Kinked＜Purple Numbered Vinyl＞

Koch's 2006 release Kinked is a single-disc compilation of Dave Davies' work from the late '90s and early 2000s. A lot of this disc features selections from the 1998 collection Unfinished Business: Dave Davies Kronikles 1963-1998, which itself contained a bunch of re-recordings from the late '90s of classic Kinks tunes. That accounts for a little under half of this 15-track collection; the rest contains selections from the 2000 live album Rock Bottom: Live at the Bottom Line (four tracks) and 2002's studio album Bug (two cuts), plus a couple of relative rarities -- "When the Wind Blows (Emergency)," which was written for the End Hunger Network in 1997, and a cover of George Harrison's "Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth," which was for a 2003 Harrison tribute album -- and a brand new tune, "God in My Brain," which was written and recorded in 2006, after Davies recovered from a serious stroke. "God in My Brain" is the major news here and, happily, it's a pretty strong song, a mildly psychedelic tune with a heavy mechanical drumbeat that faces his recovery dead-on; it's rather inspiring to not only hear Davies making music after the stroke, but to hear him make good new music is quite special indeed. Unfortunately, the rest of Kinked isn't quite so special -- after all, apart from those two rarities, it's recycled material that die-hard Dave fans will already have. But for those die-hard fans, it will be worth the price of admission to hear that Dave Davies is well along on the road to recovery after his stroke. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine