Day 0790 - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Raewkon  "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" (1995)

Another Wu Tang solo album.   As with the other first few solo Wu albums "Cuban Linx" was produced by RZA, ensuring that the music is interesting and loaded with film samples and kung fu.

The lyrics, delivered by Raekwon and fellow Wu Tang alumnus Ghostface Killah I'm less fond of.   Some of the tracks flow nicely like "Guillotine (Swords)", but there are a few racial slurs and (seems to be a theme with a lot of rap albums of this era) it's quite long, with a runtime of 70-odd minutes.   I guess it's because while I like a bit of hip hop, it's not my number one genre.  Definitely there are albums of that length in other genres (see day 791) that I enjoy.

I would say though, the combination of a great backing track, the rhymes and female backing vocals on "Glaciers of Ice" caught my attention more than many of the other tracks.

Day 0789 - Maxinquaye

Tricky "Maxinquaye" (1995)

Tricky had achieved some notoriety appearing on Massive Attack's first album "Blue Lines".   He had brought that group a song he'd put together with teenaged singer Martina Topley-Bird but they rejected it.   Tricky released it himself and started working on music for his first solo album, including some more tracks with Martina.  The title of the album is a sort of portmanteau of Tricky's mother's first and last names: Maxine Quaye.

Tricky produced with the album with Mark Saunders, bringing in a number of vinyl samples which other producers might have rejected due to their excessive hisses and crackles.  Tricky mixed these together with some low-tempo beats, and deep muddy bass to create interesting but sometimes uncomfortable soundscapes onto which he layered lyrics fuelled by paranoia, angst and depression.

Tricky brings a lot of fresh references, sampling "Glorybox" by Portishead on "Hell is around the Corner" and the Smashing Pumpkins' "Suffer" to brilliant effect on his track titled... er "Pumpkin".

This is a solid and interesting trip-hop album that I'd place on a par with the first two Massive Attack albums.   I'm interested to investigate some of  Tricky's other solo releases, though I've read that he never topped this one.

Day 0788 - Smokers Delight

Nightmares on Wax "Smokers Delight" (1995)

 

Nightmares on Wax is the stage name of George Evelyn.  He had worked with Kevin Harper under the NoW name, but Harper left to pursue his own career.

I don't have much to say about this album, I'm afraid it just didn't really "do it" for me.   Most of it is listenable enough, laid back electronica with some soul, jazz and other little bits and pieces.  In general though, it just kind of passed me by without any of it really sticking in my brain.  Maybe it's the aural-wallpaper nature of the music, maybe it's because I'm not smoking while listening to it... whatever the case, onwards and upwards to 789.

Day 0787 - Garbage

Garbage "Garbage" (1995)

 Garbage was formed by 3 producers who were doing remix work for artists like U2, NIN and others and wanted to turn that arrangement experience to a band context.  They initially started with drummer Butch Vig on vocals, but then decided that a female voice would be a better fit for their music.    They saw a music video for the band Anglefish and, after a couple of auditions, got that band's singer Shirley Manson on board.

The band combined a mix of loops, samples, live jam sessions and ad-libs to create their tracks.  Accordingly, the band's sound is a mix of alt-rock and electronic elements with Manson's voice ranging from dreamy murmur in "Milk" to cutting snarl in "Only Happy When it Rains" and everything between.

Garbage (a name taken from a somewhat unkind assessment of their early music) would follow this album up with the slightly more electronic "Version 2.0" and the gloriously poppy "Beautiful Garbage" showing that they were not just a one-trick pony.

Day 0786 - The Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters "The Foo Fighters" (1995) - got it

Dave Grohl had been writing songs and recording demos during his time in Nirvana, having released the relatively varied demo "Pocketwatch" under the name 'Late'.   After Kurt Cobain's suicide, Grohl took his songs and really started to get things going.

Dave recorded this album entirely by himself and then slapped the name 'Foo Fighters' on it to make it seem less like a solo release.  The demo/album ended up garnering industry interest and Grohl was stuck with the name, which he later opined was the stupidest band name in history.

