10. The Bats - Couchmaster
All the Bats' albums are great and the ones that did not make the lists almost did. Unfortunately this was the last one they made for ten years. I did not get into it until one of the many times I was living on a couch and totally ruling. That's is irrelevant, but cute. 1995 was a good year for Robert Scott (more on that later) and he takes more control than usual, though Kaye Woodward's "Shoeshine" is one of the best songs and show that she has a whole lot more too offer than just a great voice and guitar-playing ability. On the whole it is probably the Bats' moodiest album at has a more unified atmosphere than usual. It, as I have realized most of my favorite music, is a great example of loud electric folk music with the quartet's sound even more singular than in the past. Classic Zealand.
9. The Magick Heads - Before We Go Under
This is the other reason why 1995 was such a good year for Robert Scott. This side project with vocalist Jane Sinnott has all the bright side the Bats lacked this year. Scott returns to bass, asserting the control he seems to have been craving of the music, but his harmonies with Sinnott are even tighter and more majestic than with Woodward. As to be expected from the killer single released years before "Back of Her Hand" and the hugging penguins on the cover this is a very sweet album - almost twee. It's a bit better than that and though bright, there is a lot of mood, such as on "Seventh Sense" and the title track. Perhaps due to the long hiatus his other band would take opener "Standing on the Edge" is a perfect song for a new beginning with a lot of heart evoked perfectly with the inclusion of strings. Essential for any fan of the Bats.
8. Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
With their short haircuts, the Fanclub has completely moved away from their heavy metal roots and are completely in Big Star territory here. What fans may miss from the wailing distortion of Bandwagonesque is outdone by some of the catchiest tunes and finest harmonies of the decade. All three singer/songwriters in the band are at their best, particularly the previously quiet Raymond McGinley whose "About You" opens this album of clean, jangly guitar pop far removed from both the mainstream and underground of its time. However, it is the next track "Sparky's Dream" that steals the show with its unforgettable chorus and flighty lyrics. Always self-aware, they end with "Hardcore/Ballad" for anyone who still wants to hear them cranked up... for a little while.
7. Björk - Post
Moving to England, the Icelandic singer took in all the more international culture had to offer and defined one side of the 90s. With electronica and industrial becoming mainstream the futuristic artist incorporates a lot of heavy electronic sounds in her arrangements while wisely incorporating a certain amount of psychedelia. It can be a bit frightening at times and as it should be for such a troubled individual, but it all contributes to an atmosphere that Björk makes all her own and keeps such a popular album amazingly avant-garde. Even the dance hit "I Miss You," is full of otherworldly weirdness that makes this album so peerless even decades later. Of course there is the major change of pace in "It's Oh So Quiet," but the big band song is a nice relief. "Hyperballad" is the real winner, though, with all the confusing drama that makes Björk such a fascinating figure and her music so surreal and cinematic.
6. Speed the Plough - Marina
New Jersey's greatest band continues their growth and exploration of some of the music unique music ever made. This is the most traditionally "heavy" album they made, yet it is still full of the delicate beauty that makes them so distinct, with some of Toni Baumgartner's most beautiful playing. If the songs sound more traditional, it is only because they are more focused, but the musicians are also going beyond their best boundaries a bit more. In a sense, there is less krauty tension and more of the folk freedom that allows such a large band to prosper. Sounds move into new directions and styles and arrangements divert more than ever before, with breakdowns like the one in "Love Song" allowing a new kind of dynamic opposed to their previously dense flow. A gorgeous and fearless concoction and a product of incomparable geniuses always bettering their craft.
5. Pulp - Different Class
The one Britpop album on the list gets that honor by being so distinctly English. Thanks to a wonderful documentary on "Common People" that really turned my on to Pulp I know that this is the most culturally relevant Britpop albums with all its commentary on the sick British class system. Opener "Mis-Shapes" may achieve all that even better than the mega-hit. With all his sleaze, Jarvis Cocker proves he has a romantic, nostalgic heart with "Something Changed" and "Disco 2000," a song that still makes that year sound like the future and a perfect time to catch up with an old love for some innocent fun. Still, the more perverse moments really suck you in the most like "I Spy" and the epic "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." As you can probably tell, sometimes I'm like, "fuck Britpop," but I cannot deny that this album is great. Every song is a winner, and as repugnant as he can be at times, Jarvis Cocker will always win you over with his charm. No one writes a song about his love being fucked by another bloke so well.
