Various Artists
Tracks And Fields (Kill Rock Stars)
By Jim Keller
Published: May 28th, 2004 | 1:56pm
If you're like me, you have at least one of the Kill Rock Stars compilations from the early '90s. Now the label returns with Tracks And Fields, a double disc that serves a smorgasbord of unreleased, live, demo, and cover material resulting in a more raw sound.
Once again, KRS hits us with more musical genres than our minds can process; whether it's the Grouse Mountain Skyride-esque banjo styles of Cynthia Dall, or the electro-smut of Gravy Train!!!!, the label proves it still has something for everyone. On the Tracks disc, check out Antietam's head-nodder "This Lush Life," Superchunk's catchy guitar hooks on "Everyone Gets Crushed," and the Capricorns' Fifth Column/Slant 6 combination on "Steve and Tiffanie." However, you may want to skip over the Legend's gothic romp "I'm Not Like That," which reeks of Bela Lugosi's rotten corpse, and John Wilkes Booze's "We've Got Room in Outer Space," as its Jon Spencer–style gospel is too stop/start to fill the pews.
On the Fields disc, navigate your way through Laura Veirs' jarring word flow on "Icebound Stream" and rock it on with Sweet Heat's "Oh Johnny," but the Decemberists' "Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right" is the real shiner, with Colin Meloy's tell-it-like-it-is vocals bringing the disc to a satisfying end. Steer clear of Shoplifting's "Hegemony Enemy," which offers nothing but out-of-tune instruments and vocal banter as well as Dead Meadow's acoustic sleeper "Golden Cloud," and you should be fine.
KRS' inclusion of poorly produced live recordings on the compilation unfortunately overshadows the good tracks and makes it sound like the label lowered its submission standards; let's hope that has been corrected on the upcoming Roads and Tracks compilation.
Issue #27
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