Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 17:36:09 -0800 From: Jens Alfke (jens@MOOSEYARD.COM) Subject: Top N in progress It's that time of year and I'm mulling over what to put in my top ten list. In the running so far are [not yet really in order]: Amp "Sirenes" (only had it two weeks but it may be destined for #1) Underworld "2nd Toughest In the Infants" Salt "Auscultate" Seely "Julie Only" Elysian Fields "Bleed Your Cedar" Husikesque "Green Blue Fire" Stereolab "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" Scala "Lips & Heaven" ?? Beck "Odelay" ?? ...and there are several other things I haven't heard yet such as Labradford, Bowery Electric, 3rd Eye Foundation, Seefeel, Rachel's, etc. that might otherwise go on the list. And didn't FSA put out an album this year? Biggest disappointments: probably either the Cocteau Twins' "Milk & Kisses" or Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". Not that I actively dislike either one, they just didn't at all live up to the ultrahype. I'm having more trouble filling out the list than in previous years, which indicates it may have been a weak year, but there were several very fine albums released. And my CD budget has been lower, too, so there's more stuff I just haven't heard. Once I get things more finalized I'll send out the real list. I just wanted to post this to start some conversation or arguments... Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 22:47:07 +0000 From: the mystery parade (tmp@earthlink.net) Subject: Re: Top N in progress Jens Alfke wrote: > Once I get things more finalized I'll send out the real list. I just > wanted to post this to start some conversation or arguments... Interesting; not a single 4AD release on your list. Here's my contribution to "conversation or arguments": His Name Is Alive "Stars On ESP" Rachel's "The Sea And The Bells" Barry Adamson "Oedipus Schmoedipus" Half String "A Fascination With Heights" Scenic "Acquatica" Beck "Odelay" R.E.M. "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" Lisa Germano "Love Circus" DJ Spooky "Songs Of A Dead Dreamer" Various "Monsters, Robots, and Bug Men" Probably not the actual top ten list, since I typed it off the top of my head...ten fine albums, nonetheless. -- t h e m y s t e r y p a r a d e {ceci n'est pas un site web} Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 10:21:28 -0800 From: nelson@ASTRO.UCLA.EDU Subject: tis the season for top tens In no particular order, these are the albums that meant the most to me in 1996: Rollerskate Skinny - Horsedrawn Wishes An album hasn't floored me this much since Dogbowl's masterpiece Flan or HNIA's Home Is In Your Head. THE most unusuallly twisted and delightful pop I have ever heard. Scenic - Acquatica This desert band returns with more variety and some real honest-to-goodness popsongs up their sleeves, as well as the more moody / piercing / droning instrumentals they've become known for. The song "All Fish Go To Heaven" is my pick for the year's best song. Swirlies - They Spent Their Wild And Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons (I hope I got the title right...) They just get better and better with each release. You see, I have a thing for twisted pop, and this is what they do so very well. Their live shows are to die for. Chimera - Earth Loop Dreamy pop + female vox -> Brant likes it. Cocteau Twins - Milk And Kisses Let's face it. They're never going to do another Treasure or Blue Bell Knoll, but I like this one just fine. They're still got it. Half String - A Fascination With Heights Their long-awaited album debut, gliding the whole way. Faye Wong - Impatience In which Ms. Wong out-Cocteaus the Cocteau Twins. His Name Is Alive - Stars On ESP Ever-changing, but still remaining unique, challenging, and fun. Love Spirals Downwards - Ever A wonderful, different album from Ryan and Suzanne. The Sugarplastic - Bang! The Earth Is Round With XTC seemingly DOA (or at least MIA) these days, who ya gonna call for quirky/brainy pop? Why, The Sugarplastic, of course! --------------- Best concert Dead Can Dance, by far. I get shivers just thinking about it. --------------- Biggest Disappointments Lycia's new album, which doesn't approach the raptures of Burning Circle. The Boo Radleys' C'mon Kids. I don't know if this is out yet, but basically, they've chosen to emulate Oasis. The jury's still out, though, and it might get better. The fact that Alison's Halo STILL haven't released anything... I hate to say it, but Virginia Astley didn't wow me as much with Had I The Heavens, but she's still my idol even so. Also, she was supposed to contact us for an interview, but we're still waiting. Brant | Dewdrops Records | Splashed With Many A Speck | | 12515 Pacific Ave. #106 | A Dewdrops Compilation | | Los Angeles, CA 90066 | Winter 1997 | | www.astro.ucla.edu/students/nelson/dewdrops.html | > Uncommon music that deserves to be heard < Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 19:22:34 EST From: "C.K. Coney" (violaine@JUNO.COM) Subject: More Top Ten Tally-in' Here are my top ten, not necessarily in order but pretty darn close... Cocteau Twins - Milk & Kisses The Changelings (self-titled debut; from Atlanta) His Name Is Alive - Stars on E.S.P. Rasputina - Thanks for the Ether Faye Wong - Impatience B Sharp Jazz Quartet - Searching for the One D.J. Spooky - Songs of a Dead Dreamer Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser Seely - Julie Only Cibo Matto - Viva! La Woman Of course, stuck in suburban Atlanta I'm not exposed to much break-through stuff. But all your lists will sure help, so please keep 'em up! Carol Coney Date: 13 Dec 96 12:09:42 EST From: Dez <100702.123@CompuServe.COM> Reply-To: ctip@dharma.firstcomm.com To: Multiple recipients of Subject: Albums of the year My top thirty LPs of '96 in no particular order. LFO - Advance (Deconstruction) After five years away, LFO blasted back with this, the first great album of '96. It had everything from pounding techno to blissful ambience. A corker. Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants (Junior Boys Own) An absolute classic. Juanita and Banstyle both clock in at around a quarter of an hour and yet don't overstay their welcome by a second. Rowla is pounding techno at its poundingest, and Stagger is quiet, reflective and a little unsettling. Expert Emerson, Hyde and Smith to take over the world in '97. Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining (Virgin) Disappointment, no dismay, at the demise of AMC was leavened somewhat by the appearance of this collection of angst, beauty and comedy (Southend On Sea). There are too many highlights to pick any in particular, but then that's business as usual when it comes to anything Eitzel is associated with. I was gutted when the Manchester show was cancelled, though. Guided By Voices - Under The Bushes Under the Stars (Matador) A typically prolific year for GBV with this, the two (excellent) solo albums by Pollard and Sprout and a plethora of eps. They make it all seem so simple to churn out short, sharp catchy pop/rock tunes without getting bogged down in repetition. They've recorded about a million songs over the last ten years, but a high proportion of them are little gems. Walkabouts - Devil's Road (Virgin) Carla Torgerson has a gorgeous voice, and the Walkabouts are another prolific band seemingly incapable of producing anything ordinary. For their major label debut, they used a full orchestra, and there was a definite Tindersticks influence. But this is no bad thing. Lionrock - An Instinct For Detection (Deconstruction) Justin Robertson has brilliant and eclectic taste as he showed to great effect on his Journeys by DJ mix album. He thows it all into the melting pot that is Lionrock to produce a brilliant stew of hip hop, house, rock, dub, techno and Conan Doyle aided by MC Buzz B's literate raps. Orbital - In Sides (Internal) If Snivilisation is Orbital's masterpiece, then this doesn't fall far short. Their lushest and most epic work to date, culminating in the jaw-droppingly good Out there Somewhere. Various - Ninja Cuts : Flexistentialism (Ninja Tune) Ninja rivals Mo' Wax as the home of dope beats and experimental hip hop. Flexistentialism was two or more hours of phat beats, and supreme out-thereness from the frantic funk of Coldcut's Atomic Moog 2000 to DJ Vadim, so laid back he almost ceases to exist. Slam - Headstates (Soma) The Glasgow DJs finally got around to their first album after years of having a top reputation. It's not the most original album in the world, but the mixture of lush techno and hard house, with a little jungle topping is terribly inviting. Gus Gus - Gus Gus (Kjol Og Andersson) Apologies to keep harping on about this record when it's as good as unavailable, but I just fucking love it. Twelve tracks, and about as eclectic as a record can get - from hard techno to symphonic synth-pop via funk and doped out country. An essential band. Faithless - Reverence (Cheeky) Like Gus Gus, Faithless eschew boundaries on an album that has house anthems like Insomnia rubbing shoulders with Waits/Cave influenced songs like Angeline and opera (Drifting Away). If it doesn't hang quite together, it's not surprising given the amount of ambition shown. But there's some great stuff. Trembling Blue Stars - Her Handwriting (Shinkansen) It's a thin line between sadness and self-pity, and it's a line that's sometimes crossed here. But at it's best you have all of the reflective splendour of the Field Mice together withg some of the pop sheen of