Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste 1987 - 1991
Galaxie 500: Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste 1987-1991is an ideal collection of materials both for completist fans of Galaxie 500 and anyone who hasn't heard the Boston low-fi band's sometimes powerful legacy. The two discs in this set cover, among other things, the trio's ventures in music videos, each of which is a provocative barrage of found footage suited to Galaxie's searching, psychedelic sound. More focused is a suite of live performances, with plenty of space for Galaxie's introspective jamming, taped for British television in 1990 and including a fine version of "Here She Comes Now," with a floating, Velvet Underground-like feel and imaginative guitar solo by Dean Wareham. Most of what's here, however, is bootleg concert video shot in the U.S. and U.K. Quality varies radically, but the best of these live dates transcends technical limitations, particularly a fierce, October 1990 set played at San Francisco's Kennel Club and a brilliant show, one month later, at the University of London, in which this inspired if sometimes-lugubrious outfit played as if possessed.--Tom Keogh