1. Supervixen
2. Queer
3. Only Happy When It Rains
4. As Heaven Is Wide
5. Not My Idea
6. A Stroke Of Luck
7. Vow
8. Stupid Girl
9. Dog New Tricks
10. My Lover’s Box
11. Fix Me Now
12. Milk
1. Subhuman
2. Girl Don’t Come
3. Sleep
4. Driving Lesson
5. Trip My Wire
6. #1 Crush (Nellee Hooper Mix)
7. Butterfly Collector
8. Alien Sex Fiend
9. Kick My Ass
I was, indeed, late for the party when it came to Garbage. This is an American band whose singer (Shirley Manson) hails from Scotland, and whose drummer (Butch Vig) produced the Nirvana classic Nevermind. This is their self-titled debut album from 1995, which was, at the time, seen as an innovative and groundbreaking work. As it turns out, their music ended up being somewhat of an industrial light rock music that you could dance to…some of it. This electronic dance rock was, indeed, ahead of its time, but only by a couple of years, and, as it turned out, it doesn’t really work all that well. But that’s not to say that Garbage is not a good band. On the contrary…this album boasts five really great songs, which is more than a whole lot of bands can say about their first albums. The songs are all band compositions, and one song, “Stupid Girl”, gained the band a pair of Grammy nominations.
“Vow”, “Milk”, “Queer”, and “Only Happy When It Rains” are great tracks. Endlessly catchy and strong, the five singles from the album carry the whole thing. The band sounds great, and Manson is a star in the making. The rest of the album falls short of the mark by about a notch and a half, though. But that didn’t stop Garbage from becoming a massive hit (having a supermodel hot lead singer, truth be told, did not hurt at all). It does sound good, and there’s enough A material here to make it worthwhile. They recorded three more albums, all about the same quality, before going on hiatus in 2005; they’ve since come back and have recorded three more. They are consistent, that’s for sure: all of their albums are pretty much interchangeable. If you’re a fan, you’ll want them all. Or there’s The Absolute Collection, a 2012 compilation, that covers the better moments. The second disc here is a 20th anniversary bonus called The G-Sides. For the dedicated only.
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DR. DOG
FATE
2008 – PARK THE VAN
No Production Credit
1. The Breeze
2. Hang On
3. The Old Days
4. Army Of Ancients
5. The Rabbit, The Bat And The Reindeer
6. The Ark
7. From
8. 100 Years
9. Uncovering The Old
10. The Beach
11. My Friend
Okay. Where were y’all hiding THIS band? This fourth album by Dr. Dog from Philadelphia is as thick with rock and roll harmonies as an early Queen album, for God’s sake. They were, early on, kind of rough sounding, with minimal production and a definite lo-fi sound. Not the case on Fate…this is an album with a sound and feel straight out of the sixties and seventies, an absolute vocal delight. Dr. Dog (not the greatest name) is led by Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken, and everyone in the band sings. Before this album, they were unknown: afterwards, they began to gain more of a following. And they work for it: since 2002, Dr. Dog has released twenty albums and ep’s while still finding time to tour. Pretty impressive resume…but the question has to be this. Why is this band not a household name, and why do you almost never hear about them?
As fantastic as this album sounds, it does lack one important ingredient: great songs. The tracks on Fate are all good, but there is nothing that stands out as a career defining moment. I have yet to hear all of their albums, but given their lack of being a household name, I’m assuming that this has been a consistent during their career. Still…an album like Fate is going to be a lot of fun to listen to. Especially if vocal harmonies are your thing. These guys can sing! “My Friend”, the closer, is a strong track, and “The Breeze” is the best song here…when that wall of harmonies kicks in, you’ll think it’s the Beach Boys stepping out of a time machine. This is a breath of fresh air. It’s not a perfect album, but it sure does sound terrific coming out of your speakers. And that’s a pretty damned important thing.
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DAVID BOWIE
“HEROES”
1977 – RCA
Produced By DAVID BOWIE & TONY VISCONTI
1. Beauty And The Beast
2. Joe The Lion
3. “Heroes”
4. Sons Of The Silent Age
5. Blackout
6. V-2 Schneider
7. Sense Of Doubt
8. MossGarden
9. Neukoln
10 The Secret Life Of Arabia
First and foremost…”Heroes” might just be the greatest rock song of all time. With that out of the way, “Heroes” the album stands as just one of many landmarks in Bowie's heyday, which lasted from the dawn of the seventies to the dawn of the eighties. This was his twelfth album already, and the second in what became known as his Berlin Trilogy, sandwiched between the albums Low and Lodger. “Heroes” marks not only a more expanded role for Brian Eno, but also brings guitarist Robert Fripp from King Crimson solidly into the mix. Bowie, at this point in his career, was influenced highly by German bands like Kraftwerk and Neu, and the album was recorded within shouting distance of the Berlin Wall. This is one of the more experimental albums in Bowie’s career, with a sound that blended his incredible pop sensibilities with elements of electronic and ambient music. And it works quite well.
