OUT AND ABOUT
Q-Music
by gregg shapiro
ONLY YESTERDAY Not only has the eponymous debut by Roxy Music stood the test of time, it’s surpassed it. Officially disbanded (again) since 2011, Roxy Music remains one of the most influential (art) rock bands in the history of modern pop music, in spite of not having released a studio album since 1982 (!). Reissued by Virgin EMI/UMe in a triple CD + one DVD box set, accompanied by a 136-page hardcover book featuring rare and unpublished photos, as well as a Richard Williams essay, the band’s first album features longtime vocalist Bryan Ferry in the lead. This was also a time when Brian Eno was still a member of the band, alongside Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson and Graham Simpson and groundbreaking songs such as “Virginia Plain”, “Re-make/Re-Model”, “If There Is Something” and “Ladytron” made their way into our consciousness. In addition to the remastered album, this deluxe set includes a disc of 15 demos and out-takes from 1971 and 1972, a 14-track BBC Sessions disc and a DVD featuring live performances. Like fellow queer label-mate Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas), Car Seat Headrest (aka Will Toledo) is making some of the most memorable and indispensable music of the 2010s. In one of the most arresting and ambitious musical moves made this year, Car Seat Headrest is releasing the double disc set Twin Fantasy (Matador). The first disc, Face to Face, is a 2016 re-recording of Car Seat Headrest’s original 10-song 2011 self-released debut Twin Fantasy. The second disc, Mirror to Mirror, is the original 2011 recording of the album. As much a historical document as it is a necessary component of Car Seat Headrest’s musical canon, including songs such as “Bodys”, “Cute Thing” (with its Frank Ocean shout out), “High To Death” and the Beach Boys-esque songs that bracket the album, “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” and “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)”, make for essential listening. Why it seems like it was only 2017 when The Shins released Heartworms, its first album in five years. On The Worms Heart (Aural Apothecary/Columbia), James Mercer and the band offer a different perspective on the predecessor’s 11 songs by flipping the order, as well as the arrangements. It’s an interesting experiment that pays off on songs such as “So Now What”, “Heartworms”, “Dead Alive”, “Rubber Balls”, “Name For You” and “Mildenhall”. 36
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