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Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots (1991)

2011-02-24T19:17:00.002+01:00

While there is little denying the title track's status as one of Sonic Youth's strongest songs from their early-'90s period, the bonus live recordings are the real reason to own the Dirty Boots CD single. The scorching versions of "White Kross," "Eric's Trip," and "Cinderella's Big Score" reaffirm the group's status as one of the strongest live acts amid the alternative rock movement. Furthermore, this EP also includes an unreleased instrumental song, titled "The Bedroom," which isn't anything special, though it does make for an interesting listen. Source: [AMG]

Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots

Track Listing
1. Dirty Boots (Edit)
2. White Cross (Live)
3. Eric's Trip (Live)
4. Cinderella's Big Score (Live)
5. Dirty Boots (Live)
6. Bedroom (Live)

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Sonic Youth - Goo (1990)

2011-02-23T18:44:00.004+01:00

Any doubts as to the continuing relevance of Sonic Youth upon their jump to major-label status were quickly laid to rest by Goo, their follow-up to the monumental Daydream Nation. While paling in the shadow of its predecessor, the record is nevertheless a defiant call to arms against mainstream musical values; the Geffen logo adorning the disc is a moot point -- Goo is, if anything, a portrait of Sonic Youth at their most self-indulgently noisy and contentious, covering topics ranging from Karen Carpenter ("Tunic") to UFOs ("Disappearer") to dating Jesus' mom ("Mary-Christ"). Even Public Enemy's Chuck D joins the fracas on the single "Kool Thing," which teeters on the brink of a cultural breakthrough but falls just shy of the mark; the same could be said of Goo itself -- by no means a sellout, it nevertheless lacks the coherence and force of the group's finest work, and the opportunity to violently rattle the mainstream cage slips by. Source: [AMG]

Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

Track Listing
1. Dirty Boots
2. Tunic (Song for Karen)
3. Mary-Christ
4. Kool Thing
5. Mote
6. My Friend Goo
7. Disappearer
8. Mildred Pierce
9. Cinderella's Big Score
10. Scooter + Jinx
11. Titanium Exposé

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Superchunk - Hyper Enough (1995)

2011-01-29T09:19:00.003+01:00

Superchunk - Detroit Has A Skyline (acoustic version)

Track Listing
1. Hyper Enough
2. Never Too Young to Smoke
3. Detroit Has a Skyline (Acoustic Version)

[Download]

Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In (1995)

2011-01-26T20:47:00.004+01:00

Without changing their tensely wound, post-Hüsker Dü punk-pop style at all, Superchunk sound completely weary on Here's Where the Strings Come In. No longer do their nervous, amateurish songs sound energetic -- they sound tired and broken. This actually results in some really interesting music, as Mac McCaughan tries to reconcile his broken spirits with his passion for punk. These songs tend to have more resonance than by-the-books rave-ups like "Hyper Enough," no matter how well those are written, and they suggest that Superchunk may be better off if they decide to revamp their signature sound completely. Source: [AMG]

Superchunk - Hyper Enough

Track Listing
1. Hyper Enough
2. Silver Leaf and Snowy Tears
3. Yeah, It's Beautiful Here Too
4. Iron On
5. Sunshine State
6. Detroit Has a Skyline
7. Eastern Terminal
8. Animated Airplanes over Germany
9. Green Flowers, Blue Fish
10. Here's Where the Strings Come In
11. Certain Stars

[Download]

The Afghan Whigs - Uptown Avondale (1992)

2011-01-19T20:13:00.000+01:00

The Afghan Whigs' final recording for Sub Pop, Uptown Avondale is anything but a contractual obligation -- a five-track EP comprising four R&B covers and a remake of Congregation's unlisted bonus track "Milez Iz Ded" (here retitled "The Rebirth of the Cool"), it's a soulful, scorching collection that captures the band at their gritty best. Quickly dispelling any lingering doubts that Greg Dulli's soul-man aspirations are anything but genuine, the disc's covers of chestnuts like Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" and the Supremes' "Come See About Me" are remarkable, remaining true to the music's R&B roots but infused with the Whigs' noise-punk energy -- Dulli sings like a man possessed, rejuvenating this familiar material with both reverence and attitude. Source: [AMG]

The Afghan Whigs - Come See About Me

Track Listing
1. Band of Gold
2. True Love Travels on a Gravel Road
3. Come See About Me
4. Beware

[Download]

The Afghan Whigs - Turn On The Water (1992)

2011-01-19T19:13:00.000+01:00

The Afghan Whigs - Turn On The Water

Track Listing
1. Turn On The Water
2. Miles Iz Ded
3. Delta Kong
4. Chalk Outline

[Download]

The Afghan Whigs - My World Is Empty Without You (1991)

2011-01-19T18:13:00.002+01:00

The Afghan Whigs ankled the grunge comparisons and emerged as the best blue-eyed soul outfit of their generation with their cover of the Supremes' Motown classic "My World Is Empty Without You." Operating in a Curtis Mayfield-inspired falsetto fraught with a desperation and longing that Diana Ross never mustered, Greg Dulli delivers his most remarkable performance to date -- he and his bandmates are no Funk Brothers, of course, but their spectral, finely wrought arrangement deftly captures the Whigs' growing mastery of nuance and mood. A pair of LP tracks -- Congregation's ferocious "Conjure Me" and Up in It's sinuous "You My Flower" -- round out the package. Source: [AMG]

The Afghan Whigs - My World Is Empty Withou You

Track Listing
1. My World Is Empty Without You
2. Conjure Me
3. You My Flower

[Download]

Beat Happening - You Turn Me On (1992)

2010-12-24T09:36:00.004+01:00

Beat Happening's final LP is also their best: concluding the emotional and musical progression begun with the minimalist innocence of their earliest work, You Turn Me On is a mature record of tremendous breadth and complexity. Where once the trio's songs were brief and bouncy, the nine tracks here are epic (several top out at over six minutes) and ambitious; produced in part by ex-Young Marble Giant Stuart Moxham (an obvious influence), the record's full, deep sound belies its bare-bones performances -- "Teenage Caveman" sports booming, primal drums perfectly suited to its title, while the propulsive "Noise" manufactures the illusion of a bassline where none ever existed. The most democratic record in an output founded on egalitarian ideals, You Turn Me On offers Heather Lewis' strongest songs ever -- her hypnotic nine-minute "Godsend" is the LP's heart and soul -- and she and Calvin Johnson even trade verses on the closing "Bury the Hammer." As for Calvin himself, his solo contributions are exceptional -- the spartan opener "Tiger Trap" is an evocative heartbreaker, and the title track is a fire-breathing corker. A masterpiece. Source: [AMG]

Beat Happening - Tiger Trap

Track Listing
1. Tiger Trap
2. Noise
3. Pinebox Derby
4. Teenage Caveman
5. Sleepy Head
6. You Turn Me On
7. Godsend
8. Hey Day
9. Bury the Hammer

[Download]

The Afghan Whigs - Black Soul Gentlemen (1994)

2010-12-16T11:14:00.003+01:00

The Black Soul Gentlemen bootleg offers an okay radio broadcast from an Italian show during the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen tour. The performance is decent, if a bit somewhat meandering, which pretty much comes with the territory of most Whigs shows. Singer/guitarist Greg Dulli injects enough barbs from to keep things interesting in lieu of the mediocre recording. Battling a language barrier and introducing "Retarded" to an inactive crowd, he muses, "This song is from our first record called Up in It. You ever heard of it...on Sub Pop? Does anybody care? No? Okay." Quality-wise, there's an uneven emphasis between the guitars of Dulli and Rick McCollum, and John Curley's bass gets completely lost from time to time. A major deciding factor in the purchase of Whigs' bootlegs is the covers; on most occasions, the track listings provide no indication of what they might be, since the Whigs often incorporated verses and snippets into their own material. Add uninformed bootleggers to the pot, and there you have the lack of info. Such is the case here. A fair amount of the lyrics to the Spinners' "I'll Be Around" is tucked inside of a breakdown during "Turn on the Water." Lyrics from Prince's "When Doves Cry" gets mixed into a nine-minute version of "You My Flower." And to a much lesser extent, Dulli throws in a couple lines from Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" during the Supremes' "My World Is Empty Without You," as well as Madonna's hop-to-it snips from "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself" during a rip-roaring "Miles Iz Ded." As far as the overall set list is considered, it's favored toward Gentlemen, with a fair amount of attention paid to the records that preceded it. Source: [AMG]

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Track Listing
1. If I Were Going
2. Debonair
3. Turn on the Water
4. Gentlemen
5. Be Sweet
6. My World Is Empty Without You
7. When We Two Parted
8. Retarded Dulli
9. Fountain and Fairfax
10. Come See About Me
11. You My Flower
12. What Jail Is Like
13. Tonight
14. Miles Iz Ded

[Download]

Buffalo Tom - Sleepy Eyed (1995)

2010-12-07T19:43:00.009+01:00

Put Sleepy Eyed in your CD player, hit play, and prepare to be amazed -- "Tangerine," the lead-off cut, signals the brief but welcome return of "Dinosaur Jr. Jr." with two-and-three-quarters minutes of charging neo-grunge guitars and galloping drums, the likes of which you haven't heard from this band since Birdbrain. But, of course, Buffalo Tom sound a lot tighter, stronger, and more confident when they dig into the big shaggy dog rock than they did five years previous, and while they never get quite as rollicking as "Tangerine" again on Sleepy Eyed, cut for cut it's a far more direct and straightforward rock album than anything they'd managed since their creative breakthrough on Let Me Come Over. To some listeners, Sleepy Eyed might sound like a regression, moving back into noisy power trio mode after the more polished surfaces and intricate arrangements of Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day, but play Sleepy Eyed back to back with Birdbrain and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the differences. Sleepy Eyed decisively proves Buffalo Tom write better hooks and better melodies, write smarter lyrics, and even rock harder than when they were still trying to find their way out from under J. Mascis' shadow, and they sound like they're having a great time just turning up the amps and letting rip, especially Bill Janovitz, whose rock-dude guitar outros are a hoot (and this is one band who I cannot begrudge for enjoying themselves every once in a while). On Sleepy Eyed, Buffalo Tom go back to the old neighborhood and show everybody how much bigger and stronger they've become -- it's sorta like a high school reunion, but louder and a lot more fun. Source: [AMG]

Buffalo Tom - Summer

Track Listing
1. Tangerine
2. Summer
3. Kitchen Door
4. Rules
5. It's You
6. When You Discover
7. Sunday Night
8. Your Stripes
9. Sparklers
10. Clobberred
11. Sundress
12. Twenty-Points
13. Souvenir
14. Crueler

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Morphine - Yes (1995)

2010-11-23T09:59:00.005+01:00

On their third release, 1995's Yes, Morphine shied away from the more accessible direction they laid down on 1994's superb Cure for Pain, going for a more challenging (but just as rewarding) direction. While the singles/videos "Honey White" and "Super Sex" did contain a pop edge (and were the album's best), other tracks, such as "The Jury" and "Sharks" pushed the envelope by containing lyrics that sound as if they're stream of consciousness. Like its predecessor, it's a highly consistent album -- even the lesser-known tracks are integral to the album's overall makeup. "Scratch," "All Your Way," "I Had My Chance," "Free Love," and "Gone for Good" all sound like the observations of a broken-down man, steeped in despair. But the mood lightens up on such selections as "Radar" and the title track, plus the aforementioned singles. With nearly all alt-rock bands sounding identical and bashing angrily away at their instruments in 1995, Morphine proved to be in a league all by themselves. Yes is perhaps just a shade less spectacular than Cure for Pain, but certainly not by much. Source: [AMG]

Morphine - Honey White

Track Listing
1. Honey White
2. Scratch
3. Radar
4. Whisper
5. Yes
6. All Your Way
7. Super Sex
8. I Had a Chance
9. The Jury
10. Sharks
11. Free Love
12. Gone for Good

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U2 - WHO'S Gonna Ride Your WILD HORSES (1992)

2010-11-02T11:53:00.001+01:00

"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" began as a demo that the band recorded at STS Studios in 1990. The band worked on it during the formal Achtung Baby sessions, including several failed attempts at Hansa Studios in Berlin. This produced several versions of the song and about a dozenmixes. However, the original demo remained their preferred version. Producer Jimmy Iovine, in particular, expressed his preference for the demo version when lead vocalist Bono played it for him. During the group's time recording in Dublin in 1991, producer Steve Lillywhite was brought on to provide a "fresh pair of ears" and mix the song. The album version most closely resembles the original demo.

Lillywhite recalls that, "They hated that song. I spent a month on it and I still don't think it was as realised as it could've been. The Americans had heard it and said, 'That's your radio song there', because they were having trouble with some of the more industrial elements [of the album]. It's almost like a covers band doing a U2 moment. Maybe we tried too hard." Bono said, "It's a song I feel we didn't quite nail on the record because there was another whole set of lyrics that were dumped and I wrote those quickly and off we went." The band later released an alternately arranged "Temple Bar Remix" as the single, the version of the song they most prefer. The band also has claimed they find the song difficult to perform in concert. Bassist Adam Clayton said, "It's a great torch song, with melody and emotion, but I don't think we ever captured it again and we have never really been able to play the song live."

Single release
When the covers to "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "The Fly", "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", and "Mysterious Ways" are arranged, a picture of the band members driving a Trabant is formed.
The single included Bono's solo version of Can't Help Falling in Love, which was recorded in STS studios in Dublin on 29 June 1992 for the movieHoneymoon in Vegas. Source: [Wikipedia]

U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

Track Listing
1. WHO'S Gonna Ride Your WILD HORSES (Temple bar edit)
2. Paint it BLACK
3. SALOMÉ (Zooromancer remix)
4. CAN'T help falling in LOVE (Triple peaks Remix)

[Download]

The Chemical Brothers - Loops Of Fury (1996)

2010-11-01T11:14:00.008+01:00

Loops of Fury is a non-album EP from The Chemical Brothers in 1996. It reached #13 on the UK charts. It stayed for one week.
The title track exemplifies the squelching synth lines and hard-hitting drums that became the Chemical Brothers' sound of the late 1990s and would be the blueprint of their tracks for years to come. It was used in the PlayStation game wipE’out 2097 and appeared on the accompanying wipE’out 2097 Soundtrack album. It was also included on the bonus disc of Singles 93-03, and as a B-side to the Japanese edition of “Setting Sun”.
"Get Up On It Like This" was included in a reworked form on the subsequent album Dig Your Own Hole. Source: [Wikipedia]

The Chemical Brothers - Chemical Beats

Track Listing
1. Loops of Fury
2. (The Best Part of) Breaking Up
3. Get Up on It Like This
4. Chemical Beats (Dave Clarke Remix)

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The Wannadies - Be A Girl (1995)

2010-10-21T21:14:00.008+02:00

This is the album that rocketed the Wannadies to stardom internationally. Thanks to start-stop dynamics of the romantic power-pop single "You and Me Song," the band managed to find success on both sides of the Atlantic; in the U.K. the song hit the charts at the height of the Brit-pop movement and in the U.S. (where this album was never released) the song was featured in a prominent scene of the movie Romeo and Juliet. The magic of this album doesn't stop there, though. In fact, "Be a Girl" is a tour de force that lasts throughout the album's entire 11 tracks. Beside "You and Me Song," there's "Might Be Stars," another huge U.K. hit that is, without a doubt, one of the best songs ever written about being a rock star. Other highlights include the pure-pop mania of "Love in June" and "New World Record," a punchy, loud, arena-ready stomper. The guitars are noticeably louder on this disc, and the pace barely relents before "Kid," a gut-wrenching power-ballad, sends the listener away wanting another 11 tracks. This is classic Brit-pop from beginning to end -- a life-affirming album that reminds us why rock & roll is so great. (The Japanese version of this album contains a bonus track titled "Oh Oh Let's Go," which is a fine addition to the disc, but the cost is somewhat prohibitive). Source: [AMG]

The Wannadies - You And Me Song

Track Listing
1. You and Me Song
2. Might Be Stars
3. Love in June
4. How Does It Feel?
5. Sweet Nymphet
6. New World Record
7. Dying for More
8. Soon You're Dead
9. Do It All the Time
10. Dreamy Wednesdays
11. Kid

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The Jesus And Mary Chain - Honey's Dead (1992)

2010-10-06T19:06:00.010+02:00

Again working with Alan Moulder but now also using a live drummer on most tracks -- namely Monti from Curve, one of the Mary Chain's many descendants -- the Reids came back strong with Honey's Dead, on balance a more consistent and satisfying record than Automatic. There's a sense of greater creativity with the arrangements, while the balance between blasting static rampage and precise, almost clinical delivery is the finest yet, making the album as a whole the best straight-through listen since Psychocandy. Monti's drumming finally replaces Bobby Gillespie's properly; he's a much more talented musician than the Primal Scream overlord, using the warped funk hits familiar from Curve's work to the Mary Chain's advantage. Even the drum machine-driven cuts work better than before, especially the brilliant, coruscating opener, "Reverence." Burning with some of the best nails-on-chalkboard feedback the band had yet recorded, combined with a whipsmart sharp breakbeat, all it took was the finishing touch of Jim Reid's sneering lines like "I wanna die like Jesus Christ" to make it another stone-cold classic single from the band. Other winners include "Sugar Ray," with beats and melody so immediate and addictive the track was actually used for a beer commercial, of all things, and the steady slap and crunch of "Good for My Soul." If there's a danger in Honey's Dead, it's that the near bottomless pit of reworked melodies and lyrics had almost reached its end -- even the final track, "Frequency," combines both "Reverence" itself with the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" -- which made the stylistic shift on Stoned & Dethroned a logical follow-up. William and Jim Reid split all the vocals almost evenly, the former especially shining on the nearly gentle "Almost Gold," the closest the record comes to a sweet ballad. Source: [AMG]

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Reverence

Track Listing
1. Reverence
2. Teenage Lust
3. Far Gone and Out
4. Almost Gold
5. Sugar Ray
6. Tumbledown
7. Catchfire
8. Good for My Soul
9. Rollercoaster
10. I Can't Get Enough
11. Sundown
12. Frequency

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Bob Mould - Bob Mould (1996)