I quite like this album, the Foos hadn't yet fully found their identity as a dad-rock band  with output that (to my ears) moves between good albums, and mediocre (but occasionally listenable) albums.  This albums is kind of a poppier less abrasive take on the grunge sound that Grohl's other band were known for.    "Good Grief" almost sounds like new-wave filtered through punk, "Weenie Beenie" is one of the lo-fi shout-rock tracks Grohl would occasionally indulge in (e.g. "White Limo" and "the Color and the Shape").   Elsewhere there's the poppy 'Big Me', the jazzy "For all the Cows" and the washy, almost droney tracks "X-static" and "Exhausted".   

Good selection of rock tracks, and it's impressive that Grohl did the whole thing himself.

Day 0785 - Dookie

Green Day "Dookie" (1994) - got it

 

The band signed to a major label after their second album “Kerplunk” attracted attention from a number of labels and put the group at the centre of a minor bidding war.   This move away from independent release led to some of their punk fans labelling them “sellouts”.  I find that a bit odd really because I don’t entirely view Green Day as a pure punk band to begin with.   It’s kind of like, if punk is a shot of espresso, Green Day are a cappuccino.  You get a taste and a bit of a zing, but not the full hit.

The group produce pop-punk, in places it delves into jazzy territory, with the bass-driven "Longview"; there's more 'pure' punk with "In the End"; and an almost early-Beatles vibe (but with more distortion) in "Pulling Teeth".   Loud guitars and vocal harmonies abound throughout, with singer Billie Joe Armstrong affecting a sneery vocal that almost sounds like he's doing a British accent to give it a bit more of a Sex Pistols vibe or something.

While the band would arguably go through a period of being more focussed around Armstrong, this sounds like a band effort, with Mike Dirnt's bass often being boosted in the mix to shove it in your face.   Even hit "When I come around", Dirnt isn't just following the guitar line, he's weaving in and out of it with busy basslines.   

Drummer Tre Cool is also given plenty of space to shine, whether it's his jazzy shuffle on Longview, his speedy snare rolls and flanges on album opener "Burnout" or his bouncing, almost Cuban interlude in the middle of "In the End" (the album also closes with a secret track penned and performed by Cool).

It's not 'really' punk, but I like it.

Day 0784 - Music for the Jilted Generation

Prodigy "Music for the Jilted Generation" (1994) - got it

Liam Howlett handed Keith Flint a cassette with some dance mixes on one side and some of his own material on the other, labelled with the name 'Prodigy'.  The name was taken from an old Moog synthesizer and was being used by Howlett for his DJ performances.  The two, along with rapper Maxim and keyboardist/dancer Leroy then formed a group to pin the name Prodigy too.

The group achieved success on the rave scene with their initial singles and debut album "Experience".   Jilted Generation marked a kick against the mainstream adoption of the rave scene and the Conservative Party's attempt to crack down on that scene (the track "Their Law" seeming to be a direct attack against this).

This album still sounds pretty damned fresh for a release creeping up on 30 years old.   "Poison" is still a banger, and Howlett's mix of aggressive beats, hypnotic loops and dialogue sound samples works nicely.   I daresay that the album could stand to be a track or two shorter, but I really enjoyed revisiting it.

Day 0783 - The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral" (1994) - got it

 

This was the first of these albums for a while that I've listened to on headphones (aside the ones I listen to while walking).  Most of them I just have going through my laptop speakers.   Trent Reznor knows his way around a studio and it seemed only right to get the full experience of his production.  He was also well ahead of the curve as far as working electronic elements into rock music.  
 

I've always thought it's a shame that more bands didn't explore that combination of hard rock and electronica.   The Spawn Soundtrack in 1997 had one or two great tracks in that vein.

Anyway, back to NIN.  This album was famously recorded in the house where Charles Manson's followers had killed Sharon Tate.   Messages in Tate's blood were still present in the house, so kind of a grim vibe to record in... this probably worked in the album's favour though as its' a confronting, angsty and grim collection of tracks.  The album was supposed to be a concept of sorts, centring around a character who has been destroyed physically and emotionally and is busy self-medicating with various substances.