St. Etienne. Blue Nile - Peace At Last (Warners) Seven years! Peace At Last isn't perfect. A few songs are merely good, but then there are songs like God Bless You Kid and Family Life which are just.... Six months on, and Family Life still makes me fight back tears every single time I hear it. Spring Heel Jack - 68 Million Shades (Trade 2) The undisputed masters of cinematic drum and bass, SHJ at least equalled their astonishing debut with this follow up. It displays a harder edge in places, although it lacks anything as joyfully daft as Lee Perry Part Two. Cathal Coughlan - Grand Necropolitan (Kitchenware) Fuck that drunken twat Mark E Smith, if you're looking for a bitter misanthropist with vision, intelligence and a scathing wit, then look no further than here. This is a side project away from the Fatima Mansions, but it's the same mix of squally noise, moving balladry, ranting and raving, cynical wit and moments of philanthropic calm, and his best since Viva Dead Ponies. Throwing Muses - Limbo (4AD) A bit of a return to form after the slightly lacklustre University, Limbo contains some scorching tracks. It's a pity that the band's commercial fortunes have taken a dip (Limbo only got to number 40 compared to University's top ten placing), but I hope it's a temporary blip. The Muses are too good a band to lose. Disco Inferno - Technicolour (Rough Trade) Finally released after it was shelved by One Little Indian last year, the posthumous Technicolour is a fitting epitaph for one of the nineties most visionary bands. Hopefully we'll see something to match this from ian Crause in '97. Voodoo Child - The End Of Everything (Mute) Moby released three albums in '96 - a remix of Everything Is Wrong, the punkfest of Animal Rights, and this - a mellow ambient collection of seven seriously beautiful instrumentals. Just shades it ahead of Animal Rights into my thirty. Omni Trio - The Haunted Science (Moving Shadow) Rob Haigh's mellow drum and bass collection wouldn't reduce many dancefloors to a state of frenzy, but it was a great album. Pearl Jam - No Code (Epic) Pearl Jam have been continually derided by this country's taste police, but they consistently deliver great rock albums, and No Code is no different. It's a more reflective album than any of their previous three, but contains some excellent songs, and in Lukin, proves that Eddie vedder doesn't take himself THAT seriously. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (Mo Wax) The album of the year - possibly the album of the decade. Shadow takes hip hop and sampling into new solar systems with this magnificent epic. If you haven't got it, then get writing to santa now. Lamb - Lamb (Fontana) Lamb's glorious take on gentle drum and bass raised a few sneers from the purists, but purists are nearly always out to reinforce a snobbish clique, nearly always against any kind of evolution, and nearly always wrong. Gorecki is a ballad to die for. Red Snapper - Prince Blimey (Warp) Red Snapper's first trio of eps were interesting, but... There are no buts here. This is a superb album, mixing rock, surf, hip hop, jazz, techno and dub into a delicious cocktail of innovation and top tunes. Spooky - Found Sound (Generic) A lot was made of the heavy use of unorthodox percussion on this album when it came out, as if that made it some kind of novelty item. it's certainly not that, and although a little uneven, contains a fair few gems of leftfield techno. Various - Headz 2 (Mo Wax) Lavelle's leviathan. Five hours plus, 54 tracks - most of which are extremely strong - and artists as diverse as Tortoise, The Jungle Brothers, Dillinja, Carl Craig and Massive Attack. Just how big will Headz 3 be? T Power - Waveforms (SOUR) Waveforms is much more experimental and off the wall than anything Marc Royal's done before. There are a few straight drum and bass cuts, but mixed with techno and post-rock drone. It's not an easy album to get into, but worthwhile. East River Pipe - Mel (Shinkansen) Thirteen more of Fred Cornog's blissfully melancholic tunes, and probably his best set to date. Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities (Virgin) FSOL can be up their arse sometimes, but usually that's forgiven, especially when they come up with works as stunning as this. This isn't techno, it isn't ambient - it certainly isn't the new fucking Floyd. It's state of the art headtrip music, and their finest album so far. Labradford - Labradford (Blast First) Only had this a week, but I think it belongs here. It's their best to date. Telstar Ponies - Voices From The New Music (Fire) I gave this a mediocre review a few week's back, but have played it a lot subsequently. At it's best - which is frequently, there are more ideas here than most bands havre in a career, and some truly wonderful passages. At it's worst (two of the 13 tracks) it's dreadful, but that's the beauty of CD players - you can skip those. Well, that's it. I think it's been an outstanding year. There has been an immense amount of dross released, but I've long since stopped worrying about idiotic journalists jumping up and down in glee over pea-brained music, and the public's appetite for some really hideous shit. What amuses me most is the haughty scorn these wankers pour on the likes of teen-pop and euro-house whilst praising to the skies spotty brats with guitars who haven't had an original thought in their head since birth. Give me the Spice Girls, Gina G, Whigfield (OK, Last Christmas was dire) over O*s*s, C*st, K*la Sh*ker and any of this other ubiquitous toss any day. The sixties are over, wankers. - Dez Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 09:36:46 +0000 (GMT) From: Andrew Norman Reply-To: ctip@dharma.firstcomm.com To: Multiple recipients of Subject: Best of 96 Highlights of 1996: Post-Rock ========= (Whatever that means!) Year of the Tortoise, who came to occupy that "everyone loves them but they are still hip" niche that Stereolab also occupy. "Millions..." is a fine album, most of the earlier stuff fails to impress me. The remix 12" series was rather mixed. Stereolab produced a good album (perhaps their best, though as "Refried Ectoplasm" showed their best songs are often on singles). The end of the year brought proof of that with the "Fluorescences" EP, and a couple of fine EPs on Stereolab's Duophonic label by Broadcast and Pram (Labradford also put out a 10" single on Duophonic earlier in the year). EAR released an album of new and old stuff and an EP with Jessamine, who had a great album of their own and split singles with Flying Saucer Attack (heralding their return) and Transparent Thing. FSA's live album is interesting mainly to afficionados of the noisy/droney side of the band, the album with Tele:funken likewise. "Sally Free and Easy", though, mixes noise and a proper song in vintage FSA style. Labradford's third album didn't disappoint, and Main's "Firmament III" is possibly their/his/its best work in the recent style, sparse but still fascinating. And Virgin's "ambient" series produced a couple of great albums ("Monsters, Robots and Bug Men", featuring half of the bands in this paragraph, and "Cosmic Kurushi Monsters", featuring loads of Japanese bands smashing up rock music and setting fire to the remains). Techno ====== LFO's "Advance" and Orbital's "In Sides" tie for album of the year - LFO's album lacks the warmth of Orbital's, it's a collection of varied tunes (from the gentle to the brutal) - perhaps lacking in depth, but perfect for the walkman. No sign yet of the rumoured EP with Laetitia Sadier, in fact LFO are probably now no more. Orbital's album, like the last one, has a sort of eco-friendly- modern-life-is-rubbish theme, though that doesn't show as much in the music, which is less reliant on vocal samples than the poorer tracks on the first half of "Snivilisation". Single "The Box" is worth getting, too, for a demonstration of how well Orbital can work with proper singers. Perhaps THEY should make an EP with Laetitia? FSOL came up with a great single ("My Kingdom") and good album, Spooky returned with a reasonably good album ("Found Sound"). I'm still trying to appreciate why people love Underworld so much - "Born Slippy" is wonderful, but most of "Second Toughest..." leaves me cold. The Aphex Twin's "Girl/Boy" EP wins the "biggest pile of shit" prize, the following "Richard D James Album" was not just better (it could hardly be worse), but very good indeed. Seefeel split temporarily in two and came up with a great couple of singles and a reasonably good album of demos (Scala) and a second album of rather poor Aphex imitations (Disjecta). The only Seefeel release of the year was an ancient album which doesn't really compare with "Succour" or "Quique". Vinyl Corner ============ The purchase of a new turntable earlier this year made me rediscover some old music (those early ARKane EPs!!!) and start browsing through the 7" boxes again. Domino put out a series of 12" singles by Antiroc, the Third Eye Foundation, Ganger and Basilica, the first three of which were wonderful. Ganger also released a couple of lengthy EPs on other labels, and get the "new band of the year" prize - bass and drum grooves with interesting squiggles added, the sort of thing Ui do (but not incredibly boring like Ui). Other notable 7" singles - Alphastone/Flowchart split (A-side only) on Enraptured (home of the FSA/Jessamine split), 3EF's "Universal Cooler", Light (FSA/Amp collaboration), and Stereolab/Fuxa (neither band at their best, but good nonetheless - Fuxa's second album is best