Dubnobasswithmyheadman.
Fellow passengers stare at me on the bus. Underworld’s heavy bass electronica reverberates through my eardrums, stimulating the muscle memory in my jaw. As I sit there at 7:30am on a Monday morning, gurning to the anthemic rave bangers, I understand the strange looks. They’re looks of jealousy. “Why am I not listening to Underworld?” they ask themselves. My portal to 90’s rave culture shifts, suddenly, as Underworld begin to experiment with different genres: the chilled guitar riff heavy “Tongue”, the mellow reggae-esque “River of Bass” and the funky dub of “M.E.”. Dubnobasswithmyheadman is a pioneering work in techno and a defining record of the 90’s. Loved every second.
Dog Man Star.
After hearing Suede’s self-titled debut album, it seemed as though they were destined to inherit the title of The Next Smiths. The consensus for Dog Man Star, their second album, was that the sound was more experimental, and in that respect I was disappointed. I was expecting something akin to a Lennon Ono sound collage, a Revolution 90’s, Brett Anderson calling the Queen a twat over the sound of Tracey Emin taking a shit. Sadly, this didn’t happen, but fortunately what Suede did produce was as good as, if not better than, their debut; sonically darker and grungier with psychedelic drug inspired lyrics and all patched together during a tumultuous process which led to guitarist Bernard Butler’s split from the band: the hallmarks of a great record. Having denounced the label of Britpop early in their career and distancing themselves from the likes of Blur, Oasis and Pulp, Boris Johnson himself would be proud of the u-turn Suede performed following Dog Man Star, their grittiest album to date, to Coming Up, their most mainstream. Anderson’s poignant lyricism on a Suede album is, much like the privatisation of the NHS under a Tory government, a given; while Butler’s prominent, driving guitar returns and, much like the UK’s presence in the EU, will be missed in later years.
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.
In short, Pavement’s second album is incredible. If The Velvet Underground were reaching their peak in the 90’s, this, I believe, is what they would sound like. One reason behind this comparison stems from Stephen Malkmus’ imperfect vocals being reminiscent of hay day Lou Reed. Imperfection is not synonymous with lack of quality, rather it gives an authenticity and a sense of humanity to Pavement that is lost in other manufactured bands (Stone Temple Pilots anyone?). Malkmus’ lyricism is beautiful, every line poetic, as he makes a point of not singing just for the sake of it; his complex imagery encourages the listener to think more deeply on the themes he is conveying, whether that be the music industry satire on “Cut Your Hair” or the anti-war sentiment in “Stop Breathin’”. The instrumentals behind Malkmus’ lyrics are just as brilliant, a personal highlight being the instrumental proggy jazz track “5-4=Unity”. One of the best albums so far. Essential for fans of indie, alternative, and music in general. Faultless.
Re.
Mexican rock band Cafe Tacvba’s second album is comparable to musical tapas, or rather botanas, with the meal comprising of many small dishes of contrasting flavours and ingredients. Cafe Tacvba genre-hop throughout the album: funky R&B on “El ciclón”; heavy metal on “El borrego”; acoustic ballad “Esa noche”; drum machine synth-poppy “Ixtepec”, all the while fusing their choice of genre with the traditional Latin American music of their heritage. Re is a seriously enjoyable album that is guaranteed to satisfy even the fussiest of consumers.
Protection.
I love Massive Attack’s debut album Blue Lines. I’m also a massive fan of their third, Mezzanine. And yet, somehow the one sandwiched between, Protection, had slipped under the radar. Following a similar sonic style to Blue Lines and Mezzanine, Massive Attack defy conventional genre categorisation with hip-hop, reggae, dub and R&B all represented and fused to form their unique brand of trip hop. Trip hop was reaching its peak in 1994 with the release of Protection and Portishead’s Dummy, the latter may get the majority of plaudits from critics (and rightly so) but the former is still unquestionably brilliant and continues Massive Attack’s form of producing quality records.
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