The slow grooves of "Closer" and "Piggy (Nothing can stop me now)"  contrast sharply from the frantic and overwhelming full throttle of "Mr Self Destruct" and "March of the Pigs".   The whole thing wraps up with a penultimate track that slowly dissolves into the almost delicate "Hurt", later famously covered by Johnny Cash.

Day 0782 - MTV Unplugged in New York

Nirvana "MTV Unplugged in New York" (1994) - got it

 
The write-up in the book seems to express surprise at the idea that acoustic grunge could work... which is odd as Pearl Jam had already done a session for MTV's (at the time) popular unplugged segment a couple of years earlier.

Regardless, Nirvana were approached to do an unplugged show.  Their show was unconventional in that the band weren't just trotting out their hits on acoustic guitar.  In amongst a selection of Nirvana tracks were covers of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie and 3 songs by the Meat Puppets.  Two members of the Meat Puppets joined the band on stage to play and Mark Lanegan was invited but declined, which lends credence to the suggestion that Kurt wanted to use Nirvana's celebrity to help gain exposure for his friends and artists he enjoyed.

The set closes with a bleeding-throated rendition of bluesman Lead Belly's take on the traditional track "Where did you sleep last night".   That seems an appropriate choice because the acoustic approach to Nirvana's sound mixed with Krist Novoselic's heavy bass gives everything a kind of heavy, rootsy blues sound.

Perhaps Kurt's voice had always been this raw, ragged (yet strong) and emotive, but recast without loud distorted guitars to hide behind, it is quite striking.

While the posthumous track "You know you're right" suggested that they probably would have continued with their loud-quiet-loud approach to songwriting, it's great that this album exists and it's nice to think that it could have led to a new direction for the band.

Day 0781 - Snivilisation

Orbital "Snivilisation" (1994)

I probably prefer this to the previous Orbital album on the list.  They don't muck around so much and throw a bit of passion into the mix in the face of the British Conservative party and authorities working to crack down on the rave culture.

Plenty of interesting beats on display and a performance on track "Sad But True" from Alison Goldfrapp before she formed the group... er, Golfrapp.

I prefer the back end of this album with my favourite probably being the almost mechanised piano track "Kein Trink Wasser" with occasional vibes of what sound melodically like Yann Tiersen.  Followed by the short but rocking "Quality Seconds", another Alison Goldfrapp featured track and groovy loop to finish.

Day 0780 - Grace

Jeff Buckley "Grace" (1994) - got it

Buckley seems to have been a hard worker and another musical 'lifer'.   The son of 60s folk star Tim Buckley, he could easily have leant on his famous name to fast-track his music career.  Instead Jeff first put in years playing guitar and/or performing backing vocals in bands ranging from jazz, reggae, blues and metal.    He eventually started working on more and more of his own music.   Taking the time to get that musical education and putting in the work helped Buckley form a musical identity that wasn't just a rehash of his dad's sound.

Though there is a posthumous release of Buckley's incomplete second album, "Grace" is the only album he released during his lifetime, drowning while night-swimming at the age of 27.

It would be an amazing album in any situation... that it's Buckley's debut is testament to the work that he put in beforehand.   There is a bit of a mix of styles, but it gels well into a cohesive whole, mostly driven by clean guitars and Buckley's soaring voice that hits high notes that can send shivers down your spine.   I could imagine a live rendition of his cover of "Corpus Christie Carol" being something that could bring tears to the eyes... there's just a hint of Freddie Mercury to it too (but in a subtle way).  

 

The most famous cover on here of course being Leonard Cohen's "Halellujah" which has been used in more films and tv shows then I'm aware of, and is probably better known than the original.

That's not to downplay Jeff's own songs though, the title track is a swirling beautiful wave of melodic alt-rock, again with Buckley's voice taking the whole thing higher.  His voice can be plaintive and begging through to aggressive and decisive and occasionally treads a line of drama that would seem overblown in the wrong hands (or with the wrong voice) but that Jeff nails.   

