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jormungand's top albums (overall) 1. Naervaer - Skiftninger (294) 2. Metallica - Death Magnetic (293) 3. Bandista - de te fabula narratur (233) 4. Rammstein - Rosenrot (221) 5. Sentenced - The Funeral Album (214) 6. Mike Oldfield - The Platinum Collection (196) 7. Hande Yener - Nasıl Delirdim (190) 8. Magilum - Kırmızı Kar (183) 9. To/Die/For - All Eternity (178) 10. EverEve - Seasons (176) 11. Dark Tranquillity - The Mind's I (172) 12. Orphaned Land - El Norra Alila (171) 13. Ensiferum - Iron (171) 14. Ulver - Kveldssanger (170) 15. System of a Down - Hypnotize (169) 16. Korpiklaani - Tales Along This Road (160) 17. Slagsmålsklubben - Den svenske disco (158) 18. Týr - Eric The Red (151) 19. Kaizers Orchestra - Maestro (150) 20. Infected Mushroom - LEGEND OF THE BLACK SHAWARMA (150) 21. John Broomhall - Transport Tycoon Deluxe MIDI Game Rip (146) 22. Rammstein - Reise Reise (146) 23. Armenian Navy Band - New Apricot (145) 24. Sentenced - The Cold White Light (142) 25. Flight of the Conchords - Issues [2nd Edition] (141) 26. Gåte - Jygri (141) 27. Rammstein - Herzeleid (140) 28. Yasemin Mori - Hayvanlar (138) 29. Rammstein - Sehnsucht (136) 30. Einherjer - Blot (136) 31. Ominous Grief - Nothing in Remembrance (135) 32. Sepultura - Roots (135) 33. Wintersun - Wintersun (133) 34. Laibach - WAT (132) 35. Samael - Reign Of Light (131) 36. Metsatöll - Iivakivi (131) 37. Satyricon - Now, Diabolical (131) 38. Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions (130) 39. Bettie Serveert - Attagirl (129) 40. Laibach - Volk (123) 41. Metallica - Reload (123) 42. Leonard Cohen - Greatest Hits (123) 43. The CNK - L'Hymne A La Joie (122) 44. Novembre - Materia (121) 45. Korpiklaani - Spirit of the Forest (120) 46. Rammstein - Mutter (119) 47. System of a Down - Toxicity (118) 48. Sepultura - Blood Rooted (118) 49. Empyrium - A Retrospective (115) 50. Vreid - Milorg (115)

2007:
October 6 - Muse, Brett Anderson
December - The Toasters

2008:
July 5 - Nouvelle Vague, Róisín Murphy, Manic Street Preachers
July 6 - Manu Chao, Stereophonics, E.M.I.L.
September 13 - DJ Hype
September 20 - Bryan Adams
September 21 - Leonard Cohen


2009:
February 10 - Sting
February 13 - No Use for a Name
June 17 - Gogol Bordello
July 1 - Patrice, The Killers, White Lies
July 4 - Santana, The Ting Tings, Looptroop Rockers / The Charlatans
July 23-26 - The Prodigy, Chase & Status, Parov Stelar, Freestylers, Chris.Su, Goldie, O.C.S., Vita De Vie, Suie Paparude / Nine Inch Nails, Tiesto
September 5 - Guano Apes, The Herbaliser
September 12 - Dub FX
September 25 - Parov Stelar
November 7 - Pendulum


Others:
PsychoFreud
Pistol cu Capse
Sport Sangeros III
E.M.I.L.
Chester
O.C.S.
Parazitii

STEP ONE: List your top 20 artists and find the number of listeners for each of them.

1. Morrissey 646.825
2. Placebo 1.504.597
3. Legião Urbana 101.810
4. Radiohead 2.354.928
5. The Smiths 964.816
6. The Beatles 1.917.582
7. Pet Shop Boys 576.859
8. In Flames 576.281
9. Renato Russo 25.963
10. Leonard Cohen 627.860
11. Marilyn Manson 1.055.085
12. The Sisters of Mercy 256.639
13. The Cure 1.504.220
14. Kleiton & Kledir 2.615
15. Adriana Calcanhotto 133.291
16. Metallica 1.484.667
17. Los Hermanos 189.615
18. George Michael 627.907
19. Joy Division 867.605
20. Elton John 1.073.933

STEP TWO: Calculate the total listeners of these artists.

