Singles, demos, and unreleased: 3 that Do It Right
Collections of singles, demos, and previously unreleased material are increasingly popular. Here we look at four instances that get it right.
It became fashionable to release collections of singles, B-sides, demos, and other adorable material a while ago. Sometimes it’s done well, but not very often. When such compilations work, they change our perceptions of the artist. It is like reading a book of unpublished stories by your favorite author, making you feel much closer to him or her because the editor isn’t in the way, the publisher isn’t in the way, and (we assume) the author’s voice is private. In a word, we experience a voyeuristic thrill. Any VU fan that first heard the demos when the box set was released knows this thrill intimately.For those of us that picked up Black Market Clash as kids in suburbia, we finally had our hands on their cover of the Toots & Maytals classic “Pressure Drop” and the first dub recording they released, “Justice Tonight/Kick It Over” on the same record!
3 SPECTACULAR COLLECTIONS
Barbara Manning…Under One Roof-Singles and Oddities. This album of material from Barbara Manning’s solo work, as well as with the SF Seals, cements her position as the preeminent singer/strummer/songwriter of her generation. Like Amelia Fletcher (Talulah Gosh/Heavenly), Barbara Manning has steadfastly recorded a stunning pile of pop gems. She does not go in for screeching, excessive femme posturing, or the vaunted singer-songwriter appellation. She rocks and she’s talented as hell.
Tullycraft…the singles. Perhaps it is illuminating that Tullycraft chose to cover Jonathan Richman, Stephin Merritt, the Ninjas, and New Order, among others. It is far more illuminating that song #3 deserves accolades as the 90s most anthemic song: Pop Songs Your Boyfriend’s Too Stupid to Know About. Seattle’s Tullycraft record infectious pop songs with a boyish charm to them. They are featured in the recent film Songs for Cassavetes.