4. The Apples in Stereo - Fun Trick Noisemaker
The Elephant 6 collective finally makes its first appearance here with the debut by Denver's The Apples In Stereo. Robert Schneider shows off his exceptional production skills with this big and dense lo-fi record. The band mixes psychedelia, pop, punk, and even a little space rock into this album that's as much fun as a bubblegum dance party (see "Dots 1-2-3" if not convinced). Not since the Paisley Underground has a band dived into the 60s so wholeheartedly and songs like "Lucky Charm" and "Glowworm" showing how much some trippy pop music was needed in the bleak landscape of American music in the 90s. Summer permeates though the wall of sound on "High Tide" and Hilarie Sidney's "Winter Must Be Cold." The band's collaborative dynamic is also proven with instrumental "Innerspace" and this is the only album featuring original bassist and crucial part of the band's history Jim McIntyre. A perfect debut from one of the greatest bands of our time and the fruition of a movement more influential than many realize.
3. PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Polly Harvey ditches her band and reunites with early collaborator John Parish while finding new, as important ones Flood and Mick Harvey (no relation). This allows her a lot more freedom and this album as apocalyptic and only slightly less explicit than the last is full of bold experimentation. When roots music and keyboards were at their least popular she makes a blues album led by an organ distorted enough to fool a few listeners into thinking this fit the "alternative rock" mold. Themes include childbirth - usually relating to rape and murder, prostitution/ownership ("Working For The Man" probably the best song I have heard on that subject), violent sex, and the crushing, desperate love on the opening title track. All if it is soaked and stained in a sense sultry quality that it is as alluring as it is discomforting which the singer perfectly captured in her image at the time, appearing like a little girl who broke into her mother's room and tries to look like a cheap sex goddess. It all worked perfectly and single "Down By The Water" is the perfect door into this depraved world of true blues.
2. Pavement - Wowee Zowee
It is impossible to write about this album without mentioning that it is Pavement's stoniest. That does best to explain its odd single choices. It also expanded the band's sound with the incorporation of lots more keyboards, acoustic guitars and even plenty of country sounds (it was recorded in Nashville). This loose experimentation also resulted in this being the band's most original work with comparisons to their influences and even peers failing to capture much. There is a psychedelic tinge on the atmosphere especially on the stunning guitar interplay of "Grounded" and the way that this eclectic set flows and fades together as such a unified piece. The dramatic folky opener "We Dance" sets the perfect mood of wonder and fits as much as the punk of "Serpentine Pad," the more "traditional" indie rock of "AT&T" and the indescribable "Rattled by The Rush." I still have trouble believing that Malkmus is the sole songwriter of these songs as these arrangements are so tight in their sloppiness I don't see how one mind could plan it this way. He doesn't as Scott Kannberg's presence is at its strongest with "Kennel District" and the spacey closer "Western Homes" being two of the album's best tracks. This ist Pavement's best record.
1. Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes
Watch me bulldoze every bulldozer away: Some people think this is GbV's best and that is because all 28 of these songs kick ass. The album opens with the band's true theme song (so much that it brought about the famous neon sign onstage) "A Salty Salute" - a tribute to drunk driving, American servicemen, fishing trips, and of course, the Monument Club. It also is maybe their funniest album with lyrics like "introducing the amazing rocket head! You know what the deal is, dude!" and the inclusion of a snoring man on "Ex-Supermodel." Every song has been every fan's favorite at some point, but I usually say "Blimps Go 90," though fist-pumper "Motor Away" and the record industry-inspired "Game of Pricks," are the most universal choices. All of their talents are evident such as their ability for a sing along like "As We Go Up, We Go Down," to still distract you with its phenomenal bass playing and formulating true songs under 30 seconds like "Cigarette Tricks" and "Hit." The lyrics cover as wide a ground from the chilling "suspicion creeps to you like rapists in the night" of "(I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger" to the joyous anthem of "Alright" that concludes the album in heaven. Toby is also at his best with his speedy guitar and vocals pop on "A Good Flying Bird" and Little Whirl." The rock gets bigger too with heavy tracks like the Gred Demos theme "Striped White Jets" and "Auditorium." Genesis-inspired weirdness prevails as well with "Always Crush Me" and "King and Caroline," keeping the band far from being stereotypical snarky indie rockers. I could write about each song forever, this is GbV at their best. In short: This is called the coming of age.
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