TOTAL: 16.493.098

STEP THREE: Find the average of this total by dividing by 20.

AVERAGE: 824.654,9

STEP FOUR: Divide this figure by the total number of Radiohead listeners.

Radiohead: 2.354.928
MAINSTREAM: 0,35018263828023616857925167988151

STEP FIVE: Finally, multiply this by 100 and round off to get your mainstream percentage.

MAINSTREAM PERCENTAGE: 35,01%

I wrote this kind of thing 2 years ago, i suddenly feel like making this 10 recommendation for music lover:

1. <b>Kira Lynn Cain - The Ideal Hunter</b> 2007
nice femin voice with retro crime film sound. (photo from Diana Elliot) www.kiralynncain.com

2. <b>Bill Evans &amp; Jim Hall - Undercurrent</b> 1962
Jim Hall is a very tender jazz guitarist, and Bill Evans is one of the most artistic pianist.
i did this drawing long time ago, love this cover photo so much.

3. <b>T. Rex - Electric Warrior</b> 1971
so glam and groove, especially after re-watch Billy Elliot

4. <b>Big Mama Thornton - In Europe: with Muddy Waters' Blues Band</b> 1965
it's a live album of this big size woman with jamming quality backup band, her blues inspired Elvis, Janis Joplin, she also plays harmonica.

5. <b>Leonard Cohen - Live Songs</b> 1970-72
never know that he can improvise so much in concert, more than just Hallelujah, more than a poet.

6. <b>Hellsongs - Lounge</b> 2006
indie folk Swedish band cover oldskool metal like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. www.hellsongs.com

7. <b>Leech - The Stolen View</b> 2007
Swiss Postrock introduced from my guitar student. www.leech.ch

8. <b>duzze - Flon/Macun</b> 2005
the neighbor lived downstairs is the bassist, some soft rock with SwissGerman dialect, very nice xylophone. www.duzze.ch

9. <b>Andrea Lang - Liebesode</b> 2009
Opera with simple piano, she's the sister of my student, very high class feeling while playing this CD at my flat. www.andrealang.ch

10. <b>Jon Foreman - 4 Seasons EP</b> 2008
he used to play in a loud band and now solo with totally quiet acoustic with soulful broken voice, sometimes duet with angel voice woman, thoughtful lyrics, emotional instrument and arrangement, i wish to make music like him to express our own believe. www.jonforeman.com

kokdamon©2009
kokdamon.blogspot.com

Fri 13 Nov – Leonard Cohen: Sometimes my outings feel like this dog toy at the store where I work: a hard rubbery shape called a Kong, hollow on the inside and stuffed with a treat or three. Maybe. I imagine some dogs go crazy not knowing. AM I GUNNA GETTIT, AMMI AMMI? OHNOOO, IT CAN'T BE GOT! I THINK AH GOTTIT- OH!- NO! NO I DON'T GOTTIT! --WAIT! I CAN KINDA TASTE IT!-!-!--

I could kinda taste Leonard Cohen at 5pm on Friday...but a vacuum adventure, a taco waffle, and a few missed trains later, I was panting with euphoric impotence. I wanted, I felt it, I went limp. Damn. And again. But I made it, and in good time! And HALLELUJAH, Fortune smiled on me and I ended up in a killer seat on the "Floor" level of the Shark Tank, bathing in blue light with a large English woman knocking back beers and gospel. And he sang every song. He was the Holy Father I wish I had, both in spirit and flesh. He was that elusive bastard, finally suffering and repenting. He was my best friend, smiling at me in the dark. He growled coolly, but with the sexy restraint of someone who knows where he's been and how far he'd go. Gargling gravel thoughtfully, he made cracks about being old. The man skipped offstage like a young punk five times as we begged him for encore after encore. It was a quiet concert, no 2-stepping and hollering, but its potency left me musically hungover, the next day. If those pretty twins sing and strum like angels (and they do), then the black woman, Sharon Robinson, is their archangel, the incredible songstress who earned her own applause. And that harmonica player, Dino Soldo, blew godly breath through the sax and the electronic flute-tube-thing. Both this gifted snake charmer and Leonard fell to their knees in praise of the Tower of Song. When Cohen's voice echoed off the poorly padded walls, reciting his lyrics like Bible verses, we held our breath and it hung in the stadium like fog - germy and gross, but proof that nostalgia is still as alive as the old man himself. He'll live another 20 years, I think, and I'd like to be saddened by him again.

