Top Guy
1) Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair
When this record came out, I couldn’t decide if I wanted Liz Phair to be my cool sister or my even cooler girlfriend. Sadly, Phair never again matched the excellence of Exile, which is supposedly a track-by-track answer to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street. The highlights are “Stratford-On-Guy,” “Divorce Song” and “Help Me Mary,” but every song is a gem.
2) Bee Thousand, Guided by Voices
GBV didn’t reach its commercial height until Isolation Drills, but the Dayton, Ohio, band reached its artistic peak here. Bee Thousand is the album that brought lo-fi into the mainstream, and songwriters Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout turned a collection of two minute pop songs into a work of art.
3) Superchunk, Superchunk
No Pocky for Kitty is consistently better, but Superchunk’s eponymous debut scores here because of “Slack Motherf**er,” possibly the best song the group ever wrote, and a song that should have served as the anthem of the Reality Bites generation.
4) Mass Romantic, New Pornographers
I used to work as a music critic, a job that makes you listen to so much bad work that you actually start hating music from time to time. It was at one of those low points that I first heard Mass Romantic, and it restored my faith in the art form.
5) Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement
If someone ever asked me what indie rock sounded like in the early ‘90s, I would hand them this record.
Top Lady
1) What’s Up Matador, Various Artists
Everyone, and I mean everyone I knew in college had this compilation when it came out in 1997. And, with stellar tracks by Matador all-stars, as well as sweet little one-tracks by bands whose whole albums you really don’t want to buy (Pizzicato Five, anyone?) it’s a great dip into an era and sound when electric guitars were still the tool of choice over bloops and bleeps.
2) If You're Feeling Sinister, Belle and Sebastian
Twee core was around well before B&S (see also: Beat Happening), but these moody Scots certainly ushered in the trend of inviting all 16 of your friends to be in your band and play random instruments. Stuart Murdoch’s pleasant, Nick Drake-y voice, ambiguously sensual lyrics, and no identifiable photos in the CD cover intrigued millions of fans and critics alike.
3) Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Pavement
If someone ever asked me what indie rock sounded like in the early ‘90s, I would hand them this record.
4) And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, Yo La Tengo
YLT has been around forever, played with everyone, and covered everyone. That said, when they get together and do their own thing, they can crank out the lo-fi like no one else. “Our Way to Fall” is a truly beautiful forgotten love song, and “You Can Have It All” lets you know that mellow groovin’ is still possible in the 2000’s.
5) Mass Romantic, The New Pornographers
I first heard of the NP’s when someone in Chicago told me she saw them last night and people were dancing. For those of you who didn’t go to rock shows in 1999, this was the equivalent of saying that the Supreme Court had just delivered its most recent opinion to the tune of “Hello Dolly!” People did not dance at shows. People looked at their shoelaces with their arms crossed. For me, these power poppers from Canada, along with the Strokes, truly ended the grunge/slacker movement once and for all, and ushered in the 2000’s with a really joyful approach to music that allowed bands to look like they were having fun again.
When this record came out, I couldn’t decide if I wanted Liz Phair to be my cool sister or my even cooler girlfriend. Sadly, Phair never again matched the excellence of Exile, which is supposedly a track-by-track answer to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street. The highlights are “Stratford-On-Guy,” “Divorce Song” and “Help Me Mary,” but every song is a gem.
2) Bee Thousand, Guided by Voices
GBV didn’t reach its commercial height until Isolation Drills, but the Dayton, Ohio, band reached its artistic peak here. Bee Thousand is the album that brought lo-fi into the mainstream, and songwriters Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout turned a collection of two minute pop songs into a work of art.
3) Superchunk, Superchunk
No Pocky for Kitty is consistently better, but Superchunk’s eponymous debut scores here because of “Slack Motherf**er,” possibly the best song the group ever wrote, and a song that should have served as the anthem of the Reality Bites generation.
4) Mass Romantic, New Pornographers
I used to work as a music critic, a job that makes you listen to so much bad work that you actually start hating music from time to time. It was at one of those low points that I first heard Mass Romantic, and it restored my faith in the art form.
5) Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement
If someone ever asked me what indie rock sounded like in the early ‘90s, I would hand them this record.
Top Lady
1) What’s Up Matador, Various Artists
Everyone, and I mean everyone I knew in college had this compilation when it came out in 1997. And, with stellar tracks by Matador all-stars, as well as sweet little one-tracks by bands whose whole albums you really don’t want to buy (Pizzicato Five, anyone?) it’s a great dip into an era and sound when electric guitars were still the tool of choice over bloops and bleeps.
2) If You're Feeling Sinister, Belle and Sebastian
Twee core was around well before B&S (see also: Beat Happening), but these moody Scots certainly ushered in the trend of inviting all 16 of your friends to be in your band and play random instruments. Stuart Murdoch’s pleasant, Nick Drake-y voice, ambiguously sensual lyrics, and no identifiable photos in the CD cover intrigued millions of fans and critics alike.
3) Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Pavement
If someone ever asked me what indie rock sounded like in the early ‘90s, I would hand them this record.
4) And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, Yo La Tengo
YLT has been around forever, played with everyone, and covered everyone. That said, when they get together and do their own thing, they can crank out the lo-fi like no one else. “Our Way to Fall” is a truly beautiful forgotten love song, and “You Can Have It All” lets you know that mellow groovin’ is still possible in the 2000’s.
5) Mass Romantic, The New Pornographers
I first heard of the NP’s when someone in Chicago told me she saw them last night and people were dancing. For those of you who didn’t go to rock shows in 1999, this was the equivalent of saying that the Supreme Court had just delivered its most recent opinion to the tune of “Hello Dolly!” People did not dance at shows. People looked at their shoelaces with their arms crossed. For me, these power poppers from Canada, along with the Strokes, truly ended the grunge/slacker movement once and for all, and ushered in the 2000’s with a really joyful approach to music that allowed bands to look like they were having fun again.
2 comments:
This blog just gained a whole lot of respect from me with this list. I can't find much wrong with either list (except that Bee Thousand was released on Scat, not Matador). It may require a response on lim. Thanks for this.
That was a stupid mistake. I went back and forth between Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, so just slide in the latter and everything still holds true.
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