The Ultimate Band List

The concept is elegantly simple: an alphabetical, searchable list of links to Web pages devoted to groups of every stripe — from ABBA to ZZ Top, from rock monsters R.E.M. to Ithaca, N.Y., electronic instrumentalists Ipecac Loop. The Ultimate Band List itself has little content, but a horizontal bar at the top of the screen provides access to a handful of happening E-zines, Internet radio stations, and such. American Recordings veep Marc Geiger, who runs the site, guesses that it catalogs ''thousands and thousands'' of bands — and he's surely being conservative. Most of the links are to fan-produced pages, which can be uneven or unprofessional, but that just adds to the site's raucously democratic feel. A-