand of DNA? An alphabet soup of easy listening, jazzy tone poems with titles like "Homo Sapiens Alphoid Sequence." Providing a simple audio version of the blueprint for life, Sãnchez-Sousa, nimble pianist and head of the mycology section in a Madrid-based hospital, explores the soothing, electronic side of deoxyribonucleic acid.

2. The Evolution Control Committee, Plagiarythhm Nation (Seeland)
Silly and subversive sound-collage artists from Columbus, Ohio, take a cue from Negativland, snubbing their collective nose at outdated copyright laws. The results? Janet Jackson actually sounding good! Chuck D and Flav dabbling in Kraut rock! Vincent Price shilling chicken livers! And for hands-down, best-song-of-the-year honors: Dan Rather fronting AC/DC ("Rocked by Rape") in a hilariously recontextualized dispatch from the frontlines of Armageddon.

3. The American Song-Poem Anthology, Do You Know the Difference Between Big Wood and Brush (Bar/None)
These hastily made tracks are testament to a strange subculture that flourished mostly in the mid-'60s, when shadowy low-budget song factories advertised for "hitmakers" in the backs of comic books. Among laughable tributes to Richard Nixon and the first moon landing are over two dozen astoundingly peculiar recording sessions -- including a Motown-enhanced salute to the color yellow and a faux-country rendition of John Trubee's oddball classic, "Blind Man's Penis." We've all got a song in our hearts.

4. Nurse With Wound, She And Me Fall Together in Free Death (Beta-Iactam Ring Records)
Capturing the sonic equivalent of random, drifting thoughts has always been Nurse With Wound's stock in trade. When England's underground sound-muckers toss in a few erotic monologues read by squelching robots or an odd cover of Patty Water's "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," it only gets more bizarre. Nurse, isn't it time for my pill?

5. Various Artists, Angola Prison Spirituals (Arhoolie)
Recorded at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in the late '50s, this historical audio document gives a fascinating and vivid picture of the way black Southerners sang spontaneous, unadorned, spirituals and gospel songs -- behind bars, that is. Amid bottleneck sermonizing and field hollers are nearly two dozen grim but beautiful odes to faith and freedom. This ain't no Johnny Mathis.

6. Eric Idle, Eric Idle Presents the Rutland Isles (iMusic)
England's quintessentially anal-retentive travel documentarian, Nigel Spasm, explains the cultural relevance of killing for God amid exotic flora, fauna and sheep. Idle (Monty Python, the Rutles) breaks a long comedic silence as yet another pasty imperialist in shorts -- one fishing for compliments, diving for muff and researching man's early Stoned Age ancestor: Homo Semi-Erectus.

7. Cut-Out, Interlude With Fun Machine (Starlight Furniture Co.)
For fans of Optigan and Mellotron keyboards, the warm tones of ex-Pell Mell partners Steve Fisk and Bob Beerman explore minimal rhythm-box variations with an offhand sense of humor. From casual reggae and kitschy lounge to Kraftwerk-baiting abstractions, this diverse, all-instrumental album makes home organs sound super-cool all over again.

8. So, So (Thrill Jockey)
A mostly technical demonstration from symmetrical duo Eriko Toyoda and Marcus Popp (Oval, Microstoria) combines textured and airy tones with processed vocals of muted Japanese lyrics. Disquieting melodies and meditative dada drift into the nether reaches of musique concrete.

9. Vic Mizzy, Songs for the Jogging Crowd (The Vicster Records)
Veteran TV and movie-score composer Vic Mizzy wasn't exactly born with a golden larynx. But he plays a mean thesaurus. With a Jewish eye for detail (including sturgeon and a color chart from the Sears paint department), Mizzy spoofs Hollywood while trying to stay fit. Oy!

10. Candye Kane, Whole Lotta Love (Ruf Records)
Candye Kane distinguishes herself from run-of-the-mill blues singers two ways: She tilts the scales at two and a half bills and can play the piano with her boobs. Novelty aside, Kane's soulful and powerful voice lends itself naturally to matters of the flesh and songs of love, loneliness and food. Weigh in, lover.

The New Latin Classics
By Celeste Fraser Delgado

It's been an anxious year for the Latin music industry, as it has for the industry in general. The good news in a time of crisis: The crassest pop acts fade away, and the acts that survive are fired up by a personal vision. While some of the best albums of the year have received massive commercial success, notably Molotov's Dance and Dense Denso, most of these gems come from artists who would surely be making the same great music even if there were no one out there listening.