Various Artists

“DSM@SXSW”

Maximum Ames

Three weeks ago, the city of Des Moines, in collaboration with the Des Moines Music Commission and Maximum Ames Records, gathered a dozen of the capital city’s most popular acts together and took them down to Austin, Texas, for the South By Southwest Festival. The bands all played various stages over the course of the festival, and Max Ames recorded each performance to release in this live compilation album. Beautifully mastered, the album is one of the greatest collections of live Des Moines-based music ever. The album features acts as diverse as Brother Trucker, Max Wellman, Johnny Reeferseed & The High Rollers and Superchief, and none of them has ever sounded better. While the lion’s share of the credit belongs to the bands themselves, the mastering work of Maximum Ames Records should not be overlooked. When this album becomes available later this week, you’d be a fool not to pick it up. APRIL FOOLS!

David Byrne

“Byrne Around The House”

Island

David Byrne is one of the most creative minds in pop music history, and his ability to reinvent himself again and again is clearly one of his strongest suits. His collaboration with St. Vincent has produced some interesting results, but Byrne is hoping that his latest project will trump everything that’s come before. “Byrne Around The House” is a whopping 322 minutes of ambient noise — not ambient rock, but literally ambient noise. Byrne washes his dishes. He cooks dinner. He watches what I think is an episode of “Golden Girls.” It’s not music. It’s not even remotely interesting. And there lies the album’s true brilliance. In being completely benign, Byrne makes the most creative, most innovative album of his career. APRIL FOOLS!