The Office (US Version)

Did anyone catch the US version of The Office last night? Thoughts?

For those of you who didn't see it, the first episode was basically a ripoff of the first episode of the UK series. Every character from the UK series has an character who matches them on the US series.

Personally, watching the first episode felt like watching a bunch of friends getting the script to the UK series and acting it out themselves. I thought the acting was terrible (especially the guy playing the David Brent-like character). All of the subtleties that Ricky Gervais put into the role (the little glimpses, the laugh, etc) were completely lost in translation, the guy was just acting like an idiot but there was no uniqueness to the chacter. The magic of Gareth was completely gone, the US guy is just a geeky brownnose without the quirks that Mackenzie Crook put into the role (at least it hasn't shone through yet). Tim and Dawn translated over okay, generally because they are normal characters and how hard is it to play normal characters?

I thought the 2nd episode was better, if only for the fact that it was a new(ish) storyline, and couldn't compare it directly to the UK counterpart. The bit where they all had to wear minority races on their foreheads and then all talk to each other as if they were talking to that minority race was very amusing. The Keith equivalent did an okay job...

Personally, I don't think it's the kind of the show that translates well to an American audience. Ahh well, at least they didn't have a laugh track...

Top 10 Years For Album Releases - #2

Here we are again. It's certainly been a long time between drinks.

Why the delay? Of course, laziness is always the excuse. But this time I have also been debating the top 2 positions in my mind. It's so hard choosing between them. They both have special places in my heart. One brings back a lot more memories than the other year. One probably has higher peaks, but the other is so consistenty brilliant that I feel it doesn't deserve anything less than the top spot. It's a really tough decision. If I'd known how stressful ending this list was going to be, I probably wouldn't have started it.

But I have made my bed, and now I have to lie in it. What the hell does that mean? Why do you have to lie down in a bed you have just made? That doesn't make any sense! Okay Jiggy. Compose yourself. It's only a blog!

Only a blog? This is one of most controversial lists ever published on the web! Move aside, Pitchfork and Stylus magazine. There's a new gun in town! Okay...what was that? Shut up? Okay, I will shut up now.

With great sadness, I will now announce the runner up to the best year for album releases in history.

#2: 1997

It hurts. It really hurts. 1997 has always held a special place in my musical heart. Or maybe that should be: 1997 has always held a special place in my ears. However you want to say it, that's the facts.

Cat Stevens once sang "it's not time to make a change, just relax, take it easy." Easier said than done, Yusef. You see, 1997 was certainly a HUGE year for change. It was first year uni. It was the year I turned 18. It was the year I moved from South Oakleigh to West McKinnon. No longer constrained about what the teachers at school and Uncle Sam could tell me to do. And did I live it up! Well, no not really. I do remember joining the chocolate club at Monash university because they had a keg at O-Week. I remember catching a bus to my cousin's place afterwards and then my parents picking me up, and I was off my face. I still remember turning up to my first 2-3 maths tutorials pissed. Those were the days :-)

More than anything, the start of '97 brings back a lot of memories of being young. The year probably went worse as it went on, when I discovered that uni was about more than just free beer. You see, they put on this free beer to impress the new students, so they would think uni life is all happy happy joy joy. Then a few weeks later, the beer just STOPS. It's like prohibition all over again, except you can still go to the pub and buy a beer. I still remember going to the pub with my teammates before a Professional Communications presentation and downing a few shots of bourbon to make the presentation run a little smoother. I always found it ironic that the Professional Communications lecturer was practically deaf.

But anyway, I used to be about the music, and now I'm rabbiting on about uni. Yes, I'm certainly looking through uni with rose coloured glasses here. In all honesty uni probably wasn't as good as I'm making it out to be here, but I guess it's human nature to try to remember the good things about situations and forget the bad things.

So there you go, I've set the scene for 1997. I guess one of the main reasons I love this year is because of the memories I associate with it. But of course, memories don't make great music. Music makes great music. And 1997 has some sensational music.

In fact, some of my absolute favourite albums of all time are from 1997.

Here's some of the masterpieces released that year:

• Radiohead released their masterpiece, and one of the best albums ever with OK Computer. This album has been hyped to godlike status ever since its release. Does it live up to its hype? Well, yes and no. It's an absolutely superb album, but I still wouldn't call it the best album of all time like Q magazine did in 1997. You can't possibly comprehend, when listening to this album, that this was the same band who released the single Creep only 4 years earlier. OK Computer was an almost perfect synthesis of the past (guitar-based rock) and the future (electronic music). But unlike its successors Kid A and Amnesiac, this album didn't over-emphasize the electronic portion. It left the melodic beauty and, most importantly, the song intact.
• Legendary Welsh band Super Furry Animals released their masterpiece Radiator. These guys are truly one of the most innovative bands around at the moment, and in my opinion they have yet to top this, their second album. It's just so perfectly sequenced: opener Furryvision (TM) sets the scene. Hard rockers Placid casual and The international language of screaming lead the way to the epic Demons. Short painkiller gives us a spot of relief (hence the name) before we launch into the sensational middle set of the album. Seriously, it's pretty hard to find a trilogy of songs as consistently brilliant and catchy as She's got spies, Play it cool and Hermann loves Pauline. A couple of rockers follow (one of them in their native language), and then we have the comedown from the earlier highs: Bass tuned to D.E.A.D., Down a different river and Download (try listening to these tracks when driving at night, Download sounds sensational!). And just when you think they've gone all mellow on you, they unleash the epic Mountain people together with a techno assault to end all techno assaults. Quite simply, one of the best indie releases of all time. Ink Blot Magazine got it right in their review of this album when they called it "the fucking epitome of music".
• The Whitlams released their masterpiece Eternal nightcap. Yes, this is the album they released before they became shit. It was released shortly after the death of founding member Stevie Plunder, who plunged to his death on Australia Day 1996. While not as fun as their earlier albums (for obvious reasons), this album manages to combine sombre beauty (the Charlie trilogy, No aphrodisiac) with jazzy rockers (You sound like Louis Burdett). The result is one of the best Australian albums of all time.
• The late Elliott Smith released his masterpiece Either/or. While he never released a bad album in his lifetime, not many fans would dispute that this is probably his greatest achievement. This was his 3rd album, and finds the perfect mix between his earlier lo-fi roots, and his later more "produced" material. It was his last independantly released album. Listen to Between the bars, Alameda and 2:45am. Music simply doesn't get much better than this.

