SPIN Alternative Record Guide (1995) Top 100 Alternative Albums (51-100)

no bee ok but i gotta see part 2

this particular half of the list is full of things i'm super invested in still, so it's between uhh dirty mind, chic, new order, funkadelic, abba, and sonny sharrock

I dunno why they were still stanning for the '82 ABBA comp when GOLD already existed.

oh wait, i'd also hella vote for the go-go's

i'm gonna do that

Gonna show my ass here and although my ~ P E R S O N A L ~ B R A N D ~ is very tied up in the axis of ATCQ, BDP, Ornette, Beefheart, Black Flag, Huskers, Sun Ra, Big Black and Flipper

... my actual choice is probably between Beck and Devo :X

I mean Mellow Gold is basically the pomo distillation of all of bands I just mentioned

and literally has a Melvins sample on it

Sun Ra

Devo. Life-changing record.

I've always had trouble with that Sun Ra record because the sound on my CD is so muffled

that Devo album is perfect nothing else on there comes close

well, maybe Substance, but *makes wanking motion*

That's odd. I've had two different editions of it (1992-93 ZYX CD, early '00s reissue) and they both sound fine. I mean, not AMAZING HIGH FIDELITY, but they don't strike me as muffled. Maybe they did some noise-reduction shenanigans on a later issue.

xp

i mean i think it was just a muffly record?

I own almost half of these, and there's stuff on here I could never be without. In that case, it comes down to which of them I've listened to the most. And that the Go-Betweens comp, a near perfect distillation of their greatness and always a welcome listen.

Rust Never Sleeps.

third/sister lovers, abba a close second

Very obviously The Low End Theory for me.

Top 50 was easy (Double Nickels), this chunk is much harder. Impossible choice between Devo/Sharrock/Roches.

Man, I was disappointed with the first batch (only VU&N deserves to be in the top 5 imho), but I feel like I'm going to hate these results even more. Must be a generational thing (I'm a so-called '90's kid'). Anyway, I'd say it's a toss-up between Albini (Surfer Rosa) and sort-of-Albini (In Utero). Possibly Closer as well.

👏 SIAMESE 👏 DREAM 👏 IS 👏 TOO 👏 LOW

Sharrock over Ornette

thread also doubles as Barbara Manning/Freedy Johnston C or D

barbara manning = c / freedy johnston = d

I had not thought about Barbara Manning for a quarter century before reading this poll.

Colossal Youth. Its place in history is a strange one. If a Cobain/Love hype ever paid dividends for a band it must be Young Marble Giants. And surely in another era, before or after, I believe they would have had more commercial success.

Big Star's Third, I guess. I don't really like any of these albums.

I've been needing a new dn.

Clean - Compilation

As I said on prev thread, that Freedy is his peak and launching point, one of those amazing flukes----though no dis on his other albums, though some can tend a little too ruminative for me (ditto Barbara Manning). Ornette, Sonny, many other worthies here, but was already thinking, without knowing you were gonna do this, but if you did, I was gonna vote for Wanna Buy A Bridge, cos I do like me some range.

Mellow Gold has always seemed like Beck's best to me, and I've always suspected it's because he's working with the Forest For The Trees/Forest For The Trees dude, Carl Stephenson ---is he in the Guide?

No, he is not!

In Utero vs. Dirty Mind for me.

This is my Sun Ra pressing

https://www.discogs.com/Sun-Ra-Heliocentric-Worlds-Volumes-1-And-2/master/334322

Which sounds like a cassette tape to hard-pan stereo while what's on Spotify is like a crisper mono?

Gonna Spin the Spotify version tonight.

Hm, yeah, that one's later than either of the issues I've heard. The first CD issue (1992, on ZYX) always sounded good to me, and is pretty easy to find cheap.

Most of these seem like 2nd tier bands or 3rd or 4th best albums by decent bands. Can't get too excited about them for the most part. Would probably vote for Maggot Brain, one of the few exceptions.

New Order for me. This half of the list isn't as strong as the first

Clean just barely above Scratch. I love this list of records

One of these, leaning towards Rust

52 Pixies Surfer Rosa 1988
53 Prince Dirty mind 1980
57 Liz Phair Exile in Guyville 1993
60 Devo Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo 1978
61 Neil Young Rust never sleeps 1979
62 Violent femmes Violent femmes 1983
64 Hüsker dü New day rising 1985
68 Boogie down productions Criminal minded 1987
70 New York dolls New York dolls 1973
71 Go-betweens 1978-1990 1990
75 Funkadelic Maggot brain 1971
87 A Tribe called quest The low end theory 1991
90 Roches The Roches 1979
92 Nirvana In utero 1993

too many compilations

Ubu vs Abba

Maggot Brain

But could be any of these

Husker Du - New Day Rising
Black Flag - Damaged
Neil Young Rust never sleep
Pere Ubu The modern dance 1978
Pixies Surfer Rosa 1988
Prince Dirty mind 1980
Stooges The Stooges 1968
Joy division Closer 1980
New York dolls New York dolls 1973
Descendents Milo goes to college 1982
Funkadelic Maggot brain 1971
Big black Atomizer 1986
Sun Ra The heliocentric worlds of Sun Ra : volume 1 1965
Nirvana In utero 1993
Smashing pumpkins Siamese dream 1993
Sebadoh Sebadoh III 1991

Lol that you would vote for most of those over Maggot Brain.:)

Do you know Sharrock, btw, Odysseus? You'd probably like him if no, esp Ask the Ages, maybe Black Woman.

I'd go Maggot Brain then Flipper 'Generic' myself, but there are plenty of records I like in that list.