2010-10-01T17:47:00.006+02:00

As he was promoting the last Sugar album, File Under: Easy Listening, Bob Mould hinted that he was tired of working with a band and was fascinated by the simple, four-track recordings of Sebadoh and Guided by Voices. So, it didn't come as a complete surprise when he disbanded Sugar a year after the release of FU:EL and began working on a record by himself. Bob Mould, his third solo album, was recorded entirely by Mould, but it doesn't sound like a lo-fi project -- it doesn't have the professional production of Sugar's records, but it has all their sonic detail. What has changed is the details themselves. Bob Mould may not surge on waves of loud guitars like Hüsker Dü or Sugar, but Mould is reaching into new territory, using distortion as a coloring device and exploring trancier melodies. And Mould sounds revitalized throughout the album -- although it is clear that this isn't a collection of first-takes, his obsession with making the album entirely on his own makes the music fierce and alive. Mould may be heading further into singer/songwriter territory with each album he releases, but he keeps his music away from stodginess by continually changing his approach and delving into new sonic territories. It also doesn't hurt that his increasingly bitter lyrics are gut-wrenchingly provocative and his melodies are consistently engaging. Source: [AMG]

Bob Mould - Egøverride

Track Listing
1. Anymore Time Between
2. I Hate Alternative Rock
3. Fort Knox, King Solomon
4. Next Time That You Leave
5. Egoverride
6. Thumbtack
7. Hair Stew
8. Deep Karma Canyon
9. Art Crisis
10. Roll over and Die

[Download]

Edwyn Collins - I'm Not Following You (1997)

2010-08-26T19:30:00.007+02:00

Having found himself back in the commercial limelight with Gorgeous George, Collins followed it up with the equally -- possibly even more -- delightful I'm Not Following You. Trademark wit blended with passion intact and with key sideplayers drummer Paul Cook and bassist Clare Kenny helping out among many others -- including a wonderfully scabrous vocal cameo by Mark E. Smith on the very disco "Seventies Night" -- Collins tries all sorts of different things and more often than not comes up with the goods. "The Magic Piper (Of Love)" was the understandable lead single, catchy and with more than a little bite to it, drawing from finger-snapping hep-lounge Vegas sources and his own fun lyrics: "My girlfriend she got blotto/Half cut in Santa's grotto/It turns out he's a dirty old man." Add to that some just right flute and a clever brass sample that suddenly turns into an orchestrated sample from the Velvet Underground, and the man still has it. It's one of many joys throughout, with Collins showing a musical heterodoxy that would probably stupefy most other bands or acts. "Seventies Night," for example, is followed up by the sweet orchestration and quick acoustic fingerpicking of "No One Waved Goodbye," a regretful look at a relationship in pieces. There's full-on feedback and pounding drums, there's sly, compressed production touching quirky keyboards and Euro/cabaret arrangements, and even the self-explanatory Hammond-tinged "Country Rock." The hint of wistful nostalgia is often matched by the lyrics, with asides like "I'm going back to my old school/Cause to tell you the truth/All those songs of my youth/Move this old fool." Not many musicians so readily and easily allow for the hints of the passage of time. Leave it to Collins to find a number of ways to do just that. Source: [AMG]

Edwyn Collins - Adidas World

Track Listing
1. It's a Steal
2. The Magic Piper (Of Love)
3. Seventies Night
4. No One Wave d Goodbye
5. Downer
6. Who Is It?
7. Running Away With Myself
8. Country Rock
9. For the Rest of My Life
10. Superficial Cat
11. Adidas World
12. I'm Not Following You

[Download]

Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)

2010-08-07T07:55:00.006+02:00

Belle & Sebastian's second record, If You're Feeling Sinister, is, for all intents and purposes, really their first, since their debut in 1996 was not heard outside of privileged inner circles. And If You're Feeling Sinister really did have quite a bit of an impact upon its release in 1996, largely because during the first half of the '90s the whimsy and preciousness that had been an integral part of alternative music was suppressed by grunge. Whimsy and preciousness are an integral part of If You're Feeling Sinister, along with clever wit and gentle, intricate arrangements — a wonderful blend of the Smiths and Simon & Garfunkel, to be reductive. Even if it's firmly within the college, bed-sit tradition, and is unabashedly retrogressive, that gives Sinister a special, timeless character that's enhanced by Stuart Murdoch's wonderful, lively songwriting. Blessed with an impish sense of humor, a sly turn of phrase, and an alluringly fey voice, he gives this record a real sense of backbone, in that its humor is far more biting than the music appears and the music is far more substantial that it initially seems. Sinister plays like a great forgotten album, couched in '80s indie, '90s attitude, and '60s folk-pop. It's beautifully out of time, and even if other Belle & Sebastian albums sound like it, this is where they achieved a sense of grace. Source [AMG]

Belle And Sebastian - Me And The Major

Track Listing
1. The Stars of Track and Field
2. Seeing Other People
3. Me and the Major
4. Like Dylan in the Movies
5. The Fox in the Snow
6. Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying
7. If You're Feeling Sinister
8. Mayfly
9. The Boy Done Wrong Again
10. Judy and the Dream of Horses

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Pizzicato Five - Playboy & Playgirl (1998)

2010-08-02T18:56:00.005+02:00

Playboy & Playgirl begins with the kind of collage-heavy imagined soundtrack that marked Happy End of the World; with that out of the way, they get back to the inspired, eclectic popcraft that is their strength. Hookier and more danceable than their previous album, this is a welcome return to songwriting for the dynamic duo. Think Burt Bacharach without the self-pity, with a smidgen of Motown and Stax. Keyboard timbres run the gamut of the Pizzicato imagination from faux-harpsichord to spacy funk. Singer Nomiya Maki puts her unpretentious stamp over everything from Sgt. Pepper's pomp to '60s R&B horns to symphonic dancefloor beats to introspective pastorals. While P5 may be in with the lounge crowd, they never feel superior to their cheesy predecessors; avoiding the sometimes smug, reactionary irony of the new exotica, Yasuharu Konishi's diverse influences are held together by his all-embracing love of the pop spectrum. A joyous record. [Note: Playboy & Playgirl was released in Japan in 1998 under the title The International Playboy & Playgirl Record; Matador's 1999 American release cuts the third track, "International Pizzicato Five Mansion," and substitutes "La Règle du Jeu" later in the album's running order.]. Source: [AMG]

Pizzicato Five - Playboy Playgirl

Track Listing
1. La Depression
2. Rolls Royce
3. A New Song
4. Week-End
5. Magic Twin Candle Tale
6. Concerto
7. Such a Beautiful Girl Like You
8. Playboy Playgirl
9. La Régle du Jeu
10. I Hear a Symphony
11. Drinking Wine
12. The Great Invitations
13. Stars

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Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)

2010-07-17T23:24:00.002+02:00

Definitely Maybe manages to encapsulate much of the best of British rock & roll — from the Beatles to the Stone Roses — in the space of 11 songs. Oasis' sound is louder and more guitar-oriented than any British band since the Sex Pistols, and the band is blessed with the excellent songwriting of Noel Gallagher. Gallagher writes perfect pop songs, offering a platform for his brother Liam's brash, snarling vocals. Not only does the band have melodies, but they have the capability to work a groove with more dexterity than most post-punk groups. But what makes Definitely Maybe so intoxicating is that it already resembles a greatest-hits album. From the swirling rush of "Rock 'n' Roll Star," through the sinewy "Shakermaker," to the heartbreaking "Live Forever," each song sounds like an instant classic. Source: [AMG]

Oasis - Live Forever

Track Listing
1. Rock 'N' Roll Star
2. Shakermaker
3. Live Forever
4. Up in the Sky
5. Columbia
6. Supersonic
7. Bring It on Down
8. Cigarettes & Alcohol
9. Digsy's Dinner
10. Slide Away
11. Married with Children

[Download]

Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick (1997)

2010-06-29T10:47:00.001+02:00

Junkie XL's debut is often more interesting in theory than in execution; as an attempt to combine rock and electronica on an equal basis, Saturday Teenage Kick is an admirable effort, but too often the ideas simply don't jell. Lacking the dense, complex production of acts like the Chemical Brothers or the Prodigy, the album never achieves the visceral power it's seeking -- it's too dance-oriented for rock listeners, and vice versa. Source: [AMG]

Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick/Billy Club

Track Listing
1. Underachievers
2. Billy Club
3. No Remorse
4. Metrolike
5. X-Panding Limits
6. War
7. Saturday Teenage Kick
8. Dealing With the Roster
9. Fight
10. Melange
11. Def Beat
12. Future in Computer Hell

[Download]

Matthew Sweet - Blue Sky On Mars (1997)

2010-06-18T08:40:00.001+02:00

On Matthew Sweet's early-'90s power pop trilogy of Girlfriend, Altered Beast, and 100% Fun, Richard Lloyd's angular, unpredictable lead guitar functioned as a gritty counterpoint to Sweet's pretty melodies and tales of lost love, giving the music an unexpected depth. Sweet parted ways with Lloyd before he made Blue Sky on Mars, and his departure greatly affects the music. Without Lloyd, the songs are more predictable and the band, even with Brendan O'Brien's warm production, sounds rather canned. However, the music isn't the only thing hurting Blue Sky on Mars -- the songs themselves are considerably more uneven than before, lacking the effortless hooks of its three predecessors. Sweet manages to turn out a handful of good songs -- the swirling "Where Do You Get Love" has an infectious chorus, and "Come to California" has a sunny, Californian feel -- but the simple problem is that most of the songs are colorless, and that comes as a major disappointment after the inspired songcraft since Girlfriend.

Matthew Sweet - Where You Get Love

Track Listing
1. Come to California
2. Back to You
3. Where You Get Love
4. Hollow
5. Behind the Smile
6. Until You Break
7. Over It
8. Heaven and Earth
9. All over My Head
10. Into Your Drug
11. Make Believe
12. Missing Time

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Nirvana - Incesticide (1992)

2010-06-01T19:03:00.001+02:00

Buying time and thwarting bootleggers, Nirvana and DGC released the rarities compilation Incesticide toward the end of 1992. Like any odds'n'sods collection, this is uneven, but that's its charm since it captures Nirvana's character better than any official album. After all, this was a band that was born equally from '70s sludge metal, bubblegum pop, post-punk artiness, and indie rock inclusiveness, each of which are apparent on this collection. There are some non-entities here, particularly on the second side, but the plodding sub-metallic grind was part of their identity, one part of their multi-faceted character. Nirvana meant everything to everyone, from the jangle pop veterans to the garage rock ravers that worshipped the Stooges to stoner metal fetishes and indie rock bed-sits that adopted Sebadoh just as they outgrew Morrissey -- everybody loved Nirvana, and there's something for every kind fan here, thanks to murky sludge, Devo and Vaseline covers, BBC sessions, instrumentals, and limited-edition singles, plus sub-Melvins goop, everything visceral where Bleach was tame. Nevermind doesn't capture this freewheeling indie spirit but Incesticide does, piling on some essentials in the meantime -- the pummeling "Dive," the childhood snapshot "Sliver," the terrific forgotten indie pop tune "Been a Son," and "Aneurysm," perhaps the greatest single song the group ever recorded. Yeah, there's some filler here, but this is the sound of what Nirvana was actually like. Source: [AMG]

Nirvana - Aneurysm

Track Listing
1. Dive
2. Sliver
3. Stain
4. Been a Son
5. Turnaround
6. Molly's Lips
7. Son of a Gun
8. (New Wave) Polly
9. Beeswax
10. Downer
11. Mexican Seafood
12. Hairspray
13. Aero Zeppelin
14. Big Long Now
15. Aneurysm

[Download]

The Vandalias - buzzbomb! (1998)

2010-05-14T21:52:00.001+02:00

Such is the evocative power of the humbly crafted toe-tappers that these Minneapolis popsters deliver.... The Vandalias high concept--a madcap band of cartoony heartthrobs bounce through zany adventures involving muscle vans and mini-skirts--is pure guile. But the music is so smartly composed and cheerfully presented, the whole shebang actually achieves an intoxicating celebration of teen-dom. Plus, it rocks wicked good. Source: [Amazon]

Track Listing
1. buzzbomb!
2. Big Red Catalina 2:33
3. Funky Monkey Baby (live)
4. Charity at Home
5. Hey Kari G
6. Anywhere You Go
7. Down
8. Say I'm Sorry
9. These Others
10. No One Told Him
11. The End of the World

[Download]

Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain (1997)

2010-05-05T17:35:00.001+02:00

No longer the brash, slightly grungy flavor of the month they were in 1992, Songs From Northern Britain finds Teenage Fanclub's trio of singer/songwriters -- Gerard Love, Raymond McGinley, and Norman Blake -- addressing adulthood and responsibility with a bright optimism that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries. From the cheeky yet heartfelt title to the gorgeous cover photographs taken by the band with photographer David Milne in the Scottish Highlands, Songs From Northern Britain is ostensibly a concept album about home and love. Much like the Byrds, the Eagles, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young identified themselves with Los Angeles and Topanga Canyon, Teenage Fanclub has become intrinsically linked to Glasgow and rural Scotland. On "Planets," Blake sings, "We're going over the country/And into the highlands/To look for a home." Similarly, on "I Don't Want Control of You," one of the most beautiful affirmations of fidelity in a relationship, Blake writes, "Everyday I look in a different face/Feelings getting stronger with every embrace." The overall effect is a feeling that the members of Teenage Fanclub are happy with who they are and who they love and see these notions as universal ideals. Musically, the album is more arranged than past releases and delves further into a folky, acoustic sound that fleshes out their Big Star fascination with some sweet harmonies à la the Byrds. There is even a slight bit of country twang mixed into these eminently hummable songs. This isn't to say that Teenage Fanclub has gone completely acoustic, though, as "Planets" features the sonic rush of a Moog synthesizer and fuzzy electric guitars rock pleasantly throughout much of the album. While Songs From Northern Britain may be too gentle and subtle for those listeners not willing to give it more than one spin, it is a resolutely beautiful album that will most likely stand as Teenage Fanclub's masterpiece. Source: [AMG]

Teenage Fanclub - I Don't Want Control Of You

Track Listing
1. Start Again
2. Ain't That Enough
3. Can't Feel My Soul
4. I Don't Want Control of You
5. Planets
6. It's a Bad World
7. Take the Long Way Round
8. Winter
9. I Don't Care
10. Mount Everest
11. Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From
12. Speed of Light

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Girls Against Boys - House Of GVSB (1996)

2010-04-27T20:54:00.002+02:00

House of GVSB saw the band continuing its winning streak, and while arguably it contained no real surprises after the powerful one-two punch of Venus Luxure and Cruise Yourself, it still showed the quartet at the top of its considerable game. The Ted Niceley/Eli Janney partnership once again took charge with no worries, and every last drum hit or aggro bass roar makes its considerable mark. As with the previous albums, some tracks were the unquestioned high points, in this case the opening roar of "Super-Fire," with some of Scott McCloud's best guitar work ever, a controlled blast of riffs, and "TheKindaMzkYouLike," which gives everyone the chance to break out the funky fresh beats in their own style -- feedback and all. The overdubbed chorus of "I'm sinking fast!" followed by another McCloud feedback drone makes for one heck of a conclusion. There are also the sly rhythms of "Disco Six Six Six," which not only benefits from Alexis Fleisig's playing but Janney's strong work on keyboard and McCloud's delivery, which -- instead of mostly being attractively belligerent -- actually shows a tender side. On the seemingly lighter side, the credit for "drum assistance and 808 supplied by Ken Tondre" becomes clear with the skittering opening beats on "Vera Cruz," Janney's squelching keyboard line amusingly offset by McCloud's regular low sighing groan and the full band adding in mostly on the choruses. Janney again has extra fun with falsetto backing vocals at various points, often to gently comedic effect -- the wordless "ah-ah-ah" part on the brutal swing of "Cash Machine" adds a wonderfully strange contrast to McCloud's regular piss-and-vinegar approach. The last track, "Zodiac Love Team," throws in a final curve ball with its echoing, clattering drum loop, almost a throwback to the industrial-tinged origins of the group, but here set in the middle of the band's own film noir feedback style. Source: [AMG]

Girls Against Boys - Super-fire

Track Listing
1. Super-Fire
2. Click Click
3. Crash 17 (X-Rated Car)
4. Disco Six Six Six
5. Life in Pink
6. Thekindamzkyoulike
7. Vera Cruz
8. Anotherdroneinmyhead
9. Cash Machine
10. Wilmington
11. Zodiac Love Team

[Download]

American Music Club - San Francisco (1994)

2010-04-21T18:40:00.001+02:00

Will I fall into a cool, cool river?/Or will I fall into a frozen lake?" sings Mark Eitzel on American Music Club's seventh album, summarizing the band's chipper MO: You're gonna fall – just where is the question.

San Francisco follows 1993's major-label debut, Mercury, but this time around the Bay Area quintet offers a more seamless sound, avoiding some of the arty confusion that plagued that record. The songs now flow naturally on dark and weighty pop lines instead of scattering inside "clever" musical arrangements.

Eitzel sings about love, love and more love: "I don't need anyone's love/I couldn't afford it anyway/With my penny's worth of hope/It's not funny, but it's a joke." His deep, breathy voice bends awkwardly in frustration and bottoms out into whispered loneliness. Lines such as "Twist the light so it shines down on us/And wait together for the touch of something more" expose the idealist at the core of every cynic. But SF holds more than just the stuff of daily journals. Eitzel lets his cheap-apartment romanticism ooze in slick, detached vocals. The simple pop lines and slow ballads are filled with stunning guitar work – from spare and distant acoustic to surreal pedal steel and slide to caressing feedback. The rhythms are delicate and sad (occasionally evoking Joy Division), then cocky and catchy, riding freely under the effects of winding bagpipes, jangly tambourines and rushing wind.

