Search - Wigwam :: Fresh Garbage - Rarities

The Holy Grail of Wigwam Recordings

Nipistys | Canada | 10/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This excellent retrospective covers the recording career of the original phase of Wigwam, from about 1967 to 1977. However, unlike many anthologies, this one features 100% unreleased material (or at least unreleased on CD). This includes non-album singles and b-sides, as well as several live recordings produced by YLE, the Finnish broadcasting company. Quality of tracks is for the most part excellent given the technology of the time. The collection features 3 early Finnish-language songs, most notable of which is the mind-blowing Häätö which was (and perhaps still is) years ahead of its time. The live material consists of Wigwam originals, a few covers as well as some of lead singer Jim Pembroke's solo efforts.



Personal favourites include the aforementioned Häätö (which means "Ejection"), great live versions of Losing Hold and No New Games, and the little heard b-side Wardance. Both disks are chock-full, each coming in at over 75 minutes. And there's more great Wigwam material in the archives; many of the CD re-issues include additional studio and live cuts.



While this is by no means your average run-of-the-mill greatest hits collection, it brilliantly shows what Wigwam was capapble of producing back in the day."