No Eres Suficientemente Indie

You have probably seen them before. You may have even been tempted to buy one or two.

Those enticing four-track iTunes live sessions.

Luckily for you I have already succumbed and I am here to help you separate the wheat from the chaff. So beat those swords to ploughshares and support your (and by that, I mean my) favorites artists! [I have no proof but it seems like they would get a meaty chunk of the download pie.]

The New Pornographers -

This was the first iTunes session I purchased and it turned me off to the whole idea for quite some time. The New Pornographers are a lot of fun live but this recording sounds terrible. The vocals are muddy and the instruments are mixed improperly. Good call on the Matador at 15 exclusive track Graceland, but no Neko Case, no credibility.

Grade: C

Interpol -

I have seen Interpol twice now and besides Carlos D's questionable decision to wear "Eastern European Military Garb" (you still look like a Nazi bro!), they are remarkably unexceptionable live. Likewise these tracks culled from the vastly underrated Antics are faithful to the originals to a fault -- even the track lengths are virtually identical (the whistling on the C'mere chorus is kind of cool though). Interpol are a great band, but like their b-sides and remixes, these live cuts are completely unessential.

Grade: B-

Yo La Tengo -

Yo La Tengo shift so easily between genres and styles that it's easy to forget how quiet and melancholy they can be (ie. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out) when they are playing the blistering 11+Pass the Hatchet. Their back-catalog is so deep, I had no idea where half these tracks came from (the Arthur Lee cover sounds like La Bamba). This four track sampler is testament to Yo La Tengo as one of the most diverse and eclectic indie rock bands ever. (I have to dock them for the opening instrumental -- come on dudes, you only have four songs!)

Grade: B+

Goldfrapp -

Goldfrapp have a lot to make up for: not only did they not tour North America (I still can't believe they cancelled their Chicago show) but their supposed Bond theme for Casino Royale never materialized. I guess this absolutely perfect iTunes exclusive session can start the healing process. The sound quality is amazing -- the live version of Deer Stop is impossibly better then its studio counterpart. And the extended intros/outros to Ride A White Horse and Strict Machine only prove that Goldfrapp would have put on the best live show of 2006. But, whatever, I am not bitter or anything. Worth every penny.

Grade: A

Junior Boys -

Junior Boys are one of those few bands I have been with since the beginning, so it was with a heavy heart that I left So This Is Goodbye off my top 10 list. It has only been a few weeks and I am already regretting my decision. I was not completely sold on the album until I heard the stripped piano only version of When No One Cares off this live session. Suddenly everything snapped into perspective -- from the track titles to the hypnotic and pulsing synth lines. I still prefer the rhythmic trickiness of Last Exit, but I have come around to the spaciousness of their sophomore effort.

Oh, and speaking of Last Exit, this live cut of Under the Sun may give you a taste of the absolute frenzy Junior Boys caused when I saw them last September. I offer it up as my aural definition of the sublime.

Grade: A-
Under the Sun Grade: A+ x infinity