Bob Mould - Bob Mould (1996)

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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

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Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick (1997)

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

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Matthew Sweet - Blue Sky On Mars (1997)

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)

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

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The Vandalias - buzzbomb! (1998)

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

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Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain (1997)

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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