Refreshed

BILLIE HOLIDAY
Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday
(Columbia/Legacy)
Part of appreciating Billie Holiday is what the listener brings to the experience. She was a gifted singer, an alto with a reedy timbre, a luscious vibrato and gorgeous phrasing. She was surrounded by equally gifted musicians for much of her career, including luminaries Lester Young, Teddy Wilson and Artie Shaw. Her repertoire, at its best, included works by Gershwin, Berlin and Porter (though it did dip into mediocrity and cute nonsense sometimes, particularly on some earlier songs not included here).

But it's no secret that she was a tragic figure who'd had brushes with the law beginning at a young age. How much the listener will appreciate Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday will depend on exactly what he or she seeks. From the very earliest works on this double-disc set, which date from 1935, there are bits of foreshadowing and insinuation in her choice of material and phrasing. The sampler, taken from the box set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944), features material from what's largely considered the most important stretch of her career. Part of the appeal is the sound. Considering that much of this material predates the second World War, and that the sources couldn't have always been pristine, the audio throughout Lady Day is pleasing to the ear at the least, and occasionally quite vibrant. (more)

Stagestruck

THE DAMNED/THE TOILET BOYS/THE BRIEFS
@The Back Room, Austin, TX; November 2, 2001
The punk rock explosion of the late 70s produced a ton of legendary bands. They created music that's stood the test of time, remaining exciting and relevant 25 years later. For all the great art that came out of that time period, however, there are precious few of the artists themselves still around. The volatile, I-want-change-and-I-want-it-now nature of punk encourages an early flameout, so most of the bands hung up their power chords and moved on long ago. Many of those that didn't now find themselves on a sort of punk rock oldies circuit, cranking out their hits (a relative term in this universe) for kids who weren't even born the first time around, everyone desperately pretending it's still 1977. An important exception to all this is the Damned. The first of the class of '77 to release an album and tour America, the Damned has defied the odds by sticking around well past its sell-by date. That the group has endured countless lineup changes, stylistic detours, legal battles and label woes is immaterial. With longtime bandleaders Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible firmly in charge, they're still around and still vital.

They proved it on an unusually warm autumn night at Austin's Back Room, normally the town's heavy metal haven. Invaded by Goths, old-school punks, older fans who had been kids when the band was new and broadminded rock 'n' roll fans of all ages, the club became ground zero for the resurrection of a band wrongfully dismissed by history as an anachronism. Touring in support of their terrific new punk/Goth/power pop album Grave Disorder, the Damned hit the stage in a cloud of fog with "Democracy?," the lead-off blast of melodic energy from the new record. Before the crowd had a chance to catch its breath, the quintet launched straight into their 25-year-old classic "New Rose," one of the greatest anthems to ever come from the original Britpunk movement. This set the stage for the remainder of the show, as the band played most of the gems from the new album, interspersed with their greatest hits. Clearly enjoying himself, Vanian looked stylish and vaguely sinister in his black satin Renaissance shirt, black leather gloves and pompadour. Gliding across the stage like a dancer, gesturing extravagantly and singing with flair, he looked like a vampire Elvis in a Hammer film, and he pulled it off with self-possessed elegance. By contrast, Captain Sensible was the freewheeling clown, offering a running commentary that poked fun at his bandmates, the crowd and anyone else that struck his fancy. (more)