John's Top Ten of 1998

I've waited until nearly the last minute of 1998 to decide on my best for the past year, but here it is. For what it's worth.

Robert Wegmann, Red Hair
Far and away my favourite for 1998. An excellent EP (or mini-album) in which Mr. Wegmann turns from straight Beach Boys and Beatles inspired pop to something a little grander. Elements of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel pop up in these rich tableaux of sound, with bits of world musicks thrown in as connecting passages. Mr. Wegmann has taken up the Stick and married a concert accordionist from Russia, both of which feature prominently in this recording. Really, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Mail order from Fumiko Records (http://mayflyglimmer.com/).
L'affaire Louis Trio, Mobilis in Mobile
Okay, so this one's from 1993, but I didn't discover it until this year, and I've played it quite a bit. I suppose it would help to understand French, but so far I've enjoyed the album quite enough in my ignorance. My sister tells me they sound like XTC. I suppose they do, in that they mine that vein of power pop, but their influences are more varied than that. In any case, I have been playing this one a lot lately.
Brian Wilson, Imagination
The production is a bit on the cheesy side, but Mr. Wilson writes and sings some great songs here. And it's not all nice. He plays with the production for a bit of the ugly underneath, especially on the album closer "Happy Days".
Nick Heyward, The Apple Bed
Not as good as his previous, Tangled, this one is still chock full of Beatles and 80s pop inspired tracks. Mr. Heyward may wear his influences on his sleeve, so that one can list them easily (The Jam, The Beatles, XTC, My Bloody Valentine...) but his melodies are infectious, his performances are convincing, and his lyrics are never trite, though they may lean that way. Basically a good solid listen. And this album contains one of my favorite tracks of this year, "The Man You Used To Be".
Chalkhills' Children '98
Perhaps there's a little bias involved, or perhaps it is, as has been said, that this album is the best we can do until the new XTC album comes out. In any case, CC98 is the third in a series of XTC tributes compiled and performed by subscribers to Chalkhills, the official XTC fans 'net mailing list. And it is by far the best of the series. This tribute contains some excellent interpretations of XTC songs. (For ordering details, see http://chalkhills.org/product/children98.html)
Slapp Happy, Ça Va
Yes, it's true. Slapp Happy reunited for an album, after more than 20 years. And it's a good one. Dagmar Krause, Peter Blegvad, and Anthony Moore have definitely not been sleeping for those intervening years. And yet they have managed to remain both outside the mainstream and interesting. Another of my favorite tracks of this year are on this album ("Scarred for Life").
Yazbek, Tock
This Yazbek guy is a nut. A nut who writes some twisted and eminently hummable pop. Ya gotta love songs like "Tool Calendar Girl" and "Here Come The Ducks".
The Negro Problem, Post Minstrel Syndrome
Not without its problems, this disc had its share of memorable melodies. I usually programmed out the "bonus tracks", but nonetheless this album spent a lot of time in the player.
The Bevis Frond, North Circular
This double album has some of Mr. Frond's best work in a few years, but it's also sprawling and overwhelming. And has one of the best rants I've heard in ages (since Ice-T's "This One's For Me", perhaps). And the live gig at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco was one of the best of this year. Nick Saloman's electric dulcimer solo had to be heard (and seen) to be believed. (P.S. I was joking when I said "Mr. Frond".)

And honorable mentions go to the following:

Happy Rhodes, Many Worlds are Born Tonight
The Eels, Electro-Shock Blues
Mary Lou Lord, Got No Shadow
Clockwise, Clockwise
National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest 97
Orchestraville, Orchestraville

Happy New Year!


Back to John Relph's Decade in Music

2 November 2005 / John Relph