Day 0883 - 69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields “69 Love Songs” (1999)

My first thought on reading about this one was “why would anyone do this?!” both to themselves and to the listener.   

 

The title is not a misnomer or an exaggeration, there are actually 69 songs.   

Three discs.  

Nearly 3 hours of music to work through.  It is a veritable musical marathon.
 

It’s that marathon aspect which is offputting rather than the actual music, which is not unenjoyable for the most part, it covers a range of genres and styles.  To my ears the ‘base sound’ is an indie pop-rock akin to the Violent Femmes, but the music goes from 60s hippy folk to 80s synth pop, stopping in along with way to visit jazz, reggae, morose Leonard Cohen style ballads (well rendered with singer Stephin Merritt’s deep baritone), country, and 70s pop rock. 

A lot of the songs clock in well under 2 minutes, which is something of a relief given the number of tracks, but can also make the listening experience a bit dizzying and harder to latch onto.

Day 0882 - Make Yourself

Incubus “Make Yourself” (1999) – got it

Though I feel their last few releases have been on a slight downward turn, I am a big fan of Incubus’ first slew of albums.

Make Yourself sees them at the height of their “Nu-Metal” phase, though it seems unfair to lump them in with either that genre or “Rap-Metal” which were both starting to run rampant at the time.  They share the turntables, the “phat” bass sound and the quiet verse/loud chorus format favoured by those genres, but they inject a lot more variety, musicality and experimentation into the mix.

At the time they were one of those 'greater than the sum of its parts' bands.   Drummer Jose Pasillas III has a great groove with occasional flash (as and where required), bassist Dirk Lance brings the aforementioned 'phatness' and some funk undertones to the rock sound.   DJ Chris Kilmore doesn't just chuck in a few 'wicky wicky' scratches, or he does some of that, but also creates a whirling dervishes of noise in places and supplies ambient audio-beds elsewhere, such as on the chorus of whale-song that opens "The Warmth".   Vocalist Brandon Boyd has a great voice and some interesting lyrics and he can really stack some power in his delivery.   Guitarist Michael Einziger to my mind though is the biggest star. His range of guitar tones pushed through various effects pedals can sound almost aquatic, or clean and dancing, or fuzzed out and bombastic.

The opening track "Privilege" is a rousing rocker with a funk groove to it.  The funk vibe reappears throughout, most notably in the instrumental backing for the DJ 'battle' track "Battlestar Scraaltchlactica".   There are pleasing alt-rock ballads in "I Miss You" and the acoustic MTV favourite "Drive".    Track "Consequence" features a guitar break in the middle that is pretty much just a note run through nearly every effects pedal at once.   Then there's the djembe intro to groovy rocker "Clean".

That they manage to do all of this, constantly switching between sounds and still keep the album down to just above the punchy 45-minute mark just adds pleasure to the listening experience.

Day 0881 - Apple Venus vol.1

XTC "Apple Venus vol.1" (1999) - got it

It had been 7 years since the previous XTC album.  The band had been arguing with their record label Virgin and essentially went on strike until they were allowed the freedom to do things their way.   Eventually the band left the label and were able to move forward with their music.  

Songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding had amassed over 40 songs and at first had planned to release a double album, but changed this to release two volumes.   The second Apple Venus volume "Wasp Star" would consist of more straight ahead rock/guitar songs.    Volume one though is a masterpiece of baroque pop mostly consisting of orchestral instruments and acoustic guitars.   Due to budgetary restrictions the album's orchestral parts were all recorded in one day.

From the opening pizzicato strings and dripping sounds of "River of Orchids" that build to a swirl of strings and layered vocals, the album is a gorgeous journey with hints of Beatles, Bacharach and Beach Boys while still being totally XTC.   

 

There are a couple of more light-hearted tracks ("Frivolous Tonight" and "Fruit Nut") courtesy of Moulding, but the bulk of the album is Partridge's with a McCartney-eqsue upbeat acoustic track "I'd like that".  A bitter reflection on the end of his marriage with "Your Dictionary".   Album-closer "The Last Balloon" is an appropriately elegant melodic journey with its slow keys and strings with choirs building to booming percussive accents and sailing the album away on a mournful lilting trumpet solo.