His potential career will remain one of the great 'what ifs' of music.

Day 0779 - Ready to Die

The Notorious B.I.G. "Ready to Die" (1994)

 
Biggie was signed to Uptown Records by Sean 'Puffy' Coombes (who was working as an A&R guy) and started recording his album.   When Coombes/Puffy/Daddy/Diddy was fired by Uptown, Biggie was left in limbo.  Pufferino set up his own 'Bad Boy Records' label and a year later work resumed on Biggie's debut.    Big had spent part of the interim dealing drugs, which I guess adds to the 'street' credibility and authenticity of his lyrics.

The production has a touch of G-funk, with extra funk.  The occasional female backing-singers are reminiscent of Diddy's own Daddy-era recordings.   The beats can get a bit samey throughout, but Biggie's rhymes carry things along nicely.   Do have to say though, that at around 70 minutes, the album is probably a bit too B.I.G. for me.

Day 0778 - Dog Man Star

Suede "Dog Man Star" (1994)

Things were not tickety boo in the Suede camp.  While they were riding high on the success of their self-titled album, a US tour was delayed due to the death of guitarist Bernard Butler's father.  When he returned to the fold, Butler distanced himself from his bandmates, and by the time they came to record their follow-up, the situation was becoming untenable.

Bernard either left or was fired partway through recording, finishing some of his parts after his departure due to contractual obligations.  The rest of his parts were completed by session musicians.

I have mixed feelings towards the album.  There's a lot more variety and theatricality than on their first album, which I enjoy.  On other hand it feels as though there are less memorable tracks here than on "Suede".  I do quite enjoy the mini-epic "The Asphalt World" though.

Day 0777 - The Holy Bible

Manic Street Preachers "The Holy Bible" (1994)

Possibly the darkest MSP album, and the last featuring guitarist Richey Edwards who disappeared suddenly during the promotion for the album.  To this day it's not known what happened to him or where he went.

In addition to the situation with Edwards, vocalist/lyricist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield was suffering depression, alcohol abuse, self-harm and anorexia.  This is not the sing-along preachiness of latter stage MSP, this is some grinding, grim and angsty rock.   The guitar riffs are distorted and angular, my favourite being "the Intense Humming of Evil" which sounds like a mix of NIN, TOOL and Radiohead.

The album did not sell well initially, though it was critically vaunted.   The band were probably just a bit ahead of their time, with gloom and angst... which would be fairly marketable over the next few years.   I personally thought it was a great slice of rock.

Day 0776 - Protection

Massive Attack "Protection" (1994)

 

Things had not been running smoothly for Massive Attack, their tour in the US had not fared well, they had briefly tried shortening their name to ‘Massive’ in order to not ruffle feathers during the first Iraq war, and had parted ways with their main singer Shara Nelson.

Despite these setbacks the group put together a strong sophomore release, with guest spots from 'Everything But the Girl' singer Tracey Thorn, and rapper Tricky.  Tricky had featured on the first Massive Attack album but had since started his solo career, and after “Protection” would not record with the group again for around another 10 years.

It strikes me how simple some of these songs are, the first few tracks (even the sublime and moody title track) are mostly just the same piece of music looped around with the vocals adding points of difference.   There’s sounds ranging from the deep muddy dub of "Spying Glass", through to "Sly" with its strings-and-beat combo, a sound that would become synonymous with trip-hop.

The whole thing is rounded off with a funky, sound-effect laden cover of the Doors' "Light my Fire"

Day 0775 - Live Through This

Hole "Live Through This" (1994)

Hole had lost its bassist and drummer due to (the classic musician euphemism) "artistic differences".   Long-term bandmates Courtney Love and Erik Erlandson started writing material and auditioning new members.

People have levelled accusations that Kurt Cobain wrote half of this album.  Certainly both bands were working on their albums simultaneously, but given the punky abrasive sound of Nirvana's "In Utero" and its  similarity to the noisy sound of Hole's debut "Pretty on the Inside", it's probably more accurate to say that the couple inspired and influenced each other.

