by Ned Raggett Expanding into a two-man concern with David Galas joining on various electronics, Lycia took it to the road in late 1993 with a low-key but successful tour. Mostly taken from an LA date, but with various tracks from other performances as well, Live demonstrates not merely Vanportfleet's ability to translate what seems like a totally insular musical effort into public shows, but to do so with skill and style. To be sure, there are no radical reinventions under way, but even the opening "Intro" kicks in a way Lycia never quite did on record beforehand, with Vanportfleet loosing guitar squalls over the customary echo-laden percussion and keyboard lines, before melting into a great "A Brief Glimpse." Throughout, the emphasis is on increased intensity on nearly all front -- even more doomy rhythm box drumming, rumbling low-end guitar work, and strangled whispers from Vanportfleet. The album, unsurprisingly, continues in this general vein; sometimes things are little different from the studio versions, but on certain songs, things get just direct enough -a cleaner guitar line, a straightforward singing effort or the like -- to make Live something more than just a tour souvenir. Special kudos as well to the one studio track, "The Last Thoughts Before Sleep (Sun Beats Hard)," a fifteen-minute track that progressively gets more aggressive and involved.