[net.records] Some 'New Music' Reviews

eli (11/12/82)

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of traffic on this channel...
so I thought I'd do my best to spark some reviews.  Here's some
newer LP's that I would suggest "new music" fans take a listen to...


The Blasters -- 'Over There, Live at the Venue, London' (Warner Bros.)
	A rock and rockabilly band out of L.A.  In my opinion these
	guys are well beyond the posing of The Stray Cats, and other
	"non-revivalist" rockabilly bands.  This 5-song live EP is
	so packed full of energy it's amazing they could press it
	into the grooves.

The Decentz -- 'Get In Trouble' (Philo)
	This one may be rather hard to find... since Philo is a small
	independent label.  However it is worth looking for.  Great
	pop music.


The English Beat -- 'Special Beat Service' (IRS)
	On there latest album, The Beat have shown some expansion to
	their sound.  They seem to feel at home with pure pop, as well
	as their reggae influenced Ska... A solid album.

The Individuals -- 'Fields' (Plexus)
	Another band out of the Hoboken, N.J. scene.  But this one
	sounds nothing like their pals, The Bongos.  Intead, The
	Individuals are most often compared to Talking Heads, and in
	fact this comparison is not so far off the mark.  Intelligent
	art-influenced pop.

The Jam -- 'The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)' (Polydor)
	This looks to be the very last record released by this band...
	since reports are filtering in that they broke up three or four
	days ago.  At least they went out on a positive note (musically
	at least).  This EP features three excellent originals, as
	well as cover versions of 'Fever' and 'War' (the latter also
	having turned up on the new D.O.A. release).

David Lindley & El Rayo-X -- 'Win This Record' (Asylum)
	Lindley is probably best known as the slide guitar player on
	so many Jackson Browne albums (as well as numerous other artists'
	records).  This is his second 'solo' album, and the first with
	this band (the previous LP had him backed by alot of his L.A.
	friends).  Athough I don't find this LP nearly as enjoyble as
	the first, it's certainly worth a listen for those of you who
	want to hear some incredible guitar playing.  Mostly reggae and
	blues styles.

Magazine -- 'After the Fact' (IRS)
	One of the seminal English bands finally gets the last of their
	material released in the US.  For those of you who are already
	Magazine fans, I don't believe this contains anything that hasn't
	already come here as an import... but for those of you who missed
	this band when they were actually in existance, this is a
	reasonably good compilation.

Psychedelic Furs -- 'Forever Now' (Columbia)
	As with The Beat, this band seems to have taken on new dimensions
	with their new LP.  This one was produced by Todd Rundgren, who
	(luckily) put together a rather seamless production without the
	overbearing "TODD" stamp on it.  The general tone of this album
	is much lighter than their first two...

R.E.M. -- 'Chronic Town' (IRS)
	Someone recently sent a note to net.records stating the artist
	and title of this disc.  I'd like to second the motion that this
	is a band to be reckoned with...  Very smooth new-age-pop out
	of Athens, Ga.


More another day . . .

			. . . uw-beaver!eli