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Dateline: 06-01-05

1. Besterberg by Paul Westerberg (2005)
   Why (in three sentences or less): This "best of" for the former Replacements commandant, Paul Westerberg, is tilted heavily toward his first official solo record, 14 Songs, but don't let that stop you; although critics eviscerated him for no longer being the sloppy clown prince of Twin Tone, solo Paul has much to offer. Included in this set are two Eventually outtakes, three soundtrack contributions, and both sides of a UK-only single. Buy it if only to rediscover the sublime "Things" again.



2. With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails (2005)
   It's hard to fault Trent Reznor: he's a solid songwriter and an experienced thespian; he gives good theater even if his new album makes you think it's 1994 all over again. More accessible than 1999's art-swamp The Fragile, With Teeth — available as a superfluous dual disc (the flip side containing one video, a surround mix, and a discography) — introduces a sober Reznor still capable of pounding singles like "The Hand That Feeds." And while Trent became the final word in industrial, what kept him from being a cartoon was the human heart beating within the programmed cacophony (think Darth Vader with a drum machine).



3. The Decemberists Present Picaresque by The Decemberists (2005)
   Last month, I picked up (in part by the advance press for Back to Me) and became obsessed with Rarely does cover art, especially in the CD age, give you a hint of what's inside (I'm disqualifying albums by Kylie Minogue and Motley Crue). Appropriately, the Decemberists' latest is packaged as a stage musical libretto. Inside, their Tin Pan Alley meets R.E.M. mash up lends an air of timelessness to songwriter Colin Meloy's fractured fairy tales and historical hysterias.



4. Big in Texas by Starlazer Gilly (2005)
   The final hurrah from Philadelphia's Stargazer Lilly albeit in their country music guise, Starlazer Gilly. Guitarist Steph Hayes takes the lead vocal on the majority of the tunes, and other than a hoe-down version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" (that starts out with Susan Rosetti — normally the band's main vocalist — making out like a backwoods Madonna), she wrote all the songs too. Clichés abound (how could they not), but the album is more than a wink and a nod, and in "Helluva Hill" they mine familiar turf for a moving essay on the dangers of resignation.



5. The Essential Jefferson Airplane by Jefferson Airplane (2005)
   A two disc overview (1965-1973) touching on the band's seven studio efforts and two live albums. Their transformation from a psychedelic folk collective to a multi-voiced, multi-pronged acid beast is astonishing. The guitar interplay is better than you remember — the harmonies too, but what continues to buoy their legacy is this: nothing sounded like Jefferson Airplane then or now.



6. Los Angeles & Wild Gift by X (1988; Los Angeles originally released 1980; Wild Gift originally released 1981)
   The Doors' Ray Manzerak produced X's first two albums, collected here on one disc, and the association is appropriate — and not for the reasons you think. Sure, John Doe's baritone can tickle your high school Jim Morrison mojo, but it's in his and Exene Cervenka's unnerving vignettes of individuals and couples (Doe and Cervenka were married during this period) trying to find a reason not to run from LA's foggy version of the American dream that the band finds its own identity. Mixing the aw hell of rockabilly with the fuck off of punk, their songs searched for a resting place between the past and the future only to blow past it, blinded by the glitter and grit of Hollywood.



7. For If You Cannot Fly by Small Factory (1994)
   A lost gem if there ever was one, Small Factory's second (and final) album is a tour de force of angelic harmonies, urgent garage racket, and incisive commentary on relationships so honest, it's like listening to a couple arguing in public. Alex Kemp and Dave Auchenbach's vocals are buried beneath feedback, as if overwhelmed (and surprised) by all the earnest proclamations and broken promises. Drummer Phoebe Summersquash tops it off with ethereal backing vocals that give the record a veneer of hope.



8. Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs 1985-2003 by Yo La Tengo (2005)
   This two disc compilation of indie rock darlings Yo Le Tengo is long overdue. For fans, it's nice to have some of the band's one-off singles and EP tracks in one place (it's also available with a third disc of rarities), but the set is a boon for the uninitiated. Take a pinch of Velvet Underground, a teaspoon of off-kilter harmonies, a shot of feedback, and a healthy dash of why not; Yo La Tengo never feared experimentation (bizarre covers, albums of instrumentals, unflinching autobiographies, and silly, droning musings on just about everything else) and you shouldn't be either: dive in!



9. Pink Flag by Wire (1977)
   One of the essential stops along the punk highway, Wire took an angular approach to the genre; their short songs practically burst with roads not taken and end just when they've sunk in — and sink in they will. Unafraid of hooks, Wire nevertheless kept things to a minimum, and became a touchstone for bands like R.E.M. and the Minutemen who namedropped them whenever they had a chance. Essential in ways you'd never think possible — mostly because the band showed what was possible within punk's initially narrow framework.



10. Secret Swingers by Versus (1996)
    The perennial second stringers' best album, Secret Swingers, (like much indie rock) hides the hooks under sometimes uninvolved singing and fuzzy guitars, but make no mistake, beneath the fuzz, hearts are bleeding and tongues are pleading. And somehow, the lack of emoting is what makes the record so involving, especially when the lyrics pierce the surface. Insouciance is a guise; "You will be there if you can," Richard Baluyut sings on "Ghost Story," and you don't believe the statement any more than he does.