Tied To The 90s: Part 8

I need to crack on with this a bit don't I? I've got no real excuse not to now that I've finished watching Breaking Bad, and especially since I've found myself watching bloody Angels & Demons on a Sunday night when I could be listening to some music and writing about it.

If anything I think the main thing that's holding me back from writing about the next 20 albums is the fact that they are so great that I don't think that my inane ramblings will do them justice. There's only so many times that you need to hear me say that I bought something at Rhyl Our Price.

Still, let's see where these 5 take us...

20. Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman

I bought this in Rhyl Our Price. There must have been some amazing reviews of this about at the time for me to commit to what was basically a dance music album. I realise that it's indie-music-press-friendly dance music (see also Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Prodigy, Aphex Twin etc) but it was a break from my usual guitar heavy fare.

There was a time after this album came out when I went a bit ambient/dance-y for a while. I bought Aphex Twin / Polygon Window, mu-ziq, Seefeel & Banco De Gaia albums. I have the Warp Artificial Intelligence 2 compilation and a few of the Trance-Europe Express ones that the folks who brought us the Volume magazines released, and the excellent Junior Boy's Own collection, all of which have long since been consigned to the loft, but this album will never suffer such a fate.

The main reason for that is Mmm...Skyscraper I Love You. Of course the album is full of great stuff: Cowgirl, Spoonman, Dark & Long, Dirty Epic, M.E. - all great tracks, but towering above it all is the thirteen minutes of Skyscraper with its typically meaningless Karl Hyde vocals, its tempo changes from the banging "30,000 feet about the earth" segment to the closing few minutes which are almost dub-like, and just the sheer scale of the thing.

I love Underworld to this day, (Beaucoup Fish being their other masterpiece) and I would love it for people to realise that there's so much more to them than Born Sluppy NUXX.

Of course I remember when Born Slippy NUXX was just an extra track on a single that barely registered with anyone. I still prefer that original mix.

19. Radiohead - The Bends

I can't remember where I bought it. I don't doubt for a second that it was on the day of release though. I hadn't listened to Pablo Honey as much as I had expected to, given how much Creep got played when I bought it, but I'd bought the singles from this and was happy with their progress.

"They'll do alright for themselves" I thought to myself.


18. Tricky - Maxinquaye

I may have mentioned before that Prestatyn Record Shop had a rack of reduced CD singles that they reduced to 50p each, or 3 for £1.

I picked up Aftermath from that rack, probably to make up the numbers. I certainly have no memory of having heard it before I bought it.

Then I found Ponderosa there too and most likely bought it based on how great Aftermath was.

In 1995 I was working at Rhyl Sainsburys and I remember being stunned to see Maxinquaye in the CD chart there. I had waited for this album to be released for (what felt like) SO LONG, and there it was for sale in work. I can't think of another debut album I'd been so keen to buy before or since, except maybe The Streets' Original Pirate Material.

And of course it was worth the wait.

Martina Topley-Bird's vocals (and Alison Goldfrapp's on Pumpkin) were the perfect foil to Tricky's lazy, easy raps & beats. The album was so perfectly formed that, even though I went out and kept buying the singles, none of the remixes or alternate versions seemed to bring anything to the party (Hell Is Round The Corner with Gravediggaz anyone?) - the best ones were already out there.

So expectations were high for Nearly God and Pre-Millennium Tension, and while the former had its moments, and the latter was by no means bad, they suffered the fate of many an album that has to follow something of the magnitude of this flawless debut.

17. Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time

Cornershop was one of those bands that were always there - albums, singles, NME interviews - but always just off my radar. Not quite getting the reviews that would attract my attention.

To this day I don't think I could name a track of theirs from before this album.

But then came Brimful Of Asha. Of course I'm going to tell you about how I heard it somewhere in its original version, before Norman Cook got his hands on it and made it the hit it deserved to be. I get the feeling it was on Radio 1. Remember when you used to listen to Radio 1 and hear something genuinely brilliant?

The album has all sorts to keep you interested from start to finish.

Pop hits? Brimful Of Asha, Sleep On The Left Side, Good Shit - check.
Indian wig-outs? We're In Your Corner - check.
Country & western duets? Good To Be On The Road Back Home Again - check.
Hip hop? Candyman - check.
Punjabi covers of Norwegian Wood? Norwegian Wood - check.

Naturally, as I always do, I kept buying their stuff (Handcream For A Generation is another stunner), but never went back to what they'd released previously. I'm happy to stick with this as my starting point as by all accounts nothing from earlier quite hits the heights of this one.

They'd have to go some to get anywhere near it to be honest.

16. The Sundays - Reading, Writing & Arithmetic

Harriet Wheeler.

Two words that are guaranteed to set the hearts of a generation of indie boys all a-flutter.

Eifion had the 3" CD single of Can't Be Sure with I Kicked A Boy and Don't Tell Your Mother on it and did me a copy. Having seen the video for it on The Chart Show, of course there was little a 17 year-old lad could do but fall for the lovely Harriet.

Eifion fell harder. He paid a tout well over the odds to go and see them in Manchester, and I remember him telling me in his student room in Salford once, that he was playing the album for the 7th time so far that day.

I bought the album myself from a little record shop in Coventry (whose name escapes me) that was upstairs above another shop of some description. A very pretty trilobite-design picture disc. The only other things I remember buying there were a round Wonder stuff Hup! poster and two limited versions of the second Sugarcubes album Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week! - one one silver vinyl, and one sung in Icelandic (Illur Arfur!).

It seems they specialised in exclamation-marked stock.

I never got the CD before Rough Trade folded and the album became hard to find. I did eventually pick up the reissue though, and have since passed up the opportunity to get the Rough Trade version at a knock-down price.

I think this has to be the epitome of girl singer jangly indie for me. I'm sure all you Primitives / Alterd Images / Darling Buds fans will disagree.

You're wrong of course.
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Right, it late. I'm off to bed to dream of Harriet Wheeler. Please don't judge me.

Buffalo Tom top ten for @thelostrecord

You may remember that earlier this year I posted a rundown of my 10 favourite Mountain Goats songs for the rather marvellous Twitter account @thelostrecord. 

Last night they were kind enough to let me count down my top ten of another of my favourite bands, @buffalotomband

As I did last time, here's the ten in handy blog format, with basically the tweets from last night copied and pasted in here...

I first encountered Buffalo Tom when my good friend James & I went to see The Wedding Present at Leicester De Montfort Hall in 1991. We were both huge Gedge fans at our first Weddoes gig but both left highly impressed by the support band, Buffalo Tom.

Our love of "The Tom" has lasted right through, and we both stood front & centre like real fanboys at their 2011 Manchester gig.

I've tried to be as honest as I can with this and I feel bad for leaving some stuff out. I know some of you will be disappointed that your favourites aren't there, but this is MY top ten so I'm afraid you'll have to argue amongst yourselves!

Before we start, Late At Night hasn't made the list,but here's the band performing it in My So-Called Life 

So, here we go. Place your bets for the number one - the @maffrj @buffalotomband top ten countdown starts here.

10. Birdbrain - Birdbrain (1990) Great rock track from the era when I first heard them.

During my research for this I've noticed that J Mascis' production on the first 2 albums isn't so hot. Prime remaster material.

9. Reason Why - Buffalo Tom (1988) Again early, rocking BT but with a great hook.

Part of the reason why I love that track so much is that this version showed me what else BT could become.

8. Velvet Roof - Let Me Come Over (1992) I'm really front-loading with rockers here. From a GREAT album.

Could have posted the video for that one, but the sound was really tinny. Much better on this version 

7. Torch Singer - Big Red Letter Day (1993)  Didn't expect this to be in but research has secured its place.

6. Summer - Sleepy Eyed (1995) Sleepy Eyed is such a good LP and this is my pick as the best track from it. 

We're halfway through so for some light relief, here's one of my favourite BT clips on YT 

5. Guilty Girls - Skins (2011).  2011 - 23 years since their debut they can still do it.

4. Mineral - Let Me Come Over (1992) Seems popular. Just about anything from LMCO could be in this list.

3. Going Underground - Fire & Skill: The Songs Of The Jam (1999) A top 10 hit (courtesy of Liam Gallagher).

BT have a great way with a cover. Their version of New Order's Age Of Consent and Psychedelic Furs' Heaven both worth seeking out.

2. Taillights Fade - Let Me Come Over (1992) Controversially not in the top spot. It was 5 minutes ago.

And so we approach the end of the @maffrj Buffalo Tom top ten countdown. Before I go, here's some tips for you.

Some great mp3 of covers by Bill Janovitz http://billjanovitz.com/blog/?page_id=997 … and a new solo album too http://billjanovitz.bandcamp.com/album/walt-whitman-mall … 

Oh right, that number one...

1. Wiser - Smitten (1998) I've mellowed in my old age. The acoustic & piano on this gets me every time.

So there it is. My favourite ten Buffalo Tom songs today. Tomorrow maybe I'd include something from Three Easy Pieces, who knows.

The list was kindly set up as a Spotify playlist by @CushinaMan so you can listen to that HERE

That's it then, my 2nd stint as guest host of @thelostrecord. Thanks for indulging me. I've been @maffrj. Come say hi.

Tied To The 90s: Part 7

Strewth. Remember me? Remember when I was counting down my top 50 albums from the 90s? I got myself into a watching-Breaking-Bad-from-the-start thing and neglected you people, both of you, for far too long.

Let's see if I can finish this thing off any time soon...

23. Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Spiritualized then, and this album. Surely everything's been said? Well, maybe not everything.

I'm pretty sure no-one's told you before that I bought my copy in Rhyl Our Price, rushed home with the intriguing medicinal packaging, carefully, ever so carefully, slit the foil around the edge of the CD just enough that I could remove the disc, and never put it back in there.

I set about listening to this amazing piece of work and trying to absorb the brilliant wording of the precription. Oh, and making a hand made copy of it.

I often made myself homemade cases & inlay cards for CDs that have packaging that doesn't necessarily fit in with your normal standard CD jewel case. I did it with Prince's Batman soundtrack that I bought in a special embossed tin, with Kristin Hersh's Hips & Makers, and with this. I'm no artist. I'm not even that good with a photocopier, so what on earth possessed me to do this kind of thing? No idea, just the need to have all my CDs looking nice and tidy I guess.

You know about the music here of course (you don't? Sort that out straight away [full album on YouTube]) but contrary to popular opinion I can't quite bring myself to make it my top Spiritualized album. I mean it's great - all-time great - but it's not the one I go back to over and over again. We'll come to that later.

