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| Rating |  |
| Album name | What Day is it Tonight? |
| Artist | Trans Am |
| Label | Thrill Jockey |
| Release date | 7 Dec |
A limited edition in advance of a new studio album slated for next year, What Day...? serves as a neat overview of the Washington minimalists' 16-year career to date. To call it a 'best of' however is to overlook the fact that some of the band's more surreal and crazily inventive pieces (such as Cocaine Computer and Total Information Awareness) don't feature. With years of live experience to draw upon, only the interjections from the audience make it clear that this is not a studio effort, such is the clarity of the production. Having set themselves up as some kind of electro-krautrock Spinal Tap, treading that fine line between parody and pastiche, the humour evident in spaced out jams like Futureworld and Fire Poker is a joy to behold. It is, however, difficult to take Trans Am seriously when their attention turns to matters grave, such as on angry anti-war rockout Idea Machine. [Wilbur Kane]
The review misses the point: both the double vinyl album and included DVD are right on the money as they show TransAm live, not in the studio. They are well known for their careful studio work, but no release so far has captured them live, especially over their 16 year(!) career. So, in essence, if you are expecting a smooth polished squeezed-out live album of the classics, go listen to tool, fool.
But Tool haven't done that?
Live albums can be a trap. In some ways, the tracks on the new TA album are the definitive versions of TA's live performances over the past 5 years or so. The sound is carefully crafted and versions of the songs alive and pumped up, as one would expect live. I really dig the extended warped versions of "play in the summer" et al., 4.5 stars.
Probably the greatest 'post-rock'/rock live album released in the past 5 years.