Johnny Cash – The Legend Of (Columbia/Legacy)
Milk milk milk. How many best-of’s are necessary, for even the estimable Cash? But if you still need an overview of a giant, though, on one disc, Legend is 50 years well pinched into 21 songs. Like real ‘legends,’ Johnny can’t die, and we don’t need a movie to know. We only need this.
Bob Mould – Body of Song (Yep Roc)
I know I included this in my Top 10 last time, but I just can’t stop playing it…
Rob Dickinson – Fresh Wine for the Horses (Sanctuary)
The former and possibly future Catherine Wheel singer-songwriter seems intent upon continuing to evolve their sound and style on this, his first solo LP. This picks up the subtler threads dangled by Catherine Wheel on their best post-Ferment work, Adam & Eve with a little of Like Cats and Dogs.
Donovan – Try For the Sun: The Journey of Donovan [box set] (Epic/Legacy/Sony BMG)
Donovan is still a creative, expressive, positive soul. In his interviews and music past and present he projects so much, yes, ‘peace and love,’ but even more poetry, art, good humor, and pleasure in life. He is one of the youngest 59-year-olds around, and we should treasure him.
Gang of Four – Return the Gift (V2)
What’s the sense of rerecording quarter-century-old songs? Plenty, it turns out. Like Wire ’s regrettably rare Third Day EP, the grand Gang here gives similarly punishing treatment to 14 of their 1978-1982 songs.
The Posies – Every Kind of Light (Rykodisc)
If ever there was a band that wasn’t finished, shouldn’t have broken up, and never truly severed the connection, it was this one. So it’s no surprise that, reconfigured, the power-pop veterans would come roaring out of the gate like a great athlete who just needed a quick break on the sidelines. This smokes and cranks behind tunes that take off like rockets from a launch pad.
The Long Blondes – “Appropriation (By Any Other Means)” EP (Angular UK)
The third sharp single from a rising Sheffield fivesome. Singer Kate Jackson’s teasing delivery is part Justine Frischmann of Elastica, Fay Fife of The Rezillos, and a little bit Debbie Harry. With frank Sex in the City-type lyrics, and the band’s bristly electricity and danceable playing, they could become a sensation.
Stars – Set Yourself on Fire (Arts & Crafts)
Anyone mourning the unexpected loss of Scotland’s valiant Delgados (say it isn’t so) should explore Montreal’s Stars. The musical resemblance to the former’s orchestral-pop classic Hate and this is so strong, complete with the breathy boy/girl vocal tradeoffs and harmonies, that it’s surprising it hasn’t been noted elsewhere. Set yourself on fire for this CD forthwith.
The Merry-Go-Round – Listen, Listen: The Definitive Collection (Rev-ola UK)
It took action by the British soft-psyche reissue label Rev-ola, but finally this great 1966-1969 L.A group is on CD. Known for their defining, classic 1967 #63 (#1 in L.A.) hit, “Live” (covered by The Bangles on 1984’s All Over the Place) and the more baroque 1967 #90 “You’re a Very Lovely Woman” (later covered by Linda Ronstadt) the young quartet was a prominent favorite of the storied Paisley Underground ‘80s L.A. scene. And leader Emitt Rhodes was (is) the poor man’s Paul McCartney in voice, songwriting, and style.
Johnny Cash – The Legend [box set] (Columbia/Legacy)
OK, I’m on my semi-annual Johnny Cash kick. I’ve said it before, but when I was a teenager into punk in the ‘70s, I often noted that Cash and Ray Charles (and a year later Hank Williams, when I got the bug) were the only two artists in the world that my rock ‘n’ roll hating dad and I agreed on. If you don’t think that says a lot, think some more about it.