avoided unless you like cheesy organ instrumentals). Amp's "Sirenes" is the first vinyl album I have bought since 3EF's mighty "Semtex", and despite Jens's raving about it I'm fairly unimpressed. Perhaps I need to listen to it some more. 4AD section =========== Albums from Throwing Muses (lacking the mystery and oddness of old, but a very good straightforward rock group nonetheless, and I have played "Limbo" more frequently than any Muses album since "Hunkpapa", probably). Lisa Germano made a good album (but didn't top "Geek the Girl") - she needs to tone down the self-pity though, the photos on her sleeve don't show the dumpy ugly geek she sings about. Lush ditched their ethereal side, made a fantastic pop album, lost a few dozen shoegazer fans and gained several thousand more, then suffered a tragedy with the suicide of their drummer. Lush-less shoegazers were comforted by the Galaxie 500 box set. I didn't catch up with the Paladins, Gus Gus or anything else on the label apart from Tanya Donelly's disappointing EP - the days are long gone when I'd buy 4AD albums on trust. And I'm none of those people who loved "Milk and Kisses", a real improvement on the previous Cocteau Twins album. Other Stuff =========== Great mini-album ("Mini") and proper album ("Saturnalia") from theweddingpresent, who will probably never be remotely fashionable again but are still producing great music while managing to sound the same as they have always done, but different. Ditto the Fall, who have had a rocky year - three albums of dodgy live tracks and B-sides followed by one of their better albums of recent years - sadly they lost Craig Scanlon (one of the longest-serving members, supposedly sacked for "slovenly appearance and failure to maintain amplifiers"), and Brix left again after a chaotic tour notable mainly for Mark E Smith's drunkenness and the cancellation of several gigs. The Divine Comedy - plummy bishop's son discovers SEX and makes an album of raunchy "new lad" songs, saved by the fact that basically he's still an uptight intellectual who likes to throw in literary allusions and a string quartet or two. Too Pure hate-figures Jack released an album of similarly Scott Walker-influenced dramatic pop which people either loved or hated (I'm in the former camp, and it made the Guardian's top ten). Other Too Pure activity was by the aforementioned Scala, Long Fin Killie (album not as good as their debut) and Seely (pleasant but not stunning). Where's the next Mouse on Mars album? Waiting for Santa to bring me the Robson and Jerome Christmas Party Album... -- Andrew Norman, Leicester, England nja@le.ac.uk http://www.engg.le.ac.uk/home/Andrew.Norman/ Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 00:14:07 -0700 (MST) From: ".mark." Reply-To: ctip@dharma.firstcomm.com To: Multiple recipients of Subject: more "best of" action... i abstained from this last year, but now that we have a real list again i though i'd put in my best of's for 1996, which, incidentally, was not a weak year at all....(oh, and sorry for the length) in no order whatsoever: Rachel's - "Music for Egon Schiele" & "The Sea & The Bells" i think a lot of people forgot that they put out two records this year. "The Sea..." is probably the stronger release, but both are exquisite. Cocteau Twins - "Milk & Kisses" i give, i really did enjoy this. "Violaine" floored me as did "Serpent Skirt" & "Seekers Who Are Lovers" Dead Can Dance - "Spiritchaser" continuing to go against the general opinion, i think this was a really "fun" dead can dance album that kept me going while i spent the summer in germany. which brings me to... And Also The Trees - "Angelfish" there never was an AATT album i didn't like. i bought this at the end of june while in germany and listened to it everyday after that until sometime in august. more fabulous guitar sounds from Justin Jones, more well-written lyrics from his brother Simon...this time there's even more surf and 50's sounds in there, but i love it. "Tremaine" could be my favorite song of the year. Scenic - "Aquatica" lovely instrumental pieces from arizona. nothing else to say. Roy Montgomery - "Temple IV" even better instrumental work, this time from the new zealand legend. ambient guitar landscapes with repeating circular, droning themes often climaxing into schizophrenic HNIA-esque (HIIYH era) noisefests. sometimes i think this record is the evil intrumental twin of HIIYH. wonderful! Magnog - s/t more kranky sound. space rock? whatever! the first track alone (a dark, dreamy, droney intrumental piece) is worth the price. Jessamine - "The Long Arm of Coincidence" except for a couple of very flawed almost indierock wank-a-thons, this is an excellent grinding and spacey record. the weird bass noises on the title track always take