Dubchek, "Down Memory Gap Lane" (Unitone)
I guess you'd call this ambient dub reggae, but don't let that influence you in any way. The two players in Dubchek, David Barratt (longtime pop music producer, including the likes of Barry Manilow and Celine Dion) and Papa Dee (Brooklyn Funk Essentials) create a conscious swirl of deep reverb, deeper bass lines that rival Scratch Perry's groove orientation, well-timed wicked samples and gospel-like vocals. This isn't just a dub record for the neutralized—Dubchek wrote real songs, recorded in Kingston's New York Record Factory, and enlisted a crew of hardcore reggae-dubheads for the vocals, making it listenable regardless of drug use. So far, my favorite record this year.

MJ Cole, "Sincere" (Island Records)
Along with the Artful Dodger, Britain exported two-stepper MJ Cole to the U.S. earlier this year, and of the two, Cole's is the stronger record. Kicking off with a three-minute-plus introduction featuring jeep-shattering bass and an addictive piano sample, "Sincere" runs the gamut of soft and hard two-step, with extra focus planted on the destructive qualities of the bass and Danny Vicious' raggedy ragga chant. There's a seedier element on "Sincere" than I've heard in most two-step garage, and as such anyone into drum 'n' bass shouldn't hesitate to taste.

Jamalski, "Guaranteed Rewind" (Baraka)
Though under the umbrella of New York ragga MC Jamalski, this record compiles Bronx/Brooklyn-based heads and dreads, including Rocker T, Akbar, Xotik and Eclipse 427. Despite the intense Jamaican influence, this is, for all intents and purposes, a hip-hop record, with nary a one-drop riddim to be heard. Throughout the eighteen songs, Jamalski and crew bring a powerful Afrocentric message without getting prurient. Especially impressive are the tracks featuring Akbar, most notably "Cheeba Creepas," which begins with the rapper droning out "I like to smoke weed/until my eyes bleed."

Dover, "Late at Night" (Loli Jackson Records)
This Spain-based metal/punk/hard rock band's third record starts—for the first ten seconds or so—like any crunchy thrash metal record made in the last ten years. Then the vocals kick in, and the record soars. Vocalist Cristina Llanos brings an entirely fresh sound to the hard rock, exhibiting above-average range, incredible emotion, and clever lyricism that lends the record a dissonant softness below the heavy guitars. But the songwriting is what sets it apart—of the thirteen songs on the record, eleven are blessed with a pop-rock hook (driven home hard by the high-treble guitars) and not one iota of tired masculine posturing. Amazing. (Worth noting: "Late at Night" was a 1999 European release due this year domestically, and hence, much cheaper than the $30 asking price.)

Dead Kennedys, "Mutiny on the Bay" (Manifesto)
Manifesto recently re-released the Kennedys' classics ("Bedtime for Democracy," "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death," "Frankenchrist" and "Plastic Surgery Disasters"), and for good measure, tossed in this first ever non-bootleg live DK record. And, unlike the multitude of bootleg live records that every DK fan seems to have a dozen of, the sound quality here doesn't suffer—Jello Biafra's devious sarcasm comes off naturally, and East Bay Ray's distinctively punkabilly guitar style doesn't lose a thing. For a band that hasn't existed for more than fifteen years, these songs still sound remarkably relevant.

Sole, "Learning to Walk" (Anticon)
You'd expect a rapper who shares a label with Dose One and Why? to be intelligent, completely in the face of mainstream hip hop and irreverent. You'd be right. Of course, Sole isn't exactly new to underground hip hop; this San Fran-based rapper has been going strong for the better part of a decade. This record, subtitled "Circa 94-98," showcases this former Live Poet's considerable talents, with an emphasis on the developing atmospherical elements in the production. This is the underground at its best: no violence, no booty, no homophobia. There's boasting, but it's done with style and with sarcasm, and it fits like a jigsaw piece within the airy groove he creates.

V/A, "DIY-Fest" (Digital Hardcore)
The label most known for screechingly loud gabberjungle changes it up bigtime with this twenty-four track, half-spoken-word record celebrating DIYers everywhere. While the spoken-word contingent comes angled from the Left (like William Upski Wimsatt, Howard Zinn, Safiya Asya Bukhari), the music runs the gamut: rapper Mystic, Ani DiFranco, Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot), Dillinger Escape Plan, D-Stroy. Though the spoken elements break the music too often, something about the record begs repeated listens. Great for proponents of the ultra-underground left.

Also by Dave Chamberlain

RAW MATERIAL
For atombombpocketknife, a band that's circulated around the Chicago area for a little more than three years, the show celebrates the release of its second full-length record (and third overall), "God Save the ABPK" (Southern).
(2001-09-20)

RAW MATERIAL
For those not in the know, Thumbnail is the product of Knoxville, Tennessee, where Jason Morris, David Burns, Steve Schmidt and Justin Sinkovich—now a member of Atombombpocketknife—were students at the University of Tennessee.
(2001-09-13)

CLOSE CALL
On the morning of September 11, Ryan Gowing and his friend James Cole were returning to their home in New York from San Francisco, on an ATA flight headed toward LaGuardia Airport. "It didn't look like a plane crashed into it, it just looked like a big black splotch," continues Gowing. When their airplane passed the World Trade Center towers, only one was burning.
(2001-09-13)

RAW MATERIAL
Pinetop Seven, who first appeared in Chicago's music scene when it released an eponymous record in 1997, has gained increasing critical notoriety with each of its four records.
(2001-09-06)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-08-30)

CONTINENTAL REPAST
(2001-08-30)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-08-23)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-08-09)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-08-02)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-07-26)

DISCOVERIES
(2001-07-19)

RAW MATERIAL
(2001-07-12)