"Live Through This" certainly doesn't remind me that much of Nirvana; the Pixies would be a closer comparison.  Clean(ish) indie-rock... almost indie-folk guitar and melodic vocals that can turn into a complete powerful maelstrom of distortion and screams.  This approach perfectly exemplified by opening track "Violet".   

 

Love may not be the most technically talented singer, but her voice is so distinctive, from her vampy drawl through to her animalistic screams, she is the star of this album.

The album would receive further attention when both Love's husband Kurt Cobain, and Hole bassist Kirsten Pfaff both died within months of its release.  Even without that publicity though, the music is more than strong enough to stand on its own.

Day 0774 - Talking Timbuktu

Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder "Talking Timbuktu" (1994)

The album won a grammy for best world music album.   One of the albums made by Ry Cooder with collaborators from around the world as he travelled, investigating different countries' indigenous and folk musics.

Don't really have too much to report about this one.   It has a deep folksy blues sound to it, which some critics apparently accused Toure of copying from the USA.  But as he pointed out, that style had come to the US from Africa when its proponents had been unceremoniously transplanted from one continent to the other.

Day 0773 - G.Love and the Special Sauce

G.Love and the Special Sauce "G.Love and the Special Sauce" (1994)

Interesting sound.  G.Love were a white hip-hop group, but made the wise move of not trying to fake it like they were 'legit gangsta'.  The group instead combine guitars, upright bass and drums to create a sound that would be more at home at the beach or the skate park than in the ghetto.

There are touches of jazz and blues backing the tracks about girls (Baby's Got Sauce), brews (Cold Beverage) and even a touch of conscious rap (This Ain't Living).   Wouldn't be out of home in your record collection somewhere between Sublime and the Fun Loving Criminals.

Day 0772 - Yank Crime

Drive Like Jehu "Yank Crime" (1994)

Drive Like Jehu was formed following the dissolution of Jehu's member's previous bands Pitchfork and Night Soil Man.   Guitarist/singer John Reis also formed the horn-backed rollocking rock band Rocket from the Crypt (more on them in a future post).

This the second of Jehu's two albums and it is a whirlwind of guitars.  Pounding out riffs with hardcore intensity, but with quick rhythm and timing changes overlaid with screamed vocals that makes this seem like a blueprint for early Dillinger Escape Plan, but unfortunately probably also egged on a few of the emo and screamo bands in the 00s.

The group broke up after this and the band members went onto other individual artistic pursuits.

Day 0771 - Parklife

Blur “Parklife” (1994) – got it

Blur were feeling reinvigorated following the release of their second album “Modern Life is Rubbish”.  It hadn’t broken records with its sale figures, but was critically well received and the band felt they were on the right track.  As soon as they’d finished that record, singer Damon Albarn started writing a large number of songs and the band worked at demoing them.  They got back in the studio with producer Stephen Street as soon as they could, and most of the album was recorded fairly quickly.

Aside from the opening track “Girls and Boys” which has a bit of a European dance/disco vibe to it, and one or two of the more grand tracks like “To the End”, this album is British through and through.  In fact even "Girls and Boys starts" with a line about “following the herd to Greece on holiday”, sounding like the start of episode of “Boozed up Brits Abroad”.   

The Britishness continues with the “oi oi oi” punky rock of “Bank Holiday”, the brass band waltz of instrumental “the Debt Collector” (as well as brassy bass embellishments on the title track and rocking "Jubilee"), the pastoral harpsicord of “Clover over Dover” and of course Albarn’s almost aggressively cockney/mockney accent pushing into the songs.  Even bassist Alex James' composition "Far Out" sounds like it would be at home in a 1960s Pink Floyd club gig in swinging London.

It's a brilliant album (if maybe a track or so too long).  They do copy Modern Life a bit with the overall sound and having a couple of fun instrumental 'interludes', but with "Girls and Boys" and the loungey stylings of "To the end" they were definitely forging new ground.