AMC's San Francisco does not signal the second coming of Van Morrison or even the Replacements. Instead, it's just pretty music for emotional down-and-outs who still harbor a penny's worth of hope. Source: [rollingstone.com]

American Music Club - Hello Amsterdam

Track Listing
1. Fearless
2. It's Your Birthday
3. Can You Help Me?
4. Love Doesn't Belong
5. Wish the World Away
6. How Many Six Packs Does It Take to Screw in a Light
7. Cape Canaveral
8. Hello Amsterdam
9. The Revolving Door
10. In the Shadow of the Valley
11. What Holds the World Together
12. I Broke My Promise
13. The Thorn in My Side Is Gone
14. I'll Be Gone
15. Fearless (Reprise)

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Sonic Youth - Dirty (1992)

2010-04-13T20:59:00.002+02:00

When DGC Records signed Nirvana in 1991, one of DGC's A&R reps expressed the opinion that, with plenty of touring and the right promotion, the new act might sell as well as its labelmate and touring partner Sonic Youth. The surprise success of Nevermind upended previous commercial expectations for Sonic Youth (among other established alternative rock bands), and when Dirty was released in 1992, it was seen by many as the band's big move toward the grunge market. Which doesn't make a lot of sense if you actually listen to the album; while Butch Vig's clean but full-bodied production certainly gave Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's guitars greater punch and presence than they had in the past, and many of the songs move in the increasingly tuneful direction the band had been traveling with Daydream Nation and Goo, most of Dirty is good bit more jagged and purposefully discordant than its immediate precursors, lacking the same hallucinatory grace as Daydream Nation or the hard rock sheen of Goo. If anything, Dirty finds Sonic Youth revisiting the territory the band mapped out on Sister — merging the propulsive structures of rock (both punk and otherwise) with the gorgeous chaos of their approach to the electric guitar — and it shows how much better they'd gotten at it in the past five years, from the curiously beautiful "Wish Fulfillment" and "Theresa's Sound World" to the brutal "Drunken Butterfly" and "Purr." Dirty was also Sonic Youth's most overtly political album, railing against the abuses of the Reagan/Bush era on "Youth Against Fascism," "Swimsuit Issue," and "Chapel Hill," a surprising move from a band so often in love with cryptic irony. Heard today, Dirty doesn't sound like a masterpiece (like Daydream Nation) or a gesture toward the mainstream audience (like Goo) — it just sounds like a damn good rock album, and on those terms it ranks with Sonic Youth's best work. Source: [AMG]

Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane

Track Listing
1. 100%
2. Swimsuit Issue
3. Theresa's Sound World
4. Drunken Butterfly
5. Shoot
6. Wish Fulfillment
7. Sugar Kane
8. Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit
9. Youth Against Fascism
10. Nic Fit
11. On the Strip
12. Chapel Hill
13. JC
14. Purr
15. Créme Brûlèe

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Spin Doctors - Pocket Full Of Kryptonite (1992)

2010-04-06T20:12:00.001+02:00

After nearly a year of solid touring, the Spin Doctors scored a huge, unexpected success with the incessantly catchy "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong." The rest of Pocket Full of Kryptonite will please fans of that song; the album is full of the loose, leisurely three-chord pop/rock jams the Spin Doctors specialize in. It may be unfair to compare them to the Grateful Dead, but the Doctors often suggest a lighter, more pop-oriented version of that band. While all of the best tracks were issued as singles ("Jimmy Olsen's Blues," "Two Princes," and "Little Miss"), there are still enough good moments on the rest of the album to please anyone who loves the hits. Source: [AMG]

Spin Doctors - Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

Track Listing
1. Jimmy Olsen's Blues
2. What Time Is It?
3. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong
4. Forty or Fifty
5. Refrigerator Car
6. More Than She Knows
7. Two Princes
8. Off My Line
9. How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Could Have Me?)
10. Shinbone Alley/Hard to Exist
11. Yo Mamas a Pajama
12. Sweet Widow
13. Stepped on a Crack

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The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993)

2010-03-29T21:14:00.001+02:00

The Afghan Whigs' sound was growing larger by the release during the days on Sub Pop, so the fact that Gentlemen turned out the way it did wasn't all that surprising as a result ("cinematic" was certainly the word the band was aiming for, what with credits describing the recording process as being "shot on location" at Ardent Studios). While Gentlemen is no monolith, it is very much of a piece at the start. While "If I Were Going" opens things on a slightly moodier tip, it's the crunch of "Gentlemen," "Be Sweet," and "Debonair" that really stands out, each of which features a tightly wound R&B punch that rocks out as much as it grooves, if not more so. Greg Dulli's lyrics immediately set about the task of emotional self-evisceration at the same time, with lines like "Ladies, let me tell you about myself -- I got a dick for a brain" being among the calmer points. The album truly comes into its own with "When We Two Parted," though, as sad countryish guitars chime over a slow crawling rhythm and Dulli's quiet-then-anguished detailing of an exploding relationship. From there on in, things surge from strength to greater strength, sometimes due to the subtlest of touches -- the string arrangement on "Fountain and Fairfax" or the unexpected, resigned lead vocal from Scrawl's Marcy Mays on "My Curse," for instance. Other times, it's all the much more upfront, as "What Jail Is Like," with its heartbroken-and-fierce combination of piano, feedback, and drive building to an explosive chorus. Dulli's blend of utter abnegation and masculine swagger may be a crutch, but when everything connects, as it does more often than not on Gentlemen, both he and his band are unstoppable. Source: [AMG]

The Afghan Whigs - Debonair

Track Listing
1. If I Were Going
2. Gentlemen
3. Be Sweet
4. Debonair
5. When We Two Parted
6. Fountain and Fairfax
7. What Jail Is Like
8. My Curse
9. Now You Know
10. I Keep Coming Back
11. Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer

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Body Count - Body Count (1992)

2010-03-21T12:13:00.001+01:00

Divorced from the controversy that surrounded its release, Body Count's self-titled debut is a surprisingly tepid affair. Apart from the previously released "Body Count" (which appeared on Ice-T's 1991 album O.G. Original Gangster), the record is devoid of serious commentary, trading intelligence for a lurid comic book depiction of sex, violence, and "Voodoo." All of Ice-T's half-sung/half-shouted lyrics fall far short of the standard he established on his hip-hop albums. The controversial "Cop Killer" -- which is nothing more than a standard thrash metal chant -- stands out because it is one of the few tracks that doesn't rely on garish, cartoonish imagery. There's the saga of "Evil Dick," which tells Ice-T not to "sleep alone." There's "KKK Bitch," where he crashes a Ku Klux Klan meeting and screws the grand dragon's daughter. There's "Voodoo," where a witch doctor cripples our hero with a voodoo doll. There's "Mama's Gotta Die Tonight," where Ice-T offs his mother cause she's a racist. By the time the band works around to the power ballad "The Winner Loses" and Ice-T is crooning "My friend's addicted to cocaine," it's unclear whether the record is a parody or a horribly flawed stab at arena metal. It would help if the band wrote riffs that were memorable or if they conveyed a sense of kinetic energy instead of tossing out their riffs in a workmen-like fashion. Perhaps Body Count was intentionally humorous -- although the group's follow-up, Born Dead, suggests that it wasn't -- but in any case, the record was simply embarrassing. After "Cop Killer" was pulled from the album, it was replaced with a bland version of Ice-T's rap classic "The Iceberg" recorded with Jello Biafra. Source: [AMG]

Body Count - Cop Killer

Track Listing
1. Smoked Pork
2. Body Count's in the House
3. Now Sports
4. Body Count
5. A Statistic
6. Bowels of the Devil
7. The Real Problem
8. KKK Bitch
9. C Note
10. Voodoo
11. The Winner Loses
12. There Goes the Neighborhood
13. Oprah
14. Evil Dick
15. Body Count Anthem
16. Momma's Gotta Die Tonight
17. Ice-T/Freedom of Speech

[Download]

Redd Kross - Show World (1997)

2010-03-06T16:36:00.001+01:00

Kicking off with an exuberant version of the L.A. power pop-classic-that-almost-wasn't, "Pretty Please Me" -- and unsurprisingly Steve and Jeff McDonald and company rock the bastard to the ground with a smile this time around -- Show World is yet more fun from a band who dedicates themselves to a smart good time. In ways, Redd Kross had found history catching up to them by this time -- any number of bands had stumbled across the loud and brash- '70s pop-punk approach that was the group's raison de etre. But the fact that they hadn't gotten the attention they deserved for it didn't keep them from still going at it with gusto; Bless their hearts. If songs like "You Lied Again" and "Vanity Mirror" didn't introduce any curveballs to the basic sound, they still sounded pretty damn fantastic, singalong energy overdriven up to ten and beyond. Slightly slower tracks like "Girl God," the mega-orchestrated ballad "Secret Life," and the handclap crazy "Follow the Leader" showcase the band's calmer side well enough -- again, no surprises, but none were expected or needed. Best song title of the bunch this time around: "One Chord Progression," which lives up to its name just so. "Teen Competition" lets them cock rock out with the best of them, but doesn't forget the sugar in the chorus even as the distortion completely screws with the mix at one point, while "Get Out of Myself" has one brilliant moment with so much hyper-flange that why the speakers don't melt upon contact is a mystery. Source: [AMG]

Redd Kross - Mess Around

Track Listing
1. Pretty Please Me
2. Stoned
3. You Lied Again
4. Girl God
5. Mess Around
6. One Chord Progression
7. Teen Competition
8. Follow the Leader
9. Vanity Mirror
10. Secret Life
11. Ugly Town
12. Get Out of Myself
13. Kiss the Goat

[Download]

Superchunk - No Pocky For Kitty (1991)

2010-03-01T16:53:00.002+01:00

Where Superchunk's self-titled debut otherwise failed to live up to the brilliance of its anti-anthem centerpiece "Slack Motherfucker," the follow-up No Pocky for Kitty is a complete and fully realized statement of purpose -- opening with the dizzying "Skip Steps 1 & 3," the disc never lets up for a second, crackling with an energy and breathless abandon that underlines the sheer exuberance at the heart of even Mac McCaughan's most superficially bitter songs. Although No Pocky for Kitty successfully channels the sound and spirit of punk's heyday, for all their whiplash guitars and spitfire rhythms Superchunk's songs derive their power not from nihilism and ennui but from optimism and passion -- implicit in McCaughan's lyrics is a belief in creation over destruction, hope over cynicism, and love over hate. Credit too Steve Albini's no-frills recording for the live-wire snap and crackle of standouts like "Seed Toss," "Punch Me Harder," and "Throwing Things" -- for all its earthy simplicity and everyman conviction, No Pocky for Kitty positively soars. Source: [AMG]

Superchunk - Cast Iron

Track Listing
1. Skip Steps 1 & 3
2. Seed Toss
3. Cast Iron
4. Tower
5. Punch Me Harder
6. Sprung a Leak
7. 30 Xtra
8. Tie a Rope to the Back of the Bus
9. Press
10. Sidewalk
11. Creek
12. Throwing Things

[Download]

Red Snapper - Making Bones (1998)

2010-02-24T17:14:00.001+01:00

A full decade of acid jazz never produced a more stunning fusion of electronic music with live instrumentation than Making Bones. Poised halfway between Sly & Robbie and Roni Size, Red Snapper's first album for a worldwide audience surfs a wave of breakbeat funk that includes nods to dub, punk, soul, drum'n'bass and hip-hop. The rock-steady rhythm section of Richard Thair (drums) and Ali Friend (bass) holds the groove better than any sampler, tying together radically different material like classic British soul on "Image of You," metallic drum'n'bass on "The Sleepless" (with excellent rapping by MC Det) and the fusion update "Bogeyman" (with trumpeter Byron Wallen). It's obvious the Snapper have mastered all aspects of '90s electronic dance, and Making Bones is proof positive. Source: [AMG]

Red Snapper - The Sleepless

Track Listing
1. The Sleepless
2. Crease
3. Image of You
4. Bogeyman
5. The Tunnel
6. Like a Moving Truck
7. Spitalfields
8. Seeing Red
9. Suckerpunch
10. 4 Dead Monks

[Download]

Buck Wild - Beat Me Silly (1996)

2010-02-19T19:14:00.001+01:00

As it happens, Buckwild's debut album, Beat Me Silly, was the first full-length release on Lobster Records, the label guitarist and vocalist Shawn Dewey started with his friend Steve in the mid-'90s, and it could not represent the label's modus operandi any better. Dewey started the band as a return to playing parties and no pressure kinds of shows, and Beat Me Silly is obviously a work of energetic joy. The album moves effortlessly between brash, modern post-punk ("One Day" resembles what Foo Fighters might sound like if that band was as grounded in punk as they claim, bypassed bright, shiny production, and just played for the fun of it) and punk-pop a la Green Day with vocals that are less interested in the pop half than the punk half of the equation. The music on the other hand is spiked by instantly catchy melodies, and the band occasionally breaks into split-seconds of harmony and quiet musical passages. For such a loud album in a genre that prides itself on holding in any impulses of tenderness, Beat Me Silly is surprisingly attitudinal. Many common punk emotions rise to the surface, from anger to boredom, but at least five of the songs betray infatuations or love (including a cover of the Turtles' "Happy Together" that is surprisingly faithful to the original, only kicked in the rear a bit) albeit love that often turned out bad for some reason or other. In "Slipping Away" there is even self-chiding built in for showing such vulnerability: "Why do I want her...." Buckwild is less impressive when it tries to play it sensitive on the soft sections of "That's the Problem," but when the song kicks into overdrive it is a monster. Dewey is no crooner, but when he's raging through his words, he navigates an impressive vocal range. Beat Me Silly, it turns out, is an excellent album that generally sticks to its strong suits: controlled aggression that allows its vulnerability to seep to the surface despite the effort to conceal such a soft heart beats at its core. Source: [AMG]

Buck Wild - American Dream

Track Listing
1. Artificial Love
2. One Day
3. Just in Time
4. Flowerstand Girl
5. What I Saw in You
6. The Letter
7. American Dream
8. That's the Problem
9. Happy Together (is a cover of Happy Together by The Turtles)
10. Slipping Away
11. [untitled]

[Download]

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Experimental Remixes (1995)

2010-02-13T09:07:00.001+01:00

With Experimental Remixes, various indie rock, dance, and hip-hop luminaries step in to remix and rearrange a handful of Blues Explosion songs, and manage to create an interesting and enjoyable collection. Jon Spencer has long voiced his admiration for hip-hop, so it's no surprise that he would want to collaborate with some of the best samplers and remixers in the business. Beck and the Beastie Boys' Mike D turn "Flavor" into a cut-and-paste workout, while Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic injects "Soul Typecast" with funk and menace. However, it's "Greyhound" that gets the best makeover, courtesy of Moby and the Wu-Tang Clan's Genius/GZA and Killah Priest. Moby's version is a screaming piece of techno-pop, with a brilliant guitar solo laid on top. This segues into Genius/GZA's starker version, in which nearly all of the instruments have dropped out, leaving only the rolling bassline and drums to contend with Killah Priest's rapping. Experimental Remixes is sure to appeal to both fans of the Blues Explosion and to fans of the artists featured throughout the album. [The import edition includes three bonus tracks: "Implosion," "Explo," and "Blues 'XXX' Man"]. Source: [AMG]

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Flavor

Track Listing
1. Bellbottoms (Old Rascal mix)
2. Flavor, Part 1
3. Flavor, Part 2
4. Soul Typecast
5. Greyhound, Part 1
6. Greyhound, Part 2
7. Tour Dairy
8. Implosion
9. Explo
10. Blues 'XXX' Man

[Download]

Cast - Mother Nature Calls (1997)

2010-02-07T21:39:00.001+01:00

If Cast's debut album All Change was trad-rock at its most joyous, their second album Mother Nature Calls is considerably more problematic. Electing to expand their sound slightly instead of replicating All Change, Cast paints itself into a corner. They haven't abandoned the traditional Brit-pop stylings of their debut, but they've strengthened it with a tougher sound and neo-hippie mysticism that manifests itself not only in John Power's dippy lyrics, but also in trippy instrumental sections. In theory, this is a way out of the trad-rock straitjacket, but in practice it falls flat. The main problem is that Power's melodies aren't nearly as sharp or memorable as they were on the debut; this immediately brings attention toward his lyrics, which are naive and often embarassingly simplistic. Cast also doesn't have enough charisma to save the songs with energetic, distinctive performances when they're flailing. These problems become all the more evident when they do get it right, such as on the shimmering "Guiding Star," the punchy "She Sun Shines" and the heart-tugging "I'm So Lonely (Calling You Back)," and they have the same sparkling joy that made All Change a delight. But that's a rarity on Mother Nature Calls. When the tunes and attitude are there, such weaknesses are easy to overlook, but since Cast comes up deficient on both counts, Mother Nature Calls is simply a dull listen. Source: [AMG]

Cast - Guiding Star

Track Listing
1. Free Me
2. On the Run
3. Live the Dream
4. Soul Tied
5. She Sun Shines
6. I'm So Lonely
7. The Mad Hatter
8. Mirror Me
9. Guiding Star
10. Never Gonna Tell You What to Do (Revolution)
11. Dance of the Stars / (untitled)

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[Listen]

Bob Mould - Black Sheets Of Rain (1990)

2010-01-31T19:04:00.001+01:00

If you thought Bob Mould's angst-ridden solo debut, Workbook, was a blast of heavy weather, you'll need a steel umbrella to withstand the torrential distortion and gale-force rage of Black Sheets of Rain. This album contains none of Workbook's pensive acoustic eloquence or diligent guitar orchestration. Black Sheets of Rain is nothing more, or less, than a long, loud howl of pain – blinding anger, unremitting loveache, debilitating loneliness – broadcast from power-trio hell.

But like the machine-gun melancholy that distinguished Mould's half of the Hüsker Dü songbook, this is the kind of high-volume torment and emotional open-heart surgery that hurts so good. "Is there an upside/To every downside?" Mould asks despairingly in the opening title track, only to answer his own question with an overdubbed assault of clenched-fist guitars and shivering feedback screams. "Stop Your Crying" is a stunning, funereal stomp that explodes with serrated circular riffing, careening solo breaks and a manic, strangled vocal, escalating into a climactic frenzy that roars like a fiercely compressed version of the haywire coda to John Lennon's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." And the album's big, bloodletting finish, "Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace," sounds like Richard Thompson in hell, a kind of slam-dance "Shoot Out the Lights" hammered out industrial-waltz style by the returning Workbook rhythm devils, drummer Anton Fier and Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone.

Rock & roll catharsis, postpunk or otherwise, doesn't get much better than this. It's not exactly sweet release, though. Mould discovers little in the way of hope or emotional fulfillment in his misery expeditions here, other than the kinds that come from just walking away or letting go. The most upbeat song on the record is "Out of Your Life," a bright, bouncy rocker with a punky, coltish kick and a snappy Sixties Brit-pop chorus (sort of Buzzcocks meets Badfinger) that belie Mould's bleak lyrical mood: "I ain't got a life all alone/And the one I got with you could kill me."

