RIYL: Dave Matthews, Dave Matthews Band, owning multiple versions of the same song

Record labels have always been eager to sell music fans repackaged goods, and since the dawn of the CD era, the marketplace has been more flooded than ever with remixes, so-called “deluxe” versions, remasters, and all manner of different versions of the same thing. Still, even during a century that has brought us three different iterations of The Essential REO Speedwagon, Dave Matthews stands out as a mighty king of the leftover; since 1997, he’s released approximately 375 live albums, not counting the interminable Live Trax series, whose volumes now outnumber the population of Guam.

Adding to this towering stack of repetition is Live in Las Vegas, Matthews’ third double-disc live collaboration with guitarist Tim Reynolds. When the duo released Live at Luther College in 1999, it actually represented a bit of a nice departure for Matthews; the acoustic setting, while not altogether unfamiliar for his songs, added something different to tracks like “What Would You Say” and “Ants Marching.” But then came 2007’s Live at Radio City, which was essentially two more discs of the same thing, right down to the inclusion of four tracks that had been covered on Luther – and because Matthews’ fans will apparently never stop buying this stuff, he and Reynolds have returned for a third go-round.

Matthews is a prolific guy, but if you’ve already guessed that he’s running out of songs that he and Reynolds haven’t already covered, you’re correct: Just about half of Live in Las Vegas consists of songs that popped up on Luther or Radio City (or both). They toss in a few cuts from the Dave Matthews Band’s last studio album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, as well as a “Kashmir” cover that starts off nifty before dissolving into masturbatory guitar noodling, but on the whole, this is two and a half hours of music you can hear on other albums – and much of it in a musical setting that isn’t appreciably different from what’s on offer here. Unless you’re a hardcore fan, you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

But it’s the hardcore fans that keep lapping this stuff up, of course, which begs the question of at which point Matthews crosses over from dedicated live anthologist to crass exploiter. Really, the only truly interesting thing about Live in Las Vegas is that it exists – that Matthews knows he has plenty of fans who will be willing to buy it, or anything else he releases, no matter how many times they’ve heard it before. Given the extraordinary difficulty the industry has had selling records over the last decade, the RIAA should probably just pack it in and let Dave Matthews run the whole show. If he can sell people Live in Las Vegas, he can sell them anything. (RCA 2010)

Dave Matthews Band MySpace page

RIYL: Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols, The Clash

Love Bites is the Buzzcocks’ second album. When it first came out in 1978, it was probably the closest punk rock came to a concept album at the time, the concept being just how much love can bite. Almost every single song on Love Bites is a blistering pop-punk piece of bitterness about the darker side of love and lust. Screw Morrissey and the Cure – no one has ever laid pop misery down like Pete Shelley and crew do here. If songs like “Just Love,” “Real World” and the immortal masterpiece “Ever Fallen in Love” don’t move you on some level emotionally, then you have either never faced the pain of a broken relationship or you are dead inside. Love Bites is a brutal trip to the dark side of love, but it’s one that sounds so damn good that it’s impossible not to revisit it again and again. Being miserable never sounded this good before or since.

And as if you needed another reason to own this classic of pop-punk, Mute’s new re-issue adds a whopping 30 bonus tracks, including several Peels Sessions, over a dozen demos and a live concert from 1978. Shockingly, none of these add-ons sound like filler, even though you’re getting some songs two or even three times. The Peel Session function as great mini-concerts, the demos (which sound amazing) work both as quality performances and as a study in how songs can change from conception to final recording, and the concert is a high-energy set that includes non-Love Bites classics like “What Do I Get” and “Autonomy.” If you like punk rock and you don’t own Love Bites already, you’re doing it wrong and you have even less of an excuse not to own it now. If you’ve already bought Love Bites you can re-purchase it feeling confident that you aren’t being bilked out of your cash for a cheap double-dip. This is the real-deal, a must-own no matter what. (Mute 2010)

Buzzcocks’ MySpace Page

RIYL: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Dead Boys

With “I Don’t Mind” and 14 other songs! In 1978, the Buzzcocks issued this album for the first time, solidifying their musical imprint in rock and punk’s history. It’s been resiussed and remastered a couple times since, but this time out fans get a John Peel session tacked onto the end of the original LP, plus a second disc filled with demos and a crucial live show at the Electric Circus in 1977. Suffice it say the main album here is as good as it ever was, with “Love Battery,” “Orgasm Addict,” and “Fiction Romance” upping the jittery, nerve-grinding ante. Pete Shelley and co. already had their own original Manchester take down cold, though perhaps these sides were less accessible than “Ever Fallen in Love,” but that’s usually the point of these recordings.