I had the previous album Electric Mainline in the limited edition glow in the dark packaging (another home made jewel case inlay) but sadly I never got the extra special 12x3" CD single version of this one. In fact I only ever saw it in one shop - Kavern Records in Llandudno - years after it was released and it was battered and overpriced so I didn't get it. I kind of wish I had now.

So there you have it, the second best Spiritualized album.

22. Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona

So here we have it, the best Throwing Muses album.

Now that's a thing. Think about that for a minute: the *best* Throwing Muses album. That takes some doing. You don't get bad Throwing Muses albums. You don't even get weak Throwing Muses albums. At worst you get Throwing Muses albums.

But you also get stuff like Red Heaven and The Real Ramona.

The Real Ramona was the final staging post for Tanya Donelly before she went off to be in The Breeders and Belly. You only have to listen to Not Too Soon here to hear what Belly could do, but her influence on the album is apparent throughout.

But the Throwing Muses has always been Kristin Hersh's band. Her songwriting skills and ability to construct a twisted pop song never ceases to amaze me. The songs here are for the most part short and sweet (I know for a fact that the album clocks in at less than 45 minutes as I had a C90 with this on one side and REM's Out Of Time on the other) but they're perfectly formed.

And that's all you need to know. An album of perfectly formed Throwing Muses songs.

21. Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York

I remember the first time I heard Nevermind. I was in my student room in my halls of residence in Wolfenbüttel when one of the guys from my course who was out there with me, a guy called Derek Garside, came to me with a CD and asked me to put it on a cassette for him because he didn't have a CD player out there with him.

I'm an obliging kind of chap generally so we sat and listened to it as it recorded and I can remember my faint praise as clearly a if I'd said it today: "It's OK, but it's a bit too metal for me".

Of course I soon saw the error of my ways and went back to Derek to ask him if I could make my own copy. I didn't end up buying it until after Kurt died. In fact on the day after he died I was in Swindon and decided to go to HMV in the town and buy myself a copy, but was thwarted in my efforts by Fish from Marillion doing an instore show.

But I'm really here to talk about MTV Unplugged In New York. I'd seen the show on the TV and fallen in love with the songs (and the band) all over again. I had it recorded onto video for years before I actually got the album.

When I first met MrsJ she had a crate of CDs in her house that had been left there unclaimed by an ex of hers. There were loads in that box that I already owned, but one of the few I kept before trading the rest in at Vinyl Exchange in Manchester was this one.

I think I can point at this show as one of the starting points of my move further from your indie-rock towards slightly more acoustic stuff. The Unplugged format generally brings the songs to the fore and this set is no exception. Drawing from all 3 studio albums and with a smattering of stand-out covers there's nothing on this album to criticize. Kurt's voice just the right side of desperately frail and Novoselic, Grohl & Smear providing the perfect accompaniment to Cobain's guitar.

One of the greatest live albums ever made. Thank you MTV.

_________________________________________________________________________________

That's all for tonight. You'll find that from here on in it'll just be gushing praise I'm afraid.

P.S. Before I go I should warn you of something. I know I raved on about MTV's Unplugged format just now, but whatever you do try to avoid the Dashboard Confessional one.

Wham!

Quick break from the 90s stuff.

Remember when George Michael & Andrew Ridgely named their band after a chewy pink 80s sweet with sour yellow crystalline bits in it?

Yes, it's the maff Wham top ten!

10: Bad Boys

9: Wham Rap

8: Club Tropicana (John Peel Intro)

7: If You Were There

6: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

5: The Edge Of Heaven

4: Young Guns (Go For It)

3: I'm Your Man

2: Freedom

1: Everything She Wants

Tied To The 90s: Part 6

Right. If you've been paying attention you'll know that as we've reached 25 that means we're halfway through the 50.

50-25=25.

Always a good idea to show your workings.

Looking at what's coming up it strikes me that these really are pretty much all killers now. The vast majority of what's coming up are regularly bandied about as the top albums and artists of the 90s, and that really brings it home to me just how mainstream 90s indie I really am. But I'm sure you all knew that already, and love me for it.

Because I seem to have really slacked off with the fascinating purchase details of late I'm going to add some Post Scripts to posts where there's nothing that fits nicely into the main body of the post.

Just two for tonight.

25. Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix

I never gave up on Teenage Fanclub. There were enough moments on the, granted, not quite up to their usual standard, Thirteen to give me hope. Imagine if Thirteen had been as chock-full of great tunes as your usual TFC album. Grand Prix would have been the third in one of the greatest runs of albums of all time.

As it stands Grand Prix is to be looked at more as a return to form of sorts. Rarely, if ever, has a band contained such a blend of 3 ridiculously gifted songwriters (a Blake - 5, Love - 4, McGinley - 4 mix here) and they have the music to back up the songs. I usually find myself saying that I'm a Blake man, but then who can ignore Love's Discolite and Don't Look Back or such McGinley gems as About You and the wonderful Verisimilitude?

My memory of buying the album has gone the way of many others, although I'm willing to take a punt on Rhyl Our Price again. I absolutely remember buying all the CD singles from there, and they all had different versions of the lead track on the second disc, which in an era of multi-format exploitation by the record labels, made a refreshing change. TFC were always good value with their singles & b-sides.

