Time Machine: Ten Favourite Albums from 1993

Alright, so this post was originally intended to be posted in late 2013, but, well, never quite came together in time.  There were a lot of mentions in the music press in 2013 of bands commemorating the 20th anniversaries of some of their releases.  That got me thinking: 1993 was a pretty good year for music.  So I've put together a list of some of my favourite albums released during a year that fell smack in the middle of my musical coming of age.

As an companion piece to this post, listen to the LafMusik: The 1993 Mix while you read.

LafMusik: The 1993 Mix by Lafmusik on Mixcloud

Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion

Favourite Tracks: 'I Feel You', 'Condemnation', 'Mercy In You', 'Higher Love'

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Favourite Tracks: 'Cherub Rock', 'Hummer', 'Rocket', 'Mayonaise'

U2 - Zooropa

Favourite Tracks: 'Zooropa', 'Numb', 'Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car', 'Dirty Day' 

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish

Favourite Tracks: 'For Tomorrow', 'Advert', 'Chemical World', 'Oily Water'

The Verve - A Storm In Heaven

Favourite Tracks: 'Star Sail', 'Slide Away', 'Already There', 'Blue'

Suede - Suede

Favourite Tracks: 'Animal Nitrate', 'Moving', 'Pantomime Horse', 'Metal Mickey', 'Animal Lover'

Nirvana - In Utero

Favourite Tracks: 'Scentless Apprentice', 'Heart-Shaped Box', 'Pennyroyal Tea', 'Rape Me', 'All Apologies'

Catherine Wheel - Chrome

Favourite Tracks: 'Crank', 'Broken Head', 'The Nude', 'Pain'

Duran Duran - Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)

Favourite Tracks: 'Too Much Information', 'Ordinary World', 'Come Undone', 'Femme Fatale'

The Breeders - Last Splash

Favourite Tracks: 'Cannonball', 'Invisible Man', 'Saints', 'I Just Wanna Get Along'

LafMix

As a teenager, I used to love creating mix tapes for myself and for friends and now I'm going to try doing it in the digital realm.  As a brand new addition to the written blog, I've created a Cloudcast on Mixcloud.  For the inaugural installment, it's a "Best Of" of sorts and features some of my favourite songs released in 2013.  Be sure to follow me there as I'll be posting more mixes in the future.  Feel free to send me your comments and song requests.

LafMusik - January 2014 Mix by Lafmusik on Mixcloud

Have You Heard: KAISER CHIEFS - 'Bows & Arrows'

Leeds' Kaiser Chiefs are back with another preview from their forthcoming fifth album Education, Education, Education and War.  Back in December they gave us the first sampling in the form of 'Misery Company' (which you can check out below along with a trailer for the new album).  Now, you check out 'Bows & Arrows'.  The album is the first to feature new drummer Vijay Mistry who replaced founding member and chief (pun not intended but welcome) songwriter Nick Hodgson.

Ear Candy From The Distant Past...2013

Another year has come to a close and once again, thank you to everyone who stops by the blog to check out my ramblings (even if they were quite sparse this past year).  While I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked when it comes to posting stuff, I have had the time to find and enjoy some great albums and songs that were released in 2013.  

SULK - Graceless

If 2013 should be remembered for anything, it's the wealth of great new bands that released debut albums.  One such band is London's SULK.  Their debut Graceless is chock-full of swirling guitars and pounding drums.  With the production duties handled by veterans Ed Buller (he produced Suede's first three albums) and Marc Waterman (he produced Ride's debut Nowhere), it's no surprise this album sounds like a lost gem from the early 90s.  

Standout tracks: Back In Bloom, Flowers, Marian Shrine, The Big Blue

SUEDE - Bloodsports

What a difference a decade makes.  In 2003, Suede limped to the finish line after the previous years A New Morning failed to do anything except disappoint.  Fast forward to 2013 and the release of Bloodsports.  Spiritually, this is the true follow up to 1996's Coming Up.  Suede are back and are clearly refreshed and refocussed.  This surely has to be the blueprint for how a reunion album is done. 

