Bill Nelson Chimera

Bill Nelson Chimera

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Originally planned as a mere stopgap release between albums, Chimera turned out to be a welcome showcase for Bill Nelson at his peak, commercially and creatively. Following the triumph of his 1982 album The Love That Whirls, the British guitarist built Chimera in the same vein, setting his romantic and erotic poetry to the sort of synthesized settings favored by his younger pop peers. However, where much of Nelson's previous output had been a virtual one-man show, the six songs that form the original album benefit from his new desire to collaborate, most notably with Yellow Magic Orchestra drummer Yukihiro Takahashi (whose band Nelson had produced). The result is the elegant dance music of "Everyday Feels Like a New Drug" and "Glow World"; the latter song also features the rubbery fretless bass of Japan's Mick Karn and is perhaps the best of all the attempts at this sort of oriental funk made by Karn's bandmates, Gary Numan, and several other artists. The guests don't seem to have sparked Nelson's desire to return to his Red Noise, guitar-hero days (although he does crank out some jagged, Robert Fripp-style leads in "The Real Adventure"), but the focus here was on balancing Nelson's instrumental and theoretical fights of fancy with the demands of modern pop, a job performed with aplomb. [Some reissues add two songs apiece from the previous albums Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam and The Love That Whirls.]

Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart Without Judgement

Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart Without Judgement

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Following his split from P.I.L. in the early '80s, bassist Jah Wobble was more likely to be found sweeping tubeway stations than performing on stages, and by the middle of the decade, his musical output had all but ground to a halt. It was not until 1986, when Wobble met guitarist Justin Adams, that his creative juices began flowing again. The two hit it off musically, and began experimenting with a diverse palette of pop, dub, Middle Eastern, and North African influences. This laid the foundation for what would eventually become their new group, Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart. Keyboard/percussionist David Harrow and Urban Dance Squad drummer Michel Schoots joined soon after, and the quartet began earnestly working on new material. By 1987, the band had worked out a polished live set and decided it was time to take the show to the Netherlands (where Wobble still had an avid following), do a tour, and record. The result was JWIOTH's debut album Without Judgement. Pieced together from live, two-track DAT recordings made during performances in Holland, the album managed to sound relaxed, free, and spontaneous while maintaining an air of calculation and precision. Unlike most live albums, the fact that Without Judgement was, indeed, recorded live was not immediately apparent. The only crowd noise present occurred during the fade-out of the last track and the album itself was edited together in such a way that full songs found themselves placed among snippets of instrumental interlude and sound atmospherics. This unconventional approach may have seemed like a recipe for disaster, but in the talented hands of editor Step Parikian, the flow between musical ideas was tasteful, seamless, and, above all, interesting. All of the influences that would later define Jah Wobble's style could be found on Without Judgement, in their raw forms. Wobble's characteristically simple, catchy, and repetitive bass-hooks were just coming into maturity, and served as the main driving force throughout the album. Typified by tunes like the menacing-but-groovy "What the Problem Is" and the Bowie-esque "What Will You Say," Jah Wobble's bass mantras proved to be as creative as they were insistent. His songwriting was also maturing and subject matter ran the gamut from the spiritual ("Good Ghosts") to the satirical ("Burger Bar"). The North African and Middle Eastern influences (which permeated all of Wobble's later work) could be found peppered throughout Without Judgement, and were most apparent in Justin Adams' psycho-arabic guitar solos and David Harrow's ethnic-tinged samples. With all of these fresh elements, raw guts, and polished execution, Without Judgement still shines as the toughest album Jah Wobble has made under his own name. Fans of his later, more ambient work (mid-'90s and beyond) may find this record's aggressiveness alarming; but longtime fans will agree, although not representational of Jah Wobble's entire body of work, Without Judgement is absolutely essential.

Mudhoney Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Mudhoney Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

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In mid-1991, grunge was poised to make its entrance into the spotlight of global popular culture as Nirvana's Nevermind was being readied for release. But Mudhoney didn't know that as they began work on their second album, and they were starting to tire of the monolithic hard rock/metal side of their sound. Taking a detour back into the garage rock and early punk influences that meant as much to them as Blue Cheer, they booked time in Conrad Uno's cozy eight-track recording facility Egg Studio, and soon emerged with Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, a proudly stripped-down and wiry effort that appeared two months before Nevermind. If 1989's Mudhoney seemed a bit short of inspiration as the band figured out where to go after the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP, EGBDF was leaner, meaner, and a great deal more enthusiastic, and "Let It Slide," "Into the Drink," and "Who You Drivin' Now" took the noisy report of "Touch Me, I'm Sick" and gave it a good bit more snarl and rattle, which worked strongly in their favor. EGBDF also sounded like Mudhoney were having more fun than on their first long-player; the lo-fi organ accents fit this music just right, Mark Arm's vocal howlings are gleeful snottiness personified, Steve Turner's gloriously dirty guitar solos were paeans of scuzziness from deep inside the soul, and Matt Lukin and Dan Peters were the perfect rhythm section for this music. The songwriting was also considerably stronger than on their previous LP, and just as the rockers at once stomped harder and seemed lighter on their feet, slower tunes like "Broken Hands" and "Check Out Time" dug deeper into their bluesy side and revealed how strong their ominous alter ego could be. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge was Mudhoney's declaration that they didn't need grunge to survive, and if their timing proved to be a bit off, their musical instincts were faultless, and it's one of their very best albums.

