'Circles' is beautifully presented in a white/clear jewel-case with attractive green and pink artwork by Michelle Loc and Tim Gilmour of Bent Concepts. There's an alternative 'cover' inside, if you fold the insert over. All songs were written by the Diver sisters except 'Here Comes Your Man' which was written by Charles Thompson. The album is on the Tir Conaill Music label which is a nice touch as Tir Conaill is the name of the girls' county, Donegal, in the Irish language!

The vocals are sweet, with a touch of Kirsty McColl and a sprinkling of Enya (but not nearly as laid-back) and a dash of some Ronettes and Crystals thrown in for flavour. Keyboards and percussion is imaginative throughout and though it's not mentioned, I think I heard a Hammond organ on a few tracks. I can't wait to see The Orphans live when they come back to Ireland.

'Give A Little', Circles' and 'Here Comes Your Man' stand out for me as possible singles, they're very catchy with a tasty fiddle-riff from bassist Angela in the latter. 'Don't You Cry' is a grower and one of the better tracks. 'Circles' is available from CD Baby at $12.00 and my advice is - buy it today!

Not too crazy from Aunt Mary

Have you ever seen two carrots making love? Well that's what the stunning cover photo on Crazy Aunt Mary's album, 'Sexy Epsilon' looks like! It's a quirky image which matches well with the slightly quirky country/blues/folk songs inside. What it has to do with the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet beats me though!

This full-length album is beautifully presented in a clear jewel-case with a 6-page fold-over insert which includes all the lyrics. All songs are by bassist Michelle Holmes or in collaboration with guitarist Steve Pinkney.

I liked this album in an easy-listening sort of way. The songs didn't grab me though and they all sound a little too much alike for my taste. Michelle has a fine bluesy, country, folk voice but is a little too careful in her delivery. It's a bit like reciting a poem for your favourite aunt (Mary?) when you were a kid! With a voice like hers, she should go for broke.

There are some brilliant acoustic guitar breaks from Steve Pinkney and the backing vocals and harmonies are excellent throughout. Personally, I would have preferred more variety in the arrangements, though the acoustic guitar is great, some of the tracks could have benefited from bluesy electric guitar fills and maybe some piano.

Michelle Holmes handles most of the lead vocals with Steve taking lead on the title track. Some of the better tracks are 'Walk Of Fame', 'Sexy Epsilon', 'Black Emerald' (a folk-song about a girl who was raised in Galway Town), 'Run Into The Sun' with its funky intro and 'Last One Home Tonight', a country song which could have been taken from an Eagles album, but wasn't.

We wish drummer Doug Forsyth a full recovery from the injuries he received in a car-crash during the summer. Proceeds from the sale of this album will go towards the costs of Doug's treatment and recovery.

Sexy Epsilon is available from CD Baby at $10.00

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Tracks include 'My Dad Is A Janitor' with lyrics that certainly won't win a Morse Poetry Prize, 'All Cheerleaders Die' from some film that can hardly be as bad as the song and a punk version of 'My Heart Will Go On' from 'Titanic' which makes me want to forgive Celine Dion. As for telling us that one of their basses is 'engineered to sound like a drumset' - perhaps it is, but it's not to be heard on this CD. I hear a drum-kit - a real drum-kit or a cleverly programmed drum-machine. I'm not convinced that it's a bass guitar!

One plus for The Kittens is that they are totally anti-drugs. The catchy CD title encourages their fans to try female heroes instead of heroin, for this they should be complimented. There's a short video and some other PR stuff on this CD also and it's got two of the cutest white kittens on the back page of the insert beside a box which states 'Bass Anarchy'. If this is what Bass Anarchy sounds like, I'll pass.

'Hey Punk - Try Heroine(s)'  is available from CD Baby at the giveaway price of $5.00