Sound Off

The Belleville Outfit

"Wanderin'" - (Independent)

If you ventured up to North Carolina last year for the famous Merlefest music festival in Wilkesboro, perhaps you caught a performance by the Austin-based band The Belleville Outfit.

If so, then congratulations are in order, since you managed to catch the rare instance of a band being born. Merlefest was indeed where it all started for the band, and since then the group has quickly earned a reputation for its delicious combination of Americana and gypsy swing.

The band's debut recording, "Wanderin'," is an irresistible collection of original songs, with a few well-chosen covers thrown in for fun. Rob Teter, formerly of the Spartanburg, S.C. outfit The DesChamps Band, wrote most of the originals, although fellow former DesChamps partner Marshall Hood co-wrote one tune, "Caroline."

Violinist Phoebe Hunt also contributes a couple of songs, "Wonder Why" and "Warm Summer's Evening." Hunts voice reminds me a bit of Katharine Whalen from the late great Squirrel Nut Zippers. The best of the originals are "Ease My Mind," "Don't Take It For Granted," and "Somebody Like You."

The CD also features a couple of great covers of songs by the late Walter Hyatt, "Houston Town" and "Too Far to Fall." Reminiscent of other great young bands who appreciate the art of good songs played by competent musicians (The Duhks anyone?), hopefully this debut will serve as the beginning of a beautiful friendship for Americana fans everywhere.

Download These: "Houston Town," "Ease My Mind," "Don't Take It For Granted"

Robyn Hitchcock - "Sex, Food, Death … And Insects"

(A&E)

There is a moment toward the end of "Sex, Food, Death … and Insects," the documentary on English musician Robyn Hitchcock, that perfectly sums up the way the guy looks at life.

Upon arriving at a record store during his American tour with his band, Venus 3, which features R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Hitchcock notices a beat up traffic cone near the store's back entrance. With the camera rolling, Hitchcock directs his attention to the inanimate object, describing how it likely started out life "probably healthy and full of whatever expectations a cone might have," and you honestly start to feel for the cone. Apparently Hitchcock does too, because he lovingly sets his rose-colored sunglasses on top of the cone as a charitable gesture.

Hitchcock has been making truly unique music in one form or another for the better part of 30 years, first as a darling of the '70s and '80s underground rock scene, and lately with releases such as the 2006 CD "Ole Tarantula." "Sex, Food, Death … and Insects" follows Hitchcock through the origins of that critically-acclaimed album, as well as the formation of Venus 3 and the subsequent tour.

Fans get a sampling of several unreleased songs from Hitchcock's latest CD, scheduled to be out later this year. Beautifully filmed and lacking any sense of unnecessary pomp and circumstance, this documentary succeeds simply because it sticks to the subject, but it is also lucky to have a subject who is so oddly engaging.

Hot Chip

"Made In The Dark" - (Astralwerks)

I'll admit it. I really don't get that much into dance music.

In fact, I really haven't gotten all that excited about a dance music group since New Order was in its prime back in the '80s. Hot Chip has finally ended the drought, though. This band seems to have cracked the code for recording and releasing dance music that actually does more than repeat itself every four counts and ramble on about getting your booty out on the dance floor.

In fact, Hot Chip's music probably shouldn't be classified as dance music, except for the fact that it does indeed get your primal instincts ready to gyrate with wild abandon.

Take Talking Heads, add a bit of New Order and Happy Mondays, and a splash of Arctic Monkeys without the snottiness, and you begin to get an idea of what Hot Chip's music is like.

The incredible arrangements are wildly complex and yet startlingly primitive in their structure. Take a listen to songs such as "Shake a Fist," "Ready for the Floor," and "One Pure Thought," and try to deny the genius at work here.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that it took this band releasing its third album to get me to notice it. If New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" blew you away in the '80s, then prepare to have the same experience with "Hold On," which is the best track on an album full of great stuff.

I may not gravitate toward a lot of dance music, but this CD is irresistible.

Download These: "One Pure Thought," "Shake a Fist," "Hold On"