The 24th P&J Albums Poll!

Dust

This bit from Bob's essay was particularly interesting, I think:

So then. Perhaps it's time to ac-cent-tchu-ate the progressive. Having debuted at No. 2 in 1995, the bummed-out mixmaster Tricky wasted no time placing a still bleaker follow-up and his Nearly God guest-victim project in the top 20. Easier on the soul and meatier for the right side of the brain was Endtroducing . . . DJ Shadow, U.S.-released mid-November by a young Californian so out of step Stateside that he had to go to London to get a rep, which finished all the way up at fourth after barely creasing premature competing polls. With Goldie polishing his Metalheadz and L.T.J Bukem shunted over to a P&J compilation chart I hope isn't embryonic forever, these two artists represented the legible edge of soundscape in 1996. Tricky was felt and phantasmagoric, Shadow in control of the kind of macrostructures rarely noticed by the voters, who end up depending as much on songs as Alanis and Gwen--a pop predilection that is the secret of their oracular powers. Whether Tricky and Shadow have a growth curve in them remains to be determined. But simply by taking electronica to a recognizable formal conclusion, they gave lots of nonspecialists the touch of strange they craved while preparing them for further developments.

So then, what, if anything, went wrong?

xgau: go-to guy for all your trip hop and dnb commentary needs.

leave it quitney this is christgautown

DJ Shadow's good, but the Wipeout XL soundtrack rocked my world.

leave it quitney this is christgautown

haha--so true!

I voted for Tricky, but it's not a list of records I come back to very often these days. At the time I really liked the DJ Shadow, Steve Earle, Pulp, Cash, and Joe Henry albums. I was very disappointed with REM. I was pretty out of touch with R&B and hip-hop at the time. I taught some middle school students that summer, and they were pretty big into Wu-Tang, but I think that was behind the curve (youth etc.). I'd be interested in hearing what else from this year, on the list or not, would be worth looking for.

ctrl-f ironman

Lots of good records for me: R.E.M.'s last solid album, Different Class, Ironman, Walking Wounded, Call the Doctor, Imperial Teen's only remarkable album from end to end, the Fugees, and, of course, Shadow, which I only discovered two years later. I voted for Pulp.

As for Tricky, at the time I preferred the Nearly God project, but it's as uneven as Pre-Millenium Tension.

Strange year for me personally: I didn't get to hear many of my faves--Shadow, S-K, Los Lobos, Iris--until about a year or two (or four) later (poverty sucks!). So, at the time, I would have probably gone with Beck or (especially) the Fugees, although I also really liked Pulp, Imperial Teen and Tricky's PMT. I wasn't exactly in any sort of mood to actually want to listen to that Nearly God thing (though I did love "Poems"). Also really dug NAIHF, Sublime and the Nirvana live thing then.

Voted for Shadow.

Oh, and Ironman should have definitely made the list.

Also missing:

Girls Against Boys: House of GvsB (Touch & Go)

And missing:

Tortoise, Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Voted for Los Lobos.

Shadow, with Wilco's last non-annoying album a close second--but now I'm curious about Wipeout XL. I remember one or two good tunes on the CMJ comps I was getting around that time.
Amy Rigby placed high!

first track: loltechno?

Future Sound of London – "We Have Explosive" – 6:14
Fluke – "Atom Bomb" – 7:57
Chemical Brothers – "Loops of Fury" – 4:41
Underworld – "Tin There" – 5:00
Photek – "The Third Sequence" – 4:48
Chemical Brothers – "Leave Home (Underworld Mix 1)" – 5:14
Future Sound of London – "We Have Explosive (Herd Killing)" – 5:42
Prodigy – "Firestarter (Instrumental)" – 4:39
Fluke – "V Six" – 5:19
Daft Punk – "Musique" – 6:51
Source Direct – "2097" – 5:35
Photek – "Titan" – 5:58
Orbital – "P.E.T.R.O.L." – 5:49
Leftfield – "Afro Ride" – 4:24

i remember seeing that album everywhere, but had no idea it was related to a computer game.

I LOVE "We Have Explosive"! There's a couple overlaps with the Amp comp from, what, the following year? But that's OK. I don't mind listening to songs twice.

'loops of fury' the single was deleted almost immediately. i guess this is how most people knoww it?

