Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Awesome is in the building. What can I say, I was sucked in by the hype and impressed by the execution. It’s one of those surreal moments that ONLY happens in professional wrestling. Felt like one of those comic books where fucking Loki or the Red Skull shows up to fight Spider Man, and it’s a total shock crossover, worlds colliding. For that one moment it worked. Awesome then proceeded to smash a crutch over Nash’s body and flicked off the audience while the announcers sputtered on about how he had an ECW title defense on Thursday. Awesome, rocking the lustrous Bon Jovi mullet WITH fanny pack, and somehow pulling off the look, picked up the mic and…

Elegy (MP3.com). Review by Andrew Chadwick

Kreig (Intransitive). Review by Nirav Soni

Let’s Get it On! (Roadrunner). Review by Nathan T. Birk

Screen Review by James Mann

Just Landed (~scape). Review by Nirav Soni

The Big Dig (Beggars Banquet). Review by Marcel Feldmar

United States of Mind (Metropolis). Review by Jorge C. Galban

But Awesome put on a great match without relying on splintering wood for their shock-value cheers. That is a mark of a true champion in ECW, when they can impress the increasingly blood-thirsty Mongol hordes with a match NOT involving blood, tables, or violence against women.

A + O [m] (Metropolis). Review by Matthew Moyer

Finder’s Keeper’s (Fearless). Review by Patrick Rafter

A Go Go/Carajillio/Prima Vera (Beanfield). Review by Aaron Schultz

Rebellion (No Exit). Review by Mike Fournier

Sons of the Second String 7” (Market Participant). Review by Marcel Feldmar

Take That Ride (OHBOY). Review by David Whited

Feature

Amoeba (Loosegroove). Review by Matthew Moyer

Monte Carlo (Hopeless). Review by Patrick Rafter

Interview by Gail Worley

Talk about contrived bullshit! Am I supposed to just sit back and believe that Carlos Santana, without the help of his publicists and record label, has become the hottest thing since All-Nighter Diarrhea in merely a few weeks?