Aural Fixations

STIV BATORS
Disconnected
(Bomp!)
The late Stiv Bators blazed across the underground rock galaxy as the amphetaminized singer for punk thugs the Dead Boys and iconoclastic Gothic hard rockers the Lords of the New Church. He's revered by fans of unrepentantly nasty, transgressive rock & roll as much as he's reviled by the arbiters of good taste. What many of the folks on both sides of the fence may not know is that between his stints in the Boys and the Lords, he headed to Los Angeles to cut a solo album. (more)

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
(Mute/Anti-)
Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds have been making records for 20 years now; amazingly, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the band's first double album. Despite each disk having its own title, this 2-CD set comes across as one long project rather than two separate albums packaged together. Exploring the usual themes of obsessive romanticism, spiritual confusion and the darker side of human nature, Cave and his band manage to fill over 80 minutes with music as compelling and memorable as anything they've ever done. (more)

EVEN
Downpayment on Future Glories (1995-2003)
(Orange Sky/Dionysus)
Australia's always been the home of high-quality rock & roll bands, even if they so rarely find the audience they deserve outside of their own borders. (OK, there was Midnight Oil and INXS. And, to a certain extent, the Saints.) In the hopes of getting some attention American critics, at least, Dionysus imprint Orange Sky gives us Downpayment on Future Glories (1995-2003) from guitar pop act Even. (more)

ELLIOTT SMITH
from a basement on the hill
(Anti-)
When you're writing about an album by a dead artist, it's tempting to read intent in the work that may not really be there. When that artist died by his own hand, as did Elliott Smith, that temptation is quadrupled, as fans look for clues to his state of mind. (more)