BOX SET  THE ENGLISH BEAT  The Complete Beat  [Shout! Factory] The English Beat holds exalted status among fans who continue to cherish the late ’70s British ska revival. During its all-too-brief career, the multi-ethnic ensemble churned out three brilliant albums that set the standard for their peers. The group hit the pavement running in 1979 with a flurry of frenetic, punk-tinged ska hits that were as sophisticated as they were fun. By... 

IGGY POP Roadkill Rising … The Bootleg Collection 1977-2009 [Shout! Factory] Fans of Iggy Pop know the deal by now: There is a seemingly endless number of live recordings out there (mostly of illegitimate origin) that document the singer’s manic energy and raw onstage aggression, but most are tinny audience recordings. The four-disc box set Roadkill Rising finds Pop himself culling performances from some of the best—and best-sounding—bootlegs... 

LOS LOBOS Tin Can Trust [Shout Factory!] The news that Los Lobos has canceled an Arizona concert in protest of the state’s immigration laws makes the group’s first album of new material in four years seem frustratingly minor. Our most prominent Mexican-American band presumably has some thoughts about how matters are being handled near the Southern border, yet the recording of Tin Can Trust wrapped up before those feelings could be put to music.... 

DVD REVIEW Rock ’n’ Roll High School [Shout Factory] After making his name with low budget sci-fi fare such as Little Shop of Horrors, Piranha and Humanoids From the Deep, producer Roger Corman decided that he wanted to pull in a younger audience via a music-themed film. He came up with a concept he called Disco High School and enlisted director Allan Arkush to transform his vision into reality. Fortunately, Arkush convinced him to scrub the disco... 

VARIOUS ARTISTS The New Jazz Divas [Shout! Factory] The press material for this release—the first in NPR’s Discover Songs series—reference by first-name-only the divas who came before: Ella, Sarah, Dinah, Nina, Billie, Anita. The implication, one supposes, is that some day you will also come to know Madeleine, Esperanza, Eliane, Tierney and Melody in the same way. Whether those contemporary women (surnames: Peyroux, Spalding, Elias, Sutton and... 

DVD REVIEW TA.M.I. SHOW [Shout! Factory] Teenage Awards Music International (T.A.M.I.) was intended to be a nonprofit organization benefiting teens around the world, one that would draw attention through a series of concerts and awards shows. The organization quickly fizzled, but the 1964 kickoff show was one for the ages—the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Chuck Berry and eight other top-level acts of the day, all at the peak of their...