For their major-label debut, Walter Salas-Humara and Bob Rupe stick to pretty much exactly the same script as they had on their three previous indie efforts; the powers that be at RCA Records should be commended for resisting the temptation to mess with their new signing. Recorded live on stage at a theater in their hometown of Gainesville, FL (without an audience), there's a freshness to The Silos that suits the songs beautifully. Horns, strings, and accordion color the songs without drawing too much attention to themselves so that all the focus remains on Salas-Humara and Rupe's typically solid tunes. The highlights are many, but the odd character study "Commodore Peter" and the heartbreaking "Picture of Helen" are the two most immediately fascinating tunes. Bob Rupe left the Silos after this album to focus on other projects and the group was never quite the same after that, but The Silos is a remarkably strong ending to the band's best years.

(by Stewart Mason, All Music Guide)

WHEN Richard Brautigan, probably the greatest American writer of the last 30 years, died in 1984, all the obituaries could find to say about him was ”The Beatles were fans of his”. Praise by association must be niggling Martyn Bates these days, as one half of Eyeless In Gaza who produced at least two stellar albums in the early Eighties, but are now chiefly remembered for writing a song that The Pale Saints named themselves after.

Last year’s ”Love Smashed On A Rock” saw Bates on his best form for some while, a collection of magical folk-based love songs that became a much fawned-over item in Belgium, Germany and parts of darkest Croydon. On ”Letters To A Scattered Family” Martyn has stuck with the same producer, Paul Sampson of Primitives fame, and taken the best part of ”Love Smashed”, twisted and distorted them, and come up with something seven times better. This time the folk undercoat has been overlaid with a mixture of musical styles so varied it’s positively schizophrenic.

The troubadour approach is still evident of much of ”Letters”; ”City All Of Strangers” is straight from ”Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme”, while ”For Love, Waiting To Die” lightens the downbeat lyric with some singularly pretty Christmas bells. Elsewhere it’s a very different story, ”Snow Rages” is huge, a six-and-a-half minute opus with shifting tectonic plates of phased guitars, psychotic harmonica, and an Oriental music box of a verse. ”Your Jewelled Footsteps” is more bizarre still: a pneumatic drill rhythm section lurks beneath a looming black cloud of a melody that mutates into a chorus reminiscent of Paul Anka’s ”Diana”. The most incredible thing about this juxtaposing of musical genre and instruments as diverse as clarinet, banjo and feedback is that it works.

Two things hold the songs in place. Sampson’s production on the last LP tended towards black and white passages of apocalyptic guitar not always sitting easily alongside pitterpat acoustics, but on ”Letters” he’s blurred the edges, softened the joins so that the pieces fall perfectly into place. Secondly there’s Martyn Bates’ voice while far removed from the sandpaper-in-the-brain wailing of early Eyeless it’s still remarkably intense, a compelling instrument. Simply, it oozes emotion.

Martyn Bates has carved himself a niche in music so distinctive yet so out on a limb that it’s hard to pinpoint who ”Letters To A Scattered Family” will appeal to, There are links with masters like Tim Buckley and Laura Nyro, possibly ”Wilder” period Cope, obvious elements of Eyeless In Gaza. But on a song as moonstruck, melodic and moving as ”I’ll Wrap Your Hopes” there are no comparisons necessary. The Pale Saints are fans. So am I, and you need this record.

