The Board Dot's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (Discussion)

[venom]

i'm going to assume that disco inferno's 5 EPs is ineligible, right?

all music released between 1992 and 1994, but not compiled on one release until 2011. i'm not sure any of the EPs by themselves would get onto my list, but all 5 together could crack it.

[andrewvb]

90s project listening had me thinkin about the 1993 drag city invitational shows and how much they must have ruled

[Tweet]

This isn't the one I thought I was gonna post today but whatever....

Fatboy Slim- You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby



Norman Cook might’ve broken electronic music. I can’t prove it, but if you’re looking for the pinnacle of big beat, the electronic style of, by, and for the 90s, here it is, and over 20 years later, there’s still nothing quite like it. Sample after sample, Cook is daring you not to blink, or smirk, or do anything other than believe that this shouldn’t work. “Right Here, Right Now” is an anthem you can drop in any sporting event and get the crowd fired up on the title hook alone. “The Rockafeller Skank” will make you think your computer is broken, maybe even break your speakers if you let it. California is spelled with a K. There’s 4 minutes of a beat that only says “Fatboy Slim is fucking in heaven”. If an album like this dropped today, there’s a good to fair chance that Pitchfork would shit on it as a troll job (back in the day they gave it an 8.2), and who knows how far out of its corner of the internet it would ever get. In 1998, it went Platinum. (you can multiply that by 4 in the UK).

The high point of the album, bar none, is “Praise You”. Built on a Caroline Yarborough song derived from a one-woman show in 1971, the power in the piano part that gives way to the top 40 beat is on its own a stroke of genius. But when Spike Jonze created the video, Cook’s vision (or the interpretation of it) was reached. A popup group of dancers flail in front of a movie theatre entrance. At some point, a man turns the boombox off. It makes no difference; the dance continues, the show goes on, the crowd continues to look on. Perhaps the shirt on the cover photo says it all: I’m #1, so why try harder.

The Songs: “Right Here, Right Now”, “The Rockafeller Skank”, “Gangster Trippin”, “Praise You”

[chvrchbarrel]

A worthwhile companion:

[chvrchbarrel]

Would love to see some hiphop writeups this week if anyone has the time or desire, easily my biggest blind spot

[Tweet]

Jun 10, 2019 10:10:16 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

Would love to see some hiphop writeups this week if anyone has the time or desire, easily my biggest blind spot

There should be one coming from me end of this week provided my plans for this week all stay in tact (lol)

[Deleted]

Jun 10, 2019 10:10:16 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

Would love to see some hiphop writeups this week if anyone has the time or desire, easily my biggest blind spot

i mistakenly thought deltron 3030 came out in 1999 but apparently it was 2000 so i gotta go back to the drawing board

[chvrchbarrel]

Jun 10, 2019 10:31:39 GMT -6 @wretched said:

Jun 10, 2019 10:10:16 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

Would love to see some hiphop writeups this week if anyone has the time or desire, easily my biggest blind spot

i mistakenly thought deltron 3030 came out in 1999 but apparently it was 2000 so i gotta go back to the drawing board

I Wish My Brother George Was Here and Future Development are on my listening queue for this week!

[zircona1]

Jun 10, 2019 10:35:32 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

Jun 10, 2019 10:31:39 GMT -6 @wretched said:

i mistakenly thought deltron 3030 came out in 1999 but apparently it was 2000 so i gotta go back to the drawing board

I Wish My Brother George Was Here and Future Development are on my listening queue for this week!

I Wish My Brother George Was Here will be on my list. 

I really like You've Come A Long Way, Baby as well, but I don't think it will make my list. Kind of gets boring towards the end, and I prefer the radio version of 'Praise You' to the album version. 

[teekoh]

Brother George is a good choice. Also Hieroglyphics' Third Eye Vision for Del projects.

[andrewvb]

over the past several days i relistened to the 90s discogs of aphex twin, sonic youth, and pavement. here are how my rankings shake out. anyone else care to share rankings for any of them?

Aphex Twin
Richard D. James Album
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
…I Care Because You Do
Come to Daddy EP
Selected Ambient Works Volume II

Sonic Youth
Experimental Jet Set…
Goo
Washing Machine
A Thousand Leaves
Dirty

Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Brighten the Corners
Wowee Zowee
Slanted and Enchanted
Terror Twilight

the sonic youth ranking is probably the one most likely to fluctuate.

if anyone here has never gotten into pavement maybe check out brighten the corners which i think is their most underrated record and could have a ton of appeal with ppl here.

[Tweet]

Jun 10, 2019 12:14:43 GMT -6 andrewvb said:

Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Brighten the Corners
Wowee Zowee
Slanted and Enchanted
Terror Twilight

Sir what are you doing

[facts]

I actually don't have a good gauge on what are retrospectively considered essential albums in the rap genre from the early 90s. I'm assuming that all of the Wu affiliates and Tribe and EPMD, De La are considered known quantities. I'm less sure how well known some of the other east coast stuff is of the crews who's stars have faded since.

Was real into Mobb Deep, Gang Starr, Gravediggaz, Big L, LostBoyz back in the day

[Deleted]

SY

Dirty
Washing Machine
Experimental Jet Set
Goo
Thousand Leaves


Pavement

Crooked Rain
Brighten
Slanted
Wowee
Terror

[chvrchbarrel]

I'm only partway through my SY listen-through but

Washing Machine
Dirty
Goo
Jet Set
Thousand Leaves

[andrewvb]

Jun 10, 2019 12:16:12 GMT -6 Tweet said:

Jun 10, 2019 12:14:43 GMT -6 andrewvb said:

Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Brighten the Corners
Wowee Zowee
Slanted and Enchanted
Terror Twilight

Sir what are you doing

put up or shut up imo

[Tweet]

Slanted
Crooked Rain
Corners
Wowee
Terror

If I could I'd put Slanted and Crooked in the same line since at this point in my life they are companion pieces to me. But 4 is silly. imo, of course

[andrewvb]

crooked rain is a perfect album. brighten the corners is right up there but missing a couple more stone cold classics. i love expansive, all over the place records, and wowee zowee is a behemoth. always discover new things.

i just think pavement made better records after their debut.

[Tweet]

Jun 10, 2019 13:18:21 GMT -6 andrewvb said:

crooked rain is a perfect album. brighten the corners is right up there but missing a couple more stone cold classics. i love expansive, all over the place records, and wowee zowee is a behemoth. always discover new things.

i just think pavement made better records after their debut.

What a well nuanced and reasonable take.

I don't agree with it, but still

[zircona1]

I'd probably put Come to Daddy 1st on my Aphex ranking. It's the album that got me into his music, and it shows a lot of what he's good at.

Richard D. James album
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
I Care Because You Do
Ambient Works Vol. II

[andrewvb]

come to daddy (pappy mix) is so fucking vicious and sick. i could maybe swap it with i care because you do, i think that's a pretty underrated album tho.

[chvrchbarrel]

man, richard d james slaps but i have always found myself going back to i care because you do the most.

[brainloading]

wowee zowee is the best pavement album probably

[Deleted]

In honor of Phil Elverum playing his first show billed as The Microphones since 2003...

The Microphones - Don't Wake Me Up (1999)




I feel like, when people talk about the Microphones, they mostly refer to The Glow Pt. 2 (a few with It Was Hot..), and then what he's done as Mt. Eerie. The 90s material that Elverum did as the Microphones has a rawer feel to it to me. For example, Don't Wake Me Up. He's always had this solemn feel to his music, and the Glow Pt.2 is definitely the culmination of all of his previous work coming together with a smoother feel. But with Don't Wake Me Up, he's taking this lo-fi approach to folk in the coffee shops of the Pacific Northwest. It's at times soft and soothing, then chaotic and ruthless. It's not peak Microphones obviously, but "Don't Wake Me Up" is probably my second favorite of their catalog b/c of how raw it feels compared to It Was Hot.

As far as debut albums go, Don't Wake Me Up is the perfect entry point for what was to come with this short lived project. It established a lot of hallmarks that would influence so much of indie rock within the next decade - "Here With Summer" is a blissful throwback to the reverb-laden shoegaze that MBV was making 7 years earlier and what Deerhunter would employ on Cryptograms and Microcastle, and bands like Beirut can have their influences traced back to songs like "I'll Be in the Air." There's more 90s Microphones work, but Don't Wake Me Up is viewed as his proper debut album. It's concise and messy at the same time. If you've never given the Microphones a chance, I'd suggest you start here and work your way towards The Glow Pt. 2.

[ten15]

Jun 10, 2019 12:14:43 GMT -6 andrewvb said:

over the past several days i relistened to the 90s discogs of aphex twin, sonic youth, and pavement. here are how my rankings shake out. anyone else care to share rankings for any of them?

Aphex Twin
Richard D. James Album
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
…I Care Because You Do
Come to Daddy EP
Selected Ambient Works Volume II

Sonic Youth
Experimental Jet Set…
Goo
Washing Machine
A Thousand Leaves
Dirty

Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Brighten the Corners
Wowee Zowee
Slanted and Enchanted
Terror Twilight

the sonic youth ranking is probably the one most likely to fluctuate.

if anyone here has never gotten into pavement maybe check out brighten the corners which i think is their most underrated record and could have a ton of appeal with ppl here.

Swap Goo and Jet Set, and I think that’s my SY ranking as well. 

I think we may diverge more with Pavement, but I need to revisit Brighten and Terror.  

[chvrchbarrel]

KMD - Mr. Hood (1991)




I backtracked through some 00s rappers' catalogs to find some hip-hop material to start with. Madvillany led me to MF DOOM's history, which led me to Mr. Hood.

I miss this style - the lightheartedness, the wordy flow. The whole thing is just fun. The samples are tasteful and never overbearing. Give me more rap with Sesame Street samples plz.

Also because of MF DOOM, I kept remembering this album as being called "Mr Doom" and searched for that on Spotify like 3 different times when trying to listen.

Highlights: Who Me?, 808 Man, Peachfuzz

[teekoh]

HELL YEAH

I can't like that enough. Black Bastards is incredible, too.

[chvrchbarrel]

Passengers - Original Soundtracks 1 (1995)



Born of a series of creative brainstorm sessions Brian Eno constructed with U2 in the mid-90s, this is a side project that sonically concludes the Achtung Baby > Zooropa timeline. Without their image/reputation on the line, the band was allowed to experiment without consequence before they committed to the questionable disco-pastiche of Pop.

I'll put it this way - if Achtung Baby is the party and Zooropa is the underground nightlife, this is the drug-induced nightmare you have when you crash. The best context is really right here in the album's Wikipedia entry:

The recordings were so fruitful that Eno proposed more. After the Zoo TV Tour, the band returned to the studio - without an agenda or a specific project in mind. Their original intention was to record a soundtrack for Peter Greenaway's 1996 film The Pillow Book. Though the plan did not come to fruition, Eno suggested they continue recording for imaginary films. From the sessions' twenty-five hours of taped experimentation came Soundtracks, which reflects both the band's pop instincts and Eno's predilection for ethereal, ambient music that moves slowly and doesn't demand conscious attention.

Highlights: Always Forever Now, Beach Sequence, Corpse (These Chains Are Way Too Long)

[monasterymonochrome]

Jun 11, 2019 10:35:54 GMT -6 teekoh said:

HELL YEAH

I can't like that enough. Black Bastards is incredible, too.

Would Black Bastards be eligible for this project? Recorded in 1993, scrapped tho and never officially released in full until 2001. My guess is no, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

[chvrchbarrel]

Jun 16, 2019 15:26:09 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Jun 11, 2019 10:35:54 GMT -6 teekoh said:

HELL YEAH

I can't like that enough. Black Bastards is incredible, too.

Would Black Bastards be eligible for this project? Recorded in 1993, scrapped tho and never officially released in full until 2001. My guess is no, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

nopety bopety