Of course there's a whole separate post to be written just about the genius that is Sparky's Dream. Gerard Love created one of the touchstones of 90s indie with a tune that seems so simple but that seems to have struck a chord with a generation of indie kids. Maybe I'm a Love man after all.

I'm a Love man.

Yeah baby...

24. Björk - Homogenic

Another return to form I suppose. Although I've already told you how I feel about Debut, and Post is a damn fine album, I think Homogenic is the best Björk album. After this there's some stunning work, but as an album - I think this is the best collection of songs she's ever produced.

It's a beautiful thing. As the picture on the front of the sleeve might suggest, it's a colder, crisper sound in general than Debut, with far less emphasis on the dancier, poppier stuff that infused the first two albums. The beats are less mainstream, the songs slightly more challenging to the listener (penultimate track Pluto being a case in point - some serious BPM  pushing the song along to somewhere it might not otherwise have gone), but as ever, it is definitively Björk. I would even say definitive Björk.

By the time you get to final track All Is Full Of Love you're ready for it to ease you gently back down to normality, but even then it does it in a haunting way. No beats, just layers of the voice and synths/strings bringing the album to a shimmering conclusion.

Of course All Is Full Of Love is complemented by one of the greatest videos ever made. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for robot lesbian Björks.

P.S.

Homogenic comes in a very nice multiple fold-out digipak CD case, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from. I do know that I got a 3CD box set thing of the single of Jóga from Rhyl Our Price which is still sealed in cellophane because I probably thought it would be worth something one day. I used to do this a lot. There was a time when my limited double album of Deacon Blue's Raintown / Riches was worth £40 in Record Collector. I doubt it is now.

Tied to the 90s: Part 5

Have I still got anyone's attention? Sorry it's taken ages for the next part of this. I'm going to at least try to get us to the halfway point tonight. MrsJ has flaked out on the sofa so I'm going to put on one of my mear misses, Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and have a go at at least the next 3 on the list.

28. Beth Orton - Trailer Park

There are certain albums that are bedtime albums, and there are certain types of bedtime albums (if you know what I mean). For me at least, this is definitely a going-to-sleep bedtime album.

MrsJ has worked nights for quite a few years now, on and off, and she is most definitely a night owl even when she isn't working, so I have a tendency to put some music on when I got to bed and I have a few core albums that I turn. Usually Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies, Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Master & Everyone or this one.

Sadly this means that the vast majority of times that I've listened to these albums I have only heard them to about half way through. Trailer Park though is an album that gets its regular daytime airings too.

Beth Orton's voice is one that has a sadness to it, and there are songs on here that show that off to its full potential. The epic closer Galaxy Of Emptiness has a bit of a shuffling beat to it to take the edge of the desolation, but the track before it, the stunning, haunting cover of The Ronettes' I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine takes you a whole different level of heartbreak. Believe me, there are times in your life when it's not altogether healthy to listen to that song, but you still have to hear it to make things better in a weird kind of way. I put that track in my all-time top 100 tracks last year here and you should go and listen to it right now.

I find it hard to recognise that the album ends after Galaxy Of Emptiness as for so long I only ever had a copy of the album on a mini disc with b-sides etc tagged on the end, so I have to stop myself from including the heartbreaking It's Not The Spotlight as part of the album.


27. Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour

We all love the Pet Shop Boys don't we? They've provided us with some of the greatest pop songs of the last 25+ years but albums haven't necessarily been their strong point with early albums Please & Actually having great singles, but a few weaker moments to fill the gaps. Behaviour though is a different proposition.

Although I had been a fan for some time I didn't properly start avidly buying PSB stuff until Introspective and its related singles (I know I have about 4 formats each of Left To My Own Devices & It's alright).

I'm pretty sure I rushed out and bought So Hard when it was released, and the album itself on release day too from what I remember (both Rhyl Our Price). This is Neil & Chris at the top of their game and yes, Very has its moments, but I've got Behaviour so I'm happy thanks.

26. Kristin Hersh - Hips And Makers

Now, as I'm sure I've mentioned already Throwing Muses are one of my favourite bands so when main Muse Kristin Hersh released the acoustic solo single Your Ghost with its Michael Stipe backing vocals I was pretty much as excited as it was possible to be. Hips And Makers is a departure from Throwing Muses usual fare in as much as it's an acoustic album but there's no dip in the quality of Hersh's songwriting or musicianship. In fact some of her finest work is included on here.

The CD of this album has some gorgeous 4AD packaging & when I asked Dave in Kavern Records to keep a copy for me while I went to the bank to get the cash out to pay for it he told me that he wouldn't, the swine. I pretty much sprinted to that cashpoint.

I was lucky enough to see Kristin & Vic Chesnutt on the tour when this album was released and to meet her after the show at Warrington Parr Hall. As many of you who follow her on Twitter will know, she officially one of the nicest people in indie and she obliged with autographs & small talk. That autographed KH t-shirt I got that day got me a discount on a Throwing Muses Dizzy 10" from the record shop on Colwyn Bay pier a few years later. So thanks Kristin for the tunes, and for the autographed-with-added-fish-picture t-shirt.
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Right MrsJ has woken up. See you next time for more pointless ramblings.

Tied To The 90s: Part 4

Today's 5 entries cover 4 of my all-time favourite artists. And Belly.


33. Björk - Debut

There's a whole generation of indie fans who can still remember when they first heard Björk's voice. That mysterious grainy video on The Chart Show with the weird Icelandic vocals.

