· A new DVD released last week raises the bar in honoring Galaxie 500, one of the most beloved and influential bands of the late 1980s. With videos, live footage, and two "bootlegged" concerts from 1990, the two-DVD set from Plexifilm is pure slow-motion, dreamy, jangle-pop joy. Rooted in the stark and fragile droning of Dean Wareham's guitar, Galaxie 500 was a short-lived but brilliant three-piece that carried the torch lit by the Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman, and passed it on to the next-generation sounds of Low, Mazzy Star, and other quirky, hypnotic alchemists. The innocence of the glory days of indie rock are apparent here, from the flickering, grainy videos for "Tugboat," "When Will You Come Home," and two others to the band's afternoon performance at the Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts, back when the rock club was still a belly-dancing room. Just a year later, Wareham's mastery of his echo unit comes cascading through in the three songs filmed at Boston's Commonwealth School, a private high school that hosted the band in 1989 at the request of one of its students. Entitled Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste: 1987-1991, the DVD also includes a nice booklet of photos and an interview conducted by Yo La Tengo's James McNew. Other highlights include a cover of Richman's "Back in Your Life," a previously unreleased track ("Buzz in My Head"), and footage from a 1990 U.K. television appearance.

· My pick of the week is the just-released masterpiece The Next Best Thing by Ray Wilson, formerly the lead singer of Genesis in its late-1990s configuration. His 2002 album, Live & Acoustic, recorded during a European tour after leaving Genesis, was a stunner, showing off his monster vocal chops on a variety of originals, covers, and scattered Genesis hits, new and old. Like a breath of fresh air in a world of screamers, Wilson's voice and melancholy air are calm and rich, like an old friend, reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, Neil Diamond, and Jeffery Gaines. The new album bravely opens with the track "These Are the Changes," mixing spoken-word segments by George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, and Ronald Reagan into Wilson's post-9/11 sadness. One track, "Inside," was a hit for his early band, Stiltskin, and is revamped with a modern, aggressive sound. A reflective inner-soul soundtrack, this Inside Out Records release will leave you with gentle lyrics and beautiful melodies.

· In celebration of Thirsty Ear Records' 30th release in its "Blue Series," blending new avant-garde jazz and dreamscape hip-hop, label artist DJ Spooky has just dropped Celestial Mechanix: The Blue Series MasterMix. The two-CD set features Spooky chopping up and re-inventing sounds from these 30 albums, with a special 80-minute continuous-mix disc featuring tracks from DJ Wally, Antipop Consortium, David S. Ware, Mike Ladd, and more.

· The Poster Children are putting their politics on their sleeves with their upcoming release, On the Offensive. All the songs on the mini-album have political musings, including The Clash's "Clampdown," Fear's "Let's Have a War," XTC's "Complicated Game," and Heaven 17's dance-floor smash "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang." The Hidden Agenda Records release is due in September, just in time for the presidential election.

· Another upcoming album has me pondering the possibilities. Medeski Martin & Wood's fourth studio album for the classic Blue Note imprint features the production of John King, one half of The Dust Brothers, best known for their work on Beck's Odelay and the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique.

Television Alert:

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes American Idol's Fantasia Barrino this evening and Allison Moorer on Thursday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Dashboard Confessional on Thursday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien serves up Sugarcult this evening overnight and Jesse Malin on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly sits down with John Mayer on Friday overnight and Iron & Wine on Monday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live boasts Lloyd Cole on Thursday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guests this weekend are Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds, and Trey Anastasio.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, July 6:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change

Black Dice - Creature Comforts (DFA) psychedelic electronica from New York

Cheap Trick - Silver (Big3 Records) re-issue of the band's 1999 hometown concert in Rockford, Illinois, featuring guests Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Slash of Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses, and Art Alexakis of Everclear

Crippled Pilgrims - Down Here: Collected Recordings 1983-1985 (Reaction)

Steve Glotzer - Lately ... (Six String Records) sophomore album from the master folk/jazz guitarist

Gonga - Gonga (Tee Pee) heavy stoner rock signed in the U.K. to the Invade Records label owned by Geoff Barrow of Portishead

Gravenhurst - Flashlight Seasons (Warp) reminiscent of Nick Drake and My Bloody Valentine

Hidden Hand/Wooly Mammoth - Night Letters (Meteor City) split CD EP

The Izzys - Fast & Out of Control Wins the Race (Kanine) excellent second album that rocks like the early Rolling Stones meet the Stooges

Kansas - Kansas and Song for America (Epic Legacy) expanded re-issues from 1974 and 1975

Chris Lowe - Black Life (Nature Sounds) with guests Carl Thomas, Large Professor, Parris Smith of EPMD, and Sadat X of Brand Nubian

Souad Massi - Deb (Wrasse) second album from this North African singer

Maestoso - One Drop in a Dry World (Eclectic) terrific new album from Woolly Wolstenholme, founding member of Barclay James Harvest and master of the Mellotron

Teedra Moses - Complex Simplicity (TVT)

Grant Olney - Brokedown Gospel (Asian Man) singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas

Julius Papp - Gotta Keep Movin': A Deep House Journey (Loveslap!) mix CD featuring his own soulful house grooves, Miguel Migs, Ron Carroll, and Charles Spencer

Rocket from the Crypt - Circa Now! (Swami) re-issue from 1993 featuring four bonus tracks

Rudimentary Peni - Archaic (Outer Himalayan) all new CD and 10-inch vinyl EP, celebrating 25 years of punk

Lori Scacco - Circles (Eastern Developments) solo debut from the Seely cofounder

Angie Stone - Stone Love (J Records)

Thievery Corporation - Outernational Sound (ESL Music) mix CD

Umphrey's McGee - Anchor Drops (SCI Fidelity)

various artists - Peace Fest (Grit Records) DVD featuring KRS-One, Pharaoh Monch, and Big Daddy Kane

Support the River Cities' Reader

Get 12 Reader issues mailed monthly for $48/year.

Old School Subscription for Your Support

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Old School Subscribe now.



Help Keep the Reader Alive and Free Since '93!

 

"We're the River Cities' Reader, and we've kept the Quad Cities' only independently owned newspaper alive and free since 1993.

So please help the Reader keep going with your one-time, monthly, or annual support. With your financial support the Reader can continue providing uncensored, non-scripted, and independent journalism alongside the Quad Cities' area's most comprehensive cultural coverage." - Todd McGreevy, Publisher