As for the bonus disc, the demos here are all alarmingly tasty. Sure, the unexpectedly great sound quality is a pleasure, but it’s the performances themselves that prove the band had the chops to make bigger waves. “I Don’t Mind” might actually be better in its demo form here, in fact. The live show is the only thing here that’s a bit of a disappointment, with the band perhaps sounding a little too speed-fueled and Shelley’s vocals a tad too loud. The brief Peel Session tracks on the first disc aren’t anything revelatory, but show the band in a bit more of a controlled atmosphere compared to the sound of the Electric Circus show. (Mute 2010)

Buzzcocks Myspace page

Creed: Live (DC3 Global)
RIYL: The sound of dogs being murdered underwater, Nickelback

Alter Bridge Live In Amsterdam (DC3 Global)
RIYL: Seether, 3 Doors Down, Daughtry

Remember Creed? Yeah, me too. In fact I’m still in the support group. Their reunion tour was the first in an unholy trinity of ’90s reunion announcements (the other two being Blink-182 and Limp Bizkit), and this live DVD captures the band’s Second Coming in all its horror. It’s been a few years, but Creed still sounds like Creed, a plodding combination of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and every mid-’90s Christian rock band you never heard. However, the downtime has not been kind to singer Scott Stapp; he can’t hit the notes like he used to, and is frequently flat and out of tune. However, Stapp never sounded all that great to begin with, so you might not notice. What you will notice is that he looks horrible. Easily 20-30 pounds heavier, and before the end of the third song, the man is just drenched in sweat. He doesn’t look fat (hell, he’s thinner than I am, so I’m not one to talk), but he looks unhealthy as hell, as if he needs a tank of oxygen and an adrenaline shot at any minute or he’ll keel over the second he stops his guttural whaling. Behind him the rest of the band just seems like they’re going through the motions, dealing with a frontman they’ve long tired of. Stapp’s lack of endurance means that he takes frequent breaks between songs to talk to the audience and at one point proclaims that “You can change your legacy and destiny, man.” And that may be true, but this DVD sure as hell won’t do it. Hell, even if you liked Creed back in “the day” (the day being the late-’90s/early-’00s) you won’t want to hear/see this incarnation of them. This is a horrible excuse for a concert video and is even below the low standards that Creed fans undoubtedly have.

When Creed got back together, the future of Alter Bridge, the band made up of everyone from Creed except Stapp (with Myles Kennedy replacing him), was immediately called into question. However, they let everyone know right away that they weren’t going anywhere no matter how successful the Creed reunion turned out to be, and after watching their “Live in Amsterdam” DVD, it’s easy to see why. They actually like being in this band. Say what you will about Alter Bridge – they certainly aren’t original and at their best they’re just slightly above average, but their brand of classic rock redux is light years above anything Creed ever put out. And the band seems to know it, as they happily strut around stage, play to the crowd and just seem to have a good time. One can assume that Kennedy is to thank for this; he is a great front man with boundless energy and enthusiasm and he even seems to like his bandmates. And while the songs he’s singing may not always be great, he can sure as hell sing. So, Alter Bridge is a great live band, but their songs are not – and that’s a bit of a bummer. Still, if you like Alter Bridge this is a must-buy, as it showcases a band at the top of its game, happy to perform and happy to be with a lead singer who isn’t a pompous, bloated has-been who’s more suited to front a Meatloaf tribute act.

RIYL: Grateful Dead, Veviter, Conor Oberst

Kevin Barker’s tenure as a sideman for the likes of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver, and Espers appears to have prepped him well. On this, his first outing as a front man, Barker meshes the rustic perspective garnered from his well-heeled resume with an off-handed saunter that often recalls Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead in limber jam band mode.

Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Gary Louris), You And Me, assembles an all-star cast of nu-folk veterans, including Newsom, Pat Sansone (Wilco), Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis), Eric Johnson (Shins, Fruit Bats), and Otto Hauser (Vetiver, Espers). The proceedings convene with Barker’s down-home intents on full view, the emphatic pluck and stomp of “Little Picture of You,” the low-lit gaze of “You & Me” and the modest shuffle of “Mountain & Bear” signaling Banhart’s intent to veer towards backwoods realms. Factor in the quiet saunter of “Amber” and the folk-infused delivery of “My Lady” and it becomes clear that Barker embodies both a wayfaring minstrel taken with traditional musings and a knowing musician whose work is underscored by an alternative inclination. (Gnomon Song 2009)

Kevin Barker MySpace page

This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago is already shaping up nicely. Announced today, the first batch of bands includes the reunited Pavement, Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, and many other fan favorites.

From Pitchfork.com:

The Pitchfork Music Festival will hit Union Park in Chicago July 16-18. And this year’s lineup is seriously amazing. We’ve got the reunited Pavement! Holy shit! Not to mention indie godheads Modest Mouse, James Murphy’s dance-punk juggernaut LCD Soundsystem, Wu-Tang Clan master chef Raekwon, St. Vincent, Lightning Bolt, Cass McCombs, Sleigh Bells, and Here We Go Magic.

All that is only the beginning. This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival will feature more bands than ever before and a longer day of music on Friday.

Tickets go on sale at noon Central time today at TicketWeb. Single-day passes cost $40, and three-day passes cost $90. (There are no two-day passes this year.) Keep watching this space for more details.

