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· · 1998 favorites · ·

"Marathon Shirt" - Self. Wow! Quirky, distorted, harmonious. I know this CD ("Subliminal Plastic Motives") is over 3 years old, but I think it (or the Rasputina) will end up as my favorite CD of the year. You hear innovative stuff like what is being done by these bands, and few people hear of them. Yet lesser spirits live in the upper eschalons of the "Hot Hundred." Same as it ever was, I guess. (11/24/98)
"Trenchmouth" - Rasputina. Their "How We Quit The Forest" CD just came in the mail yesterday (I LOVE AMAZON.COM!!) and my love for this band deepens. This song has so much torque for a trio of cellos, it's difficult to describe. All I'll say is this: if you at all fancy yourself a fan of new and eclectic rock and roll, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this CD. (11/3/98)
"Transylvanian Concubine" - Rasputina. This business of cellos in Rock and Roll is really growing on me! The 6-song CD this song comes from, "Transylvanian Regurgitations," contains remixes of "Transylvanian Concubine" by Marilyn Manson, and while MM's mixes are appealing in their way (much heavier, more guitar) the ladies of Rasputina arranged the original quite effectively. So of course I bought "How We Quit The Forest" (full-length CD featuring the aforementioned "The Olde Headboard.") (10/22/98)
"Velvet Pants" - The Propellerheads. Reminds me a lot of "How How" by Yello. Eclectic, electric, sampled, with what sounds like a real set of drums doing an EXTREMELY tight rhythm. Impossible not to tap your foot. (9/28/98)
"Sunny Day" - Leah Andreone. Hey hey. Kinda formulaic hard rock, but the chorus is catchy as hell. "We'll take away her feel-nothing disease..." I'll just bet you will! (9/28/98)
"Borateen" - Self. From the same album as their delicious suicide stomp "So Low", Subliminal Plastic Motives, is this quirky number. It unfolds in fits and starts, it's all over the map, style wise. There's a lot going on, is all. As we used to say when I was a little kid..."It's bitchen. Man." (9/26/98)
"Pure Morning" - Placebo. The verses ride one chord between choruses, but singer Brian Molko's voice has an androgynous quality...it slinks and squirms all over the melody. Compare and contrast to their song "Nancy Boy," in my Top 3 songs of 1996. (9/21/98)
"Fill The Holes" - Wichita Caravan.This song impresses me as a healthy blend of 60s trippiness, 90s alternative rock, and early 80's whomp. But really now, who cares when your band has SUCH A COOL NAME! (9/9/98)
"Lullaby" - Shawn Mullins. Two important women in my life asked me about "...the song where the guy talks with the gravely voice - 'Rockabye' somethingerother..." and I was embarrassed to have to admit I didn't know what they were talking about. Web searches on "Rockabye" are fruitless, unless you're interested in an Ani DeFranco song called "Rockabye" (and I'm not sure I'm not.) Mmmkay. Lesson number one for Mr. Mullins: if there's a word that all but friggin' GAMBADOS out of your song, by all means, put it in yer damn song title! "Lullaby" is a breezy thing, reminding me of the David & David song "Welcome To The Boomtown." (9/19/98)
"Bad Day" - Julianna Hatfield. A big slice of peppy "chick rock," (to appropriate the jargon of today's 20-somethings) the melody here is SO catchy that I, of the Try-To-Harmonize-With-Every-Melody school, can never resist singing along with it. (8/27/98)
"The Olde Headboarde" - Rasputina. What becomes a legend most? No guitar, no bass. Rasputina is three women playing cellos through Marshall stacks. How cool is that? You wouldn't really know it to hear this song...it does sound like electric guitars. Catchy vocals too. (8/4/98)
"Las Vegas With The Lights Out" - Geggy Tah. Imagine They Might Be Giants, only with no keyboards, a more organic sound, and a bit more of a jazz influence, but still quirky pop/rock. (In fact, this song sports some rather heavy guitar.) That's Geggy Tah, and this is the second song of their's I've really fallen for. (The first was "P Sluff," a heart warming story about a odd person who, as a child seemed to like everyone he came in contact with, and as an adult spent most of his waking moments happy in his rocking chair.) (7/26/98)
"California Gold" - dada. Been a long time since I've heard from these guys. (Not since "Dizz Knee Land," I believe) This has a mild 70s/LA feel, which only makes sense given the title. (7/29/98)
"718" - Two Skinny J's. Area code 718, I think. This thing...man...it has torque to spare and an anthemic chorus to boot. Rap meets hard rock (some might say metal but I wouldn't) and, as happened when Anthrax covered Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise" it kicks my jelly red ass. (What? Jelly red WHAT? Please, THE CHILDREN!) (7/22/98)
"Tabitha 101" - Vibraswirl. Local alt rockers make good (not as good as Athanaeum, but then, Athanaeum is a pop band...) A catchy tune about, I'm supposing, a girl on AOL. An interesting chorus chord progression that reminded me briefly of Rush, of all people. (7/22/98)
"What God Said" - The Uninvited.
