Copyright 1993 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. St. Louis Post-Dispatch June 18, 1993, FRIDAY, FIVE STAR Edition SECTION: EVERYDAY MAGAZINE; Pg. 4D LENGTH: 851 words HEADLINE: NEW CDS FROM A 'A' TO ...'J'? COLUMN: STEVE PICK COLUMN BYLINE: Steve Pick BODY: SO MANY RECORDS, so little time, so few column inches. In order to cover an album or two in depth each week, I have accumulated quite a backlog of good records deserving notice that I have not yet reviewed. So, with a tip of the hat to the dean of rock critics, Robert Christgau of the Village Voice, here's my Consumer Guide to the best recent rock/pop recordings that would otherwise have been ignored in this space. (A Jazz Consumer Guide will surely follow.) Buzzcocks, "Trade Test Transmissions," Essent ial Records (import). It seems as if all the great bands of the punk/new wave era are getting back together again and managing the confusing achievement of sounding as if not one single day has passed since their last great record, which in the Buzzcocks ' case was 14 years ago. So, it's dated, but that dual-guitar roar, that constantly revving rhythm section and mostly those catchy, catchy melodies still get under my skin. And Pete Shelley still has plenty to say about the great mysteries of humans in lo ve. A MINUS. Dave Edmunds, "Anthology (1968-90)," Rhino Records. Rock's greatest classisist chalked up plenty of memorable moments in tribute to the records he so obviously loved, and, if every notable cut in my memory isn't included, that's probably be cause they couldn't have fit all of "Tracks on Wax 4" into this two-disc anthology. What's here, though, is, with one or two exceptions, peppy, twangy and fun, fun, fun. A. Bryan Ferry, "Taxi," Reprise Records. Most critics toss Ferry into the postmode rn ironic camp, but I've always found him one of the last great romantics. "Taxi" is a new album of covers, a trick he's pulled a time or three before. As usual, though, he brings every melody down within his narrow range and pulls out all the meaning of the lyrics. Really, I've never thought about the words to "Amazing Grace" before, and "Girl of My Best Friend" is an absolute gem. B PLUS. Guru, "Jazzmatazz," Chrysalis Records. Though I've been around long enough to know that just about every trend in music worth its salt gets to come back, I'd never thought about the possibility of the R&B/jazz fusion artists of the late '70s returning to favor. But here they are - Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Lonnie Liston Smith included - guest-starring on a new proje ct headed by Gang Starr's ace rapper, Guru. The idea of putting live instrumentation into hip-hop usually reads better than it sounds, but most of the cuts on this record are smooth and supple grooves, perfect for Guru's laid-back style. B PLUS. Hellecas ters, "The Hellecasters," Pacific Arts Audio. Jerry Donahue used to play in Fairport Convention, John Jorgenson used to be in the Desert Rose Band, and I don't know who Will Ray is. But the three of them together know just about every hot lick ever used in a guitar instrumental, and they have a wild and rollicking good time showing them off on this album. B PLUS. Chris Isaak, "San Francisco Days," Reprise Records. Isaak is so consistently good that I can never think of a damn thing to say about him oth er than I wish he'd record more often. It's been four years since "Heart Shaped World" came out, and this is an even better album than that one was. Moody, atmospheric sounds punctuated by his clear, lonesome voice. Pick hit: "Except the New Girl." A. J. Geils Band, "Anthology: Houseparty," Rhino Records. In its day, the J. Geils Band was as close to an American version of the Rolling Stones as we ever got. It stayed true to its R&B roots right on through to the time when it had massive chart hits with "Centerfold" and "Freeze-Frame." This two-disc set is full of powerfully raucous good times. A. Wendy James, "Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears," David Geffen Company. James used to shout passably well in Transvision Vamp, an energetic combo with more than a few roots in New Wave styles. After leaving the band, she wrote to Elvis Costello, one of her favorite songwriters, to ask if he'd come up with one song for her next album. Costello and his wife, Cait O'Riordan, stayed home for the weekend and came up with 10 new numbers, and James had enough material for an album. The story would be perfect if only this were prime Costello material, or if James could at least sing. But even knocking out 10 tunes in a weekend, Costello is better than just about eve rybody else who ever lived, and James gets by frequently on chutzpah alone. This is not an essential album, but it is a fascinating one. B MINUS. Jellyfish, "Spilt Milk," Charisma Records. Incorporating influences from the '70s, ranging from the good pa rts of bands I never liked much (such as Supertramp or Queen) to ideas knicked from bands I'd forgotten about (particularly 10CC), Jellyfish could be heard as a new form of Trivial Pursuit, wherein you have to name the record on which you first heard what Jellyfish just played. But so what? The tunes are good, the lyrics occasionally subversive and frequently funny, and "Spilt Milk" is worth cleaning up. B PLUS. What? I'm out of room and I'm only up to J? Oh, well, we'll do this again sometime soon.