Kent -- B-sidor 95-00

7/10

Most bands don't compile 25-worthy B-Sides in only five years' time. Kent is not most bands. Kids these days don't even understand what a B-Side is. Here is a quick summation:
Back in the day, singles weren't released digitally on Youtube for streaming. The Internet did not exist. Singles were...wait, what's a single? A single is a song a band releases to radio. Wait, what's radio? Gah, this is getting ridiculous! Anyway, a single is essentially song A, and since a record has two sides, a band would often place an unreleased song on side B. Since singles generally became rare quickly, they would become collectible because of the B-Side, which could be found nowhere else. I guess that seems silly, now that every single song ever recorded is available to stream for free on Youtube. Kent released plenty of CD singles during the 90's, and though CD's only have one side, the extra song or two placed with the single was still called a B-Side, and still became hard to find after a short amount of time. Kent, reaching a turning point in their career (and a change in millennium), decided that their vast collection of B-Sides should be available for everyone to hear. Thus, B-sidor 95-00 was released, necessitating this review, and an introductory paragraph longer than what is actually being introduced.
Kent made the unique decision to sequence the songs on B-sidor 95-00 in reverse chronological order. This means the two new songs recorded especially for this collection, standout,"Chans" (Swedish for "Change"), and "Spökstad" come first, and the band work their way backward from their. Most of the tracks on disc one are very solid, though not better than the work usually found on Kent's regular albums. The second disc is where things really get interesting. The songs sound surprisingly raw, and they feature some odd rhythms and keyboard textures--it's like a lighting-lit, mad-scientist laboratory version of the band. Overall, I'm not sure I would recommend this entire 25-song monster to someone unfamiliar with Kent--despite some standout songs, context really helps with the whole. For anyone well-versed in Kentology, you probably own this anyway, but if you are and you don't, you should.


2000 BMG
Disc One
1. Chans 5:21
2. Spökstad 4:41
3. Längtan Skala 3:1 6:52
4. Om Gyllene År 2:39
5. Noll 4:30
6. Önskar Att Någon... 3:58
7. Bas Riff J 3:40
8. Din Skugga 4:06
9. Elever 4:46
10. Längesen VI Sågs 4:30
11. December 3:47
12. Utan Dina Andetag 4:24
13. På Nära Håll 3:19

Disc Two
1. Livrädd Med Stil 3:04
2. Verkligen 5:32
3. Gummiband 4:47
4. Att Presentera Ett Svin 4:28
5. En Helt NY Karriär 4:09
6. Rödljus 3:41
7. Pojken Med Hålet I Handen 4:11
8. Kallt Kaffe 3:27
9. Den Osynlige Mannen 2:39
10. Slutsats 2:49
11. Rödljus II 4:35
12. En Helt NY Karriär II 19:03