All Tomorrow's Parties: 3.1: Matt Groening Curated in Bloomington, MN

It was perhaps a bit inevitable that the
Matt Groening
-curated
ATP
would feature not only some typically great cover art from the man himself, but also
Sonic Youth
's cover of the
Simpsons
theme song from a few years back. Released somewhat after the fact but no less enjoyable for it, this entry in the compilation series is a by-definition incomplete sampler (only 12 bands total appear) of the overall event. A logical question to ask would be why live tracks from the performances themselves aren't featured, but such is the mystery of record releasing.
Groening
's favored roots in classic underground
rock
music show strong -- besides
, there's the peerless kick and skronk of
the Stooges
'
"Fun House"
and the
Captain Beefheart
vets of
the Magic Band
going nuts with
"Dropout Boogie."
After that,
's selections tend toward the more recent, with familiar names like
Modest Mouse
(themselves fellow
curators) and
Elliott Smith
taking pleasant enough bows. Sometimes the sequencing can provide bemusing surprises --
Spoon
's
"The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
shifts so effortlessly into
the Shins
"Young Pilgrims"
that it's almost like a coda. Everything sparks up more toward the end, with
Electrelane
's excellent choral-arranged slinker
"The Valleys"
and
Deerhoof
's playful
"Desaparecere"
leading into the concluding song from
Jackie-O Motherfucker
. Apparently recorded live and otherwise unavailable,
"Drake Hotel"
is mysterious, drone-heavy, and more than a little unnerving, with what sounds like an endlessly retuning TV or radio reducing to barely intelligible bleeps. The slow, relentless buildup of the guitars, though never overpoweringly loud, adds a sharp tension while still somehow being anthemic, a gentle salute to the future. ~ Ned Raggett