The first half of “Heroes” is Bowie incorporating these elements into his more conventional songwriting…and the results are stunning. The album is worthwhile just for the opening five tracks alone. The title track is as perfect as Bowie ever got. It’s probably his greatest song. The two songs before it and the two songs after are Bowie at his absolute quirky best. Fripp and Eno bring a perfect alien and spacey sound to Bowie’s songs, and it works perfectly. The second half is more instrumental and experimental…if you’re going to be thrown by this album, the second half is where it will happen, particularly on “Moss Garden”. As an album that showcases Bowie as a pop icon, this album gets it half right. It gets it all right in showing where his head was in 1977, and how far reaching his musical mind was at the time. “Heroes” is almost perfect. Bowie was in an incredible place at this time, and this is a great album to experience what he was trying to share with us.
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MERLE HAGGARD
THE BEST OF THE BEST OF MERLE HAGGARD
1972 – CAPITOL NASHVILLE
Produced By KEN NELSON
1. Okie From Muskogee
2. Hungry Eyes
3. Workin’ Man Blues
4. The Farmer’s Daughter
5. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
6. Today I Started Lovin’ You Again
7. Mama Tried (The Ballad From Killers Three)
8. Silver Wings
9. No Reason To Quit
10. Every Fool Has A Rainbow
11. The Fightin’ Side Of Me
The most outlaw of the outlaws. Merle Haggard was one bad hombre. He spent much of his life up to the age of 23 incarcerated, and turned his life around with music after seeing Johnny Cash perform at San Quentin in 1959. How big a star did he become? His first 25 studio albums reached the Country top 10. He had a slew of hits, and was even pardoned for any past crimes he may have committed by then California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1972. Merle, as I said, was one bad hombre. This collection is an absolute gem. It covers the period between 1968 (“Mama Tried”) and 1972 (“Daddy Frank”), and the only thing you might say against it is that it could have easily been twice as long. But it was a number one album, and has been certified platinum for good reason: there is no such thing as too much Merle Haggard.
This was a full decade before Haggard would begin recording with Willie Nelson. But from the start. Merle knew how to write a great song, and he sure knew how to deliver it.
He was political and outspoken, and he channeled his feelings wisely. This little compilation is so important…it’s Haggard at his early best with his band The Strangers stirring things up and building his reputation as one of the few true outlaws of country music. This is eleven tracks of musical bliss, one absolute classic song after another. From his stab at the hippie protesters in “Okie From Muskogee”, to his strong beliefs in standing up for what you believe in (“The Fightin’ Side Of Me”), and songs about prison and work and love and just being who he was, this is just one slice of Merle Haggard that everyone should hear. Because Merle Haggard was, indeed, one bad hombre. No one did it better than he did.
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BLIND MELON
1992 – CAPITOL
Produced By RICK PARASHAR & BLIND MELON
1. Soak The Sun
2. Tones Of Home
3. I Wonder
4. Paper Scratcher
5. Dear Ol’ Dad
6. Change
7. No Rain
8. Deserted
9. Sleepyhouse
10. Holyman
11. Seed To A Tree
12. Drive
13. Time
It’s strange how popular a one hit wonder act can actually become. Blind Melon chose to take a more psychedelic route on their voyage to indie rock stardom, and they hit it big exactly once. Probably no one would have ever heard of Blind Melon at all had it not been for the video for the song “No Rain”, which featured the Bee Girl (see album cover), a hippie rhythm buoyed by psychedelic guitar sounds, and the stoney high vocals of Shannon Hoon. “No Rain” made Blind Melon stars, but there was not a trace of another hit in them. As for their self-titled debut album, it sold a ton of records and got the band some great opening tour slots…all, of course, behind the momentum of “No Rain”. They were better live, but their live shows still generated little interest in the other twelve songs on the album. Why? Because they were all about the same: ordinary.
The best song here not called “No Rain” is “Tones Of Home”, which is heavier but still ultimately forgettable. The rest is a collection of non memorable southern rockish music by a band that sounds like they might be about three quarters of the way inspired. This band has a loyal bunch of fans…they are few and far between, and they will tell you that this is one of the greatest bands ever. It’s not true. This is their best album (they didn’t make many), and it is absolutely subpar. Could they have improved on it? We’ll never know. Their second album (Soup) was marred by Hoon’s descent into drugs, and he died during their 1995 tour. They found a soundalike singer and released a third album in 2008, then fired him and have been mostly inactive for another decade. It’s okay. This band just doesn’t have the songwriting it takes to be more than average at best.
