London Sessions

It’s all too typical that previously unreleased Tim Rose recordings began hitting the market in the years after his death in 2002. Had these albums seen the light of the day while he was able to capitalize on the momentum, maybe he would have had a stronger resurgence that would have buoyed his spirits and kept him alive. As it stands, these 12 recordings are of varying but very good quality. Only three new songs appear here—“It’s All Gone Wrong,” “Borocat (Yo Tengo Amore Te),” and “The Answer”—but covers of The Bee Gees’ “I Started a Joke,” Bette Midler’s hit “The Rose,” the perennial “Over the Rainbow," and Buddy Holly’s “I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” show that Rose’s interpretive skills hadn’t left him through the years of inactivity. (Some arrangements are more muffled than necessary—that's more the fault of these recordings being demos than anything else.) A new version of “Hey Joe,” which Rose had first recorded on his 1967 self-titled debut album, adds trip-hop beats, suggesting that Rose and his producer had cocked an ear toward Portishead.