time and stretch it into something totally alien. i think the gods of time get lazy when jessamine play. Windy & Carl - "Drawing of Sound" this record surprised me with its utter beauty. fragile and soaring. another brilliant piece of music from michigan. His Name Is Alive - "Stars on ESP" the advance cassette (thanks jef) of this record got played non-stop in my car during the lovely month of june. summersound for the strange. Velour 100 - "Fall Sounds" pop record of the year! lovely moody songs w/female vox from HNIA's trey many; produced by wrn too. could it be that trey plays better geetar than mr. defever? perhaps... August Spies - "August Never Promised Smiles" cassette a collection of songs you didn't hear written by a good friend of mine (also a michigan inhabitant). sparse, personal, and just plan great. look for a 7" from AS someday when we get enough money to release it with a really snazzy sleeve by me. in the meantime, go see his new band (featuring cello, flute & acordian) the polish noise system if you just happen to be somewhere in western michigan. Low - "The Curtain Hits The Cast" miles ahead of "Long Division". these are some of their best songs ever. particularly beautiful is the 15-minute epic "Do You Know How to Waltz" which features a long ambient section very similar to something Windy & Carl might do. Red House Painters - "Songs for a Blue Guitar" i have to admit that i actually think that only an EP's worth of material on this album is good, but the recent RHP show i saw made its presence here necessary. the title track is gorgeous. Mazzy Star - "Among My Swan" i admit it, i'm a sucker for hope sandoval. Rasputina - "Thanks for the Ether" what happens when three girls with cellos get together and write pop songs. watch out! this is mighty addictive (unless your name happens to be jef and you live in k-zoo, mi and hate everything...:) ). Stereolab - "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" 1996 was the year i finally "figured out" stereolab. don't ask me why it took so long...in any case, i'm sure glad i did. Spoonfed Hybrid - "Hibernation Shock" EP repeat after me: "ian masters is great, ian masters is great, ian masters is great!" Scala - "Tears" 7" & "Beauty Nowhere" "Triptych" is too good to be true. for me, these make up for seefeel's current absence 100%. electronica meets dark pop w/sarah peacock's lovely vocals. mark van hoen (locust) twiddling the knobs to boot! whoo! Perfume Tree - "A Lifetime Away" early seefeel-esque basslines with beats, guitars & female vox. Amp - "Sirenes" a low-fi masterpiece. the first five listens or so left me feeling a bit bored, but then i put my headphones on and really woke up to this record. probably my favorite bristol band. Third Eye Foundation - "Semtex" okay, who doesn't have this on their best of '96 list? too bad "In Version" is big-sucky. what will they (he) do next...??? DJ Spooky - "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" intelligent "trip-hop" (illbient???)....ambient soundscapes with hip-hop beats. Even better was his performance opening for Stereolab....wow! Bowery Electric - "Beat" minimalism, texture, & drone at their very best. this record is mesmerizing. lawrence is a master of sculpting feedback and martha's bass-playing is hauntingly beautiful in its simplicity. wow!wow!wow!wow! Labradford - s/t this might be their finest moment yet. dark, haunting, beautiful. another example of how a few well-placed notes can send shivers up the spine. could they be the best band of the "post-4ad era" ??? ...and finally, to put the icing on top of one helluva musical year: Drunken Fish's stunning 3 x LP compilation box set "Harmony of the Spheres" which i've been listening to while writing this. there were also some great electronic records and a ton of ultrafab 7"s that made me happy that i replaced my old turntable when it died over the summer (certainly don't forget Movietone's "Useless Landscape" 7"...that's their best song, hands down!) Also, my choices for 1995 releases that didn't find their way into my collection until more recently... The Charalambides - "Market Square" i can't figure this record out! but it is incredibly creepy. now, could someone please pronounce their name for me? Roy Montgomery - "Scenes from the South Island" even better than "Temple IV". okay, i'll be quiet now, mrk . mrk (vonminde@rtt.colorado.edu) . Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 17:36:09 -0800 From: Jens Alfke Subject: Top N in progress It's that time of year and I'm mulling over what to put in my top ten list. In the running so far are [not yet really in order]: Amp "Sirenes" (only had it two weeks but it may be destined for #1) Underworld "2nd Toughest In the Infants" Salt "Auscultate" Seely "Julie Only" Elysian Fields "Bleed Your Cedar" Husikesque "Green Blue Fire" Stereolab "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" Scala "Lips & Heaven" ?? Beck "Odelay" ?? ...and there are several other things I haven't heard yet such as Labradford, Bowery Electric, 3rd Eye Foundation, Seefeel, Rachel's, etc. that might otherwise go on the list. And didn't FSA put out an album this year? Biggest disappointments: probably either the Cocteau Twins' "Milk & Kisses" or Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". Not that I actively dislike either one, they just didn't at all live up to the ultrahype. I'm having more trouble filling out the list than in previous years, which indicates it may have been a weak year, but there were several very fine albums released. And my CD budget has been lower, too, so there's more stuff I just haven't heard. Once I get things more finalized I'll send out the real list. I just wanted to post this to start some conversation or arguments... Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 01:29:38 -0500 From: like a daydream (bgmutza@INDIANA.EDU) Subject: a lengthy top ten with commentary my top ten of 1996, in no particular order: seely - julie only i can't say enough good things about this cd. it melted my heart from the first time i heard it, and i've only grown to enjoy it more with each listen. i'm a sucker for well-done vocal harmonies, and they do it wonderfully, as well as writing incredibly catchy tunes. i'm glad to see others on here have enjoyed this as well! long fin killie - valentino it's fairly easy for me to pick out a group's influences and similarities these days (or so i think). but lfk consistently impress the hell out of me. technically excellent, but still catchy, and about as unique as anyone i've heard lately. low - the curtain hits the cast i'm a low fanatic -- there, i've said it. so they could've released a half-assed album, and i probably would've loved it just as well. and yeah, so they haven't made any drastic changes in sound, but i love this album. slow, depressing, beautiful. 'do you know how to waltz?' makes the album. everything but the girl - walking wounded sad lyrics + drum 'n' bass = wholesomeness. okay, so maybe drum n bass is the hip thing to do these days, but i think the merging of what they've done in the past (which hasn't always been all that) with the updated techno beats of now works wonderfully for me. mojave 3 - ask me tomorrow sure, i love slowdive as much as the next person who'd pay $30 for 'blue day'. and i was prepared to hate this album, but it's so damned relaxing and lovely that i can't help but fall in love with it. if only we could have slowdive AND mojave 3! yum yum - dan loves patti while low and red house painters are just flat out, all-around depressing, yum yum manage to take really emotional lyrics and set them to a beat that's not always dour. musically, it's been done before, but the lyrics just break my heart in two and, as this list is demonstrating it seems, that's what does it for me. godflesh - songs of love and hate it's probably just because they're the only band i listened to in high school that i still tolerate, but this album renewed my faith in them. add the old-school, live drumming, and godflesh are still on the cutting edge of grindcore. if anyone actually thinks grindcore is cutting edge. windy & carl - drawing of sound this was my first real exposure to w&c, and i distinctly remember my jaw dropping upon first listen. wonderful drone, virtually unequalled these days. i'm a converted w&c fanatic because of this album. the posies - amazing disgrace i've been a closet posies fan for years and, though i don't think this one stacks up to 'frosting on the beater', i find myself listening to this frequently and humming along. i can't seem to understand the general lack of care, bordering on hatred for the posies... extremely catchy, intelligent pop songs. what more do you want? scenic - acquatica it's a tough choice between this and half string, but i give scenic the nod. a wonderful blending of ambient-like pieces and wonderful, more traditional 'band' type songs. looking forward to in 1997... portishead (have they fallen off the face of the earth??) digital hardcore full-lengths gene my bloody... whatever. gus gus brendan perry (c'mon 4ad, you released the paladins... you OWE us this) now that we've started the 'best ofs', who's going to track down einexile and get his? you KNOW a 4ad-l best of thread isn't the same without him, if for nothing else than the inevitable 'worst of' accompaniment. the rest of you too... keep 'em coming. back to lurking, brian bgmutza@indiana.edu Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 00:47:16 +0600 From: cz (cz@U.WASHINGTON.EDU) Subject: 1996: the year of unmet expectations Even though i thought it would be tough to find ten good albums to put in my top 10 list, there turned out to be plenty of worthy releases. My mistaken impression must stem from the fact that none of the most anticipated albums of 1996 met my expectations. Several of my favorite bands released albums in 1996 but only 3 of these made it into my top 10 (DCD, Zazou, and LiCtD) and each could have been much higher in the rankings had they been in top form). Here are some comments regarding those that didn't fully live up to my expectations: *Tricky* released two albums but only had enough good material for one! *The Golden Palominos* released a fine album, "Dead Inside," with fresh new music and truly touching lyrics but a lack of ... well ... singing. *Bel Canto* tried their hardest to "sell out" but failed, they left just a few too many brilliant gems on "Magic Box" and i am convinced that these brilliant gems prevented the band's top 40 breakthrough *Mazzy Star* tried to do "mazzy star by numbers" on "Among My Swan." Sure it's nearly as pleasant as "So tonight ..." but it's only half as sultry and one fourth as inspired. *Cocteau Twins* veered in the right direction with "Milk and Kisses," but, alas, i must agree that they seemed to have done it for the wrong reasons. Am i the only one on this list who is somewhere between the two vocal extremes on this album? After all, i did "like" it at least. *His Name is Alive* - Stars on ESP Did this album come out in 1996? I don't know because i can't find it. Funny thing is, i haven't noticed that it's missing 'til now because i never feel the need to listen to it. I mean, i didn't like the Beach Boys in grade school, why should i like them now? It's better than Mouth by Mouth but i'm afraid that i can't consider HNIA one of my favorite bands anymore.... i can still see a shadow of the twisted pop-genius present but the sublime beauty is replaced by something much more pedestrian. Okay, enough with the disappointments let's move on to the top 10! (1) *Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds* - Murder Ballads This is a wonderful album, from the chilling introduction of "song of jo " to the sublime "where the wild roses grow" (my fave), and from the rompin' spunk of "the curse of milhaven" to the 'band-aid'/'we-are-the-world' style conclusion on "death is not the end." Cave really benefits from the occasional help of a female vocalist. (2) *Khan/Brook* - Night Song Simply sublime. Brook's atmospheric touches are perfect for Khan's paki tani singing. (3) *Faith and the Muse* - Annwyn, Beneath the Waves Parts of this album have taken up where DCD left off while other parts intentionally take on a more "gothic" approach. (4) *Budd/Zazou* - Glyph Zazou can do NO wrong and Budd is capable of great heights. Together th y've created an ambient album, nestled snuggly between the traditional ambiance of old-Budd and the electro-ambience of today. (5) *Love is Colder than Death* - Spellbound (EP) Sadly, they've broken up now but at least they went out with a bang! If you're still lamenting DCD's newfound artistic direction go out and get the recent LiCtD CDs. (6) *Perfume Tree* - A Lifetime Away Electro-Ethereal? Fembient? A refreshing hybrid of styles, neither of hich is independently original--but together work quite well. (7) *Loop Guru* - Amrita Wow! This was the year i discovered loop guru and these anthems of glob l cross-cultural electronica really get my head and body moving. (8) *Velour 100* - Fall Sounds Trey Mani's band is everything HNIA lost! It has dreamy dissonance and arthy beauty. I hope Amon's replacement can measure up to her vocal prowess. Please, someone keep us informed when she decides to pursue music again. (9) *Dead Can Dance* - Spiritchaser What's a DCD album doing at the *bottom* of my list? Well, i still enjo it tremendously but i really miss the medieval/celtic style. (10) *Controlled Bleeding* - Inanition Two CDs for the price of one (one of new material the other of old) and ach of them have ambient masterpieces. The "orchestral industrial"/"medieval soundscape" side of CB has always intrigued me. The new disk marries that sound with the new electro-ambient style that's taking the world by storm. The old disk compiles songs from the near-infinite catalogue of rare material without repeating much from the other compilation CDs. What more could you ask for? (11) "Honorable mention" goes to a few noteworthy CDs that didn't quite make it: *Husikesque* (Green Blue Fire), *Caroline Lavelle* (Spirit), *Faith and Disease* than those in my "unmet expectations" list but they don't need to live up to as high standards until they become revered masters. Whew! That turned out to be quite long. Sorry. -cz