A capsule look at Pittsburgh bands making news.

	Click links to listen toMP3 audio clips from "The Road to Ubatuba" "Silly Goose" "The Road to Ubatuba"

PETER KING

New CD: "The Road to Ubatuba."

Sound: Jazzy, easy-going acoustic folk-pop in the vein of vintage James Taylor and Paul Simon.

Band: Guitarist-singer King; percussionist Jim DiSpirito (Big World, ex-Rusted Root), saxophonist Eric DeFade (Billy Price, Salsamba), harmonica player Marc Reisman (Houserockers); bassist/producer Mark Perna; drummer Jeff Berman (Big World).

Background: King has a master's degree in guitar from Duquesne, having studied with jazz-oriented teachers Marty Ashby, Bill Purse and Doc Wilson. As a teenager, he played in electric blues bands. King is a copy editor and Web specialist at the Post-Gazette.

Track list: King supplies 10 originals, plus his own takes on the traditional "Corrina, Corrina," Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" and Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues."

Where in the world is Ubatuba?: "Ubatuba," King says, "is a beautiful old beach town on the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. I have a couple of close Brazilian friends, I speak some Portuguese, I absolutely love the music, and I've spent some time down there. The song is about being unshackled, I guess, from your everyday life, about just feeling alive and in touch with the moment in a strange new place. Traveling seems to be a theme through much of the CD -- you know, not just geographical, but the internal, emotional kind."

Chilled out: The easy-going pace of this record seems almost out-of-step with modern society. How is King able to chill like this? "I'm not really a chiller. The truth is, I just handle my angst in a different way than, say, when I was 18," he says. "Rather than turn my amp up to 11 and howl about it, I can see some of the irony and humor in my situation and in the situations of my fellow creatures. Plus, there are grooves in these tunes. They're not rock grooves, it's true, but they're swing grooves and bossa grooves and other grooves that have stood the test of time. But yeah, the CD is a little understated, a little subtle, I like to think. Actually, we've been rehearsing the live band, and we've taken the energy level up a few notches. It's all cookin' pretty good by now."

Release party: 7 p.m. Friday at Club Cafe, South Side; free. Opening act: Eve Goodman. King's Web site: www.peterkingmusic.com.

-- Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette Weekend Mag editor

ORIGEN AKA WILL STANTON

New CD: "Letters"

The Long and short: Strong. Solid production, nice variety. Passionate.

Sound: Spoken-word backpacking on a pilgrimage to visit Thomas a Becket.

Self-professed influences: Van Morrison, Das EFX, Neil Young, EPMD, C.S. Lewis, [St.] Augustine, Boogiemonsters, CCR, Coldplay, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jesus Christ.

Likelihood of being reminded of either Tha Pharcyde, Aesop Rock or the cool Christian kid at your high school: 73 percent.

Production: By Adept, of Toronto. Smooth, though sparse enough in parts for listeners to notice the metaphorical girders as much as the fresh paint job. Allows the listener to imagine the process of its assembly. Wide range of borrowed elements, from industrial sounds, to soulful looped vocals, and back to jazzy brasswork.

In a line: "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. Praise God."

Or two: "I don't hate the radio; I just hate the music ... wouldn't it be nice if all the talented were famous, if the voices on the air were what we needed to hear, not the current crop of garbage accosting our ears."

You'll notice: Shout outs to Keith Murray, Das EFX and EPMD.

Best evocations: "Meet me at the Lamppost's" saxophone loop a la Tha Pharcyde's "Passing Me By." Also the sped-up lyrical cadence in "Right Where I Need You" might take you back to Kris Kross' "someofthemtrytorhymebuttheycan'trhymelikethis."

Philosophy: Struggles less with his Christianity than Kanye but strays toward KRS-ONE's preachiness. Nonetheless deep, despite the heavy handedness. Personable and resonant for the Christian in you.

Mash/vibe out to this artist: 10 p.m. Thursday at the Shadow Lounge, East Liberty, and 9 p.m. Saturday at H-Kan Hooka Bar, South Side.

-- Philip A. Stephenson, Post-Gazette staff writer