Matador Records, Year Five: 1994

Year by year we’re getting to the point where I know and/or have owned an increasing number of releases.

I voted for Pirate Prude, just for the heck of it. Well, not just for the heck of it - I’ve loved for ages. (But my vote really could’ve been for 10-12 other things.)

I voted for Pirate Prude, just for the heck of it. Well, not just for the heck of it - I’ve loved for ages. (But my vote really could’ve been for 10-12 other things.)

my fave TFUL282 album vs my 2nd or 3rd fave Liz Phair album vs my 2nd favorite GBV (Bee) vs my 3rd fave Pavement vs a mid-tier Fall album, easy choice for me but tons of great stuff here, lots of awesome singles

not sure it's really fair to put singles up against albums but i would (and do) listen to nearly all this

I didn’t realize “Haunt You Down” was actually released as a single. Is it super rare? It’s not even on Discogs.

This was the last Blues Explosion album I cared about. But Total Destruction might be the best Unsane album. I haven't heard any of the others.

XP: "Haunt You Down"/"Jam Kids" was a bonus 7" with the LP, so it appears here (with a distinct catalogue number, apparently):

https://www.discogs.com/release/2757948-Pavement-Crooked-Rain-Crooked-Rain

Thx…

Please DO NOT submit the 7" as a separate release (was never sold separately)

:)

It's memorable as a very early experience of helpful North Americans on the internet air-mailing me tape dubs of oddities not issued locally. I never did see that 7"!

I’ve got a very normie perspective on this; I’ve heard no more than a handful of these. Crooked Rain and B1K are among my favourite sounds made by humans and I don’t know how I’d choose between them. There may well have been better records released by Matador that year, but these are the two that were deeply imprinted on me. I was 20.

Whip-Smart I also like alright, but it’s not a patch.

I’ve never even heard OF a handful of these acts. (’95 will be my sweet spot, though)

Voted for Come - Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Bee Thousand

Just one man's opinion, but Julius Caesar, Bee Thousand and Vampire are heavyweight releases that are gonna steal votes from records that were actually on Matador. I had no idea until this morning that Matador put out cd's of these back in '94.

Right, of course Bee Thousand was on Scat. Makes my decision way easier.

Going with Nettie Serveert's "Palomine", that was a highlight of the year at the time. Discovered Moonshake many years later.

xxp Yeah, I guess the idea here is “anything with an OLE catalog number” – but certainly no one thinks “Matador recording artist Bill Callahan” (I had no idea Mat was licensing stuff like that from Drag City).

I went with Middle Class Revolt only bc it's the most recent one I heard like 2 days ago.

I actually had no idea this was Matador.

it was on Permanent in the UK iirc

and yeah they did MCR and Infotainment Scan for Matador

this is prob my favorite year of the label but I'm not gonna peek ahead

Bailter Space, Come, SF Seals, Unsane, and Helium are all solid picks as well, that's a lot of good music

SF Seals "Nowhere" is a low-key gem. My favorite Barbara Manning album.

lotta good stuff in here gotta be cooked rain tho, also julius ceasar is canonically a drag city release

if the helium album instead of the singles were on here i wouldve voted for that thooo

dirt of luck will be a strong contender for the 95 poll

I played the hell out of that yo la tengo single at the time, the b sides were some of my fav YLT tracks from that era

went with thinking fellers - still sounds brilliant wheres some of these others feel played out

being reissued this year finally! with bonus tracks! I just learned this today via a friend of Mark Davies!!!!

18th dye is one of the most unfairly unappreciated bands in the list.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Why is bee thousand in this poll?

BT was released on Scat then reissued on Matador the same year, right?

I’m going by the Matador discography dates on the label’s site.

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

Day 10,950 of people failing to convince me to buy a Pavement CD

How about a P vinyl? Crooked rain on a cheap turntable sounds pretty good

Too much choice this year. Dan Bunny deserves at least one vote.

OK I'll try that