Sat 14 Nov – The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy: Saturday night, the silly old Mountain Goats bounced off the walls like hormonal teenage boys. I laughed at his geeky Dadly enthusiasm at least every other song, even though John Darnielle is arguably sadder than Cohen, who at least finds solace in surrender and memory. John is mostly nihilistic and tragic, an observant shyboy who misses, pities, and regrets every lover within minutes of meeting her. But I like the stories he tells and his passion and sentimental nonsense appeal to the romantic in me. The band was good and the energy in The Fillmore was fun and easy, but I realized how few of his lyrics I can sing along to. Damn. The boy's also a bit socially defensive, I think, advising kids to put down their cameras and ease up on shouted requests. He may be unstable, but I like it. Blew his larynx out: COOL :)

“Her voice will just send shivers down your spine, and just rip your soul out, and make you happy to be alive. The new track from Allison Crowe, Going Home Tonight…” And so boston-based media maven C.C. Chapman introduces his podcast audience to this new creation:

http://www.allisoncrowe.com/GoingHomeTonightAllisonCroweprealbumversion.mp3 (pre-album version)

Allison Crowe, known for her singularly amazing, often live, performances and her free, independent, spirit, is currently wrapping up the recording of twelve songs to be released as “Spiral”, her seventh CD/album in seven years.

Until now, Crowe’s much-loved recordings have been, essentially, solo affairs – her own voice, piano, and guitar accompanied by rare touches of bass and percussion (and, once, on her secretsalbum, accordion, and uillean pipes).

With songs in her repertoire calling for a broader palette, on “Spiral”, the bicoastal canadian musician comes together, from newfoundland to british columbia, with her touring band: Billie Woods, guitar and bgs (backing vocals); Dave Baird, bass and bgs; and laurent boucher on percussion. turtle recording studio’s main man, larry anschell, engineers the white rock, B.C. studio sessions, and joins in on electric guitar.

Orchestrating, arranging, and producing the album is los angeles-based film composer, kayla schmah, an artist who’s followed her own path for a decade, and today works in hollywood with emmy-award winning composer Edward Shearmur while independently orchestrating and composing on various projects.

alan pedder, Editor/Publisher of uk magazine, wears the trousers, notes: “The culmination of a decade-long friendship, Schmah is bringing to the album the lush orchestration that Crowe has been seeking since penning some of these songs during a 2007-08 creative spurt that saw her develop two albums’ worth of material. Some of those songs ended up on 2008’s Little Light, without orchestration, and some will make it onto Spiral alongside newer songs and, as is always the case with Allison, a selection of covers. This unfinished version of ‘Going Home Tonight’, a Crowe original, is a swelling, emotional ballad cloaked in strings that are rich enough to carry and accentuate the voice.”

The strings, celeste, tympani and more on this pre-album version debuted on the eclectic us arts and entertainment blog, muruch, which has adopted Crowe as musical mascot, commenting: “Allison’s voice and piano playing are as beautiful as ever.” allan showalter, host and curator of 1 heck of a guy, the web’s snappiest Leonard Cohen related blog, calls Going Home Tonight “gorgeous”. That’s qualified by fellow american, multi-blogger and video game programmer, jeff taylor, who labels it: “Absolutely gorgeous”. jessica kuijer of France’s ctn music, says: “I LOVE THIS new song!!!”. Canadian merch monkey, reena kudhail, exclaims: “That's a bloody fantastic song.”

A direct video for “Going Home Tonight”, filmed on salt spring island, B.C., (where Allison Crowe and Kayla Schmah first met, at the turn of the century), is on youtube:



C.C. Chapman winds up his Accident Hash intro: “If you ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER, get a chance to see her live, please do. Her CDs do not do this woman justice. Her performance, her voice, her everything…

Before the excitement of “Spiral” is released, Allison Crowe performs live – presenting her Tidings concert series from the pacific to the atlantic.