Some time later Eifion walked into the 6th form common room with a bright orange day-glo sleeve and (maybe misguidedly given the state of the stereo's needle) played Birthday to the assembled couple of dozen 16-18 years-olds.

And Dave Slave from the school's hard rockin' band The Slaves commented on his good taste.

Anyway, you all know what happened next - really fun first album, dodgy second album, reasonable third album, greatest hits/remix stuff, DEBUT!

The first time you heard Human Behaviour you knew that Björk's solo work was going to be like nothing you'd heard before. The genius of the beats, the pop sensibility, the voice. Of course we knew the voice, but in conjunction with these new tunes there was so much more than we ever thought might be possible, given the Sugarcubes gradual decline. From the quiet beauty of tracks such and Like Someone In Love and Venus As A Boy to the full on joyous dance tracks like Big Time Sensuality, Violently Happy, and the sheer  unadulterated fun of There's More To Life Than This (Recorded Live at the Milk Bar Toilets) this was obviously the shape of things to come.

32. PJ Harvey - Dry

And so to the other half of that awe-inspiring duo who performed Satisfaction at The Brits that time.

When I was in Germany you would occasionally get a specially recorded John Peel show on BFBS radio, and if you were lucky, really late at night you could pick up Mark Radcliffe's Hit The North in the ether on Medium Wave on the old Radio 5. One of these sources was doubtless where I first heard Dress and Sheela-Na-Gig because I bought the album the first time I saw it in a shop. Sadly I had no way to get hold of the limited Demonstration edition but I was happy just to have found what, at that time, I thought was a pretty obscure little album by an unknown band (am I the only one who still files PJ Harvey stuff under P as it was the name of the band?).

I'm pretty sure I went without food for a while there so I could buy this.

31. Radiohead - OK Computer

Radiohead were the first band that I could genuinely profess to liking before they were famous. I can still see the box full of 99p CD copies of the original issue of Creep on the counter downstairs in one of the two Coventry HMVs.

There will be more talk about Radiohead in a future post, but for now let's think about OK Computer. It's a stunning album obviously, that much is a given. There's so few, if any, weak moments. Maybe Fitter Happier but in the grand scheme of things it's forgivable. The singles Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises along with Lucky (originally released as a single to support the War Child Help charity compilation album) is just about the greatest run of singles ever to come off an album that isn't by Prince or Teenage Fanclub.

"Why the relatively low placing then Matt?" I hear you cry. Well, it's probably just a matter of how little I actually listen to it these days. They remain one of my all-time favourite bands, and if you haven't seen them live then you've missed out, but I find myself reaching for Hail To The Thief or In Rainbows these days over this.

I do wish that I'd picked up a handful of those Creep singles though. Could have seen me through some sticky financial moments over the years.

30. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See A Darkness

Will Oldham. Palace. Palace Music. Palace Brothers. Bonny Billy. Anyone who tries to be a completist of this fella has their work cut out for them.

Many many years ago I needed another CD single to make up the 3-for-a-pound from the bargain rack in Prestatyn Record Shop and ended up with a copy of Palace's An Arrow Through The Bitch. I must have listened to it at least once I guess, but it never worked for me so it got filed away and forgotten about.

Then some years later I got copies of I See A Darkness, Ease Down The Road and Master And Everyone on one of the first CDs of these newfangled mp3s anyone ever did for me. I realised that on these albums the Prince had found his voice and I was hooked.

Of these three albums Master And Everyone is my favourite but it doesn't fall into this list's criteria so I See A Darkness is the one that makes the cut. More polished than the earlier Palace material it still has that grim menace but it's also great fun (or is that just me).

Oldham's sense of fun has always been the side of his music I've enjoyed the most, and his Greatest Palace Music reworking of his early lo-fi Palace material with a full Nashville country band is my all-time favourite BPB release, and the fact that he can turn this...

...into this...

...is a mark of the greatness of the man.

29. Belly - Star

One of the good things about being friends with Eifion is the fact that he has a penchant for collecting stuff on the coolest record labels. His Factory obsession introduced me to New Order, James, Happy Mondays, The Durutti Column etc; he always had all the limited edition ZTT stuff for all the FGTH, Art Of Noise, Propaganda & Act stuff; and his 4AD collection brought me Throwing Muses, Pixies, Wolfgang Press and the Mountain Goats.

Of course this brought along with it all the splinter groups and solo stuff such as The Breeders and Belly.

Prior to Red Heaven there were usually a couple of poppier tunes on Throwing Muses albums. Slighty more mainstream indie pop than your usual Muses fare. And these were usually the Tanya Donnelly ones.

Belly are really a one album wonder for me. I know some of you will argue that King is a superior album, but for me, apart from the fancier artwork of the limited edition it van't hold a candle to Star. This is probably because I love Star *so* much that I didn't feel the need for another Belly album.

Tied To The 90s: Part 3

Only 3 to give you today, and to be honest, there isn't much to say about the third of them so only 2 proper write-ups. Sorry, but it's late & I've got a hell of a day tomorrow. The 3 albums that follow today's post are real big-hitters and deserve more than an over-tired  half-recalled ramble from your humble host, whose writing isn't up to much even at the best of times.

36. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

I managed to miss The Flaming Lips until this point. I mean I knew the name, and I remember seeing a (shaped?) picture disc of This Here Giraffe in Prestatyn record shop, but that was it. And then this came along.

I know my feats of record-purchasing-recollection have been pretty impressive so far, but I can even remember where in Rhyl Our Price this was. I guess if I went into what is now the O2 shop I could still pinpoint the exact spot.

I've never really been into the more psychedelic side of music I guess but this is so obviously great from start to finish that that isn't even an issue. Really my appreciation for them waned (see what I did there?) after Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots but I think this is more down to me not having the time and energy to properly investigate subsequent releases.

35. Beck - Odelay

As I mentioned previously, the first time I heard Beck was when Jo Whiley played Loser on Radio 1. And of course it was a work of genius (Loser that is, not the Jo Whiley show). It had great b-sides, it had a classic TOTP performance with a band of old-timers and breakdancing, but it didn't really have the killer album to back it up. I remember a guy I worked with called Charlie Bass (and yes, he played the bass) coming around with Mellow Gold on CD and me being, well, disappointed.

So I was not expecting great things from the follow-up, although lead-off single Where It's At was nicely funky and got my attention. I'm convinced I actually bought this on release (Rhyl Our Price) so maybe it was just funky enough.  And then of course the hits kept coming. Devil's Haircut, The New Pollution, Sissyneck and the fabulous Jack-Ass. I bought the "maxi-single" of that one in a record "store" in a "mall" somewhere in North Carolina, and also got Stereopathic Soul Manure and One Foot In The Grave at the same time so as to avoid paying the cost of buying them as imports from the ads at of the back of the NME. Of course the cost of a holiday to North Carolina never occurred to me at this point. These were the only music purchases I made on that trip. I know The Drugs Don't Work was released the day we set off, and that The Fat Of The Land was all over the shops over there, but I never looked for anything beyond those 3 Beck releases.

I haven't listened to Odelay for quite some time (I tend towards Mutations these days) but I know it's always there and I know it's great.

In fact typing this has made me want to listen to it right now.

34. Various Artists - Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

Just look at this tracklisting. Have you ever seen a more influential set of tracks on one compilation?

CD1

1. Smokestack Lightning' - Howlin' Wolf
2. Hoochie Koochie Man - Muddy Waters
3. Let me love you baby - Buddy Guy
4. Boom Boom (Out go the lights) - Little Walter
5. Tell Mamma - Etta James
6. I had a talk with my man last night - Mitty Collier
7. Summertime - Billy Stewart
8. I'm a Man - Bo Diddley
9. If walls could talk - Little Milton
10. The Entertainer - Tony Clark
11. Flat Foot Sam - T.V. Slim
12. Mama talk to your daughter - J.B. Lenoir
13. T.W.A. - Jimmy Witherspoon
14. Dirty Old Man - Laura Lee
15. Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor
16. So many roads - Otis Rush
17. Seventh Son - Wille Mabon
18. Jock-A-Mo - Sugar Boy Crawford
19. The Walk - Jimmy McCracklin
20. Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson

CD2

1. One Bourbon, one scotch, one beer - John Lee Hooker
2. Roadrunner - Bo Diddley
3. Reelin. & Rockin. - Chuck Berry
4. That's all right - Jimmy Rogers
5. My Time after awhile - Buddy Guy
6. But I do - Clarence "Frogman" Henry
7. Rescue Me - Fontella Bass
8. The "In" Crowd - Ramsay Lewis Trio
9. Soulful dress - Sugar Pie Desanto
10. Stay in my corner - The Dells
11. Voice your choice - The Radiants
12. Talk to me baby - Elmore James
13. Good to me - Irma Thomas
14. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston & his delta cats
15. Selfish One - Jackie Ross
16. Juke - Little Walter
17. Grits ain't Groceries - Little Milton
18. 29 Ways - Willie Dixon
19. Help me - Sonny Boy Williamson
20. Rollin' Stone - Muddy Waters

Tied To The 90s: Part 2

This is obviously going to be a long process. Life tends to get in the way of finding the time to share these memories with you all. It is kind of fun though, remembering what particular albums and songs mean to me. For example at the moment I'm listening to Left To My Own Devices by the Pet Shop Boys from the album Introspective - an album I bought on limited edition 3x 12" vinyl from Abergele Woolworths (where I also bought my first PSB record - a limited double 7" pack of Suburbia) and then later got on CD - I think from the second-hand rack at Phase One Records in Rhyl.

Remember I mentioned last time that I was a multi-format sucker? I bought the single of Left To My Own Devices on 7", 12", cassette & CD single (all in yellow outer sleeves) as well as owning it on the album. Twice. And then bought the B-sides again on the Alternative compilation. And now I'm listening to it on Spotify punctuated by adverts about energy drinks and commercial radio stations.

I just remembered - I also have a promotional Introspective carrier bag from Kavern Records in Rhyl.

Hopefully more such exciting revelations to follow...

43. Carter USM - 101 Damnations

My friend James introduced me to Carter - they'd played some early shows in Leicester where he was at university and he had seen them for the musical/lyrical geniuses that they were. Now generally I have a lot of faith in James' taste, but then he also tried to convince me about the Manic Street Preachers so I always have to be slightly wary.

Of course, it goes without saying that this time he was right. I remember seeing the LP in Swordfish Records in Birmingham but I don't think I actually bought the CD until maybe a decade or more later. Of course 30 Something, 1992: The Love Album and subsequent singles were bought on release, and seeing them supported by The Family Cat at Leicester Granby Halls (Songkick tells me 11/12/92) remains one of my favourite gigs to this day.

42. Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

I bought Slanted & Enchanted from a hi-fi shop in Braunschweig, Germany which had a very impressive indie section (stand-out memories are of buying Trompe Le Monde & PJ Harvey's Dry from there)

I tried to like it, I really did. It has been one of those albums that has eluded me for many years. Every so often I'll give it another try but it still won't click for me.

So what possessed me to buy Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain? I can only assume that I was sufficiently persuaded by lead-off single Cut Your Hair. This is another though that I didn't buy on release, but got second-hand. My memory is that Eifion rang me from a second-hand book shop in Colwyn Bay and asked me if I wanted this for a fiver. Now he has no recollection of this, or of said book shop ever selling CDs. I have 6 months on him so I'm going to put it down to old age affecting his memory.

I certainly have other singles from this album - Gold Soundz, Range Life - so I don't think it would have taken much to persuade to go for the album.

As a matter of fact I only think they bettered it once.

Oops, sorry - SPOILER ALERT!

41. Pulp - His N Hers

The tale of how I fell in love with Pulp is one of my favourite stories to tell, and no doubt some of you will have heard it more than once already, so feel free to skip to number 40.

James & I were off to see Saint Etienne at De Montfort Hall not long after they had released So Tough. I had bought the album on CD from Spinadisc in Coventry on release day but not knowing there was an in-store planned at Andy's Records I'd left it at home. Therefore I had to buy it again to have a good reason to meet Pete, Bob and (who am I kidding - I really only cared about meeting...) Sarah. I'm pretty sure that this was the first band I ever met.

When we got to De Montfort Hall that night we had no idea who were supporting St Et, but onto the stage walks a lanky charmer by the name of Jarvis with his band. They were (obviously) amazing. They were on the cusp of great things as we now know, but they stormed that stage. Jarvis was brilliant and witty as we know. Sharing a box of Milk Tray with the audience before launching into Razzmatazz is still the best thing I've ever seen anyone do between songs. The fact that Babies and Lipgloss are on this album just about edges it over Different Class and Intro as my favourite Pulp album.

For once my memory fails me about where I bought this, but my money is on Rhyl Our Price. What I do know is that I had to make sure I handed over the right copy of So Tough when I went back to Spinadisc and said "Look - I've got two".

40. The Bluetones - Expecting To Fly

There isn't a great deal to say about this one really, except that it remains my favourite album to come out of what was known as Brit-Pop. Just some cracking songs, especially on the second half (after the needle run-off and click in the middle of the CD) and it still gets played on a regular basis when I'm in the mood for great tunes.

39. Madder Rose - Bring It Down

I guess Swim got some airplay on The Evening Session or something. I can't think how else I would have heard of Madder Rose. I went into Penny Lane Records in Chester looking for the single and came out with the album. Scuzzy guitars, cool female vocals - what's not to love. Right up my street.

Second album Panic On was pretty close, but this remains my favourite of theirs.

38. Airhead - Boing!

Airhead didn't need to release anything other than this album, although the stand-alone single Counting Sheep was ace and subsequently added to the album. Another album I got second hand in Rhyl's Phase One, but I'd had a tape copy of it for ages from someone.

Cracking singles like Right Now, Congratulations (got this on ltd 12" in a poster sleeve under their origianl moniker Jefferson Airhead), and the story-of-my-young-life Funny How are interspersed with equally great album tracks.

Back then I thought "It's funny how the girls you fall in love with never fancy you / Funny how the ones you don't do" was up there with anything Morrissey had ever penned.

37. Cake - Fashion Nugget

Cake are great. The Distance was the big radio & chart hit but all their albums have great songs with, often very funny lyrics. Their sweary cover of I Will Survive featured here along with tracks like Frank Sinatra and Italian Leather Sofa showed off their talent to the extent that I ended up paying £15.99 for the next album Prolonging The Magic from Kavern Records.


That's seven more for you. Let's see when life gives me time to do some more.

Tied To The 90s: Part 1

The 1990s were a time when I bought what can only be described as "an absolute shit-load of music". And I mean a shit-load. In 1990 I was still one of the last lot of students who had any hope of leaving university without a massive overdraft and a huge loan to repay. The student grant was a wonderful thing, and mine was spent vigorously in the record shops of Coventry and Rhyl.

September 1991 to June 1992 was spent working and studying in Germany and thanks to the failure of a Czech student to turn up for the course I was on, I managed to assume his identity and receive an EU grant on his behalf. Yay identity theft!!

The record shops of Brauschweig and Wolfsburg profited from this and some classics were bought during this time: Buffalo Tom's Let Me Come Over, Bandwagonesque, Screamadelica, Foxbase Alpha, Trompe Le Monde, Dry, Slanted & Enchanted, Lazer Guided Melodies, Diamonds & Pearls... I could go on for some time.

And then after uni that leaves 6 years of working to build up a pretty reasonable (predominantly indie-rock orientated) CD collection. And that's really only taking the albums into account. There wasn't a week that went by when I wasn't scouring the new release CD singles at Our Price, Woolworths or Kavern Records for the 99p first week bargains. Of course being the multi-format sucker that I was I often ended up with 2 (occasionally 3 - see Orbital's Satan (Live)) versions of the same single.