by Bob Stanley

Pale Saints appeared on some micro-indie compilations in 1988 and early 1989, but it was a demo that enticed the 4AD label's Ivo Watts-Russell, who without haste caught a gig and consequently signed the band (along with support act Lush). Watts-Russell was particularly taken with "Sight of You," and in a few months, a remixed/retouched version of the drifting ballad led Pale Saints' debut EP. Almost sickly sweet and seemingly innocent until Ian Masters' chorister-like voice lets slip a covetous blood-soaked fantasy -- the escalation from "bad"/"sad" to "red/"dead" is easy to miss -- "Sight of You" went over well, landed on BBC DJ John Peel's listener-driven Festive 50 for 1989, and was covered by Ride. The following February, coincidentally between the recording and broadcast of Ride's take for a Peel session, "Sight of You" was placed in a new context on The Comforts of Madness. Perhaps seen as too significant to be left off, and downplayed so as to not overstress its signature status, "Sight of You" was tucked deep into the LP's second side, thereby emphasizing the many other colors of frayed-nerve dream pop -- as filtered through avant-folk, West Coast psychedelia, the Paisley Underground, power pop, and C-86 -- the trio had to offer. The album creates a kind of whiplash effect by starting with a violent existential tantrum, recharging with a swirling assault that gathers steam (concluding with "I'll destroy you," or something else suggesting emotional rupture), and halting with a chilling and diaphanous ballad cast in a soft shimmer (line one: "You're body's cold"). The rest of the sequence moves from one extreme to another, from the resemblance of a sugared-up Dream Syndicate in a wind tunnel to sighing and strumming through plaintive material ripe for This Mortal Coil picking. All the turbulence is mitigated by Masters' singular tenor, and further eased from song to song with Bad Moon Rising-style noise segues and subtle crossfading. These first steps still delight, startle, and chill.

(by Andy Kellman, All Music Guide)

On the eve of a post-Thatcherite Britain, the Pale Saints, alongside the likes of Lush, Ride and Slowdive, were ushering in a new wave of British indie. And in 4AD, they found a perfect home for their music - an exciting & undeniable meld of noise and dream-pop.

Their 1990 debut album, The Comforts of Madness, didn't disappoint, now standing as one of the best of its era. Pitchfork placed it in their recent piece on The Best 50 Shoegaze Albums Of All Time saying, »There's a restless urgency, particularly when the volume swells and the rhythms intensify. That energy not only keeps (it) vital, it emphasizes Pale Saints' inventiveness, how they channelled softness and rage into something distinctive.«

30 years later, and The Comforts of Madness is finally getting the reissue treatment, both coming with a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and the band's only Peel Session, recorded in 1989.

Following the surprise success, and sudden collapse, of David and David, David Baerwald released Bedtime Stories in 1990 to critical acclaim. Portions of the album were written and produced in union with Joni Mitchell mainstay Larry Klein, who also plays on many of the tracks. Working the same mine as he did with David and David, Baerwald's songs are dark tales populated by often seedy characters struggling through daily life. His rough-hewn voice adds to the world-weariness of the material, but also conveys a warmth and vulnerability as exhibited on "Hello Mary," a phone call to a former lover. There's a lot to take in here from the kinetic energy of "All for You," a tale of infidelity to the bracing funk of "Dance," inspired by a Paul Bowles short story and backed by the Tower of Power horns. There are some of the usual targets such as televangelists and self-righteous censors on "Liberty Lies," and Baerwald can get preachy at times. However, he is an articulate writer and his ability to create empathy toward his characters tempers things, as on the plaintive ballad "Walk Through Fire," with its insistent chorus that builds into a pledge. Bedtime Stories is a bracing collection that shines a light on desperate situations and characters with great dignity and musicianship.

(Tom Demalon)

Though the sudden embrace of the trappings of goth culture via Anne Rice was a bit odd, given Napolitano's long-standing fascination with both Catholic and Mexican imagery (and the elements of sex and death prevalent in both) it wasn't too strange. Her songwriting and singing focus remains much more roots-oriented, as the opening strut/stroll of "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" makes clear. Not that she and the band can't kick out the jams as well — immediately following that is "The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden," a punk-speed thrash with deliciously decadent imagery to boot. The most well known song was "Joey," which actually got some top 40 airplay; while it has a certain catchiness to it, ultimately it comes off as a less successful Heart song from the same era, which is saying something. Far more successful is nearly everything else on the album, from the dark chime of "Caroline," addressing a departed friend, to the soothing "Lullabye," which far from being a mere kiddie tune is a great love song with some fantastic guitar from Mankey. R.E.M.'s Peter Buck adds mandolin to "Darkening of the Light," which adds to the song's mysterious, haunting edge, while "I Don't Need a Hero" is barely there, the softest of music accompanying Napolitano's lyric. Her singing throughout Bloodletting is passionate and catchy, with a deep throaty ache on many cuts. Everything wraps up with a version of Andy Prieboy's "Tomorrow, Wendy." Having done a duet with him on his own recording of the song, she takes full lead here, delivering a bravura performance of the bitter, heartbreaking lyric.

