Stupid Ditties 3
Various Artists
Independent release
[Three stars]
The Stupid Ditties compilations have come to be one of those mixtapes everyone looks forward to in the indie scene. The first two editions made quite an impression ”“the last one in particular whipped up a fine mix featuring Skinny Alley, The Superfuzz, Half Step Down, Something Relevant, Medusa, LBG ”“ and brought us a fantastic selection from the indie scene. But this third chapter delivers a rather half-baked representation, and a slightly confused one at that. The best ”“ Constellation Project (some riveting downtempo styled electro-pop), Noush Like Sploosh (a dose of razor sharp songwriting), Sridhar/Thayil (the new defintion of eclectic jazz) and Medusa ”“ is saved for last on this one post some average songwriting on songs like Gravy Theory’s  ”˜Radio’ (hark the RHCP impersonation!), Lavendar Carnage’s Green Day-zed ”˜In Love With You,’ and Boomarang’s Jack Johnson swing on ”˜War.’ The pre-requisites for being on this CD are a little hazy, so expect to find the cream of the indie scene, bands still stuck in their garage days and blasts from the past all rolled into one compilation. Watch out for a special bit of history with some old school (Indian indie) punk with Messiah’s ‘Boys Dont Cry.’ If you’re not nitpicky and looking for consistency, this is a decent toast to the indie scene and since it’s up for free download, we can’t really complain.
Key Tracks: ‘The Drowning Song,’ ‘3 Act Circus’