Yet for all of its volcanic distortion and blatant suicidal desperation, Black Sheets of Rain is really about the hurt that eventually leads to discovery. "So I've been driving far and wide to find my call in life/Been looking for a place where I belong/I guess a little pain never killed anyone," Mould admits, rather matter-of-factly, in the otherwise pulverizing "Hanging Tree." This record is the sound of Mould cranking up and just sweating it out. Source: [RollingStone.com]

Bob Mould & No Age - I Apologize

Track Listing
1. Black Sheets of Rain
2. Stand Guard
3. It's Too Late
4. One Good Reason
5. Stop Your Crying
6. Hanging Tree
7. The Last Night
8. Hear Me Calling
9. Out of Your Life
10. Disappointed
11. Sacrifice - Let There Be Peace

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The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)

2010-01-12T17:10:00.001+01:00

The Smashing Pumpkins didn't shy away from making the follow-up to the grand, intricate Siamese Dream. With Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the band turns in one of the most ambitious and indulgent albums in rock history. Lasting over two hours and featuring 28 songs, the album is certainly a challenging listen. To Billy Corgan's credit, it's a rewarding and compelling one as well. Although the artistic scope of the album is immense, the Smashing Pumpkins flourish in such an overblown setting. Corgan's songwriting has never been limited by conventional notions of what a rock band can do, even if it is clear that he draws inspiration from scores of '70s heavy metal and art rock bands. Instead of copying the sounds of his favorite records, he expands on their ideas, making the gentle piano of the title track and the sighing "1979" sit comfortably against the volcanic rush of "Jellybelly" and "Zero." In between those two extremes lies an array of musical styles, drawing from rock, pop, folk, and classical. Some of the songs don't work as well as others, but Mellon Collie never seems to drag. Occasionally they fall flat on their face, but over the entire album, the Smashing Pumpkins prove that they are one of the more creative and consistent bands of the '90s. Source: [AMG]

The Smashing Pumpkins - Zero

Track Listing
Dawn To Dusk
1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
2. Tonight, Tonight
3. Jellybelly
4. Zero
5. Here Is No Why
6. Bullet with Butterfly Wings
7. To Forgive
8. Fuck You (An Ode to No One)
9. Love
10. Cupid de Locke
11. Galapogos
12. Muzzle
13. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
14. Take Me Down

Twilight To Starlight
1. Where the Boys Fear to Tread
2. Bodies
3. Thirty-Three
4. In the Arms of Sleep
5. 1979
6. Tales of a Scorched Earth Corgan 4:16
7. Thru the Eyes of Ruby Corgan 4:14
8. Stumbleine
9. X.Y.U.
10. We Only Come out at Night
11. Beautiful
12. Lily (My One and Only)
13. By Starlight
14. Farewell and Goodnight

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VV. AA. - A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

2010-01-07T16:58:00.001+01:00

Danny Boyle, Andrew MacDonald and John Hodge's adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting was one of those rare films that captured the spirit and style of contemporary youth culture. That alone was a remarkable event, but what was even more surprising was how its accompanying soundtrack summarized the sounds of mid-'90s British alternative music. They couldn't hope to replicate that seminal event with the soundtrack to their subsequent romantic comedy, A Life Less Ordinary, and they don't, even though the album has plenty to recommend it on its own. Since the film is set in America, it is only appropriate that there are several American bands on the soundtrack (Trainspotting was almost entirely British), and several of the songs have a distinct country leaning. The first half of the record is stellar, featuring Beck's groovy, swinging "Deadweight," and Luscious Jackson's "Love Is Here," Ash's storming title track, R.E.M.'s re-recorded (and superior) "Leave," and Folk Implosion's "Kingdom of Lies," among others. The second half sags a bit, as a pair of oldies (Elvis Presley's "Always On My Mind," Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea") and a couple of nonentities (Dusted's "Deeper River") hurt the momentum, but that doesn't distract from the pleasures of new tracks from the Cardigans, A3, Underworld and the Prodigy. In the end, A Life Less Ordinary isn't as consistently engaging as Trainspotting, but it doesn't really matter, since this soundtrack offers more thrills than average and has a distinctive, compelling mood of its own. Source: [AMG]

Ash - A Life Less Ordinary

Track Listing
1. Beck - Deadweight
2. Luscious Jackson - Love Is Here
3. Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
4. Sneaker Pimps - Velvet Divorce
5. The Folk Implosion - Kingdom of Lies
6. R.E.M. - Leave [New Version]
7. Faithless - Don't Leave
8. Underworld - Oh
9. The Cardigans - It's War
10. Elvis Presley - Always on My Mind
11. Alabama 3 - Peace in the Valley
12. Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea
13. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Put a Lid on It
14. Dusted - Deeper River
15. Prodigy - Full Throttle

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Mudhoney - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991)

2010-01-02T12:39:00.001+01:00

Whether it was Conrad Uno's production, the addition of more instruments to the Mudhoney arsenal (notably, Mark Arm adds organ, as can be enjoyably heard on "Who You Drivin' Now," among other numbers), a slew of brilliant songs, or a combination of the above, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge found Mudhoney coming into their own album-wise. "Let It Slide," the album's lead single, fuses everything from surf rock drumming from Dan Peters to a delicious vocal whine on the verses from Arm into a hotwired classic. It's not so much grunge as speed-freak energy, and all the better for it given the caricatures of Sub Pop's sound that would soon take over the airwaves. "Into the Drink" is another fun single, using acoustic and electric guitar to carry a nicely snotty garage stomp along, the full band adding one of their better chorus-gang shouts. More acoustic twang surfaces here and there (check out "Move Out"), helping to show that the variety of songs and styles is much more apparent and welcome here than on the self-titled album. The almost-pretty rushed guitar chime on "Good Enough" could be mid-'80s New Order or the Wedding Present, while Steve Turner's harmonica playing often suggests even deeper roots (and on "Pokin' Around" is both quick on the pace and sweetly mournful). Uno's eight-track production makes more of less plenty of times -- "Something So Clear" may not sound as full to some ears as their other records, but the basic guitar overdubs add just enough force, an effective simplicity (and Turner's soloing is pretty great to boot). The six-minute "Broken Hands" is the one point on the album where the band completely freaks out, but unlike the takes-too-long moments of Mudhoney, it's all worth it here, down to the final chaotic amplifier abuse. Source: [AMG]

Mudhoney - Let It Slide

Track Listing
1. Generation Genocide
2. Let It Slide
3. Good Enough
4. Something So Clear
5. Thorn
6. Into the Drink
7. Broken Hands
8. Who You Drivin' Now
9. Move Out
10. Shoot the Moon
11. Fuzzgun '91
12. Pokin' Around
13. Don't Fade IV
14. Check-Out Time

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Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies (1994)

2009-12-25T09:00:00.001+01:00

Written and recorded in about a week, Jar of Flies solidified Alice in Chains' somewhat bizarre pattern of alternating full-length hard rock albums with mostly acoustic, ballad-oriented EPs. That quirk aside, Jar of Flies is a low-key stunner, achingly gorgeous and harrowingly sorrowful all at once. In a way, it's a logical sequel to Dirt -- despite the veneer of calm, the songs' voices still blame only themselves. But where Dirt found catharsis in its unrelenting darkness and depravity, Jar of Flies is about living with the consequences, full of deeply felt reflections on loneliness, self-imposed isolation, and lost human connections. The mood is still hopelessly bleak, but the poignant, introspective tone produces a sense of acceptance that's actually soothing, in a funereal sort of way. Jerry Cantrell's arrangements keep growing more detailed and layered; while there are a few noisy moments, most of Jar of Flies is bathed in a clean, shimmering ambience whose source is difficult to pin down, but is well served by Cantrell's varied guitar tones and even occasional string arrangements. And coming on the heels of Dirt, the restraint and subtlety of Jar of Flies are nothing short of revelatory -- though it was written and recorded in about a week, it feels much more crafted and textured than Sap. Perhaps Jar of Flies would have gotten more credit if it had been a full-length album; as it stands, the EP is a leap forward and a major work in the Alice in Chains catalog. Source: [AMG]

Alice In Chains - No Excuses

Track Listing
1. Rotten Apple
2. Nutshell
3. I Stay Away
4. No Excuses
5. Whale & Wasp
6. Don't Follow
7. Swing on This

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Bis - Social Dancing (1999)

2009-12-20T13:04:00.001+01:00

As Bis' career progressed, the band's music changed ever so slightly. (Somehow, the word "mature" seems singularly inappropriate as far as this trio is concerned.) The D.I.Y.-punk influences faded into the background as kandy-colored, trashy new wave-dance roots took hold. Simultaneously, the bandmembers' calls for Teen C Power rescinded, leaving them without any message, genuine or manufactured, outside of pop music and fun (or something along those lines). Nevertheless, when it came time to record its second album, Social Dancing, Bis teamed with producer Andy Gill, best known as part of the socialist post-punk band Gang of Four. Following its transformation from a band of underground activists to Casio-driven bubblegum practitioners, Bis turned into the kind of group that would have been in direct opposition to Gang of Four in the early '80s -- all the more ironic, since Gill's production makes Social Dancing sound uncannily like a period piece. That turns out to be a blessing, since his shiny retro sounds make the album go down, even when the trio's kiddie choruses deteriorate from charming to annoying. Consequently, the record is more cohesive than the band's debut, but it never feels relevant -- and at one point, that's what Bis was all about. Arriving at the tail end of Brit-pop, Bis' first EPs seemed fresh, original, part of a new zeitgeist. But since that zeitgeist was all about youth -- and the fact that the members of Bis were teenagers pining for the golden age of elementary school -- sealed the fate for the trio; Bis was of the moment in 1996, and when that year was gone, the band would never again sound hip or relevant. To their credit, they figured out how to move on, entrenching themselves within new wave, and they have made an album that's pretty entertaining. But that triumph is compromised somewhat by the fact that the album ultimately sounds as good and is as substantive as a Haysi Fantayzee record. Source: [AMG]

Bis - Eurodisco

Track Listing
1. Making People Normal
2. I'm a Slut
3. Eurodisco
4. Action and Drama
5. Theme from Tokyo
6. The Hit Girl
7. Am I Loud Enough?
8. Shopaholic
9. Young Alien Types
10. Detour
11. Sale or Return
12. It's All New
13. Listen Up

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The Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust (1995)

2009-12-13T18:00:00.000+01:00

The former Dust Brothers make oblique reference to litigation averted on their debut full-length. The Chemical Brothers' sound is big on bombast, replete with screeching guitar samples and lots of sirens and screaming divas. A breakthrough album of sorts, Exit Planet Dust was, upon its release, one of the few European post-techno albums to make any sort of headway into the stateside market. Source: [AMG]

The Chemical Brothers - Chemical Beats

Track Listing
1. Leave Home
2. In Dust We Trust
3. Song to the Siren
4. Three Little Birdies Down Beats
5. Fuck Up Beats
6. Chemical Beats
7. Chico's Groove
8. One Too Many Mornings
9. Life Is Sweet
10. Playground for a Wedgeless Firm
11. Alive Alone

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The Lazy Cowgirls - Ragged Soul (1995)

2009-12-06T12:45:00.001+01:00

Ragged Soul was the first album in five years from the Lazy Cowgirls, and from the first blast of D.D. Weekday's guitar on "I Can't Be Satisfied" it's obvious that this band was ready to make up for lost time. Against all odds, Ragged Soul sounds like the band's best album ever; the twin-guitar punch of Weekday and Michael Leigh offers plenty of kick with no clutter, the rhythm section (Leonard Keringer on bass and Ed Huerta on drums) drives the songs forward without crowding anyone in the process, and Pat Todd proves he's one of the greatest unsung frontmen in rock, pouring out fire and passion on every cut. The material is top shelf, too, especially the bitterly anthemic "Frustration, Tragedy and Lies" and "Bought Your Lies." Tough, furious, loud and proud -- Ragged Soul is roots-smart old-school punk at its finest. Source: [AMG]

The Lazy Cowgirls - Who You Callin' A Slut

Track Listing
1. I Can't Be Satisfied
2. Much Too Slow
3. Frustration, Tragedy and Lies
4. Who You Callin' a Slut
5. Everything You Heard About Me Is True
6. Never Got the Chance
7. Too Much - One More Time
8. Time and Money
9. Another Long Goodbye
10. Now That You're Down One Me
11. I Can Almost Remember
12. Still on the Losin' Side (A.K.A. Snake Eyes)
13. Take It as It Comes
14. Bought Your Lies

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Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994)

2009-11-28T18:54:00.001+01:00

The Downward Spiral positioned Trent Reznor as industrial's own Phil Spector, painting detailed, layered soundscapes from a wide tonal palette. Not only did he fully integrated the crashing metal guitars of Broken, but several newfound elements — expanded song structures, odd time signatures, shifting arrangements filled with novel sounds, tremendous textural variety — can be traced to the influence of progressive rock. So can the painstaking attention devoted to pacing and contrast — The Downward Spiral is full of striking sonic juxtapositions and sudden about-faces in tone, which make for a fascinating listen. More important than craft in turning Reznor into a full-fledged rock star, however, was his brooding persona. Grunge had the mainstream salivating over melodramatic angst, which had always been Reznor's stock in trade. The left-field hit "Closer" made him a postmodern shaman for the '90s, obsessed with exposing the dark side he saw behind even the most innocuous façades. In fact, his theatrics on The Downward Spiral — all the preening self-absorption and serpentine sexuality — seemed directly descended from Jim Morrison. Yet Reznor's nihilism often seemed like a reaction against some repressively extreme standard of purity, so the depravity he wallowed in didn't necessarily seem that depraved. That's part of the reason why, in spite of its many virtues, The Downward Spiral falls just short of being the masterpiece it wants to be. For one thing, fascination with texture occasionally dissolves the hooky songwriting that fueled Pretty Hate Machine. But more than that, Reznor's unflinching bleakness was beginning to seem like a carefully calibrated posture; his increasing musical sophistication points up the lyrical holding pattern. Having said that, the album ends on an affecting emotional peak — "Hurt" mingles drama and introspection in a way Reznor had never quite managed before. It's evidence of depth behind the charisma that deservedly made him a star. Source: [AMG]

Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs

Track Listing
1. Mr. Self Destruct
2. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
3. Heresy
4. March of the Pigs
5. Closer
6. Ruiner
7. The Becoming
8. I Do Not Want This
9. Big Man With a Gun
10. A Warm Place
11. Eraser
12. Reptile
13. The Downward Spiral
14. Hurt

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Redd Kross - Born Innocent (1981)

2009-11-23T12:16:00.001+01:00

Originally issued in 1982, Born Innocent was the debut full-length release from Redd Kross, a band of suburban L.A. youth fronted by brothers Jeff (guitar, vocals) and Steve McDonald (bass). Aged 18 and 14, respectively, the aspiring punks are aided and abetted here by rhythm guitarist Tracy Lee and drummers Janet Housden and John Stielow as they attack these 16 songs with all the patience of over-stimulated teens and all the subtlety of a slasher flick. The average song length falls below the two-minute mark, during which time Jeff McDonald's whine is rarely coherent above the clamor of his band's brutal rock assault. The punk negation of titles like "Kill Someone You Hate," "Look up at the Bottom," and "Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me" couldn't be more appropriate descriptions for this music. "Solid Gold" is a slice of dislocated blues while "St. Lita Ford Blues" disintegrates from a stop-start punk party (complete with jubilant screams) to a raucous three-chord blur. Included for good measure are tributes to both actress Linda Blair ("Linda Blair") and serial killer Charles Manson ("Charlie" and a cover of Manson's own "Cease to Exist"). Though subsequent releases found Redd Kross cleaning up their act, this debut captures them in all their youthful glory; documenting the sound of the McDonalds and company unleashed on an unsuspecting set of guitars, bass, and drums. Source: [AMG]

Redd Kross - Linda Blair

Track Listing
1. Linda Blair
2. White Trash
3. Everyday There's Someone New
4. Solid Gold
5. Burn-Out
6. Charlie
7. Tatum O'Tot and the Fried Vegetables
8. St. Lita Ford Blues
9. Self Respect
10. Pseudo-Intellectual
11. Kill Someone You Hate
12. Look on up at the Bottom
13. Cellulite
14. I'm Alright
15. Cease to Exist
16. Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me

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Pavement - Wowee Zowee (1995)

2009-11-14T11:00:00.003+01:00

With its vast array of musical styles, Wowee Zowee isn't as accessible as Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or as immediate as the bracing, noisy pop of Slanted & Enchanted. Pavement never abandon their warped pop aesthetic, they simply expand it, incorporating elements of folk-rock, English music hall, soul, jazz, country, as well as adding asides to such contemporaries as Suede ("We Dance"), Ween ("Brinx Job"), and Stereolab ("Half a Canyon"). Alternating between majestic epics like "Grounded" and ragged narratives like "Rattled by the Rush" and "Father to a Sister of Thought," to song fragments like "Brinx Job" and the punkish "Serpentine Pad," the record might seem disjointed at first. After repeated listens, the songs play off each other, creating a dense collage of '90s rock & roll that recasts the past and present into one rich, kaleidoscopic, and blissfully cryptic world view. Source: [AMG]

Pavement - Rattled By The Rush

Track Listing
1. We Dance
2. Rattled by the Rush
3. Black Out
4. Brinx Job
5. Grounded
6. Serpentine Pad
7. Motion Suggests
8. Father to a Sister of Thought
9. Extradition
10. Best Friends Arm
11. Grave Architecture
12. AT & T
13. Flux = Rad
14. Fight This Generation
15. Kennel District
16. Pueblo
17. Half a Canyon
18. Western Homes

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Helmet - Betty (1994)

2009-11-08T14:07:00.001+01:00

With the corporate rock cognoscenti frothing at the mouth to sign the next Nirvana, in 1991 a seemingly "nerdy" band from New York by the name of Helmet was about to set the world on fire -- at least on paper. Seemingly overnight, the Amphetamine Reptile faves had a fat check in their pockets and an astounding major-label debut by the name of Meantime. Eschewing Cobain's neo-punk/power pop instincts, Helmet opted instead for a more a minimalist approach, whereby rhythmic tension over 4/4 melodies reigned supreme. Now poised to step into their role as future darlings of a sound that can only be described as bludgeoning aggro-punk-atonal-rock, the band was propelled by a massive hype campaign and heralded as East Coast tastemakers du jour. But for all its accolades (mostly well-deserved), Meantime's commercial success sadly fell short of expectations and, by 1994, Helmet was giving it another try with Betty -- its second effort for Interscope. Label pressure notwithstanding, Betty had a lot more riding on it than even perhaps Hamilton was willing to admit. Lacking some of the tightly focused ferocity of Meantime, Betty appears to be an almost too well-thought-out affair and, ultimately, its songs miss out on some of the discreet melodic accents that had served to underpin even the most bludgeoning noise-fests on Meantime. Songs like "Wilma's Rainbow," "Biscuits for Smut," and especially "Milquetoast" have their moments, but don't quite live up to expectations. And although Helmet's tuned down, stop-go-stop dynamic (originally pioneered by New Yorkers Prong) would go on to influence hundreds of up-and-coming acts, their complete lack of image or star quality (a key ingredient to Cobain's magnetism, as much as he himself despised it) would play a major role in eventually doing them in. Betty initiated a commercial spiral for the quartet that not even the return to form and progress displayed by 1997's massive sounding Aftertaste could reverse. Source: [AMG]