This was the first year I heard enough albums to warrant making a year-end list. I don't remember everything that was on it, but #1 and #2 were Odelay and Now I Got Worry. Also really liked the Cibo Matto record and the DJ Shadow, though I didn't hear the latter until the following year. Emperor Tomato Ketchup was what got me into Stereolab, and though I understand why it's the consensus favorite, I prefer the albums that came immediately before and after.

I got that Lobos album last year at last – total snooze.

The Lobos is my personal fave of theirs. Not as good as either Latin Playboys' record, I don't think, but pretty damn close nonetheless.

Yeah, I'm not a big FSOL fan either, but "Tin There," "Musique" and "Atom Bomb" I mean like whoa.

i would have voted for underworld if they made the list. maybe i'll vote for fugees instead. i hope beck doesn't win. i hate that guy.

Rigby for me.

Wipeout XL was also an awesome game, if I'm thinking of the right one—the hovercraft racing thing, right?

But Christ, the dad-rock is thick in this one. I went with the Fugees, because that album (upon listening to it again recently) really has held up better than anything Tricky did that year, or Entroducing…

Voted for Shadow, though I have a feeling (judging from that track listing) that if I'd ever actually seen or owned a copy of Wipeout XL, that wold deserve my vote instead. (Yeah, I've always been an MTV Amp guy instead. But "Atom Bomb," especially, is probably one of my very favorite singles of the '90s.)

Also like Sheryl Crow, Sublime, Sleater-Kinney, and Pulp, in that order. (In fact, maybe I should have voted for Sheryl instead.) Never liked any other Pulp or Sublime album. Like maybe one other S-K album.

Don't really care about much anything on the list. But I'm sorta curious now about the Mayfield, and, as usual, lots of those mysterious compilations. Not sure I'd actually like any of them if I heard them, though.

My favorite Soundgaden and Screaming Trees stuff is from approximately nine years before this. (Favorite Jon Spencer stuff earlier than that, favorite Los Lobos and R.E.M. stuff earlier than that, favorite Patti Smith stuff earlier than that, favorite Johnny Cash stuff a lot earlier than that.)

Don't really care about much anything else on the list, I meant

Eh, I guess the Amy Rigby was okay too. She just never sounded as good as I wished she did.

(And like everybody else, my favorite Richard Thompson stuff is from the '70s and early '80s too, though I actually do like his new one, believe it or not.)

Yep, the game was intensely fast. When I got good at it, tho, I was always upset that the rounds would end just as some of the songs were really getting started.

no geto boys/UGK/m.o.p./do or die/master p/e-40/so so def bass allstars/juggaknots no credibility

-- deej, Monday, June 4, 2007 12:38 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Link

never mind TUPAC

-- deej, Monday, June 4, 2007 12:40 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Link

or HELTAH SKELTAH, BIG NOYD, LORD FINESSE, CRUCIAL CONFLICT, LOST BOYZ, POOR RIGHTEOUS TEACHERS, FOXY BROWN

etc

-- deej, Monday, June 4, 2007 12:41 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Link

Shadow narrowly over T!T!T! and Fugees (my at-the-time favorite). A number of things I like this year, but the list does feel flat--as Deej points out, P&J's chronic hip-hop shortages have a lot to do with this.

You could argue P&J have a shortage of a lot of genres(like most polls I suppose). But you would expect that with Kerrang and I suppose even NME. But the Village Voice is more general than NME isn't it?

went with Amy Rigby over Los Lobos, EBTG, Sleater-Kinney and Beck. I've actually owned the Rigby and Lobos for only a few months. Wish I found TTT! for cheap when I found those two. The Hits comp is great enough that I know House Of Music would be a contender if I'd heard it.

Ghostface, GVSB, Jay-Z and Weezer (my favorite album of the whole frikkin decade) belong on the list. Kinda surprised Chavez and GBV weren't on it, I guess the bloom was already off the rose critically for the latter (though I like Under The Bushes more than any GBV album other than Bee Thousand).

especially since Jon Spencer, Harmacy and that Elephant 6 stuff all made it on.

kinda funny seeing Nirvana, Screaming Trees AND Soundgarden all in the top 40. Grunge's last stand!

kinda funny seeing Nirvana, Screaming Trees AND Soundgarden all in the top 40. Grunge's last stand!

otm!

