Perfect Sound Forever returns!

Yes, after several months of downtime, it's back again. The latest issue has these tasty tidbits:

SUSAN ANGELETTI

Blues belting mama: this rising star in the blues world is a singer/songwriter that counts B.B. King among her fans. Her latest album, Bittersweet, "illuminates the soulful purity of the blues and the hard driving intensity of rock and roll with unbridled passion and heartfelt emotion. Angeletti's no nonsense, high voltage performance style, continues captivating blues enthusiasts as well as the rock and roll faithful all across the country."

DEVANDRA BANHART

Interview about 'freak folk': He wouldn't call it that himself but whatever label you put on him, his sweet voice and soulful songs have created a stir in the indie world as few neo-folks ever have. Here he speaks about influences, his own label, reissues, his fellow travelers, favorite recent music and assorted hope and dreams.

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

Don't call 'em Moody Blues!: A three-part article extensively covers the history of this multi-decade art-rock staple band that's withered more highs and lows than a stock market. And rest assured that their love of mellotrons is semi-platonic.

JOHN CALE INTERVIEW

Sure he has a pretty impressive resume with the Velvet Underground and assorted productions (Stooges, Modern Lovers, Patti Smith, Squeeze) but he's also had a solo career that's stretched over three decades and taken many wild turns. Here, we catch up with his latest antics as well as his ever-fiery politics as well as his love of Ezra Pound, Pythagoras, Brian Wilson and Warren Zevon.

CONSTANTINES

...Come to the rescue of rock: "Perhaps rock is dead... and perhaps it was a suicide; perhaps the Cons are flushing color back into the ghost's cheeks. Their songs have a deep kind of desperation and a certain chaos, but also a calculated sort of mystery. Listening to the Cons, especially in the flesh, is like slouching towards Bethlehem: like a helicopter rising from the ashes, things bruise and smear, but we are moving ever upwards. Especially when Webb's throat fights his words."

DJ LANGUAGE

Mixtape music for real people: "On his latest release Real Music for Real People, DJ Language asks the question 'What is black music?' By the end of this 21 track beat matching journey, he answers that question with a mix of underground hip hop, seventies soul, neo-soul, and a remix or two to tie it all together. The soul of the album is spoken by Miwa on DJ Mitsus' "Intro": "Once you recognize the beat, you never go back.""

JOHN DOE INTERVIEW

Ex-X mines the blues: Long after leading one of the guiding lights of the L.A. punk scene, Doe became an auspicious roots rocker. "Notes for interviewing Doe: 1) There will be laughter. Don't drink a beverage. 2) If you make a literary reference, be sure that you actually read the book you are referring to. He has. 3) Don't go all pretentious and try to discover the hidden symbolism in his lyrics. It's not that his lyrics aren't intelligent. It's not even that there isn't some symbolism there. They are. There is. It's just that he's not the type to talk about it."

GITHEAD INTERVIEW

When you have Colin Newman (of Wire), Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) and Malka Spigel together in a band, something interesting is bound to happen and it definitely does with Githead. Here they cheerful explain what an annoying bunch of pretentious gits they really are. And proud of it too.

BECKY HOBBS

Oklahoma's piano stomper: "Hobbs has a strong belief in angels, as indicated in the hit "Angels Among Us," recorded by Alabama. She has sung duets with Moe Bandy and has written at last count, some sixty songs. However, country radio has done it again ­ shut the door to the veteran performer and opened the gate to the same-sound-every-time crowd."

KUMA

Semi-violent bio-fiction: "Violence--emotional, physical, often sudden, often brutal--is a running theme in Kuma's songs. "Some of it is autobiographical, and some of it is complete fiction," (leader Kevin) Olsen says. "But it's not glorifying violence--it's more being bewildered by it.""

MICHAEL MANTLER

Trumpeter, bandleader, composer: In the world of jazz or any other genre, you'll be hard pressed to find a more serious, harder working musician. In addition to helping to lead the incredible umbrella of New Music Distribution Service, he's also corralled rockers and orchestras to perform his work. Here we dissect his 70's and 80's work as well as a brief and somewhat contentious interview with the man himself.

MARTHA & THE MUFFINS INTERVIEW

'Echo Beach' is the 80's new wave classic that put them on the map but there was so much more to their recording career than that. Martha Johnson and Mark Gane tell the band's story, explaining how despair and alienation make wonderful song topics.

MUTEK

Highlights from the tech fest: Geeta Dayal mines this multi-day Montreal festival for signs of life and greatness in the techno world including Mathew Jonson, Galoppierende Zuversicht, Apparat and a shadowy Swiss duo called Galoppierende Zuversicht. Never heard of any of them? Then read on... (even if you have, you'll find out more).

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR

Quintessential prog?: After a lengthy hiatus, this renowned British unit (whose leader counts Johnny Rotten among his fans) triumphantly returned recently. Keyboard player Hugh Banton helps to fill in the blanks about their history.

And as always, we're always looking for good writers and/or ideas, so let us know if you have anything to share.