Calla's next studio album 'Televized' is due September 24th via ArenaRock Recordings. In the meantime here's a couple catch-all discs.'Custom' is a remix album with two live tracks tacked on the end.I-Sound, Tarwater, Metrotech, Datach'i, Couch, Pan American, Dan Matzand Calla themselves all take a turn. Most of them with the sameapproach: add more stuff. Extraneous beats, electronics and effects areused to putty in and over cracks that didn't need filling. More is doneto selfishly apply a sonic signature than to preserve the certainsomething of the originals. On the other hand, Couch don't do much ofanything to "Fear of Fireflies" while Pan American reduces anunidentified track into an appendum to his latest album. Part of DanMatz's two-fer serves up a slowed down cover of Steve Miller's "DearMary", giving the simple love ode a creepy stalker vibe. "Trinidad / IShall Be Released" (the latter by Bob Dylan) and "Only Drowning Men"are the live ones and they prove that Calla do occasionally swell theirslow and sultry sound up into a powerful din. But altogether, "Custom"reinforces my general attitude that most remix albums just aren'tnecessary. I'd rather the originals. Or this next disc.
Now this is a great idea. Every month Insound release a limitededition CD by an artist/band while they're on tour, 500 availablethrough the site and 500 at their shows. For a mere $6.18 you get a lotfor your money: four home recordings, a dozen live songs and half adozen amusing audio postcards from around the world, nearly 72 minutesin all. If the homemade stuff is a precursor of the new album, it'sgoing to be fantastic. "Astral" especially ... how many times have Ilistened to that song this past week alone? So simple yet sobeautifully understated. Like everything they do, really. A woman in"Sassari, Italy" apologetically mistakes the Calla trio for SonicYouth. Not quite. Of the live songs, there's five apiece from the s/tdebut album and the follow-up 'Scavengers' plus two classic covers. Irecently saw Calla play for a rather indifferent Nick Cave crowd in anAustin open-air amphitheatre. It sounds like these tracks were recordedin small clubs (or a radio station) where the intimate atmosphere ismuch more suitable for Calla's quieter moments. All of their drama iscaptured nicely here. The last two are tender tributes to GeorgeHarrison with "Long, Long, Long" and Neil Young with "Harvest Moon".For the latter, the chatty Tel Aviv audience sweetly joins in on thechorus and is impressively silenced by the end, then erupts inappreciation. Of the two discs, this is the one to get.
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