Some other great albums released in 1997:

• The Verve released their highly acclaimed swansong Urban hymns. While I don't believe this is quite the masterpiece the history books would make you believe, there's no doubting that it has many stunning songs on it. Besides the hits (Bittersweet symphony, The drugs don't work, Lucky man) - there are many hidden gems on this album. Some of my favourites are Sonnet, Weeping willow (probably my favourite) and the gorgeous Velvet morning. It's a very long album (75 minutes) and I think if this album was trimmed, it could have been very close to masterpiece status.
• Supergrass released their excellent sophomore album In it for the money. This album bears no relation to the Frank Zappa album of [almost] the same name, We're only in it for the money. They certainly avoided the dreaded sophomore slump with this album, which showed the band maturing after their punky debut I should coco. There's some stunning songs on this album - Late in the day, the epic opening title cut and G-Song being my absolute choice cuts.
• Ween released their stunning concept album The mollusk. There's a definite perception out there that Ween are a novelty band, but with this album they really proved themselves as amazing musicians. The nautical theme runs throughout this album, and despite the lyrics being a tad crass at times (and with Waving my dick in the wind, the song titles as well) the utter beauty of songwriting prowess shown throughout this album allows it to transcend the novelty tag. Personal favourite cuts: the title track, It's gonna be (Alright), Buckingham green and the epic closer She wanted to leave.
• Ben Harper released another incredibly solid album with The will to live. This guy has a lot of talent - nuff said. The voice, the guitar playing, the songwriting all add up to a great listen. My personal favourites on this one are Jah work, Widow of a living man and Glory & Consequence. But they're all good. I didn't get into Ben Harper until long after this album was released, so it doesn't particularly remind me of that time of my life.
• Yo La Tengo released their excellent album I can hear the heart beating as one. Commonly considered to be their masterpiece, it's a great listen from a great band -- let down only my the overlong drone of Spec bebop. My personal favourite songs are Sugarcube, Shadows, Stockholm syndrome and Autumn sweater. And the guitar solo in We're an American band is one of the best and most emotional I have heard -- superb.
• Modest Mouse released their excellent 2nd album The lonesome crowded west. Before Float on made it big on the radio, MM were much rougher around the edges and personally I think it suited them a lot more. This is a very solid (if a tad overlong) album. Personal favourite cuts include the hip-hoppy Heart cooks brain, incredibly catchy Doin' the cockroach, epic Trailer trash and heartbreaking Bankrupt on selling. Isaac Brock's voice is certainly an acquired taste, but it does grow on you.
  

Now for a few albums which are "so 1997". By this I mean that they really remind me of this year in my life. Maybe they haven't aged as well as some other albums, but putting them on will always take me back...

• Jebediah released their debut album Slightly odway. Many readers of this blog (me included) tend to associate this album with 1st year uni. Maybe it's the fact that Leaving home was dominating the airwaves, and while none of us were actually leaving home at that point, it still struck a chord. I'll confess that I haven't given this album a spin for a while, but it's an incredibly solid debut album.
• Ben Folds Five released their 2nd album Whatever and ever amen. Brick, Song for the dumped, Battle of who could care less. All these songs bring back memories of '97. A far cry from Mr Folds' more "mature" output of late. Great fun album that probably hasn't aged that well.

One of the most anticipated albums ever (for me) was released in 1997. Oasis had released 2 masterpieces in Definitely maybe and Morning glory. I can't explain how much I was looking forward to their 3rd album Be here now. I bought it from the union building at Monash University on the day of its release (August 26th). I really enjoyed listening to all 71 minutes of it. The critics praised it initially (with Q magazine actually giving it a 5 star rating!). Time hasn't served this album well, with most publications jumping on the bandwagon and bagging it, but I gave it a listen recently and it still holds up for me as a good album, even if it wasn't as solid as their first 2 albums.

Then there's Unit by Regurgitator which was absolutely killed by overplay on the radio. Very overrated at the time, it did contain a few incredibly catchy songs which brought back the retro feeling long before new bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Killers decided that they could cash in this whole movement. Personally, I don't think time has served this album that well, even if it's an enjoyable listen.

Now for some albums that I didn't really get into (or even know) at the time but have since acquired:

• Glaswegian legends Teenage Fanclub released their brilliant Songs from northern Britain album. These guys have been around since the early 90's releasing classic albums that generally go unnoticed. No, they aren't particularly innovative. And while their influences (ranging from Beach Boys, The Byrds, Big Star to Crosby Stills & Nash) are pretty obvious, there aren't many other bands out there that are doing what they are doing so amazingly well. Choice cuts on this album include Ain't that enough, I don't want control of you and Winter.
• Nick Cave released his (commonly considered masterpiece) The boatman's call. I gotta say, I bought this album with high expectations. And while it contains some incredible tracks (Are you the one that I've been waiting for? is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard), the sombre tone of the album can get a much after a while. I think this album would have benefited from a few rockier tracks here and there to break the mood a bit, but many would disagree with me.
• Bjork released her critically acclaimed 3rd album (on a major label, anyway) Homogenic. This album starts out brilliantly with the first 4 tracks, and then goes off into weird dance territory until it comes back to earth in the final track All is full of love. Hasn't grown on me entirely yet, but maybe one day it will (maybe if I stop buying CDs and I get a chance to listen to this old stuff!).
• Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace Music, Palace Brothers, ) released his excellent album Joya. Interesting story to tell about this album. I probably gave it about 8 spins and it still didn't "do it" for me. I was about to take it out of my CD case when I decided to give it one last spin. That last spin hit me like a Mack truck. Suddenly all the songs started to pop out at me like the image in a magic eye picture (well actually I can never see those but that's another story). Amazing how music has the power to do that. Personal favourite cut is the breathtaking Apocolypse, no!. Mr Oldham is an acquired taste, but it's a taste worth acquiring.
• Spiritualized released their [commonly regarded to be a masterpiece] album Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space. After many, many listens, the jury is still out on this one. Combining beautiful ballads with free jazz freakouts and a 70-minute running time, it's not an easy listen. When it works (like on the stunning Broken heart) it really works. I do think you need to be under the influence of something to truly understand this album though.
• Stereolab released their acclaimed Dots and loops album. While I do enjoy this while listening to it, I can't say I've gotten the urge to go back to it a lot. Probably has something to do with the copious amount of music I purchase. All this beautiful music on that shelf, and I keep buying more. That's addiction for ya.
• Blur released their "transitional" self-titled album. This one is a huge change from their previous album The great escape. It's a pretty diverse album, ranging from pop (Beetlebum), punk rock (the overplayed Song 2, Chinese bombs) to weirdass experiments (Essex dogs). And it probably contains my favourite Blur song of all time -- You're so great. Sung by ex-guitarist Graham Coxon, and sounding like a B-Side from the White Album sessions, it's a masterpiece.
• Bob Dylan released his acclaimed "return to form" Time out of mind. It's a pretty dark album this one (and a long one at that). Personally, I'm more a fan of Bob's more upbeat stuff, and his more recent album Love & Theft made more of an impact on me. But it's still Bob, and even bad Bob is good Bob (not that this is anywhere close to being bad Bob).

Some debut albums that were released in 1997:

• Grandaddy released Under the western freeway. While their 2nd album (the cleverly titled The sophtware slump) was an incredibly solid album, they had a lot to learn here still. Nothing really stands out on this album.
• Travis released Good feeling. Not a lot to say about this album except -- Bring on the 2nd album! (Oh yeah, and leave it at that ;-) [Actually, the amusing U16 Girls almost saves this album, but not quite.]
• Something For Kate released Elsewhere for 8 minutes. It has its moments (Pinstripe and Soundczech) but they hadn't quite reached the brilliant maturity of their 2nd album Beautiful sharks. But then again, maybe I haven't given it enough time to grow on me.
• Flake Music (the predecessor to the brilliant Shins) released When you land here, it's time to return. Not sure what to make of this album yet, it's been recorded very quietly so it's hard to hear the music (especially on the computer) without turning it up a lot. I'll have to do a raincheck on this review.
  

And now for some honourable mentions and disappointments of the year:

• Portishead released their self-titled sophomore album. After their brilliant debut album Dummy, they went much darker with this one. Unfortunately nothing on this album quite matches up to the beauty of Roads, Glory box and There's a fire from their debut album.
• Live released their 3rd album Secret samadhi. I still stand by my words when I say that Throwing copper is a masterpiece. Here they went all ambitious and it just didn't work that well. That's not to say that it doesn't have its moments - Turn my head and Gas hed goes west are some nice tracks. But I think I only really need one Live album.
• U2 released their highly derided album Pop. Bought it cheap, listened to it once. Nuff said.
• Cornershop (of Brimful of Asha fame) released their album When I was born for the 7th time. I think Q magazine included this on their list of greatest albums of all time which was published in 1997. Ha! Talk about being caught up in the moment. Not sure why I haven't sold this one on Ebay yet, actually. Actually, I know why. Nobody would buy it.
• Lighthouse Family released their album Postcards from heaven. Not quite sure what to say about this one. Not the kind of thing I'd normally buy. High is a nice track. There are some other nice ones. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

Suede also released their brilliant B-Sides compilation Sci-fi lullabies in 1997. Does that count? And the Simpsons CD Songs in the key of Springfield was also released this year. Just thought I'd mention them...

My fingers are sore!

Sampling History

Whew, it's been awhile since the last post (whatcha doin' Jiggy? Anyone'd think you'd been outta the country or somfink). So I thought a gentle introduction was appropriate...I know you're going to love checking out the History of Sampling.

It's a great visualization of how artists have been sampling albums in recent years. By clicking on the 'dots' you can see how albums and songs interrelate.

I don't think it's quite complete yet since there's no way The Avalanches have only sampled twelve songs!!! (Click the fourth-last blip in 2000)

And it's interesting that it seems to show that the practice of sampling is slowing down. Does this mean that we're on the cusp of a revolution of new music?

BTW, you'll need Java installed.

Music Marathon

Here's an interesting article.

Not sure if I would have the discipline to do this, but an interesting concept. According to my supporting documentation it would take me 18 days straight to listen to my entire CD collection from A-Z. That's assuming that during my waking hours (16 hours) I was listening to music CONSTANTLY. So realistically it would probably take a few months.

RIP: Paul Hester 1959-2005

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Paul Hester, drummer for the legendary NZ/Australian band Crowded House. He always came across as a very charismatic and witty man, and his suicide leaves a big hole in the Australian music scene.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends in this very traumatic time.


The Last Motel is up on Amazon!

Brett McBean (a good friend of mine) wrote a great horror book a few years back called The Last Motel. Recently it has made it on to the Amazon website for sale. And they have finally got the artwork up now as well!

Check it out here. Well done, Brett. I hope that McBean will soon be mentioned in the same sentence as King and Laymon by horror critics.

I'll also be ordering my copy very soon...

A great article on John Lennon

Even if you aren't a fan of John Lennon (or the Beatles), you should still be able to appreciate this brilliant article on him. I think it really summarises everything that is wrong with popular music today. And by this, I mean the crap which generally dominates the album charts.

Give it a read and let me know what you think.

RocKwiz

Guess who was on the SBS show RocKwiz which was filmed last night?

Bzzzzzzzzzzz! Try again.

Yes, I made it on to RocKwiz. It was filmed at the Espy Hotel in St. Kilda. ChrisQ (a guy from work) asked me in the last minute to replace someone who couldn't make it. I thought, what the heck, it will be fun watching the show. Didn't think I actually had much chance of making it on the show. Things weren't looking good when we arrived. Chris was under the impression that we had a table booked, but when we got there apparently we were in standing room only. Well, it wasn't really standing room, it was more of a "sitting on an unnumbered table" room. Well actually, it was the same room. Just our table didn't have a number on it. So it didn't look like any of us had a chance of getting on the show at this point. Here's how the contestant selection worked. Each numbered table gets a sheet of trivia questions which they have to answer as a group. In addition, there were several wildcard entries from the people in the standing room, and we were in this group. Everyone on the table contributes to the answers, and then each table had to nominate a person who they felt could best represent their table. I was chosen by our table. On to the next round...

Next, the selected contestants went up on stage (where the real show is filmed) and we did a mock show. The warm-up guy (good ol' Brian Nankervis) acted as the host for the mock show, asking the questions. We all took turns buzzing in and answering questions. Then some members of the crew chose 8 people to be contestants on the real show. I heard my name being mentioned by some crew members, and nervously waited the call out of contestant names. Right near the end, my name was mentioned! I was on the show.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, each show has 2 teams of 3 contestants. 2 of the contestants on each team are audience members, and there is 1 celebrity contestant who sits in the middle. So of the 8 audience members selected, 4 were going to be in the first show filmed, and 4 in the second show. I was selected to be in the second show, and I was very glad about this as I hadn't actually seen the show and I wanted to see what the format of it was like before competing on it :-)

The first show commenced. The 2 celebrities were Lisa Miller and Robert Forster of the legendary Brisbane band The Go-Betweens. Being a big fan of the GB's, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't on the first episode and in the same team as Robert, it would have been fun to chat to him. But ahhh well. When each celebrity comes out, they sing one of the songs they are famous for. I didn't recognise what Lisa Miller sung, but Robert Forster sung German Farmhouse from their 2000 reunion album The Friends of Rachel Worth. Great stuff!

At the end of the show, Lisa and Robert sung the classic Blondie smash hit Picture This as a duet. And that was the end of the show!

After a so-called 10 minute wait (more like 25 minutes), the 2nd group of contestants went up on stage, including me! I was put on a team with a guy who was wearing Elvis Costello-esque glasses, so in hindsight it would have looked pretty cool if I had worn mine as well, but I'd left them back at my table. The lovely host Julia Zemiro came up to all the constestants to introduce herself, and then told us that the first question she was going to ask us on the show was what our first album that we purchased was. I started thinking very hard here, should I be honest, or should I say something that is wittier? Technically, the first album I acquired (my Dad actually purchased it from overseas), was the Cocktail soundtrack. But I'm fairly sure that the first album I purchased was Even Worse by "Weird Al" Yankovic, and I thought that would get more laughs, so I said that instead.

Then the celebrities were brought out. Before they come out, Julia does a "Who am I?" by saying clues about the person who's about to come out, and constestants can buzz in if they know who it is. The first person to come out was Vanessa, but for the life of me I can't remember her surname. She was born in New Zealand, and moved to Australia when she was very young, and lived a gypsy lifestyle here with her family. I know she's fairly well known, she's very familiar looking, but I can't remember her name. Maybe after seeing the episode on TV, someone can fill me in on what her name is, and I can update this blog :-) The other team guessed who she was and she ended up on their team. The next celebrity was Ross Wilson of the legendary Aussie band Daddy Cool. The other guy on my team (who was quite a gun) guessed who he was from the clues. Ross was on our team!

And then the game started. Overall, it wasn't as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. It was really laid back, kind've like a pub trivia night with cameras and lights pointing in your face. I stumbled on a few questions, but also contributed a bit (although nowhere near as much as my fellow audience team member, who was gunning it). A few questions I knew the answers to I missed out on answering because I didn't buzz in quick enough.

Vanessa and Ross Wilson ended the show with a duet of Al Green's classic song Take me to the river.

In the end, we won by 1 point (actually 5 points, but there was 5 points for each correct answer so it equated to 1 point). We didn't win anything (it's an SBS show, they don't have a very big budget). But I was definitely on a high after leaving the show. I asked Julia (the host) if Robert Forster was still around, because I had the CD of The Friends of Rachel Worth in my car and I wanted him to sign it for me. Brian Nankervis gave me directions to the dressing rooms, and I went up there but unfortunately he had left already. A disappointing end to a great night out.

If you want to see me on TV, I suspect it will be on Saturday 5th March, at 9:15pm on SBS. That's assuming that it's filmed a week in advance.

I hope this makes up for the Double Dare debacle of 1989!

2004: A Year in Music

Yes, it's already February 2005 and I still haven't published my summary of 2004. Allow me to explain. In the month of January, I purchased many albums from 2004, and I figured that it wouldn't be fair if I completed my "Top albums of 2004" list without giving them a fair listen. After all, I didn't want to obsolete my list straight away when I discovered that one of my recent purchases was a masterpiece and deserved to be in the top list!

First of all, let's talk a little bit about the year that was 2004. I'll admit that earlier in the year, I was getting a bit worried that 2004 was going to be a bit of a dud year for music. There had been a few disappointing releases earlier in the year, as well as one or two albums which didn't live up to the hype. I was really getting concerned: the last couple of years had been great for music, and I didn't want to see a downhill trend.

Luckily, when I now look back on the year that was 2004, I look back it on as a solid year for music. Not great like the few years preceding it, but there were still many impressive album releases. Let's start with my top 5 albums of the year.

Top 5 Albums of 2004


(1) Machine Translations - Venus Traps Fly



Who would have thought that my favourite album of the year would end up being by the legendary local indie outfit Machine Translations? But no album released in 2004 has moved me as much as this one. This is actually their 6th album, but only the 3rd album they have released which is widely available. Much less experimental than their previous efforts Happy and Bad shapes, this is a band becoming more accessible without sacrificing their originality. The band have subtlely evolved over the years and this is very close to being hailed a masterpiece.

This albums often finds its beauty in its simplicity. Songs like "Bee in a cup" and "Stray dog" have very simple structures and melodies, but they are so beautiful and melodic that you will be humming them after your first listen. There's a few more upbeat tracks in "Simple life" and "Scretch" which make you tap your feet a bit, there's the more epic ballads like "Flown" and "If the water runs dry". But 2 of my favourite songs of the year are smack-bang in the middle: there's the beautiful and breathtaking instrumental "Twilit" and then my favourite track "Not my fall". I challenge you to find a more beautiful song released this year than "Not my fall". Even dodgy lyrics about altar-boys cleaning up someone's mess (!?) doesn't detract from the beauty of this song.

Overall, a fantastic album by a fantastic band. After seeing how the Trannies have grown over the years, I am really looking forward to hearing their next one.


(2) The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy



The Polyphonic Spree are certainly unique. Looking more like a cult than a band, the 24 members dance arrange stage wearing colourful robes and singing about how glorious the world is. Which is certainly a sigh of relief in today's day and age. Why can't more bands be like this? We all know the world is a fucked up place, do we need to hear it in the music we listen to as well? Music is supposed to be an escape from the troubles of the world.

This album is infinitely better than their debut "The beginning stages of..." for so many reasons. Firstly, their lyrics have really evolved on this one. Rather than repeating the same lyrics over and over again like they did on their debut, they have crafted mini stories into their songs. A lot less repetition! I'll admit, I don't know what a lot of their songs are about, but the music is so uplifting that it doesn't really matter. They could sing about going to the doctor to get hemorrhoids removed and make it sound like it's the best thing that ever happened. As well as the lyrical improvements, this album doesn't have a 36 minute long self-indulgent piece of crap like the first album did with "A long day". Man that song shitted me. Yes, that's right, all the songs on this album are great! All killer, no filler. I can honestly say, that every time I listen to this album, it makes me happy. How many albums can you say that about?

If I had to describe this band to someone, I would describe them as a cross between Flaming Lips and The Brady Bunch. If someone doesn't get frightened away by this description and actually gives this band (and this album) a go, they may have a new favourite band. Easily one of the best albums of the year.




(3) Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill



When I heard that Elliott Smith had died in late 2003 (via an SMS from Matt), I was truly saddened. This was the first time in history when an artist who I was a fan of had died in their prime. I didn't get into Jeff Buckley until after he had died. I was never a huge fan of Nirvana, so Kurt Cobain's suicide didn't trouble me that much. I was only 1 when John Lennon was killed. And I wasn't one of those bandwagon fans who started calling Elliott Smith my favourite artist simply because he had died. He was already one of my favourite artists when he was alive. In my opinion, he never released a less than excellent album in his career. He didn't put a step wrong.

And luckily, this posthumous release of the songs he had recorded shortly before his death doesn't break that trend. There is a truly superb set of songs on this album. One could spend ages analysing the lyrics to these songs to try and find hidden suicide notes. Even some of the song titles ("A fond farewell", "Last hour") can be analysed ad nauseum. And what about the music? Well, this album is probably a good summary of his entire career. Mix some of the tin pan alley pop stylings of Figure 8 and XO, add a sprinkle of Either/or's intimacy, and a pinch of his first two albums' lo-fi melodic beauty.

A fond farewell to [someone who has always felt like] a friend.



(4) Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man



I'll admit, I started to get a bit worried that Elvis Costello was losing it before this album came out. When I was cruel from 2002 really disappointed me. It had some great songs on it (Episode of blonde in particular), but I thought there was way too much filler on the album. I picked up North from 2003, his extremely mellow love letter to Diana Krall. Unfortunately he forgot about the melody on that album, and within a week of purchasing it I returned it for a refund. Elvis' last great album was All this useless beauty and that was from 1996! So he was approaching 8 years without releasing a great album! What had happened to the guy who released a brilliant run of 6 albums from 1977 to 1982? [You may notice I omitted his 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharch, Painted from memory. While I do really enjoy this album, I consider it a collaboration and hence don't classify it as a proper Elvis album per se.]

Luckily, good ol' Declan redeemed himself with this album. Truly his most brilliant set of songs in years, this album is like the love child of his countrified masterpiece King of America (from 1986) and his unpolished hard rock opus Blood and chocolate (from 1987). The album works excellent on a song level, but also works well as a whole. It was originally intended to be a concept album, but like many albums in history (Sgt Peppers) the concept never reached its full fruition.

And the songs? Well Monkey to man is one of his catchiest songs ever, Country darkness, Either side of the same town and Nothing clings like ivy are some of his most beautiful ballads, and Needle time, Bedlam and The name of this thing is not love are some of his best rockers. Even There's a story in your voice (a crazy duet with Lucinda Williams) works really well.

Most of all, this album has a heart and soul. Elvis was certainly back!



(5) Wilco - A Ghost is Born



After the brilliant Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from 2002, the expectations for this album were very high. Wilco even released it in a streaming format on their website, and while I skimmed across a few tracks, I resisted the temptation to listen to the whole album online.

Initial reviews were very mixed. Matt was the first person I knew who purchased it. While he said there were many brilliant tracks on the album (Hummingbird, Wishful thinking), there were also many moments of self-indulgence which ruined the album. He did an offsite backup of the album, and I'll admit that I certainly agreed with him after listening to the album a few times on MP3. In fact, it was enough to make me temporarily remove the album from my purchasing list.

But eventually I bought the album, justified using my wacky Ebay economics. That is, if I buy many albums at once, and sell some of them on Ebay, and the profit from those sales effectively covers the cost of the albums I purchased for myself, I write off those said albums as freebies. Yes, I never "paid" for them. Hey, it's my finances, I can make up my own rules. But after giving the album several more listens on CD, the self-indulgent stuff started to grow on me. What initially seemed like an overlong track with not much melody in Spiders (Kidsmoke) grew on me for the brilliance it is. The guitar solo at the end of the opening track At least that's what you said started to mesmerize me. And there are some stunningly beautiful tracks on this album: Hell is chrome, Muzzle of bees, the aforementioned Hummingbird and Wishful thinking.

The only misstep on this album is the 12 minute feedback drone at the end of Less than you think. Yes, I actually listened to it once. It's a self-indulgent load of dog's bollocks. Thesedays when I am listening to the album, I'll skip the feedback drone after the first 3 minutes of the song and go straight to the final cut The late greats. While I'm quite a musical purist and don't generally like skipping parts of albums that I don't like, I'm prepared to make an exception for this. I refuse to let Jeff Tweedy's pretensions get in the way of me enjoying what is essentially a fantastic album. So by skipping that section of the album, it takes pride of place in my top 5 albums of 2004.



Honourable mentions


Now we are going to move on to the albums which didn't make the cut of the top 5, but still deserve a mention as great albums of the year.


Brian Wilson - SMiLE



Can you think of the last time there was such anticipation for an album release like there was for this one? Actually, I guess when Alien Ant Farm were about to release their 2nd album, the stakes were pretty high. But it's nothing compared to this. This album was literally 37 years in the making.

Anyone who knows a little bit about the history of music knows the story of SMiLE, so I won't go into great detail here, but here's a quick summary. Basically, The Beach Boys released a classic album known as Pet Sounds in 1966, which many people consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time. There was a lot of pressure for the follow-up, and Brian Wilson literally went mad in the process of making it. Then Beatles released Sgt Pepper, and Brian Wilson figured he'd missed the boat, went mad and the rest is history.

Until now that is. Brian finally got off his ass, stopped pressing snooze on his PDA every time the "Finish SMiLE" reminder flashed on the screen, and actually finished SMiLE. None of the other original Beach Boys were involved in the making of them (well at least what's left of them). Instead he got help from backing band The Wondermints.

And the results? Well it's certainly an impressive album, but one can't help but feel that Brian should have left SMiLE where it was, an infamous unfinished album. Often with albums, it's the mythology behind them (yes...sometimes the hype) that makes them. And while the music on SMiLE is absolutely breathtaking and stunning in its composition, unfortunately it still feels like a bit of a cop out. Brian's voice is nowhere near as good as it was in the late 60's (although the music is practically identical), and they remade Good Vibrations -- why? You just shouldn't mess with a classic song like this.

Anyway, this album still deserves an honourable mention because it is still amazing. Maybe if he'd released in in 1967 it would be seen as one of the greatest albums of all time, and deservedly so. But does this kind of music have the same impact in 2004? Not really.






Air - Talkie Walkie



French duo Air have been pioneers of the chillout genre ever since they released their classic debut album Moon Safari in 1998. They released a difficult (and underrated) follow-up 10,000 Hz legend in 2001, and also created the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's directorial debut The virgin suicides. And here they are with their 3rd album proper.

And the verdict? Well it's nothing groundbreaking, nothing particularly innovative. But it certainly sounds damn good. With Talkie Walkie, Air return to the sound they perfected on Moon safari. Is it as good as that album? Some may say yes, some may say it's better. While I will always consider Moon safari to be a classic album, I still find the chillout genre incredibly redundant (it's great background music, very relaxing, but how many of these sort of albums do you really need?). So why do I consider Moon safari to be a classic album? Well once again it's all about timing. Moon safari was one of the first albums of its kind that I had in my CD collection, and the memories contribute a lot to the enjoyment of music. I'll always remember how I first felt listening to that album, and while Talkie walkie is a beautiful sounding album, it's still in "been there done that" territory for me.




The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand



Hype. Isn't that a terrible word? When it comes to music reviews, that word is pure evil. It's the kind of word that can turn you off talented bands. How many bands have come out in the past fews years who have been praised as 'the next big thing', 'saviours of rock', yadda yadda yadda, and they fall flat on their ass. Remembers when the Vines were all set to take over the world? They released a solid debut album, and then with a sophomore slump have fallen flat on their ass.

As much as I hate to admit it, very often I buy into the hype. I have bundled these 2 albums together because I bought both of them after reading overhyped reviews saying how good they were. And while they are both great albums on their own right, that evil H-word has probably destroyed my ability to consider them brilliant albums. When reviews set your expectations so high, even if they do live up to the hype, they will inevitably disappoint.

At the time of writing, Funeral is getting a local release in Australia. I bought in on import (from Ebay) amidst all the hype, and it certainly is an excellent album. It's a huge grower of an album, simultaneously dark and optimistic (a rare combination), with strange vocals (there are actually two vocalists in the band) and dense walls of sound. Overall a great album, only let down by a couple of tracks which don't do it for me, or at least haven't grown on me enough yet to consider it a masterpiece.

Franz Ferdinand is also a great album. This one was way hyped on release, with comparisons to everyone from The Kinks to Pulp. While they probably don't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as those bands, FF have certainly carved a distinct sound for themselves, and this is a very solid debut album of catchy tunes which you can actually dance to! Kind've like a more retro version of The Strokes. There are only a few sub-par tracks on this album in my opinion, which stop it from becoming an absolutely fantastic album. But when this album works, it really works -- Take me out, Matinee and Auf Asche are all classic foot-tapping numbers.


Nick Cave - Abattoir blues / The Lyre of Orpheus



Wow, Nick Cave is certainly an ambitious fellow releasing a double album worth of material at this stage of his career. While this is not one of my absolute favourites for the year, it still deserves an honourable mention because there are lots of great songs on this album.

Actually, I kinda lied in the first paragraph -- apparently this is not a double album, but two single albums that happened to be released at exactly the same time and in the same packaging. Which I guess is a double album, except that each disc sounds pretty different and has a different title. Abattoir blues is the rockier affair, while The Lyre of Orpheus is the mellower chillout stuff and my favourite of the 2 discs. There are a few tracks on Abattoir blues which don't do it for me, although others seem to love them. Hiding all away is one of them, I just find it gets a bit annoying after a while. With Lyre of Orpheus, I find the gospel choir gets a bit too much after a while on some of the tracks. Not that these tracks don't work well on their own, but after a while it all seems a bit overdone. But anyway, there are enough great tracks on both of these discs to warrant an honourable mention, even if the whole doesn't add up to a masterpiece.


Solid but nothing brilliant

Now we get to the albums which weren't bad (in fact most are actually quite decent), but weren't quite good enough to make it to the honourable mentions list.


Dallas Crane - Dallas Crane



Aussie rockers Dallas Crane have been around on the live circuit for a while now, and this was intended to be their breakthrough album. It's a solid album of good rock tunes, but I guess that's my main gripe with this album -- it's just simple rock music. It's not an envelope pushing affair (oh my, I can't believe I just said that). That's not to say there aren't some absolute classic tracks on this album. Dirty hearts sounds like a lost ACDC number (but less annoying than most ACDC numbers), Open to close is a quirky little pop number with nice Television-esque guitar lines throughout, and Come and go (my personal favourite) is a great toe-tapper singalong.


Eskimo Joe - A song is a city



Since we are discussing Aussie bands, I guess it's time to discuss the latest by Perth outfit Eskimo Joe. After their successful debut with Girl in 2001, The 'Joe have gone for a much more commercial polished sound this time round. Before you get scared and run away, I believe they have done it in a way where they have kept most of their indie credibility intact. I italicised most because there are some parts of the album that feel a bit too polished and commercial. But when that's all said and done, there are some great tunes on this album (Older than you is probably my personal favourite).



Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood



The Manics releasing a pop album. I never thought I would have seen Manics and pop in the same sentence together, but here I am saying that. Kinda hard to believe that a band who released the tortured dark masterpiece that is The Holy Bible has released a pop album. But I guess stranger things have happened.

Allow me to elaborate: I don't mean pop in a Christina Aguilera kinda way. Nah, James Dean Bradfield is still singing about good stuff, he isn't singing about being a dirrrty girl or having a genie in a bottle. So lyrically, I guess they haven't really changed much. But the music is much more 80's sounding, very synthy, very smooth, very polished. And it all sounds really good, I'm just worried that I will tire of it very easily as it is such a lush sounding album. Only time will tell how this stands in the history of Manics' albums.



The Cure - The Cure



Another veteran band releasing a new album in 2004. Many have praised this album as a real return to form for the band, the best since Disintegration from 1989. While I definitely wouldn't agree with that (the incredibly underrated Wish from 1992 shits all over this), this is a solid album. But I wouldn't call it a great one.

The biggest problem for me is the way it opens. An album generally needs an excellent opening track to hook you in to the album, to give you a reason to put the disc in and press play. There's nothing worse than a bad opening track -- you don't want to play an album knowing that you'll have to get through the opening track before you can start enjoying it. And while Lost isn't a really bad track, it's completely inappropriate for an opening track. Very slow, very little melody, just Robert Smith yabbering on that he "can't find [him]self". Tell us all about this Bobby, just save it for later on in the album. The album definitely gets better on the 2nd half, with a nice run of poppy songs in the vein of Wish era Cure -- when (I don't know what's going) on and Taking off are playing, you can't help but tap your feet along to the music.


Disappointments

And with every list comes the disappointments of the year. And here they are.


Badly Drawn Boy - One Plus One Is One



It would be wrong of me to dis this album due to Damon Gough's apparent lack of basis arithmetic skills. So I won't go down that path. I actually remember my first listen of this album, and I was quite impressed, thinking it was a return to the old sound, the Bewilderbeast days. I couldn't help but bask in the beauty of the gentle strumming of Easy love. And the beauty of Another devil dies made me smile. My hopes were definitely high for subsequent spins.

But over time, the disappointment of this album has started to sink it. Exhibit A: there are clearly two duds on this album. Year of the rat and Holy grail simply don't work. Why, Damon, did you feel the need to include a children's choir on both of these tracks? They just end up sounding tacky and overdone. Ordinarily I could forgive him, but these songs alone take up 13 minutes of a 55 minute album. So they definitely detract from the listening experience (even more so considering that Holy grail is the closing track, the last memory of the album before you eject it). Exhibit B: a lot of the other tracks. Well, none of them are really bad per se, but there are a lot of tracks that are just boring. So boring that I really don't remember a lot of them. And that's not what I want from an album. Name a song from Bewilderbeast and I'll remember some little nuance or moment of genius about it. I can't remember anything about Takes the glory from 1+1=1. And there's your problem right there.

That's not to say there aren't some classic BDB moments on here. The title track is a great Lennon-esque number, the previously mentioned Easy love and Another devil dies have moments of beauty...and...well...that pretty much covers the memorable ones.



Interpol - Antics



This will probably be the most controversial "disappointment" on my list, as I know a few readers of this blog (and many others) are fans of this album. Allow me to set the record straight from the start -- I don't dislike this album, in fact I think it's a fairly decent effort.

I'm a huge fan of Interpol's debut album Turn on the bright lights, and pretty much anything they could have released as a follow up would have disappointed me. But I guess my biggest problem with this album is that the vibe that the first album had seems to have been lost. Almost every track on their debut had that thing, that intangible quality that made the album a classic. While this follow-up has changed the sound quite a bit, it's a lot more polished overall, the vocals seem to have been mixed differently (maybe they didn't use Dobly?), and the lyrics also seem a bit dodgier (although they were never known for their lyrics). And near the end a lot of the tracks sound a bit similar to each other, with the exception of the superb closer A time to be so small which has some amazing guitar lines throughout. Maybe one day my opinion of this album will change, but at the moment I have to put it on my disappointments list.


Tom Waits - Real gone



It hurts me to list this album here, as I am a HUGE Tom Waits fan. But I have to be realistic about it: this album is a disappointment compared to Tom's other work.

His biggest mistake was getting rid of the piano on this album. Even the brilliantly ugly Bone machine had a few piano ballads thrown in to relieve from the percussive attack of the other tracks, but this album doesn't have it. And I must admit I have a bit of a problem with the human beatbox thing. It works on some of the tracks, but it gets a bit annoying after a while. And Top of the hill is a poor choice for an opening track, it's way too inaccessible even by Tom's standards. Sins of my father also goes on way too long for the 3rd track of the album, he should have stopped it after 6 minutes instead of letting it run for over 10 minutes.

That's not to say that there aren't some moments of Tom Waits brilliance on this album. Hoist that rag is classic, bluesy Waits, Don't go into that barn sounds like it should have been on Bone machine (the "Yes sir" section is hilarious), Trampled rose is a beautiful ballad. But as a whole, the album disappoints (especially after the superb Alice).

New discoveries of 2004

These are the new artists/albums I discovered in 2004. If I purchased several albums by the newly discovered artist in 2004, I have included my favourite of the bunch.


Rodriguez - Cold Fact (1970)



My brother bought this CD after Aussie band The Fauves played a cover of Rich folks hoax from this album at one of their gigs. I listened to his CD and shortly after purchased it for myself. And I'm mighty glad I did, because it now takes pride of place in my top 10 favourite albums of all time. If you haven't heard of this guy, or this album, and you enjoy music from that era (including Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Leonard Cohen, etc) -- get this album! If there's any album that deserves the title of "lost classic", this is the one. Rodriguez has one of the greatest voices I have ever heard -- it might not be technically proficient, but it works so well. There is a timeless quality to this album which is very ironic because lyrically it's very much of its time.




Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See a Darkness (1999)

I bought this one after seeing it in Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s poll. And I'm mighty glad I did -- it's a slow burner of an album, taking many listens to fully appreciate, but when it hits you, it REALLY hits you. Bonnie "Prince" Billy is one of Will Oldham's many personas, and he's certainly a very unique singer/songwriter. One of his songs (not on this album) is called You have cum in your hair and your dick is hanging out. You gotta respect a guy who has a name like that for one of his songs. I'll admit this album is an acquired taste (his voice definitely takes a little while to get used to), but there's nothing better than the moment when it all starts clicking together.




Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory (1999)



Progressive metal is never a genre I thought I would ever have in my CD collection -- but here it is. While some of their other albums can be a bit hit and miss, this is an absolutely sensational album. It's a concept album that tells the story of a murder, and as a whole it works superby. The musicianship throughout draws you on, the lyrics tell the story, and by the time you get to the end of the final track Finally free, this album has literally taken your breath away. The dated sounding vocals of James LaBrie may tragically put some people this marvellous album, but if you approach it with an open mind, you will be justly rewarded.


Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)

GBV are an institution of their own -- they have an incredibly loyal cult following. Robert Pollard and the boys have been releasing albums since the mid 80's, and while their later albums strayed from their lo-fi roots, this album (and its follow up Alien lanes) shows the band in all of its lo-fi brilliance.

I can understand first-time listeners being incredibly put off by this music the first time they hear it. The production (or lack thereof) is terrible. The album was literally recorded on 4-track in the band's basement. But after several listens, these tunes will get under your skin (in the best possible way). Like all great albums, there is an absolutely timeless nature to this stuff. This album sounds like a lost collection of rarities from the Beatles circa White Album. If that isn't enough to sell this album to you, I don't know what is.




The Streets - Original Pirate Material (2002)



I never thought I would have a CD like this in my collection. It's just not me. This album sounds like Jamie Oliver rapping in his time spent away from the kitchen. I'm not sure if it's the memories of Britpop which make me enjoy this music, but I absolutely love it. Mike Skinner can sure tell a story, the songs are energetic and make you feel happy. And The irony of it all is a masterpiece of modern songwriting. Mike Skinner plays 2 parts in the song: a pothead and a drunk. The whole song has them arguing with each other about who's more of a danger to society. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.


Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

I'd heard a lot about Pavement. Big influence to lots of bands, yadda yadda yadda. For a long time I didn't buy into it, but I eventually gave in and bought this album. While many praise their debut Slanted and enchanted, that album never really did it for me. A bit too lo-fi and rough for my liking.

This album, on the other hand, is a beautiful sloppy mess which kickstarted the slacker genre of the mid-90's. There are some amazing tunes on this album, including Elevate me later, Gold soundz and the brilliant Range life. All played with reckless abandon. A great album from the mid-90's, don't less this one pass you by.


And that's the end of this mammoth blog posting. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If this blog posting results in one person buying and enjoying an album I have recommended on this page, I will be very satisfied. Thanks for reading!

Top 10 Years For Album Releases - #3

It's been well over a month since my last post on this subject. I'd like to say that I have a really cool excuse why it's been so long since my last post, but it really just comes down to laziness. I started this list and I keep saying to myself that I need to finish it. Of course, if more people replied to my posts, I'd have more reason to keep posting *hint* *hint*.

So here goes, let's continue the list.

#3: 1996

1996 was Year 12, a pretty stressful year overall, but personally one of the better years I experienced in high school. Most of the dickheads had been weeded out, dropping out before the VCE started, or moving to other schools. I started hanging out with different people, many of whom I still keep in touch with today. So year 12 wasn't so bad, even if there was a lot of work and immense pressure to get great results so you could get into the university course you wanted.

And musically, it's number three in my list of all time favourite years. As I have mentioned many times in the past, enjoying music has almost as much to do with memories as it does to the quality of the music. For some reason, I just remembered sitting in the Year 12 house in my high school (McKinnon) playing a mix tape on the portable stereo during lunchtime. This was before the days where CD burners were available, or at least before they were cheap enough for consumers. So mix tapes were the way of life back then. I remember one of my mixtapes -- it had Rolling Stones' "Mothers little helper" on it, as well as Cat Stevens' "Father and son". There may have even been a bit of Neil Young's "Heart of gold" on it. These were all songs I had copied from my brother's CD collection. And I remember listening to a lot of this stuff on mix tapes during this time of my life. I hadn't even fully gotten into the Beatles yet -- this was a year before the infamous Beatles night at Brett's house where some of us silly boys consumed a slab of Melbourne Bitter, and then decided to raid his sister's liquor stash. If anyone ever tells you that beer, Kahlua and Southern Comfort are a good mix, slap them from me. Let's just say that we were halfway through the White Album (if I remember correctly) when a certain young man with the initials BM fertilized the vegetable garden. But what a great way to introduce yourself to the joy of the Beatles! They sounded absolutely amazing under the influence of so much alcohol.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with the year in question, 1996. So let's start with some of the classic releases of the year:

• Oasis released their masterpiece, (What's the story) morning glory? Easily one of my favourite albums of all time, most bands can't even release a greatest hits compilation as consistently brilliant as this. It was all downhill for Oasis after this, but every time I give this album a spin I am blown away by how brilliant it is. This album brings back so many memories -- I still remember seeing the clip for Wonderwall on TV. I remember the advertisement for the album on TV, where they played a clip from Don't look back in anger. I remember the first time I heard Champagne supernova and thinking to myself that it was a classic closing cut. So many memories.
• You Am I released their masterpiece, Hourly, daily. This is Australia's answer to Blur's Parklife album of 1994, but it's so much better! Each song is a classic Australian suburban tale, and as a whole you can't help but smile while you are listening to this. In my opinion You Am I have never bettered this, even Tim Rogers' voice (never the best instrument in their band) is at its peak here.
• Manic Street Preachers released one of their masterpieces, Everything must go. Are you sensing a pattern here? Yes, lots of masterpieces were released in 1996. Many great bands who had been around for a few years really started to get brilliant in this time frame. This was the Manics' first album since the disappearance of founding member Richey Edwards. It's certainly much mellower than the previous album (the brilliant The holy bible), but the quality of the songwriting is superb and amazingly consistent. This also had one of their biggest hits on it, A design for life.
• Belle and Sebastian released their masterpiece, If you're feeling sinister. A fantastic album of melodic joys, they have never topped this, their 2nd album. The run of songs from Seeing other people to Get me away from here I'm dying -- does music get any better than this? So uplifting, joyful and probably the best melodies you will ever hear.
• Weezer released their masterpiece, Pinkerton. Most probably think of Weezer as a bit of a novelty band, and while many songs of theirs certainly fit into that category, this album as a whole is so much more. It's an incredibly dark album, the production is rough, sometimes the singer sounds like he is singing out of key, but it's also a tortured masterpiece and one of my favourite albums of all time. The song Across the sea is breathtaking in its honesty.

Well that's the masterpieces of the year covered. Now for some other great albums released in 1996:

• Elvis Costello released the brilliant All this useless beauty. This is one of my favourite Elvis albums, and it includes a heap of songs that he had originally written for other singers. A very diverse album which is easily the most consistent album he released in the 90's.
• Wilco released their 2nd album Being there. This is where Wilco started moving away from their country roots. It's a very eclectic double album covering a broad range of styles. Sure there's some filler as well, but isn't that part of the charm of double albums?
• Suede released their 3rd album (and first after the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler), entitled Coming up. This is where Suede Mk II began, for they truly became a different band after Bernard left. Much more pop, much less shelf life. But this album still has enough classic tunes to make it a good album, even if it wouldn't be my first choice of Suede album to put on.

There were many debuts by big bands released in 1996 (some good, some bad):

• Super Furry Animals released their debut album Fuzzy logic. They would reach their peak in 1997's Radiator, but Fuzzy Logic was still a great album by one of the most interesting and unique bands of our generation. The song If you don't want me to destroy you is one of my favourite SFA cuts.
• Belle and Sebastian released their debut album Tigermilk this year. Yes, they released 2 albums in the same year! Amazingly, their debut album was originally written and recorded as part of a college project. While it is definitely overshadowed by its successor, this is nevertheless a great introduction to these very talented Glaswegians.
• Placebo released their self-titled debut album. They were (and I guess still are) a pretty unique band -- there aren't many bands nowadays who have succesfully fused 70's glam with alternative music but Placebo managed to pull it off. There are lots of great songs on this one, including Nancy boy. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the albums they release nowadays are simply rehashes of the style they created on their first two albums.
• Ash released their debut album 1977. Here's a band who managed to fuse heavy riffs with great tunes. I wouldn't call this album one of my favourites, but there are certainly some great tracks on it, including Goldfinger (nothing to do with the James Bond movie or men's club) and Girl from Mars (nothing to do with the confectionary company).
  
• Longpigs released their debut album The sun is often out. Who? I hear you ask. Yeah, I hadn't heard of them either until someone mentioned them on the Suede J-Files, comparing them to Suede. I ordered their debut album off sanity.com.au when they were amazingly good value (!) and it's a great album, a nice slice of melodic Britpop with a lot of diversity among the cuts. Pity they had a major sophomore slump for their 2nd album Mobile home.
• Bluetones released their debut album Expecting to fly. The singer from this band is kind've like a cross between Ian Brown from The Stone Roses and Tim Freedman from The Whitlams. The music is kinda catchy Britpop. I only have 2 of their albums (the other is Science & Nature) and this is definitely the better of the two -- there are some really great cuts on this one including Bluetonic and Slight return.

Some other great albums which were released in '96:

• As I described in a previous post, I generally don't count soundtracks in this list, but I do make some exceptions (like I did for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack). A great soundtrack that was released this year was the Trainspotting soundtrack. While the movie has never been one of my absolute favourites (but I've only actually seen it once), the soundtrack is spectacular. There's a great mix of the old and the new. From the old we have Iggy Pop's Lust for life (great opener), Brian Eno's Deep blue day and Lou Reed's classic cut Perfect day. We have some cuts from the mid-90's including Sleeper's cover of the Blondie song Atomic, Pulp's Mile end and Elastica's 2:1. And of course this was the soundtrack which introduced Born slippy to the public consciousness. Classic song, classic soundtrack. There's something incredibly timeless about this collection of songs, which is very ironic as the soundtrack covers about 20 years amongst its songs.
• REM released their highly underrated album New adventures in hi-fi. This is a hidden gem in REM's catalogue -- there are so many brilliant cuts on this album, and it even holds together well as an album. Some notables: How the west was won and where it got us is a superb opener (and unlike anything REM had recorded before), E-Bow the letter is one of the best REM songs ever (together with backing vocals from Patti Smith), Leave is one of my personal favourite REM songs of all time (together with a siren sample throughout which surprisingly never gets annoying), Bittersweet me is a great catchy song and Electrolite is a poignant closer. There is a bit of filler on this album (after all it is the longest album in their catalogue at 65 minutes) but that doesn't stop it from easily being in my top 5 REM albums of all time.
• Pearl Jam released their highly unerrated album No code. I remember hearing this being played in full on JJJ just before it was released, and thought it sounded really mellow and quite different to anything Pearl Jam had released before. While many people dismiss this album as over-indulgent, of their albums that I have heard, this is probably my favourite.

And finally the others which I haven't mentioned:

• Guided By Voices released their album Under the bushes under the stars. This was their first "mid-fi" album, they had started to abandon their lo-fi roots (the production was definitely getting better) but they hadn't yet reached the full hi-fi production of their later albums like Isolation drills. It's certainly got a lot of great tracks on it (To remake the young flyer is one of my favourite GBV songs) but there's also quite a bit of filler on it in my opinion. I think they could have made a much better album with about 5 less tracks. But I still don't think they'll ever top their masterpiece Bee thousand from 1994.
• The Charlatans released their first album since the death of keyboardist Rob Collins, Tellin' stories. Yeah it's okay, but doesn't excite me that much. I don't think The Charlatans have aged very well compared to their fellow Britpop colleagues.
• Paul Weller released his solo album Stanley Road. Some good tracks on this album, some average. Haven't listened to it for ages.
• The Cure released their album Wild mood swings. Like Manic Street Preachers' Know your enemy, this is an album which both critics and fans love to hate. Personally, I think it doesn't deserve the negative press it gets. Purist fans dismissed it because they were straying further away from their gothic roots, critics simply dismissed it because it was such a schizophrenic album that couldn't stick to a style for longer than a song. But people, that's the name of the album -- Wild mood swings. What were you expecting?!?! Granted, it's not one of their best albums, but it's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.
• Jamiroquai released their album Travelling without moving. To me owning one Jamiroquai album is enough, I really don't need to own more than one. I'm not sure if this was the best one to get, but it does have some great hits on it including Virtual insanity, Cosmic girl and Alright. There's some weird experiments near the end of the album but overall this one doesn't excite me that much.
• Presidents of the United States of America released their 2nd album II. They were a novelty band to start with, why they felt the need to release a second album I don't know. Luckily they soon realised they were a novelty band and split up soon after this.
• Beck released his critically praised album Odelay. Critics cream their pants over this album. Fans seem to love it. I'm sorry, but I just can't figure out what's so good about it. There are some pretty good tracks (Devil's haircut, Lord only knows, Jackass, Where's it at) but there are so many songs on this album that I would classify as annoying: Derelict, Novacane, Minus, Readymade and High 5 (Rock the catskills). Can anyway say they honestly like those tracks? This is one of the few albums in my collection where I just can't understand what the fuss is all about.
• Sting released his 5th album Mercury falling. Yes, I have Sting in my collection. Very daggy. It's very cool to have a Police CD in one's collection, but Sting solo is a definite no-no. Well the main reason I bought this album was because I was going to his concert, and it was the Mercury falling tour and I wanted to know the songs he would be singing. The night of the concert has a lot of memories, because after the concert was the infamous Year 12 end of year rooftop party. I got very drunk. It's bad mmmkay. I remember wearing my Sting T-Shirt which I purchased at the gig while getting drunk at the party. It was a wild night.

And a last minute addition to this blog entry: I very recently picked up the 3rd album from US band Heatmiser entitled Mic city sons, which was released in 1996. This was the band that the late Elliott Smith was in. While I haven't given it enough listens to determine where it fits in the list of albums from 1996, the initial few spins are promising. Kind've a rockier version of Elliott Smith's solo albums, with a few songs from the other singer in the band thrown in for good measure. I'll have to keep you posted.

That's 1996 all wrapped up!