IN THIS ISSUE OF COSMIK DEBRIS: Uber-bassist Jeff Berlin discusses his new solo album, In Harmony's Way; Toni Halliday of Curve reflects on the changes in their career that brought them to the release of their new CD, Gift; Michael Shermer, the editor of The Skeptic and famous debunker of frauds, explains the difference between blanket disbelief and critical thinking; Reggae legends Steel Pulse add to the flavor of the WOMAD festival; Jerry Cantrell live at the Orlando House Of Blues. Plus columns that include the return of The MP3 Files, and a review section that breaks our old record of 111 reviews (116 at press time). Hop on in!

COSMIK RADIO!: The amazingly sporadic Cosmik Radio finally has a new edition, this one posted on 9-16-01. Honest. It's there. We wouldn't kid about that. Again. We learned our lesson last time. It's not even April Fools anyway. So trust us. K? ... K? You just need a RealAudio Player to listen. If you don't have one, go pick one up. Cosmik Radio is just the kind of Net-Only audio that radio station program directors don't want you getting hooked on. So go ahead. Inhale!

JEFF BERLIN - The man many consider the best bass player on the planet talks about his career and his new CD, In Harmony's Way, and you know what? Unlike many of the studio gods we've run into, this guy was a blast to talk to! Shaun Dale did the honors.

CURVE - Toni Halliday wants to make it perfectly clear that Open Day At The Hate Fest was NOT an official Curve CD. The Gift, on the other hand, IS, and it is here, ready for your consumption. In this interview, Toni discusses the new CD, the career up to now, and the future of music -- and Curve -- on the Internet. Interview by DJ Johnson.

MICHAEL SHERMER - As editor of The Skeptic, Michael Shermer is a well-known debunker of phonies from all walks of life. His most famous battle may have been in debunking the anti-holocaust bunch, and anyone who would go in and silence them (somewhat) is a friend of ours. Interview by Rusty Pipes.

STEEL PULSE - They've been together through thick and thin, through the lean years when reggae was a cult thing with a pocket of fans and through the good times that continue to this day where it is a major musical force. They've been there and they've helped shape it. Selwyn Brown took time out after their performance at the WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) Festival in Redmond, Washington to talk to Eric Steiner.

JERRY CANTRELL - The former Alice In Chains guitarist turned it up at the Orlando House Of Blues with a set despite the pain in his recently broken hand. Melanie Campbell was on hand (but not that one, because that'd just be mean) to witness the event.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - Where you can sound off and say we're great, we suck, or other things having nothing to do with Cosmik Debris. You can even talk about the price of Raisin Bran. We don't mind. Nobody'll read that one, but we'll probably run it as a joke anyway.


CD & RECORD REVIEWS - Everything from rock to jazz to hip-hop and back again.

EVERYTHING ELSE IN REVIEW - Books and movies this month. Check 'em out!



PIGSHIT - Yes, yes, we know... Gary Pig Gold puts you through a lot of emotional turmoil. Well buck up, spunky, because he's gonna do it again as he asks: did The Kinks invent alternative country??

CLOSET PHILOSOPHY - Rusty Pipes looks at more topics than you can shake a missle at, from stem cell research to bogus economical fixes.

COSMIK BLUES - Eric Steiner has a handful of hot blues CDs to run by you.

THE MP3 FILES - Bill Holmes returns with his series on deserving bands flying under the radar and how you can hear them and find their MP3s rather easily.



CREDITS - The names and e-mail addresses of the people responsible for this thing.

COSMIK RADIO - Want an hour of music that fits the personality of Cosmik Debris Magazine? That's right, Sinatra segues into Megadeth into Peter Tosh into Man Or Astro-Man into... well, you get the picture. It's a little something we like to call Genre Whiplash. Or maybe you're in the mood for a trip into The Fog Machine, our mix of music of the ethereal variety. All you need is a RealAudio player. Come on in.

INTERNET RADIO STATIONS - Great radio is alive and well on the Net! Cosmik Debris presents links to take you where the good ones are hiding, from St. Louis to Dublin. You're no longer stuck with just the "classic rock," "young country" and "24-hour talk" that has your town held hostage.

OUR OWN WEBSITES - Many of the Cosmik Debris writers have websites of their own. We have some links right here.



Just a quick note to let you know that Bill Holmes has returned with The MP3 Files. We had a meeting and turned off all the lights, saying that when the lights came back on, if The MP3 Files was back on the table there would be no questions asked. We said we'd count to ten. Of course, we only counted to four because we're rat bastards, and there was Bill leaning over the table to put The MP3 Files down. So as his punishment he has to write the column again. What have we learned from this experience? Never take long vacations from your column without telling your editor, and never EVER believe your editor when he says he's going to count to ten. It'll always be four. Always. Ask Wenner. Four. Always.

DJ Johnson
Editor

Did you miss an issue? We now have many of our back issues online, including sound clips and extras. Check out interviews with The Witches, Electric Frankenstein, the Vampire Beach Babes, Jeff Berlin, Curve, Michael Shermer, Steel Pulse, Transglobal Underground, Mark Helm, The Southern Rock All-Stars, Ottmar Liebert, Jason Noble of Shipping News, Phil Vassar, Joel Dorn, Mark Cline of Love Tractor, Texas Terri (of Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones), Mike Keneally, Chris Shinn of Unified Theory, Alley of Wise Monkey Orchestra, Mario Escovedo of The Dragons, The Clarks, Big Ass Truck, Richard Cheese, Paul Krassner, Tony Iommi, Ron Dante... and too many more to list!!