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

Manche Kritiker halten Tim Buckley für den besten Sänger seiner Generation. Auch wenn bei dieser Bewertung Bob Dylan nicht berücksichtigt wird, spricht mit dieser Doppel-CD eine ganze Menge für Buckley. Zweifellos konnte der Freistilist mit seiner Stimme Dinge anstellen, zu denen nur wenige andere Sänger imstande waren: Buckley sang jenseits jeglicher gewöhnlicher Tonlagen und hielt Noten, wo anderen schon längst die Puste ausgegangen wäre.

Der Freistilist, der von Jazzvokalisten wie Sarah Vaughan gelernt hatte, verwandte seine technischen Fähigkeiten, um seine Stimme in einen seltsamen, tranceartigen Zustand zu versetzen.
An jenem Abend in London, als Tim Buckley vor einem gespannten, aufmerksamen Publikum auftrat, war es, als rezitiere jeder einzelne Ton ein imaginäres Gedicht. Seine Band, die mit Lee Underwood an der Gitarre, David Friedman am Vibraphon und Danny Thompson am Bass an den Sound von Astral Weeks erinnerte, folgte jedem seiner subtilen und explosiven Bewegungen mit mühelosem Elan.

Ray Francis Kasten, aus der Amazon.de-Redaktion

Jacques Brel lobte ihn als "den aufregendsten Vokalisten", den er je gehört hätte. Kein Wunder, der Sänger aus Washington, D.C. startete als typischer Folksänger, um sich später spektakulär über musikalische Konventionen hinwegzusetzen. Buckley jodelte schon mal in Kisuaheli und experimentierte mit seiner Stimme, wie Jimi Handrix seine Gitarre forderte, Cecil Taylor sein Piano reizte und John Coltrane das Blech freiblies. Der bisher unveröffentlichte Konzertmitschnitt aus London spiegelt den weiten Horizont in Buckleys Werk wieder: eine Sternstunde, die musikalisch von Folk bis zu jazzigen Raumklängen leuchtet.

(© Stereoplay)

This, like so many Enigma releases, was literally a dream project, and carries a lot of energy and love with it, in the music and the performance. Recorded in London in 1968, when Buckley was just beginning to be really successful and had yet to move out of his folk-oriented phase. The band he's working with here is simple -- Buckley's voice and fairly simple guitar; Lee Underwood providing subtle, almost jazz-like electric accompaniment; Pentangle's Danny Thompson sitting in on bass (with a minimum of rehearsal); and vibraphone player David Friedman. There's an assortment of songs from the three albums Buckley had released up to then, plus a couple that would turn up on later albums, and six songs that he never released in any form. This album, however, was released for the first time in 1989, and what you get is the complete concert -- no cuts, no edits, no rearranging. It's a spectacular piece of work, too. It's difficult to believe that the tape was made in 1968 -- there's almost no noise, the music seems perfectly recorded, and the ambience is breathtaking. Buckley's voice is right up front, hovering over the acoustic guitar, clear as a bell. It's a tribute to CD mastering wizard Bill Inglot, who co-produced the release, that it has such a gorgeous, broad sound. The instruments are carefully separated, clean, and glitch free; if there are tape dropouts here, one can't hear them. Musically, it's a spirited affair. Buckley is a beautiful singer, and had a broad selection of excellent, often breathtaking, songs. Even when the songs are a bit of a mish-mash, as happens with the unfortunately over-energetic "Who Do You Love" (one of the unreleased songs), you're caught by the vocal pyrotechnics he displays -- he can be seductive, and he can be a shouter, and he's always very, very good. Other than this, there's very little to say about Dream Letter. If you're at all interested in Buckley, or in various hybrids of folk music, then this album is a must. If you just want to hear one of hell of a good CD, check it out.