For music, tour dates and more info, please visit: http://www.allisoncrowe.com

I don't even have to ask for album recommendations from you thanks to the power of the google

Stu_L_Tissimus's top albums (overall)
1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (226) 2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (217) 3. Asobi Seksu - Citrus (178) 4. Yann Tiersen - Rue des cascades (172) 5. Tally Hall - Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum Remaster (155) 6. The Virgins - The Virgins (154) 7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (151) 8. Discovery - LP (151) 9. Metric - Fantasies (142) 10. Radiohead - The Bends (140) 11. Comet Gain - Broken Record Prayers (140) 12. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (138) 13. Arcade Fire - Funeral (137) 14. Yelle - Pop-up (135) 15. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (132) 16. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (131) 17. Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions (130) 18. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line (128) 19. Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (124) 20. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (124) 21. Eisley - Room Noises (122) 22. of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic (121) 23. Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Goes Numb (120) 24. Hartfield - True Color, True Lie (119) 25. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor (118) 26. The Kooks - Inside in Inside Out (113) 27. Bitter:Sweet - The Mating Game (109) 28. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (107) 29. M83 - Saturdays = Youth (107) 30. Metric - Live It Out (106) 31. Daft Punk - Discovery (104) 32. Radiohead - OK Computer (100) 33. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous (98) 34. Ratatat - LP3 (98) 35. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords (97) 36. Capsule - MORE! MORE! MORE! (96) 37. Girls - Album (96) 38. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (95) 39. Passion Pit - Manners (95) 40. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (94) 41. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (93) 42. Lady GaGa - The Fame (93) 43. Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge (91) 44. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (89) 45. M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us (88) 46. The Strokes - Is This It (88) 47. The Lonely Island - Incredibad (86) 48. Wavvves - Wavvves (85) 49. Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles (85) 50. Justice - Cross (85)







mqazi12's top albums (overall)
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (123) 2. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief (113) 3. Radiohead - The Bends (101) 4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (81) 5. Radiohead - OK Computer (77) 6. Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003) [Disc 1] (75) 7. Radiohead - Kid A (70) 8. Radiohead - Pablo Honey (60) 9. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans (52) 10. Radiohead - Amnesiac (50) 11. Muse - Absolution (41) 12. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (39) 13. Incubus - Make Yourself (38) 14. Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003) [Disc 2] (36) 15. Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind (35) 16. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (33) 17. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations (28) 18. James Blunt - Back To Bedlam [UK] (26) 19. Green Day - American Idiot (23) 20. OutKast - Stankonia (22) 21. System of a Down - Toxicity (20) 22. Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek - Single (17) 23. 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie (16) 24. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor (16) 25. Thom Yorke - The Eraser (16) 26. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV: Volume 1 (16) 27. Kanye West - The College Dropout (15) 28. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (14) 29. T.I. - Paper Trail (13) 30. Nas (featuring AZ) - Stillmatic (12) 31. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (12) 32. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (12) 33. Eminem - Encore (12) 34. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me (11) 35. Frou Frou - Garden State Original Soundtrack (11) 36. Tool - Ænima (11) 37. Eminem - 8 Mile-Soundtrack(Disc 1) (11) 38. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (11) 39. Kanye West - Late Registration (10) 40. Incubus - Morning View (10) 41. Kanye West - Graduation (10) 42. Sick Puppies - Dressed Up As Life (10) 43. Dido - No Angel (10) 44. Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder... (10) 45. The Verve - Urban Hymns (9) 46. The Cranberries - No Need to Argue (7) 47. Kanye West/Lil Wayne - 808s & Heartbreak (7) 48. Foo Fighters - One by One (6) 49. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (6) 50. Tool - Lateralus (5)










