Listening Station

Spiritualized

The Complete Works, Volume 2

Somewhere in America, there's a music fan who's dropped some serious cash on all of Spiritualized's import singles, most likely because he regards himself as a completist and feels, like many do, that the band rarely produces a bum track. And that same kid's probably seething now because Jason Pierce, enigmatic leader of the acclaimed U.K. gospel-rock outfit, has neatly packaged most of his nonalbum material in two double-disc, odds-and-sods collections: last year's The Complete Works, Volume 1, and the recently released Volume 2.

The Complete Works albums feel like the Beatles' Anthology albums in the sense that these career-spanning assortments emphasize alternate and live versions of singles and album tracks. With Volume 2, there are only two "new" songs--the cleansing "Rock and Roll" and "Going Down Slow"--while a good portion of the other inclusions can be found on other domestic Spiritualized albums. This is a minor disappointment.

That said, because the tracklisting represents the full range of the Spiritualized sound--a sometimes-orchestral, sometimes-minimalist fusion of psychedelic rock and spiritual blues--The Complete Works feels like a definitive primer of the band, especially for those just discovering it. Volume 2 is particularly noteworthy because its core stems from 1997's Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space, widely considered the band's best work. While fans can revel in instrumental takes of that album's "Broken Heart" and "Cool Waves," newbies can acquaint themselves with its resonating singles, such as "Electricity" and "Come Together" (the latter also included in its live form)

While there's an argument for Pierce spreading his oeuvre a little thin here, he's nothing if not a completist himself, and taking in his consistently soulful compositions for a couple of hours makes for some blissful listening.--Mike Prevatt

The Microphones

Live in Japan

When last we left Phil Elvrum (now "Elverum"), he was facing the precipice of death and rebirth, stripping off flesh and The Microphones moniker, sprinting breakneck into a freefall off Mount Eerie. For those maintaining a PATRIOT Act-endorsed dossier of aliases, Elverum-as-Microphones has curiously rebounded to wrassle his angel-demons once more, as his Puffy Combs identity crisis continues. This time, captured live before intimate audiences during a two-week stint last February, in Japan.

Diverging from last year's monolithic Mount Eerie, Live in Japan features 11 previously unreleased tracks penned during Elverum's recent self-imposed exile to Norway. Inflamed by introspection and self-renunciation, many of these threadbare compositions--"teeming with ghosts"--sluice forth with raw amplitude accentuated by perfectly imprecise vocals and instrumentals that ensconce much of the sturm-und-drang urgency of the songwriter/disciple's vision quests. ("As you can see/ after descending the hill/ I still look like me/ I still wallow like Phil/ and forever will.") Certainly some will cringe at Live's musical permissiveness, expecting virtuosity in more recognized or accepted forms; however, Elverum maintains brazen fidelity to incising, emotional expression, be it delicate, indeterminate or unnerving. And, performance predilections notwithstanding, the melodic and lyric foundations are ethereal, tuneful and viscerally engaging. Even rewritten standards like "My Favorite Things" and "Silent Night" benefit from Elverum's honest and fragile delivery.

Only a woeful 37 minutes long, Live in Japan's psycho-spiritual visitation wants only for lack of more material. Maybe it's a literal cliffhanger presaging Elverum's next incarnation--perhaps as waif-rapper P. Elvy.--Chad Lietz

Musiq

Soulstar

There are more than 70 minutes of music on Musiq's third album, Soulstar, which is about half an hour too much. There's also a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You," which is exactly one too many Stones covers. And the gimmick of running the words in the song titles together ("givemorelove," for example) is just annoying.

The rest of the CD, though, is gold. The best thing about Musiq is he doesn't fuck his songs up with a bunch of vibrato or "American Idol"-style voice modulations. Granted, he definitely falls in the neo-soul category--he's a little too produced to be old school--but he follows in the best tradition of Al Green and Marvin Gaye, who never worked too hard at sounding good. Those cats just sang and so does Musiq on "soulstar," "whoknows" and especially "youloveme," which hints at Stevie Wonder without all the blind enthusiasm.

Too bad that Musiq didn't just cut Soulstar off there. While he probably should be commended for his experimental spirit, the experiments simply don't work. The rap/soul crossover "momentinlife" is forgettable radio fare, and even though "Miss You" initially sounds cool, it disrupts the creative flow of the entire album. Still, it's worth at least one listen to hear how Musiq breaks down the bridge: "I`ve been walkin' in Central Park/ Singin' after dark/ People think I'm crazy, crazy, craaazy."

Overall, Musiq's last album--2002's Juslisen--was probably a superior effort, but Soulstar has enough pop to keep the party bouncing and the lovers loving until the wee hours. If he can just curtail his more extravagant impulses on his next record, he might, like Anthony Hamilton, make a soul album that's worthy of the old masters.--Newt Briggs