An Evening with Saddle Creek (PlexfilmleOOO tells the story of the Omaha indie label which brought us Cursive. the Faint and Bright Eyes. While often fascinating. showing how a rag-tag bunch of like-iiiint‘led types can gather and thrive creatively despite being hundreds of miles from any influential city. it is hard to actually hear a lot of the dialogue. which is frustrating. Kindred spirits The Beta Band collect all their worldly goods frOm their decade of existence on T he Best of . . . Film (Regal) .0000. an excellent two discs packed with enOLigh promos. documentaries and live footage to remind us how much at ease they were in their own world. yet so uncomfortable in the ‘industry'. A novel mix of hilarity and insight.
Bands with limited oack catalogues can tend to suffer in the lengthy DVD compilation format and while Franz Ferdinand's double disc adventure (Dominol COO captures the band at their thrilling best. though just a coople of versions of ‘Take Me Out' w0uld have been enough. What's best here is the tour documentary that effectively shows us the moments of grinding tedium clashing with onstage thrills of bands on tour. Similarly, Keane spread themselves a little too
{A Loud
oClecir
82 THE LIST "3 llrrr. it’ll?)
thirin over two discs on Strangers (Island)
00 . Spirited performances and 3 Cute back story are fine but it isn't exactly an event. The Kaiser Chiefs are the on es With the right idea here and Employment iB-s Unique) «00. is a Surreal mockuinentary intercut With live and TV appearances. and is a total package rather than just a thrown together (Z()lt'tt.)llatl()fl. They are inherently watchable and the Dad's Army charm saves them from being too smug.
Rory Gallagher had no problem with lack of footage and his archivists have unearthed a colossal 565') minutes of live footage spanning 2/1 years of the Irish fret v-irangler's career for l he Complete Rockpa/ast Collect/en (Rockpalast) O... . It's mainly too much to take in for all but the hardcore but is an education in the man's skills. Similarly, the 90 minute (:lOCumei'ttary on 'lhat's My Story (Black Hill) 0... shows us just how great the blues man was. even if the live footage is a little stilted.
Those willing to knock Out energetic. if bog standard. live sets for us include Audioslave who are live in Cuba (EpiCl OD. . The Beautiful South with Live in the Forest (Demon Vision) 000 and John Legend's Live at the House of
Blues (Columbia) .0 . all of which brings little new or inspiring to the table. Extra points go to Duran Duran for a slick package bolstered by some classic promo vids on Live from London (Zoe Vision) 000 . Kraflwerk also fare better with a true spectacle of a live perforn'iance on Minimum i‘i/faxirnurn (EM) 000. . They know how to make fOur men s0und and look like ten.
Four Tet's Everything Estatic (Dornino‘i 0. adds little more than a vivid. audio-visual collage to his magical sonic maelstrom. listen to the album and imagine the brilliant colours in your head.
On a radically different musical tip The McGarragle Hour (Hannibal) O... captures Kate and Anna's musical families and friends in an hour of shared song. Everyone from Rufus. Loudon and Martha Wainwright to Emmleu Harris gets involved. making this feel a little special. Similarly unconventional, hip hop label Definite Jux not only bring us 14 underground tracks from the likes of Aesop Rock and RJDQ on Little Movies Big Noises (Definitive Jux) 00.0 but a second disc with the facilities to upload a selection of the tracks onto y0ur PC and remix them. The real meaning of DVD interactivity. (Mark Robertson)
HIP HOP EMINIEM Curtain Call (lnterscope) COO.
FWNE'M
i'ifteen songs with only a couple of clunkers is pretty good for any contemporary Greatest this collection but Eminem's seems all the more potent given his early exponential growth and recent sidestep while his lumpen protege :30 Cent hogs centre stage but Mathers remains not only the better rapper but the real innovator. "My Name ls'. ‘Guilty Conscience. ‘L.ose Yourself' and ‘Without Me' all remind us why it wasn't Just the blonde hair that drew him to our attention six short years ago.
If this is his final moment before heading back behind the curtain we can be safe in the knowledge that his hour in the sunshine was a very. very fine one. iMark Robertson)
INDll’ VIVA STEREO
Patterns of Behaviour (Much Better Fence) O...
Resisting the urge to plug yet another Scots band who might Just possibly come close to repeating the success of a certain Glaswegian quartet. it must be said that indie stalwarts have 7- with this. their second zill)iiiii ltl£t(i(} (l r()(:()r(l
shot through with class. maturity and potential. The relocation to l—ence's high quality roster seems to have
done them good.
What's most impressive about Patterns of Behawour is its diversity. There's the grix/led electro drone of the brilliantly-named ‘You're Not Committed to the Cornpany'. the brooding. bleak introduction of ‘Lost in a Field'. and ‘Ridden's sparse countryisms. At its best it's like Suicide covering Johnny Cash. which means worth a listen in anyone's book. (David Pollock)
COUNTRY ROCK RYAN ADAMS 29 (Mercury) 00
Ryan Adams' problem has always been one of quality control. the former Whiskeytown frontman seemingly insisting on releasing every half-arsed musing he's ever committed to tape. This is his third record this year (the first of which was a double album) and it suffers accordingly, demonstrating occasional moments of quietly melancholic genius. but mostly sounding like dreary country filler. Recorr‘led alone. it's a low—key outing by Adams' standards. and its diverse enough in its misery. but orin the piano-led ‘Starlite Diner" and the sleepily wonderful ‘Eli/abeth. You Were Born to Play that Part' really shine through the downbeat drudge of it all.
(Doug Johnstonel
POP
GIRLS ALOUD Chemistry (SonyBMG) 0000
Pop can mean anything from Doris Day to Green Day currently. which is perhaps why Girls Aloud's second effort manages to cover more bases than a World Series champ. But what is truly shocking.
perhaps. is Just how well it does this. No one but Girls Aloud can claim to fuse the spirit of the Streets and Bill Hailey in the same minute.
Unlike their spiritual big sisters the Spice Girls. forcing personalities on each GM“ has never really been an issue: they all sound suitably asthmatic. sultry and processed -« there clearly isn't a singer among them — but there's plenty of Willing skeleton to wrap the meat and sinew of some wildly catchy songs around.
(Mark Robertson)
JAZZ
BILL EVANS Anthology: We Will Meet Again (Warner Jazz) .000
Bill Evans remains one of the most influential of all )a// pianists. and there are few current pianists who have not been touched to some degree by his example. The flow of material from the vaults since his death in 1980 has greatly increased the bqu of discs on the shelf. but there is £ti‘.'.’£t\,f§ room for a well chosen anthology.
’l be two discs draw on music from the last three years of his life. lhey include liye illaterial Willi his third great trio (featuring Marc Johnson and Joe l_aBarbara) and studio recordings that Include a return to eai'liei experiments with multi tracked solo piano and a collaboration with harmonica player Toots Thielemans.
(Kenny Mathieson)
ALL ON A SYSTEM SUPPUED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
5; Jan I“) )1,