The Psychedelic Furs Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs Talk Talk Talk

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This time working solely with Steve Lillywhite, the Furs introduce a brighter, poppier side to their underground rock edge, with smashing results throughout. The group produces some powerful songs, even more rough-edged than before. Especially striking is "Dumb Waiters," with its queasy, slow-paced arrangement that allows both Kilburn's sax and Ashton's guitar to go wild. However, the six still create some undeniable pop classics. Most well-known is the lead track, "Pretty in Pink," inspiration for the iconic John Hughes film years later and re-recorded as a result. The original is still where to go, though, with Butler's catchy description of a romantically unsure woman matched by a killer band performance. Similarly lighter numbers on the record call to mind a rockier version of Roxy Music's output in later years: elegant, romantic angst given a slightly rougher edge in both music and vocals. "She Is Mine" is especially fine as a gently swinging number with some of Butler's best, quietly ruminative lyrics. Straight-up anthems abound as well, the best being the amazing "Into You Like a Train," which mixes the blunt desire of the title with a sparkling Ashton guitar line and a fast rhythm punch. Talk Talk Talk ends on another high with "All of This and Nothing." A soft, acoustic guitar-sax-rhythm combination introduces the song, then fades away for the main section to begin; Butler details bits and pieces from a lost relationship over a sharp full-band performance, and a final drum smash leads into a reprise of the start -- a fine way to end a fine record.

Cinerama This Is Cinerama

Cinerama This Is Cinerama

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Conveniently and thoroughly, the compilation wraps up the band's first four singles (which thankfully includes both sides of the vinyl-only Pacific single), adding a kitschy Valvola remix of "Ears." Anyone wild enough about Cinerama to have bought the singles can tell you that the B-sides are just as good as the album material, and the two singles that were released between Va Va Voom and Disco Volante and not included on either are equally splendid. "Crusoe," from the band's first single, is one of David Gedge's finest ruminations on romantic frustration. An elegant-as-ever, strings-at-just-the-right-moment heart stopper, Gedge punches in with his umpteenth quotable: "You can't get a phone call like that and not tell me/You can't lay with him in a bed and not smell me." The best moments arrive courtesy of the three-song Manhattan single, which showcase the band's surprising range. "Manhattan" is a mid-tempo ode to near-adultery, and "Film" shows off their more aggressive side, without losing melodic sense. But, what makes This Is Cinerama truly worthy of your ownership is a drop-dead impressive rendition of the Smiths' "London." Rather than do a straight-up take, the storming original is slowed down to a languid pulse (the length is doubled), with Gedge and Sally Murrell doubling up on vocals. Indie and chamber pop aren't known for slinkiness, but the standard is nonetheless set here. Though collections of singles and extras regularly cater to diehards, This Is Cinerama should impress the merely interested, and it's just as value-packed as Va Va Voom.

Crowded House Woodface

Crowded House Woodface 

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Though less commercially successful than their eponymous debut, Crowded House’s second LP, 1988’s Temple Of Low Men, nonetheless went gold in the US and made a big splash in Oceania, where it topped the Australian chart and peaked at No.2 in New Zealand. Post-release, the band toured in both Australia and Canada (where Temple… also received a platinum disc), with their core trio of Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, and Paul Hester augmented initially by former Split Enz keyboard player Eddie Rayner and then by ex-Supertramp alumnus Mark Hart. Following the tour’s Canadian leg, frontman and primary songsmith Neil Finn embarked on a fruitful period writing new songs with his brother (and Split Enz founder) Tim, the pair’s newly minted co-written songs intended for an album to be recorded as The Finn Brothers. However, after Crowded House’s label, Capitol, rejected most of the demos the band had prepared for their mooted third LP, Tim Finn agreed that Neil could instead record some of the pair’s songs with Crowded House, providing he too could join the band. Tim has since stressed this wasn’t a serious proposition, but whatever the truth of the matter, when Crowded House reconvened with producer Mitchell Froom for their third LP, Woodface, they’d morphed into a quartet featuring Tim as a full-time member. When Woodface was eventually released, in July 1991, it wasn’t hard to hear why Neil had been keen to utilize eight of the mooted Finn Brothers songs, as they were among the most melodic, infectious tunes he’d had a hand in to date. Most of them featured the brothers sharing lead vocals, though Neil sang the elegant, melancholic “Four Seasons In One Day,” while Tim took the lead on the filmic, string-assisted ballad “All I Ask.” The Finn Brothers were also dually responsible for two memorable, radio-friendly staples courtesy of “It’s Only Natural” and the ridiculously catchy “Weather With You”: the latter of which provided the band with their first UK Top 10 hit. Elsewhere, however, Neil self-penned several of Woodface’s perennials, including the affecting “Fall At Your Feet,” the edgy, voyeuristic “Whispers And Moans” and the energized, Squeeze-esque “Fame Is.” Curiously, despite presenting a feast of beautifully crafted, airwave-friendly pop, Woodface received mixed reviews from the critics and, surprisingly, stalled at No.83 on the US Billboard 200. However, this blow was cushioned by Crowded House’s burgeoning popularity in Europe, where the album went Top 30 in half a dozen territories and peaked at No.6 in the UK, yielding double-platinum British sales for the band into the bargain.

