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| Author |
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krj
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Favorite CDs of 1997
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Jan 4 22:50 UTC 1998 |
OK, fellow critic wannabees! It's time to get in those "Best of 1997"
lists. By my rules, it's a 1997 album if you bought it in 1997.
Try to say something about each entry, so this doesn't become just a
dry list of titles.
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| 57 responses total. |
krj
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response 1 of 57:
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Jan 4 22:51 UTC 1998 |
((( Winter '98 Agora #37 linked as Music #106 )))
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krj
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response 2 of 57:
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Jan 4 22:52 UTC 1998 |
Alas, my logging of CD purchases fell apart sometime in the late summer,
and little seemed to be leaving a lasting impression on me.
Off the top of my head:
The Old Joe Clarks, TOWN OF TEN: Country influenced rock, some lovely
bent-note picking, a clear favorite of the year. Not available in
stores, you have to order it from the band.
Tarnation, MIRADOR and GENTLE CREATURES: Two beautiful albums from an
alt-country band steeped in irony and in Sergio Leone spaghetti
western film scores; the singer has a gorgeous voice.
Kim Richey, BITTER SWEET: A reincarnation of 1970's style Bonnie Raitt
- Linda Ronstadt country-flavored pop. Commercial music with
warmth and intelligence.
Vulcheva-Jenkins Incident, CROSS THE DANUBE: A Bulgarian woman singer
and an English folk guitarist got married and had this album, a
charming hybrid.
Steeleye Span, LIVE AT LAST: Reissue of the year? A CD edition for
this 1978 album which closed out the original Steeleye Span's
career. This lineup had Martin Carthy and accordion player John
Kirkpatrick, who elevated the proceedings out of the routine that
Steeleye sometimes fell into towards the late 70s.
If my neurons kick in, there might be some additions later.
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beeswing
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response 3 of 57:
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Jan 4 23:15 UTC 1998 |
Celine Dion's "Let's Talk About Love" is very good, and I used to loathe the
woman. Although most songs are about love, which irritates us single types,
it's not sappy. The song "Love Is On the Way" is encouraging too.
I am dying to get Ani DiFranco's live CD set "Living in Clip". I just love Ani
to death.
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senna
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response 4 of 57:
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Jan 5 00:29 UTC 1998 |
OK Computer, Radiohead. This album is brilliant.
Unfortunately, for the music I listen to, this has been a very weak year for
music releases.
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gerund
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response 5 of 57:
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Jan 5 01:35 UTC 1998 |
A second for OK Computer. However, being the Morrissey fan that I am,
Maladjusted was a long overdue effort.
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rlawson
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response 6 of 57:
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Jan 5 02:04 UTC 1998 |
Re #5: Agreed!
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omni
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response 7 of 57:
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Jan 5 02:06 UTC 1998 |
Time out of Mind by Bob Dylan. It is my second after Bringin it all back
Home. I like the first track, Lovesick, and the last one which escapes me at
present, but is something like 17 minutes long and is cool. I hope to purchase
more of Mr. Dylan's albums in 1998. I also would like to get BB King's Duelin
in the not so distant future.
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mcnally
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response 8 of 57:
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Jan 5 02:43 UTC 1998 |
Spiritualized -- "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space"
Lavishly produced, alternately soothing and shocking songs dealing
directly or peripherally with drug addiction and the writer's ambiguous
relationship with his chemical muse.. Sometimes dreamy, sometimes
depressing, never boring. Highly recommended.
Yo La Tengo -- "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One"
I first started listening to YLT about five years ago and they haven't
produced a bad record during that time (though I didn't much like their
very earliest stuff..) In fact, the stuff they've put out on the last
couple albums has been really good -- until this one, or so I thought
when I first heard it.. It turns out I was fooled by my own
expectations -- this wasn't the album that I expected but now that it's
had a chance to grow on me I quite like it. It's still flawed -- like
most of their stuff it works more as a collection of songs than as a
cohesive album and there are a couple of songs I might've left off
(like the single, "Sugarcube" -- out of place on the album and not up
to their recent standards.. I can forgive its inclusion, though,
because had it not been released they'd probably never have made the
very amusing video that went along with it..) ICHTHBA1 is a quirkier
album than their last couple -- Yo La Tengo newbies might want to start
with semi-recent releases "Painful" or "Elect-o-Pura" instead. Anyone
looking for a sample-sized dose should check out their "Thin Blue Line
Swinger" CD-single for the alternate recording of "Blue Line Swinger"
Favorite band discovery of 1997: Stephen Merritt / the Magnetic Fields
(aka the 6ths, the Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies..) I can't
honestly give their 1997 release (the Future Bible Heroes' "Memories of
Love") any "best of the year awards" though it *is* a good album
(I guess it's probably one of the 10 best 1997-released albums I bought
this year but that's kind of cheating since I don't know that I bought
all that many 1997 albums..) My real recommendations for their stuff
would be for the Magnetic Fields' "Charm of the Highway Strip" (a non-
country-sounding album about very country-music themes..) and to a
lesser extent (enthusiastically but not fanatically recommended) the
2-album release "The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees"
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seppuku
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response 9 of 57:
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Jan 5 03:22 UTC 1998 |
I have to say that OK computer is the crown jewel of my CD collection.
shortly behind that, I have to say that
"Whatever and Ever, Amen" by Ben Folds Five is a damn good album. I
bought it oddly enough on the day after christmas and ended up listening
to it on my discman while walking around that day. I fell in love with
that CD. One of the things that stands out about BFF is that they have no
guitar: the band is a trio *despite the name* consisting of a pianist,
drummer, and bass player.. the lyrics are rather fresh and meaningful,
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birdlady
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response 10 of 57:
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Jan 5 08:48 UTC 1998 |
"Surfacing" - Sarah McLachlan. Her voice and music gets better and better
with each album.
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jep
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response 11 of 57:
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Jan 5 16:23 UTC 1998 |
I gave Garth Brooks "Sevens" to my wife for Christmas. We've both
enjoyed it very much. In particular, the song (which I can't name)
about "This is the song I sing when there's no one around" is both
catchy and entertaining.
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gerund
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response 12 of 57:
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Jan 5 20:53 UTC 1998 |
Re #8 - Yo La tengo, Painful, Nowhere Near. One of the best songs ever.
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llanarth
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response 13 of 57:
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Jan 6 00:27 UTC 1998 |
Sammy Hagar: Marching To Mars
Sammy (like most people on Grex already know) is my favorite musician. MTM
is a better album than any Van Halen or other Sammy Hagar albums. He was great
at the 11 concerts I saw him at in 1997. Wish I'd seen more. For more info
go to http://redrocker.com
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scott
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response 14 of 57:
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Jan 6 02:14 UTC 1998 |
Beck, "Odelay", which might not have been made in 1997, but that is the year
I bought it.
Many spins on the CD player for that one!
There are others, to be sure, but none that really stand out.
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lumen
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response 15 of 57:
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Jan 6 02:22 UTC 1998 |
*sigh*
(lumen jests about having little money to spend on current albums, much less
for outdated albums he wants, and notes that the people on this conference
spend much more time talking about listening to music than making it..)
(insert another complaint that music teachers be too busy to comment on
education here..)
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birdlady
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response 16 of 57:
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Jan 6 02:32 UTC 1998 |
I second the Beck "Odelay" compliment. I love the track "New Pollution".
Lumen - I play the piano/keyboard and sing as many hours a day as I listen
to music.
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omni
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response 17 of 57:
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Jan 6 04:35 UTC 1998 |
I bought both Texas Flood and The Sky is Cryin' by Stevie Ray Vauhan. I just
recently found out that Texas Flood was SRV's debut album and he is very good
on it. The Sky is Cryin is the first one he made after he dropped his drug
habit and he is every bit as good as he ever was. I am so bummed that he is
dead.
I also got Rumble by Link Wray as a christmas present and it's different,
If you don't know him, he was playing in the late 50s and early 60s. I also
beleive he influenced Pete Townshend of The Who. My favorite cut from this
CD is Ace of Spades.
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mcnally
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response 18 of 57:
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Jan 6 06:21 UTC 1998 |
I keep thinking I should buy "Odelay" but every time I've convinced
myself I wind up hearing "Where It's At" on the radio and talk myself
out of it. As the song's radio airplay frequency dwindles it becomes
likely that I'll eventually pick it up for "New Pollution" and "Devil's
Haircut" but on my couple of listens to other people's copies it seemed
like a pretty uneven album. Any standout tracks I've overlooked?
I do like the Beck track on the "Life Less Ordinary" soundtrack, at least
on the first couple of listens..
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scott
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response 19 of 57:
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Jan 6 12:17 UTC 1998 |
Oleay standouts (IMO): Novacaine, Ramshackle, a few others. Odelay is
strange in that it is (to me) pretty good all the way thru. Not that many
albums get that. I like "Where It's At" more these days, although a
performance on some kind of music awards made me hate it for a while.
Lumen: I play a lot of music too, but it doesn't count in this item.
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mary
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response 20 of 57:
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Jan 6 13:51 UTC 1998 |
"Music From a Glass Bead Game".
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anderyn
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response 21 of 57:
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Jan 6 13:54 UTC 1998 |
I just don't know. Too much stuff. Great Big Sea -- Play is the one
most on my player this week, but that doesn't count as it's being my
favorite of 1997.... Hhhhm.
Will get back to this.
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bmoran
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response 22 of 57:
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Jan 6 15:02 UTC 1998 |
I only got a few cds last year.
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Barber-Adagio for strings
Ives-Symphony #3
Copland-Quiet City
Cowell-Hymn and Fuguing tune #10
Creston-A rumor
Hey, what do you know, an all American disk.
I also picked up a used Ambient - Imaginary Landscapes comp double cd.
Over two hours of a great assortment of 'background'
stuff.
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diznave
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response 23 of 57:
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Jan 6 22:00 UTC 1998 |
I picked up Niel Young's _Re-ac-tor_. A classic! The song _T-Bone_ has such
wonderful lines as, "...got mashed potatoes..........ain't got no T-Bone.."
(er, that's Neil)
I got Miles Davis' _Kind Of Blue_ around the beginning of the year, and have
probably listened to it at least once a week every week since I got it.
Absolutely spellbinding album, and by far my favorite music to jam along with
on my alto recorder.
I you were going to guess that my next selection was going to be an Elvis
album, you'd be dead wrong (pun unintentional).
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senna
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response 24 of 57:
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Jan 6 23:24 UTC 1998 |
I love odelay, but not for the standout tracks (whose airplay turns me off
more than anything). It's a splendid album, and every song is a good one.
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