1989

Finally, the 80s are over, but this slump is not.  The 90s may not be better, but at least is gets better.  This year was tough and it is hard to write much, McCarthy's I Am A Wallet was the album I alluded to on twitter that I mistakenly thought was from 89.  It is from 87, and no, it would not have made it, but their sardonic socialist twee is pretty tops.  Anyway this is another one of those years with a big jump in quality from the bottom to the top...

10.  Galaxie 500 - One Fire
Though having a similar title to one of the city's more fun albums this band representing the softer end of proto-shoegaze is responsible for Boston's reputation for "sad old bastard" music.  The quiet atmosphere has a dense fog despite lean arrangements and these slow songs are the musical equivalent of stargazing, perhaps in the North Atlantic.  It's pretty academic stuff, though not really explicitly and NZ transplant Dean Warehem's accent is enough to sell a Flying Nun fanatic like myself.  "When Will You Come Home" is the fastest song and maybe the band's best other than "Instrumental."  With it being the last year of the last decade it is acceptable they end with a great cover of "Isn't It A Pity?"

9.  The Telescopes - Taste
On the other end of the proto-shoegaze spectrum his group is so heavy they have more in common with grunge than even MBV at their most angular.  The aggression and disregard for melody is enough that maybe even Steve Albini would like this despite the nationality.  At slower moments it is a bit reminiscent of Spacemen 3 and that dense psychedelic atmosphere permeates the whole album with a thrust much more memorable than any tunes.  Those looking for recommendations from Anton Newcombe should hear this one, of if you like your shoegaze to hurt.  It was a toss-up between this and Mudhoney, but I've been listening to this more lately.

8.  Kino - Zvezda po imeni Solntse

The most famous band of the Soviet Union had been making great music all through the decade when its people needed it most.  All of their previous albums came very close to making it and this one was another sign of their continuous group.  Russia is of course as different from American as any country can be and this band dwelled in  the underground for most of its existence.  Their music manages to translate rock - particularly of the postpunk/new wave variety into Russian in more than just the spoken language.  Viktor Tsoi's deep voice and Yuriy Kasparian's guitar do this best, especially in the slower songs like "Pachka Sigaret."  Naturally it is pretty bleak at times, but so is most postpunk and those curious about Russian rock will not be disappointed with this or any of Kino's albums (but more about that later).  The title translates to "The Star Called the Sun."

7.  The Frogs - It's Only Right And Natural
These Wisconsin brothers declared themselves to be the leaders of the Gay Supremacy Movement and showed no interest in winning any friends lacking a good sense of humor.  First track "I've Got Drugs (Out of the Mist)," while lacking in homosexual themes is the perfect opening into their hilariously twisted improvised world.  The Flemion brothers were former power poppers who managed to become legends with this album which is really just a piece of weirdo brother humor, but songs like "These are the Finest Queen Boys (I've Ever Seen)" and "Hot Cock Annie" are good fun for anyone.  The famous "that was a good drum break," sample in "Where It's At" even comes from "I Don't Care If U Disrespect Me (Just So You Love Me)" which has left many singing the following line "I feel like making love to all the men tonight!"  Excuse me, but come on, men, this is to be enjoyed in the locker room with the boys and on Saturdays (pussy-sucking days) because homos are the coolest of the cool!

6.  Guided By Voices - Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia
These regular guys from Ohio get closer and closer to their full transformation into the world's greatest band here.  While they are still pretty unsure what to do in the studio they have learned a lot from the previous forays and begin to really sound like themselves.  Pollard's songwriting is reaching the transcendent level that has kept him at the top for decades as short, simple tracks like "Paper Girl" and "Liar's Tale" show where things go.  The vocals begin to come from every direction, giving many trouble in the belief that it's only one singer and with the "classic" sound still years away the band goes all over the place such a longer songs with extended solos like the unbelievable "An Earful O' Wax."  With brother Jimmy in tow, the band has some of their greatest guitar work on songs like "Radio Show (Trust The Wizard)" and "Navigating Flood Regions."  Unfortunatley most of the few who heard this did not hear all the potential and latter-day fans are often too occupied to go back and hear where this great band began.

5.  The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Lots of British people see this as the beginning.  Unfortunately they're right when it comes to Britpop, but there is a lot of drivel about the political context of this album's release.  Maybe it's true and that's why they never caught on in the US.  Either way, the Manchester group made a big fun dance-psych record unlike anything else that improves upon their wonderful early singles like "Sally Cinnamon."  Of course, the US version is actually the better one with the inclusion of "Elephant Stone" and eventually (yet still in 1989) "Fool's Gold."  "I Wanna Be Adored" is always the best-remembered, but its dark lyrics belie the bright vibe of the album, better defined by the following tracks "She Bangs the Drum" and "Waterfall."  The band's impact was felt on historic levels in their home country, unifying much of what was going on in music at the time and bringing on countless sad imitators like EMF and Jesus Jones, but as they say in one of their best moments "This is the One."

4.  Beat Happening - Black Candy
I can never understand why this is often considered one of Beat Happening's weaker efforts.  Perhbaps it's the darkness, but obviously, the sugar is just as well represented and songs like "Other Side" with its references to red rover and "Playhouse" make that very clear.  The dark stuff is even better though, and it does signal in an exaggerated way where they would move in the future.  "Black Candy" does to goth what early Beat Happening did for punk and "Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive" is kitschy fun as only this band could play - plus it pretty much gave Portland its whole identity from hundred of miles away.  It is a tragedy Ricky Wilson never got to hear it.  The sparser tracks follow this theme like "Gravedigging Blues," probably my (and Jens Lekman's) favorite of those minimalist songs, but the fire theme gets even better on "Bonfire."  By expanding into horror territory, the Northwest's flagship band made some of their best work and got on the path to growth beyond  the twee gimmick.

3.  Pixies - Doolittle
It may not sound as harsh as its predecessors this set of dark guitar pop is conceptually as apocalyptic as the future of the band.  The idea based around the whore of Babylon is most apparent on "Hey," a song almost as catchy as the single "Here  Comes Your Man," written by Black Francis as a teenager. The themes of vileness and corruption of the soul are played off in a cute and fun way especially on "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and the opener "Debaser" which leave one wondering just how frightening Francis' mind might be.  It is more direct on the slow album-defining track "Wave  of Mutilation," a song as pleasant as its lyrics are disturbing.  Leaving  no doubt about the big ideas it ends with the heavy and aggressive "Gouge Away."  The diminishing role of Kim Deal is impossible to miss and that is where it would all go wrong soon afterward, but onto bigger, almost better things, but Francis lets Dave Lovering takeover vocals on the deceptive "La La Love You" to wise effect.

2.  Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
The beauty of the Beastie Boys is they qualify for any list.  The three New York Jew MCs still act like a bunch of brats (read up on the making of this album for more info), but show off a lot more of their intelligence and wit.  That begins with their choice of working with the Dust Brothers who give this album a sonic landscape more advanced than any other hip-hop at the time and beginning their career as some of the 90s most fascinating producers.  Along with the KLF it is the word in sample-based music for the time.  That would be interesting enough, but coupled with the Boys' expansive lyrics it is one of the greatest albums without original instrumentation.  Probably the best.  It's as bratty as the Sex Pistols and as fun as the Frogs with all the sly intellectualism you would expect out of Woody Allen or anyone  else like this, but  you know that already and I'm wasting my time.

1.  Speed the Plough - Speed the Plough
Maybe this is controversial, but I don't care, this is the greatest band of all time.  The Haledon group, often seen as just another Feelies side project, but with none of the other band's member's present John Baumgartner and company prove themselves geniuses in their own right.  Additionally, the previously quiet Baumgartner and wife Toni prove themselves as capable in vocals as instrumentation, and in Joh's case songwriting.  Like the Feelies the year before, they include a holdover from the Trypes in "No One's Alone," but the future comes too on such swirling psychedelic tracks as "Veszprem" and the opener "River Street" - still the greatest song about Hoboken.  Consisting of very real people from the realest place on Earth songs like the folky "Big Bus" and tense "Tommy's House," are as perfect examples of the Jersey life as Bruce Springsteen or the Feelies and the drone of the former is heard on closer "Everyday Needs."  It's hard to say if it counts, but on the 1992 reissue "Fathers and Sons" was included from the same sessions as the other tracks.  This is one of the greatest songs ever recorded.  With or without it this is a perfect album full of Mid-Atlantic beauty captured through pulsating folk drones, woodwinds, and fearless keyboards.  This is as good as it gets and the world would be a better place if more musicians shared this band's approach.