The Jam Setting Sons

The Jam Setting Sons 

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The Jam's Setting Sons was originally planned as a concept album about three childhood friends who, upon meeting after some time apart, discover the different directions in which they've grown apart. Only about half of the songs ended up following the concept due to a rushed recording schedule, but where they do, Paul Weller vividly depicts British life, male relationships, and coming to terms with entry into adulthood. Weller's observations of society are more pointed and pessimistic than ever, but at the same time, he's employed stronger melodies with a slicker production and comparatively fuller arrangements, even using heavy orchestration for a reworked version of Bruce Foxton's "Smithers-Jones." Setting Sons often reaches brilliance and stands among the Jam's best albums, but the inclusion of a number of throwaways and knockoffs (especially the out-of-place cover of "Heat Wave" that closes the album) mars an otherwise perfect album. [The Super Deluxe Edition of the Jam's Setting Sons greatly expands the half-hour album from 1979, adding the non-LP singles surrounding the album's release, a CD's worth of alternate takes and demos, plus a Peel Session from 1979, a full concert at the Brighton Centre, and a DVD that combines the album's promotional videos and BBC appearances on Top of the Pops and Something Else. The singles -- the A-sides "Strange Town," "When You're Young" and "Going Underground," along with their flips (highlighted by "The Butterfly Collectors" and "The Dreams of Children") -- are familiar but there are 14 unreleased tracks on the second disc, mainly demos that range from solo Paul Weller works ("Thick as Thieves" cuts a lasting impression with its swirling phased guitar) and full-band run-throughs. The Jam sound cool, tight, and efficient on their Peel session but the true keeper is the furious Brighton performance, where the bandmembers appear to be sprinting each other toward the finish line on every performance.]

New Model Army Thunder And Consolation

New Model Army Thunder And Consolation

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NMA proved that they were well worth waiting for. Thunder and Consolation begins grandly, keeping the keyboards from "White Coats" on "I Love the World," an anthem filled with bittersweet irony and sarcasm. Self-produced, the album never falters, and the single "Stupid Questions" made an impression on American college and modern-rock radio, especially when working visas were granted to the band and they were allowed to tour the U.S. Violin was added by Ed Elain Johnson to further fill out the sound and give it an "Irish Folk" quality on epic songs "Green and Grey," and "Vagabonds." The band uses samples on "225" and "Green and Grey" to further enhance the flavor of the album

The Stranglers Aural Sculpture

The Stranglers Aural Sculpture 

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What an out and out shock. The Stranglers have gone sensual, sounding sincere, serene, and sensitive (and philosophically introspective). And it's perfect. It took 'em nine years, but they're at their peace now. Which isn't to say that this is preferable to putting on their first couple albums and early singles and rocking out to the sheer unrepentant, harsh rock of greats like "Hanging Around," "Straighten Out," or "No More Heroes"; but it sure is OK to veg out and dream along with these lithe little pop songs, with Hugh Cornwell now cooing instead of growling the likes of "Let Me Down Easy" and "No Mercy," and especially "Skin Deep." This stuff is almost as quiet and soulful as what the Passions have been up to, and that's what really surprises. And let's be honest -- the previous one or two Stranglers albums had some OK tunes but seemed stuck for new direction, so now they've finally settled on where they want to go after a decade of playing such harder music. You just never thought they could transition to this contrasting style so well

Catherine Wheel Chrome

Catherine Wheel Chrome

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The original title, Crank, would have been apt. Producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen) was brought in to toughen this band's sound and set them apart from the wave of U.K. upstarts who were pounding U.S. shores. That he did. But it's not necessarily progress; Talk Talk's master experimentalist, Tim Friese-Greene, gave Catherine Wheel's brilliant debut, Ferment, a dripping beauty, opulent textures illuminating barely hidden firepower. On even the most angry, aggressive tracks, such as "Texture" and "Shallow," this shimmering, shuddering mist was still ever-present. Many of those glistening touches have indeed been subtracted by Norton, and they're missed. That Chrome is still a terrific LP proves Catherine Wheel capable of eclipsing the overload. Like another sharp LP that "cranked" for an hour without much sonic letup, Chrome reminds one of Sugar's Copper Blue. Not because Catherine Wheel covered Hüsker Dü on the 30 Century Man EP; it's because that was the last LP that combined this kind of songwriting prowess, raging playing, dynamics, pop tunes gone kablooey, and huge, bonfire sound. And unlike that toasty Sugar LP, this twin-guitar quartet knows how to bring it down: both the spindly single "Crank" and the resplendent "The Nude" seem almost tearful, they're so pretty through the thickness, and the knockout "Strange Fruit" is as fulsome as it is fierce. Rob Dickinson sings as if to choke on his words, yet never loses a gritty determination backed soundly by his and Brian Futter's guitars. Add in heavier versions of previous B-sides-that-deserved-better "Half Life" and "Ursa Major Space Station," and you've got a double play from a band too resolute to fall victim to sophomore slump wimp out, too talented to write half-baked tunes in two minutes, and too strong to glaze out in a shoegaze haze some pigeonholed them in after Ferment.

