Release Date: 1990
Genre(s): Singer/Songwriter, Country
Origin: United States
On her third outing, Mary Chapin Carpenter had finally hit it out of the park. Shooting Straight in the Dark is a largely consistent record where Mary writes great songs while showcasing her talents as one of the most talented country singer-songwriter's of her generation. This should be no surprise to anybody familiar with Carpenter's body of work – a long and storied career of helping define the “alt-country” boom and the new wave of country songwriters who were coming out of the 80s after Rosanne Cash had basically single-handedly redefined what it meant to be a singer-songwriter in country music at the time.
Her detractors will say this record is full of bland and mediocre songs, but if you are someone who is familiar with her influences (The Byrds, etc.) you probably will be at the very least interested by Carpenter's stripped down approach she does here. One of the best country records of 1990 without a doubt.
Release Date: 1998
Genre(s): Indie Rock, Dream Pop
Origin: United States
I compare this a lot with the later Luna albums where Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips wrote excellent dream pop that would eventually lead to musical bliss in their more intimate outings. This record comes from Starflyer 59’s Jason Martin and his wife, Julie Martin.
The most immediate comparison outside of Luna and Dean & Britta that I could make in description is probably describing this album as a sort of “indie rock cardigans” as it really hones in on the precious twee elements while being a tad crunchier in guitar tone. It’s really dreamy and one of my favorite records of 1998, a stance that has only been recently reinforced as it climbed to my top twenty records of the year in question. I am quite glad I found this little gem.
Release Date: 1998
Genre(s): Indie Rock, Dream Pop
Origin: United States
I compare this a lot with the later Luna albums where Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips wrote excellent dream pop that would eventually lead to musical bliss in their more intimate outings. This record comes from Starflyer 59’s Jason Martin and his wife, Julie Martin.
The most immediate comparison outside of Luna and Dean & Britta that I could make in description is probably describing this album as a sort of “indie rock cardigans” as it really hones in on the precious twee elements while being a tad crunchier in guitar tone. It’s really dreamy and one of my favorite records of 1998, a stance that has only been recently reinforced as it climbed to my top twenty records of the year in question. I am quite glad I found this little gem.
Release Date: 1991
Genre(s): Power Pop, Alt-Country*
Origin: United States
After struggling for the bulk of his early career in the 1980s, Sweet came out of nowhere during the power pop boom of the 90s. There are those of us who would say he was the one that led the charge after the previous decade had moved on from the countless clones of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. It had been almost twenty years since bands like Cheap Trick, The Attractions, Rick Springfield, and Big Star forged what we would come to know as a landmark genre in pop music.
It was 1991, The Lemonheads were a year away from It's a Shame About Ray, Jellyfish had crafted Bellybutton but their second album was still on the way, The Posies had yet to craft Frosting on the Beater, and Teenage Fanclub were still a few weeks away from their landmark record Bandwagonesque. Power Pop had yet to really merge wholly with alternative rock and jangle pop (and be commercially and critically dynamic). If you listen to power pop in the 2000s, you hear more of Sweet than the musicians of those bands in the likes of Brendan Benson and others. I suppose this is the conversation of Sweet's importance to power pop. It's a shame that among some aggerates that Sweet has fallen out of favor. The lyrical criticisms are many, though I'm not sure where exactly I stand as I listen to the melodies, guitar landscapes, and atmosphere first when I listen to Sweet.
Amongst the almost Cheap Trick-esque influence is also a sort of alternative country dynamic in some of the slower-paced material. There's a vulnerability in Sweet, almost like there was in Ryan Adams during the same period (though his [Adams'] personal character is a lot more objectionable as we would come to learn later on). Sweet's inherent neediness and romantic anxiety, as clumsy as it is, is way less clumsy than his peers. He is no Rivers Cuomo, where he utters severely objectionable behavior as a narrator on Pinkerton, so why does one target Sweet's lyrics in a similar fashion? I don't know. I have no answers. To paraphrase fellow BEA member, I like the music, I don't think about the lyrics so much... though I do hear them.
To me, Girlfriend is the BEST power pop record of the 90s. Easily in contention with Frosting on the Beater, Bandwagonesque, It's a Shame About Ray, Warning, Pinkerton, and Bellybutton.
"Pretty much the first time, I've done a little bit [writing] before, but this... was... y'know, a diary, I was literally writing whatever I felt on any given day, and it would become a song. And, just, trying to find a honesty with that and not have to be what I've been before or what people see me as being."
