20 words or less
Prefab Sprout, "Steve McQueen: Legacy Edition"
Released stateside as "Swoon," this lush '80s classic gets abeautiful remastering and a bonus disc of acoustic versions. --Thomas Conner
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Amid the flood of much-hyped summer releases by major names, itcan be all too easy to overlook some of the smaller and often morerewarding discs, especially when they come from long-running artistswho may now be taken for granted by hipsters always foraging for theNext Big Thing.
Several new releases from old favorites have been in heavyrotation in my CD player for the last few weeks, and chief amongthem is "Back Numbers," the second disc by Dean (Wareham) & Britta(Phillips), formerly the driving forces of the spacey guitar-popband Luna. Wareham hasn't really altered his basic formula since hisearliest days as the leader of '80s indie rockers Galaxie 500, butthere's no reason for him to mess with it: The tempos are lullingbut never somnambulant, thanks to the gorgeous, lazily unfoldingmelodies, and the feedback- and echo-drenched guitar work is asalways just gorgeous.
Working here with his romantic partner in a stripped-down duo --much as Damon and Naomi, Galaxie 500's former rhythm section now do -- and collaborating with legendary glam-rock producer Tony Visconti,Dean & Britta deliver an entrancing set of tunes heavily inspired bythe '60s duets of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg or Nancy Sinatraand Lee Hazlewood, whose "You Turned My Head Around" is coveredhere, along with the Troggs' "Our Love Will Still Be There." It allmakes for the perfect soundtrack for a steamy summer evening.
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Speaking of Hazlewood, the wonderfully weird psychedelic cowboywho gave us "Some Velvet Morning," "These Boots are Made forWalkin'" and other classic orchestral pop oddities latelyrediscovered by musicians as diverse as Beck and Jessica Simpson,the man himself, now 78, has released what he calls his farewell/retirement album. "Cake or Death" has some missteps, including asaccharine reworking of "Some Velvet Morning" with Hazlewood's younggranddaughter Phaedra in the Nancy role.
Overall, though, Hazelwood's deep baritone grumble is aseffective as ever, and his gonzo worldview hasn't mellowed a bit.Witness the unapologetically old-fashioned, horn-driven anti-waranthem "Baghdad Knights" ("Sometimes we fight, sometimes we run/It's just like playing football with a gun"), the opening duet withLula on "Nothing" or the delightfully non-P.C. "White People Thing"( "It's so nice to live in the suburbs/Where white is the absence ofcolor").
It's an absolute inspiration to hear a musician who's remained sosupremely strange for four and a half decades.
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It was a sad day -- the third, in fact -- when the thirdincarnation of '70s English art-punk greats Wire came to an endafter the release of one of their best reunion albums, "Send"(2003). But the good news is that Wire's latest hiatus has freedvocalist Colin Newman to resume a solo career that has includedseveral discs as good as anything Wire released, including "A-Z"(1980), "Not To" (1982), "Commercial Suicide" (1986) and "It Seems(1988).
Technically credited to Githead, an avant-rock supergroup thatalso features electronic musician Robin Rimbaud (Scanner), Newman'swife Malka Spigel and her former Minimal Compact bandmate MaxFranken, the dominant voice on "Art Pop" is nonetheless Newman's,and the hypnotic grooves and skewed but memorable melodies of songssuch as "On Your Own," "Drop" and "Live in Your Head" seem like thelogical and long-awaited extension of the ideas he's exploredthroughout his solo career. Art pop, indeed: This disc couldn't bebetter named.
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Another supergroup/solo album comes to us courtesy of thefamously irascible but hugely influential Chicago pop-punk hero BenWeasel, formerly of Screeching Weasel, the Riverdales and otherbands too numerous to mention. Despite his prolific output (whichhas slowed considerably of late -- this is his first recording infive years), he's only given us one solo album before, the spottyaffair called "Fidatevi" (2002). Thankfully, "These Ones AreBitter," a digital-only release from Weasel's new online label(www.mendotarecording.com), is as strong as his very best albums.
Always capable of shocking fans who think they've got him pegged,Weasel avoids the notoriously raw and ragged sound thatcharacterizes much of his work, recording in a very new-millennium,radio-friendly pop-punk fashion with a crack band comprised ofAlkaline Trio's Dan Andriano and All-American Rejects' Chris Gaylorand Mike Kennerty (who produced). The difference between Weasel'stake on this slick sound and the legions of chart-topping shopping-mall punk wannabes is the substance behind the style: He has anunerring ear for giving us half a dozen killer hooks per each three-minute eruption of pogo-prompting punk frenzy, and his snotty growlcan always be counted on to deliver eye-opening nuggets of working-man's poetry about the joys and hardships of everyday life.
