I’ve probably said this in every review of Crenshaw’s material, but his eponymous debut was the first compact disc I ever bought, after being completely unable to find it on vinyl. This collection of early material (“Battery Powered Home Demos and Curios, 1979-198?” is the subtitle) highlights several of the tracks on Marshall Crenshaw that originally caught my attention – especially his MTV hit “Someday Someway,” here in a somewhat different but no less enjoyable form – and some stuff I’ve never heard before. The sound is definitely low-tech, but the music is completely high-brow. These days, it’s just not possible to get enough intelligent pop ditticisms in your diet, especially given the poor nutritional value of today’s radio fodder. Razor & Tie Music, P.O. Box 585, Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276; http://www.razorandtie.com
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