Robert Palmer Clues

Robert Palmer Clues 

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After recording a series of albums that established him as a pop-minded interpreter of soul styles, Robert Palmer surprised fans in 1980 with the stylistic about-face of Clues. On this album, he brought his sound into the new wave era by playing up the rock edge to his music, stripping the high-production gloss from his sound, and incorporating synthesizers into the arrangements. The end result became a big hit in the U.K. and paved the way for later international successes like Riptide and Heavy Nova. Clues also produced two notable singles in "Looking for Clues," a clever slice of new wave pop that surprises the listener with an unexpected xylophone solo, and "Johnny and Mary," a moody synth-driven ballad with perceptive lyrics about a doomed romantic relationship. There is also an impressive cover of Gary Numan's "I Dream of Wires" that retains the chilly electronic grandeur of the original while successfully working in an earthier rhythm arrangement that makes the song dance-friendly. Elsewhere, Palmer shows he hasn't abandoned his penchant for soul and ethnic music: "Woke Up Laughing" filters an African-style, chant-like vocal melody through a minimalist electronic production style, and "Found You Now" effectively combines a reggae groove with a deadpan sense of cool that is very "new wave." The end result is a bit short (it clocks in at barely over a half hour), but it remains one of Robert Palmer's strongest and most consistent albums. In short, Clues is a must for Robert Palmer fans and worth a spin for anyone into new wave.

Bauhaus Mask (Omnibus Edition)

Bauhaus Mask (Omnibus Edition)

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Managing the sometimes hard-to-negotiate trick of expanding their sound while retaining all the qualities which got them attention to begin with, on Mask the members of Bauhaus consciously stretched themselves into newer areas of music and performance, resulting in an album that was arguably even better than the band's almost flawless debut. More familiar sides of the band were apparent from the get-go; opening number "Hair of the Dog," one of the band's best songs, starts with a double-tracked squalling guitar solo before turning into a stomping, surging flow, carefully paced by sudden silences and equally sudden returns to the music, while Murphy details cases of mental addictions in pithy phrases. The energy wasn't all just explosive angst and despair, though; the one-two punches of "Kick in the Eye" and "In Fear of Fear" have as much hip-shaking groove and upbeat swing to them as portentous gloom (Ash's sax skronk on the latter, as well as on the similarly sharp "Dancing," is a particularly nice touch). Elsewhere, numerous flashes of the band's quirky sense of humor -- something often missed by both fanatical followers and negative critics both -- make an appearance; perhaps most amusing is the dry spoken-word lyric beginning "Of Lillies and Remains," as David J details a goofily grotesque situation as much Edward Gorey as Edgar Allen Poe. Add to that three of the most dramatic things the band ever recorded -- the charging, keyboard-accompanied "The Passion of Lovers," the slow, dark fairy-tale-gone-wrong "Hollow Hills," and the wracked, trudging title track, where the sudden appearance of an acoustic guitar turns a great song into a near-perfect blend of ugliness and sheer beauty -- and the end result was a perfect trouncing of the sophomore-slump myth. [The Omnibus Edition of Mask was a three-disc package including the original 10-track album on the first disc, 17 singles and outtakes on the second disc (eight of them unreleased demos or rough mixes), and, on the third disc, a 17-track set recorded live at the Hammersmith Palais in November 1981.] 

 

KMFDM Naive

KMFDM Naive

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Having built up both their reputation and their increasing musical range over earlier releases, the members of KMFDM brought it all together on the brilliant Naïve, one of industrial/electronic body music's key albums and a great blast of entertainment from start to finish. The self-referential qualities evident from earlier songs like "More and Faster" came to the fore with the brief "Welcome," literally doing just that for new listeners, and from there KMFDM does everything from four-to-the-floor beats to Wagnerian epic metal and back again. What's especially impressive about Naïve is that for all the genre-hopping, it's all still clearly the work of one band -- but one so ridiculously good that everything they touch pretty much turns to gold. The title track is especially fantastic, a disco anthem for a generation grown up on feedback as much as acid pulse, with a catchy-as-hell lead female vocal matched by the expected distortion on En Esch's own drawl and the whole thing slamming forward without pause. As good as that it is, though, there's no question which song is the total standout -- "Liebeslied." Outrageously interpolating Carl Orff's noted vocal piece Carmina Burana into a bombastic explosion of mechanical rhythms, orchestral hits, and an increasing amount of hero guitar feedback slabs, not to mention the husked, desperate lead vocals, it's a jawdropping masterpiece that demands and gets total surrender.

Bomb The Bass Clear

Bomb The Bass Clear

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Though Bomb the Bass' third album, Clear, was originally a scattershot, kinetic dance record, Tim Simenon restructured the record for its American release. The American version of Clear demonstrates a distinct trip-hop, techno, jazz, and dub influence, as well as the literary lyrical pretensions that were present on the original English release. Simenon created a subdued, multi-layered album, where instruments float in and out of the mix over a deep, laid-back groove. All of the rappers on the record are guest stars, including Sinéad O'Connor and Justin Warfield. Although their contributions are impressive, the true star of the album is Simenon, who has made an album that proves he isn't stuck in the late-'80s house/techno rut and can compete with '90s artists like Tricky and Portishead. [The British version has a radically different track order.]

Icehouse Primitive Man

Icehouse Primitive Man

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As an oboe/guitar player involved in electro popular music, it's no surprise Iva Davies took to Roxy Music, especially on "Street Café" and the mega-hit "Hey Little Girl," which duly landed in no less than 13 European Top Ten singles charts, going all the way in Switzerland. An album of atmospheres, "Great Southern Land" evokes images of Australia's arid interior, while "Trojan Blue" conjures up medieval Italy or France. "Mysterious Thing" continues Primitive Man's mood, and produces what may be the best line in ambient white funk recorded! Running orders for the album fluctuate; Australian editions swapped "Love in Motion" for the rockier "Break These Chains" (vice versa in the U.K.). Finishing up is an excellent reworking of "Goodnight Mr. Mathews," which had earlier appeared on the Steve Nye single-only version of "Love in Motion" (itself re-recorded less successfully). Primitive Man (aka Love in Motion in the U.K.) is still one his finest recordings. Those seeking out the CD are also blessed with the inclusion of "Over the Line," hitherto only available on Fresco and the singles box set, the original 12" of "Girl," and the German version of "Uniform."