XTC are one of those musical oversights for me.   I liked and bought this album when I first skimmed through the 1001 albums book and have since bought two other of their albums... but given they have 14, I could probably delve deeper.

Day 0880 - Kenza

Khaled "Kenza"

Khaled was a proponent of the Rai genre, a kind of Algerian folk music.   He rose in prominence and was given a chance to record in France and build a career there.   Other younger French Rai artists emerged and the book suggests that Khaled took some inspiration from them when creating this album.

As far as I'm concerned, he can leave the influence.  This album works best when it's the more straight-ahead Rai sound.  As soon as he starts getting into more glossy 'modern' production it sounds cheesy and dated.

I was not really a fan of this.  The aforementioned 'modern' sounds and the nearly one and a half hour runtime really drained me.   I can certainly hear some good stuff in here, but not enough to make me ever really want to revisit this or to seek out more of Khaled's albums.

Day 0879 - São Paulo Confessions

Suba “São Paulo Confessions” (1999)

Before I even get into the music, this artist was really interesting to read about.   Suba (Mitar Subotić) was a Serbian musician who studied accordion, and played keyboards in a few bands.  He studied orchestration and composition at a music academy where he became interested in and studied electronic music.

Suba released electronic recordings under the moniker Rex Ilusivii.  His recording “The Dreambird, in the Mooncage” combining traditional Serbian lullabies and electronic arrangements earned him an award from The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and got a scholarship to relocate to São Paulo, Brazil.  Suba fell in love with his new home immersed himself in the music scene.

Alongside scoring work for radio and TV, he rose to prominence as a producer, mixing traditional styles of Brazilian music like Bossa Nova with electronic production.  An approach he used on the brilliant “Tanto Tempo” album he worked on with singer Bebel Gilberto.

Suba released “São Paulo Confessions” taking his meshing of the old styles with electronic elements.  The album met with favourable reviews, but Suba himself succumbed to smoke inhalation and died when his studio caught fire and he rushed in to try and save some recordings.

The above should actually give you kind of an idea of what the music is like.   Sounds, rhythms, instruments and vivre common to bossa nova and latin jazz that are used as the palette to create some nice chilled electronica.   Like on opener "Tantos Desejos" that has singer Cibelle delivering a nice bossa vocal over swirling soundscapes with busy percussion in the background.

It's possibly slightly long, but works nicely as a background loop to drift in and out of while doing other things

Day 0878 - Music has the Right to Children

Boards of Canada "Music has the Right to Children" (1998)

Boards of Canada: again I knew the band name but not what the music sounded like.   I'd kind of assumed it'd be indie stuff, but nope it's bleepy, soupy synthesizer tracks.  

The band consists of two brothers from Scotland who were playing music and experimenting with recording techniques from an early age.  They'd released an EP but this was their first full-length.

The book talks about how this album showed that electronic music could show emotion.   I'm not sure about that, certainly it can create atmospheres with some sort of mood to them, but emotion might be overstating it.   I mean come on.... it's not Moonlight Sonata!

There are some warm, analogue synth sounds that feel like they've come straight from the 70s, with a few short tracks that are just extended synth sound-beds.   "Telephasic Workshop" has some cool stuttery vocal sounds over a jittery beat.   "Sixtyten" mixes the aforementioned synth sounds and found sounds to create mood.

Day 0877 - Devil Without a Cause

Kid Rock “Devil Without a Cause” (1998)

 

These days it can be easy to just think of Kid Rock as the grinning grease-stain in ‘stars and stripes’ pants playing golf with Donald Trump and forget that he used to be a musician.

Rock’s association with Trump seems appropriate as his lyrics dwell in misogyny, greed and lashing out at those who he felt had not helped him or had held him back.  On the title track he classily invites his detractors to “shut up or put his balls in their mouths”.

Rock’s lyrics reflect his reinvention from straight hip-hop to his ‘cowboy pimp rockstar’ persona.   Revelling in his sleaze and trashiness as he goes on about ‘bitches’ and ‘hoes’ and a ‘hose’ (a garden hose made of solid gold, don’tcha know).