(by Steven McDonald, All Music Guide)

...the only rap overtone on 'Goo' is a Chuck D cameo on "Kool Thing". But the writing is even stronger than it was on 'Day- dream Nation', meaning that not only are songs like "Dirty Boats", "Titanium Expose" and "My Friend Goo" blessed with sharper melodies and more tightly constructed soundcapes, but the lyrics are often ingeniously affecting, as with "Tunic (Song for Karen)".

(ROLLING STONE ALBUM GUIDE, ****1 / 2)

Any doubts as to the continuing relevance of Sonic Youth upon their jump to major-label status were quickly laid to rest by Goo, their follow-up to the monumental Daydream Nation. While paling in the shadow of its predecessor, the record is nevertheless a defiant call to arms against mainstream musical values; the Geffen logo adorning the disc is a moot point -- Goo is, if anything, a portrait of Sonic Youth at their most self-indulgently noisy and contentious, covering topics ranging from Karen Carpenter ("Tunic") to UFOs ("Disappearer") to dating Jesus' mom ("Mary-Christ"). Even Public Enemy's Chuck D joins the fracas on the single "Kool Thing," which teeters on the brink of a cultural breakthrough but falls just shy of the mark; the same could be said of Goo itself -- by no means a sellout, it nevertheless lacks the coherence and force of the group's finest work, and the opportunity to violently rattle the mainstream cage slips by.

(by Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide)

Third album from the Australian garage punk and pub rock super-group is a fine album of lurching blues-driven rock, though it pales by comparison to the two previous albums. The ramshackle debut, The Axeman's Jazz, was cut in an afternoon — as a gag between members of the Hoodoo Gurus, Scientists, and the Johnnys — the 1984 release remains to be their quintessential release. The version of the album released in Germany on Normal featured and un-released free bonus 7" single on which two cuts surpass anything on the album.

(by Skip Jansen , All Music Guide)

What turned out to be the final Galaxie 500 album was also arguably the band's most accomplished. Not that the earlier records lacked either charm or ability, but right from the charging, chugging start of "Fourth of July," the amazing single and leadoff song from This Is Our Music (even including a cheeky Velvet Underground reference from "Candy Says"), the trio here sounds like they could take on anyone. Kramer's production and the use of reverb from past releases all once again contribute to Galaxie 500's magic, while the individual members continue to sound fantastic. Somehow, though, everyone aims higher, Wareham's singing among his finest and his guitar going for the truly epic more than once, Krukowski and Yang even more perfectly in sync than before, often being very bold without losing their intrinsic warmth. From a generally different approach, Galaxie 500 here easily equaled the heights of their U.K. shoegaze contemporaries and often trumped them -- "Summertime" in particular is a stunner -- while making a lot of contemporary American indie rock seem fairly dull and workaday. The choice of cover version this time out is astonishing -- Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow Is Falling," with Yang singing beautifully over, initially, Wareham's echoed guitar strums, and Krukowski's barely-there percussion cascade. The switch to a full-band arrangement, far from destroying the song's spell, makes it even more intense and gripping a listen. The subtle touches throughout the album add immeasurably to its magic -- the soft ringing bells shimmering through "Hearing Voices," quiet synth on "Spook," and Kramer's self-described "cheap flute" on "Way up High." It all concludes with "King of Spain, Part Two," a reworking of the flip side to "Tugboat" -- while it wasn't a planned finale, as an unexpectedly right bookend to a career, it ends both Galaxie 500 and This Is Our Music on a perfect note. Later CD versions include a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Here She Comes Now," originally the B-side from "Fourth of July."