"If you're looking for advice
You don't need to ask me twice
Start with the basics: Just be nice
See if that makes things all right."
A simple message that gets lost in a lot of riders that go along with most shrink-wrapped philosophies. (Hey, who let the philosopher in here?) (7/13/98)
"One Week" - Barenaked Ladies. BL busts out the rappin' stick, and they do it in a BIG way here. Wacky, and going in eight directions at once, this song will make you dizzy. (6/14/98)
"Drown" - Son Volt. I have an acoustic version of this, yanked from the radio after I was lucky enough to have the tape recorder going. Tight harmonies abound in a strong folk feel. I know it's only one acosutic steel string guitar but it sounds like a damn orchestra; I want that producer! (6/12/98)
"Flagpole Sitta" - Harvey Danger. Harvey's got some issues he's working through; just back up slowly, make no sudden movements, find a seat, and drink in this dysfunctional hard rock ambience. (6/26/98)
"Tell Me" - Billy Myers. A lot of things are happening all at once in this song, very busy, and very pretty despite being a high energy rock tune. Spiced VERY tastefully with Asian flourishes here and there. (6/17/98)
"Closing Time" - Semisonic. It's getting played to death now, but I like this a lot. ESPECIALLY that little piano breather halfway through. (6/17/98)
"Hooch" - Everything. Very slick harmonies, catchy melody. (6/9/98)
"The Other Jesus" - Swervedriver. COOL NAME FOR A BAND. A little grungy, a little poppy. A nice mix. The lead vocals have an airiness that reminds me a lot of "Loveless" era My Bloody Valentine (5/30/98)
"Get 'Em Outta Here" - Sprung Monkey. ANOTHER COOL NAME FOR A BAND. This reminded me a little of The Offspring, but only a little. These guys experiment with more varied recording techniques, have a less aggressive guitar sound, and I think they have a stronger sense of melody. (6/1/98)
"Wouldn't It Be Good" - Nik Kershaw. The Pretty In Pink soundtrack has a cover of this song on it and I always loved it. Last week I had occasion to hear this, the original, and I'm confident I will never listen to that cover again. (They simmered all the spice off an amazing neo-alternative song and left it as mainsteam as possible: it really looks like a turd next to Kershaw's original. My opinion, for all you Danny Hutton Hitters fans out there.)
"Teardrop" - Massive Attack. With a name like Massive Attack, I was expecting White Zombie, not Mazzy Star, but that's more or less what this reminded me of. (The lead vocalist on this song is, I believe, from the Cocteau Twins.) Parenthetically, Mazzy Star is not one of my favorite bands--most of their stuff is too dour. However I, being human, have times when a droopy song fills the bill, and Mazzy's "She's My Baby" is a song I can still listen to repeatedly in one sitting and never tire of. (6/1/98)
"Post Modern Sleaze" - Sneaker Pimps. This song is so cool. Figuratively and figuratively. Chris Whitley-esque acoustic guitar intro, sparse lyrics with a moody, brooding delivery. Slow and steady, hot and heavy, ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang. Between this song and their still-catchy-after-all-these-months "6 Underground," Sneaker Pimps are on their way to being a real favorite of mine. (6/1/98)
"Gone Till November" - Wyclef Jean. I was not expecting to ever try any rap tunes on my guitar, but there I was, noodling out the licks for this song after buying the cassette single. (The cassette single!) The E and Em7 in the verse are tied up nicely by the melody - this song is hardly rap. In fact, it's quite nicely sung by Wyclef. I know nothing of his work with the Fugees. If it's anything like this, I'm definitely missing out. (5/16/98)
"Uninvited" - Alanis Morrisette. I have a real problem with that yodeling thing she does after every single phrase in her previous tunes. I used to not mind, but it's gotten old. That said, this song is wonderful. Hardly any yodeling, and a soaring melody laid sweetly over top a cacophanous orchestral arrangement. AND, a little guitar, a little torque to boot. A much better song than I'm sure it will ever get credit for being. (5/12/98) [NOTE: Didn't it end up winning a grammy?]
