The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) [re Up]

Baz Luhrmann's garish, flamboyant adaptation of Romeo + Juliet was hyper-kinetic and colorful, boasting a heavy inspiration from the visual style of MTV, so it's only appropriate that the soundtrack was tailored for the alternative nation that MTV fostered. Combining modern rock acts like Garbage, Radiohead, the Cardigans, and the Butthole Surfers with contemporary soul like Des'ree and adult alternative like Gavin Friday, the album is slick, polished, catchy – and surprisingly strong. Though the soul and pop is good, the alternative rock acts on the soundtrack fare the best, with Garbage and Radiohead both contributing excellent B-sides ("Number One Crush" and "Talk Show Host," respectively), with the Cardigans' sleek, sexy lounge-disco number "Lovefool" stealing the show.

On their third album, "Beyond the Maybe Machine", Melting Euphoria continued to revive the sounds of early '70s psychedelic space rock outfits like Hawkwind, Gong and Ozric Tentacles, adding some of the synthetic textures of late-'70s electronic outfits like Tangerine Dream. Frequently, the group come up with interesting sonic flourishes and they know how to create trippy psychedelic soundscapes.

In the early 1960s, The Beatles (who had not yet become world-famous) played in several clubs around the Reeperbahn, including the Star-Club, Kaiserkeller, Top Ten and Indra…

Republica essentially sound like they're stuck in 1990, when house and rave were just beginning to make their presence felt in dance-pop – which, to more critical ears, will mean they sound dated for the mid-'90s, when jungle, drum'n'bass, ambient, and all other forms of techno were finally edging their way into the mainstream. And that argument would be relevant if Republica were attempting to work in that genre, but as their eponymous debut indicated, they had no interest in hardcore techno – they just wanted to dance. Working with strong, accessible Hi-NRG beats and catchy choruses, the trio has a bright, energetic sound that is quite infectious when tied with the right melodies, such as on the hit singles "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous." If they had more than one sound, however, Republica would be even more entertaining, but as it stands, the record is a stretch of pleasantly numbing dance-pop punctuated by two terrific singles.

The Gardet festivals were the Swedish equivalent to Woodstock, an outdoor gathering of underground bands and other counterculture freaks. Recorded live at the first Gardet festival in June of 1970 and not released until 26 years later as part of Subliminal Sounds' Swedish Underground Archive Series, this CD catches an early Trad, Gras Och Stenar in top form, before the release of the band's eponymous first LP. The versions of "All Along the Watchtower" and "Satisfaction" are rawer than those from the debut, though offering a similar stretched-out and stripped-down minimalism to these rock classics. The two longest tracks, "Frihetsdans i D-moll" and "Lifeforce No. 3," build slowly into intense raga mantras of powerful minimalist rock, with heavy droning guitars and locked-groove rhythms that seem like they'll never stop. The live recording quality, done by someone in the front row of the concert, is quite good for that time…