Standout tracks: Barriers, It Starts And Ends With You, Hit Me, Sometimes I Feel I'll Float Away

TRIPWIRES - Spacehopper

Yet another new band who released a dandy of a record this year.  Even though Spacehopper is a relatively recent discovery by yours truly, it quickly jumped into my most played and loved albums of the year.  Spacehopper is a psychedelic, sweaping and cinematic tour de force.  Frankly, this is the type of album Radiohead should be making.  They're not, so thankfully, we have Tripwires.  

Standout tracks: Spacehopper, A Feedback Loop Of Laughter, Shimmer

JOHNNY MARR - The Messenger

The Messenger might be ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr's first proper solo album, but it is packed with everything you would expect.  Marr is thirty years into his career but you wouldn't know it to listen to this record.  While most artists that far into their career deliver a safe, watered down version of their former selves, the songs on The Messenger have the energy and originality that a lot of up and coming bands wish they had.  

Standout tracks: The Right Thing Right, Upstarts, Lockdown, Generate! Generate!

PEACE - In Love

There hasn't been a record that has made me feel like a teenager again in quite a while.  In Love did.  It is a near perfect record that was a breathe of fresh air from the indie for the sake of being indie pastiche that seems to dominate "alternative" radio.  In Love oozes swagger and confidence and the songwriting shows a maturity well beyond the age of its creators.  

Standout tracks: Lovesick, Follow Baby, Float Forever, Sugarstone

MILES KANE - Don't Forget Who You Are

For his sophomore album, Miles Kane enlisted former Lightning Seed frontman Ian Broudie to produce.  The result is a winning combination of in your face, bombastic rockers and tender, vulnerable ballads.  Kane's songwriting seems to have a new found confidence, and collaborations with the Modfather Paul Weller and former XTC man Andy Partridge I'm sure didn't hurt.  Now about that second Last Shadow Puppets record?

Standout tracks: Don't Forget Who You Are, Better Than That, Darkness In Our Hearts, Out Of Control

Honourable mention: Primal Scream - More Light, The Fauns - Lights, Exit Calm - The Future Isn't What It Used To Be, Arctic Monkeys - AM, My Bloody Valentine - MBV, Editors -  The Weight Of Your Love

Who The F#%k Are: Tripwires

Some bands deserve to be so much bigger than they are.  Such is the case for Reading, England's Tripwires.  Luckily for them, time is on their side and if the quality of the songs on their debut Spacehopper are any indication, look out!

Tripwires list influences ranging from Neil Young and Yo La Tengo to the Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth.  While certain influences are more apparent on Spacehopper than others, there is no denying that Tripwires have crafted a brilliant debut full of just enough of the loud/quiet dynamic and an endless supply of soaring choruses.  

tripwires.co.uk

Retro Revisit: Suede at Rockpalast - 1997

Check out Suede performing a full set on German television show Rockpalast on March 30th, 1997 shortly after Brett Anderson cut his (then famous) fringe.  

Have You Heard: KINGS OF LEON - 'Supersoaker'

It's definitely Kings Of Leon...

Have You Heard: SUEDE - 'Hit Me'

For the video for the second single from their comeback album Bloodsports, Suede have decided to represent a very youthful emotion: break shit.  

Yes, the music video for 'Hit Me' doesn't feature the band (except for a brief appearance) but it does feature two people hellbent on defacing everything in their path, until it is revealed that they are in fact their very own art instillation.  Interestingly, it bears a passing resemblance to the video for Suede's 1999 single 'Can't Get Enough'.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday OK Computer

Radiohead's OK Computer was released on this day in 1997.  Sometimes considered the band's magnum opus, the Dark Side Of The Moon of it's generation, while others consider it the final act in Radiohead's guitar trilogy, the last time the band really "rawked".  

I was in my late teens and about to graduate from high school when OK Computer was released and, along with Foo Fighters' The Colour And The Shape and Longpigs' The Sun Is Often Out, it was the soundtrack of the summer of 1997.  

