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Attention Phish Fans, longtime friend Tom Marshall returns with his second Amfibian album entitled From the Ether. The album definitely has a Phish feel to it. Though this time the group is completely different, Marshall still puts out the same general sound which has made him so popular.

On their debut CD Trio Grande, New York’s Cerulean City waste no time in getting into one of their loose-limbed, cinematic instrumentals. The trio (Christian Smith on guitar, John Servo on bass guitar, and Lars Burggren on drums) has been gaining much recognition for their wide-open live shows, and the opening track gives a glimpse into what this band is all about. “Disco Johnson” thrives on a firey bass groove and snappy drumming that allows Smith to wander about on his guitar, diving through the rhythm with well-planned assaults. The song winds up in a pulsating disco realm. Their thought-provoking excursions remind me of another guitar trio, Raisinhill. The bands share an affinity for diverse, melodic instrumentals and jazzy changes.

The Motet wants nothing more than to make your body gyrate uncontrollably. This is apparent from the opening percussion melee that starts their third album, Live. This is not just a bunch of guys pounding on drums though. The band has actually traveled far and wide to study percussion.

It would sell the Athens, GA based quartet Perpetual Groove a little short to encapsulate their music with a catch phrase. Mercifully, the ebullient group has provided listeners with a perfect verbal synopsis of their sound with the title of their debut album Sweet Oblivious Antidote. Even the album’s artwork provides a glimpse into P-Groove’s eclectic attitude. The outside is done in the style of an antique medicine bottle and below the disc tray is a grainy grocery-bag colored photo of the band, but the liner notes are decidedly futuristic. This all-inclusive vibe is evident from the first track, “Three Weeks”, which rides a genuine rock-ballad groove before launching upwards into the electronic skyline. The lyrics are desperate but hopeful. Yin and Yang prevail.