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VAMPIRE WEEKEND
CONTRA
2010 – XL
Produced By ROSTAM BATMANGLIJ
1. Horchata
2. White Sky
3. Holiday
4. California English
5. Taxi Cab
6. Run
7. Cousins
8. Giving Up The Gun
9. Diplomat’s Son
10. I Think Ur A Contra
Continuing their rather strange foray into African and Latin inspired indiepop, Vampire Weekend hit it big with their second album, Contra, in 2010. But here, they prove that they are not only hitmakers, but that they are also not a one trick pony. On this album, they actually improve their sound, and they successfully tryout other kinds of music. On Contra, you’ll hear tracks grounded in synthpop (“Giving Up The Gun”), rave music (“Run”), ska (“Holiday”), and rap (“California English”), alongside tracks like “White Sky”, which sound almost like a Graceland track. Contra has a definite retro feel to it, but it’s also a brave record. Rather than stick to a specific formula that brought them success with their debut, Vampire Weekend put their necks out and make music that’s engaging, bold, and highly entertaining.
And successful. Of the ten tracks on Contra, six were released as singles, and the album debuted at number one in America. The layers of sound created by singer Ezra Koenig and multi instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij are thrilling. There’s some guitar on this album, but not a lot…it’s okay. Vampire Weekend doesn’t need a lot of guitars. They work very well without them. Contra is a really beautiful album, with layers of gorgeous sounds, endlessly catchy melodies, and smooth rhythms. The songs here are exceptionally well written, and it’s not really like anything else being made by any other American band. So, if you’re looking for something that’s a little off the beaten path, yet still very well done, Vampire Weekend may be the band for you. And Contra is not a bad place to start with this band. You might just love this.
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EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL
LOVE NOT MONEY
1985 – SIRE / WARNER BROS.
Produced By ROBIN MILLAR
1. When All’s Well
2. Heaven Help Me
3. Are You Trying To Be Funny?
4. Ugly Little Dreams
5. Shoot Me Down
6. Sean
7. Ballad Of The Times
8. Kid
9. Anytown
10. This Love (Not For Sale)
11. Trouble And Strife
12. Angel
Everything But The Girl was a duo from England consisting of the eventually married couple Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. Their first album was mostly lounge music, an element that was already mostly gone by the time of their second album, Love Not Money. The first track, “When All’s Well”, sounds like it could have been from the debut, but the change after that is almost immediate. Taking advantage of Thorn’s gentle vocals and their ability to write dreamy sounding pop, the duo moves into music that was, in 1985, a breath of fresh air compared to the New Wave, hair metal and dance pop of the day. Different versions were released in America and the UK…the US version is better, thanks to the addition of two tracks: “Heaven Help Me” is a keeper, and maybe the best track here, a subtle and gorgeous cover of Pretenders’ “Kid”.
The final track, “Angel”, is beautiful, showing that when they stretch things out even a little bit, that Watt is capable of creating a solid and lovely landscape. This is definitely the high point of their early career. The duo would have a big hit later on in 1994 with the song ”Missing” (from Amplified Heart), but this period deserves a chance as well. After their 1999 album Temperamental, Everything But The Girl called it a day, with both Watt and Thorn having released solo albums and both have also written a pair of books each. They have not ruled out recording together again, so who knows…there may be some Everything But The Girl music in the future. Love Not Money stands as a nice little piece of 1985, a softer side of a musical landscape that was all over the map and pretty loud. This one is well worth a listen.
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SARAH MCLACHLAN
FUMBLING TOWARDS ECSTASY
1993 – NETTWERK
Produced By PIERRE MARCHAND
1. Possession
2. Wait
3. Plenty
4. Good Enough
5. Mary
6. Elsewhere
7. Circle
8. Ice
9. Hold On
10. Ice Cream
11. Fear
12. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
I must start by admitting that I have a big soft spot for Sarah McLachlan. It’s not because she’s beautiful (she is). It’s not because of her almost suicide inducing commercial spots for saving the animals. And it’s not because she’s Canadian. Sarah McLachlan has a rare gift…she understand how to make gentle music without coming across as sappy or over the top (yes…”Angel” is the exception to that rule). Yes, she does occasionally rock it out a little (“Hold On”, which was a hit on this album, for instance). But the best moments of Sarah McLachlan’s career, and the best moments from her third album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, are those that she approaches with grace. She was already a star in Canada, but this album made her a star everywhere else, and it remains her finest work. “Good Enough” and “Possession” were, along with “Hold On”, hits for McLachlan.
