[rts] 1998, Part II
Nov. 10th, 2012 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jon_chaissonContinuing last night's music post, here's the middle third of a great year for music, May to August...
Tori Amos, "Spark" from From the Choirgirl Hotel, rel. 5/5/98
Okay, Tori hit the truly weird sometime during the last album (Boys for Pele), and she hasn't changed since, but I kind of liked this album's muted ambience. This is probably my favorite track from it.
Garbage, "I Think I'm Paranoid" from Version 2.0, rel. 5/11/98
I absolutely loved the first Garbage album, but for some reason it took me awhile to enjoy the second album...I think it was because it felt it was at points a retread of the first (making the title that much more of a pun), and the production felt a bit lifeless, despite it being Butch Vig. Plus, "Special" was played WAY too much. Still, it has some great tracks like this one.
Soul Asylum, "I Will Still Be Laughing" from Candy from a Stranger, rel. 5/12/98
Been a Soul Asylum fan since Hang Time in '88, so I was happy to see this album coming out, even though by this time they'd had their Goo Goo Dolls Moment (former punky band has mega-huge hit with poppy ballad and continues with alt.pop lite throughout rest of career--in this case, SA had it with Grave Dancer's Union). Nice Steven Wright cameo at the end there!
The Wallflowers, "Heroes" from the Godzilla OST, rel. 5/19/98
Okay, consider yourself lucky I didn't embed the completely over-the-top Puff Daddy video from this soundtrack instead (it's a bit much, even for me). The movie wasn't the greatest, but it was a fun popcorn movie for early summer, and the soundtrack is a lot of fun. The Wallflowers do a straight cover of one of my favorite Bowie tracks, but they do it well.
The Seatbelts, "Tank!" from the Cowboy Bebop OST, rel. 5/21/98
Okay, I didn't get into this anime until MUCH later, but I knew of it from Cartoon Network's late night showings, and even then I knew this theme song kicked ass. Yoko Kanno is one of the best songwriters out there, full stop. And the editing just on these opening credits alone is fantastic!
Tricky, "Money Greedy" from Angels with Dirty Faces, rel. 5/25/98
Tricky is one of the best trip hop musicians out there, and his 90s output was sufficiently weird yet excellent. He knows how to mix reggae, hip hop, blues, and even rock into his stuff. Angels is a very dark album, but it's worth checking out.
Lo Fidelity Allstars, "Battleflag" from How to Operate With a Blown Mind, rel. 5/25/98 (US Release)
This didn't get play until it popped up in a Ben Affleck movie, but it's an awesome track--and one I used to crank up on my car stereo whenever it came on. Yes, I was the white boy with long hair driving down Route 2, grooving and singing along to this.
Filter, "One" from The X-Files OST, rel. 6/2/98
Even if you weren't the biggest fan of the show, this was a great album of tracks inspired by the movie that includes tracks by The Cure, Noel Gallagher, Foo Fighters and X that are all worth checking out.
Komeda, "It's Alright, Baby" from What Makes It Go?, rel. 6/9/98
I discovered this track on one of those CMJ cd compilations and it's been one of my favorites since then. Komeda's mix of kitsch, retro and strange works amazingly well here.
Drugstore, "El President" (featuring Thom Yorke) from White Magic for Lovers, rel. 6/9/98
It's funny, I always equate this song to the cartoon Daria, as it was used as a linking song between scenes.
Catatonia, "Mulder and Scully" from International Velvet, rel. 7/7/98
Speaking of The X-Files...this is such a fun song! It was only a matter of time before someone wrote a love song that would involve our hapless conspiracy heroes. :)
Rush, "Tom Sawyer [DJ Z-Trip Remix]" from the Small Soldiers OST, rel. 7/7/98
This forgotten little movie had a forgotten little soundtrack full of excellent hip-hop remixes of classic rock songs you wouldn't expect to get remixed, including this one. Well worth checking out.
Barenaked Ladies, "Call and Answer" from Stunt, rel. 7/7/98
Everyone knows "One Week", but the whole album is fantastic. One of their strongest ballads, and a beautiful song, and one of my favorite middle eights ever. I didn't know they'd made a video for this, and I'd forgotten it was in EdTV as well!
The Hope Blister, "Only Human" from ...smile's ok, rel. 7/14/98
4AD fans like myself were all giddy that Ivo Watts-Russel decided to do a This Mortal Coil Redux with this mini-album featuring covers done by a lot of TMC alumni (this one's a Heidi Berry song). It's a lovely little atmospheric release and very typical of the older releases from that label.
