Jane Siberry

The U.K.-only 1992 compilation Summer in the Yukon is interesting primarily because, although it's a Reprise release, over half of the 13 songs come from Siberry's pre-Reprise albums, Jane Siberry (1980), No Borders Here (1984), and The Speckless Sky (1986), which at the time had not seen a British release. As a result, Summer in the Yukon is the best possible overview of Siberry's early career. Although the songs aren't in chronological order, it's easy to hear her transformation from a Christine Lavin-like urban folk singer through the Kate Bush-like art pop of "Mimi on the Beach" and "Map of the World Part II" (from whence comes the album title) into the full-on strangeness, quirky humor, and ethereal grace of Siberry's first two Reprise albums, The Walking and Bound By the Beauty. The album is also notable for the opening track, a proto-trip-hop remix of Bound by the Beauty's "The Life Is the Red Wagon" that transforms the song into a sensuous dancefloor groove. This terrific remix doesn't appear anywhere else, making Summer in the Yukon of interest even to those Siberry fans who already own her first five albums. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide