Unfortunately, Ellis' Southern Gal -- the first of the quartet's lone shots -- doesn't live up to En Vogue's legacy. Though it starts promisingly enough with "She's a Lady," a Southern-fried, violin-streaked sisterhood anthem, Southern Gal quickly descends into the slow-tempo slush and sappy cliche that make the songs indistinguishable from one another and from the countless other R&B ballads littering urban radio.

The second half offers a few finer moments: "Slow Dance"'s flute hook, the gospel-funk chorus on "You Make Me High" and Ellis' cover of Enchantment's soul-soaked "It's You That I Need." Despite these high points, Southern Gal never captures Ellis' Texas homegirl vibe, much less her funky diva-hood.

-- Roni Sarig

Translator
Everywhere That We Were ... the
Best of Translator
Wire Train
Last Perfect Thing ... a Retrospective
Columbia/Legacy

Chances are pretty good that you've never heard of Translator. No need to feel guilty; most everyone outside of Translator's adopted home of San Francisco (and likely more than a few inside) had his or her ears trained on events in the northeastern United States and England during the band's artistically fruitful, but commercially hapless, run from 1979 to 1986.

Now, Columbia/Legacy has made it easy to forgive yourself for such a glaring, if understandable, oversight with the long overdue Translator compilation, Everywhere That We Were ... the Best of Translator. A decade ago, the trends hadn't quite caught up to this farsighted quartet. While others basked in the glow of new wave and punk, Translator toiled away in a thoroughly modernist jangle-pop void. Its stylistic jerks and starts were daunting, but perhaps most unusual for the time was the group's willingness to reach back to the '60s songbook for the sounds of its California home (the Byrds, in particular), deftly merging them with the more contemporary sounds taking hold at the time.

Despite the lack of public interest, Translator's seven years together resulted in four high-caliber releases made even better by the deft touch of producers David Kahne and Ed Stasium, both of whom went on to more high-profile gigs. The first two Kahne-produced efforts, Heartbeats and Triggers and No Time Like Now, contained the leanest and most focused Translator product -- metaphor-laced, folk-inflected classics such as "Everywhere," "Favorite Drug," "Un-Alone" and "Circumstance Laughing." All of these are included on the new collection, along with selections from the less impressive efforts, Translator and Evening of the Harvest.

A slightly different version of Everywhere That We Were ... was released in 1986 after Translator disbanded, and true to the band's awful commercial track record, it was largely ignored.

Chances are somewhat better that Wire Train has caught your attention at one time or another, but, more than likely, it was years after the band was past its mid-'80s prime. Aside from the California city they had in common, Wire Train and Translator also shared a label (415/ Columbia) and a producer (David Kahne). Like Translator, Wire Train has four releases to its credit (spread unevenly over the nine years from 1983 to 1992), but squeaked out its most unique material early on. And like Translator, Wire Train worked the post-modern folk-pop vein, hearkening back to past singer/songwriter ideals without relying too obviously on them.

More than Translator, though, Wire Train was hampered by an overtly arty approach, which dates some of the tunes on the new Columbia/Legacy collection, Last Perfect Thing ... a Retrospective and sets them adrift into murky, mildly pretentious waters. Still, the group was obviously off on its own kick, delivering an unfashionable, confessional-style message drenched in layers of chiming guitars that flew in the face of the synth-schlock of the day.

If you're like me, sifting through the generally well-chosen selections on these two CDs will provide some of the same emotional charge that came with the discovery of Big Star's once-dormant '70s catalog. And while Translator and Wire Train may not carry the same weight in alt-rock circles as Alex Chilton and company, they still deserve a belated handshake for going against the grain so that everyone could move forward -- even if they did get passed by along the way. -- Hobart Rowland

St. Thomas' Pipes and Drums
World Champion
Bellaire Records

Much ado has been made because a Houston sports franchise won a couple of national championships. Of course, these events were -- in a 600-monkeys-with-typewriters way -- a statistical eventuality. Less likely -- and, to some, much more impressive -- is that a group of young Houstonians traveled to Scotland for the drum and bagpipe Juvenile World Championships and swept the field. And did so twice.