I still haven't heard that Rigby album.

The Screaming Trees album is probably seen by many as their best. Infact I think they won the Kerrang poll for this year so I'd expect them to do well in this.

It got 9 votes KERRANG/TERRORIZER/METAL HAMMER Albums Of Year 1996

The 90's kinda sucked.

I voted for Prince because Emancipation is the only one of these records I still listen to.

So then, what, if anything, went wrong?

I don't understand the question.

Imperial Teen's only remarkable album from end to end

This is an incorrect statement (or fragment).

I went for Wipeout XL. If I'm racing hovercars in the future and blowing shit up, do I want to hear "Firestarter" and "We Have Explosive"? Fuck yes! I probably wasted at least three end to end months of my life playing that game.

That Revival vote will be mine.

Endtroducing... is the greatest album of the 1990s. Almost inevitably so.

1996 might not have been stellar overall. But it yielded three of my decade top ten - DJ Josh Davis, S-K, and David Toop's world historic Sugar and Poison. And it yielded the best single of the decade.

But I forgot to mention my favorite lost record of 1995 last time. Sardina: "Presents" (Hit It!) Anyone know it?

You heard it here first - Sardina were The New Pornographers of the 1990s. Not as good and definitely less manic. But "Presents" is better than the new New Pornographers (which I hasten to note is their least manic).

Much of it sounds like parody. Of psychedelia. Of country. Of Sonic Youth. Of Stereolab. The cover (and title) parody Zep's Presence. Subtle parody (save for the cover). Maybe just mere eclecticism. At one point, they ask if their formula is too formula...

But then there are more direct moments and here's where their Neko Case comes in - Michelle Marchesseault. On "Hey" she belts out a vocal hearty enough to fill a skid of Campbell's Chunky Soup cans. A real tearjerker, it only adds to the album's decentered feel what with all its generic shifts and shifting vocalists.

Things slow down after that. But the last two tracks make something of the lethargy. And in general, ace pop craft is for sale no matter which mode/mood they're in.

They were from Bloomington/Indianapolis and then moved to Chicago. Soon after, they broke up. I think Marchesseault lives here in Austin.

And guess what? The era of instant gratification strikes again. You can download the entire album (and tons of live/unreleased stuff) here:

http://admiralsound.com/sardinamusic/sardina.html

Gorge away, homegirls!

So then, what, if anything, went wrong?

I don't understand the question.

It was a joke (sorta)--just wonderin' what happened to those further developments (in a pop music contect, that is) we were promised (or were we?) back then. Electronica, where is you at?

Well, The Chemical Bros. and The Prodigy broke through in the US in the next year. Maybe Daft Punk counts too.

Yes they did, and then...

A few other albums I like from 1996 (almost all from the first half of the alphabet, performer-wise):

OMC – How Bizarre (Mercury)
Weezer - Pinkerton (DGC)
The Nomads - R&R (Raw and Rare) (Estrus)
Gillette – Shake Your Money Maker (Zoo/SOS)
Baader Meinhof – Baader Meinhof (VC)
(Various) - Trainspotting (Capitol)
Local H – As Good As Dead (Island)
Destroy All Monsters – Silver Wedding Anniversary (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Carlinhos Brown – Alfagamabetizado (Metro Blue)
New Kingdom – Paradise Don’t Come Cheap (Gee Street)
Deana Carter – Did I Shave My Legs For This? (Capitol)
Banda Bahia - Ghostbusters (Unico)
Moonspell – Irreligious (Century Media)
In Extremo – Die Verruuckten Sind In Der Stadt (Stars In The Dark Germany)
My Dying Bride – The Angel And The Dark River (Fierce)
The London Suede – Coming Up (Nude/Columbia)
Lucifer – 666 (Lucifer)
Girls Against Boys – House Of GVSB (Touch & Go)
Fluffy – 5 Live (The Enclave EP)
Thornetta Davis – Sunday Morning Music (Sub Pop)
Ruth Ruth - Laughing Gallery (American)
The Afghan Whigs – Honky’s Ladder EP (Mute EP)

I've liked every one of Imperial Teen's records, but Seasick is close to flawless.

