Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe;

Having apprenticed with '60s band Kippington Lodge and '70s pub-rock pioneers Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe became a shining beacon of traditional pop values--wit, concision, unbanishable tunes--amidst the punk furor of the late '70s. This collection is a generous 25-song single-CD selection from eight albums and a few stray singles spanning almost a decade. It may be too generous--the inclusion of a number of so-so songs and failed experiments hampers its playability. But there are still well over a dozen gems here, including his sole hit, the sparkling, textbook classic-pop masochist's anthem "Cruel to Be Kind;" the ominous voodoo breakdown "Cracking Up;" and the delightfully perverse "Marie Provost," a sumptuous power-pop tune affixed to the horrific tale of a silent-film actress who dies alone and is eaten by her starving dog. There are also at least two songs exploring Lowe's strange obsession with backstage guest lists (first single "So It Goes" and the stately "Little Hitler"), the best version of the pub-rock classic "Switchboard Susan" (containing every conceivable phone/sex double entendre), and a number of crisp rockers abetted by Rockpile, the brilliant band that, credited or not, played on much of members Lowe and Dave Edmunds's best work. --Ken Barnes