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

Unlike the packaging might lead one to presume, Blues From the Rainforest: A Musical Suite (1990) is primarily an environmentally themed mixture of smooth jazz and thematic world music from Merl Saunders featuring contributions from Jerry Garcia on four of the disc's six tracks. Those holding out for a return to the pair's R&B-laced funk fusion might be somewhat dismayed at the multi-layered synthetic keyboard beds and MIDI overkill — which may have been state of the art in the late '80s, but just come off sounding dated to the more modern and discerning listener. The 15-plus-minute title track is an instrumental suite highlighted by Garcia's unmistakably emotive lead guitar lines. His solos range from dark and brooding to hopeful and buoyant throughout the suite's various sonic moods and themes. Although arguably somewhat limited, they provide an earthy balance to the heavily processed and unnatural-sounding effects that otherwise clutter the soundscape. The achingly lyrical "Sunrise Over Haleakala" features what is basically an unplugged duet between Saunders — whose Kurzweil 100 PX acoustic piano module still ends up sounding hopelessly synthetic — and Garcia on an actual acoustic guitar. The interaction between the two is initially hesitant, with the guitarist solemnly strumming behind somewhat strident layers of keyboard padding. After some questionable intonations, Garcia hones in on an incisive counterpoint to compliment the open and expressive melody. Of the remaining cuts, "Blue Hill Ocean Dance" and "Afro Pearl Blue" garner particular praise for Garcia's slinky leads. Courtesy of MIDI synthesizer technology, his guitar is programmed to replicate variations of sounds ranging from pan flutes to chimes. Both the spry "Dance of the Fireflies" and the ominously Eastern-flavored "Sri Lanka" continue the world music motif with slightly looser arrangements and considerable contributions from Muruga (tabla/drums) and Eddie Moore (Indian ektar/congas/drums/bells). Overall, Blues From the Rainforest: A Musical Suite is more highly recommended for enthusiasts of neo-jazz and world music than the funky and soulful R&B that defined the former coupling of Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia.

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Recommending Fakebook as the best place to begin a relationship with Yo La Tengo is slightly disingenuous, mainly because Yo La Tengo has never made another record like it, and perhaps never will. So, as completely wonderful as this record is (and believe me, it is), it's an accurate representation of one side of Yo La Tengo, and assuming that everything sounds like Fakebook might be disappointing. A collection of cover songs that lean toward the idiosyncratic (e.g., Peter Stampfel, Daniel Johnston, Jad Fair), Fakebook is warm, low-key and lovely, with heartfelt singing and playing that never flags after hundreds of replays. It's impossible to imagine playing this record and not smiling and singing along. A big bonus is a great version of The Flamin' Groovies "You Tore Me Down."

(by John Dougan, AMG)

Had Tom Waits devoured the pages of Marcel Proust rather than Charles Bukowski, chances are he'd sound not unlike The Bathers' main man Chris Thomson. Formerly a member of Glasgow's esteemed Friends Again, Chris Thomson's first The Bathers LP, Unusual Places To Die, came out in 1987, its bookish Gallic romanticism brilliantly crafted into exquisite confessional pop. Sweet Deceit is more overwrought still, piano trembling with pathos throughout and Thomson now possessing the sort of 40-untipped-Gauloises-a-day voice one might find forlornly gargling a Cognac or three in the after-hours bar scene of some existentially torrid French film. This time round, however, the songs as individual entities cannot bear such a weight of heart-rending atmospherics. Rather, one should listen to such steamy numbers as The Pursuit Of An Orchid, Desire Regained and Honeysuckle Rose as variations on a single obsessive theme.