Also, just for the heck of it, ten good (though almost definitely not the best) reissues:

Nazareth – Greatest Hits (A&M reissue)
Emmett Miller – The Minstrel Man From Georgia (Columbia/Legacy reissue)
The Business – Loud, Proud And Oi! (Dojo reissue)
Al Jolson – Let Me Sing And I’m Happy: At Warner Bros. 1926-1936 (Turner Classic/Rhino Movie Music reissue)
Joni Mitchell- Hits (Reprise reissue)
Gene Autry – Blues Singer: 1929-1931 (Columbia/Legacy reissue)
ZZ Hill – Turn Back The Hands Of Time (Night Train/Tuff City reissue)
Nina Hagen – 14 Friendly Abductions: The Best Of (Columbia/Legacy reissue)
KMFDM – Retro (Wax Trax! reissue)
Serge Gainsbourg – Comic Strip (Philips/Mercury reissue)

(Actually, that Nomads album is technically a reissue too, I just remembered: stuff from the '80s, mostly. Oh well -- it's still real good, either way.)

How's that Gene Autry comp, Chuck?

"But I forgot to mention my favorite lost record of 1995 last time. Sardina: "Presents" (Hit It!) Anyone know it?"

OH MY GOD YES!

My father was on an AOL music board in the mid-90s that had a mix swap, and someone sent him a tape that had that album on the first side, and a collection of indie rock on the other (stuff like Papas Fritas and Hugh, but songs that I've never been able to track down again). I loved that Sardina, but the tape had them labelled as Tsardina, and while I searched for 'em, I never found them again.

Thank you!

. . . and then Timbaland discovered drum & bass but everyone pretended it wasn't d&b he was ripping off?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

My flawless Zeitgeistometer states:
"If everyone had heard Wipeout XL, it would've won."

How's that Gene Autry comp, Chuck?

Very good! He hasn't yet sold out to Hollywood cowboyhood, so he's just rocking ye olde Jimmie Rodgers/Dock Boggs/Charlie Poole/Allen Brothers- style white country blues, and rocking it well!

Timbaland discovered drum & bass but everyone pretended it wasn't d&b he was ripping off?

I pretended he was ripping off Mantronix, myself.

i still think the 'ripping off d&b' thing is nuts

...but funny.

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

Screaming Trees in third place!

Yeah, that's clearly the big surprise.

Clearly grunge still LIVES.

Dude.

Yeah, that's clearly the big surprise.

Uh...

Kwanzaa Party! (Rounder) 12

Yes, that is what I was referring to.

I voted for it. good album.

I know two people who told me it was their favorite album of the '90s, so maybe they convinced a bunch of other people and they all voted for it. (It is a great album, btw.)

If only the Screaming Trees would reform for a new album

some good albums got no votes, but I'm REALLY surprised Call The Doctor didn't get any (there's a three song lull on the second half that kept me from picking it over Rigby).

Tricky (if not Nearly God) probably would have got more votes if DJ Shadow wasn't distracting the folks that swing that way.

Whoa! S-K 0. I just noticed that. And in 2nd place...?

ILM = taken over by http://www.ukuleleman.net/uploaded_images/Gremlins%201-703817.jpg

Missed this, but I'd have only added a point to the winner and mentioned Outkast's ATLiens.

Oh yes. One of my five fave albums ever or so.

someone sent him a tape that had that album on the first side, and a collection of indie rock on the other (stuff like Papas Fritas and Hugh, but songs that I've never been able to track down again). I loved that Sardina, but the tape had them labelled as Tsardina

I'm a big fan of Papas Fritas so I should check out this Hugh band (character?). And despite making searches impossible, Tsardina is a better name. Glad to have helped, though.

And Kwanzaa Party! - you gotta love those poll gremlins!

Maxwell should have gotten some votes

deej's urban hang suite

http://www.commarts.com/CA/exhibit_d/082299/images/maxwell.jpg
good to the last drop

I had a tense 2 seconds here waiting for that image to load.

"I'm a big fan of Papas Fritas so I should check out this Hugh band (character?)."

Hugh was a band that did two things: indie pop about parking lots and kinda mediocre droney folk stuff. For some reason, I've never been able to find the pop from the cassette again, but the droney stuff showed up at used stores all over (the album's Lucky Drive). I sold it again before my most recent move.

AMG has, like, four bands all by that name, none of 'em with any real info.

I really need to hear that Wipeout XL soundtrack.