Day 0770 - Smash

 The Offspring "Smash" (1994) - got it

 

One of a group of more polished, catchy “pop punk” bands to emerge in the mid 90s (along with bands such as Green Day and Rancid).  

The band had signed to Epitaph records and were recording this, their third album on a tight budget.  Money was so tight that they had to constantly call the studio to utilise downtime between other bands' sessions in order to get a discounted rate of their studio time.  Several of the songs were worked out in the space of a couple of nights to make economical use of the time they had.

The band’s previous album had only sold around 15,000 copies, so they were under no illusions of their music finding a place on mainstream radio or MTV.   Lead single “Come Out and Play” changed all that, becoming a hit.  The album sold millions of copies, effectively setting up Epitaph and the Offspring (though they would soon depart for a major label) for the next few  years.  Guitarist Noodles was working as a school janitor and promised his boss not to quit until the end of the year.  He said that kids who had seen him on MTV would be surprised to see him cleaning.

When the band first started, singer Dexter Holland was on drums... which I find odd, because his high-pitched yell is so distinctive, it makes sense to have him on vocals.

The first track proper "Nitro (Youth Energy)" starts with a surf-rock style drum intro but then kicks into fast punk rock with mildly nihilistic lyrics.  Tracks like "Bad Habit" and "Self Esteem" show the band's humorous, slightly puerile side.   Track "Genocide" has a chord sequence that they seem to have reused on at least the subsequent couple of albums, so I'm not sure if that was an intentional through-line for their albums, or just plagiarising themselves.

While the band would come to be known for a string of novelty pop-punk hits (Pretty Fly for a White Guy, Original Prankster, Hit That), on Smash they were still pretty serious, if catchy, punk business.  

Day 0769 - Superunknown

Soundgarden "Superunknown" (1994) - got it

This album feels like: if the Beatles were the result of a really good acid trip; this is the flip side.  The bad trip that takes you to dark places... but still in a melodic, imaginative way.

Soundgarden had always had a pretty good mix of Black Sabbath (big fuzzy, sludgey riffs) and Led Zeppelin (skilled, virtuosic musicians, and of course Cornell's Plant-esque wail) but with this album they added a heavy dose of the Beatles.  The title track sounds musically like something that could fit on a modernised version of "Revolver" until the chorus riff kicks in and things get dark and heavy.  "Black Hole Sun" is the most obvious link, with its slightly trippy guitar, drawling drugged vocal and lyrics that are obscure but paint a disturbing picture.  

There's middle-eastern and Indian elements on songs "Half" and "Head Down", and plenty of Soundgarden heavy-riffing on songs like "My Wave", "Spoonman" (featuring a spoon solo, don't cha know) and "Fourth of July" that, with its slow, inexorable riff, sounds like the audio equivalent of the end of the world!

This is a favourite album of mine, and has been since high school.   At its base it is just a great collection of songs that sits together coherently (even its 73 minute running time doesn't really put me off).  This was a band ready to try everything: they'd have different tunings, their songs would be in time signatures ranging from 6/4 to 15/8, they experimented with different overdubs and recording techniques, and all 4 members contributed compositions.

Some people will view the band as being mostly about singer/guitarist Chris Cornell, but that is not fair on any level.  Yes he is a phenomenal singer and a great songwriter, but Soundgarden wouldn't be Soundgarden without Ben Shephard's sludgey, ugly bass; Kim Thayil's riffs and wild and colourful lead guitar, and Matt Cameron on drums.   

I'll chuck a little gush here about Matt because I truly love his drumming.  Like Jimmy Chamberlain from the Smashing Pumpkins, or Mitch Mitchell from Jimi Hendrix's band, Matt is a jazz-influenced drummer who can put some rock power into his playing.  He plays parts that fit the song like a glove without being too showy, and it's only when you listen closely that you realise he's constantly evolving those parts throughout the song and playing quite tricky little bits and pieces.  

Day 0768 - Definitely Maybe

Oasis "Definitely Maybe" (1994)

I had a bit of a fail.  Got mixed up and listened to "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" instead (I had thought it was odd that this album would be omitted from the list).  I'll put my write up of that one aside for when it does turn up here.