So yes, a shit-load of music. In retrospect, my quality filters did slip up occasionally, and some things haven't held up to the ravages of time, but I make no secret of the fact that this decade is easily my favourite time in music.

And that's why the challenge of making a top 50 albums of the 90s list has been a pretty big job. Big insomuch as the sheer volume of stuff to pick from was pretty daunting, and the original long-list was particularly long.

When you think about it, 50 for a whole decade is pretty ridiculously restrictive. I mean, 5 per year? Especially when you consider 1997 has 7 albums I couldn't really live without. Thankfully when I looked at it I thought "Well first of all I'd better pick the definite ones" and ended up with 51 ticks (sorry to the War Child Help! collection).

Some of you (I'm kidding! I know no-one's reading this!) may remember that I did a top 50 albums of all time list last year. I warn you now that if you're comparing that list to this one you'll find that they don't necessarily correspond with their chart placings. I haven't checked back on that previous list, I've just winged it based on my gut feeling this week. There's an element of both "loved it then" and "love it now" in the selections, but they're all corkers and that's what counts.

As ever I hope you find something you didn't know and look it up. I've only written up 7 so far so that's what you get for now...

50. Throwing Muses - Red Heaven

I'm pretty sure that the first time I heard Throwing Muses it was from a cassette my friend Eifion had of Hunkpapa. The disjointed rhythms worried me slightly, but I remember enjoying Dizzy particularly.

The Muses became one of my favourite bands over the years. The album was the first they released after the departure of founding member Tanya Donnelly. Tanya always had a slightly poppier sensibility than Kristin Hersh so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this when it was released but I needn't have feared anything.

From the single Firepile, to the Bob Mould Duet Dio and the unbelievable Pearl this album is chock full of great songs.

I bought this from one branch of HMV in Coventry and then went up to the other branch and exchanged it because they had the version with the live solo acoustic show bonus disc. And let's face it, a live acoustic solo Kristin Hersh set of Throwing Muses songs is pretty much the best thing you could ever want to hear.

49. The Stone Roses - Second Coming

I liked it.

48. The Amps - Pacer

Pretty much the most rocking Breeders album there is.

47. Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain

You know when you first start going to gigs and you get to see your favourite bands in person for the first time? I went to see The Wedding Present in Leicester De Montfort Hall with my good friend James in May of 1991. Seamonsters was newly released so the boy Gedge was at the height of his powers and we were geared up to immerse ourselves in the our first bit of real hero-worship (although I *had* seen Prince once and Frank Sidebottom twice by this stage). The last thing either of us expected was to be completely blown away by the unknown support band.

Don't get me wrong, The Weddoes were amazing that night. I  mean PROPERLY amazing, but both James & I left the show understanding that we had just discovered a band that could go on to great things.

The following day we walked into a record shop in Leicester city centre and saw this album on vinyl. Of course this was 1991 and *no one* bought vinyl. So we walked out again.

In the end I didn't end up buying it until I was in Germany over a year later, and by this time Let Me Come had also been released. I don't remember which I bought first, although I'm pretty sure I got them both (and also the eponymous debut eventually) in the same shop.

Over the years Buffalo Tom have been consistently in my top 10 bands of all time, along with Gedge & his lot, so when James & I had the opportunity to see them play in Manchester in 2011 we were front and centre from start to finish, and to talk to and get autographs from two of them after the show was a big thrill.

I took this picture. I was pretty happy with my point of view. Bill Janovitz is a bona fide rock star in my eyes.

46. the Mountain Goats - Full Force Galesburg

You know by now that this is my favourite band, but I didn't get into them until about 2001. Some of their earlier stuff isn't as accessible as the records that got me hooked on them, but Full Force Galesburg is chock-full of great tunes and is my favourite early-period tMG album.

45. Money Mark - Push The Button

The first album in the list that I bought on cassette. Not quite sure why that is because I've got Mark's Keyboard Repair on CD. I  guess at this stage I must have still chosen my format based on my budget. It's a cracking little album too. Having discovered Mark through his work on The Beastie Boys' Ill Communication album I found Mark's Keyboard Repair a little too keyboard-noodly but while this one has its fair share of noodle, it also has proper hit singles.

44. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque

Right, remember that shop in Germany where I bought those Buffalo Tom albums? We'll be returning there quite regularly on this journey.

One of the first things I did when I got to Germany was to take out a subscription to the NME. Back in '91/'92 it was still worth buying the NME and especially in Germany where the radio options were the local chart pop station (Radio FFN!) and BFBS (although you did get Peel once a week). I had to really rely on reviews to give me some clues about what I might want to buy. Thankfully it was pretty difficult to go wrong in 1992.

I knew nothing about Teenage Fanclub prior to reading NME's rave review of Bandwagonesque  but bought it, possibly at the same time as Lazer Guided Melodies, and from the opening "She wears denim wherever she goes / Says she's gonna get some records by the Status Quo" I was hooked. A friend had asked me to copy his CD of Nevermind onto a cassette for him and I remember telling him that it was "a bit too metal for my taste". I think Bandwagonesque filled the grungy niche in my collection, and although I would later come to see the error of my ways about Nevermind, it still never overtook this neon pink & yellow wonder in my eyes.