Fields Of The Nephilim Elizium

Fields Of The Nephilim Elizium

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For the first time since Dawnrazor, the Nephilim worked with someone other than Bill Buchanan as producer; whatever Andy Jackson's particular qualifications, happily he knew not to ruin a good thing. The end result was the band's best all-around album, consisting of four lengthy pieces that showcase their now near-peerless abilities to create involved, textured, driving, and loud pieces of rock. It was still goth as all heck, but like the best bands in any genre, the Nephilim transcended such artificial limitations to create their own sound. McCoy still comes up with an occasionally curious lyric, to put it mildly, but such is the power of his performance as well as the band's that, at least for the time it's playing, Elizium really does sound like it's about to call up darkling spirits from the nether planes. The opening song is divided into four parts but mainly known by its second, "For Her Light," which was edited into a single. It moves from initial crashes of noise, feedback, and keyboards to catchier brooding and riff action, a calmer midsection with appropriate samples of Alistair Crowley, and a last slamming run to the song's conclusion. "Submission" stands on its own, switching between minimal bass with guitar stabs and massive crescendos. "Sumerland (What Dreams May Come)" takes the apocalyptic element of the Nephilim to its furthest extent; its relentless pulse supports some of the most powerful guitar out there while McCoy achieves a similar high point with his commanding voice. "Wail of Sumer" concludes Elizium on a striking two-part note, gently floating rather than exploding over its length, while McCoy's lost, regretful voice drifts along with it as a soft, yet still unnerving conclusion. Combine that with another fantastic job on art design, and Elizium, once you accept the Nephilim's basic conceits, simply stuns.

Scritti Politti Anomie & Bonhomie

Scritti Politti Anomie & Bonhomie

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Scritti Politti finally delivered their fourth album, Anomie & Bonhomie, in the summer of 1999, nearly 15 years after their third. Such a long wait almost guarantees some change in the music, but the strange thing about Anomie & Bonhomie is how the updates -- rapper cameos, vague house beats, grunge guitars -- sound as if they're pasted over backing tracks from 1986. Not necessarily a bad thing, but disconcerting, since the heart of this album is squarely in Cupid & Psyche 85 territory. Green Gartside still creates unabashedly fey, unapologetically smooth pop, sprinkled with hints of soul and dance. Green's high, thin voice takes some getting used to, as does his aesthetic. He likes melodies, but he likes surfaces and textures even more, particularly if they're manufactured and polished. That was the very thing that made Cupid & Psyche 85 irresistible, at least to post-New Romantic new wavers, and parts of Anomie & Bonhomie work on that same appealingly slick level, since Green has a talent for constructing hooks and sounds. They don't necessarily add up to full-fledged songs, yet the feel is always right -- a light, persistent groove, swooning melodies, and a sense of twee sophistication. That's why the contemporary flourishes don't fit -- they're forced, and Green is at his best when he makes it all seem easy, no matter how intricately constructed his music is. Subsequent spins let Green's talents float to the surface, particularly on the luxurious "First Goodbye," the dancefloor opener "Umm," and "Mystic Handyman." If the album winds up succeeding on the strength of soundcraft instead of songcraft, that's the way Green works. While it may not be worth an extended wait, Anomie & Bonhomie ultimately remains faithful to the sophsti-pop aesthetic the band pioneered in the mid-'80s.

Sparks Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins

Sparks Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins

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Even the cover art is great, playing with the same fake tabloid style that Guns N' Roses tried but with funnier results. Beginning with a semi-echo of the start of Propaganda, with the a cappella "Gratuitous Sax" leading into the surging, well-deserved European smash hit "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'," Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins broke a near seven-year silence from Ron and Russell Mael -- the longest period of time by far since their start in between major releases. Rather than sounding tired or out of touch, though, the brothers gleefully embraced the modern synth/house/techno explosion for their own purposes (an explosion which, after all, they had helped start with their work during the late '70s with Giorgio Moroder). Solely recorded by the Maels with no outside help, Sax keeps that same, perfect Sparks formula -- Russell's sweet vocals soar with smart and suspect lyrics over Ron's sometimes fast and furious, sometimes slow and elegant melodies, here performed with detailed electronic lushness. They make their style live yet again, feeling far fresher here than on Interior Design. "(When I Kiss You) I hear Charlie Parker Playing" finds Russell rapping (!), "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" has a great building chorus, and "Let's Go Surfing" helps wrap up the album with a wistfully triumphant call to arms. "Tsui Hark" is the one slight departure from the formula, featuring the Hong Kong director Hark himself giving a brief autobiography while a colleague speaks in Chinese. Though some longtime fans groused that they missed the more rocked-up Sparks of the early '70s (or early '80s) in comparison, all in all, Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins is a well-deserved return to form from a band which has deserved far more attention from the musical world, or the world at large, than they have received.

