By the Writers of Last Word Features

Based on a 5-star rating.

Concert  DVD
Various Artists: “T.A.M.I. Show” (Shout Factory)
★★★★★
In the Police song, “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around,” Sting sings about watching a video of “James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show.” That 1964 performance, in the first-ever rock ‘n’ roll concert film, is an absolute mind-blower:  raw, sweaty, sexy, incendiary.

Like the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” earlier that year, it altered lives. But so did much of what led up to it (Chuck Berry, Leslie Gore, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, the Supremes, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas) and even what followed (a suitably humbled Rolling Stones, realizing they’d messed up big time by agreeing to follow Brown).

This almost-competitive mix of Motown and Mersey Beat, with Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys thrown in, is more than an essential historical document (silly go-go dancers and all); it’s an incredible show that’ll have you frugging in front of your DVD player, and trying to imitate the original moon walker. — Lynne Margolis
Buy if you like: Monterey Pop, Live Aid DVDs

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: ‘The Brutalist Bricks’ (Matador)
★★★
Passionate, political, punk pop. That in a nutshell is Ted Leo, a singer/songwriter/bandleader who throws himself into every song, drawing on references from ‘70s punk to ska to arena rock while singing of matters of great import, be it societal or personal crises.
“The Brutalist Bricks,” Leo’s sixth album, and his fifth with his excellent band, has plenty of hooks and smarts that come through on songs like the one-two-three punch of the dramatic “Even Heroes Have To Die,” its stuttering hardcore punk companion “The Stick” and the catchy, ska-tinged “Bottled in Cork.” Not every song on “The Brutalist Bricks” connects, the message sometimes gets in the way of the music. But Leo always has another good one waiting, and you know you’re getting everything he’s got to give on every song.– L Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Spoon, the Shout Out Louds

Pavement: “Quarantine The Past: The Best of Pavement” (Matador)
★★★★
There wouldn’t be indie rock without Pavement. Coming out of Stockton, Calif., Stephen Malkmus and company were THE underground band of the ‘90s, taking a laid back, anti-star, low-fi approach to guitar rock, adding pop to the squawl and topping it off smartly smirking lyrics. “Quarantine The Past: The Best of Pavement” is exactly what it says it is: 24 of the best Pavement songs from across its career. They still sound great, and feel as contemporary and relevant today as they did nearly two decades ago. If you don’t know Pavement, listing the songs won’t help. Just get the disc and find out where today’s hip music originated. If you already know Pavement, well, you know what to do. – L. Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Sebadoh, Ben Kweller

CDs

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: ‘Beat The Devil’s Tattoo’ (Vagrant)
★★★ 1⁄2
When this rocking trio lost its original drummer, Nick Jago, in 2008 (the second time he had split with the band), it was anything but clear whether the group would survive to make new music, and if so, whether it would come out sounding like the same band that made its first four albums. Despite the growing tensions that were re-emerging with Jago at the time, the group’s previous CD, 2007’s “Baby 81,” was arguably it’s strongest album yet and it set a challenging standard to meet if the group was to continue.
As it turns out, with new drummer Leah Shapiro on board, BRMC not only got through its period of doubt, but re-emerged sounding as vigorous as ever. “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” may not quite equal its predecessor, but it comes very close. The band’s glammy hard rock sound shines brightly on “Conscience Killer,” a wiry, high-energy rocker, and “Evol,” a highly catchy track anchored by a sweet chiming guitar riff. The blues-rock stomp of the group’s mostly acoustic album “Howl” re-emerges is a more muscular setting on the title song, and “River Styx,” a stinging thumper with a particular sassy lead guitar line. There are a couple of clunkers (the lackluster acoustic tune “Sweet Feeling” and the sludgy “War Machine”), but otherwise “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” is a reassuring sign that there’s plenty of life left in this exciting band. – Alan Sculley
Buy if you like: T Rex, The Jesus and Mary Chain

Reissue:

Wilson Pickett: ‘Funky Midnight Mover: The Atlantic Studio Recordings (1962-1978),’ (Rhino Handmade/Atlantic)
★★★★ 1⁄2
Hard to believe, but there has never been a boxed set devoted to Pickett, one of the best and most important artists of the soul era – until now. This set essentially supplants a 1992 two-disc anthology, “A Man And A Half,” which actually did a fine job surveying the best of Pickett’s output. But as the six-disc “Funky Midnight Mover” proves, two discs just wasn’t enough to cover Pickett’s catalog. So in addition to including essential genre-defining hits like “In The Midnight Hour,” “Mustang Sally” and Land Of 1,000 Dances,” the new set includes plenty of lesser-known gems that suggest that Pickett’s original albums had were filled with far more killer than filler. Just note tracks like “Something You Got,” “She’s So Good To Me” (a grooving track that finds Pickett’s gritty singing at its best) and “I’m Sorry About That” (a Bobby Womack tune that let “the Wicked Pickett” show a contrite and sensitive side).
Even though “Funky Midnight Mover” includes every Pickett song released by Atlantic Records, the set doesn’t feel overly padded. And for good measure, the set features a full disc of alternate takes and unreleased songs, some of which (the surprisingly tender “I Hope She’ll Be Happier With Him” and the funky soul of  “Many Roads To Travel” ) shouldn’t have been shelved in the first place. Simply put, this is the collection fans of Pickett and classic soul have been waiting three decades to see. – Alan Sculley
Buy if you like: Solmon Burke, Otis Redding

Jimi Hendrix: ‘Valleys of Neptune’ (Experience Hendrix/Legacy)
★★★ 1⁄2
Even when he was just noodling, Jimi Hendrix was more brilliant than every other rock guitarist on the planet, and that’s not hyperbole. It’s simple fact. For evidence, listen to his instrumental version of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” on “Valleys of Neptune.” Bet even Clapton digs it.
Most of these songs – until now previously unreleased — have titles familiar to Hendrix fans. But they were not done in familiar ways during these 1969 recording sessions. This release is designed to convey his evolutionary process, and, for those interested, it does that (accordingly, the second half is more compelling). For more casual listeners, it’s still got interesting incarnations; “Fire,” for instance, features bassist Noel Redding on more prominent backing vocals. The intro to “Red House,” though wordless, is wonderfully lyrical; his note-bending absolutely soulful. The song itself portrays Hendrix in his element, translating the blues through his fingers and his voice in ways others have touched, but no one has transcended.
— Lynne Margolis
Buy if you like: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa