Best Albums of 1999

First, my choices for the best albums released in 1999 (or close enough to 1999 to make no never mind)...

Fountains of Wayne, Utopia Parkway

Fun. Fun is the word. This is an amazing slice of Americana pop for people who are in high school now or were in high school in the '70s. Excellent production, glossy but grungy. Nice harmonies, hummable melodies, references to bands you loved and hated. And some cutting lyrics. Oh yes.

XTC, Apple Venus Volume 1

After waiting for this album for seven years, it was a bit of a letdown. Yet on repeated listenings the album holds up and holds its own. AV1 continues where 1992's Nonsuch leaves off, hard in the orchestral vein yet with little in the way of power drumming and electric guitar strumming. But why talk about it?! Just go listen to it.

The Auteurs, How I Learned To Love The Bootboys

This one took a while to grow on me. It's quietly subversive, unlike the Baader Meinhof album which spits in your face. Bootboys takes bits and pieces of new wave, disco and MOR pop and uses them to ignite a slow flame, and then it's too late. You've been burned.

The Frank and Walters, Beauty Becomes More Than Life

I was worried these guys had run out of steam after the release of their previous, Grand Parade, but something seems to have kicked them in their collective butts. Someone sure got kicked and I think it was a passionate relationship, because these songs are not the songs of happy love, daisies in the field. They are dark and intense, angry and yet uplifting. Musically, the hip hop movement seems to have infected these guys. This album is a big step from their previous.

Rachmaninoff, A Window in Time II

In the early part of the last century, Sergei Rachmaninoff worked with a company that produced piano rolls for home entertainment, "recording" performances of many of his signature pieces, including works by Chopin and Liszt, Schubert and Tchaikovsky. Using advanced mathematical processes, these piano rolls were painstaking translated to the digital medium and then were played back on a modern Bösendorfer concert grand. The results are nothing short of amazing. If you enjoy classical piano, you simply must have both volumes of A Window in Time.

Owsley, Owsley

Straightforward power pop, obviously influenced by XTC and less obviously influenced by The Cars, Jason Falkner, Seals and Crofts, and a host of others. This one has been stuck in the player lately.

Joy Zipper, Joy Zipper

One of the oddest releases I heard last year. It's a bit like My Bloody Valentine meets, well, well, I'm not sure who. Breathy male and female vocals, songs of love, dreamy days, wobbly melodies and feedback add up to a long player that can be played long.

John Linnell, State Songs

Bluntly said, this is like a return to the early They Might Be Giants sound, before they became a Big Rock Band. Highly enjoyable.

Anton Barbeau, Antology Vol. 1

It must be said that Anton Barbeau is a nut. That said, he also makes me smile, and he has a great sense of melody and pop construction. He also puts on a great live show. I had the privilege to catch two shows last year, very different in style, the first a loose semi-acoustic show, the second a very tight electric set. Both were excellent and left me wanting more. Pick up his new album A Splendid Tray while you're at it.

Jason Falkner, Can You Still Feel?

I found this a bit disappointing after his first album, but it was still one of the best of the year.

David Sylvian, Dead Bees on a Cake

There are a few standout tracks on this one, notably the opener "I Surrender", and although overall it makes a good listening experience, I was still a bit disappointed.

Matthew Sweet, In Reverse

The Critics loved this one, but I didn't find it as catchy and concise as his previous, Blue Sky On Mars, which The Critics panned. Go figure.

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Spanish Dance Troupe

This one has slowly been growing on me, until at this point in the year 2000 I would put it above many others on this list. But at the end of 1999 I didn't like it as much as I do now. Contains the hit, "Poodle Rockin'". Fans of early Camper Van Beethoven and middle-period Pink Floyd (think "Obscured By Clouds") should enjoy this record. I know I do.

John Paul Jones, Zooma

I like this album less the more I listen to it. Still, at the time I made this list I thought it was pretty good. It has a couple of nice tracks and a bunch of weird ones. I have to admire Mr. Jones for making a record which does not sound like Led Zeppelin.

The Bevis Frond, Live (at Great American Music Hall)

This album captures the Frond at their best, a live three-piece psychedelic electric folk extravaganza! How Nick Salomon can sing his epic works without forgetting a word or missing a beat is beyond me, but he does it and he did it on every song that night. How do I know? I was there. His electric Appalachian dulcimer solo was a sight to hear.

Mandy Barnett, I've Got a Right to Cry

Not as good as Patsy Cline, but she's close. If you love Ms. Cline's music and want to hear something like it, get this one.

Vanessa Daou, Dear John Coltrane,

Putting it bluntly, this is a f*** record. Light the candles, open a bottle of wine, and get close. This one has soul.

Best reissues and compilations of 1999:

Louis Philippe, A Kiss in the Funhouse

Although I don't include this with the best albums of 1999 because it's a collection of songs from earlier albums, it's still the best thing I listened to all year. Get it. Now. If you enjoy sophisticated pop music in the vein of Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys, XTC, and Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, then you'll love Louis Philippe.

Mutantes, A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado

This, the third album by this unequalled Brazilian psychedelic band, might be the most interesting of their three albums. It certainly has some of the best jams. Mutantes were active in Brazil in the late '60s and early '70s, and their music combines Brasiliero beats with English psychedelic influences, notably the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Amazing stuff, even if you don't speak Portuguese (which I don't).

The Beatles, Yellow Submarine Songtrack

I like this a lot, but at the same time I dislike it. I like it because it's nice to have all these songs in one package, and the sound is pristine and clear. The new mixes are very well done. But, and this is the catch, the new mixes are also sterile and modern. They lack the simplicity and inventiveness of the originals, and in some ways sound like the worst the '90s had to offer. Big mixes aren't always better. The rough edges are smoothed, and they are less interesting as a result. That said, this is definitely my son's favorite record.

Martin Newell, The Wayward Genius of Martin Newell

An excellent collection of tracks by Martin Newell, The Brotherhood Of Lizards, and The Cleaners From Venus. If you can't find The Off White Album and the other releases by The Cleaners, then you need this. Ah, heck, you need this anyway.

Other listened to albums of 1999:

Komeda, What Makes It Go?

I love this. There are some great tracks. There lots of good blips and bleeps. Only one blooper track on it.

Baader Meinhof, Baader Meinhof

Scary stuff. Very retro and very subversive. Contains my fave track from last year: "There's Gonna Be An Accident".

Duffy, I Love My Friends

I played this one a lot. Some people might tire of him relentlessly singing of his own experiences, but the songs feel true, and the playing is excellent.

The Fraternal Order of the All, Greetings From Planet Love

If you like The Dukes Of Stratosphere, then you need this one.

Steve Vai, Flex-Able Leftovers

Finally.

Louis Philippe, Jackie Girl

More sophisticated adult pop.

Beach Boys, Smile

This is the version from the web. Unfortunately, the pages seem to have disappeared. Suffice it to say that this is a CD-R burned from MP3s which attempt to document the album that Brian Wilson never made. Good stuff.

Massive Attack, Mezzanine

I'm still chewing on this one.

Happy Rhodes, Many Worlds are Born Tonight

Are you happy? Have you ever been happy?

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