New at Not Lame, 3/7/06.

First off, they're featuring a couple of releases we've already discussed here: John Carrillo's Von Karma, which was our CD of the Day about three weeks ago, and the new Frank Lee Sprague, in our Kool Kat post last week. As for the rest:

Ross Rice-Dwight. Bruce gives this one an "extremely highly recommended", although it didn't do much for me (I recall passing on this one when it appeared on cd baby). But decide for yourself which one of us is right: Rice has four tracks from the album streaming at his myspace page, which should give you a good idea. And the rest can be sampled at the cd baby page I linked in the parenthetical.
By the way, Rice has some miscellaneous mp3s at his site, including his cover of ELO's "Evil Woman", although none are from the album.

The Confusions-5 AM. I have this one and have given it a few spins. It's pretty good, definitely more power than pop, although there's plenty of both here. The first five tracks or so are kind of garagey, with dirty guitars and driving beats. Things mellow a bit on the first single "Don't Let The World Catch You Crying" (a nod to Gerry & The Pacemakers?), which sounds like late 90s Stereophonics, and on the title track. And no, "How Do You Sleep?" is not a remake of the infamous Lennon tune that ripped McCartney; instead it's a pretty decent poppy number reminiscent of Del Amitri. I'll concur with Bruce's "Extremely Highly Recommended" on this one. Sample their wares at myspace and at the Not Lame link.

The Miniatures-Coma Kid. Wow. This one really sounds good. It's actually from 2004, but I guess it got by us all until now. The Miniatures are a band from Ontario, and this release sounds like it covers all the power pop bases. Bruce's description is pretty much spot on, so click on the link to get some comparisons. Head over to their site right now and select the "click here for mp3 player" link, where you'll hear streams of four excellent tracks. You can also stream an additional two tracks at their myspace page, and sample a couple more at the cdbaby page for this one. These guys rock!