FRESH GARBAGE - RARITIES 1969-1977

Fresh Garbage is a very comprehensive look to the original run of maybe the greatest prog band ever to come from Finland. But it's just not your typical compilation as it contains mainly rarities and live versions of well known songs which are not available anywhere else.

Our journey through the past starts from the first ever single of Wigwam, Must Be the Devil (with it's b-side Greasy Kids' Stuff). Very enjoyable pop music from the pen of Pembroke. After that follows Luulosairas, truly a classic in Finnish rock music. A bit more rare Pedagogi (a different version retitled in English as Pedagogue can be heard on Being) with the b-side Häätö. Especially the latter one is excellent with its weird spoken word parts and bizarre lyrics. After those the first disc continues with live Wigwam, taken from several concerts. Some of the songs are covers, some of them Pembroke's solo songs and some Wigwam songs. All are very good. My favourites must be the energetic version of Losing Hold, great cover of Imagine and then Marvelry Skimmer.

Disc two continues the journey to the deep pop era of the band. It's mainly live stuff, with certain exceptions (like Tram Driver/Wardance single). There's a lot of jamming going on in these clips, and a lot of it is excellent. It seems that they did a lot of Pembroke solo stuff live those days, but it's only good as the versions are so much better than on the original albums. For example Do the Pigworm benefits from the live environment, making the song much more organic than the studio version. The same applies for Just My Situation/Sweet Marie, A Better Hold, No New Games. The highlight of disc two is without a doubt the stupendously great and long jam version of Grass for Blades (combined with No New Games).

All in all, Fresh Garbage is a fantastic compilation of rarities and live stuff, but some of it a bit uneven. Solid grade of 4 stars.

P.S. The liner notes on the cd are very comprehensive and detailed.