The
Selecter – Live From London (DVD-Video)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Concert: B
The Selecter was part of a generation of New Wave/Ska
bands to come out of England from the famous 2-Tone label, for which they were
responsible for its first ever record release.
Interracial and with members from several countries, this holds today
with the current line-up in the recent Live From London concert. This includes Pauline Black, lead singer and
ever-energetic lead singer for the band.
The following songs pretty much include every hit song
they ever had, starting with that first key single:
1) The
Selecter
2) Three
Minute Hero
3) The
Whisper
4) Everyday
5) Respect
Yourself
6) Missing
Words
7) Celebrate
The Bullet
8) Train To
Skaville
9) Street
Feeling
10) Murder
11) James Bond (the Monty Norman theme
with vocal)
12) On My Radio
13) Too much Pressure
14) Carry Go Bring Come
15) My Sweet Collie
It is a fine concert (77 minutes) and the spirit of the
original era of this Ska revival is alive and well here. Black is so good, that it is no wonder she
influenced the likes of Gwen Stefani, but remains one of the great underrated
women in world music. The great thing
about this disc is that it is a perfect record of her work and that of a great
band that actually dissolved back in 1982.
The timing could not have been better.
The 1.33 X 1 videotaped image is dark, but clear enough,
and from a clean, recent taping. It
looks like it was shot in professional PAL video. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not spectacular or bass-heavy, but
has a good-enough soundfield spread.
The combination is involving enough to more than enjoy, though one will
wish for a DTS mix as the concert gets better and better. The only extras are a 16-minutes-long
interview with Black and in PCM 2.0 CD sound and brief text biography about the
band, who reformed in 1991. The
Selecter - Live From London may finally give a great band its due for a
wider audience.
- Nicholas Sheffo
