My discoveries per year

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dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #921
  • Posted: 11/09/2020 20:45
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1987
  • Quote
These are the album I chose for 1986 and time to pick again a band I will try to follow throughout their whole career: The Wedding Present.
The Wedding Present were formed in 1985 in Leeds, England by singer David Gedge whose distinctive but not immediately appealing voice plays a major role in their music. But the main distinctive feature of the band is the frantic guitar playing by Pete Solowka (who has Ukranian origins) which consists of fast up-and-down strumming which gives most of their earlier tracks a very own sound which some people might call a gimmick but is to me just part of the overall genius of this band.
I must admit I wasn't an immediate fan of this band just because of the fact that the band was not really know outside England and in fact I have long time known them only from a John Peel (who was quick to recognize their quality) compilation of 1990 which featured You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friend and that was it. So I only discovered them really since a few years but I fell in love with their music immediately.

It's not so easy to pick the albums which defined the Wedding Present because besides their 9 regular album there was also a mini-album (called Mini) which returned in a few other formats and a number of singles compilation which I will count as valid album entries because they mostly contain tracks not featured on other albums. I don't know yet if I will pick the Ukranian one 🤔

And I'll start with the first regular album of the Wedding Present, an album I already own:

George Best by The Wedding Present
And the difficulty already starts here: listen to the original album or George Best 30 re-released completely on the 30th anniversary of the album and produced by Steve Albini. Here the album gets a more potent sound and where the original album (like all their earlier albums) sounds a bit under-produced, here it sounds over-produced which takes a bit of the original charm away maybe partly because the bass is mixed more to the front and the guitar just sounds that little bit slower which isn't a good thing. So I quickly returned to the original which of course features my al-time favorite WP track My Favourite Dress which immediately shows what this band has in store: breakneck rhythmic changes accompanied by a kind of very melancholic singing and lyrics and the result is a match made in heaven. I can already say that this is my favorite (I'll leave out the u for my American friends) WP album because the overall quality here is outstanding but I'll give my full ranking at the end. For now it moves up a few ranks on my year chart from rank 9 to rank 7.

And I'll choose two non-Wp albums as albums on my wishlist:

Up For A Bit With The Pastels by The Pastels
This is the quintessential DIY band and this first album of them fits that label even more. To me even a bit too much DIY because one of the big features is the off-key singing of Stephen Pastel which on many tracks is a bit annoying but becomes a feature on the long Baby Honey. So a bit of a mixed bag but still good for the 34th rank of the year.

And:

Follow Blind by Wipers
Not their most loved album because here they have a lost a bit the punk atmosphere of the first albums but that just makes the great guitar playing of Greg Sage a more important feature here and that doesn't hurt the album at all. No this is a again a very good album of them which just shows how versatile they were while still maintaining their signature sound. So this album earns its 24th rank on my 1987 year chart.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #922
  • Posted: 11/10/2020 17:36
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1988
  • Quote
And on we go:

And the album I already own is in fact not in my year chart because I saw it as a compilation:

Tommy (1985-1987) by The Wedding Present
And it is a compilation but a compilation of their older singles and other tracks of which only one track appears on another album, My Favorite Dress, already my favorite football shirt on George Best. I found the first singles a bit dodgy but gradually they grow in quality with of course You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends as absolute highlight. As it was not part of my year chart yet (but I did own the album) it enters at 19th.

And an album on my wishlist:

In The Spanish Cave by Thin White Rope
This is clearly not their best and I found it only just good enough to be a part of my 1988 year chart at rank 28.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #923
  • Posted: 11/11/2020 17:35
  • Post subject: Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1989
  • Quote
The last year of the eighties:

And another Wedding Present album in my possession already:

Bizarro by The Wedding Present
Not one but two of my favorite songs ever: of course Brassneck but also Take Me! This album is suppose to break away a bit from the heavy strung and more towards a heavier guitar sound but Take Me! is the ultimate frantic strum fest and it goes on for more than 9 minutes and I wasn't bored for a second: what a song. And you know what: the whole album is fantastic and might even overtake George Best (more on this near the end of the round!). In any case for the year of 1989 it moves from the 7th to the 5th rank of the year.
And oh btw I also quickly went through the Ukranian folk album of that year and well... it's a Ukranian folk album. But now I also get where Peter Solowka got his strumming from.

And an album on my wishlist:

Unknown Passage by Dead Moon
Really DIY and one of the best garage rock/punk albums you can find. They've got a distinctive sound and they're worth you attention. And go to the 18th rank of the year.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #924
  • Posted: 11/11/2020 20:25
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1990
  • Quote
Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1990

And here are the nineties with first an album I already own:

Black Sheets Of Rain by Bob Mould
And one of my favorite artists from one of my favorite bands. After Hüsker Dü he release two very bitter albums of which this is the second. And the two most bitter and introspective tracks are also the best: the fairly subdued The Last Night and the one in which he release all his demons: Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace. This is his second solo masterpiece and it rises from the 8th to the 7th rank.

And an album on my wishlist:

Unfun by Jawbreaker
I'm not a big fan of westcoach punk (with Green Day as the exception) and when it goes together with emo even less. Yet I find 4 ok tracks here which puts them at the 40th rank of the year. And they would become much much better on their later albums.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #925
  • Posted: 11/12/2020 20:40
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1991
  • Quote
There are not many band who can create three masterpieces in a row and in my opinion they did.

An album I already own:

Seamonsters by The Wedding Present
This is the third of those masterpieces and it already starts with a masterpiece trio of tracks: Dalliance, Dare and Suck and then the highlight Corduroy hasn't come yet. Again a combination of their typical guitar sound and the emotional delivery by a singer of whom you would think at first sight he would be unable to do this. Again a contender for the best Wedding Present album ever and you'll find out later who won (although there is a way you can already find out 😈 ). The album rises from the 17th to the 14th rank.

