Various Artists / Chompilation
AEMMP Records, 2009. aemmp.org/site

Columbia connection: AEMMP Records is Columbia College’s student-run record label, a project of the Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management department.

The sound: Just about everything under the sun
The word: Chompilation is a 22-song album featuring some of the best up-and-coming bands in Chicago, including Office, Maps and Atlases, and Owen. Highlights of the compilation include songs by the Dials, Netherfriends, Needers and Givers, and Office, who are probably one of the most underrated bands in the city. The compilation marks a turning point for AEMMP records, updating the approach of the label, which was launched in 1982.

—Brent White ('08)

Heather Perry and the ___________s / These Appetites
Spade Kitty Records, 2009. myspace.com/heatherperrymusic

Columbia connection: Heather Perry graduated from Columbia in 2006 with a B.A. in theater.

The sound: Rock, indie, atmospheric  
The word: These Appetites is the third release by Chicago-based singer/songwriter Heather Perry, whose two previous releases were solo albums, The Co-Fighter Blues (2005) and Doing It for You (2007). Here she retains her abstract approach to writing music and lyrics as she teams up with vocalist Emily Wiedmeyer, drummer and producer Noah Samuels, and guitarist Ben Brown. Much of the music on this EP relies on sudden shifts in rhythm and Perry’s unique ability to blend melody with two-part harmonies and layered instrumentation. This album’s best track is “Old Friends in New Beds”—a lighthearted song with Perry at her best, calling to mind a young, vulnerable Fiona Apple.

—Brent White ('08)

The Curious Mystery / Rotting Slowly
K Records, 2009. thecuriousmystery.com

Columbia connection: Shana Cleveland, vocalist and Autoharp player, graduated from Columbia in 2004 with a B.A. in poetry.
The sound: Blues, psychedelic  
The word: The Pacific Northwest is known for rain, sugarless coffee, and bands like the Curious Mystery, who weave psychedelic sounds with straightforward arrangements. This album sounds like a deliberately disjointed mess, occasionally off key and off tempo. Cleveland sounds like a young Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star), with her slow, somber voice and melancholy lyrics. Rotting Slowly isn’t an album you’d put on to cheer yourself up, but there’s something beautifully dark in the Curious Mystery’s music. Something curious.

—Brent White ('08)

Andy Shaw Band / Ways of the World
Unsigned, 2009. andyshawband.com

Columbia connection: Andy Shaw, guitars and vocals, graduated from Columbia in 2004 with a B.A. in Television.
The sound: Rock, pop, jam
The word: These boys can play! Ways of the World is full of multilayered instrumentation, two- and three-part vocal harmonies, and complex arrangements, with a touch of jam-band/reggae. Andy Shaw, singer/songwriter for the band, understands how to mold genuine musical proficiency with songs that are, at their core, simple and easy to listen to. If your local bar band and the Allman Brothers gave birth, it would be to the Andy Shaw Band.

—Brent White ('08)

The Pet Lions / Soft Right
Unsigned, 2009. petlions.com

Columbia connection: Singer/guitarist Karl Østby attends Columbia and plans to graduate in 2010 with a degree in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, with a concentration in Music Business and a subconcentration in Producing Recorded Music. “The longest degree/concentration title ever,” he says.
The sound: Pop rock
The word: Despite its relatively short existence (the band formed in October 2007), Pet Lions is a musically mature band based in Chicago. Soft Right, the band’s debut EP, is five songs of pure pop rock. The EP begins with a catchy ditty called “Roman History,” which sounds like a cross between the Beach Boys (with distorted guitars and a fast tempo) and 90 percent of the music you’d hear on a popular alternative rock radio station. Though this band is unsigned, it wouldn’t surprise me to channel surf popular FM a year from now and hear a Pet Lions song. Download Soft Right free at petlions.com.

—Brent White ('08)