Helmet - Milquetoast

Track Listing
1. Wilma's Rainbow
2. I Know
3. Biscuits for Smut
4. Milquetoast
5. Tic
6. Rollo
7. Street Crab
8. Clean
9. Vaccination
10. Beautiful Love
11. Speechless
12. The Silver Hawaiian
13. Overrated
14. Sam Hell

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The Devil Dogs - Saturday Night Fever (1994)

2009-11-03T20:52:00.001+01:00

New York garage punk trio the Devil Dogs could usually be counted on for consistency, but 1994's Saturday Night Fever is a hair below most of their other albums in the entertainment department. Most of the problem is in the production, which takes that fatal half-step from authentically raunchy lo-fi to just plain bad: most of the record sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a fairly deep well. Even aside from that, however, there are fewer of the Devil Dogs' great snotty pop-punk classics, and too many songs sound like half-hearted rewrites of what had come before. Although it has a fun early-'60s pop parody feel to it, "Get On Your Knees" isn't much more than a rewrite of "Suck the Dog," the early Devil Dogs' slice of punk misogyny later recorded by both Billy Childish and the Italian punks the Singing Dogs. One highlight is a swell cover of Gene Pitney's "Backstage," but too much of the rest of the album is simply passable at best. Source: [AMG]

The Devil Dogs - Once Around The Block / C'mon Little Baby

Track Listing
1. Big Fuckin Party (Pt. 1)
2. Dance With You Baby
3. Gonna Be My Girl
4. Once Around the Block
5. I Don't Believe You
6. Backstage
7. Back in the City
8. 6th Ave. Local
9. It's Not Easy
10. Sweet Like Wine
11. Stuck in 3rd Gear
12. Alright!
13. Big Fuckin Party (Reprise)
14. Get on Your Knees
15. Hellraiser
16. Burnin' Love
17. So Young
18. Long Gone

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The Dirtys - You Should Be Sinnin' (1997)

2009-10-29T21:25:00.000+01:00

With nothing else to do in Port Huron, Michigan except drink, listen to the Stooges and start a bottle breaking, obnoxious rock troupe. At least that was the case for Screamin' Joe Burdick (bass/ vocals), Nick Lloyd (drums), Larry TerBush (guitar/ vocals) and Marc Watt (guitar) when they got together The Dirtys in early 1996. Known for their destructive stage presence and getting themselves banned from the occasional bar, Crypt Records took a liking to these guys and released their first album You Should Be Sinnin' in 1997. The Dirtys attempt to resurrect the spirit of classic rock & roll on You Should Be Sinnin'..., fusing Chuck Berry-esque riffs with considerable bad-boy attitude for maximum raunch. Source: [AMG]

Track Listing
1. Midnite Till Noon
2. I'm on Fire
3. Rock It Out Tonight!
4. Alive
5. Born to Lose, Live to Win
6. I Ain't Cheatin'
7. Grind Baby Grind
8. Shanty
9. Sex Pain
10. Dirtys Boogie
11. You Should Be Packin' Mama
12. Pistol Packin' Mama
13. You Belong to Me
14. Ain't She Sweet
15. Drink, Fight...Fuck!

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Pizzicato Five - Made In USA (1994)

2009-10-21T19:49:00.000+02:00

Although it's not billed as such, Pizzicato Five's stateside debut, Made in USA, is actually a compilation of tracks from their 15 or so albums. You need a taste for irreverent sampling and ironic deconstruction of lightweight pop idioms to dig this. But within that narrow field, Pizzicato Five are as good as it gets. They devise fare that's both funky and funny, made more human than most such projects by Maki Nomiya's fetching vocals. Source: [AMG]

Pizzicato Five - Magic Carpet Ride

Track Listing
1. I
2. Sweet Soul Revue
3. Magic Carpet Ride
4. Readymade FM
5. Baby Love Child
6. Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy Vs. James Bond [mix]
7. This Year's Girl #2
8. I Wanna Be Like You
9. Go Go Dancer
10. Catchy
11. Peace Music

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Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994)

2009-10-12T16:14:00.001+02:00

Soundgarden's finest hour, Superunknown is a sprawling, 70-minute magnum opus that pushes beyond any previous boundaries. Soundgarden had always loved replicating Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath riffs, but Superunknown's debt is more to mid-period Zep's layered arrangements and sweeping epics. Their earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia. Badmotorfinger boasted more than its fair share of indelible riffs, but here the main hooks reside mostly in Chris Cornell's vocals; accordingly, he's mixed right up front, floating over the band instead of cutting through it. The rest of the production is just as crisp, with the band achieving a huge, robust sound that makes even the heaviest songs sound deceptively bright. But the most important reason Superunknown is such a rich listen is twofold: the band's embrace of psychedelia, and their rapidly progressing mastery of songcraft. Soundgarden had always been a little mind-bending, but the full-on experiments with psychedelia give them a much wider sonic palette, paving the way for less metallic sounds and instruments, more detailed arrangements, and a bridge into pop (which made the eerie ballad "Black Hole Sun" an inescapable hit). That blossoming melodic skill is apparent on most of the record, not just the poppier songs and Cornell-penned hits; though a couple of drummer Matt Cameron's contributions are pretty undistinguished, they're easy to overlook, given the overall consistency. The focused songwriting allows the band to stretch material out for grander effect, without sinking into the pointlessly drawn-out muck that cluttered their early records. The dissonance and odd time signatures are still in force, though not as jarring or immediately obvious, which means that the album reveals more subtleties with each listen. It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition. Source: [AMG]

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Track Listing
1. Let Me Drown
2. My Wave
3. Fell on Black Days
4. Mailman
5. Superunknown
6. Head Down
7. Black Hole Sun
8. Spoonman
9. Limo Wreck
10. The Day I Tried to Live
11. Kickstand
12. Fresh Tendrils
13. 4th of July
14. Half
15. Like Suicide
16. She Likes Surprises

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The Afghan Whigs - Congregation (1991)

2009-10-05T20:33:00.001+02:00

The grunge era's most overlooked masterpiece, Congregation was the Afghan Whigs' breakthrough album, an incendiary and insidious set which bridges the gap between the noisy aggression of the band's early releases and the soulful swagger of their later work. Slipping with ominous ease into the sinister, self-obsessed Lothario guise which would serve him so well from here on out, Greg Dulli announces his arrival as a truly magnetic presence -- by turns predator ("Tonight") and prey ("I'm Her Slave"), he's the guy your parents always warned you about, delivering each syllable of his remarkable lyrics with equal measures of innuendo and venom. Equally startling is the Whigs' musical growth -- while still unmistakably a member of the Sub Pop stable, there's a greater maturity and depth to their sinewy sound, with a newfound grasp of mood and nuance on tracks like the opening "Her Against Me" and "Let Me Lie to You" -- the wah-wah guitar which dominates "Turn On the Water," meanwhile, offers the first taste of the funk ambitions to follow. It was hardly a surprise when the Whigs jumped to Elektra soon after -- Congregation was clearly their ticket to the big leagues. Source: [AMG]

The Afghan Whigs - Miles Iz Ded

Track Listing
1. Her Against Me
2. I'm Her Slave
3. Turn On The Water
4. Conjure Me
5. Kiss the Floor
6. Congregation
7. This Is My Confession
8. Dedicate It
9. The Temple
10. Let Me Lie to You
11. Tonight
12. Miles Iz Ded

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The Verve - Urban Hymns (1997)

2009-09-27T11:40:00.001+02:00

Not long after the release of A Northern Soul, the Verve imploded due to friction between vocalist Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe. It looked like the band had ended before reaching its full potential, which is part of the reason why their third album, Urban Hymns -- recorded after the pair patched things up in late 1996 -- is so remarkable. Much of the record consists of songs Ashcroft had intended for a solo project or a new group, yet Urban Hymns unmistakably sounds like the work of a full band, with its sweeping, grandiose soundscapes and sense of purpose. The Verve have toned down their trancy, psychedelic excursions, yet haven't abandoned them -- if anything, they sound more muscular than before, whether it's the trippy "Catching the Butterfly" or the pounding "Come On." These powerful, guitar-drenched rockers provide the context for Ashcroft's affecting, string-laden ballads, which give Urban Hymns its hurt. The majestic "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and the heartbreaking, country-tinged "The Drugs Don't Work" are an astonishing pair, two anthemic ballads that make the personal universal, thereby sounding like instant classics. They just are the tip of the iceberg -- "Sonnet" is a lovely, surprisingly understated ballad, "The Rolling People" has a measured, electric power, and many others match their quality. Although it may run a bit too long for some tastes, Urban Hymns is a rich album that revitalizes rock traditions without ever seeming less than contemporary. It is the album the Verve have been striving to make since their formation, and it turns out to be worth all the wait. Source: [AMG]

The Verve - Lucky Man

Track Listing
1. Bittersweet Symphony
2. Sonnet
3. The Rolling People
4. The Drugs Don't Work
5. Catching the Butterfly
6. Neon Wilderness
7. Space and Time
8. Weeping Willow
9. Lucky Man
10. One Day
11. This Time
12. Velvet Morning
13. Come On/Deep Freeze

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The Posies - Amazing Disgrace (1996)

2009-09-12T08:25:00.001+02:00

The Posies let their true power pop colors fly but with a tougher edge by steeping the songs on their fourth album in punk rock and '70s metal. "Throwaway" is a big guitar rocker with a harmonious chorus — the kind that became the band's calling card. The band invited Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander to sing along on "Hate Song." Unfortunately, the elder pair's charms were lost in the mix, though "Daily Mutilation" would be a good choice of cover for their own band. "Everybody Is a Fucking Liar" takes a trip back in time with its histrionic guitar parts. Naturally, "Grant Hart" and "Broken Record" are punk rock. "Song #1" and "Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?" are the kind of gorgeous pop songs on which the band grew their reputation. Whether they tackle punk, hard rock, or soft rock, the Posies' brand of songcraft is extraordinary, though, sadly, it would appear this was their swan song. Source: [AMG]

The Posies - Daily Mutilation

Track Listing
1. Daily Mutilation
2. Ontario
3. Throwaway
4. Please Return It
5. Hate Song
6. Precious Moments
7. Fight It (If You Want)
8. Everybody Is a Fucking Liar
9. World
10. Grant Hart
11. Broken Record
12. The Certainity
13. Song #1
14. ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?
15. Terrorized

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Girls Against Boys - Cruise Yourself (1994)

2009-09-01T19:18:00.001+02:00

Having fully made their case with Venus Luxure, Girls Against Boys kept on course with the equally fine Cruise Yourself. The hints of lounge and Vegas were even more explicit here -- the cocktail artwork on the CD, the fact that one particularly bitter number is called "My Martini." Again, though, these weren't the gauche clichés of characters like Combustible Edison, but signposts of a vicious, cutting quality in lyrics and music. McCloud's purring rasp again serves as one of the band's chief qualities, perfectly suited to the sassy, snarling burn of songs like "Cruise Your New Baby Fly Self" and "The Royal Lowdown." Though backing vocals aren't specifically credited, it's Janney adding the high parts here and there, such as the effectively creepy chorus of "Explicitly Yours." Ted Niceley and Janney once again handle the production/engineering combination, and, unsurprisingly, the whole album is a tightly wound effort that sounds like it's going to explode every second. In an interesting switch, and a demonstration of the band's increasing reach, Temple took over the duties with the sampler, while Janney concentrated not only on his own bass work, but organ and vibes as well. "Kill the Sexplayer" was the arguable standout, and while again many critics saw McCloud's slurring sneer as being the new incarnation of Mark E. Smith, that's a lazy connection. McCloud's singing oozes its own attitude, while the band isn't reinventing art/rockabilly as much as finding its own fast, bass-led charge. Certainly, though, the German motorik touches both bands share have their place on Cruise Yourself -- half the time on "Psychic Know-How," Fleisig is laying down a smart Krautrock chug and both Temple and Janney are right there with him, especially with Janney's keyboard glaze. And at one point -- "From Now On" -- McCloud's distorted rasp does for once sound exactly like the Mancunian master. Source: [AMG]

Girls Against Boys - (I) Don't Got A Place

Track Listing
1. Tucked-In
2. Cruise Your New Baby Fly Self
3. Kill the Sexplayer
4. (I) Don't Got a Place
5. Psychic Know-How
6. Explicitly Yours
7. From Now On
8. Raindrop
9. The Royal Lowdown
10. My Martini
11. Glazed-Eye

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VV.AA. - Revolution Come And Gone (1992)

2009-08-24T21:14:00.001+02:00

Nirvana - The Money Will Roll Right In

Track Listing
1. Tad - Jinx
2. Six Finger Satellite - Weapon
3. Rein Sanction - Creel
4. Beat Happening - Revolution Come and Gone
5. Thw Walkabouts - Maggie's Farm
6. Truly - Heart and Lungs
7. Mudhoney - The Money Will Roll Right In
8. Supersuckers - Caliente
9. Reverend Horton Heat - Marijuana
10. The Dwarves - Fuck Em All
11. Bullet Lavolta - Rails
12. Green Magnet School - Throb
13. Hole - Dicknail
14. Steven Jesse Bernstein - No No Man Pt. 2
15. Seaweed - Baggage
16. The Monkeywrench - Call My Body Home
17. Afghan Whigs - Miles Iz Ded
18. Love Battery - Foot
19. Codeine - Cracked in Two
20. Mark Lanegan - Woe
21. Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge, Pt. 1

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Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day (1993)

2009-08-19T20:51:00.001+02:00

Buffalo Tom proved that their palate was a lot broader and their reach a lot farther than anyone might have expected on Let Me Come Over, and while the following year's Big Red Letter Day didn't show the same sort of growth, it also proved the band hadn't forgotten any of their tricks along the way. Big Red Letter Day sounds a bit poppier than it's immediate predecessor, though that seems largely a function of the production by the Robb Brothers, which features a bit more body and a significant amount more gloss than the leaner, cleaner tone of Let Me Come Over, and to these ears the strong, infectious melodies of the songs (and the tight ensemble playing by the group) hold up well to such treatment. And while the palpable angst of Let Me Come Over was obviously sincere but a wee bit samey by the end of that album, Big Red Letter Day cuts back on the rueful self-examination just a bit, and the hopefulness of "Dry Land" and "Anything That Way" was a welcome touch from a band that often had a hard time embracing their happiness. Unlike their last two albums, Big Red Letter Day didn't display much in the way of unexpected new sides to Buffalo Tom -- it just found them doing what they do very well indeed, and anyone who loves the band will enjoy this record. Souce: [AMG]

Buffalo Tom - I'm Allowed

Track Listing
1. Soda Jerk
2. I'm Allowed
3. Tree House
4. Would Not Be Denied
5. Latest Monkey
6. My Responsibility
7. Dry Land
8. Torch Singer
9. Late at Night
10. Suppose
11. Anything That Way

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Dinosaur Jr. - Without A Sound (1994)

2009-08-13T21:12:00.001+02:00

J Mascis fired longtime drummer Murph before the recording of Without a Sound, which came as a surprise to Murph. Naturally, the change in personnel hasn't changed Dinosaur Jr.'s sound much; the only difference between Without a Sound and Where You Been is a more pronounced country leaning (particularly on the album's high point, the rollicking "I Don't Think So") and shorter, more concise performances. What hasn't changed are the overpowering fuzz tones of Mascis' guitar, which tend to hide his more expressive vocals; it also makes digging out the gems on this album a little more difficult than necessary. Source: [AMG]

Dinosaur Jr. - Feel The Pain

Track Listing
1. Feel the Pain
2. I Don't Think So
3. Yeah Right
4. Outta Hand
5. Grab It
6. Even You
7. Mind Glow
8. Get Out of This
9. On the Brink
10. Seemed Like the Thing to Do
11. Over Your Shoulder

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Sugar - Beaster (1993)

2009-08-06T20:12:00.002+02:00

Sugar's Beaster is actually outtakes from their previous dynamite album, Copper Blue. It comes off as some kind of deranged, ugly sister of that sparking album, a yin to Copper's yang, a violent, angry, and seething wall of aggression with (this time) little concession to Bob Mould's pop prowess. Perhaps the most densely recorded, heavy trip the man has produced since Hüsker Dü's Metal Circus in 1983, Beaster is what you might get if Mould had been in the mood to construct a full album of songs like "Slick"'s insanity instead of "Helpless" and "Changes"'s monster hooks. Not that it doesn't still make for great listening once one gets used to the change in focus. "Feeling Better" could have made Copper, with its hooky base (more so than the others here), and the best song, "Titled," is ferocious, fast, furious, and a total knockout, the most aurally exciting post-Hüsker Dü track yet. Again, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis are such a superior rhythm section to Grant Hart and Greg Norton, Sugar is a better update rather than nostalgic reinvention, and bits of Zen Arcade and Black Sheets of Rain aside, Mould has never come off so twisted and out of his gourd. "Come Around"'s "vocals" are all but demonic, and "Judas Cradle" matches metal pounding with MBV/Sonic Youth brutal tones slashing out of the guitars, which gives way to "JC Auto"'s meld of "The Act We Act"-style pounding into a thundering, insane, heavy chorus. When Bob starts seething "I'm your Jesus Christ, I know, I know, I know," you wonder what exactly inspired these straitjacket fits! Man, that's something. Now, there is one major flaw: all the songs need an editor, as with excessive length they approach overkill from too much repetition. Never mind. This is a pretty killer experience more than a record. Whereas Copper Blue made you want to sing along, Beaster makes you hide under the bed. Can't say they didn't warn you; Beaster is well-titled. Source: [AMG]

Sugar - Tilted

Track Listing
1. Come Around
2. Tilted
3. Judas Cradle
4. JC Auto
5. Feeling Better
6. Walking Away

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Acme (1998)