Lyrics aside though, I do find it hard to fault the album musically.  From the opening chant and stonking riffs of single “Bawitdaba” into the mix of styles on the twangy country “Cowboy” which almost feels like it could be a Beck song.   There’s the Rage Against the Machine-esque but ridiculously titled “Fist of Rage”.   All in all, the music is an interesting mix of hiphop, metal, country and even a touch of funk.  

The main issue then (aside from the lyrics) is that the runtime is in excess of 70 minutes (ditto with a few of the albums in this part of the list).  It’s hard to maintain interest for that length of runtime unless it’s a release from one of your absolute favourite artists.

Day 0876 - Follow the Leader

Korn "Follow the Leader" (1998) - got it

 

When I was in high school, Korn were a big deal.  They, along with a number of angry, shouty, down-tuned rock bands that made up the nu-metal scene seemed to be everywhere in the late 90s and early 00s.   

Even though it was supposed to be a movement of outsiders pushing against conformity by mashing up genres and kicking against 'the popular kids', the genre became trite, commercialised and obsessed with its own image.  Korn in particular made a thing of wearing ADIDAS and, when offered a shit-ton of money by Puma to wear their stuff instead, jumped ship.

After two albums of their growly, low-end focussed metal, Korn injected this album with a bit of variety in the shape of more of a lean into  the hip-hop side of their sound.  Guest spots by Ice Cube, the Pharcyde's Tre Hardson and (meh) Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst are featured.   This last collaboration is on the now definitely dated battle track where Jonathan Davis and Durst throw homophobic slurs at each other.

The album opens with a minute's silence made up of 12x 5 second tracks.   When I was at school there was a story going around that it was Korn demanding a minute's silence for themselves as the progenitors of the nu-metal genre, but apparently it's more humble and less cringeworthy than that.  The minute of silence was dedicated to a fan who died of cancer.  He had been able to meet the band as a dying wish.

The album is a tad overlong as are many of the songs, though "Children of the Korn" (with Ice Cube); single "Got the Life" with its disco beat and slap bass; and closer "My Gift to You" with it's slow, epic, bagpipe backed groove are still good, even now.

I enjoyed Korn at the time, haven't really revisited them much in the last few years.  It's not that I don't still like aggressive, loud rock, I just think that their particular brand of it sits best with you when you're adolescent, angry, and not thinking too hard.   

Day 0875 - OK

Talvin Singh “OK” (1998)

For once I didn’t read the blurb in the book ahead of listening to this album.  At first, listening to opening track “Traveller” I thought it sounded like pretty straight-ahead trancey electronica… then the orchestral section kicked in and I was blown away.

Throughout, the music is adorned with tablas, chants, strings and sitars that evoke India, where Singh studied tabla.  Singh is apparently viewed as the godfather of the 'Asian Underground' subgenre of electronica, but being a bit of a Luddite in regards to that genre I was unaware of this.

Singh spent 2 years in India studying the tablas and had worked with artists including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bjork and Madonna.  So even if his own music wasn’t great (it is), his credentials are pretty solid.

Day 0874 - Moon Safari

 Air “Moon Safari” (1998) – got it

Another French electro-pop group.  Air is duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, and this is their first full-length album, following an initial EP release.

The sound is kind of like a mix of 50s east coast (smooth) jazz and 70s/80s analogue synthesizers.  This is perfectly laid out on album opener “La Femme D’argent” which features extended keyboard and bass vamps over a looped beat and sound effects.   As if it didn’t sound laid back enough, they overdub the sound of gentle rain to really ram home the point.

Single “Sexy Boy” kicks in next all squelchy bass, washy synth sounds, and catchy vocal melodies.   “Kelly Watch the Stars” is a favourite of mine, as is "Remember" which moves from reflective, relaxed melody, robot vocals to an almost sci-fi b-movie sound.

A relaxing and musically enjoyable album that hits extra sweet spots for me as I bought it when I was living in Leeds in the UK, so it kind of takes me back there a bit.

0873 - Queens of the Stoneage

 Queens of the Stoneage "Queens of the Stoneage" (1998)

Following the breakup of desert-rock/stoner-rock masters Kyuss, that band's guitarist Josh Homme got together with Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernández to form QOTSA (major collaborator and former Kyuss member Nick Oliveri would join the group following the album's completion).

Oddly I seem to remember not really enjoying this album when I listened to it a few years back.  Not sure why, as it seems to be the classic QOTSA sound: bashy-yet-tight drumming a la Mitch Mitchell or John Bonham, and Homme's muddy fuzzed out guitar and light, clear voice.  It also features the studio experimentation that Homme continued on the group's second album "Rated R" with instruments being hard-panned to either side of the stereo field in unconventional, yet cool ways.

"Walkin' on the Sidewalks" has a guttural, gutter twang, contrasted by Homme's melodic vocals.  "Regular John" has a pounding, unrelenting pulse to it.  The instrumental track "Hispanic Impressions" bears a suspicious resemblance to Jimi Hendrix's very phonetically-similarly titled "Manic Depression".

In some ways with Homme writing all of the songs and playing most of the instruments, this is the heart of QOTSA.  Though I prefer "Rated R" and "Songs for the Deaf" with their contributions from Oliveri, the Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan and (on the latter album) Dave Grohl on drums, the band has always been Homme's baby.

Day 0872 - Deserter's Songs

Mercury Rev "Deserter's Songs" (1998)

Another of those "I knew the band-name but not the music" situations.  Apparently this isn't necessarily the album to start on with this band as it was a bit of a departure from their previous albums.  It's baroque pop with a range of interesting rock and orchestral instrumentation (right up my alley).

The book makes comparisons to the Beach Boys, and while that is usually made as a lazy comparison to say they have nice vocal harmonies (I should know, I've used the reference myself at times), this is actually quite reminiscent of Brian Wilson's sonic experimentation in "Pet Sounds" and "Smile".   

Another comparison made was Neil Young Singing over Pink Floyd... true, vocalist Jonathan Donahue does have a similar voice to Young and the music does have a Floydish vibe in places.   I'd add a third reference to the pot, Flaming Lips.   Donahue's high, clean vocals over such progressive, swirling pop can't help but bare a resemblance to that other innovative art pop group.

Day 0871 - Celebrity Skin

Hole "Celebrity Skin" (1998)

After finishing touring their "Live Through This" album, Hole took time out to pursue various individual projects (most notably Courtney Love's excellent performance in the film "the People Vs Larry Flint" with Woody Harrelson).  They regrouped and started working on new music but were having trouble finding their groove.

They decamped to LA and enlisted the help of Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan as an executive producer.  Corgan ended up co-writing the music for a number of the songs.  Meanwhile, Love decided to base her lyrics around the theme of California, both the ideal and the reality (a vein mined by Mr Bungle and the Red Hot Chili Peppers around the same time).  Even then the sessions were not without their problems, with producer Michael Beinhorn bullying drummer Patty Schemel and convincing Love to go with a session drummer instead, leading to Schemel quitting the band.

The music, collaborators and theme saw them move further away from their initial noisy, punky beginnings to a kind of washed out, hungover version of sunny California pop.  They still have some raging moments such as on the title track and "Playing Your Song".   Corgan's gift for melodic, catchy rock is noticeable on the title track and single "Malibu", but guitarist Eric Erlandson acquits himself nicely with melodic-yet-raw tracks like "Northern Star" and "Heaven Tonight".

Love makes the whole thing her own, ably supported by new bass player Melissa Auf der Maur's strong backing vocals.

Day 0870 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” (1998)

Following the Fugee’s phenomenally successful album 'the Score', Hill helped fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean with his solo album, then started on her own.  She struck writers block but found a well of inspiration following the birth of her first child.

The resultant album is brilliant and powerful.  Hill mixes RnB, pop, hip-hop and dub but manages to make it all sit together cohesively.

After a brief school roll-call styled intro, the album hits the ground running with "Lost Ones" with Hill rapping over a sparse but funky track that kind of brings to mind the Roots for some reason.   The album almost immediately switches gears to deliver the soulful pop of "Ex-Factor".

Lauryn switches back and forth between rapping ("Final Hour" is as good a set of rhymes as any of her contemporaries) and singing (like on the beautifully harmonised "I Used to Love Him").  

To date, this appears to be the only full-length solo release from Lauryn Hill.   Quality over quantity I guess.

Day 0869 - Ray of Light

Madonna “Ray of Light”

When a long-standing popular artist starts dabbling in the musical fashion of the day, it can often be an embarrassing and ineffective attempt to stay relevant.  I think that Madonna is different in this respect because (a) she works with good people, like producer/remixer extraordinaire William Orbit, and (b) she commits to the new direction.  She doesn’t try and just do what she was doing before but adopting affectations of the genre she’s working with, she fully ‘leans in’ to it and changes her vocal style to suit.

Mads had recently become a mother and embraced Kabballah, which led to a more reflective approach to her songwriting.

There’s the moody, electronic minimalism of album opener “Drowned World” and closer “Mer Girl”.  Lead single “Frozen” is similarly restrained and moody but bursts forth into a beautiful string arrangement.

The euphoric poppy title track almost feels out of place among the other material, but does link into the more middle-eastern sound that is being explored elsewhere on the album.  "Candy Perfume Girl" has a nice funky, loping groove, and there’s a song in Sanskrit "Shanti/Ashtangi".

Though I’m less of a fan of some of her more recent work, with Madonna’ s mixing of genres, her acting work and releasing books ranging from children’s books to books of erotica, I hope that when she does depart the mortal coil that she’s remembered alongside other multi-faceted artistic chameleons like say ,Bowie.

Day 0868 - This is Hardcore

Pulp "This is Hardcore" (1998) - got it

Pulp's "Different Class" album had been a success, but the band were not revelling in their new-found fame.  Facing it instead with a mix of drugs, resignations and paranoia that blighted the euphoria.   The angst all comes out on this album, with opening track "the Fear" featuring lines like "the sound of loneliness turned up to 10" and "this is the sound of someone losing the plot, making out that they're okay when they're not".

The album moves away from the bouncy, perky britpop of 'Different Class ' and into a more brooding, reflective realm.   The band's theatrical side (musically and via Cocker's low murmur-to-impassioned yell vocals) remains.   The title track has a noirish, almost cinematic bent.  Single "Help the Aged" moves from an easy-listening groove to a huge anthemic chorus.

With their propulsive grooves and Cocker's deep croon, "Party Hard" and "Glory Days" seem to nod to late 70s/early 80s Bowie.   Album odd-duck "Seductive Barry" is an atmospheric, meditative track which feels again like it owes a debt to Bowie, specifically his Berlin albums.

Day 0867 - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” (1998)

For Williams’ fifth album, she ended her working relationship with producer Gurf Morlix and worked instead with alt-country star Steve Earle who described it as “the least amount of fun I’ve had working on a record”.  

Whatever the case behind the scenes, the album turned out alright.  It’s loosely classed under the ‘country’ label, but in practise is a mix of rootsy folky country, like on album closer “Jackson”; and melodic Southern-Rock with enough twang and other country affectations to keep it within that camp, such as album opener “Right in Time”.   Similar sound to Sheryl Crow, but (a) more country than that and (b) Lucinda had been releasing music since the 70s so predates Crow.

This didn’t blow my mind, but I found enough to enjoy in there that I’d happily listen to it again.

Day 0866 - White Ladder

David Gray "White Ladder" (1998)

 

Gray had produced three albums of light folk that had met with some critical praise, but had not fared so well commercially.

His fourth album "White Ladder" was self-funded and produced by Gray, alongside Iestyn Polson and 'Clune' McClune.  The trio crafted an 'electro-folk' sound where smooth, unobtrusive beats created a bed for Gray's light drawl that walks a line between Bob Dylan and James Taylor.

It's a pleasant enough listen, though possibly a tad too inoffensive for me to listen to on the regular.   I quite enjoyed the moody title-track though.

Through its single "Babylon" and a support slot with the Dave Matthews Band, Gray had a hit on his hands, selling a couple of millions copies each in the US and UK.

Day 0865 - You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim "You've Come a Long Way Baby" (1998) - got it

Following on from his debut "Better Living Through chemistry" (day 810) and drawing on his association with big-beat maestros the Chemical Brothers, Norman Cook pole vaulted the "difficult second album" hurdle.   He created a record that hit no.1 in his homeland of the UK, and became omnipresent worldwide via singles like "Rockafeller Skank", "Right Here, Right Now" and "Praise You".

"Rockafeller..."with its repeated vocal hook of 'the funk soul brother' kind of lays out what Cook is about here: Mixing sampled of funk and soul tracks with epic, booming beats and a whole lot of audio tweaking... dance music for the masses.

Day 0864 - Apocalypse Dudes

Turbonegro "Apocalypse Dudes" (1998)

Turbonegro had started off with noise-rock, moved through their own 'death-punk' sound and here adopt a style that is straight out of the 70s rock, punk and glam play-books.   By all accounts their line-up was as changeable as their choice of genre.

"Selfdestructo Bust" sounds like a slightly updated take on the Stooges.  "Prince of the Rodeo" throws in some congas to glam up the mix, and album closer "Good Head" leads out with enough excessive guitar soloing to make Slash blush.

The song titles nod to the Norwegian group's tongue-in-cheek approach too, with pearlers like "Rock Against Ass", "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker" and "Rendezvous with Anus".

I probably won't rush to revisit it, but it was fun enough.

Day 0863 - Mermaid Avenue

Billy Bragg & Wilco “Mermaid Avenue” (1998)

Woody Guthrie’s daughter Nora was looking for someone to put music to a collection of her father’s unreleased lyrics.  After hearing Bragg playing at a Guthrie tribute concert, she contacted him about the project.  Bragg in turn contacted Wilco to help him with the songs and to arrange some themselves.

Bragg and Wilco have both already featured in this list, and the project ‘on paper’ interested me, so I was keen to check this out.

It exceeded my expectations, with a sound that brings to my mind Ween’s country moments.  Interesting lyrics backed with a mix of old timey Americana, and more modern alt-country and bouncy Beatles-esque melodic and arrangement sensibilities (“Another Man’s Done Gone” almost sounds like a McCartney-esque piano ballad).

There’s the rootin’ tootin’ opener “Walt Whitman’s Niece”, the intimate acoustic guitar and voice of “Ingrid Bergman” and “I Guess I Planted” has hints of Elvis Costello circa “My Aim is True”.

My favourite though is “Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key” which features backing vocals from Natalie Merchant and is frankly just a beautiful song.

Two more collections of songs would eventually be produced by Bragg and Wilco under the Mermaid Avenue name.

Day 0862 - Clandestino

Manu Chao "Clandestino" (1998)

This is one that sounded good on paper, but didn't necessarily pan out to my tastes. 

 

After the breakup of his punk-influenced band (Manu Negra), multilingual singer/songwriter Chao travelled around with a multi-track recorder.  Influenced by different street music, but flirting subtly with a range of other genres, he recorded his first solo album.

I'd heard Chao's name around the place and was keen to find out what he was about, but I'm reasonably apathetic with the actual record.

There's a bit of an overuse of syncopated reggae-style guitar, and I'm not really a fan of Chao's voice.  The music isn't bad, but I also don't think it's as diverse as advertised.   "Bongo Bong" is a quirky little pop song, and I quite like the bleeps and bloops of "Je ne t'aime plus", but in general the album didn't really excite me.

Day 0861 - Live 1966

Bob Dylan "Live 1966" (1998)

Recorded during Dylan's controversial early move to electric music.  The first half of the concert/album is Dylan alone playing acoustic tracks.  For the second half, Dylan is accompanied by his excellent backing band the Hawks, who would go on to find fame themselves as "the Band" (see days 127 and 156).

The book states that Dylan and the Hawks were heckled and jeered during the electric set... maybe that was edited out of the version I listened to because it just sounds like cheers for the duration.

I like the mix of sounds between the two sets and I guess it's an important historical musical recording, but at an hour and a half, this is a touch too much Bob for my tastes.

Day 0860 - System of a Down

System of a Down "System of a Down" (1998) - got it

Wow, now that is a solid debut!   Punishingly heavy, yet pinpoint precise riffs; quirkiness, moments of high drama, all rolled into this one release.

System started life as a band called Soil, created by Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian.  Their manager Shavo Odajian eventually joined on bass.  Later, drummer John Dolmayan joined, the band attracted the attention of producer (and 90% beard) Rick Rubin who signed the band to his American Records label and they were off and running.

From the opening track, there's a run of guitar harmonics that sound almost fun, then the riffs come crashing in and the onslaught starts.  The band moves between metal, jazz, ska, melodic alt-rock, often shifting genres within the same song, and this is matched by singer Tankian whose voice can swing from beautiful melody to throat-rending screams and growls all with lyrics that speak of intelligence, political anger and a sense of humour.

This combination is used to staggering effect, like on single "Sugar" that moves from a heavy rock opening to a bouncy verse then into claustrophobic bridge with Tankian whispering, squeaking and roaring while loud guitar/bass/drum stabs come crashing in around him and building faster and faster to the conclusion.   "Spiders" offers a more straight ahead melodic reprieve.   "Peephole" has a demented circus vibe that suggests these guys have listened to some Mr Bungle at some point.   Album closer ""P.L.U.C.K." (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers) addresses the Armenian genocides of the early 20th century.   All four band members are of Armenian descent and have worked to raise awareness of this event.

Day 0859 - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Spiritualized "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" (1997)

To my tastes this is an improvement on the previous Spiritualized album in this list (entry 721).   They'd taken that sound that I'd classed as "digital shoegazer and ramped up the pop aspect of it.   The opening title-track has an almost 60s folk-pop sound while still being drenched in synths, guitar and spacey production.  

The tracks move between melodic aural overloads, and dreamier, more stripped down tracks like "Stay With Me".

Would happily listen to it again.

Day 858 - Urban Hymns

The Verve "Urban Hymns" (1997)

The Verve reformed a year or two after breaking up (where's the commitment to the quitting?) and started working on new music.  Initially they were joined by Simon Tong in place of guitarist Nick McCabe but McCabe was convinced to rejoin.

While there is still some of the swirly, psychedelic rock  of "A Northern Soul" in tracks like "The Rolling People" and album closer "Come On" (featuring Liam Gallagher on backing vocals), the album's strong points are more in its subtler melodic moments like morose ballad "the Drugs Don't Work" or Orchestra-sampling, lawsuit-courting album opener "Bittersweet Symphony" that borrowed a little too obviously from an old Rolling Stones song.

I remember when this came out in the late 90s I didn't really care for it at all.  I kind of liked the track "Lucky Man" but I found the other singles to be quite grating.   I'm not sure if I was just being contrary, if my tastes have changed or these songs just needed time to percolate because coming into this listen I was really looking forward to hearing "drugs don't work" and other tracks, and just enjoyed listening to it all.

Day 0857 - Either/Or

Elliott Smith "Either/Or" (1997)

Well I'm an idiot.  I had Elliott Smith totally confused with pop singer Sam Smith (I mean Smith isn't really a common name, right?).   I'd seen this CD in my wife's music collection and I was like "kind of surprised she's into that Sam Smith guy".   When this came up on the list and I actually listened to the album I realised that it was awesome and nothing like Sam Smith.

Smith's (Elliott's) sound here is a really stripped-down singer-songwriter vibe.  His voice is light and gentle over tracks that are often just acoustic guitar, with drums and bass only occasionally coming into the picture.

"Angeles" is largely just acoustic guitar and voice with some subtle keyboard in places.  "No Name No.5" with its droney sitar-esque acoustic guitar and big thumping bass drums in places remind me of a mellower take on the classic Soundgarden sound.   "Cupid's Trick" adds a little more texture and even some rock to it.

The music seems somehow really familiar to me but I can't really place it.  Like I feel that maybe it has hints of Chris Cornell, Jeff Buckley and Eleven (it does have that descending melodic patterns and contrasting descending/ascending vocal/guitar thing going on in places) but it's much quieter and more intimate than that.  Maybe I'm just picking up on that '60s sounds through a cynical 90s filter' thing that some of those other artists also employed.   The songs also bring to mind Ween's folkier moments and Liam Finn's solo material.

