Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
The 20th-Century Piano [Box set]
Music: Jammin' at 'eddie Condon's'
Panorama: Horizons Celtiques [Import]
Amazon.com
The Blues Explosion have gotten into a habit of following up their albums with B-side collections. Extra Width begat Mo' Width, Orange begat Experimental Remixes, and now Xtra Acme USA emerges as the child of Acme. This may be the boldest of the Explosion's follow-up releases, 19 tracks (plus a hidden surprise) consisting of remixes and unreleased cuts. Surprisingly, Xtra Acme USA doesn't sag under the weight of guest stars like dirty soul legend Andrew Williams or remixers like Moby and David Holmes. In fact, Williams's vocal turn on "Lap Dance" is hysterically dazzling and Holmes steals the whole show with his gospel-fueled remix of "Talk About the Blues" Unreleased tracks like "Wait a Minute" and "Leave Me Alone So I Can Rock Again" pack just as much punch--maybe even more--as the cuts that made it onto Acme. This may be the funkiest that indie rock has ever gotten. Amen! --Jason Josephes