Ask the Ages is a good one to check out as it is also with Pharaoh Sanders and Elvin Jones. I like it better than that Guitar record. Tauhid is a Sanders record from the 60s that Sharrock plays on too that is a good listen.

yes I have a few Sonny Sharrock cd's

My fave sharrock is the Herbie Mann album he plays on ;)

I somehow missed Flipper on that list so yeah add them too

we'll keep well bred
we'll stay well fed
we'll have our sons
they will be all well hung...

My fave sharrock is the Herbie Mann album he plays on ;)

Memphis Underground is fantastic!

I wonder, does anyone still listen to that first Violent Femmes album? I'd probably choose it based on its impact in the 80s-90s, but I don't know if I'll ever listen to it again (and I also don't know if anyone else will). Clinic seem like the torch leader in terms of Femmes influence, though it's somewhat oblique, and I don't know if anyone listens to Clinic anymore either. As far as albums to listen to today, maybe Flipper? Life and Ever never seem to get old.

Sharrock played on several Mann albums (also some by his colleagues in the Mann band, mainly Roy Ayers, I think); the best I've heard is indeed Memphis Underground. Voted for Wanna Buy A Bridge because where else can I hear those artists performing those compatible songs, in one place? Time travelers on a day trip, be sure to check.

fwiw that's the only album on the 100 that's never been issued on CD

Obviously the VU Live 1969, such a great album to listen to. So cool and relaxing. And I love Lou's banter on it. I would have gone for Pere Ubu or Joy Division but those albums on the list are not the ones I am crazy about.

That is a fine album, and I found it fascinating the way it showed this supposedly anti-"rootsy" band (well, the way Lou used to talk about hippies and "California trash") actually fitting into the family tree just fine, without loosing its place---oh yeah, somewhere there's a thread where Dan Selzer talks about WBAB almost coming out on CD (would have been on Acute, I think), but the death of Nikki Sudden left the Swell Maps track uncleared---might have been more to it, but pretty sure he mentioned that part.

(Of course there is or was at least one CD bootleg.)

fwiw that's the only album on the 100 that's never been issued on CD

― Jay Elettronica Viva (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, April 22, 2017 2:55 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also the only album that can't really be found anywhere in the book (besides a stray mention in X-Ray Spex entry when discussing Essential Logic)

yep!

Flatlanders over Tribe & Big Star

I love the majority of these, Vile Femmes excepted. But the one that's given me the most musical pleasure o'er the years is Have Moicy! by The Unholy Modal Rounders with Michael Hurley and featuring Jeffrey Frederick and The Clamtones. The last of whom also made a wonderful very left field country lp called Spiders in the Moonlight, which also comes highly recommended. Xgau wrote a nice bit on HM! at the time. One of the Ol Deans more perceptive pieces in terms of very
Out of the mainstream music. Pretty sure it's on his,admittedly excellent website.

I feel like I should listen to one of these a week for the next 12 months

Closer.

oh yeah, somewhere there's a thread where Dan Selzer talks about WBAB almost coming out on CD (would have been on Acute, I think), but the death of Nikki Sudden left the Swell Maps track uncleared---might have been more to it, but pretty sure he mentioned that part.

Wasn't so much the clearance that was the issue with Swell Maps. The clearance problems were the Pop Group and Robert Wyatt, both owned/controlled by major labels who make things difficult. Then on top of that losing Nikki who was my connection to the Swell Maps and Epic Soundtracks track i was going to put on the appendix bit, at first I wasn't about to try to reach out to his family to discuss this stuff, and eventually due to the other clearance problems I gave up on the project.

Some of the Best is a good compilation that's of course been totally obliterated by basically every single subsequent Perry comp (and was probably so even at the time). Issue with a few of the comps on here.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I know this is Joy Division but voting Violent Femmes anyways.

Fuck, I missed Smashing Pumpkins.

is that Freedy in the photo w/ Adam Carolla?

yeah

how the fuck have i never listened to pere ubu?

the modern dance is amazing wow

i saw black eyes a bunch of times when i lived in dc and i never knew they basically took their whole thing from this record

yeah, Pere Ubu are amazing! If you like that record make sure you get all the singles from around that time and just before.

I saw Black Eyes once when I came down to DJ between bands when they opened for the Rapture. I like to pretend I introduced Ital to house music that night.

yeah, the Smog Veil site's newsletter is a good source of Ubu and related reissues/prev. unreleases; also, though I don't always hear things like xgau does, he pretty much nails this
early collection of even earlier stuff:
Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection [Twin/Tone, 1986]
Side one is the long unavailable Datapanik in the Year Zero EP, itself comprising two indie singles and a compilation cut and as powerful a sequence as side one of Dub Housing nevertheless. Side two collects the kind of oddments that rarely cohere on LP, yet here the outtakes and B sides and stray singles come together as a record of David Thomas's slide or progress from willed optimism to blessed whimsy. In short, this is a gift from God--a third Ubu album from the former Crocus Behemoth's pre-God period. A- He means third pre-G after The Modern Dance and Dub Housing, but also likes New Picnic Time and several others from DT's Jehovah's Witness prime time, before the art-rock further complicated/maybe took over the layers.

Allen Ravenstine's solo/sidetrip mid-70s-recorded Terminal Drive is out soon, via Smog Veil.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hey, I wasn't the only Sebadoh III voter!

The Beat deserved at least one vote...

Hey, I wasn't the only Have Moicy! voter. Just being a smartass.

I was the only Beck voter :(

Probably would have been smarter to join team Devo and I'm probably coming around that way anyway ok my old age

I knew I should've for the Upsetters :(

Also, Modern Dance is fucking killer! I listened to it a couple times before but have mostly just stuck to Dub Housing in recent times, but man does it hit both the 'avant' and 'rock' sweet spots just right