The Beastie Boys, "Three MCs and One DJ" from Hello Nasty, rel. 7/14/98
One of my favorite Beasties track, and quite a fun video too, done all in one take. Only the Beasties could rhyme "malaria" with "I'll take care o' ya" and get away with it.
12 Rounds, "Pleasant Smell" from My Big Hero, rel. 7/14/98
Yet another release that I like that no one remembers. A very goth-industrial-meets blues album with hints of early J&MC and a hint of Marilyn Manson that sounded like it was recorded in someone's dank basement, but I love it anyway.
The Tragically Hip, "Bobcaygeon" from Phantom Power, rel. 7/14/98
One of the best Canadian bands out there, no question. A very beautiful song about living in a small town. The band recently gave back to the town of Bobcaygeon, Ontario by playing a benefit concert there, which they made into a documentary.
LHOOQ, "Losing Hand" from LHOOQ, rel. 8/3/98
I'm sure I was the only person at the record store who knew where the band got its name, and I'll admit I ordered this import cd on the name alone. They're similar to Kelly Dayton-era Sneaker Pimps, though they're a little poppier. I have no idea where they went after this album.
Failure, "Enjoy the Silence" from For the Masses, rel. 8/4/98
Every now and again a tribute album is done perfectly, and this tribute of Depeche Mode works in spades, with tracks from The Cure, Hooverphonic, Dishwalla, and Rammstein among others.
Rasputina, "The Olde Headboard" from How We Quit the Forest, rel. 8/4/98
I loved this album when it came out, and by far my favorite of the band's. I also love her passing reference of Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast in the first line!
Embrace, "All You Good Good People" from The Good Will Out, rel. 8/6/98
Many dismissed this band as Oasis wannabes (and this track definitely sounds like something they'd do), but I loved it nonetheless. They released this just as Britpop was dying down (or imploding, your pick), but it's a great track nonetheless.
Dishwalla, "Until I Wake Up" from And You Think You Know What Life's About, rel. 8/11/98
Seriously, I can't say enough great things about this album. Harder, stronger, and better produced than their first album, it unfortunately fell through the cracks of an indifferent label that was being eaten up by the Universal/Polygram merger. One of the most-played cds while writing The Phoenix Effect, it's earned a spot as one of the albums I still fall back to when working on the Eden Cycle.
Hooverphonic, "Eden" from Blue Wonder Power Milk, rel. 8/11/98
Same could be said for this album too--it's earned a spot as an official Eden Cycle soundtrack. This is the album that got me into them in the first place, and it's got some truly wonderful tracks: "This Strange Effect" (written by Ray Davies!), "Dictionary", "Renaissance Affair" (which was used in a car commercial around 2000), and "Club Montepulciano"...it's a masterpiece of laid back guitar-infused electronica.
Orgy, "Blue Monday" from Candyass, rel. 8/18/98
This band could have been just another industrial/alt.metal band like Marilyn Manson, but they pulled it off with this great cover of the New Order hit.
Korn, "Freak on a Leash" from Follow the Leader, rel. 8/18/98
I never really got into Korn until this song. One of their best tracks, and that scat break is pure awesome. Another video animated by Todd McFarlane.
Godsmack, "Voodoo" from Godsmack, rel. 8/25/98
This album sold a ridiculous amount at HMV--it had heavy rotation not only on the alt.rock stations like WFNX and WBCN, but on the hard rock stations like WAAF...added to the fact that the band was local (c'mon, only in Massachusetts do you have a singer named Sully!). I remember we very briefly sold the original self-released version of this album which went under the name All Wound Up and had a really horrible cover, but when Universal picked them up, that version was thankfully discontinued. Check out famed Salem witch Laurie Cabot in the video!
Bob Mould, "New #1" from The Last Dog & Pony Show, rel. 8/25/98
I'd missed out on a lot of post-Sugar Bob Mould in the 90s but I did catch this album at the time at HMV. This track ended up being the first track on one of my favorite compilations of the time.
Elliott Smith, "Waltz #2 (XO)" from XO, rel. 8/25/98
I was never the biggest Elliott Smith fan, but I do love this song...the wordplay is just so much fun here. "I'm so glad my memory's remote, cuz I'm doing just fine, hour to hour, note to note." One of my favorite lyrics of his. I've been known to sing along to this whenever it's on.
Snow Patrol, "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed" from Songs for Polar Bears, rel. 8/31/98
Well before their major hits like "Spitting Games" and "Chasing Cars", they were this low-key Glaswegian band on the Jeepster label. I'm greatly amused at how Gary Lightbody's vocals got less mumbly with each progressive album!