Simply put, Weasel is still the Charles Bukowski of pop-punk, andlong may he grouse, especially if he can continue giving us songs asfine as "Let Freedom Ring," "The First Day of Spring" and "Only inNovember."
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Finally, we have "Jarvis," the first solo album from the veddy,veddy British Jarvis Cocker, erstwhile leader of cult-hero popsociologists Pulp, first issued in the U.K. late last year, but onlyrecently getting a proper domestic release.
There are no surprises here: Musically, most of the cues stillcome from '70s glam rock, with Cocker doing his hammiest Bowie/Ferry/Bolan over the top, and that will never sound as fresh againas it did on Pulp's "Different Class" (1995). But lots of aspiringNew Wave of New Wave bands seem to want to be Jarvis these days, andJarvis still does Jarvis better than anybody else on standout trackssuch as the delightfully rude "Fat Children," the beyond over-the-top Wall of Sound tribute "Black Magic" and the snide but indelible"Don't Let Him Waster Your Time."
After building him up as one of the major talents of hisgeneration, the British press has been dumping on Cocker for thelast few years for getting married, having babies and turning fat,lazy and self-satisfied. (It seems they'd rather have him in self-destructive bad-boy mode a la Pete Doherty.) But "Jarvis" shows thatthe man has still got plenty of venom and vigor, and it's stillgreat fun to listen to him fling them around.
jimdero@jimdero.com
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Pop
Dean & Britta, "Back Numbers" (Rounder) Rating 3 1/2 Out of 4
Pop
Lee Hazlewood, "Cake or Death" (Ever Records) Rating 3 Out of 4
Alt-Rock
Githead, "Art Pop" (Swim) Rating 3 1/2 Out of 4
Punk
Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet, "These Ones are Bitter"(Mendota Recording Co.) Rating 3 1/2 Out of 4
Pop
Jarvis Cocker, "Jarvis" (Rough Trade) Rating 3 Out of 4
Music
Listen Up; Music News on a Need-To-Know Basis
IN THE WORKS
PEARL JAM SETS UP LIVE DVD FOR FALL RELEASE
As expected, Pearl Jam will unveil a Danny Clinch-directed liveDVD this fall, featuring footage from five Italian shows last fall."Immagine Nel Telaio" ("Picture in a Frame") is due Sept. 25. Theband's Web site will offer a pre-sale with a limited edition T-shirt beginning Aug. 22.
Clinch describes the DVD, which is named after the Tom Waits songfrontman Eddie Vedder covered during a show in Milan, as "acollaboration. The band even offered me some music that has neverbeen heard and [guitarist] Mike [McCready] went into the studio tocreate some more music for the soundscapes. This is a look at PearlJam that no one has seen yet."
Pearl Jam is tonight's headliner at Lollapalooza in Grant Park.
LOCAL LICKS
REDWALLS DITCH MAJOR LABEL FOR CLASS PROJECT
Chicago four-piece The Redwalls have boldly moved from EMI'sCapitol imprint to Mad Dragon Records, Drexel University's student-run, Ryko/Warner-distributed label for their eponymous, third fulllength release.
"The Redwalls," due Oct. 9, was recorded in Malmo, Sweden, withproducer Tore Johansson (Franz Ferdinand, Cardigans, OK Go).
It's a darker, grittier and slightly heavier disc than their twoprevious efforts.
ALKALINE TRIO STEPS UP TO EPIC FOR NEXT CD
Rock outfit the Alkaline Trio has signed with Epic after fiveindie label studio albums, the last three of which were issued byVagrant. The group plans to begin recording its Epic debut at theconclusion of its stint on this summer's Vans Warped Tour.
The group's Vagrant swansong, 2005's "Crimson," reached No. 25 onThe Billboard 200 and has sold 196,000 copies in the United States,according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group's best seller, 2003's"Good Mourning," has shifted 253,000 to date.
Vagrant tidied up the Alkaline Trio's odds and ends in Januarywith the release of "Remains," which featured seven years worth ofcompilation tracks, B-sides and rarities.
In the midst of the Warped dates, frontman Matt Skiba will play asolo show Wednesday night at Metro.
DOWN WITH IT
GOT A RAP VIDEO? YOUTUBE WANTS IT
YouTube has revealed a new music contest dubbed YouTube OntheRiseRap Edition, which aims to identify the best unsigned hip-hopartists in the United States.
YouTube has tapped hip-hop artists 50 Cent, Common and Polow daDon to judge the videos. Finalists will then be presented to theYouTube community for a final judgment. Users will be able to submitoriginal music videos from Friday through Aug. 17. The final winnerwill be revealed Sept. 7.
The winner will be given a trip to New York to record a track forG-Unit/Interscope Records, a $10,000 gift certificate to GuitarCenter and a feature spot on YouTube's homepage. Further informationcan be found at youtube.com/ontherise.
Compiled by Thomas Conner
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