Best Music of 1998
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For the most part this year failed to promote even one commendable new album that saw the inside of a commercial radio station. I guess it’s better that way – the further Puffy stays from the artists on this list the better.
- Mercury Rev
“Deserter’s Songs”
(V2)
Mercury Rev have been making their beautiful brand of orchestral-psychedelic indie rock for almost ten years now. Consisting of a collective of musicians from the cold, long wintered hallows of Buffalo, NY Mercury Rev’s fourth album in eight years blows away all their previous work. “Deserter’s Songs” is a collection of oddly blissful songs that exist somewhere between the musically lush world of Pink Floyd and the drug-induced rock mayhem of the Flaming Lips. On one level I’m sure Mercury Rev could be classified as “drug music” consisting of a trippy brand of music and lyrics, this collection of songs represents a band who has finally realized their intention : making good, cohesive albums that will appeal to both drugged and sober audiences. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Pete Belasco
“Get It Together”
(Verve Forecast)
For the record, Pete Belasco, a young hipster white guy who records for the jazz staple Verve, has more soul than the entire roster of Puffy’s Bad Boy label. His album “Get It Together” is an endless swagger through a Marvin Gaye-Al Green filled cupboard of jazzy swing and bop. Driven primarily the bouncy keyboard meandering of Belasco himself, the album is shakes and swings with enough upbeat energy and sexy crooning to elegantly fill any lounge between New York and Tokyo. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Natural Calamity
“Peach Head”
(Ideal-Mammoth)
Natural Calamity consists of two Japanese musicians, who specialize in wonderfully lazy ethereal beats, and a female vocalist who brings to words those seemingly transcendent moments. On “Peach Head” the band tosses a salad of trip-hop, and deep-soulful musical musings that exist somewhere between jazz and prozacked dance music. This is easily the “smoothest” album of the year, filled with quiet grooves and beautiful vocals, and one that will make a nice soundtrack for watching snow fall on cedars. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Lucinda Williams
“Car Wheel On A Gravel Road”
(Mercury)
Lucinda Williams has probably received more positive reviews per albums than any modern artist I can think of. Although she has only released five albums in nearly 20 years, just like many art house films, her albums inevitably seem to appear on critic’s top ten lists. On the one hand “Car Wheel On A Gravel Road” is, a brilliant country rock record, but on the other hand, it is a collection of songs that defies classification. “Car Wheels” features every kind of song from gritty rock tune, to quiet contemplative folk ballad. But more than anything, on this record Lucinda creates a travelogue of her time spent wandering throughout the country. From “Lake Charles” to “Greenville” to “Jackson” Williams captures distinct moments time and turns them into poems. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Bonnie Prince Billy
“I Can See The Darkness”
(Palace Records)
This is officially the third straight year that the artist formerly known as Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Music, Palace Songs and Will Oldham has received a spot in this highly influential best-of-year list. Will Oldham, now performing and recording under the moniker Bonnie Prince Billy, is a musician whose lyrics and artistic philosophy have remained as commendably consistent, in the six years that he’s been releasing music, as almost anyone I can think of. Always quietly mystic and often lyrically bizarre, Oldham’s adaptation of “rural” music and folkish ballads is a completely separate strain of music from the “No Depresssion” alt-country bands that have emerged during the 90′s. In some ways Bonnie Prince Billy is a considerably more polished piece of work than previous albums. He asserts that it was written more towards an audience than were his past efforts. Like every Palace record he has ever made “I Can See The Darkness” contains at least two of the most beautiful tunes of the year, the title track being one of them, and then a bunch of other songs that are slightly more difficult. If you’ve never heard Will Oldham before this is a nice place to start, if you have and appreciate his ethos than this one is imperative. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Elliott Smith
“XO”
(Dreamworks)
For four years I have been humming the indestructibly catchy lyrics and music of Elliot Smith. His first band, Heatmiser, ripped an incredibly melodic brand of punk rock that I hadn’t enjoyed since Husker Du. Prior to the massive attention he received for his score of “Good Will Hunting,” Elliot had recorded three hauntingly beautiful solo albums for Northwest indie Kill Rock Stars. As a soloist he created a warm mixture of sounds that crossed the lush gentleness of Nick Drake with a poppiness more akin to Alex Chilton circa Big Star. “XO” is that critical record in which Elliot would need to say to his fans- “See I can make a respectable album on a major label.” It is easy to be initially distracted by the crisp production value and less personal feel to a big record sound, but below the surface lurks that same comfortingly brooding orientation that has earned him such a loyal audience over the years. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Esthero
“Breath From Another”
(Work)
Working in the same deep textural landscape as bands like Portishead, Hooverphonic and Morcheeba, Minneapolis/Toronto duo Esthero managed to create the most beautiful trip-hop record of the year. In the wake of an electronic music revolution, it’s exciting to hear a North American band refresh a genre that had seemed, at least for a while, to have eaten its heart out. Lead by the Sade sounding vocals of singer Esthero and the beats-master D.O.C., the band manages to combine both a cabaret and electronic sensibility into what could more accurately be called pop music. It would be somewhat accurrate to describe Esthero as a younger, more soulful version Everything But The Girl. Filled with sweeping, sexy guitar-to-vocal arrangements, “Breath From Another” is a much needed non-British contribution to the ambient-trip-hop music scene. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach
“Painted From Memory”
(Warner Bros.)
For years Elvis Costello has been reinventing himself. From mod-rocker to chamber orchestra crooner, he has always set out to make timeless music. Burt Bacharach has been a composer and song-writing genius since the 60s. “Painted From Memory” is the kind of record that hasn’t been made since Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett were in their prime. It features the slightly cheesy but ultimately beautiful orchestral compositions that have become Bacharach trademarks, mixed with the distinctive Costello vocal style. Never have two so different artists managed to pull off such a genuinely timeless collection off love songs without sounding at all trite or unmodern. This is the record of the year to play after dropping a log on the fire and uncorking that second bottle of Merlot. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Cat Power
“Moon Pix”
(Matador)
There is almost nothing more romantic than the gentle and sultry crooning of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall. “Moon Pix” marks a departure from the often-bland indie-rock of prior albums, and a movement towards a new kind of meditative bliss. On “Moon Pix” she transforms herself into a female Nick Drake, singing breathy contemplative lyrics accompanied by subtle strings and gentle floating flute. Attached to the copy of “Moon Pix” that I purchased from an indie shop in Chicago, one of the employees had written “easily the best album Matador has ever released.” This may seem a bold statement considering all the Pavement’s and Bettie Serveert’s an other indie stalwarts they have released over the years, but I have to say that this one is definitely among the best. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Aluminum Group
“Plano”
(Minty Fresh)
Leave it to Chicago’s Minty Fresh to release the finest orchestral jazz-rock record of the year. Chicago’s Aluminum Group, named after the Eames furniture group of the same name, is blessed with two of the warmest voices in pop music. The Navin brothers trade vocal duties as they weave luscious pop pastries that sound, at times, like a fusion of 80′s British pop, existing somewhere between Prefab Sprout and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. “Plano” is an “album” in the true sense of the word, worthy of a complete listening to from beginning to end. The record begins with one of the great lounge-pop songs in recent history, “Chocolates,” and manages to maintain this wonderful balance of intelligence and entertainment through its twelve imaginative songs. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Richard Davies
“Telegraph”
(Flydaddy)
Davies first band, The Moles, was an average Australian indie rock project. Next came his brilliant one time collaboration with Eric Matthews in a band called Cardinal, which single handedly jump-started the orchestral rock revolution a few years ago. “Telegraph” is the second solo album and arguably the best work that Davies has ever produced. This album features a collection of wonderfully clean and perfectly produced pop songs that just kind of glide themselves into a gentle groove. Beginning with the stellar first track entitled “Cantina” and gliding on a melodically psychedelic wave of songwriting, Davies charming vocal stylings and enchanting compositions add up to one of the best records in years. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Belle & Sebastian
The Boy With The Arab Strap
(Matador/Capital)
Before Belle & Sebastian’s masterpiece “If You’re Feeling Sinister,” there hadn’t been an acoustic pop band as charming, innovative, and genre defining in years. On “The Boy With The Arab Strap,” the Glaswegian collective, led by singer-songwriter Stuart Murdoch, expand their infinite pasture of acoustic folk with a more diverse collection of songs. The music ranges from a hushed spoken-word Scottish highland tale, to a mini orchestra of strings and brass that collides that with all the clever and sophisticated lyricism you have come to expect from them. Named after a French cartoon, Belle & Sebastian inhabit a rich literary world where music and storytelling become something that far transcends the sum of its parts. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Neutral Milk Hotel
“In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”
(Merge Records)
Imagine the weirdness of Phish without all the hippiness. Next picture a stage filled with musicians playing everything from accordions, to vibrating saws, to trumpets and guitars. Add to the mix a long-haired guitar strummer guiding the musicians with his strong voice and a Tolkinesque imagination which he uses to sing about wonderfully improbable but magical scenarios. Neutral Milk Hotel (a member of the prolific Elephant 6 Collective that features bands such as Olivia Tremor Control, Apples In Stereo, and Elf Power) continues to be the one of the strongest bands in a deeply talented collective. Singer-songwriter Jeff Magnum’s intense guitar strumming and bizarrely emotive music make Neutral Milk Hotel one of the most interesting indie bands around. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
- Air
“Moon Safari”
(Source/Caroline)
Air’s “Moon Safari” could easily be described as the smoothest record of the year. It is also probably the best French record of the year. The DJ duo of Dunckel/Godin create music that glides on a bed of soft-shoed Moog, Rhodes and other assorted synthesizers. Add to their unique ethereal-new wave dance groove, sumptuous female vocals by Beth Hirsch and you have the best album, electronic, ambient, or other to be described as “dance” in ma very long time. Loosely described as “disco,” the ten songs on “Moon Safari” melt into one another like some sort of lush bouquet of pastel-bell bottomed bliss. This is easily the coolest Air you’ll breathe all year. – Buy this cd now from Amazon.com
Honorable Mention:
Cinerama : VaVaVroom : SpinART
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Ebbling Hughes : Transfigured Night : Zero Hour
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Legendary Jim Ruiz Group : Sniff! : Minty Fresh
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Saint Etiennne : Good Humor : Sub Pop
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Silver Jews : American Water : Drag City
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