2009-08-01T20:21:00.001+02:00

Part of the reason the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is so distasteful to the legions of blues purists is that Spencer cherishes not the mythology of the blues or the songcraft, but the groove, the actual sound of classic blues records. He could care less about songwriting or technique; what's important is the feel and the grit of the performance, whether it's on-stage or on record. Often, that means that the Blues Explosion's records are better when they're playing than they are in memory, but there's no question that ever since Extra Width, the New York trio was exceptionally shrewd in crafting albums that pack real sonic force. They also were sharp enough to subtly explore new territory with each album, gradually moving from the Stonesy blooze of Extra Width through the funky Orange and gutbucket Now I Got Worry to Acme, where pure sound matters more than ever. Like the Stones, the Blues Explosion never abandon their signature sound, even when they're branching into new territory. No matter how many electronic bleeps, hip-hop loops, or cut-and-paste arrangements rear their heads on Acme, or how many producers or remixers are employed (including Calvin Johnson, Steve Albini, Suzanne Dyer, Alec Empire, Jim Dickinson, and the Automator), the primal, two-guitar racket remains at the center of the Blues Explosion's sound. But the electronica and hip-hop flourishes aren't folly, either -- they confirm Spencer's ultimate goal of sound over structure, force over sense. And while there are only a handful of songs to latch onto -- the slow, sexy "Magical Colors," the gonzoid rant "Talk About the Blues," the Jill Cunniff duet "Blue Green Olga" -- the dynamic explosions of sounds guarantee that Acme is a captivating listen, at least the first time through. While frequently exciting, the sonic experimentations sound cerebral instead of primal. Source: [AMG]

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - High Gear/Talk About The Blues

Track Listing
1. Calvin
2. Magical Colors (31 Flavors)
3. Do You Wanna Get Heavy?
4. High Gear
5. Talk About the Blues
6. I Wanna Make It All Right
7. Lovin' Machine
8. Bernie
9. Blue Green Olga
10. Give Me a Chance
11. Desperate
12. Torture
13. Attack

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Supersuckers - The Smoke Of Hell (1992)

2009-07-22T20:23:00.001+02:00

In the midst of the grunge revolution, The Supersuckers released this largely unnoticed album, The Smoke of Hell, which begins with a song that can not only be praised for its muscle but also for its psychic prediction -- "Coattail Rider." The band perked things up a bit since their dreary early singles. Songs like "Luck," "Caliente," and "Hot Rod Rally" rapidly surge with electric power chord fury, while the band brings it down some for the blues ramble of "Hell City, Hell." Source: [AMG]

Supersuckers - Coattail Rider

Track Listing
1. Coattail Rider
2. Luck
3. I Say Fuck
4. Alone and Stinking
5. Caliente
6. Tasty Greens
7. Hell City, Hell
8. Hot Rod Rally
9. Drink and Complain
10. Mighty Joe Young
11. Ron's Got the Cocaine
12. Sweet 'N' Sour Jesus
13. Retarded Bill
14. Thinkin' 'Bout Revenge

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Ash - 1977 (1996)

2009-07-16T10:38:00.000+02:00

Two-thirds of Ash were born in 1977, which means that their latter-day punk-pop isn't very Catholic. Instead of sticking to the rigid rules of American punk-pop -- which means you can't stretch the song past three minutes -- Ash take a cinematic approach to their songs, throwing in elements of power pop, glam, post-Nirvana grunge, and post-Oasis rock. It's a melting pot of pop styles, basically because the members of the band are so young, they haven't conformed to the standards of the indie and punk subcultures. Sure, Ash still use loud guitars -- they're all over 1977 -- but they create a distinctive, melodic, and energetic sound that's equal parts heavy grunge and light pop. And while they may indulge in jamming a bit too much, they remain a pop band at heart, capable of turning out epic guitar pop like "Goldfinger," punk-pop like "Kung Fu," and the lovely but loud "Girl from Mars" with equal flair. Source: [AMG]

Ash - Girl From Mars

Track Listing
1. Lose Control
2. Goldfinger
3. Girl from Mars
4. I'd Give You Anything
5. Gone the Dream
6. Kung Fu
7. Oh Yeah
8. Let It Flow
9. Innocent Smile
10. Angel Interceptor
11. Lost in You
12. Darkside Lightside / Sick Part

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Morphine - Cure For Pain (1993)

2009-07-11T08:57:00.000+02:00

With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct this time around, while new drummer Billy Conway made his recording debut with the trio (replacing Jerome Deupree). Like the debut, most of the material shifts between depressed and upbeat, with a few cacophonic rockers thrown in between. Such selections as "Buena," "I'm Free Now," "All Wrong," "Candy," "Thursday," "In Spite of Me" (one of the few tracks to contain six-string guitar), "Let's Take a Trip Together," "Sheila," and the title track are all certifiable Morphine classics. And again, Mark Sandman's two-string slide bass and Dana Colley's sax work help create impressive atmospherics throughout the album. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the '90s. Source: [AMG]

Morphine - Cure For Pain

Track Listing
1. Dawna
2. Buena
3. I'm Free Now
4. All Wrong
5. Candy
6. A Head With Wings
7. In Spite of Me
8. Thursday
9. Cure for Pain
10. Mary Won't You Call My Name?
11. Let's Take a Trip Together
12. Sheila
13. Miles Davis' Funeral

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Bracket - 4-Wheel Vibe (1995)

2009-07-05T10:24:00.000+02:00

California-based Bracket -- comprised of vocalist/guitarist Marty Gregori, bassist Zack Charlos, guitarist Larry Tinney, and drummer Ray Castro -- got together in the early '90s and first showcased their power pop and punk sensibilities on the self-released 7" Giant Midge EP. Playing all around the San Francisco area, they signed to Caroline Records and released 924 Forestville St. and 4-Wheel Vibe to a growing fan base. Bracket somehow manage to combine catchy choruses, fantastic melodies, and a quirky sense of humour effortly into 4-Wheel Vibe. From the very first to the very last song on the album, Bracket seem able to write songs that still feel punk, but have an inescapable "sing-a-long" charm to them. Source: [AMG-Amazon]

Bracket - Circus Act

Track Listing
1. Circus Act
2. Cool Aide
3. Happy to Be Sad
4. John Wilke's Isolation Booth
5. Tractor
6. Green Apples
7. Closed Captioned
8. Trailer Park
9. Fresh Air
10. P.C.
11. G-Vibe
12. Warren's Song, Pt. 4
13. 2 Hot Dogs for 99¢
14. Metal
15. Pessimist
16. Lazy

[Download]

The Swingin' Neckbreakers - Shake Brake! (1995)

2009-06-18T19:50:00.001+02:00

Equal parts Ramones, Rivieras and Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Swingin' Neckbreakers deliver straight-up rock & roll on this spirited outing. Fueled by the genre-faithful songwriting from bassist/singer Tom Jorgenson and a keep-it-simple rhythm section of drummer/brother John Jorgenson and guitarist Don "Shaggy" Snook, the Neckbreakers play a straightforward brand of rock'n'raunch that critics hate but nonetheless resonates perfectly with the average Joe who just wants to shake it down. Split evenly between strong Jorgenson originals "Action Kid," "The Answer Is No," "Wait," and "Help Wanted," and obscure punk and garage classics like Glen Barber's "Ice Water," Bobby Fuller's "Shakedown," and the Underdogs' "Get Down On Your Knees," this thing doesn't let up for a second. Fans of the Ramones will find much to love here. Source: [AMG]

The Swingin' Neckbreakers - Wait

Track Listing
1. Wait
2. Mighty Mack
3. Ice Water
4. That's the Way My Love Is
5. Help Wanted
6. Shakedown
7. The Answer Is No
8. I Wanna Be Your Driver
9. Action Kid
10. I'm in Love With Me
11. You're Gonna Make Me
12. A Thousand Times a Day
13. Get Down on Your Knees
14. The Girl Can't Help It
15. Brown Eyed Girl

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White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 (1992)

2009-06-09T20:02:00.000+02:00

Perhaps co-defining the future of heavy metal, White Zombie's major-label debut nearly equals fellow classics Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, the Cult's Electric, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger in significance. With a funky rap-metal undercurrent, these metal monsters combine Black Sabbath's riff sludge and Metallica's rhythmic intensity, a combination that would again resurface in the late '90s. On La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1, Zombie and co. take listeners on a hokey carnival ride capable of inducing vomit yet provide an exhilarating, heart-throbbing metal experience. Tactless and continuously shocking, lyricist Rob Zombie reveals blatant tales of muscle cars, sleazy encounters, and Fangoria-mustered fantasy, clearly paying homage to vintage trash culture. Complemented by Russ Meyer film soundbites and demonic aura, Zombie ridicules middle American Leave It to Beaver values and insolently challenges the politically correct. Diabolical manifestos such as the barbaric "Soul-Crusher," macabre "Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)," and sexually indiscreet "Thrust!" will intrigue those yearning for lewd explicitness but may offend traditional hard rock enthusiasts. "Thunder Kiss '65," an ode to Russ Meyer's 1965 busty B-movies Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Mudhoney, remains this album's most listenable and enduring highlight. Along with perverted lyrics, Rob Zombie's vocal snarls and the band's muscular metal thunder produce the furious concoction that secures La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1's place in heavy metal history. Weak appetites for raunchy, tongue-in-cheek decadence need not apply. Source: [AMG]

White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65

Track Listing
1. Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag
2. Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A)
3. Thunder Kiss '65
4. Black Sunshine
5. Soul-Crusher
6. Cosmic Monsters Inc.
7. Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)
8. I Am Legend
9. Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)
10. Thrust!
11. One Big Crunch
12. Grindhouse (A Go Go)
13. Starface
14. Warp Asylum

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Today Is The Day - Today Is The Day (1996)

2009-05-24T19:55:00.001+02:00

Having subtracted bass from Today Is the Day and added keyboards, noise rock auteur Steve Austin thereby altered his outfit stylistically, moving from the warmth and emotional appeal of Willpower to an icily digital landscape of painful, high-frequency tones, screeched vocals, and even more painful guitar. Today Is the Day is a brutal record, owing a bit of its industrial nature to acts like Skinny Puppy and Merzbow. However, this is hardly textbook industrial music. Still utilizing guitar and organic drums, Today Is the Day is not driven by the keyboards so much as augmented sonically by them. The keys produce more of an atmospheric than a melodic effect, thereby leaving the essential constitution of Today Is the Day intact and guitar-driven. Source: [AMG]

Today Is The Day - Marked

Track Listing
1. Kai Piranha
2. Marked
3. Bugs Death March
4. A Man of Science
5. Realization
6. Black Iron Prison
7. Mountain People
8. Ripped Off
9. The Tragedy
10. She Is in Fear of Death
11. I Love My Woman
12. Dot Matrix

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Big Star - Third / Sister Lovers (1992)

2009-05-18T19:44:00.000+02:00

A shambling wreck of an album, Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers ranks among the most harrowing experiences in pop music; impassioned, erratic, and stark, it's the slow, sinking sound of a band falling apart. Recorded with their label, Stax, poised on the verge of bankruptcy, the album finds Alex Chilton at the end of his rope, sabotaging his own music long before it can ever reach the wrecking crew of poor distribution, indifferent marketing, and disinterested pop radio; his songs are haphazardly brilliant, a head-on collision between inspiration and frustration. The album is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, each song smacking of utter defeat and desperation; the result is either one of the most vividly emotional experiences in pop music or a completely wasted opportunity, and while the truth probably lies somewhere in between, there's no denying Third's magnetic pull -- it's like an undertow. Although previously issued on a variety of different labels, Rykodisc's 1992 release is the initially definitive edition of this unfinished masterpiece, its 19 tracks most closely approximating the original planned running order while restoring the music's intended impact; in addition to unearthing a blistering cover of the Kinks' "At the End of the Day" and a haunting rendition of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," it also appends the disturbing "Dream Lover," which distills the album's messiest themes into less than four minutes of psychic torment. Source: [AMG]

Big Star - Thank You Friends

Track Listing
1. Kizza Me
2. Thank You Friends
3. Big Black Car
4. Jesus Christ
5. Femme Fatale
6. O, Dana
7. Holocaust
8. Kangaroo
9. Stroke It Noel
10. For You
11. You Can't Have Me
12. Nightime
13. Blue Moon
14. Take Care
15. Nature Boy
16. Till the End of the Day
17. Dream Lover
18. Downs
19. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

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The Makers - Howl (1994)

2009-05-07T19:46:00.000+02:00

Garage punk outfit the Makers formed in Spokane, WA, in 1991, originally assembling frontman Mike Maker, his bassist brother Don Maker, guitarists Tim Maker and John Maker, and drummer Jay Maker. Famed for their anarchic live dates and for traveling from show to show in a 1965 Pontiac hearse, the group signed to Sympathy for the Record Industry to issue their debut 10" Hip-Notic; the exit of John Maker coincided with a move to the Estrus label for the full-length follow-up, 1993's Howl! The Makers' debut is full of the pounding, garage punk madness that built the Spokane band a small but devoted following. Unfortunately, that following was built largely on live antics and didn't translate terribly well to record. Blunt production, indecipherable lyrics, and too-tense rhythms keep the listener firmly at arm's length, while the band charges full throttle through song after song, oblivious to everything around them. A good record for people who like to zone out, jump around, and throw glasses, but the Makers' later albums offer much more rewarding and enjoyable music. Source: [AMG]

The Makers - Matter of Degrees

The Makers |MTV Music

Track Listing
1. I Just Might Crack
2. Think About Your Man
3. I'm Hurt
4. Like a Diamond Ring
5. Allright, Allnight, Allright
6. Memphis Chillun
7. Don't Cross Your Man
8. Explosion
9. Ricky Ticky Tock
10. Try to Cry
11. Your Daddy Drives a Big Car
12. Let Him Try
13. Death of Mr. Monster
14. Sometimes, Sometimes
15. Cool, Clear and Sheen
16. Howl

[Download]

DM3 - Road To Rome (1996)

2009-05-01T21:06:00.000+02:00

Power pop fans have occasionally pointed to this, Australian outfit DM3's sophomore release, as one of the best pop albums to come out of the mid-'90s and one of the cornerstone albums of the '90s Australian pop movement. Both may be true to varying degrees: Road to Rome is possibly the "classic" disc in the late-'90s Australian power pop scene, which included similarly talented bands like Ice Cream Hands, Even, Challenger 7, and Michael Carpenter. While the debit of Australian power pop is that it often favors slavish imitation over solid songwriting, Dom Mariani's ear for a hook is what makes Road to Rome stand out. Well, that and Mitch Easter's arena-ready production. Sounding like the Plimsouls playing with Badfinger and the Who, Mariani cranks it to ten more than a few times here. It lends songs like the excellent "Please Don't Lie" or the riff-heavy "Soultop" a glossy, almost '80s stadium rock vibe -- in a good way. Sure, sometimes DM3 can get a little derivative and rest on their skinny tie-shaped laurels, but for the most part the chunky riffage and Easter's boomy production will be more than enough to please anyone who is motivated enough to seek this album out in the first place. Source: [AMG]

Dom Mariani & Rippled Souls - Foolish

Track Listing
1. Can't Get What You Want
2. Please Don't Lie
3. Speed Freak
4. Second Floor
5. Pleaze You
6. I Thought That You Were Foolin'
7. Show You
8. Dead Stars
9. Something Heavy
10. Soultop
11. Fairweather Friend
12. T.V. Sound

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Teenage Fanclub - Thirteen (1993)

2009-04-26T21:36:00.000+02:00

Unjustly savaged by fans and critics alike upon its initial release, with the benefit of hindsight Thirteen has revealed itself an eminently worthy follow-up to the classic Bandwagonesque; though not as consistent or refreshing as its predecessor, the album takes simultaneous steps backward and forward, retreating to a darker, sludgier guitar sound reminiscent of their debut effort A Catholic Education even as it blossoms to incorporate lilting string arrangements and glowing harmony vocals. Despite taking its title from Big Star's most gentle and optimistic moment, the record not only expands its horizons far beyond Alex Chilton-inspired pop but also maintains an emotional tenor that's largely bitter and disillusioned -- titles like "Song to the Cynic," "120 Mins," and, especially, "Commercial Alternative" reflect the band's disenchantment with both its former flavor-of-the-month status and the growing creative malaise rampant throughout the alt-rock community (then at its commercial zenith). Although Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley make memorable contributions, Thirteen is first and foremost a showcase for the peerless pop genius of Norman Blake -- the should-have-been hits "Norman 3" and "Ret Liv Dead" boast a crunchy, lumbering sound heavily indebted to Neil Young's records with Crazy Horse, while the soaring "Commercial Alternative" evokes vintage Byrds, a reference point further driven home by the epic closer "Gene Clark." [Original pressings of Thirteen included no fewer than six unlisted bonus cuts assembled from British singles -- the material is consistently excellent, highlighted by the McGinley original "Golden Glades" as well as reverent covers of Phil Ochs' "Chords of Fame" and the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Older Guys."]. Source: [AMG]

Teenage Fanclub - Radio

Track Listing
1. Hang On
2. The Cabbage
3. Radio
4. Norman 3
5. Song to the Cynic
6. 120 Minutes
7. Escher
8. Commercial Alternative
9. Fear of Flying
10. Tears Are Cool
11. Ret Liv Dead
12. Get Funky
13. Gene Clark

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The Vandalias - Match V (1995)

2009-04-19T20:12:00.000+02:00

The Vandalias, from Minneapolis, play good power-pop with great harmonies, driving guitars and exceptional hooks. Following the single Build This House (Tenpop, 1992), debut album Mach V (Big Deal, 1995) is successful at what it does: copy the originals (Byrds, Big Star, Raspberries, Cheap Trick). Such is the evocative power of the humbly crafted toe-tappers that these popsters deliver.... The Vandalias high concept--a madcap band of cartoony heartthrobs bounce through zany adventures involving muscle vans and mini-skirts--is pure guile. But the music is so smartly composed and cheerfully presented, the whole shebang actually achieves an intoxicating celebration of teen-dom. Plus, it rocks wicked good.

Track Listing
1. In
2. Hey Now (Motor City)
3. Build This House
4. Have You Seen Mine?
5. Mach V
6. I'd Be a Boy
7. Knife
8. Watch My Baby Cry
9. Mighty Song of Joy
10. Fall Girl
11. Cathy's Back
12. Sky High
13. Done for You
14. Wait and See

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Oblivians - Soul Food (1995)

2009-04-14T19:19:00.000+02:00

On Soul Food, Jack Oblivian, Eric Oblivian, and Greg Oblivian trade off on guitars and drums (no bass) in a 30-minute album of guitar chicken scratching with bent note solos, some church organ, spitting vocals, and thud-and-crash drumming. The songs are delivered like a fire-and-brimstone preacher who dabbles as Mr. Hyde on weekends, full of spirit and depravity. Few bands sound as possessed by the belief in the power of rock & roll. Like similarly veined groups the Cramps, Tav Falco, and the Gories, the Oblivians often sound deranged in their preservation of the raw shaking beat of pre-Elvis manic and dark blues. The Oblivians honor the same canon of musicians, opening the record with a stomping cover of Lightnin' Hopkins' "Vietnam Blues." A legacy to the past is established but the party has just begun. The lonely screaming anthem "No Reason to Live" elicits both sympathy and a pumping fist in the listener. No one wants Greg Oblivian to end it all, but it sure is fun to bomp around to this track. Testimonials of faith in the culture and music that they love continue in "Never Change" and "Static Party." "Sunday, You Need Love" and "And Then I Fucked Her" would have some people looking for dust on the needle if it wasn't a CD. The bare-bones live production heightens the urgency; the Oblivians are desperate to get these songs off their souls. The Oblivians ignore the speed, grunge, and artsy angles bands pass off as the next stage of rock. They are dedicated to a sound: "Never Change" declares, "Like a broken record/I play the same sad song." Production and perfect playing are overrated; Soul Food's greatness is found in emotion and devotion. Source: [AMG]

Oblivians - She's A Hole

Track Listing
1. Viet Nam War Blues
2. And Then I Fucked Her
3. Big Black Hole
4. Jim Cole
5. Mad Lover
6. Sunday You Need Love
7. Never Change
8. No Reason to Live
9. I'm Not a Sicko, There's a Plate in My Head
10. Blew My Cool
11. Cannonball
12. Nigger Rich
13. Bum a Ride
14. Any Way You Want It
15. Static Party
16. Ja Ja Ja

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Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey (1986)

2009-04-08T19:45:00.000+02:00

Moving to a major label doesn't affect Hüsker Dü's sound greatly -- although the production is more full-bodied than Spot's razor-thin work, the Hüskers don't change their blazing attack at all. Much of Candy Apple Grey charges along on the same frenzied beat that propelled New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, and both Bob Mould and Grant Hart are in fine form, spinning out fine punk-pop with "Sorry Somehow" and "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely." However, the sound is beginning to seem a bit tired, which is what makes Mould's two acoustic numbers, "Too Far Down" and "Hardly Getting Over It," so welcome. Demonstrating that punks can mature without losing their edge, Mould inverts the rules of conventional confessional singer/songwriter songs with these two haunting numbers, and in doing so, he illustrates the faults with the relatively staid post-hardcore punk that dominates the remainder of the record. Source: [AMG]

Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High

Track Listing
1. Crystal
2. Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely
3. I Don't Know for Sure
4. Sorry Somehow
5. Too Far Down
6. Hardly Getting over It
7. Dead Set on Destruction
8. Eiffel Tower High
9. No Promise Have I Made
10. All This I've Done for You

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The Feends - Freek Show (1993)

2009-03-16T21:00:00.000+01:00

Outside of their love of '60s surf, garage, bubblegum-pop and '70s punk, the Feends also took their surroundings of the beach as a major musical aspiration. Accompanied by their matching thrift store attire, the line-up of Ian (guitar ), Danni (bass ), Sam (keyboards ), Kent (vocals ), Will (guitar), and Henry (drums) first made their splash in 1990. Following three years of playing throughout their native coast of Western Australia, the band hooked up with the small independent label Spinning Top Records, resulting in their 1993 debut, Freek Show. Source: [AMG]

Track Listing
1. Only Loved One Fish Before
2. On The Prowl
3. RPM
4. Bats
5. Supernatural Feet
6. No More
7. Freek Show
8. Haunted Sea
9. Ghost Train
10. Space Girl

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Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun (1995)

2009-03-16T08:12:00.000+01:00

Clocking in at 45 minutes, Matthew Sweet's third record of guitar-dominated, hook-laden power pop runs through its 12 songs at a classic speed, piling up songs that lovingly conform to the three-minute pop tradition. Richard Lloyd's gnarled guitars save Sweet's melodies and harmonies from being saccharine or sappy. Behind Sweet's bright hooks lies something darker -- the self-loathing of "Sick of Myself" and the mental manipulation of "We're the Same" aren't evident from the sound of the record, which obliterates any hidden meanings with its chiming guitars and driving rhythms. It might not have the consistent barrage of great songs like Girlfriend, yet it tames the wilder impulses of Altered Beast into an album that rocks its worries away without ever getting rid of them. Source: [AMG]

Matthew Sweet - We're The Same

Track Listing
1. Sick of Myself
2. Not When I Need It
3. We're the Same
4. Giving It Back
5. Everything Changes
6. Lost My Mind
7. Come to Love
8. Walk Out
9. I Almost Forgot
10. Super Baby
11. Get Older
12. Smog Moon

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Thee Headcoats - Heavens To Murgatroyd, Even! It's Thee Headcoats! (Already) (1991)

2009-03-10T18:24:00.000+01:00

Thee Headcoats is one of the various band monikers assumed by garage rock primitive Billy Childish (aka Bill Hamper), a native of Kent, England. Over several decades -- and regardless of the fashion of the time -- Childish has churned out no-frills garage rock, the likes of which saw a resurgence in hipness in the new millennium with groups such as the Hives and the White Stripes. The ultra-prolific bandleader/producer/poet/painter/publisher first emerged in 1979 with mod-punkers Pop Rivets. By 1982, the Pop Rivets had become the more musically catchy Milkshakes (akaThee Milkshakes or Mickey & the Milkshakes). The band was remarkably prolific, releasing no fewer than seven albums in 1984 (four of them on the same day). Shortly thereafter, Childish moved on to the similarly minded Thee Mighty Caesars. Nevertheless, since the late '80s, Thee Headcoats -- a trio that includes Pop Rivets/Milkshakes/Mighty Caesars drummer Bruce Brand -- has been Childish's primary outlet for his more accessible, straight-up rock & roll. As of 2000, Thee Headcoats were Childish's most prolific outlet (no small accolade). The group played its final gig that year at London's Dirty Water club, though tracks continued to be released. Source: [AMG]

Thee Headcoats - Girl Of Matches

Track Listing
1. Mantrap
2. No Way Out
3. Reindeer Are Wild
4. Hand to Hand
5. Headcoat Man
6. Girl of Matches
7. I Don't Like the Man I Am
8. Pokerhuntus Was Her Name
9. We're Gone
10. Stewball
11. I Ain't About to Give You My Name
12. Rusty Hook

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The Hives - Barely Legal (1997)

2009-03-03T18:32:00.000+01:00

The Hives launched the first salvo in their global assault on all that is lame in our culture with their debut album, 1997's Barely Legal, and there is little arguing that these guys had the right idea out of the gate. Emerging from Fagersta, Sweden (which, at least in 1997, was the rock equivalent of Absolutely Nowhere), the Hives set a high standard with their hot-wired fusion of garage rock tunes and punk rock speed and energy, and they hit the sweet spot just right, sounding tight enough to connect with unified force while still letting the frenzy of their forward momentum give the performances a bit of dizzy sway that indicates true rock & roll. If Barely Legal lacks an obvious "breakout hit" tune like "Main Offender" or "Hate to Say I Told You So," the rapid-fire assault of these songs is impressive indeed, and this disc plays like a brick of firecrackers that refuses to stop exploding until "Closed for the Season" crosses the finish line. And while the Hives rock like nobody's business here (especially the Siamese twin guitars of Vigilante Carlstroem and Nicholaus Arson), the real secret weapon is Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, whose cocky swagger actually communicates on tape, and is the perfect vehicle for his "We are cool, you are nothing" lyrical outlook. Veni Vidi Vicious was the album that let the world know who the Hives were and what they were all about, but Barely Legal let a clued-in few know about their monumental coolness three years ahead of the game, and for sheer rock action, it's as good as anything they've put to tape. Source: [AMG]

The Hives - A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T

Track Listing
1. Well, Well, Well
2. A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T
3. Here We Go Again
4. I'm a Wicked One
5. Automatic Schmuck
6. King of Asskissing
7. Hail Hail Spit N'Drool
8. Black Jack
9. What's That Spell?... Go to Hell!
10. Theme From...
11. Uptempo Venomous Poison
12. Oh Lord! When? How?
13. The Stomp
14. Closed for the Season

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R.E.M. - Monster (1994)

2009-02-26T19:00:00.000+01:00

Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge, powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords. From the androgynous sleaze of "Crush With Eyeliner" to the subtle, Eastern-tinged menace of "You," most of the album sounds dense, dirty, and grimy, which makes the punchy guitars of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and the warped soul of "Tongue" all the more distinctive. Monster doesn't have the conceptual unity or consistently brilliant songwriting of Automatic for the People, but it does offer a wide range of sonic textures that have never been heard on an R.E.M. album before. Source: [AMG]

R.E.M. - What's The Frequency, Kenneth?

Track Listing
1. What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
2. Crush with Eyeliner
3. King of Comedy
4. I Don't Sleep, I Dream
5. Star 69
6. Strange Currencies
7. Tongue
8. Bang and Blame
9. I Took Your Name
10. Let Me In
11. Circus Envy
12. You

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Jeff Buckley - Grace (1994)

2009-02-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

Jeff Buckley was many things, but humble wasn't one of them. Grace is an audacious debut album, filled with sweeping choruses, bombastic arrangements, searching lyrics, and above all, the richly textured voice of Buckley himself, which resembled a cross between Robert Plant, Van Morrison, and his father Tim. And that's a fair starting point for his music: Grace sounds like a Led Zeppelin album written by an ambitious folkie with a fondness for lounge jazz. At his best — the soaring title track, "Last Goodbye," and the mournful "Lover, You Should've Come Over" — Buckley's grasp met his reach with startling results; at its worst, Grace is merely promising. Source: [AMG]

Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life

Track Listing
1. Mojo Pin
2. Grace
3. Last Goodbye
4. Lilac Wine
5. So Real
6. Hallelujah
7. Lover, You Should've Come Over
8. Corpus Christi Carol
9. Eternal Life
10. Dream Brother

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Alice In Chains - Sap (1992)

2009-02-16T21:17:00.000+01:00

Upon its release, Sap was a revelation, a seemingly tossed-off EP of four mostly acoustic ballads (augmented with a goofy bonus track) that threw Alice in Chains' melodic gifts into stunning relief while exposing a gentler, more melancholy side of their sound, something that Facelift never even hinted at. The mood is still bleak, but not affectedly so, as was sometimes the case on Facelift. There's a newfound maturity in the subtlety and confessional introspection of the first four songs, whose somber beauty is unfortunately dispelled by the bonus track (in a different context, it might be idiotic fun, but it really doesn't fit here). Still, Sap served notice that there was a great deal more depth to Alice in Chains than their debut had let on, hinting at the potential that would be realized with Dirt. [AMG]

Alice In Chains - Got Me Wrong

Track Listing
1. Brother
2. Got Me Wrong
3. Right Turn
4. Am I Inside
5. Love Song

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The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (1991)

2009-02-11T19:58:00.000+01:00

Arriving several months before Nirvana's Nevermind, the Smashing Pumpkins' debut album, Gish, which was also produced by Butch Vig, was the first shot of the alternative revolution that transformed the rock & roll landscape of the '90s. While Nirvana was a punk band, the Smashing Pumpkins and guitarist/vocalist Billy Corgan are arena rockers, co-opting their metallic riffs and epic art rock song structures with self-absorbed lyrical confessions. Though Corgan's lyrics fall apart upon close analysis, there's no denying his gift for arrangements. Like Brian May and Jimmy Page, he knows how to layer guitars for maximum effect, whether it's on the pounding, sub-Sabbath rush of "I Am One" or the shimmering, psychedelic dream pop surfaces of "Rhinoceros." Such musical moments like these, as well as the rushing "Siva" and the folky "Daydream," which features D'Arcy on lead vocals, demonstrate the Smashing Pumpkins' potential, but the rest of Gish falls prey to undistinguished songwriting and showy instrumentation. Source: [AMG]

The Smashing Pumpkins - I Am One

Track Listing
1. I Am One
2. Siva
3. Rhinoceros
4. Bury Me
5. Crush
6. Suffer
7. Snail
8. Tristessa
9. Window Paine
10. Daydream

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The Gories - I Know You Fine, But How You Doin' (1990)

2009-02-04T09:00:00.000+01:00

I Know You Fine But How You Doin' is a magnum opus of dirty brilliance. Dirty in the grunge-covered sense. Dirty in the back alley and sleepin' it off sense. As with their first LP House Rockin', the Gories employ a primitive backbeat of tom-toms, fuzzy guitars, and insomniac blues screams (distributed more democratically here by singer/guitarists Dan Kroha -- see also the Demolition Dollrods -- and Mick Collins -- see also Blacktop -- than on the Gories' debut, House Rockin'). Recorded in Memphis at Easley Recording in 1990 with legendary recluse/genius Alex Chilton at the boards, I Know You Fine is ever-so-slightly more "produced" than the debut. But the songwriting, thankfully, never leaves the gutter far behind. Better still, the Gories make you believe that it's all happened to them recently enough to be a painful enough memory to necessitate writing a blues-riff song. Muted howling, cavernous guitars, and throbbing drums are always half a step from simultaneously disappearing and blowing up in your face. The main benefit of a non-D.I.Y. production on this outing is atmospheric, after-hours gems such as "Six Cold Feet," "Early in the Morning," and "Smashed." The desperation quotient is taken up by such tunes as "Stranded," "Goin' to the River," and "Nitroglycerine." I Know You Fine is perhaps the Gories' most focused vision of urban punk blues. As an added bonus, the Crypt reissue version features more than nine extra songs culled from both singles and the original track listing of House Rockin' (perhaps Crypt didn't anticipate reissuing both records). With the added tracks, this reissued version of I Know You Fine But How You Doin' is the one Gories recording to buy if you must only buy one. Source: [AMG]

The Gories - Makin' Love

Track Listing
1. Hey Hey, We're the Gories
2. You Make It Move
3. Detroit Breakdown
4. Stranded
5. Goin' to the River
6. Early in the Morning
7. Thunderbird ESQ
8. Nitroglyeerine
9. Let Your Daddy Ride
10. Six Cold Feet
11. Queenie
12. Smashed
13. Ghost Rider
14. Chick-Inn
15. View from Here
16. Makin' Love

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Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary (1994)

2009-01-30T20:53:00.000+01:00

Sunny Day Real Estate's debut album, Diary, virtually defined emo in the '90s, laying much of the groundwork (along with Weezer) for the genre's end-of-decade indie prominence. Although emo existed (both as a term and as a style) prior to Diary, it hadn't yet risen out of the deepest hardcore punk underground, save for a few bands on the Dischord label. For all intents and purposes, Diary was the album that made emo accessible, fusing its gnarled guitars and nakedly emotional vocals with more than a hint of melodic Seattle grunge. SDRE's song structures are far more oblique than, for example, the similarly anthemic Pearl Jam, but it's still easy to miss the group's main inspirations if you're not looking for them. Perhaps that's because, at bottom, SDRE don't sound much like their emo predecessors. For one, there are plenty of quiet, arpeggiated passages and contrasting dynamics; for another, vocalist Jeremy Enigk is more of a crooner than a screamer at heart, and the underlying tenderness in his voice breathes majesty into the group's slow, languid melodies. Yet, while Diary's true heart lies in its soaring, introspective anthems (like the band's signature song, "In Circles"), the more tortured, visceral moments balance things out, preventing the album from wallowing in melodramatic self-obsession. In retrospect, Diary doesn't quite fulfill all of its ambitions — there are a few underfocused moments that don't achieve the epic sweep of the album's best compositions. That occasional inconsistency makes it feel somewhat less realized than their proggier post-reunion work, especially since Enigk would develop into a far more distinctive vocalist. But even if it isn't quite the top-to-bottom masterpiece its legions of imitators suggest, Diary still ranks as arguably the definitive '90s emo album, and an indispensable introduction to the genre. Source: [AMG]

Sunny Day Real Estate: Seven

Track Listing
1. Seven
2. In Circles
3. Song About an Angel
4. Round
5. 47
6. The Blankets Were the Stairs
7. Pheurton Skeurto
8. Shadows
9. 48
10. Grendel
11. Sometimes

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Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)

2009-01-23T20:16:00.000+01:00

Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable — a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives a short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer Rick Rubin and his label, Def Jam; and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. Just sampling and scratching Sabbath and Zeppelin to hip-hop beats does not make for an automatically good record, though there is a visceral thrill to hearing those muscular riffs put into overdrive with scratching. But, much of that is due to the producing skills of Rick Rubin, a metalhead who formed Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons and had previously flirted with this sound on Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, not to mention a few singles and one-offs with the Beasties prior to this record. He made rap rock, but to give him lone credit for Licensed to Ill (as some have) is misleading, since that very same combination would not have been as powerful, nor would it have aged so well — aged into a rock classic — if it weren't for the Beastie Boys, who fuel this record through their passion for subcultures, pop culture, jokes, and the intoxicating power of wordplay. At the time, it wasn't immediately apparent that their obnoxious patter was part of a persona (a fate that would later plague Eminem), but the years have clarified that this was a joke — although, listening to the cajoling rhymes, filled with clear parodies and absurdities, it's hard to imagine the offense that some took at the time. Which, naturally, is the credit of not just the music — they don't call it the devil's music for nothing — but the wild imagination of the Beasties, whose rhymes sear into consciousness through their gonzo humor and gleeful delivery. There hasn't been a funnier, more infectious record in pop music than this, and it's not because the group is mocking rappers (in all honesty, the truly twisted barbs are hurled at frat boys and lager lads), but because they've already created their own universe and points of reference, where it's as funny to spit out absurdist rhymes and pound out "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" as it is to send up street-corner doo wop with "Girls." Then, there is the overpowering loudness of the record — operating from the axis of where metal, punk, and rap meet, there never has been a record this heavy and nimble, drunk on its own power yet giddy with what they're getting away with. There is a sense of genuine discovery, of creating new music, that remains years later, after countless plays, countless misinterpretations, countless rip-off acts, even countless apologies from the Beasties, who seemed guilty by how intoxicating the sound of it is, how it makes beer-soaked hedonism sound like the apogee of human experience. And maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but in either case, Licensed to Ill reigns tall among the greatest records of its time. Source: [AMG]

Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Track Listing
1. Rhymin & Stealin
2. The New Style
3. She's Crafty
4. Posse in Effect
5. Slow Ride
6. Girls
7. Fight for Your Right
8. No Sleep Till Brooklyn
9. Paul Revere
10. Hold It Now, Hit It
11. Brass Monkey
12. Slow and Low
13. Time to Get Ill

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VV.AA. - Sup Pop 200 (1988)

2009-01-17T21:21:00.000+01:00

With the exception of the Melvins, at the point Sub Pop 200 was released the label had virtually every important Seattle band on its roster. Here 20 bands get to strut their stuff in the premainstream alternative rock world. And many of the bands that helped alternative rock reach its popularity are represented here, including Soundgarden, Nirvana, Screaming Trees, and Green River (which would mutate into Pearl Jam). Strangely enough, most of these bands do not have the standout tracks on the album. The Fastbacks try to steal the show with their charged cover of Green River's "Swallow My Pride," but the Walkabouts might have the best song here with their folk-rocker "Got No Chains." Mudhoney covers the Bette Midler torch song "The Rose," while the Chemistry Set have an impressive entry with "Underground." The Thrown Ups also show up with the best song in their catalog, "You Lost It." The album as a whole is really good; there are few standouts, but everything is solid. Many will buy the album for the Nirvana track "Spank Thru," which is decent, but hopefully those listeners will stick around for the good obscure grunge tracks included. Source: [AMG]

Nirvana - Spank Thru

Track Listing
1. Tad - Sex God Missy
2. The Fluid - Is It Day I'm Seeing?
3. Nirvana - Spank Thru
4. Steven J. Bernstein - Come Out Tonight
5. Mudhoney - The Rose
6. The Walkabouts - Got No Chains
7. Terry Lee Hale - Dead Is Dead
8. Soundgarden - Sub Pop Rock City
9. Green River - Hangin' Tree
10. The Fastbacks - Swallow My Pride
11. Blood Circus - The Outback
12. Swallow - Zoo
13. Chemistry Set - Underground
14. Girl Trouble - Gonna Find a Cave
15. The Nights And Days - Split
16. Car Butt - Big Cigar
17. Beat Happening - Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive
18. Screaming Trees - Love or Confusion
19. Steve Fisk - Untitled
20. Thrown Ups - You Lost It

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VV.AA. - Judgment Night: Music From The Motion Picture (1993)

2009-01-12T22:57:00.000+01:00

The gimmick here is that on each track a hard rock act has been combined with a rap act: Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill, Living Colour and Run-D.M.C., and so on. The idea, as with Run-D.M.C.'s duet with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way," is to achieve musical synergy and commercial crossover, and at least the second goal was met when this album went gold while the movie it accompanied went into the dumper. But, as on any duet album, from Sinatra to Elton John, the concept has to be translated into appropriate pairings on good songs to really work. Sometimes, it has. Living Colour and Run-D.M.C. meld well on "Me, Myself & My Microphone," and Slayer and Ice-T make an angry thrash of "Disorder." But in both cases, the rappers are familiar with the style -- Ice-T has a metal band of his own in Body Count. Elsewhere, neither the rappers nor the metal kids sound distinctive enough to make a striking impression beyond a faithfulness to a hard, angry approach. Source: [AMG]

Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul - Fallin`

Track Listing
1. Helmet & House Of Pain - Just Another Victim
2. Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul - Fallin'
3. Living Colour & Run DMC - Me, Myself & My Microphone
4. Biohazard & Onyx - Judgment Night
5. Slayer & Ice-T - Disorder
6. Faith No More & Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. - Another Body Murdered
7. Sonic Yout & Cypress Hill - I Love You Mary Jane
8. Mudhoney & Sir Mix-A-Lot - Freak Momma
9. Dinosaur Jr. & Del The Funky Homosapien - Missing Link
10. Therapy & Fatal - Come and Die
11. Pearl Jam & Cypress Hill - Real Thing

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Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters (1995)

2009-01-04T09:00:00.000+01:00

Essentially a collection of solo home recordings by Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters' eponymous debut is a modest triumph. Driven by big pop melodies and distorted guitars, Foo Fighters do strongly recall Nirvana, only with a decidedly lighter approach. If Kurt Cobain's writing occasionally recalled John Lennon, Dave Grohl's songs are reminiscent of Paul McCartney — they're driven by large, instantly memorable melodies, whether it's the joyous outburst of "This Is a Call" or the gentle pop of "Big Me." That doesn't mean Grohl shies away from noise; toward the end of the record, he piles on several thrashers that make more sense as pure aggressive sound than as songs. Since he recorded the album by himself, they aren't as powerful as most band's primal sonic workouts, but the results are damn impressive for a solo musician. Nevertheless, they aren't as strong as his fully formed pop songs, and that's where the true heart of the album lies. Foo Fighters has a handful of punk-pop gems that show, given the right musicians and songwriters, the genre had not entirely become a cliché by the middle of the '90s. Source: [AMG]

Foo Fighters - This Is A Call

Track Listing
1. This Is a Call
2. I'll Stick Around
3. Big Me
4. Alone + Easy Target
5. Good Grief
6. Floaty
7. Weenie Beenie
8. Oh, George
9. For All the Cows
10. X-Static
11. Wattershed
12. Exhausted

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EMF - The Best Of EMF: Epsom Mad Funkers (2001)

2008-12-30T19:18:00.000+01:00

Regrettably, England's EMF had been seared with the curse of premature victory, sometimes belting out "Unbelievable" two or three times per show, and many assumed they'd be forever damned to run from their own success until the day they took off their long shorts and cut their hair. But Epsom Mad Funkers, an emphatic and touching tribute with new songs and a second disc of remixes, proves that what saved them from disaster was an anarchic instinct for just how to nail together the flotsam and jetsam of late-20th century chart music without sounding totally contrived. One moment you could get "Girl of an Age," the great, cherubic baggy anthem that never was, the next you'd be swimming about in megalomaniac, brain-rammed funk ("Perfect Day," "They're Here") or even a sort of facetious revelry, such as the live classic "EMF," which would rather stack up stylistic Lego blocks and smash them to pieces than try to mimic the picture on the box. For better or worse, nobody else sounded like this. They weren't the Happy Mondays, they weren't Take That -- in the end perhaps the only band in history to sound like both. Source: [AMG]

EMF featuring Tom Jones - Unbelievable

Track Listing CD1
1. Unbelievable
2. I Believe
3. Children
4. Lies [Jim's Mix]
5. Girl of an Age
6. Getting Through
7. They're Here
8. It's You
9. Perfect Day [Perfect Mix]
10. Glass Smash Jack
11. Shining
12. I'm a Believer (Emf and Reeves and Mortimer)
13. Incredible
14. Let's Go
15. Search and Destroy
16. Emf (Live at the Bilson)

Track Listing CD2
1. Unbelievable [Bambaattaa House Mix]
2. I Believe [Colt 45 Mix]
3. Children [Battle for the Minds of North Amerikkka Mix]
4. Head the Ball (Put Away in the Back of the Net by Apollo 440)
5. Lies [Dust Bros 12 Club Mix]
6. It's You [13 1/2% Extra Mix]
7. They're Here [D: Ream Mix]
8. Perfect Day (Chris and James' Epic Adventure)
9. The Light That Burns Twice as Bright [Mystic Mix]
10. It's You [Rad Rice Mix]
11. Unbelievable [Ralph Jezzard Remix]

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The Posies - Frosting On The Beater (1993)

2008-12-26T19:26:00.000+01:00

Frosting on the Beater opens with a thick wall of distorted guitars and booming drums kicking up a very melodic fuss behind Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer's creamy-smooth harmonies on the psych-tinged "Dream All Day," and the track's sweet-and-sour blend immediately announces this is going to be a very different affair than the Posies' major label debut, Dear 23. With noisy rock dude Don Fleming in the producer's chair, it came as no great surprise that Frosting on the Beater was a much harder sounding album than the introspective Dear 23, but surprisingly enough, Fleming also knew how to make the most of the band's expert pop songwriting; with the tempos and guitars turned, the tunes gained a needed physical impact that brought the melodies and hooks into the forefront, where they belonged. Just as importantly, the spot-on harmonies that were the highlight of Dear 23 were still very much in evidence, resting atop the piles of fuzzy guitar chords like a dollop of hot fudge poured over a big scoop of ice cream. And prior to this, who knew that Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer could rock out so hard (and so well) on guitars? One could argue that the big guitar attack of Frosting on the Beater was simply the Posies' way of trying to cash in on the grunge sweepstakes that briefly turned their hometown of Seattle into the center of the rock universe. But one listen also reveals that it transformed a smart but overly precious pop outfit into a hard-charging power pop band that gained a wealth of strength without giving up any of their smarts in the process — not a bad bargain. Source: [AMG]

The Posies - Solar Sister

Track Listing
1. Dream All Day
2. Solar Sister
3. Flavor of the Month
4. Love Letter Boxes
5. Definite Door
6. Burn & Shine
7. Earlier Than Expected
8. 20 Questions
9. When Mute Tongues Can Speak
10. Lights Out
11. How She Lied by Living
12. Coming Right Along

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Sebadoh - Bakesale (1994)

2008-12-06T09:00:00.000+01:00

With Bakesale, Sebadoh has trimmed down to Lou Barlow, Jason Loewenstein, and Bob Fay, with Barlow and Loewenstein taking on the lion's share of the songwriting. Maybe the change in personnel was needed, because Bakesale is their most accessible, concise work to date. Without the noise that usually envelops their records, the solid, unconventional pop songwriting of Barlow and Loewenstein shines through brightly. Source: [AMG]

Sebadoh - Careful

Track Listing
1. License to Confuse
2. Careful
3. Magnet's Coil
4. Not a Friend
5. Not Too Amused
6. Dreams
7. Skull
8. Got It
9. S. Soup
10. Give Up
11. Rebound
12. Mystery Man
13. Temptation Tide
14. Drama Mine
15. Together or Alone

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Yo La Tengo - Electr-O-Pura (1995)

2008-12-01T20:53:00.000+01:00

After the noisy but dream-like drift of Painful, Electr-O-Pura found Yo La Tengo in livelier and more outwardly enthusiastic form; while they had hardly abandoned their more subdued and contemplative side, as evidenced by the lovely "The Hour Grows Late" and "Pablo and Andrea," they seemed eager to once again explore the grittier textures they'd unearthed on President Yo La Tengo and May I Sing With Me with tunes like the gleefully manic "False Ending" and the bizarre horn-blasted "Attack on Love." Yo La Tengo also served up one of the most perfectly realized pop tunes in their repertoire with "Tom Courtenay" (which not only name checks the Beatles, but boasts a tune the Fab Four would have been happy to come up with themselves), and revisited the concept of the noisy groove jam (which they pioneered on "The Evil That Men Do (Pablo's Version)") with the acetone-powered "False Alarm" and the joyous "Blue Line Swinger." Throughout, Ira Kaplan's simple but forceful guitar lines, Georgia Hubley's steady, subtly inventive drumming, and James McNew's solid, supportive bass add up to a group that prizes intelligence and imagination over flash, and makes it work over and over. Few bands have consistently better ideas than Yo La Tengo, and they make 14 of them work like a charm on Electr-O-Pura. (By the way, those incongruous comments about the songs were lifted from an obscure book on the Blues Project, and don't trust those timings on the back cover -- they're deliberately inaccurate.). Source: [AMG]

Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay

Track Listing
1. Decora
2. Flying Lesson [Hot Chicken #1]
3. The Hour Grows Late
4. Tom Courtenay
5. False Ending
6. Pablo and Andrea
7. Paul Is Dead
8. False Alarm
9. The Ballad of Red Buckets
10. Don't Say a Word [Hot Chicken #2]
11. (Straight Down to the) Bitter End
12. My Heart's Reflection
13. Attack on Love
14. Blue Line Swinger

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The Jesus Lizard - Head/Pure (1992)

2008-11-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

The place to start for those new to the Jesus Lizard, this two-fer collects on one CD the first EP release (Pure) and first LP release (Head) of the notorious '90s noise rock band. It does a fine job of completing the picture of the band's early work. Source [AMG]

The Jesus Lizard - Bloody Mary

Track Listing
1. One Evening
2. S.D.B.J.
3. My Own Urine
4. If You Had Lips
5. 7 Vs. 8
6. Pastoral
7. Waxeater
8. Good Thing
9. Tight 'n Shiny
10. Killer McHann
11. Blockbuster
12. Bloody Mary
13. Rabid Pigs
14. Starlet
15. Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along

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Hammerhead - Duh, The Big City (1996)

2008-11-21T23:53:00.000+01:00

Hammerhead's final release opens with the propulsive, Chrome-like "Earth (I Won't Miss)." The song is as loud and fast as anything the Midwestern trio had ever done before, but with a more pronounced psych/prog rock edge -- as befits its sci-fi-sounding title -- and prefigures the rest of Duh, the Big City, which is crisper and yet more experimental than previous recordings. The lineup had also changed since their last full-length, with Craig Klaus taking the place of guitarist Paul Sanders, who left to form his own band. If for some strange reason you should find yourself falling asleep while listening to this rocking little record -- a highly unlikely occurrence -- crazed instrumental "Mr. Bizmuth," which teeters on the edge of Metal Machine Music-style unlistenability, will surely wake you right up (all your friends and neighbors, too). Oddly enough, it isn't the last track (or even a bonus track), but is followed by the considerably more melodic title track, "Duh, the Big City," which closes the book on the brief but compelling story of Hammerhead. Paul Erickson and Jeff Mooridian Jr. would next materialize in the two-man noise unit Vaz. [AMG]

Hammerhead - Tuffskins

Track Listing
1. Earth (I Won't Miss)
2. Meandrethal
3. New York?...Alone?
4. Mission: Illogical
5. I Don't Know...Texas
6. Victoria
7. Monkey Mountain
8. Zenith Factory
9. Mune
10. Mr. Bizmuth
11. Duh, The Big City

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Flying Saucer Attack - Further (1995)

2008-11-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

Thanks to its release on Drag City and an increasingly higher profile (and rabid fan base), Further turned out to be FSA's breakthrough, at least in cult terms. Even Rolling Stone reviewed the album (amusingly pairing it with a modern Pink Floyd live release), but Further was anything but a corporate sellout. Rather, the twosome achieved a new balance of delicacy and power, heightened in noticeable part by Pearce's increasingly assertive singing. His vocal approach of extended sigh as singing hadn't changed, but his words had a new clarity and crisper delivery, with fine results. Otherwise, FSA stayed the same general course musically, but again the arrangements provide the difference, with the unplugged folk side of Pearce's music now firmly taking the fore on songs like the extended, multipart "For Silence," often with gentle reverb or extra studio effects that make the songs all that much more intriguing. It's not quite Bert Jantsch or John Fahey redux, but there's a definite sonic connection there that's well worth the hearing. Other highlights are the clear acoustic notes cutting through the hum and drone of the majestic "In the Light of Time" or the buried waves of electric guitar in counterpoint to the gentle picking on "Come and Close My Eyes" -- the latter accompanied at the end with what sounds like a typewriter, without sounding jarring or out of place. No compromises were aimed at radio-friendly unit shifters -- opening track "Rainstorm Blues," a roaring feedback squall ascending and descending in volume, got further accompaniment from hard-to-place crumbles and squeals, Brook's growling bass work setting the mood even stranger. Brook herself gets a lovely moment of vocal glory on "Still Point," her voice even more soft and restrained than Pearce's, rising through a striking squall of sound and, once again, upfront acoustic guitar. Source: [AMG]

Track Listing
1. Rainstorm Blues
2. In the Light of Time
3. Come and Close My Eyes
4. For Silence
5. Still Point
6. Here Am I
7. To the Shore
8. She Is the Daylight

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The Presidents Of The United States Of America - The Presidents Of The United States Of America (1995)

2008-11-11T09:38:00.000+01:00

In the time-honored tradition of the Dickies, the punk-pop of the Presidents of the United States of America is brief, hooky, and dumb -- it's novelty punk. Granted, that approach can occasionally produce a couple of naggingly catchy songs -- particularly their breakthrough hit, "Lump" -- but it basically results in a series of smug, self-satisfied songs that are neither funny nor catchy. Like the Dickies, the Presidents of the United States of America aren't much more than one-hit wonders. Source: [AMG]

The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Lump

Track Listing
1. Kitty
2. Feather Pluckn
3. Lump
4. Stranger
5. Boll Weevil
6. Peaches
7. Dune Buggy
8. We Are Not Going to Make It
9. Kick out the Jams
10. Body
11. Back Porch
12. Candy
13. Naked and Famous

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Seam - Are You Driving Me Crazy? (1995)

2008-11-03T09:00:00.000+01:00

Seam had never had the most stable lineup, but Sooyoung Park and Lexi Mitchell had maintained a partnership, personal and otherwise, from the Bitch Magnet days. That all changed after the excellent The Problem With Me, and the end result was the band's most fraught album yet, with Park working with a wholly new band and conveying more than a few desperate and frustrated sentiments in the music and lyrics. Starting the album with "Berlitz," using the reference to language guides as a metaphor for failures to communicate and their repercussions, was as much as a sign as any. That said, Park's general goal at balancing sudden intensity with restraint and quiet beauty remained intact, and at times, such as "Haole Redux," succeeded spectacularly. The new members -- guitarist Reg Shrader, bassist William Shin, and drummer Chris Manfrin -- all do a pretty fine job at replacing their counterparts from The Problem With Me, something further helped by the reappearance of Brad Wood as producer. Still, there is a change and maybe even a lack -- Shin in particular, though still spot on, misses the gentle melodicism that Mitchell had provided, and as a result the dramatic melancholia of the past feels a bit more abrupt at points. For the first time as well, Park creates notably long songs, four out of ten running over five minutes and resulting in the longest Seam album yet. It's a comparative lack of economy more than anything else -- this isn't Rick Wakeman-era Yes, thank heavens -- but moments like the extended soloing on "Port of Charleston" make the album just not quite as special as the preceding ones, a drawing out when the group could formerly pack beautifully compact punches. Credit should be given to guest performer Julie Liu, though, whose various vocal and musical contributions are fine, understated touches. Source: [AMG]

Seam - Berlitz

Track Listing
1. Berlitz
2. Hey Latasha
3. Port of Charleston
4. Rainy Season
5. Two Is Enough
6. Haole Redux
7. Tuff Luck
8. Broken Bones
9. Sometimes I Forget
10. Petty Thievery

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