Onwards and upwards though, and the things you learn.  For a band synonymous with the Gallagher brothers, neither of them was in Oasis when it first started (originally under the name the Rain).   Liam was invited to sing for the group and, after watching a show, Noel managed to convinced them to not only let him join, but to let him become sole songwriter.

The band set about recording their first album, but the first attempt was deemed a failure even after attempts to tweak the results in post-production.  The band tried again, recording in the same room as each other to give everything an 'as live' feel and then overdubbing the heck out of things.   The record company still weren't happy and eventually the recordings were handed to engineer/producer Owen Morris.  Morris was given more or less free reign and managed to shape the album into the brash piece of rawk-n-roll it is.

The album is a lot less poppy than the band's later offerings, though "Live Forever" and slightly out-of-place acoustic closer "Married With Children" provide a bit of melody.   There's a lot of the standard rock recipe of excesses here with the band even going so far as to title one track "Alcohol and Cigarettes".   Liam kind of goes overboard with nasally stretching out of his sung vowels.  Luckily he seemed to rope that in a bit in subsequent albums.

Day 0767 - CrazySexyCool

TLC "CrazySexyCool" (1994)

TLC were started by Crystal Jones and her manager when they had the idea to put together a girl-group with a hip-hop image.  They enlisted Lisa ‘left-eye’ Lopes and Tionne Watkins and started shopping around management and producers.  The band’s name was made up from the first letter of each member’s first name.   Before they could be signed, Jones was ousted from the group and Rozonda Thomas was bought on board.  She was given the nickname 'Chilli' to keep the TLC moniker intact.
                                              
After a successful debut “Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip” the group set about recording their second album.  They cast aside the energetic, colourful ‘teen’ image from the first album to recast themselves as a more sultry, adult group.  This, mixed with their genre-mixing of RnB, soul and hip hop would create a blueprint for future artists such as Destiny Child, Pussycat Dolls etc.

To my ears "Waterfalls" is the most obvious hit on the album, so not surprising that it was chosen as a single.

Despite the group's success, they filed for bankruptcy the next year, partly due to the reported unfairness of their contracts and partly due to Left-eye having set fire to the mansion of her football player boyfriend... oddly, the two reconciled and went back to dating after that!

Day 0766 - Vauxhall and I

Morrissey "Vauxhall and I" (1994)

Morrissey's fourth album... this is another of those points where I have scratch my head at the selections on the list.   I don't really hear anything musically in this album that hasn't already been covered in Morrissey's other entries in the list so far.  There are far more musically interesting albums out there from other artists that could have been selected in place of this.

The album is pretty much Morrissey doing his thing.   It's a bit mellower than "Your Arsenal" and the lyrics seem to very much be driven by the deaths of people around Morrissey at the time, including legendary guitarist Mick Ronson (who'd produced Morrissey's previous album), his manager, and a director of some of his music videos.   With a song called "Hold onto your friends", and the line 'tell all of my friends/I don't have too many' in the song "Now my heart is full" it seemed that Mos was ruminating on mortality in general and the shrinking of one's social circle with age.   Worthy subjects, but still not really enough that the album needed to be in this list.

Day 0765 - Brutal Youth

Elvis Costello "Brutal Youth" (1994)

The book mentions Costello having recorded albums of surf and classical music.... so in a way it's a pity that they haven't really looked at those, instead selecting this one which returns to his early sound of melodic, yet biting rock music.

Having said that, the album does seem to wrap in different sounds that Costello had been playing around with, from jazz and soul flavours, piano balladry, and Beatles/Wilson-esque vocal harmonies which helped to keep things interesting.

As with all his other albums here, I enjoyed this and would happily listen to it again.

Day 0764 - Ill Communication

Beastie Boys "Ill Communication" (1994)

The second day of illness in a row.  Clearly 1994 was an ill year indeed!

