Fiona Apple’s re-emergence every half decade or so is a triumphant celebration for a niche community of devotees and rather an apathetic shrug for the rest of America, which assumes (wrongly) that she’s just a Lilith Fair throwback, trying to claw her way back into the limelight. I belong to the former group, as my parenthetical aside betrays. Apple is a brilliant songwriter. I know this to be true. I just feel guilty enjoying her music as much as I do. She’s clearly unwell, both in heart and mind (no matter what she says on the chat shows), and this has never been more apparent than on her latest opus, the steely-eyed and daringly entitled The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.

“Every Single Night” is a most bizarre album opener and even more confounding as a single. With its wild dynamic shifts from heart pounding chants to shaky whispers, Apple sounds not of sound mind. But it works on every level. The lyrics are obsessively reflective, of course, as Apple analyzes the tricks her brain plays on her night after night. She’s fixated on how the brain functions, and its impact on her many neuroses has infiltrated her perceptiveness as a songwriter. You simply can’t help but believe her when she whisper-sings, maniacally, “I just want to feel everything.” On “Daredevil” Apple concedes that she may indeed “need a chaperone” as she’s not to be left alone, but her melodies and vocal idiosyncrasies are so endearing that it’s easy to overlook the obvious pleas for help just to enjoy the song.

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Ugh, my day is ruined. My love for Shiner is not understood by many. This is a band that people either love with an obsessiveness that knows no bounds or they simply do not get at all. Not only did Shiner reissue a remastered version of The Egg (on vinyl for the first time) without my knowledge, but the band also REUNITED for a smattering of shows to celebrate the re-release of its masterpiece back in August. This is a band I drove over 15 hours to see in Kansas City, Missouri in January of 2003 for what was then its final show. So, to learn of all this Shiner news after the fact is more than a little disheartening. I immediately ordered a copy of the vinyl pressing of The Egg, which, if you have never heard it, please do yourself a huge favor. I think this is the best review written on the subject (to help convince those hesitant to try new/old things). I gushed about it myself over ten years ago after it had been out a while. Upon re-reading my review, there’s a sad irony/congruity in how I discovered the band “after the fact” and the events of my news day today.

Here’s an interview with Shiner’s Allen Apley and Josh Newton about the reissue, the renuion, and preparing for the shows:

Fan-captured the footage below from the final shows in Chicago:

And if that’s not enough (it’s not) more coverage of the band’s NYC stint is here.

Going to Unwound shows was a once-a-year given/religious experience for me between the years 1994 and 1998. I saw the band every single time it came within 600 miles of wherever I was. Sometimes multiple times. To say that I was a fan is a gross understatement. Back then bands released records every year and then toured relentlessly. The lag now averages about two to three years between releases for most stable bands, which just seems ridiculous, especially when you think back to James Brown’s day. That guy would release so many albums in a year his record company could barely keep up with him. Ah, but the music industry is not the same. Anyway, Unwound’s final album came out three years after its predecessor, which was not only uncharacteristic but weirdly ominous. You just knew it was going to be the band’s last. It was a double album. It was ambitious. It veered off course from the trio’s signature maelstrom of energetic mania, and I didn’t like it at first. Unwound was at its best for me when it could crawl into tiny blissful pockets of tuneful serenity and then explode into splintering shards of distortion, angst and melody. It was the way in which this band controlled its chaos that made it special. They weren’t the best singers or players or even songwriters. But the energy that the three of them could create in a room was unlike almost anything I’d ever seen. And I was the right age at the right time to experience it. I’ve grown to appreciate Leaves Turn Inside You over the years, but I don’t think of it as an Unwound album, even though some consider it to be the band at its pinnacle. It was more of a celebration of the band’s previous work with an awkward attempt at maturation that I’m still not sure quite suited. Bands have to grow musically, otherwise, what’s the point, right? It’s easy to write off several early Unwound records as being “samey,” which is why Leaves Turn Inside You seemed so momentous by comparison. I think people got caught up in that mentality and the zeitgeist grew from there. Don’t get me wrong: I love Leaves Turn Inside You. I think it’s a great record. It’s the record the band had to make in order to continue, but it’s not Unwound’s best album. It’s the best Unwound album for people who don’t love Unwound. Still, the release of this double live LP over ten years after the band’s demise is exciting. I miss the band so much I’d take anything at this point. But just as Leaves Turn Inside You is not Unwound’s best album, this tour was not Unwound’s finest hour in concert. I saw Unwound for the last time six days after 9/11 at the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia. It was an eerie time. The show felt weird for so many reasons. Five musicians played these more complicated songs, as opposed to the core three. The energy I had felt so many times before was missing. It felt forced and flat and almost anachronistic. I knew at that show that I’d never see Unwound play again. It was over. And, sure enough, a few months later the announcement came. I haven’t heard this live album yet. I pre-ordered it today, but I’m hesitant to listen, despite it being one of my favorite bands of all time captured live for the last time. [via KRS]

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Siouxsie & the Banshees’ entire set at Satory Saal, Cologne, Germany from June of 1981 is available on YouTube via German TV show “Rockpalast.” This performance took place merely weeks after the release of its fourth LP, Juju. I saw the band from the second row just under ten years later. It was, perhaps, the most starstruck I’ve ever been, which may speak to the lack of celebrities with whom I’ve been in close proximity, but it was exciting nonetheless. The video quality is slightly grainy here, but it’s a crazy good set, which Slicing Up Eyeballs has conveniently available for us:

1. “Israel”
2. “Halloween”
3. “Regal Zone”
4. “Spellbound”
5. “Arabian Knights”
6. “Switch”
7. “Pulled To Bits”
8. “Head Cut”
9. “Tenant”
10. “Night Shift”
11. “Sin In My Heart”
12. “But Not Them”
13. “Voodoo Dolly”
14. “Hong Kong Garden”
15. “Eve White Eve Black”
16. “Happy House”
17. “Skin”

Foals seem to be kicking it back into gear with a flurry of news lately. The band performed a new song on “Later… With Jools Holland” last night. The new record is shaping up to be slightly more upbeat and, dare I say, funkier, than Total Life Forever‘s somber comedown. Holy Fire will be released in February 2013.

It’s strange to think of this style of adrenalized modern rock as “retro,” but I can’t think of too many bands that sound like this anymore. If radio were still a thing that influenced people’s record buying habits, this song might sway a few ears. Oh, and, of course, if people still bought records … I love this band, but maybe that’s because I’m nostalgic for this style. Or maybe it’s just because this band is good.

Sub Pop co-founder Bruce Pavitt has released an ebook of never-before-seen Nirvana photos from the band’s notorious European tour in 1989. Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989 is available now via Apple’s iBookstore. It should be noted that this is the Chad Channing era, otherwise known as pre-Dave Grohl. Warning: Sad Kurt photos follow. [via Pitchfork]