A few songs from the album were featured in the film "Good Will Hunting" which brought Smith a bit more recognition.   Sadly, he died 5 or 6 years later after being stabbed twice in the chest.  The coroner could not confirm if it was suicide or homicide

Day 0856 - New Forms

Roni Size/Reprazent "New Forms" (1997)

Roni had grown up in the musical melting pot of Bristol, home of the trip-hop of Portishead and Massive Attack, but also a lot of dub and reggae.   Roni saw gigs by Massive Attack forerunner The Wild Bunch, learned to DJ at his local youth club and formed 'Roni Size and Reprazent.

Their debut album here is an interesting mix of high BPM DnB patterns with dub, soul, jazz bass, and electro tracks.   The songs are generally built on repetitive loops that are given a good 5+ minutes to develop with vocals featuring on some tracks.

I knew the name Roni Size, didn't think I'd heard any of his music but "Digital" sounds quite familiar, so I may have done after all.

Reprazent only released one other album, but Roni collaborated with other artists, did remixes and even contributed to the interesting soundtrack to the film "Spawn" that paired up metal and hard-rock acts with electronic producers and artists.

Day 0855 - Time Out of Mind

Bob Dylan "Time Out of Mind" (1997)

Dylan had been some 6-7 years without any original material, existing instead on cover songs and revisiting his past glories.   He reunited with producer Daniel Lanois, regular producer for U2, and Peter Gabriel, and who had also produced Dylan's own "Oh Mercy" album.

By all accounts the sessions seem to have been cluttered with two drummers and  a multitude of other musicians on the sessions.... I'm sure Phil Spector would have approved.

Dylan later expressed mixed feelings about the recording, and one critic described it as Lanois' CV... well if that's the case, I'd hire him.   I really enjoyed the album.

I'm typically 50/50 on Bob Dylan as I don't focus much on lyrics and that's obviously known to be his main strength.  I'm more interested in what he's doing musically and how the words fit around that sound-wise.   From opener "Love Sick" this is a murky blues album, one of those ones that sounds like it'd make a great soundtrack for driving (maybe through a desert night).  The dense sound eases up temporarily for piano ballad "Make you feel my love" then back onto the highway for the last couple of tracks, including the epic 16+ minute closing track "Highlands".

Dylan's nasal voice had settled into a weary, gravelly drawl which suits this music nicely.

Day 0854 - In it for the Money

Supergrass "In it for the Money" (1997)

The "difficult second album" and yet I would say this is easily Supergrass' best (of what I've heard).   They developed naturally from their cheeky and often whimsical pop-rock of debut "I Should Coco" and bring a more mature sound.

The self-titled track opens with an almost sinister tone that rises up to a chant of the title and a catchy rock song.  "Richard III" likewise opens with a sinister 'devil's interval' before Gaz Coombes gives a peppy 'whoo' that launches a rock riff that is excellent in its simplicity.   A couple of tracks later things slow down and show the band's increasing maturity.  The moody, acoustic "Late in the Day" may get a bit bouncier in the choruses (mirrored in the pogo-sticking music video) but is still somewhat contemplative.

Much of the rest is just catchy and enjoyable, with single "Going out" being a remaining nod to their lighter hearted debut.   The album finishes on an interesting note, with the pop-jazz feel of "Hollow little reign" and album closer "Sometimes I make you sad" which could almost be described as 'vaudeville techno' with a crazy speedy guitar solo partway through.

Brilliant album and I'm not quite sure why I don't own a copy.

Day 0853 - Butterfly

Mariah Carey "Butterfly" (1997)

For album number 6, Mariah dialled back her usual vocal acrobatics and explored some other genres outside of her pop ballad sound with the help of a bevvy of collaborators, including Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott and Q-Tip.   Those names don't diminish Mariah's own role in her creative path though.  She had been slowly pulling away from the influence of her controlling husband, Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola (who she broke up with around this time) to take a few creative risks and court the hip-hop/RnB market a bit more.

There is still straight ahead-diva pop like the choir-backed title track, but there's also the RnB of "The Roof (back in time)" and "Baby Doll", the collaboration with the brilliant Bone Thugs-n-Harmony "Breakdown" and even a stonking rendition of "The Beautiful Ones" from Prince's "Purple Rain" album.

Mariah's not an artist that I spent a lot of time investigating in the 90s, and this is still not my favourite style of music, but this is a strong album, and obviously she has an incredible voice.