Lydia Lunch & Rowland S. Howard - "Shotgun Wedding" CD

Classic swamp-blues rock from some legends

This is an expanded, remastered reissue of Lunch & Howard's classic 1991 album, which in my book remains a linchpin of either artists' separate careers. In fact, I'd wager this to be Howard's finest work since his Birthday Party days. It's a shame he's not around to add to that fine legacy. Still, "Shotgun Wedding" is a swampy post-punk affair full of dark edges and seductive textures. J.G. Thirlwell's dry, raw production is perfect, capturing an essential tension and junkie back-alley sinew. In short, this is a great album.

Opening with the iconic and slithery "Burning Skulls", the album moves forward to a gloriously gloomy (and bluesy) cover of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time Of Dying". "What Is Memory" is a skeletal showcase for Howard's prickly, twangy guitar-work. "Pigeon Town" is another highlight, being a rowdy swamp-blues affair, again highlighted by Howard's tight guitar. The album's closer is quite possibly the pinnacle, being Alice Cooper's magnificent "Black Juju" -- a slithery, snake-like trance rock track that hits some intense and dynamic highs. Between Howard's potent riffs and Lunch's cynical, aggressive vocals, "Shotgun Wedding" is a marvelous and memorable dark-edged rock trip, and one that just gets better with age.

This reissue adds Lunch and Howard's fine studio cover of Lee Hazlewood's "Some Velvet Morning", as well as 5 live recordings of fair to bootleg quality. And although these bonus additions aren't quite up to the quality of the album itself, it's certainly worth a look for serious Lunch or Howard fans. 

Atavistic Records

Lydia Lunch dot com

Rowland Howard dot com

Primal Scream - "Dirty Hits" CD

Nobody would accuse Bobby Gillespie of being a great songwriter, as evidenced by this rather uneven collection of singles spanning (most of) his group's career. But he's certainly never been afraid to experiment and take his music into ever-evolving directions, and to varying degrees of success. Starting with the late-80's era Manchester-fop-dance of 'Loaded' and the neo-60's Rolling Stones impersonations of 'Movin' On Up', Gillespie's certainly been influenced by drug culture. The Orb remix of 'Higher Than The Sun' is positively lethargic (rather than lysergic), before 'Rocks' brings on some true swagger. '(I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind' harkens back to Gillespie's days in the Jesus & Mary Chain, with it's simple, almost pastoral sad bastard vibe. 'Kowalski', precisely halfway through the disc, is where the real forward movement begins. It's a rough cut-dub that's a signal of the deconstruction that would soon follow.
Amping it up, the songs from the incredible (and landmark) 'XTMNTR' CD of 2000 take control. 'Swastika Eyes' is a blistering, scathing techno-dub attack, and 'Kill All Hippies' is pure funk laced with bitter cynicism and vitriol with it's memorable refrain of 'You've got the money, I've got the soul'. 'Shoot Speed/Kill Light' is a noise-infested shoegazer-punk snarl, like a modern-day Suicide meets My Bloody Valentine - believable as MBV's Kevin Shields produced this one. 'Miss Lucifer' is another techno-terror track that could be the Stooges and Suicide rolled into a modern electronica blender. 'Some Velvet Morning' electrifies the great Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra gem, and closing it all out, 'Autobahn 66' is a pleasant electro-pop homage to Kraftwerk. Final verdict? First half bleah, second half prime. Invest in a copy of 'XTRMNTR' and get most of the essentials right there. (Astralwerks US)

Primal Scream website

Amiina and Lee Hazlewood - "Hilli (At The Top Of The Mountain"

In late 2007, one of my favorite Icelandic groups, Amiina, collaborated with famous American singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, who added some very wise and beautiful (and possibly prophetic) words to Amiina's song 'Hilli'. Just after this track was completed, Lee passed away. The world is a much sadder place without Lee, though his 40 years of amazing songs will live on for all times. This song was released digitally through regular distribution channels in December, and on a very limited European CD single. Additionally, Amiina plan to release a 7" single including this song and a cover of Lee's 'Leather And Lace', with release date still to be announced. Meantime, here's the marvelous video...