I saw Radiohead for the first time in concert that summer.  No one of their stature (both in coolness and actual record sales) came to Ottawa in those days.  That event is something I'm convinced I will be telling my children about when they discover Radiohead for themselves ("I remember seeing them in concert in the summer of '97...").  Teenage Fanclub were the opening band.  I couldn't tell you the setlist though, I was too busy... taking it all in.  I do remember I was to the right of the stage and that it was a wall of noise (I wouldn't have had it any other way).  

There was something about the way OK Computer sounded that was so enthralling.  It was guitar music sure(which you might remember was kind of popular in the 90s), but it was guitar music from another planet or another time.  Like something the Doctor had accidentally transported back in time inside the Tardis.  

While I've been a fan of Radiohead for many years, I can say without a second thought that OK Computer was the last Radiohead album I thoroughly enjoyed from front to back.  While I like most of their output since (except The King Of Limbs, where were the songs?), OK Computer continually transports me back to the summer of 1997 and because of that it will remain one of my favourite albums of all time.  

Have You Heard: TEMPLES - 'Colours To Life'

Kettering, England's Temples, haven't even released their debut album (that's expected in early 2014), however, along with TOY and what seems like most of the current Heavenly Recordings roster, they are leading the charge of the Psychedelic revival.   

The follow up single to 2012's brilliant 'Shelter Song/Prisms' 7" is 'Colours To Life'.  While the video again makes use of kaleidoscope effects and a live band performance, the song is a little more dreamy, all the while still making good use of Byrds-esque guitars and Bolan-esque vocals.  Check it out below.

Retro Revisit: Verve at Camden Town Hall - 1992

Check out The Verve (when they were known simply as Verve) at a pre A Storm In Heaven gig on October 23rd, 1992 in all their shoegaze psychedelic grandeur.  

Have You Heard: PEACE - 'Lovesick'

Birmingham, England's Peace released their debut album In Love back in mid-March (an album review will follow, I swear).  It is, so far, one of my favourite albums of 2013 and is a brilliant debut from the young band.

The third single (fourth if you count Record Store Day release 'California Daze') from In Love is 'Lovesick', easily the catchiest song in the fold.  The video appears to be a loose continuation of the video for debut single 'Wraith'.  In any event, the song is a candy coated slice of 90's Britpop perfection dropped smack into the present.

Thanks for reading!

Who The F#%k Are: The Strypes

The Strypes are an Irish rhythm and blues quartet formed in 2011.  After a few tweaks to their line up, the band released an EP entitled Young Gifted & Blue in 2012, which raised their profile significantly.  Dave Grohl, Sir Elton John, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher are all fans.  In fact, the band are signed to John's management company.  Did I mention that the average age of the band is sixteen years old?  

The band are currently working on a debut album with highly-acclaimed record producer Chris Thomas (whose credits include The Beatles, Sex Pistols, Inxs and Pulp).  In the meantime, their debut single 'Blue Collar Jane' is available on iTunes and you can watch the video below.  

Thanks for reading!

Who The F#%k Are: Big Skies

Berlin based four-piece, Big Skies describe themselves as "psychedelic Britpop" (a term that immediately piqued my interest).  Formed by lifelong friends James Cubitt (vocals/guitar), Adam Neal (bass/vocals) and Jack Wharton (guitar/vocals) in late 2011, the trio left the claustrophobic London scene for the more artistically satisfying confines of Berlin where they met Canadian drummer Alexander Cumming.  

While they list influences such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Cure, there are also echoes of Going Blank Again-era Ride and, of course, the mid-90s Britpop explosion.

You could say the sky's the limit (too predictable?) for this up-and-coming band.  They have just played their biggest gig to date, opening for Palma Violets.  As of this writing, Big Skies only have three songs available on their Soundcloud page, my favourite being 'Stay Alive', which you can hear below.  Here's hoping for more.

bigskiesofficial.com

Thanks for reading.