An album on my wishlist:

Dazzling Display by Steve Wynn
Again a solo album from one of my most favorite bands and in general Steve Wynn's solo career is on par with that of the Dream Syndicate. He would become better later but Drag is already a very good one and I also very much like the rest of the album which goes to the 33rd rank of the year.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #926
  • Posted: 11/16/2020 20:51
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1992
  • Quote
These are my choices for albums of 1992:

First an album I already own and one in my overall top 50:

Dirty by Sonic Youth
and one of my favorite SY albums not in the least because it has some of the best tracks of them: Chapel Hill. But that's not all: also 100%, Sugar Kane and Purr are amongst my all-time favorites and just behind are Youth Against Fascism and Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit. I fiddled around with my scores a bit but the album remains firmly at the 5th rank and remains one of those real nineties classics.

And then another Wedding Presents album I own but hadn't yet appeared in my year chart because it's a compilation of singles all released in the same year with an original on the A side and a cover on the B side.

Hit Parade 1 by The Wedding Present
The own songs are generally ok but not the best WP but features on standout: Come Play With Me. The covers that jump out are Don't Cry No Tears (Neil Young), a very droning Falling (Julie Cruise) and a very pleasant version of Pleasant Sunny Valley of The Monkees. All in all good for the 16th rank of the year.
They release a second series in 1993 and my compilation version has the two albums together (come and see next year).

And a real album on my wishlist:

Popdropper by The Belltower
I had never heard of this band or of the album so I don't really know how it ended up on my wishlist maybe because the singer (who sings on about 50% of the tracks) sounds a bit like one of my favorite singers Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays. The style can be best described as shoegaze and although the overall atmosphere sounds good the album lacks good songs in my opinion.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #927
  • Posted: 11/18/2020 21:19
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1993
  • Quote
These are my choices for albums of 1993:

First an album I already own:

American Caesar by Iggy Pop
In my view one of the most consistent albums of Iggy Pop on which I especially like Beside You. And the album goes from the 39th to the 28th rank of the year.

Then that other Hits album from the Wedding Present I own but never put in my year chart because it's a compilation of singles:

Hit Parade 2 by The Wedding Present
A compilation of singles with each time an original song on the A-side and a cover on the B-side. The own songs are ok but other than the Hit Parade 1 album of 1992 I don't like the covers at all. So a bit of a mixed bag but still good for the 45th rank of the year.

And finally an album on my wishlist:

Bang! by World Party
Karl Walling can be a great song writer as he proves on the album preceding this one Goodby Jumbo and on Is It Like Today on this album which also a radio hit in Belgium. But most of the rest of the album is really not good. Next to the already mentioned song also All I Gave is OK and Rescue Me is a boring song which is too long but it has nice guitar part at the end. Which means finally not good enough for my year chart. But I will check out a few of his other albums as well.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #928
  • Posted: 11/21/2020 20:18
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1994
  • Quote
These are my choices for 1994 albums:

First an album I already own:

Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk) by Souls
I don't know anything about this Swedish band except for this album which has a special place in my heart but otherwise nobody seems to know and/or appreciate. I know the album sounds like it has been taped in a basement but the dynamics of especially the drums just explodes out of your speakers/headphones. There are some incredibly good songs on this maybe best proven by the very long closer Danskin which doesn't bore for a minute. I can recommend to try to this wonderful album to every guitar lover around: you can find it on Youtube. The album remains at the 5th rank of my year chart.

Then another Wedding Present album I didn't know yet:

Watusi by The Wedding Present
Not as good as their former album but still very recommendable. Enters my year chart at the 49th rank.
dihansse dihansse Profile Belgium
  • #929
  • Posted: 11/25/2020 21:03
  • Post subject: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1995
  • Quote
These are my two choices of albums of 1995:

An album I already own:

Example by For Squirrels
Another one of those forgotten gems. Ok I admit, they sound a lot like R.E.M., but they sound like the best R.E.M. although a bit harder edged and that's fine by me especially with tracks like Under Smithville. They rise from the 26th to the 16th rank.

An album on my wishlist:

The Sky Moves Sideways by Porcupine Tree
It's always difficult to get into a PT album and normally it takes a few listens to really appreciate it. But this third album (which is often described as the first real PT album) is fairly immediate. It is too many times repeated that it sounds a lot like Wish You Were Here and partly this is also the case but it's certainly more spacey and it hovers a lot between muzak and real heartfelt music which often excels in great guitar solos and melodies. I listened to the very long two CD version which sounds a bit repetitive after a while but I did like and it goest to the 33th rank of the year.
LedZep Profile Croatia (Hrvatska)
  • #930
  • Posted: 11/25/2020 22:09
  • Post subject: Re: Round 4 (The Wedding Present): 1995
  • Quote
dihansse wrote:

The Sky Moves Sideways by Porcupine Tree
It's always difficult to get into a PT album and normally it takes a few listens to really appreciate it. But this third album (which is often described as the first real PT album) is fairly immediate. It is too many times repeated that it sounds a lot like Wish You Were Here and partly this is also the case but it's certainly more spacey and it hovers a lot between muzak and real heartfelt music which often excels in great guitar solos and melodies. I listened to the very long two CD version which sounds a bit repetitive after a while but I did like and it goest to the 33th rank of the year.

I don't think I've heard this one too many times in full, but the title track(s) are excellent. Very spacey and art rock overall, much like Pink Floyd, but apart from operating in the similar style/genre there's honestly not that much in common.
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