The latest releases reviewed.
THE KNIFE Silent Shout - Deluxe Edition Brille/Rabid ****
If you think you've not yet made the acquaintance of prolific Swedish siblings Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson, think again. Thanks to José González covering Heartbeats, their 2004 track, and a lot of bouncing coloured balls on a TV advert, many people have already unknowingly experienced The Knife. Those seeking further enlightenment should check out Silent Shout, their excellent 2006 album now rereleased as a three-disc set including a DVD with footage from a live show in Gothenburg, all of their music videos to date, and a short film (When I Found The Knife). The Knife's hugely inventive approach to making ghost-in-the-machine electro- pop and spooked icy sonics is one that few others will ever match. This is made clear throughout the DVD, in the live shoot directed by Andreas Nilsson and in the videos, including Motomichi Nakamura's beautiful film for We Share Our Mother's Health. www.theknife.net JIM CARROLL
JOHNNY CASH A Concert Behind Prison Walls EV Classics/Eagle Rock *
It certainly ain't San Quentin, Toto; rather, it's a late-1970s televised concert from what looks more like the set of a BBC entertainment show (Cilla? Lulu?) than the gymnasium of Tennessee State Prisonn in Nashville. Clearly wishing to emulate the kind of rabid fervour of Cash in either SQ or Folsom, but failing miserably due to the inclusion of country music softies such as fragrant Linda Ronstadt (risking life and limb, surely, by wearing a frilly gingham micro-dress as she sings inappropriately titled songs Desperado and You're No Good), mutton-chopped singer Roy Clark (blasting through Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms) and the bizarrely coiffured Foster Brooks (singing Half as Much while looking like something out of the Dr Who props department). Dated beyond repair and with no context whatsoever, this remains a genuine curio. But not for the right reasons. www.eagle-rock.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA