A capsule look at Pittsburgh bands making news.

MANDRAKE PROJECT

Band members: Kirk Salopek (guitars, gadgets, loops); David Chapman Jamison (drums, Chapman Stick, Moog); Ryan (Science) Meals (guitars, saxophone); Anthony "Dr. P" Pecora (bass); Benjamin Zerbe (drums); Rick Nelson (violin, viola, cello); all play percussion.

	"I wanted to do something that had no barriers, no limitations," says Kirk Salopek, right, of the band Mandrake Project. Click photo for larger image.

What are they?: A Pittsburgh "musicians' collective" with six core members and rotating door of guests. It features members of The Polyphonic Spree, Adam Evil & The Outside Royalty, The Boogie Hustlers, Soma Mestizo, Beam, Flowdown, Halo's Grace, Lushwell and Sporadic.

Debut album: "A Favor to the Muse" is made up of dreamy, hypnotic and rhythmic progressive rock instrumentals, from the Santana-flavored "Flame of the Simpleton" to the Middle Eastern "Burgundy Turban" to "An Ode to the Spaceman," a heavily orchestrated space adventure with a full choir.

Formed: In 2002. Originally, it was to be a four-piece with a '70s Deep Purple-King Crimson vibe, but with changing personnel it evolved into something else. "I wanted to do something that had no barriers, no limitations," says Salopek. "My intention was the sound of this band would be jammy, but not 'jam-bandy.' We wanted hippies to cringe at the sound of some of this. There are jazz chops and classical elements, but jazz and classical snobs would scoff at its technique. And I wanted enough rock but for the rock crowd to be confused by it. We wanted to mash these styles and see what happens."

On different pages: Salopek says almost no one in the band is like-minded musically. "I came from a punk rock background, but I'm as much into that as I am into classical music, Philip Glass, Steven Reich, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Pink Floyd and King Crimson. The bass player is totally into hip-hop, Prince and Miles Davis. The drummer, Ben, is a typical rock drummer like John Bonham and Terry Bozzio. David Chapman is totally into classical and jazz."

Should we use the P-word? "Prog makes me nervous," Salopek says. "I don't like the term, but I like the word. It's misunderstood. We're a progressive band, but not the prog genre. I tend to think were a little more experimental post-rock."

Members of the band Missing Pages are all West Mifflin Area High School graduates. Click photo for larger image.

Band motto: "What you don't play is much more important than what you do."

Ever-shifting quality: The basic lineup is two drummers, two guitarists, violin, bass, Chapman Stick and sampling/sequencing. The members like to switch instrumentation "within or between song structures." Sometimes all the members convene for a group percussion workout. "It changes the sonic environment," Salopek says.

How they compose: Drums first. "We took a weird direction," Salopek says. "Lots of bands come in and have guitar riffs and put the drums around them. A lot of these songs are written with drums first."

Why instrumental?: "I felt here was no need for vocals," he says. "No space for it. You don't need to focus on a singer and there's no message we're putting out. We wanted to let people develop their own thoughts by listening to it."

Release show: Friday at 9 p.m. at the Rex with Ritual Space Travel Agency, Khafif Belly Dancers, Gary Musisko and more. www.mandrakeproject.com.

MISSING PAGES

Band: Josh Christopher (vocals, guitar); Binks Stanley (keyboards, vocals, horns); Jake Colavincenzo (guitarist); Mike Griska (bass); Brandon Barnes (drums).

Sound: Bouncy pop-rock in the vein of Dave Matthews Band or Maroon 5.

Formed: Spring of 2003.

Winning ways: Missing Pages won the Station Square Rock Off 2005 and the Rolling Rock/K-Rock battle of the bands. The band has opened for Deep Purple and Bret Michaels.

Background: The members are all West Mifflin Area High School graduates. Christopher started playing in bands when he was 12 and now co-owns a studio. Barnes was classically trained at CMU and has worked with R&B singers Piney Brown and Tommy Brown. Griska has played in the bands Mercury, Tony Jones, Erratic Fool, Overland and Voodoo Babies. Stanley has a degree in music education from Slippery Rock University. Colavincenzo started playing guitar after seeing Christopher and Barnes in their high school band Stairre.

New EP: "It's About Time" is a six-song EP that shows off the band's catchy pop sensibilities and jazz-funk grooves.

The DVD: Missing Pages is also releasing "Modus Operandi," a DVD directed by Jimm Needle with live material, behind-the-scenes footage and the music video "Weekend in LA," filmed at Kennywood Park. The video is available for download at www.kennywood.com.

Release shows: Missing Pages will play a rare live concert at Kennywood Park Friday at 9 p.m. as part of Phantom Fright Nights to promote the DVD release. A special preview screening of the DVD will be held at the South Side Works Cinema Saturday at 7 and 9 p.m. When you pre-order the DVD for $22, you also get a ticket to Fright Nights and the DVD release at the South Side Works. Go to www.missing-pages.com/dvd.