John's Best Albums of 1994

I've decided to join the last-minute rush before New Years' instant.

Here's my best albums of 1994 list. As you can probably tell, my tastes don't tend towards standard ecto-fodder. But enough excuses, here's the list:

Sam Phillips, Martinis & Bikinis

Excellent vocals, interesting music, mistakes, weird noises, spontaneity, good lyrics, varied production. And a great show at the Great American Music Hall. Overall the most captivating release of 1994.

Blur, Parklife

I just love power brit-pop: The Beatles, XTC, Talk Talk, for example. This album sounds like XTC, Gang of Four, The Buzzcocks, Splodgenessabounds (remember "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please"?), Human League, Missing Persons, and others, all rolled into one great pop ball. And it's fun! Fun and funny.

Morphine, Cure For Pain

Dark and moody. Jennie couldn't take this one out of the player all year. I like the wah-wah sax and slide two-string electric bass guitar. A different sound.

The Auteurs, Now I'm a Cowboy

More power pop. Great lyrics supported by excellent melodies and harmonies, nice guitar work, prominent 'cello parts, and good production values as well. A stinging indictment of the class system in England? You make the call. Great in concert as well. The only downer was the video for "Lenny Valentino", which was unwatchable.

K. McCarty, Dead Dog's Eyeball (The Songs of Daniel Johnston)

The singer from Glass Eye (now defunct, from Austin, TX) takes weirdo songwriter Daniel Johnston's songs and re-works them. Each piece gets a new and different setting. Musical styles galore, usually a very good match to the mood of the song. And Ms. McCarty's got a great voice, not too smooth, not too rough, an undimmed rough diamond. Great production and electric fuzz fretless bass work by ex-Glass Eye member Brian Beatty. One of the underground finds of the year.

Meat Puppets, Too High To Die

My sister insists these guys are the greatest band in the world. I wouldn't be so daring as to make that suggestion, but they are definitely in the pantheon of modern American rock bands. This album as usual rocks all over the place from slow waltzes to hard and fast grunge thrash. And the lyrics are as weird as can be expected. "We Don't Exist" even makes sense! (I think it's a song about the Meat Puppets' career and market presence.) Good video, too!

Altan, Island Angel

This album has some of the best Irish fiddle tunes I've heard in a long time, with nice arrangements and virtuosic performances. A couple of well-sung songs as well (and this from a man who doesn't like most Irish songs). Learn the tunes, let's get together and play.

Adrian Belew, Here

Belew returns to his tried and true solo album technique: he plays all the instruments and sings all the vocal parts. And it works. Nice photo in the liner notes as well. Belew is still getting better, especially when he isn't trying for slickness.

Jane Siberry, When I Was a Boy

A classic. I really like the Eno-produced pieces and the drum loop songs. I could listen to "Temple" and "All The Candles In The World" over and over. And I did. They're both on mix tapes for the car. There are a couple of turnoffs however, the meandering "Incarnadine" topping the list.

They Might Be Giants, John Henry

What might have been an awesome album is merely great. The patented weirdness of TMBG is toned down somewhat by the "rock band" format of the record, and their concerts were a tad cliched (where's that accent when I need it?) But the songwriting is still good and the songs show it. A few classics on this album, but a little inconsistent.

Those are the top ten for the year. Honorable mention goes to the following:

Velo-Deluxe, Superelastic

Guitarer and singer from Blake Babies makes good. This is a great album, much better than either of the Antenna records. And Strohm's been listening to My Bloody Valentine, methinks.

Happy Rhodes, Building the Colossus

Another inconsistent record, but the high points are way up there. I love "Collective Heart" and "Down, Down", and "Omar" grabbed my ears (and wouldn't let them go) on first listen. A few other good tracks but a few not so good.

Martin Newell, The Greatest Living Englishman

The production could be better on this record but the songs are great. Newell is a hidden treasure.

Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World

A compilation album which runs the gamut from bad to excellent. XTC's "Cherry In Your Tree" is easily the highlight, and there are a few other nice tracks as well. Unfortunately, there are also a few losers.

The Cleaners From Venus, Golden Cleaners

Martin Newell's first band, collected in this well-chosen compilation. Very English, very good.

Adrian Belew, The Acoustic Adrian Belew

Pared down, mostly acoustic guitars and vocals, minimal overdubs. Very nice.

Cud, Showbiz

Yet another inconsistent album. Cud can be brilliant, but some of their best songs don't make it onto their albums. Witness "1.W.G.S.", only found on their Neurotica single, easily the best song they've done in the last couple of years.

Portastatic, I Hope Your Heart is Not Brittle

Portastatic wowed me with their (actually his, he being Mac Macaughey of Superchunk) single on John Flansburgh's (of TMBG) Hello label. This album is in the same vein, not quite as stellar. Some quiet acoustic numbers and some psychedelic electric meanderings. (And I absolutely hate Superchunk.)

The Christmas, Vortex

This album had a hard time being born, and it shows.

Dead Can Dance, Toward The Within

Good, but too many simple ballads from Frank, er, I mean Brendan.

Esquivel, Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music

Throw away that monophonic hi-fi, and get into the hip sounds of the new world of stereophonic sound! Pour yourself a martini and enjoy this wacky mixture of experimental production and latin flavoured big band music. Pow!

Palm Fabric Orchestra, Vague Gropings In The Slip Stream

The title sums it up. Sometimes beauty is found, but often just vague.

So that's it. There were a lot of others almost worth mentioning. Send me e-mail if you're interested. Happy New Year!

-- John

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