Butthole Surfers Weird Revolution

Butthole Surfers Weird Revolution

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As a slice of danceable, oddball pop confection, Weird Revolution glides seamlessly along as millenial ear candy -- bizarre, languorous, and utterly surreal. Only a band with such a varied past -- splatter-painted with psychedelia, avant-punk, and hardcore, the acid-damaged scatology of Chrome, the pastoral beauty of acoustic and folk guitar, and the acid guitar pyrotechnics of Led Zeppelin -- could attempt such a massive career about-face. Agreed, when the Beck-ish "Pepper" sailed up the charts in the late 1990s, with its casual, trippy sampled beats, the vast preponderance of old-school fans were aghast. The radio friendly -- not to mention dance club friendly -- Weird Revolution will do nothing to assist those people back into the Butts peculiar belief system. Certainly, an album like this is not without precedent in the band's camp. At the tail end of the 1980s, former bassist Jeff Pinkus and ringleader Gibby Haynes assembled some binary code mish-mash under the name the Jackofficers using little more than a couple of Macintosh computers. And that was merely a lark. This time, one guesses, the band is as serious as a band like the Butthole Surfers could be. Unfortunately, all organic drumming has been cast overboard in favor of the studio friendly ProTools unit. There are numerous occasions of pop brilliance; "The Shame of Life" and the "Sweet Jane"-flavored "Dracula From Venus." Gibby Haynes' vocals are the designated focus of Weird Revolution, and even though he has always shown tremendous range in years past, from the disturbing ("Gravyard," "Concubine") to Roxy Music-esque crooning, this time he's flexing his Texas hip-hop muscles. Perhaps this is precisely the album they've been waiting to make. Perhaps it was a career imperative; the only way to financially salvage a 20-odd year run of genius and mayhem that suddenly went awry, causing everyone involved trouble with the bank. That is forgivable; that is fine. Certain bands, given their dedication and catalog, are nearly exempt from traditional standards, but the near absence of Paul Leary's LSD-drenched guitar wizardry is unconscionable, as it had always been the band's most mesmerizing feature. This signals a weird revolution in sound and vision, indeed: from the damaged terror, brilliance, and whimsy of the '80s and early '90s to the ecstacy-lined trenches of electronica.

The Church Starfish

The Church Starfish

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Some classic albums from the '80s lose their luster over a period of time. Whether it's the horrifically dated production values or instantly recognized drum machine presets, the musky smell of nostalgia inevitably creeps in and funks things up. Thankfully, this isn't the case with the Church's Starfish, which EMI had the good sense of remastering and presenting in a two-disc deluxe edition. Of course, Starfish wasn't the creative pinnacle of the Church's career (some would argue that would be found on 1986's Heyday), but it certainly was the group's most successful album, delivering the classics "Under the Milky Way" and "Reptile" to the pop mainstream. And while the first disc sounds better than ever, it's the second disc filled with rarities, B-sides, and acoustic performances of "Under the Milky Way," "Antenna," and "Spark" that really steals the show. Liner notes and any sort of historical documentation are woefully absent from the packaging, which is a shame because like every classic album there must be some astounding session anecdotes or historical documentation that could have been equally as engaging as the music. But overall, fans should rejoice that the album has been restored to its originl pristine beauty 

Squeeze East Side Story

Squeeze East Side Story

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Roundly regarded as Squeeze's grand masterpiece, in its planned incarnation East Side Story was going to be much grander: it was designed as a double-album with each side produced by a different musician, all a forefather of a different aspect of Squeeze. Dave Edmunds and his Rockpile cohort Nick Lowe were both contracted, as was Lowe's main producing success story Elvis Costello, and then Paul McCartney was slated for a side, but as the sessions started all but Elvis and Edmunds pulled out, with Dave only contributing one track. Costello was enough to make a big, big difference, helping to highlight a band in flux. Jools Holland left the group after Argybargy, taking with him a penchant for boogie-woogie novelty tunes. His replacement was Paul Carrack, veteran of pub rockers Ace who gave Squeeze another lead singer with true commercial potential -- something that Costello exploited by having Carrack sing lead for the brilliant piece of blue-eyed soul, "Tempted" (Costello and Glenn Tilbrook sneak in for the second verse). "Tempted" was a misleading hit -- at least it was a hit in America, where it turned into a '80s standard -- in that it suggested Carrack was a larger presence in the band than he really was, yet it also suggested the richness of East Side Story, and in how the band's music deepened and found a sympathetic producer in Costello. Far from reprising his skeletal, nervy production for The Specials, Costello smoothes out the lingering rough edges in the band, giving them a hint of gloss that has more to do with its new wave era than commercial considerations. One thing that is missing is the frenzied beat that had been Squeeze's signature throughout their first three albums: despite the echoey rockabilly of "Messed Around" -- if you didn't check the credits, you'd be sure this is Edmunds' production, but he was responsible for tightening up the almost ideal opener "In Quintessence," which strangely enough sounds like Costello's 1981 album, Trust (it really was an incestuous scene) -- this isn't a rock & roll album, it's a pop album through and through, from its sounds to its songs. It's bright, colorful, immediate even when things get ambitious, as they do on the dense, grandly psychedelic "F-Hole," which is cleverly deflated -- musically and lyrically -- by its juxtaposition with "Labelled with Love," a lazy country-rock stroll that doesn't seem out of place among the rest of the clever, immaculately constructed pop songs. Instead, it acts as further proof that Difford and Tilbrook could write and play almost anything at this point: they perfected their barbed, bouncy pop -- best heard on the single "Is That Love," but also "Someone Else's Heart" and terrific, percolating "Piccadilly" -- but they also slowed down to a hazy crawl on "There's No Tomorrow," turned intimate and sensitive on the jangly "Woman's World," and crafted the remarkably fragile, Baroque "Vanity Fair." All this variety gave East Side Story the feel of the double-album it was originally intended to be and it stands as Squeeze's tour de force, the best pop band of their time stretching every one of its muscles. [The 1998 U.K. reissue contained two bonus tracks: "The Axe Has Now Fallen," whose bright beat can't mask its bitterness, and a pretty good cover of the pop-soul standard "Looking for a Love"].

