The treasure is out there.  When you find it – pass it on.  It is an eccelctic miz from the Warner Future Vintage Collection.  It is a signpost to the next destination, a discovery, an X that marks the spot where the treasure is to be discovered, where one looks to seek the path and once found, passes it on.
Which means?

All this crap aside, this is a compilation of various artists with the same kind of mellow/good natured soft rock.  It is certainly an opportunity to try out something a little different.  Warner have put together some better known artists with some less familiar, which have been, honestly, shamefully overlooked.  There is talent here, there is in fact the future here.  It is not a come-back era, despite the appearance of Fountains Of Wayne (with the fantastic ‘Troubled Times’), The Lemonheads and Emmylou Harris.  And no, it’s definitely not country music mellow.  There is a welcome mix of music here, all surprisingly good on the ear and possible reflecting a whole new musical era, where we appreciate more the beauty of life, love and the past.  Really!
Is it much cop?

Oh yes! It is a spirited, fun album with some exuberant talents featured, including Ween, Ben Kweller, The Flaming Lips and Wilco among the better known.  But even the lesser known like Kevin Tihista (‘Beautiful’) and Lea DeLaria, with her theatrical (and rather camp) rendition of ‘Black Hole Sun’, are brilliantly done.

How many good tracks?

Out of 17 plus two bonus tracks, there are 14 that are good – great, in fact.  The favourite has to be Lea DeLaria’s track, as well the opening song Ween’s ‘Freedom Of ‘76’ with quirky lyrics tributes to all things great, including my favourite sweet-teen film Mannequin!  Another funny one is from Japanese girl duo Cibo Matto, attempting hip-hop-and-fractured-pop with ‘Sugar Water’, which I am sure has been used in advertising before.  Easy-listening includes tracks by Pat Metheny, Faith No More (with their take on ‘Midnight Cowboy’) and Marc Ribot’s ‘Dame Un Cachito Pa’Huele’.

And the worst?

There weren’t really any “worst”, rather the not so great ones and that would have to be very few: Mr. Bungle with ‘Retrovertigo’ (more like migraine), Jason Faulkner’s ‘Eloquence’ and the two bonus tracks which sounds like music played backwards.  It’s not vomit-inducing material in any case.

Biggest disappointment?

Finding out that this release follows last year’s Warner collection which I have not yet added to my collection.  Also, usually one would expect the bonus tracks to be equally good or even better but it’s definitely a disappointment on this album.

Verdict:

A great way to wake up in the morning, have an end to a long chilled-out evening, even listen to whilst eating dinner and most certainly driving material.  I hope most of the artists featured on this collection do receive the attention they deserve – commercial rather than cult, which some have already attained.  It’s about high time for some of them.

(5/5)

Release Date: 23 August 2004

Word Of Mouth