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy contains enough upbeat material to make her big in the States, but it’s ultimately her softer side, as always, that will win you over. She shows off her range on tracks like “Fear”, but her biggest assets are her songwriting skills and her gentle approach to her singing. And that she is able to do it without pushing herself over the edge of becoming boring is exceptional. She has managed varying degrees of success over her career, but Fumbling Towards Ecstasy remains her gem. This is a solid yet fragile collection of sometimes perfect, sometimes not so much performances, but the important thing here is that you do get a healthy does of what makes her such a special talent. She’s made several records since this one, each one very good…but it’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy that remains her best work.
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PAUL OAKENFOLD
SWORDFISH: THE ALBUM
2001 – LONDON-SIRE
Produced By YLIFON
1. Swordfish (Intro)
2. The Word (PMY Remix) – Dope Smugglaz
3. Unafraid (Paul Oakenfold Mix) – Jan Johnston
4. Dark Machine – Paul Oakenfold & Christopher Young
5. New Born (Paul Oakenfold Mix) – Muse
6. Chase – Paul Oakenfold & Christopher Young
7. Harry Houdini – John Travolta
8. Kneel Before Your God – Lemon Jelly
9. Lapdance (Paul Oakenfold Swordfish Mix) (Feat. Lee Harvey &Vita) – N*E*R*D
10. Speed – Paul Oakenfold
11. Planet Rock (Swordfish Mix)
12. Stanley’s Theme – Paul Oakenfold & Christopher Young
13. Password – Paul Oakenfold
14. On Your Mind (Omaha Mix) – Patient Saints
15. Get Out Of My Life Now – Paul Oakenfold & Planet Perfecto
Truth be told, I have never seen the 2001 film “Swordfish”. So, all I have to piece what this film might be about is the soundtrack album by Paul Oakenfold. Based on this album, my conclusions are as follows. The film is most certainly about four people, played by John Travolta, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Hugh Jackman, who are locked in a bowling alley overnight and forced to play a life and death game of Dance Dance Revolution. Of course, that’s not really what the film is about…it’s some kind of bank robbery action flick. Oakenfold himself is a very well known producer and trance DJ, who has done a couple of other soundtracks, three solo albums, and a gang of DJ mixes. Which is basically what this album is…a remix album. But I will tell you this…if the content of the soundtrack is any indication of how the movie plays out, I’m gonna have to pass.
This starts out interestingly enough. Oakenfold’s intro is a spacey dreamlike track with dialogue from Travolta, which moves into “The Word”, which is interspersed with a snippet from the track “Grease Is The Word” from long ago in Travolta’s past. Unfortunately, for the next 14 tracks, this album plays almost like a single track. Because the beats are all pretty much the same, it’s hard to tell when one track ends and another begins, and by the halfway point, you start asking the question: “Is it almost over?”. No…there’s still seven more songs to go. Don’t get me wrong. I believe that Paul Oakenfold is a very talented guy, and a lot of what he does sounds really great. But he really missed the boat on this one. You really can’t expect to make a fifteen track album with basically the same beat on every song and have it to be a success. This is one that simply does not work well at all.
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SPOON
GA GA GA GA GA
2007 – MERGE
Produced By MIKE MCCARTHY, BRITT DANIEL, JIM ENO, JON BRION & SPOON
1. Don’t Make Me A Target
2. The Ghost Of You Lingers
3. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
4. Don’t You Evah
5. Rhthm & Soul
6. Eddie’s Raga
7. The Underdog
8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
9. Finer Feelings
10. Black Like Me
Spoon may just be the least Austin sounding band to have ever come out of Austin. There’s not a trace of country or red dirt or southern sound from these guys at all. They named the band after a song by the Krautrock band CAN, and their sound is more European and psychedelic than anything you’d think would come from Texas. But please allow me a quick rant…if you are a well known artist, and you know that someone will be putting a microphone in front of your face and asking you what the name of your new album will be…do you really want to have to answer “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”? That’s the name of their unfortunately titled sixth album. But the good news is that the title is the worst thing about this. In fact, this is the band’s high point. And while there’s not a lot here that will jump out and command your attention, it’s also a very consistent and well made album.
The centerpiece of this album is “The Underdog”, which was a minor hit and the only single released from the record. But Ga x5 has been viewed as one of the best of the decade of the 2000’s. This is a disc that is brewing with groove and confidence, with fine songwriting and even better playing. Six albums in, Spoon had reached a point where they knew what was working the best for them, and they played to their own strengths. And while these songs individually may not show as much, the album as a whole works quite well. It’s not perfect, but it is also, by no means, average. Spoon is still out there today, making records and fine tuning their take on indie rock. They are often overlooked, which is too bad, because they have a lot more to offer than I think people realize. This album is a great place to start with Spoon.
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