Shriekback Big Night Music

Shriekback Big Night Music

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Big Night Music continued Shriekback's evolution from fringe weirdoes to unlikely pop stars. It was more accessible than anything they'd done before, and not by accident -- a conscious intent to reach for a wider audience is apparent even in the album's packaging, which pictures the band members on the cover for the first time, includes a long note from Shriekback to their fans, and gives credits for make-up, hair, and denim. The lush, organic production (by Gavin MacKillop) is a long, long way from the clattering psycho-funk of Tench, and Shriekback's distinctive drum programs have been entirely replaced by Martyn Barker's drums. ("Big Night Music is entirely free of drum machines," say the liner notes. "Shriekback have chosen to make a different kind of music -- one which exalts human frailty and the harmonious mess of nature over the simplistic reductions of our crude computers.") All this makes it tempting to dismiss this album, but that would be a mistake -- taken on its own terms, it's a vastly successful record. Its ten tracks explore a variety of new styles and the results include some of their best songs: "The Shining Path," an evocative moonlight serenade; "The Reptiles and I," with glassine synths echoing over a sinewy rhythm section; and "Sticky Jazz," which is funky in a joyful, floppy way and marks quite a change for the often sinister Shrieks. Barry Andrews, who handles all lead vocals for the first time, is not a great singer, but he manages; Barker shows impressive rhythmic versatility; and Dave Allen continues to be the band's anchor, providing dependable brilliance on the low end. Big Night Music accomplished everything it set out to do, finding success with both record buyers and critics

 

Plaid Not For Threes

Plaid Not For Threes

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Plaid's second full-length release, Not for Threes, is separated from its predecessor by one of the most celebrated side trips in electronic listening music's brief but broad history. As members of the Black Dog, Ed Handley and Andy Turner (together with Ken Downie) helped set the standard for experimental techno, bringing a daring range of influences together in a space consistently characterized by quality and innovation. As such, great things were expected of Threes, and with a couple exceptions, the pair delivers. Although treading far closer than any Black Dog material ever did to the sort of pop electronica of Plaid's interim work with Björk (who appears here on the gorgeous "Lilith"), Threes is ambitious on different terms, moving from the abused and distorted breaks of "Extork" and "Prague Radio" to a balanced radio-friendliness that never sacrifices ingenuity for ease. A handful of tracks feature vocals throughout, and while the results had the predictable effect of irritating BD purists, they actually work remarkably well (partly because the tracks contain absolutely no trace of compositional compromise). A few of the tracks ("Headspin," "Abla Eedio," the too-brief "Seph") sit easily beside the very best Black Dog.

 

Nitin Sawhney Beyond Skin

Nitin Sawhney Beyond Skin

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Nitin Sawhney's Beyond Skin works on at least two levels. First, it's a plea against racism and war, relating, as Sawhney writes in the liner notes, that one's identity is defined only by oneself -- that identity is "beyond skin." Second, the music is an extremely accomplished blend of classical, drum'n'bass, jazz, hip-hop, and Indian elements. The album's political statements are seen most clearly in the samples imbedded in the beginning and ending of most tracks. Dealing with nuclear testing and identity, the samples are effective in setting the tone for the songs. The music is quite lush, featuring among other instruments, tablas, pianos, and cellos to equally beautiful effect. The production brings a crystal-clear polish to nearly every element in the mix, whether it's the passionate, intense vocals of the Rizwan Qawwali Group on "Homelands" or the stunning, impossibly gorgeous voice of Swati Natekar on "Nadia." The entire album is bathed in eclectic touches which never fail to maintain a poetic, accessible sense of charm and wonder. Rarely has electronic music been crafted with as much substance and style as it has on Beyond Skin. Sawhney travels back and forth between genres quite effortlessly. "Nadia" is as good a drum'n'bass track as one is likely to find. "Letting Go" suggests the coffee-table trip-pop of Morcheeba's Big Calm. "The Pilgrim" is moody, soul-searching hip-hop aided by the wiry vocals of Spek. "Tides" is an excellent, breezy jazz number suggesting Vince Guaraladi in his finest, most experimental moments. "Nostalgia" sounds like a more-relaxed Lamb. "The Conference" is a treat, featuring incredible vocal interplay that simply must be heard to be believed. "Beyond Skin," which opens and closes with a sample of Edward Murrow reading the poem "Now I'm become death," is a powerful conclusion to Sawhney's pacifistic vision. Accessible, frightening, emotional, and most-of-all accomplished, Sawhney's Beyond Skin is a remarkable album of rewarding, organic music. [The Japanese release adds two bonus tracks: the "Coldcut" and "Joe Claussell Remixes" of "Homelands."]