(Reviewed By: Mat Snow, Q-Magazine)

Originally released in 1990 and then re-released in 2002 with a solid remastering job and a slew of extra tracks from a Dutch radio session, Today Wonder in many ways was the release that helped determine part (if not all) of Ed Kuepper's future work. Specifically, it's the way around close, quiet, but still tense and strong performances, evident on such later releases as I Was a Mail Order Bridegroom. In the reissue, Kuepper notes how he and drummer Mark Dawson wanted to avoid "the usual 'doing the greatest hits acoustically' routine," and in a series of rehearsals for a tour start tried other approaches with newer songs or cover versions. Dawson himself plays a stripped-down set -- partially using a cardboard box -- while Kuepper uses a variety of unexpected tunings on his guitar, as well as using his familiar, rich voice. The end result's a beauty of a record, captured well on tape with just enough echo (Kuepper semi-jokingly calls the effect "ambient rockabilly," and certainly on songs like "Always the Woman Pays" it could be the Durutti Column at Sun Studios). One of Kuepper's all-time classics, "Everything I've Got Belongs to You," made its first bow here, the killer opening line, "I've designs on you that come from dirty books" still a winner, while an earlier sample of his brilliance, the Saints' "Eternally Yours," also takes a bow. Covers include Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter" and the title track, actually a medley with Donovan and the Animals adding to Kuepper's original, while self-penned highlights include "What You Don't Know," with a nervous, dramatic edge, and the gentler-paced but not-less-commanding "There's Nothing Natural." The radio-set extras add even more of a frenetic charge to the more commanding songs -- "Always the Woman Pays" practically leaps out at the listener and "Pretty Mary" isn't far behind.

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

Removing himself for a moment from the rowdy world of grunge, Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan put his best solo foot forward with a set of acoustic dirges. His menacing voice haunts each track as the blues come to life throughout the album. Capturing the melancholy mentality of the Pacific Northwest, his words descend like raindrops upon deep puddles of mud. The undeniable beauty of a song such as "Ugly Sunday" obviously comes from reveling in the mire, something that Lanegan has been all too familiar with as a recovering addict. He finds a kindred spirit in Kurt Cobain as the two join forces to present "Down in the Dark." And his version of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" is as charged as ever with pent-up frustration and jealousy. An emotional journey through the pains of life, The Winding Sheet is an album that accurately expresses the candid underbelly of the grunge aesthetic.

(by Robert Gabriel, All Music Guide)

