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Belle & Sebastian – The BBC Sessions double CD (Matador)
Aside from the live at Belfast bonus disc and the four unreleased songs unheard in any form before now, the alternate, quasi-live-in-the-studio looks at their immortal If You’re Feeling Sinister indie folk-pop gems such as the ageless “Dylan in the Movies” and “Judy and the Dream of Horses” or EP track “Lazy Line Painter Jane” is the reason this won’t leave your player, no matter how long you’ve loved other renditions. What a beauty of a band, what a beauty of a release.
Subhumans Canada – Death Was Too Kind (Alternative Tentacles)
AT is smart enough to offer this compilation of the earliest 1978-1981 Subhumans (the original, fantastic Vancouver punk rock originals, not the later English band of the same name this writer respected but never enjoyed), completely remastered and collecting in one place the eight songs they released before their classic debut LP Incorrect Thoughts on two 7” singles and an incredible 12” self-titled EP. Plus too vintage bonus tracks.
Darker My Love – 2 (Dangerbird)
We’ve been waiting eons for a U.K. dreampop band this good, post-Doves. Who’d have thought it’d come from our side, from L.A.?
Love – Love Story DVD (Sudden Death CAN)
This is one of the best rock docs I’ve seen since The Beatles’ Anthology. In fact, like The MC5’s unreleased movie A True Testimonial, the amazing thing about Love Story is that it’s even mind-blowing for old fans that know the music and story already—never mind that there’s a multitude that needs enlightening! (Unlike The Beatles and other titans, Love remains an underground legend.)
Ray Davies – Working Man’s Cafe (New West)
Two For two: The singer/songwriting legend’s second proper solo LP, both since The Kinks disbanded, is again better than any respectable post-1972 Kinks album. And even more than the refreshing Other People’s Lives, it finds him recalling so much of what made his 1967-1972 work immortal.
Iggy & the Stooges – Escaped Maniacs (Charly/MVDvisual)
I enjoyed Live in Detroit, the first live DVD of the reunited Stooges, for a chance to watch a miracle I’ve seen in-person four times. But this is another kettle o’ fish! The sound of this Lokerse Freestern, Belgian August 6, 2005 gig is 40 times better (it’s so good you’ll be make out *Iggy Pop*’s lyrics without aid of print for the first time!), and the dozen-camera footage is about 80 times better, a visceral exhilaration that matches the most electric performer in rock’s outrageous history.
Ron Sexsmith – Exit Strategy of the Soul (Ronboy/Yep Roc/Redeye)
Once again, Sexsmith seems like a likeable guy you’d want your nice niece to marry: A talented puppy dog, thoughtful, sensitive, caring, deeply wounded by past love lost, but sure of its regained ideal. He also is a damn good songwriter, and his 14 new tunes gracefully add to a catalog bursting with his considered craft for lovely little laments, sweet serenades, wistful wit, and especially opulent optimism
T.S.O.L. – The Early Years Live; From the Vaults of Flipside & the Targetvideo77, 1983 (TargetVideo77/Flipside/MVDVisual)
Surprises all around. Despite the recycled cover from these L.A. legends’ debut 1981 punk EP, this is T.S.O.L. in 1983 at their neo-psychedelic post-punk-pop apex: touring in support of their astonishing second LP Beneath the Shadows. And unlike some Flipside videos, this looks great thanks to its afternoon outdoor setting, and one camera tracking sharp close-ups alternated with wider pans. The sound is also excellent—from the board. Don’t miss! (A bonus 2006 live clip shows they remain wild. A 1983 interview is outrageous, too. Singer Jack Grisham also reads from his new book.)
Magnetic Morning – A.M. (Friend or Faux)
A beguilingly full-band effort, which again grasps the poorly recalled slower side of Swervedriver and Interpol (key members from both are in this group)—only it prettifies it and adds a wide-spectrum, kaleidoscopic lushness. It’s released in January, but was available at their merch table on their recently concluded tour with my own Springhouse and it was a hell of a treat to hear this material live for six shows!!! The sleeper album of the year, it says here!
For 38 minutes, A.M. gives a shiver effect. Don’t miss!
American Music Club – Atwater afternoon (American Music Club)
Fans will be enticed by this special merch table-only collection for the six unreleased songs, three of them covers. (Two are of Ray Price extraction.)