Kylie's first real foray into songwriting would be what many find her most vulnerable and precious, tapping into her own anxieties as an artist and her personal experiences. Mixed in with this genuinity was a desire to experiment with a diverse audio footprint, which wasn't exactly new to Kylie or pop musicians from the 1980s, but to the lengths Kylie and her collaborators were willing to go was certainly beyond the pale.
Prior to Impossible Princess, Kylie had a track record of experimenting within pop music for essentially two albums. The other three were pretty much run of the mill (though well executed) dance-pop. Let's Get to It and her self-titled follow up played with hip hop and R&B accents, and budding electronic scenes such as house to create an attempt to move her sound forward. It worked well enough. Kylie was Australia's premier pop star and not seeming to slow down despite the Australian and British press being relentless on her mental health. This would not change with Impossible Princess, but moving from singer to songwriter is always a loaded choice; but as history has shown us it always has more benefits than risks.
This is an album that is Kylie's greatest triumph. It's musical ambition is wide and it's lyrical depth really makes that net even wider. In the United States, Kylie's contemporary, Madonna, was going through a similar change but as good as Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light were they did not have the full range of introspection and emotional vulnerability as seen here--and Ray of Light wouldn't be released for nearly a year. With Impossible Princess Kylie grabbed onto the pulse of the emerging trip-hop scene alongside further expanding her interest on electronic music; House, Downbeat, Drum and Bass, Alternative Dance are all present on this record and arranged in such a careful and precise fashion. But such musical diversity and lyrical vulnerability would have its own cost despite itself going Platinum in her home country of Australia. At the Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards of 1998 she got her first ever nomination for Album of the Year, but lost out to Regurgitator's Unit. Natalie Imbruglia would win out over her as best Pop Release. With all the ambition it seemed the press just wasn't ready for Impossible Princess. The press called the record a "low point" and all of the pressure seemed to angle Kylie to straight out retire from the industry.
Kylie would never be as vulnerable again. A loss of the ages.
While there will likely never be a Impossible Princess 2, the fact this album exists in the archives shows how interesting the 90s was and how ambition can be as taxing as it is creatively brilliant. I consider it one of the greatest pop albums of the 90s-no, one of the greatest pop albums ever.
Release Date: 1991
Genre(s): Power Pop, Alt-Country*
Origin: United States
After struggling for the bulk of his early career in the 1980s, Sweet came out of nowhere during the power pop boom of the 90s. There are those of us who would say he was the one that led the charge after the previous decade had moved on from the countless clones of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. It had been almost twenty years since bands like Cheap Trick, The Attractions, Rick Springfield, and Big Star forged what we would come to know as a landmark genre in pop music.
It was 1991, The Lemonheads were a year away from It's a Shame About Ray, Jellyfish had crafted Bellybutton but their second album was still on the way, The Posies had yet to craft Frosting on the Beater, and Teenage Fanclub were still a few weeks away from their landmark record Bandwagonesque. Power Pop had yet to really merge wholly with alternative rock and jangle pop (and be commercially and critically dynamic). If you listen to power pop in the 2000s, you hear more of Sweet than the musicians of those bands in the likes of Brendan Benson and others. I suppose this is the conversation of Sweet's importance to power pop. It's a shame that among some aggerates that Sweet has fallen out of favor. The lyrical criticisms are many, though I'm not sure where exactly I stand as I listen to the melodies, guitar landscapes, and atmosphere first when I listen to Sweet.
Amongst the almost Cheap Trick-esque influence is also a sort of alternative country dynamic in some of the slower-paced material. There's a vulnerability in Sweet, almost like there was in Ryan Adams during the same period (though his [Adams'] personal character is a lot more objectionable as we would come to learn later on). Sweet's inherent neediness and romantic anxiety, as clumsy as it is, is way less clumsy than his peers. He is no Rivers Cuomo, where he utters severely objectionable behavior as a narrator on Pinkerton, so why does one target Sweet's lyrics in a similar fashion? I don't know. I have no answers. To paraphrase fellow BEA member, I like the music, I don't think about the lyrics so much... though I do hear them.
To me, Girlfriend is the BEST power pop record of the 90s. Easily in contention with Frosting on the Beater, Bandwagonesque, It's a Shame About Ray, Warning, Pinkerton, and Bellybutton.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum