Landmark Albums: 1995

Fifth in a series of influential albums. Aired 7/11/2014


(in no particular order other than the order I'm played them on the radio)

Radiohead - The Bends

More mature but somehow less ambitious than its predecessor. In the images, lyrics, liner notes, and more esoteric sounds, Radiohead's future direction is predicted. The songs, however, are still straight-ahead guitar rock.

Sunny Day Real Estate - Sunny Day Real Estate

Dense and enigmatic. Enigk-matic? Both the album and Sunny Day were over too quickly. I bought this album on its release date, and I'm still unraveling this ball of yarn.

Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut

Some beautiful and powerful songs and sounds. Stands in the shadow of its successor, though.

The Secret Stars - TSS

Fragile and minimal. Recorded on 4-track with one track broken. Heartwrenching. Beautiful.

Low - Long Division

Low hit their stride. Slow and minimal. Piercing.

June of 44 - Engine Takes to the Water

It's the nautical indifference. So dark, the compass becomes weight.

Special Mention / Guilty Pleasure: Alice in Chains - Alice in Chains

This album was revolutionary because Grunge was dead. Passe` by 1995. Alice in Chains didn't care. They went ahead and made the last great grunge album.

Thirty Ought Six - Hag Seed

You know it's a solid album when the Jeremy Enigk guest spot is one of the weakest songs.

Hush Harbor - Hush Harbor EP

5 of Hush Harbor's total of 6 recorded songs. John Atkins would later found 764-HERO and other bands, but never write 5 songs as good as these.

Landmark Albums: 1994

Fourth in a series of influential albums. Aired 3/21/2014



I've made this list 50% longer, and took a 3 hour slot to play all these on the radio. 1994 was a good year. Also, as a general note, 1994 is really the first year that Indie Rock (as such) was truly a separate entity and sound from Alternative. Again, all labels are subjective, but you will see a lot less mainstream music on these lists going forward from 1994.

(in no particular order other than the order I'm played them on the radio)

Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wrong with Love

Every song a pop classic. Subtle string touches, vocal harmonies. Near perfect.

Sebadoh - Bakesale

Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein really hit their songwriting stride on this album.

Shellac - At Action Park

Noise and perfect sound, fetishized. Baseball and Canada, fetishized. A first full-length album. Essential.

 

Low - I Could Live in Hope

 

 In 1994, it was very punk to play slowly and beautifully.

 

Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary

Without hyperbole, the best music to ever come from Seattle. Nothing sounds quite like Sunny Day, even the bands who try.

 

Christie Front Drive - self-titled EP

To be clear, since Christie Front Drive has many self-titled releases, this is their first, 6-song 12", released in 1994. And it's amazing.

Evergreen [CA] - Seven Songs

In the same vein as Sunny Day and Christie Front Drive. There are multiple bands named Evergreen. This is the one from San Diego. and this release is on Anomaly / Whaleboy records. Legend has it there are only a handful of these in existence. Sadly, I only have a dubbed copy.



Guilty Pleasure / Special Mention: Stone Temple Pilots - Purple

A perfect, solid rock album that's stood the test of time. Who knew?

Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar

20 years ahead of their time. I can't listen to Enon because Brainiac was so much better.

Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Sublimely perfect in the way only Pavement could be. If you went to college in the 90s, you get it. If you didn't, you never will.

 

Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand

 The Hi-water mark of Lo-Fi. GBV's songwriting at its best. 

Starflyer 59 - Starflyer 59 [Silver]

The innovative first album of SF59's two perfect albums. Noisier, slower, more languid than anything else at the time.

Rodan - Rusty

A flawed album, but Rodan's legacy is taller than their recorded output. Rodan are the reason that other bands picked up Slint's sound and called it Post-rock.

Halo Benders - God Don't Make No Junk

The concept still doesn't make sense. Calvin from Beat Happening, Doug from Built to Spill, Steve from Pell Mell, Northwest rock royalty all, but very different. All mixed up together, making the strangest, most interesting pop you can imagine.

Landmark Albums: 1993

Third in a series of influential albums.


I'm getting behind in posting these on the site, but oh well. Aired 1/24/2014

(in no particular order other than the order I'm played them on the radio)

Fugazi - In on the Kill Taker

Fugazi's high water mark.

 

 Nirvana - In Utero

Nirvana, meet Steve Albini. Galvanizing for the mainstream and the underground.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey

Mass-marketed one-hit wonder for the alternative nation. Deeper listening reveals a layered, nuanced album buried in layers of guitar noise. The first, and maybe even the best? Them's fightin' words.

Catherine Wheel - Chrome

Catherine Wheel's best album. Pop songs buried under vast guitar soundscapes. Plus, some rocking.

Hum - Electra 2000

Drop-D fuzz science pop. A glimpse of what's to come. Definitive version includes "Winder" as a bonus track.

Smashing Pumkins - Siamese Dream

Same approach as Pablo Honey, Chrome, and Electra 2000, but done on a grander scale.

Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Darkly cinematic. Grunge angst meets soul longing.

The Breeders - Last Splash

Technically, this is the guilty pleasure album for the day, but in 1993, the mainstream and the underground were so mixed up that this was a big hit. Certainly as deserving as anything else on the list.

Built to Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers

Indie rock takes its first shambling, irony-laden steps away from the Alternative Nation mainstream.

The Spinanes - Manos

Doing less with more. Shimmering, sexy sounds from guitar, vocals, drums.

Top 5 Records 2013

5. Norman - Into the Eventyr

Norman - Into the Eventyr

Hey Amigo! Records

Released: November 2013

Corvallis/Portland heroes Norman bring you a northwest-centric record in every sense of the word. They even released their own signature beer through Calapooia Brewing with this record.

Don't let the promotion blind you to the fact that this is a really solid rock album by a really rock solid band. This Norman album is a little more straight-up-rock than their past two, but singer Eric Nordby has already assured me there's more strangeness lurking in the minds of the Normans.

4. Landing - II

Landing - II

Vast Arc Hues Records

Released: August 2013

Landing won top spot on my best albums of 2012, and they're back for more with three different EPs in 2013. If this list were ten entries long, it might have three landing EPs on it. As it stands, I picked II-- a cassette-only tour release that follows the trajectory of their 2012 self-titled album. More beats, more drones, denser and more claustrophobic.

 

This is dance music on drugs or drug music on dancing. Either way, it's perfect.


3. The Builders and the Butchers - Western Medicine

The Builders and the Butchers - Western Medicine

Badman Recording Company

Released: June 2013

Another record that placed higher than I thought, simply because of replayability. This one keeps returning to the player. It's a perfect soundtrack for diggin' graves or driving across a lonely desert (only one of which I've actually done while listening to this album).

It's 60 minutes of relentless, single-minded death songs. Buy it now on CD or LP from Badman.


2. Low - The Invisible Way

Low - The Invisible Way

Sub Pop Records

Released: March 19, 2013

So, when a band is, of, ahem, a certain age....   Okay, so Low has been a band for 20 years. This album is their "All That You Can't Leave Behind". It's Low finding themselves comfortable in their own skins (for maybe the first time), embracing all that they are, forgetting about what they aren't, and making a record from their hearts.

This is a simple, beautiful, Low album. It's Low all grown-up, and after 20 years, that's not a bad thing. You can order it from Sub Pop. Or, it's probably in your record store.


1. Typhoon - White Lighter

Typhoon - White Lighter

Roll Call Records

Released: August 2013

Typhoon is probably the best band making music today. They're better than me. They're probably better than you. Once you get over that, the amazingness becomes easier to take in.

The scary thing is, these guys are from little ol' Salem, Oregon. They could be you and me. They are you and me. Their show at the loading dock of the Marion-Polk Food Share was one I'll remember forever. Yet, they're just a bunch of local kids doing the best they can.

OK. enough gushing. This album is (IMO) not quite up to the standards they set with Hunger and Thirst and A New Kind of House. I think the production is mostly to blame. There's more hardline compression on the sound, making it more difficult for small sounds to pop into and out of the audio picture. I realize pointing mics at 13 musicians and getting it to sound like anything is a miracle in itself, but it's one that they managed to capture on tape twice (with H&T and ANKOH). The recording on this album feels more forced and rushed, and it shows.

Oh well. still the best thing going, right?

Top 5 New Discoveries 2013

So, the best 5 albums that I've encountered in 2013 that weren't released this year.

5. Ribbon Fix - Some Saturday This Has Been (1997)

Ribbon Fix - Some Saturday This Has Been

Grafton Records

Released: 1997

Almost exactly 15 years after hearing Ribbon Fix's second album, I was able to track down the remnants of Grafton Records and score myself their debut. It was worth the wait.

This album is EXQUISITELY packaged (mine is different from the image above-- it looks like a handmade wedding album), so it's totally worth it to try to track down a physical copy. Ribbon Fix are from San Francisco and play midwest-style boy/girl pop of the Jejune/early Rainer Maria variety. But, there is room for more of that in this world.

Also, Andi Camp (formerly of Ribbon Fix) is playing a show at the Possum House next week. This may be your best (and only) chance to pick up the Ribbon Fix discography for yourself.


4. Elliott - False Cathedrals (2000)

Elliott - False Cathedrals

Revelation Records

Released: August 22, 2000

I remember this album being kinda big when it came out, but I was poor at the time (like I am now), and missed it.

In hindsight, this is one of the last great 90s indie albums. It's graceful and subdued in parts, but doesn't forget to rock, either. Yes, it's poppy, yes it's sappy, but that's why I love it.

Available on CD and Vinyl from Revelation Records.



3. The Secret Stars (s/t cassette) (1995)

The Secret Stars (self-titled cassette)

Shrimper Records

Released: 1995

Discovered this little beauty available for download. It's lo-fi and amazing. Legend has it that nearly all the Secret Stars' stuff (save their RPMs 7") was recorded on a 4-track with only 3 working tracks-- minimalism at its best.

As far as I know, this isn't available legally, but here's a site where you can download it: http://www.pukekos.org/2008/10/secret-stars.html


2. Bark, Hide, and Horn - National Road (2008)

Bark, Hide, and Horn - National Road

Boy Howdy Records

Released: 2008

Not only is this record a good representation of the "portland sound" ca 2008 (see Builders and the Butchers, Typhoon, Blind Pilot, and many more), it's a fantastic, multi-layered listen.

These guys spent a whole winter digesting a pile of old National Geographic magazines, and came up with the most brainy, literate, heartfelt album possible. It's a little bit amazing that they can take such dry subjects (Melville Bell Grosvenor, editor-in-chief, Everglades Turtles, Trumpeter Swans), and turn them into these emotional pieces on longing and belonging. Anyway, I'm not doing it justice, but it's really durn good. These guys are broken up, but I don't know what they're doing nowadays. Hopefully writing for National Geographic.

The album's available on CD Baby, and you should buy it.


1. Destruction Island - Colonial Surf (2009)

Destruction Island - Colonial Surf

Rural Wolf Records

Released June 20, 2009

I didn't expect this record to snag the #1 spot, but it keeps returning like a boomerang to the player, so I keep listening, and it gets better on every listen.

The conceit behind "Colonial Surf" is it's an album based in a trailer park (and isn't "Colonial Surf" a wonderfully stupid trailer park name?), and each song is a little character sketch of the folks that live there. I wouldn't normally expect that sort of thing to work, but these Tacoma boys pull it off nicely. Some songs are dreadful, some are hopeful, some are heartfelt, and some balls-out rock. It's a great combination.

Here's lead singer Kye Hillig doing a song from the album:


Kye Alfred Hillig (of Destruction Island) is ALSO playing that January 11th show at the Possum House with Andi Camp. What a coincidence. Anyway, shake his hand and buy his stuff at the show. Or download Colonial Surf for free right now.

That's right, my #1 album is FREE TO DOWNLOAD from bandcamp. What are you waiting for?

Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs 2013

"Miscellaneous Songs" -- songs that aren't on albums that qualify for top 5. "2013" - encountered by me in 2013, regardless of release year.


5. Beauty Pill - Afrikaner Barista (2012)


Chad Clark and company break a several-years' silence with one eloquent track about post-global racial relations. Also, Chad is very sick with cancer [viral cardiomyopathy?] and could use your prayers.


4. Ugly Casanova - Diggin' Holes (2002)

After spending years trying to acquire this record legally ($300 on ebay? No...), I finally just downloaded it. It's a 2-song 7" by Ugly Casanova (a Modest Mouse side project), and it is tasty!


3. Lorna - What Took You So Long? (featuring Jason Gough) (2013)

Jason Gough of Utah's Coastal helps out british compatriots Lorna on this song. Everyone admits it sounds more than a bit like American Analog Set, but it sounds like the BEST AmAnSet song EVER.


2. Pigeonhed - The Power Come Over Me (2013)
The sounds don't match the picture. Steve Fisk and Shawn Smith are pillars of the Seattle indie rock community. And when they get together, these two old dudes make surprisingly sexy sounds. ...just not in THAT way.... eww....  This song (and its looping 3-beat pattern) gets stuck in my head for days at a time.

 1. Jason Anderson - July 4, 2004 (2007ish)


Number one song of the year is also #1 show of the year. Not the first time I've seen Mr. Jason Anderson, but he's such a great show. I only hope the youtube embed captures how awesome this guy is to see live. This particular song is also one of his best. The definitive version comes from his 2007 live album, "Tonight"(used on Amazon for a penny!), although there's another version on his 2013 album "Omaha" (free download / $8 vinyl!). Basically, your life is not complete until you've been to a Jason Anderson show.