This live set recorded during Soundgarden’s 1996 West Coast tour captures a band at the peak of its commercial success and on the brink of breaking up. That tension undoubtedly seeped into these performances, which range from the utterly skippable (“Black Hole Sun,” even if it is a different, solo Chris Cornell version) to the completely mesmerizing. “Jesus Christ Pose” is 6 1/2 minutes of everything that made Soundgarden a great live band: Cornell’s paint-peeling wail, Kim Thayil’s jagged guitar riffage, and the propulsive, knock-out rhythm section of Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron. The set relies heavily on the band’s latter output like Badmotorfinger and Down on the Upside, but a few tracks from earlier, superior albums like Ultramega OK would have been nice. Covers of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” and The Stooges’ “Search & Destroy” are OK bonuses, but not essential. Even so, as either an introduction to new fans now that Soundgarden has reformed, or a keepsake for those still caught up in the so-called “grunge era,” Live on I-5 is worth a spin. (A&M)
Wye Oak, Civilian
Some call this folk music, but it’s much too far-ranging a set to be confined to one label. Singer Jenn
Cory Mon & The Starlight Gospel, Turncoats
With a pliable voice that veers from somewhere near The Waterboys’ Mike Scott to Tom Waits’ gravelly