     

Elvis Costello And The Attractions This Year's Model

 

Elvis Costello And The Attractions This Year's Mode

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The flagship in the second set of Rhino Elvis Costello reissues -- indeed, the one that's supposed to set the pace, since all of these are "harsh," "angry rock" -- This Year's Model, like all of Costello's Columbia recordings, already received a deluxe reissue treatment from Rykodisc in the mid-'90s. That set was just one disc, compared to Rhino's double-disc 2002 release, but it did have five bonus tracks (six, if you count "Radio Radio," which it was on the Ryko, but is part of the proper album here), all of which were excellent -- partially because there were two B-sides, "Big Tears" and "Crawling to the USA," along with three demos, including the previously unheard "Running Out of Angels." All these are on the Rhino set, along with seven new bonus tracks, all but three alternate versions of songs on the album. Of these, the Capital radio versions of "You Belong to Me" and "Radio, Radio" are spare, electric, solo demos, just Costello with his guitar; the alternate "This Year's Girl" and "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" are leaner and quirkier than those on the album, yet their edges aren't yet finely honed. Then, there's a moody BBC take on "Stranger in the House" featuring the full Attractions that winds up excising the country out of the song. Finally, there are two live covers that are the highlights of the new bonus tracks -- an insistent version of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat" that was the B-side of "Radio, Radio," plus a sly take on Kilburn & the High Roads' "The Roadette Song." All of these, particularly the last two, are welcome additions, and Costello's liner notes are much better than they were on the first version, but there are no real revelations, especially for those hardcore fans who already have the covers on some bootleg. So, while this is a better version of This Year's Model, with more music and better packaging, it's hard to unequivocally recommend this, in good conscience, for those who already have the Ryko version, since there just isn't that much new.

 

Xymox Twist Of Shadows

Xymox Twist Of Shadows 

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The band had struck a deal with PolyGram’s new subsidiary Wing Records for two albums, and there was even a writeup in Billboard Magazine about it, oddly enough. The album remains the group’s biggest seller and with good reason – it’s solid through and through. Main producer Peter Walsh created an album that wasn’t saddled with that “4AD sound,” but instead gave Xymox a danceable and accessible sound that you could shake your tail feathers to if you wanted, or just sit and take in the moodier pieces. “Evelyn” starts the album off with its gigantic synth/string intro, a love song with that goth twist with lyrics like, “We walked ‘til the sunlight died.” “Obsession” was the lead single and made a pretty good impression on radio; it includes some of Ronny Moorings’ twistedly visual lyrics like, “It’s just the way it should be / It’s so right as rain / We stayed awake at night / With visions so unreal / We stayed awake at night / with visions so ideal / It’s got a hold on me”. “Blind Hearts” and “A Million Things” had already been included on a 12-inch that proved to be the final release that the band would do for former label 4AD. Here in re-recorded form and definitely not as murky sounding, they meld in perfectly with the other original numbers. “Imagination” proved to be the real surprise as the third single released, sung by bass player Anka Wolbert. It actually charted in the U.S., landing at number 85 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles and helping the album sell over 300,000 units. Not to be forgotten is the instrumental closer composed by main keyboardist Pieter Nooten, titled “Clementina.” It is a majestic and moving end to an album that has no blemishes. Pylon Records has gone above and beyond by including five bonus tracks on the 2-LP edition (available in red or black) and 10 for the 2-CD version. Some are making their CD debut like the Club mix for “Blind Hearts,” the B-side track “Shame,” the Dub mix of “Imagination,” and the impossibly rare instrumental B-side (only available on a promotional pressing of the Blind Hearts 12-inch) “Promises.” There are still more, but I don’t want you reading all night, preferring that you find Twist of Shadows for yourself and spend your time listening. You will find it to be so worth it.

Boards Of Canada Geogaddi

Boards Of Canada Geogaddi

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Geogaddi, the most anticipated sophomore full-length from an IDM act since Aphex Twin's SAW 2 in 1994, certainly looks and feels similar to the 1998 Boards of Canada debut, Music Has the Right to Children. The package design includes artful, bleached-out photos of children playing, while the lengthy track listing balances short vignettes with longer tracks. Fans will be delighted to hear that the music also reveals no great departure from one of the most immediately recognizable sounds in electronica; a pair of Scottish cottage producers apparently whiling away the hours creating music, Boards of Canada specialize in evocative, mournful, sample-laden downtempo music often sounding as though produced on malfunctioning equipment excavated from the ruins of an early-'70s computer lab. Geogaddi has a bit less in the way of melodics (the prime factor why Music Has the Right to Children was an immediate classic) and, as a result, sounds slightly less like trip-hop for fairy tales and more like the slightly experimental, but definitely produced, electronic music it is. Still, Boards of Canada surely haven't lost their touch for creating spectral machine music: "1969" is particularly lovely, with starburst synthesizer lines and disembodied vocoders trilling the chorus (the samples apparently originate from a David Koresh follower). For "Sunshine Recorder," a very fitting vocal sample -- lifted from a documentary concerning a species of dandelion found by sub-aquatic robots on the ocean floor (and yes, that is Leslie Nielsen narrating) -- prefaces the melancholy synth, vocal cut-ups, and glacier-speed basslines. It's clear Boards of Canada labored long to create Geogaddi, since only a tremendous amount of work can produce music that flows so naturally and unobtrusively that it never sounds produced.