843. Robert Wyatt - Shleep (1997)

Track Listing

1. Heaps Of Sheeps
2. Duchess
3. Maryan
4. Was A Friend
5. Free Will And Testament
6. September The Ninth
7. Alien
8. Out Of Season
9. Sunday In Madrid
10. Blues In Bob Minor
11. Whole Point Of No Return

Review

At times albums can be so retro that they actually sound quite cutting edge. This is the case with Wyatt's Shleep. I am pretty sure that the reason for this is that it is going back to music that was never mainstream, to a kind of progressive experimentalism that is completely out of place in 1997.

Bringing Eno in to the proceedings helps to make this album pretty great, it starts out with a track which is pretty close to Eno's solo career sound but it then develops into something else. Wyatt has a kind of experimental jazz sound which really does not detract from the more poppy elements of the music.

So yeah I really liked this album, possibly because I miss listening to this kind of music, the last few years having been quite barren in what concerns this type of music. Basically I really liked this album because I miss the 70s, and this would sound pretty great any decade.

Track Highlights

1. Out Of Season
2. Blues in Bob Minor
3. Heaps of Sheeps
4. The Duchess

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Shleep is the eighth album released, in 1997, by Canterbury Scene survivor and progressive rock legend Robert Wyatt.


Free Will and Testament:

842. Primal Scream - Vanishing Point (1997)

Track Listing

1. Burning Wheel
2. Get Duffy
3. Kowalski
4. Star
5. If They Move, Kill 'Em
6. Out of the Void
7. Stuka
8. Medication
9. Motorhead
10. Trainspotting
11. Long Life

Review

While Primal Scream's Screamadelica was a deep disappointment to me, Vanishing Point is actually a pleasant surprise. This is strange to the extent of their relative fame as albums, but this is without a doubt my favourite of the two.

This does not mean that there aren't substantial problems here: the lyrics are pretty bad, for example. This is another reason why the album is better, however, there are plenty of tracks which are almost only instrumental or with a very small amount of vocals.

This lets the listener listen to the best thing about Primal Scream, the instrumental inventiveness and this is an album which while being admittedly retro: taking inspiration from a 1971 film, is also pretty fresh sounding if it weren't for the Oasis like vocals and inapt writing which crop up every once in a while.

Track Highlights

1. Kowalski
2. Get Duffy
3. Burning Wheel
4. Trainspotting

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point, especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack to the movie. Lead singer Bobby Gillespie said, "The music in the film is hippy music, so we thought, 'Why not record some music that really reflects the mood of the film?' It's always been a favourite of the band, we love the air of paranoia and speed- freak righteousness. It's impossible to get hold of now, which is great! It's a pure underground film, rammed with claustrophobia." Vanishing Point shows inspiration from dub, ambient music, dance, krautrock and other genres, as well as individual bands such as Motörhead, Can, and The Stooges. It was the first album to feature the band's new bass player Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, formerly of The Stone Roses.

Kowalski:

841. The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole (1997)

Track Listing

1. Block Rockin' Beats
2. Dig Your Own Hole
3. Elektrobank
4. Piku
5. Setting Sun
6. It Doesn't Matter
7. Don't Stop The Rock
8. Get Up On It Like This
9. Lost In The K Hole
10. Where Do I Begin
11. The Private Psychedelic Reel

Review

Now we get to another one of those extremely successful, arena-filling, electronica albums. From the first track you can tell why, this is very attractive music indeed, particularly in a particular setting.

It is this dependence on setting that makes this album not all that amazing to listen to at home, it is something that needs to be experienced where it is meant to be experienced, the club or live event.

The fact that a certain electronica club culture has dwindled in the past decade has unfortunately dated the album, it is very late nineties. While it has a handful of tracks that are enjoyable in their own right, as an album it does not maintain the promise of its first track.

Track Highlights

1. Block Rockin' Beats
2. Electrobank
3. The Private Psychedelic Reel
4. Setting Sun

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Dig Your Own Hole the 49th greatest album of all time. In 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 42 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

Block Rockin' Beats:

840. Missy Misdemeanor Elliot - Supa Dupa Fly (1997)

Track Listing

1. Busta's Intro
2. Hit Em Wit Da Hee
3. Sock It 2 Me
4. The Rain [Supa Dupa Fly]
5. Beep Me 911
6. They Don't Wanna F*** Wit Me
7. Pass Da Blunt
8. Bite Our Style [Interlude]
9. Friendly Skies
10. Best Friends
11. Don't Be Coming (In My Face)
12. Izzy Izzy Ahh
13. Why You Hurt Me
14. I'm Talkin'
15. Gettaway
16. Busta's Outra
17. Missy's Finale

Review

Let's get one thing out of the way: This is a really important album. For two reasons, firstly Missy Elliot is definitely the best female rapper around, she's quirky and interesting, but most importantly Timbaland's production is the template for most R&B/Hip-Hop albums and it is a sound that has come to dominate the charts.

That being said it is not the best album ever, it is fun and all but as a result of having listened to so much similar stuff after it is not really surprising listening to it now. The best thing about it are really Missy's lyrics. She's a weirdo.

So a very important album and one which definitely deserves to be a part of this list, this is, however, in some few cases not equivalent to an album that I would like to listen to everyday from here to doomsday.

Track Highlights

1. The Rain [Supa Dupa Fly]
2. Pass Da Blunt
3. Hit Em Wit The Hee
4. Izzy Izzy Ahh

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It is entirely produced by her associate Timbaland and features the hit singles, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Sock It 2 Me," "Hit Em Wit Da Hee," and "Beep Me 911." Other guest appearances on the album include Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine, Lil' Kim, Aaliyah, Timbaland, and the debut of Nicole Wray.

Hit Em Wit Da Hee:

839. Finley Quaye - Maverick A Strike (1997)

Track Listing

1. Ultra Stimulation
2. It's Great When We're Together
3. Sunday Shining
4. Even After All
5. Ride On And Turn The People On
6. The Way Of The Explosive
7. Your Love Gets Sweeter
8. Supreme I Preme
9. Sweet And Loving Man
10. Red Rolled And Seen
11. Falling
12. I Need A Lover
13. Maverick A Strike

Review

Finley Quaye is now best known for making that song off the O.C. There was a time, however, where one of his albums was big summer music. Unfortunately that is pretty much all that it is. Music which would work well in a beach bar setting.

It is Reggae mixed with some trip-hoppiness and not all that fascinating. It is pretty undemanding music that everyone would kind of feel cold about.l In fact Quaye's delivery is a bit cold itself, bog-standard Reggae singing and lyrics.

Even if there is some originality to the idea of marrying Trip-hop and sunny Reggae it ends up not making for a very interesting result. It is in the end a perfectly listenable album, but not a great one.

Track Highlights

1. Sunday Shinig
2. Supreme I Preme
3. Ultra Stimulation
4. I Need A Lover

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

He made a solo record deal with Polydor Records, and moved to New York. He began working with Epic/Sony when Polydor let him out of contract, and in late 1997 he reached the UK Top 20 twice with "Sunday Shining", and "Even After All". His reputation was established by Maverick A Strike, an adventurous but accessible album released in September 1997. It went gold less than three weeks later, and led directly to the BRIT Award victory. Maverick A Strike is now multi platinum. Two more albums were released on Epic, Vanguard (2000) and Much More Than Much Love (2004). In 2004 the song "Dice", in collaboration with William Orbit, and featuring Beth Orton was a minor hit, helped in part by its inclusion on Music from the OC: Mix 1. Quaye has been living and working in Berlin since 2005.


Sunday shining: