Octoser 22, 2003 SIGNALS TO'Noise “16 , < 891049 soupy >> Barlow Barlow Sony 2003 Think the Canadian indie scene is a bit lacking? Meet Barlow: Tom Barlow. After working with the Toronto-based political band “Thinktank Fish” and releasing four indie albums, he went on to win the 2001 MIX 99.9 Songwriting Competition (Toronto) and the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the 2001 Canadian Indie Music Awards. Barlow’s accom- plishments did not go unnoticed, and his single “Married By Elvis” went Top 10. Barlow is a captivating blend of acoustic rock, brilliant lyrics, and strong vocals. Don’t expect a CD full of the usual shallow clichés now that he has signed on with a major label - Barlow, along with co-writer / producer Malden Haze, has stuck to his political roots and crafted an album that discusses everything from homosexual mar- riage (“Married By Elvis,” which also features Snow) and the com- modification of music (“Bullets and Bombs”) to how the US may spend $1 trillion dollars on the Missile Defence Program, but do little to combat homelessness and poverty (“Billion Dollar Rockets”). Overall, Barlow is a sometimes uplifting, sometimes depressing, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, but totally addictive listen. KkkkK >Steph W. >> Killing Joke Killing Joke Columbia 2003 I was quite worried when I saw the cover of this album; it looked like the paper had just given me some low budget Insane Clown Posse rip off. Luckily, this was not the case. Killing Joke’s self titled album turned out to be a very unique and entertaining mix of English rock music unlike any- thing else I’ve ever listened to. There are elements of so many dif- ferent styles of music in this group that it boggles my brain wonder- ing how it is that they don’t sound like crap. Killing Joke sounds like some bizarre new age Motorhead with traces of industrial sound mixed with the occasional death metal lyric. They've got speedy rhythms in their songs along with catchy drum beats that gives them an almost danceable quality. As for the singing, it varies from modern Motorhead-esque to Cradle of Filth with a cold. You know that sound you make when you try to conjure up a big wad of spit? Apparently that’s a song lyric. That sound isn’t present in every song, though; the music from track to track varies so much that it’s hard to believe that the album contains only one group. This leads me to believe that Killing Joke is still in its develop- mental stages as a band and is try- ing to find both its style and genre. There seems to be an underlining theme to most of their songs about © coe ke social commentary and rebellion against the government. Overall this is a pretty decent album, it’s not really the type that I usually seek out for myself but its worth hearing if you’ve got an open mind for something a little differ- ent. ake >Russell >> NightWish Century Child Century Media 2003 It seems to me that nearly all of the good heavy metal music worth listening to comes from Finland these days. There’s Sentenced, Children of Bodom, The 69 Eyes, HIM, and the newest to my list: Nightwish. All of these bands break the mold when it comes to conventional metal music. Nightwish, which is not to be con- fused with Nightrage, is no excep- tion: their heavy rhythms, angelic vocals, and intense melodic sound set them in a league of their very own. Century Child is probably the most developed and balanced release yet from this group. Each track is beautifully composed with a very ear pleasing blend of har- mony and sadness. Yet there is a certain intense energy within each song that fills my soul to the point where I want to reach in and rip myself apart. Overall this is one of the best albums I've listened to this year. I even went so far as to check out some of their past releases for OVER THE EDGE’S RATINGS * The Queen gave me head. *&* Like being covered in tiny fairies. *** Soo000 good. *&*** Blows your mind for fun and profit. kkkkK* BUTTSEX!