By Chris Gray
It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again.
BILLY JOEL
The Stranger
(Columbia/Legacy)
As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Anthony's Song (Movin' Out)" remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares real teeth, and the Kenny Chesney fave "Only the Go
The gloriously unambitious world of John Patrick McKenzie, who doesn't care that he's a rising star in the visual arts. And who, as it happens, is autistic.
To help stoke the publicity fires before its May tour (which hits S.F. May 22 at the Fillmore), New York's arty glam-electro heads Fischerspooner announced they'd been given an unreleased R.E.M. song to cover. The tune, "Fascinating," was apparently written by Michael Stipe but never put on an R.E.M. album, so Stipe suggested Fischerspooner take a turn with the song. The track is available as an iTunes bonus to FS's new album Entertainment, but you can also give it a listen via Stereogum.
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