From Alternative Press #87 SUPERCHUNK Incidental Music 1991-95 In the liner notes to this collection of rarities, b-sides, covers, etc., Mac (first name only this time to avoid confusion) attempts to sort of distance himself from the tracks, admitting there are a few embarrassments and saying in the end that the 19 nuggets here (including a hidden, bizarro version of "Precision Auto") are "just a bunch of songs." Maybe, but a damn fine bunch they are, proving again that there is no band around better than Superchunk. There's a whole lot of good stuff on Incidental, and perhaps the vinyl purists and collectors amongst Superchunk followers already have most of these cuts, but hearing them in a single shot is a treat. A partial list of faves: awesome rockers like "Ribbon" and "Forged It"; an acoustic take of No Pocky For Kitty's "Throwing Things"; and a nifty -- not ham-fisted, as Mac suggests -- cover of the Magnetic Fields' "100,000 Fireflies." Of particular interest is an early version of "Foolish" that shares the riff of the slow, clean "Like A Fool" on that album, yet is totally different -- edgy, distorted and more mid-tempo; Mac repeating "I remember how foolish I was" over it all is, to put it mildly, enormously cool. This compilation will most likely appease those hungry for product while making no converts, and that's fine. At the very least, Incidental allows those poor unfortunates who bought the Jerky Boys soundtrack for "Shallow End" (the lead song here) to sell it back. For that reason and many others, Incidental is actually rather essential. (Merge, POB 1235, Chapel Hill NC 27514) -- Matt Hickey