Album Review: SUEDE - BLOODSPORTS

Most times when a band with a substantial back catalogue claim their new album is "their best yet" or a cross between two of their most well received efforts, it usually turns out to be either not the case at all or an overhyped mess.  Suede's "comeback" album Bloodsports finds the band picking up where they left off circa 1996's Coming Up.  In essence, this is the follow up that Head Music just wasn't.

Bloodsports opens with a trifecta of songs ('Barriers', 'Snowblind', and first single 'It Starts And Ends With You') that are better than anything on 2002's A New Morning.  Clearly, it wasn't only the fans who had a bad taste left in their mouths by that release.  'Sabotage' is soaked in gothic glamour and 'Hit Me' is a glam pop rocker.  'Sometimes I Feel I'll Float Away' taps into the spirit of 1992's b-side 'To The Birds'.

Bloodsports isn't perfect.  It does come close, were it not for a couple of ballads ('Always' and 'Faultlines') that end the album with a whimper rather than the bang it begins with.  That said, Bloodsports is a great return to form.  Here's hoping for more!

Standout tracks: 'It Starts And Ends With You', 'Hit Me' and 'Sometimes I Feel I'll Float Away'

Have You Heard: Primal Scream - '2013'

Primal Scream are back with the first taste of their upcoming "more rock" new album More Light.  The fittingly titled '2013' features the guitar stylings of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields.  '2013' will be available on February 25th as a digital single with the full album arriving on May 6th.  

Check out the somewhat disturbing video for '2013' below.

Thanks for reading!

Who The F#%k Are: Wild Belle

I've been on a Songza kick lately.  It's a great service.  Sometimes I know exactly what I want to listen to, other times, not so much.  That's when I defer to the Songza music concierge.  Tonight, I was looking for something a little downtempo, to unwind and read a bit.  Boom!  Into my lap falls a great band from Chicago, Wild Belle.  Needless to say, I didn't end up reading at all (hence what you're reading).

This brother-and-sister due have a sound that's a mix of Specials and English Beat grooves and Santigold meets Lana Del Rey vocals.  And how about that sax? Killer!  The fact that they're from Chicago was a complete but pleasant surprise.  They only have two songs released at the moment, but a debut album, Isles, is slated for release on March 12th.  So get on your best pork-pie hat and braces on and check out Wild Belle.

Thanks for reading!

Suede Are Back In A Big Way

Yesterday saw the release of the first official single from Suede's upcoming Bloodsports album.  After an eleven year hiatus, 'It Starts and Ends With You' is a return to form for the Britpop veterans.  The video goes for the age old standby of soundstage performance, but at this point, I'm just happy to have new Suede music that doesn't sound like anything on A New Morning.    While this is the first "official" release from the record, we've already been treated to the album track 'Barriers'.  

Bloodsports is released on March 18th in the UK and March 19th in North America.

Thanks for reading!

The Return of the Guitar Hero: Johnny Marr

While surfing Facebook yesterday, my cousin posted a status update stating (very tongue in cheek) that when she grows up she wants to be The Smiths.  Her identity crisis aside, that got me thinking about my favourite Smiths songs, which in turn, peaked my excitement for the forthcoming solo release by former Smith/Modest Mouse/The Cribs guitar hero, Johnny Marr.  

Set for release on North American shores on February 26th, The Messenger is Marr's first proper solo album (2003's Boomslang was released under the Johnny Marr + The Healers moniker and was more of a collaborative band effort).  The first single (and title track) was released back in late November.  In early December, another track from the album was leaked released, titled 'The Right Thing Right'.  Yes, I'm a little behind on this, but the Christmas season was a killer.  In any event, check them out below.  Thanks for reading.

'The Right Thing Right'

'The Messenger'

Have You Heard: Miles Kane - 'Give Up'

Everyone's favourite heir to the Mod throne, Miles Kane, has released a new song (is it officially a single?) to kickstart 2013, and kickstart it it does.  'Give Up' is sharp tongued and in your face.  It's a pseudo departure for Mr. Kane.  It's still catchy, but a touch grittier than anything on Colour of the Trap.  But don't take my word for it, have a listen and decide for yourself (and then let me know what you think in the comments section).