Audiopile Review: In the early 90s, Sebadoh quickly grew from lo-fi beginnings to something resembling alt rock stardom. At the same time, Lou Barlow and pals were never afraid to scream “WE WILL BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS” before launching into some weird tape collage. Still, there’s no denying those dudes who wrote the uproariously facetious ‘Gimme Indie Rock’ did come to epitomize that very genre they were lampooning. And Lou, particularly, became associated with the earnest, confessional end of indie singer-songwriting. Which is unfair because, while he wrote plenty of beautiful, intimate choons, he did plenty to maintain the spirit of early lo-fi, weird, facetious Sebadoh. Much of this happened via his solo side project, Sentridoh. This project mixed Sebadoh demos, originals so beautiful you cannot believe they never got ‘properly’ recorded, goofy experiments, and snarky sendups. All of which is nicely represented on the newly released ‘Really Insane – A Lou Barlow Compendium’. Here you get everything from a gorgeous early version of ‘Spoiled’ from ‘Sebadoh III’ to a so-sincere-it-has-to-be-a-piss-take rendition of Bryan Adams’s ‘Run to You’. Most of all you get ‘Losercore’, which is a weirdo cousin to ‘Gimme Indie Rock’, and yet possibly the most haunting song Lou ever wrote. Hopefully, this compendium will deepen appreciation for the complexity of his peculiar genius.

Lou Barlow personified home recording’s rise in the late ’80s and was arguably one of the few key players that changed the trajectory of songwriting as the ’90s charted its cultural course. For the 30th anniversary of his Really Insane 7-inch and Winning Losers EP, Emil Amos and Steve Shelley have compiled an overview of Barlow’s best solo work under the name Sentridoh. Based around an even mix of legendary tracks and extra deep cuts, this compilation focuses on Barlow’s arrangement innovations, signature textural explorations, and radical ability to turn psychological upheaval into classic songs.

20 tracks remastered by Carl Saff from Barlow’s early 90’s home-recording peak