Besides Coachella, this is the other music festival I’d want to attend. I’ve only been to Chicago once, but its appreciation for great music was incredibly obvious.

RIYL: Modest Mouse, Pixies

With an album name like Transference, generally meaning misdirected emotions or a kind of displacement, it should come as no surprise that Spoon side-step their usual M.O for their seventh studio album. For those who grew accustomed to the band’s neatness on albums like Gimme Fictionand Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference will feel unkempt, while early adopters of the band might appreciate the album’s raw qualities.

With the standard two to three years Spoon takes between records, it’s clear that a lot of planning goes into each album – but with Transference, that implication is a bit sad, because the album projects a one-off kind of attitude. Apparently the band had to work hard even to make it sound like they didn’t. The songs are rife with actions that make the writing feel half thought out – from pauses in the middle of words and sentences, to uncharacteristically long and directionless instrumentals. It would be something if this resulted in some new experimental form or sound, but it’s not wildly different – just slightly off-kilter. So mostly it reads like Spoon got into the studio with material that hadn’t quite fermented.

With its ambling feel, the tracks that bend the ear are the poppier ones, or the serious deviations in style. On “Written in Reverse,” Britt Daniel is literally screaming for your attention – and get it he does. “Who Makes Your Money,” on the other hand, stands out for its echoey, distant subtlety, and “Goodnight Laura” for its unusual display of sentiment, “When you think your thoughts be sure that they are sweet ones.”

Transference is a classic grower, an album that will reward those with the patience -which will most likely be Spoon’s most established fans. Unfortunately for others, what lingers most may not be the songs, but questions of what might have happened if the band sat on these songs awhile longer, or what might have happened if the band actually went wild instead of just trying to sound like they did. Merge 2010

Spoon MySpace Page

RIYL: Letters to Cleo, Katy Perry, Saving Jane

It’s hard to believe Jag Star has been making music for a decade now, but this Knoxville-based band has returned with its fifth studio album, Static Bliss, and it’s more of the same ear candy that has garnered much success for them in the MTV world of TV placements. Fronted by singer Sarah Lewis, Jag Star’s sound is so tailor-made for those MTV shows that it’s almost like they were written specifically for them. It’s melodic, teen-anthem edgy pop that just jumps out of speakers, and Static Bliss is a continuation in that vein. And though Jag Star has achieved all of their success and notoriety to date without the support of a record label, their stuff measures up to anything out there. Part of the reason for that are the songs themselves, and the band’s tightness and delivery – but it doesn’t hurt that they commissioned producer Travis Wyrick (P.O.D., Pillar, 10 Years), who is known for delivering made-for-radio recordings.

Lewis and the band jump out of the gate with a trademark hook-fest in “Talk to Me,” and the same goes for other upbeat anthems such as “Rewind” and “Shine,” as well as a heartfelt song about Lewis’ daughter, “Sofie.” But they also know how to change things up, as they do on the hypnotic closer, “At the End.” You may not have heard of Jag Star, but it’s very likely you have heard their music, and with Static Bliss, the band has clearly delivered their strongest effort yet. (Jag Star 2010)

Jag Star MySpace Page

RIYL: Everything But the Girl, Basia, Anita Baker

Sade’s been releasing babymaking music for so long that the kids who were conceived to the strains of their first single, “Your Love Is King,” are old enough to have children of their own. You’d think they’d have run out of ideas by now – or, at the very least, run out of people willing to purchase their albums – but Sade’s last release, 2000’s Lovers Rock, actually sold more than its predecessor, 1992’s Love Deluxe.

That kind of longevity has always been exceedingly rare in pop music, especially for acts who, like Sade, tend to take a decade or so between releases – but then again, most artists don’t enjoy the kind of cool consistency Sade has displayed over the course of its career. From a certain point of view, you could say that if you’ve heard one Sade album you’ve heard them all; it’s probably more accurate, though, to say that the members of the band know exactly which kind of music they were born to make, and they simply play to their artistic strengths more strongly than most.

Whichever way you look at it, Sade’s sixth studio album is a lot like the five that came before it: Plenty of languid R&B, heavy on the machine-driven beats and moody synths, topped off with a little sax, a little guitar, and a whole lot of Sade Adu’s coolly smoky vocals. She doesn’t look or sound like she’s aged a day since 1984, which is exactly what Sade fans want to hear – you don’t listen to this music looking for radical change, you turn to it for comfort, and to hear the sound of impeccably crafted, grown-up lust. (Seriously, Adu is 51? This woman cannot be human.)

That said, there is a bit of change afoot on Soldier of Love – but just a bit, and it’s most noticeable on the strutting title track, which finds Adu’s lithesome vocals wafting above a booming beat, stabbing rhythm guitars, and martial percussion samples. Though still recognizably Sade, it’s the equivalent of a more restless band changing genres completely, which might be why the rest of the album is much more in line with the group’s previous work. For most other artists, this would sound like creative drought; for Sade, it’s as comfortable as falling back into the sheets. Long may she moan. (Epic 2010)

Sade MySpace page