Coming up: September to December 1998
Tori Amos, "Spark" from From the Choirgirl Hotel, rel. 5/5/98
Okay, Tori hit the truly weird sometime during the last album (Boys for Pele), and she hasn't changed since, but I kind of liked this album's muted ambience. This is probably my favorite track from it.
Garbage, "I Think I'm Paranoid" from Version 2.0, rel. 5/11/98
I absolutely loved the first Garbage album, but for some reason it took me awhile to enjoy the second album...I think it was because it felt it was at points a retread of the first (making the title that much more of a pun), and the production felt a bit lifeless, despite it being Butch Vig. Plus, "Special" was played WAY too much. Still, it has some great tracks like this one.
Soul Asylum, "I Will Still Be Laughing" from Candy from a Stranger, rel. 5/12/98
Been a Soul Asylum fan since Hang Time in '88, so I was happy to see this album coming out, even though by this time they'd had their Goo Goo Dolls Moment (former punky band has mega-huge hit with poppy ballad and continues with alt.pop lite throughout rest of career--in this case, SA had it with Grave Dancer's Union). Nice Steven Wright cameo at the end there!
The Wallflowers, "Heroes" from the Godzilla OST, rel. 5/19/98
Okay, consider yourself lucky I didn't embed the completely over-the-top Puff Daddy video from this soundtrack instead (it's a bit much, even for me). The movie wasn't the greatest, but it was a fun popcorn movie for early summer, and the soundtrack is a lot of fun. The Wallflowers do a straight cover of one of my favorite Bowie tracks, but they do it well.
The Seatbelts, "Tank!" from the Cowboy Bebop OST, rel. 5/21/98
Okay, I didn't get into this anime until MUCH later, but I knew of it from Cartoon Network's late night showings, and even then I knew this theme song kicked ass. Yoko Kanno is one of the best songwriters out there, full stop. And the editing just on these opening credits alone is fantastic!
Tricky, "Money Greedy" from Angels with Dirty Faces, rel. 5/25/98
Tricky is one of the best trip hop musicians out there, and his 90s output was sufficiently weird yet excellent. He knows how to mix reggae, hip hop, blues, and even rock into his stuff. Angels is a very dark album, but it's worth checking out.
Lo Fidelity Allstars, "Battleflag" from How to Operate With a Blown Mind, rel. 5/25/98 (US Release)
This didn't get play until it popped up in a Ben Affleck movie, but it's an awesome track--and one I used to crank up on my car stereo whenever it came on. Yes, I was the white boy with long hair driving down Route 2, grooving and singing along to this.
Filter, "One" from The X-Files OST, rel. 6/2/98
Even if you weren't the biggest fan of the show, this was a great album of tracks inspired by the movie that includes tracks by The Cure, Noel Gallagher, Foo Fighters and X that are all worth checking out.
Komeda, "It's Alright, Baby" from What Makes It Go?, rel. 6/9/98
I discovered this track on one of those CMJ cd compilations and it's been one of my favorites since then. Komeda's mix of kitsch, retro and strange works amazingly well here.
Drugstore, "El President" (featuring Thom Yorke) from White Magic for Lovers, rel. 6/9/98
It's funny, I always equate this song to the cartoon Daria, as it was used as a linking song between scenes.
Catatonia, "Mulder and Scully" from International Velvet, rel. 7/7/98
Speaking of The X-Files...this is such a fun song! It was only a matter of time before someone wrote a love song that would involve our hapless conspiracy heroes. :)
Rush, "Tom Sawyer [DJ Z-Trip Remix]" from the Small Soldiers OST, rel. 7/7/98
This forgotten little movie had a forgotten little soundtrack full of excellent hip-hop remixes of classic rock songs you wouldn't expect to get remixed, including this one. Well worth checking out.
Barenaked Ladies, "Call and Answer" from Stunt, rel. 7/7/98
Everyone knows "One Week", but the whole album is fantastic. One of their strongest ballads, and a beautiful song, and one of my favorite middle eights ever. I didn't know they'd made a video for this, and I'd forgotten it was in EdTV as well!
The Hope Blister, "Only Human" from ...smile's ok, rel. 7/14/98
4AD fans like myself were all giddy that Ivo Watts-Russel decided to do a This Mortal Coil Redux with this mini-album featuring covers done by a lot of TMC alumni (this one's a Heidi Berry song). It's a lovely little atmospheric release and very typical of the older releases from that label.
The Beastie Boys, "Three MCs and One DJ" from Hello Nasty, rel. 7/14/98
One of my favorite Beasties track, and quite a fun video too, done all in one take. Only the Beasties could rhyme "malaria" with "I'll take care o' ya" and get away with it.
12 Rounds, "Pleasant Smell" from My Big Hero, rel. 7/14/98
Yet another release that I like that no one remembers. A very goth-industrial-meets blues album with hints of early J&MC and a hint of Marilyn Manson that sounded like it was recorded in someone's dank basement, but I love it anyway.
The Tragically Hip, "Bobcaygeon" from Phantom Power, rel. 7/14/98
One of the best Canadian bands out there, no question. A very beautiful song about living in a small town. The band recently gave back to the town of Bobcaygeon, Ontario by playing a benefit concert there, which they made into a documentary.
LHOOQ, "Losing Hand" from LHOOQ, rel. 8/3/98
I'm sure I was the only person at the record store who knew where the band got its name, and I'll admit I ordered this import cd on the name alone. They're similar to Kelly Dayton-era Sneaker Pimps, though they're a little poppier. I have no idea where they went after this album.
Failure, "Enjoy the Silence" from For the Masses, rel. 8/4/98
Every now and again a tribute album is done perfectly, and this tribute of Depeche Mode works in spades, with tracks from The Cure, Hooverphonic, Dishwalla, and Rammstein among others.
Rasputina, "The Olde Headboard" from How We Quit the Forest, rel. 8/4/98
I loved this album when it came out, and by far my favorite of the band's. I also love her passing reference of Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast in the first line!
Embrace, "All You Good Good People" from The Good Will Out, rel. 8/6/98
Many dismissed this band as Oasis wannabes (and this track definitely sounds like something they'd do), but I loved it nonetheless. They released this just as Britpop was dying down (or imploding, your pick), but it's a great track nonetheless.
Dishwalla, "Until I Wake Up" from And You Think You Know What Life's About, rel. 8/11/98
Seriously, I can't say enough great things about this album. Harder, stronger, and better produced than their first album, it unfortunately fell through the cracks of an indifferent label that was being eaten up by the Universal/Polygram merger. One of the most-played cds while writing The Phoenix Effect, it's earned a spot as one of the albums I still fall back to when working on the Eden Cycle.
Hooverphonic, "Eden" from Blue Wonder Power Milk, rel. 8/11/98
Same could be said for this album too--it's earned a spot as an official Eden Cycle soundtrack. This is the album that got me into them in the first place, and it's got some truly wonderful tracks: "This Strange Effect" (written by Ray Davies!), "Dictionary", "Renaissance Affair" (which was used in a car commercial around 2000), and "Club Montepulciano"...it's a masterpiece of laid back guitar-infused electronica.
Orgy, "Blue Monday" from Candyass, rel. 8/18/98
This band could have been just another industrial/alt.metal band like Marilyn Manson, but they pulled it off with this great cover of the New Order hit.
Korn, "Freak on a Leash" from Follow the Leader, rel. 8/18/98
I never really got into Korn until this song. One of their best tracks, and that scat break is pure awesome. Another video animated by Todd McFarlane.
Godsmack, "Voodoo" from Godsmack, rel. 8/25/98
This album sold a ridiculous amount at HMV--it had heavy rotation not only on the alt.rock stations like WFNX and WBCN, but on the hard rock stations like WAAF...added to the fact that the band was local (c'mon, only in Massachusetts do you have a singer named Sully!). I remember we very briefly sold the original self-released version of this album which went under the name All Wound Up and had a really horrible cover, but when Universal picked them up, that version was thankfully discontinued. Check out famed Salem witch Laurie Cabot in the video!
Bob Mould, "New #1" from The Last Dog & Pony Show, rel. 8/25/98
I'd missed out on a lot of post-Sugar Bob Mould in the 90s but I did catch this album at the time at HMV. This track ended up being the first track on one of my favorite compilations of the time.
Elliott Smith, "Waltz #2 (XO)" from XO, rel. 8/25/98
I was never the biggest Elliott Smith fan, but I do love this song...the wordplay is just so much fun here. "I'm so glad my memory's remote, cuz I'm doing just fine, hour to hour, note to note." One of my favorite lyrics of his. I've been known to sing along to this whenever it's on.
Snow Patrol, "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed" from Songs for Polar Bears, rel. 8/31/98
Well before their major hits like "Spitting Games" and "Chasing Cars", they were this low-key Glaswegian band on the Jeepster label. I'm greatly amused at how Gary Lightbody's vocals got less mumbly with each progressive album!
Coming up: September to December 1998
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Date: 2012-11-11 05:06 pm (UTC)