I don't know how this moody /atmospheric beauty slipped under my radar undiscoverd for so long! I put off buying this many times as I alreadyown Whiskey.. & Field Songs, & thought from the audio clips it sounded toostereotypically 'grunge', ('that' word- I know- but its well understood) for my tastes. Its always been the slightly folked out & country'd upquality of Marks work that I like, but seeing as I love this mans voice,honesty & charm- my curiosity gave in.Recorded in '89' 5 years before Nirvanas 'Unplugged', WS was Marks first solo venture whilst at the time still holding down his job asmore… lead singerfor Seattle band The Screaming Trees. You cant help but draw comparisons between this & Unplugged as they share similar musical & historicalterritory. Both Kurt & Chris are on this album playing lead & bass on their first cover of Leadbellys In The Pines/ Where did you sleep lastnight, a heavier darker & more powerfull version than on Unplugged. Therest of the album except for DITDark, is mostly a mellow & introspective affair, with long time collaborator Mike Johnson (ex D.Junior's), gentle acoustic arrangements, lending excuisite warmth & tenderness. I can only conclude that this is the 'real deal', the absolute soulfull essence ofwhat that whole 'Seattle sound' /genre was all about, (not that theyactually came from there but you know..) There is nothing in the leastbit contrived about these songs, and the vocal /musical stylings thatlater became a formula for many, appear here with original & heartfeltsincerity. How songs about death/ escape, addiction, desperation & sorrowcan make for such beautifully stirring listening, only Lanegan can know. A complete romantic, not in the obvious hearts & flowers sense, thinkN.Young, Van M, Nick Drake, & the old delta blues singers, Lanegans moreyouthfull voice (still showing signs of that rich Waits- ish baritone),sings moans & cries with a raspy hoarseness that has me mesmerized. Cobain clutching a copy of WS was once quoted as saying "this mans voicecould make anything sound good"..or something to that effect. The 'nofrills' procuction & Marks soulfull vocals / lyrics, result in an intenseintimacy, as if in the room with you. Mark gives 100% of himself & moreon these songs, & shares that aspect of vulnerability, imperfection &fragility, that seems to be at the core of his somewhat 'cathartic' work. All subject matter comes straight from the heart & is deliverd with suchpassion you feel humbled & quietend, spellbound as someone is sharingsome part of thmselves with you so deeply personal. Am I overreacting? Probably, but if you 'connect' with this album, youll know that it wouldbe impossible to talk about it in any unpassionate, impartial impersonalway, coz that would be everything that its not. If I had to pick a favourite..(& there are too many really), I guess itwould be Winding Sheet. A dark haunting acoustic melody, that has the hairs on my arms standing up, whilst seducing me away into its numbingpsychadellic feedback drenched beauty. It envelopes you like some warm comforting opiate, ready to lull you away. The vocals are sheer ecstacyas mark sings & cries, "...at night when the dogs from hell come out..roam my house in chains of gold.. the darkness dares my eyes to close...". Cant put into words the effect this song has on me- STIRRING. There are however numerous beauties; the tender pretty & minimal Wildflowers, withits strange subtley out of tune - but perfect acoustic guitar. The lushbut sad desperation of Mockingbirds ".. get me out im starting to burn, Icant let go for the life of me.. some hold tight.. some turn.. my wholelife out in front of me.. two mockingbirds makin sense of it"... & I couldgo on. I am gratefull that I own this (what I regard), as an astonishing seminalpiece of work. It has me alive with emotions that make me hold dear whatit is to be human; full of contradictions, beautiful & ugly, uplifting &sad @ the same time, kinda like life wouldn't yasay?Perfect forreflecting as the seasons turn. If you've not already got it, check out the more mature Mark on Fsongs(2001), & the covers album of old Southern Soul, folk & country songs on"Ill Take Care of You". Its brilliant to watch someone evolve & matureexploring their original influences. Oh, & the newy'll be out soon too .. Bubblegum, with numerous collaborators inc. J Hommes (QOT Stone Age) & a saucy duet with the hugely talented PJ Harvey! Needless to say WS has become one of my favourite albums ever.. & I wasn't even expecting it.

The final Perfect Disaster album, in retrospect, could be called a predictor of the future -- at least to the extent that Josephine Wiggs and Jon Mattock would become famous working separately and together in acts like the Breeders, Spiritualized, and the Josephine Wiggs Experience. But here they were a pretty darn great rhythm section backing up the garagey snarl and crunch of Phil Parfitt and Dan Cross' guitar, and the results were some good and great neo-psych zone-outs and rave-ups. With the brilliant "Rise" starting things off, Parfitt's aggro sneer is perfectly suited to the great riff mania and blast of the music, and Heaven Scent covered both high-volume blasts and moodier, more reflective songs in equal measure. In ways it's those quieter songs, such as "Father" and "Where Will You Go With Me," which give a clear indication of the incipient Spacemen 3 family tree connections. One could almost imagine Sonic Boom singing the vocals and playing the guitars on a few of those numbers, and it's to Parfitt's credit that his own enjoyable take on a drowsily beautiful mood stands out, almost an English equivalent to what early Mazzy Star was doing at the same time. The alternating between clipped and kicky songs like "Takin' Over" (which almost sounds like a more rocked-out Go-Betweens) and "Sooner or Later" and quieter efforts like "Little Sister (If Ever Days)" (with a lovely Wiggs cello part) is a touch disconcerting. It almost sounds like two different bands at work at points, but the end results are worth the slight schizophrenia, concluding with the wonderful "It's Gonna Come to You," a slow-burn of a full-on rock epic that ranks as one of the best songs of its year. Wiggs takes a slightly buried co-lead vocal on "Wires," the one song she wrote lyrics for, otherwise adding some fine backing singing here and there throughout. Some CD versions include a few bonus tracks, including two live cuts from a 1989 concert -- one, an involving, nearly 15-minute take on "B52."

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)