jubilant newborn alien haze Julia Brown Riot Shack Records, 2000 Buy it online Tracks 1: Victims And Villains 2: Instinct #1 3: Afterglow 4: Invisible 5: Miles From My Home 6: Just Like That 7: This Is Your Day 8: Eternity 9: We Can Have It All 10: Coffee In Your Teacup Reviewed by David Middleton	It's all too rare to stumble across albums worth telling your friends about. And it's certainly never the big, gonzo, hell-bent-for-groupies bands getting heavy top 40 rotation. Everyone knows who they are, anyway. People who know I review music often ask me who I like and what I tell them is that I have become a big fan of the underproduced, the home-recorded and the do-it-yourself artist, the independent and those who don't always follow the well trodden path. It's a relief to step back from the din of screamin' divas and love-sick boy bands and listen to something that becomes more than the sum of its parts simply by adding less. Once in a while I'll have the privilege of hearing something that impresses me for its austere beauty, lack of heavy production and minimal cast of talented players. Singer-songwriter Julia Brown's debut album jubilant newborn alien haze is an absolute gem that had me hooked from the opening bars. jubilant newborn alien haze shares much of another album's economy of production and brilliance of performance; that of David Grey's White Ladder. Like Grey, Brown has used only a handful of people to get the point across. With only herself and producer Christian Cassan sharing instrumental duties -- plus the addition of Alfred Buonanno's singular but indispensable contribution of fretless bass on the beautifully atmospheric "Eternity" -- Brown, who wrote all the songs and supplies all vocals, has created an album that is spacious and radiant. And despite the seemingly not-so-over-the-top technical futzing, JNAH is wonderfully and immaculately produced. It's perhaps because of this lack of overworking that it comes across as spontaneous and fresh. jubilant newborn alien haze is an exceptionally rendered set of songs that sound both familiar and unique; fusing rock, pop, folk, electronica and a few alternative beats. Citing influences such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and -- the True King -- Elvis Costello, Brown pays homage to her influences without ever becoming derivative. Songs like "Just Like That," and "We Can Have It All" have a decidedly Costello feel both musically and lyrically without sounding ripped off. The songs run the gamut from the torchy "Invisible" to the rock/bluesy "Coffee In Your Teacup" to a quirky 40 second tune-ette -- an unlisted song 11 -- and Brown's beautiful voice tackles them all with equal strength and tenderness. One of the few negative things I can say about jubilant newborn alien haze is that the title is a mouthful. But I've been practicing: so I don't screw it up when I tell my friends. | May 2001   David Middleton is the art director of Blue Coupe magazine and can say "red leather, yellow leather" quickly three times.	It's a relief to step back from the din of screamin' divas and love-sick boy bands and listen to something that becomes more than the sum of its parts simply by adding less.