October 16, 2007 – Who? Marie-Claire Balabanian's dreamy, downhearted vocals echo over tape delay and shimmering sonics from guitarist Karl Briedrick, pianist Kate Walsh, and percussionist Ben Borowiak. Their debut album, the breezy tones of Summer Above dropped via the band's own Burnt Brown Sounds last week. Playing CMJ Thursday (Oct. 18) at New York's Knitting Factory with St. Vincent, His Name Is Alive, Papercuts, Le Loup and Bowerbirds. What's the Deal? The member's roots are disparate -- New York, Portland and Detroit -- but the sum of the parts make the soundtrack for a dreamy, Valium-shaded redeye between the coasts. Imagine a particularly brokenhearted Nico or a particularly sanguine Mazzy Star and you're in the ballpark of their debut, Summer Above, which was guided by celebrated Chicago producer John Bryant.

August 22, 2007 – Compared to what would come -- showers of heart-shaped confetti and elaborate costuming, dismembered robots and sex-drenched androgyny -- Slayer seemed downright stoic as they blasted through last night's (Aug. 21) set of old and new tunes at Sacramento's Sleep Train Amphitheater. Except for the flying elbows and bouncing beer bellies that swirled at the front of the stage all night, the Slayer performance had few things in common with headliner Marilyn Manson. In fact, Manson's writhing antics seemed a bit overplayed following the elder statesmen of metal. As he slithered and crawled through a set of material from his recent Eat Me, Drink Me there was a heavy dose of satanic posing and elaborate costume changes (prize fighter, neo-fascist, goth buccaneer, etc.) but less convincing fury.

May 17, 2004 – Who: Guitar-roaring crew of Atlanta rock zealots founded in2001 by singer/guitarist Adrian Barrera and drummer Todd Galpin,who met at the University of Florida in the late '90s. Whentheir favorite Gainesville rock dive became a sports bar, the duosaid, "Fuck it, we'll move." Sound like: The Hiss' debut album, Panic Movement,is melodic, beer-soaked rock'n'roll that assimilates the blue-collarelements of the Rolling Stones, the Who, Oasis, and Teenage Fanclub.Tunes like "Riverbed" and "Clever Kicks" roil with distorted riffs andapocalyptic angst. No Average Joe: Bassist Johnny Kral was once a New York City-based model (check him out at newyorkmodels.com/NYMen/ JohnnyK/johnny_a.htm)."We rescued him from a life of partying around the world with beautifulwomen," says Barrera. "In exchange, we offered him the chance to partyaround the world with three filthy guys.