 

The Beasties had been paring back their use of sampling, opting instead to play instruments themselves for their tracks.    That, combined with Adam Yauch's interest in Buddhism, their early hardcore punk roots, and their hip hop sound makes for an incredibly diverse album.

There are rocking hardcore tracks, monkish chants, moments of 70s funk, jazz instrumentals and of course the guys busting their raps all over it.   A couple of their better known tracks are found on this album including "Sabotage".  The band had worked out the music for it but had no lyrics.   Later, Ad-Rock was 'ambushed' by paparazzi while attending a private memorial service for River Phoenix.   He unleashed his anger in rap that ended up being the lyrical basis for 'Sabotage'.

Day 0763 - Illmatic

Nas "Illmatic" (1994)

Son of a jazz musician, Nas started playing trumpet and writing rhymes.  His father Olu Dara actually features on this album playing trumpet.

Nas met producer/rapper the Large Professor and through him recorded some material in studio downtime between other artists' sessions.   None of these recordings, however, were released at the time.   Nas then secured a recording contract with Columbia records and released his first single, a track on the soundtrack to the Oliver Stone-produced film "Zebrahead".   

By the time they came to work on Nas' debut "Illmatic", he had created enough buzz to attract a few producers wanting to work with him.  Producers for Illmatic included Large Professor, Q-Tip and DJ Premier.  The music is a good mix of jazz elements and more stripped down hip hop beats.   

Nas reports on ghetto life, but with grim reality rather than glamourising it.  The album was awarded a rare '5 mics' rating by American hip hop magazine 'The Source', a rating considered so high and so rare that the magazine had to make a point of defending it publicly.

Day 0762 - Haunted Dancehall

Sabres of Paradise "Haunted Dancehall" (1994)

Producer and remixer Andrew Weatherall formed Sabres with engineers Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns.  The group made acid house and dub-based music and set up their own "Sabresonic" warehouse raves.

This is a sonically interesting album of largely (maybe completely, I'm forgetting) instrumental electronica.   There are some grimey dubby baselines, moody synth-lines, interesting beats, what sound like industrial/machine noises and even a brass band at one point.  

This album would work really well as a score/soundtrack: interesting, but not overwhelming.   Hypnotic, but not repetitive in any kind of boring way.

Day 0761 - Dummy

Portishead "Dummy" (1994) - got it

The words that spring to mind with this one are moody, cinematic and a mix of old and new.

"Cinematic", not necessarily meaning grandiose, it's just that the music creates atmospheres and visuals in my mind.  This sense of the cinematic is emphasised by Beth Gibbons changing her singing voice to suit each track, almost like a vocal 'actor'.

"Old and new" because they're mixing old jazz, soul and torch-song sounds with modern production.   Organs, strings and moody trumpet with hip hop beats and scratches.  

Opening track "Mysteron" is appropriately titled as it sounds like an old sci-fi b-movie score with a beat.  "Glory Box" speaks of sultry noir, and was used as the backing track for MTV's Superrock show, hosted by the glamorous Julia Valet.

Though Portishead didn't invent triphop, this album's sound came to be what many would associate the with the genre.

Sadly, the band's output (though superlative) has been fairly small.  Two albums, then a fantastic live album with the NY orchestra.  After that there was a 10 year wait before their third and (to date) final album.  

Day 0760 - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Pavement "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" (1994)

I think I preferred this one to the previous Pavement album in the list.   I've seen it referred to as a more mainstream sound than the previous album, but I dunno.  It's still quite noisy and has some unconventional compositional directions.

Though the album has some nice hummable melodies, there's still a lot of noise.   A sparse piano part will appear out of a cloud of fuzzed guitar.  A rock song will suddenly give way for an extended, repeated clean guitar section.  There's a jazzy instrumental in 5/4 time "5-4 = Unity" which is a tribute to jazz pianist Dave Brubeck but it also has elements of rock and even rockabilly on show.

The 90s are obviously well underway by now with that idea of it being cool to not care.   Singer Stephen Malkmus is just so unimpressed, and so cynical, and takes the time to make fun of several other 90s rock acts in song "Range Life".