"Inside Out" - Eve 6. Very tight. Lots of guitar. Some lyrics are snappy enough (and fit the rhythm well enough) to border on rap. The way the band builds to a balls out crescendo at the end of this song is my favorite musical moment so far this year. (5/11/98)
"Happy Song (Settling)" - The Judybats. From the album "Full-Empty." I call it "Wanna See You" because this phrase is repeated ad nauseam in the chorus. This is a bit more poppy, if you will, than their usual fare...which is pretty damn poppy. Took a couple of listenings, but has really taken a hold of me. (5/7/98)
"You're Still The One" - Shania Twain. It's not enough that she's phenomenally easy on the eyes; it's not enough that she's married to the guy who produced almost every cool album I listened to in the early 80's; no, on top of that, she writes imminently hummable melodies. She's too much, and this song is just plain lovely. (5/26/98)
"You Haven't Done Nothing" - Stevie Wonder. Without knowing it, I've always loved this song. I never had a copy of it - never knew the title, even. My daughter calls it "Doo Doo-Ah" because of the distinctive harmony vocals. I'm partial to these harmonies, the AMAZING horns, and Stevie's keyboards: they were so percussive in his early work that had he wished, he could have omitted the snare drum from the mix. (In this song, of course, he did exactly that.) (5/7/98)
"Who Am I" - Beenie Man. After many listenings, I still don't have half the lyrics; the song is sung in a reggae/rasta/hip-hop style, and I don't listen to enough of that to know what the sam-hill is going on here. But you know what? That's MY problem, the song sounds GREAT! (4/22/98)
"You Love To Fail" - The Magnetic Fields. OUCH! What cold bastard inspired THIS song? Tender harmonies get way up to bring somebody way down. Harsh, but it sounds like it needed to be said to whomever it was said. To. Whomever. (3/27/98)
"Are You Jimmy Ray" - Jimmy Ray. Yes, I can hear you now...'What's a pop gweeb like Jimmy Ray doing on this proudly primarily alternative listing?' He's here because I like the song: I am and always have been a sucker for a cool pop song. Vanilla Ice, Hanson, Chumbawamba, Jimmy Ray...the list goes on. (3/21/98)
"Get That Bug" - Majosha. They broke up 10 years ago. I think they were from Chapel Hill, NC. Imagine a low-tech Dave Mathews Band (fiddle too) with a young Ben Folds singing. (3/7/98)
"Pizza" - Bugsy. I thought this song was cute the first time I heard it (guy wailing to his estranged girl, "If you come back...would you bring a pizza?") but then it got old. "Same old alternative sound," I thought. Lately though I began hearing different things in it, and now I find myself liking it quite a bit. (3/1/98)
"Benjamin" - Veruca Salt. They went from hard rock on American Thighs (first album) to harder rock on Eight Arms To Hold You (second album). This is from the latter, but is not nearly as frenetic as other songs on the album. In fact it's a ballad. It's a power ballad but nevertheless it displays the "pretty" side of Nina and Louise's singing voices as much as is possible in this genre. (3/1/98)
"Crawl" - Nil Lara. Nil is born in New Jersey and raised in Venezuela, the son of Cuban immigrants. His music oozes with Cuban spirit, though it is clearly rock and roll: distorted guitar, at-times-heavy drums. Mostly though, this song is passionate. About what I cannot discern as I speak little spanish, but this song moves me nevertheless. (12/6/97)
"I Have The Touch" - Heather Nova. It appears during the closing credits of the "better-than-it-gets-credit-for-being" movie The Craft, this song is a cover of a tune from Peter Gabriel's seminal 1982 album, "Security." Nova offers what might be considered a more mainstream reading (when viewed next to the original's quirky arrangement) but I found her breathy vocal to curiously compliment the mood of the song. As with any good cover, it sent me right back into my CD collection to listen to the original. (Another song to check out from The Craft soundtrack: Love Spit Love covering The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now.") (1/10/98)
"Warm Leatherette" - The Normal. Actually this is an oldie. It was released by this British band in 1978 to critical acclaim, then covered by Grace Jones in 1981, again to critical acclaim. It was re-released last fall to commemorate (I'm supposing) the song's 20th anniversary. The Grace Jones version was the first time I heard it, and I remember thinking, not knowing it was a cover, "Whoa. Weird. But what do I expect from Grace friggin' Jones?" I heard the original last week for the first time, and was utterly captivated by it: I would describe it as a techno Gregorian Chant about romance (for want of a better word) in the aftermath of a car wreck. Erie, irresistible, and possessing exceptional staying power: it certainly doesn't sound like a 20 year old song. (1/6/98)
"Symphony No. 5" - Ludwig van Beethoven. There is a reason (actually several reasons) this is one of the most popular pieces of music ever conjured by the human mind. It takes a simple rhythm (the familiar dom-dom-dom-DOMMMMM....) and retools it with different notes and different emphases and lays it over different chord progressions. It does this over and over, through thunderous passages as well as whisper quiet ones, yet you never once get a stale feeling about it! If you are the type, as am I, given to "air-guitar" or "air-conducting" (or "air-anything") this piece is for you. I have actually hurt my shoulder joints vigorously air-drumming to this music. In fact, the only change I would make on this is to add more percussion, though Ludwig would surely turn over in his grave. If you can find Pat Travers' album "Black Pearl," GET IT. Among some remarkable rock and roll songs of his own, Travers has nestled a brilliant and BRUTAL hard-rock reading of Symphony No. 5's 1st movement.

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