Various, The Priscillas, Mad Staring Eyes, Red Hand Band
Glastonbury Unsigned Bands 2005

Right, let's get the PR bumph out of the way first.

This album features a host of unsigned, relatively unknown artists all of whom have the privilege of being endorsed by one Michael Eavis, four of which (The Mad Staring Eyes, The Deadbeats, The Bellagios and Moya) will be involved in this year's festival. This double CD contains 25 tracks and retails for just a fiver, whic half the proceeds going to Shelter, so as good causes go on the outside looking in it sounds like tremendous value for money.

But we're not here to judge what's morally and ethicaly correct folks, and when it comes to actually listening to both CDs, one or two home truths immediately come to light.

First of all, to say this is an eclectic mix would be like saying a chameleon can change its colour at any time, i.e., stating the bleeding obvious, and if eclecticism is the spice of life, then in places this feels like a Scotch Bonnet overdose with the mouth ulcers to prove it.

Its fair to say that there is something for everyone on here, but by the same token chances are you'll probably detest more of the songs than you'll actually love, and because of the length of some of the tracks (anything goes from 2 to 8 minutes), repeated plays are highly unlikely.

Still, there are at least half-a-dozen tracks that stand out from the rest of the crowd quite admirably, most noticeably The Mad Staring Eyes' Beefheart goes to post-rock school mash-up 'New Thing', and Transcargo's Dubstar hijacking the 'Kid A' sessions prog-in-a-bowl of 'Collide'. Additionally, The Priscillas do the garage/punk/pop thing better than most currently signed bands, Red Hand Band sound like Noddy Holder or John Lydon fronting a lobotomised folk version of Primal Scream and Kristian Bediiako's World Fusion make the gee-tar sound funky in a Carlos Santana kinda way.

Add to that the blues laden Athlete-isms of Scouting For Girls, New Order down Megadog of the Sound Development Agency and future Jools Holland rinky-dink of Paddy Milner (sample lyric: "Your verbal diarrhoea never seems to disappear" : Lovely) and you have a CD that would probably be more appropriate if it came labelled with a "Suitable For All The Family" sticker than a "Parental Guidance Advisory Committee" one.

Any unlistenable moments? Yeah there's a few but being as they're all unsigned we'll not destroy their confidence by naming and shaming them. I guess that's where you come in...