beefigursk's top albums (overall)
1. The Hives - The Black and White album (431) 2. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (407) 3. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into (402) 4. Rise Against - Appeal To Reason (361) 5. The Fratellis - Costello Music (336) 6. A Day to Remember - Homesick (334) 7. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (326) 8. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (294) 9. Pixies - Doolittle (291) 10. The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives (271) 11. Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies To Paralyze (241) 12. Mastodon - Blood Mountain (240) 13. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better (239) 14. The Killers - Sam's Town (235) 15. Rise Against - The Sufferer and the Witness (232) 16. Flobots - Fight With Tools (229) 17. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (228) 18. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (226) 19. Wolfmother - Wolfmother (225) 20. The Killers - Hot Fuss (225) 21. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf (224) 22. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (223) 23. The Killers - Day and Age (222) 24. The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me (204) 25. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (202) 26. The Hives - Barely Legal (201) 27. Clutch - Blast Tyrant (198) 28. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug (197) 29. The Hives - Veni, Vidi, Vicious (196) 30. Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards (195) 31. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 (194) 32. Mastodon - Crack The Skye (186) 33. Authority Zero - 12:34 (183) 34. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (183) 35. Nirvana - Nevermind (179) 36. The New Pornographers - Electric Version (176) 37. Faith No More - Angel Dust (175) 38. The White Stripes - Icky Thump (175) 39. That Handsome Devil - A City Dressed in Dynamite (174) 40. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (174) 41. The Magnetic Fields - Holiday (173) 42. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely (171) 43. Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait (170) 44. Gallows - Orchestra Of Wolves (170) 45. The Police - The Police (169) 46. Incubus - Morning View (166) 47. Boston - Boston (166) 48. A Day to Remember - For Those Who Have Heart (164) 49. Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures (163) 50. Muse - Absolution (160)













fjosjd's top albums (overall)
1. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (366) 2. Stars of the Lid - and Their Refinement of the Decline (331) 3. Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes (293) 4. Alexander "Skip" Spence - Oar (269) 5. Gram Parsons - GP & Grievous Angel (239) 6. Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds Of (231) 7. Lee Hazlewood - Cowboy in Sweden (221) 8. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion (213) 9. The 6ths - Wasps' Nests (208) 10. The Magnetic Fields - Get Lost (205) 11. Galaxie 500 - On Fire (199) 12. The Magnetic Fields - The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees (176) 13. The Magnetic Fields - The Charm of the Highway Strip (169) 14. Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand (167) 15. The Millennium - Begin (Plus) (167) 16. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace Of Sin (166) 17. The Magnetic Fields - i (164) 18. Sibylle Baier - Colour Green (163) 19. Amanaz - Africa (162) 20. Belle and Sebastian - Push Barman To Open Old Wounds (158) 21. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline (149) 22. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (143) 23. Jim Ford - The Sounds Of Our Time (138) 24. Dillard & Clark - The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark (129) 25. The Magnetic Fields - Holiday (126) 26. Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game (126) 27. Gothic Archies - The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events (116) 28. Zombies - Odessey & Oracle (115) 29. Gene Clark - No Other (113) 30. The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo (112) 31. John Terrill - Frowny Frown (111) 32. Galaxie 500 - Today (110) 33. The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society [Special Deluxe Edition] Disc 1 (109) 34. Sebadoh - The Freed Man (108) 35. Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day (107) 36. The Magnetic Fields - House of Tomorrow (105) 37. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen (104) 38. Max Richter - 24 Postcards In Full Colour (103) 39. The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (102) 40. Mount Eerie - Lost Wisdom (101) 41. Slowdive - Souvlaki (98) 42. Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music (98) 43. Country Teasers - Destroy All Human Life (95) 44. John Phillips - John Phillips (John, The Wolf King of L.A.) (94) 45. Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet (94) 46. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up A Hill (93) 47. Country Teasers - 'Satan Is Real Again', or: 'Feeling Good About Bad Thoughts' (91) 48. Stars of the Lid - The Ballasted Orchestra (89) 49. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - The Doldrums (88) 50. One Be Lo - S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. (88)

Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01a: 200 to 181
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01b: 180 to 161

Part two of my tracks of the 90s rundown: again split over two posts. The next forty will be posted on Tuesday.

160
Leonard Cohen
The Future
The Future
1992

Among the fair number of wildly inventive soundtracks released films released in the 90s was the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, put together by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and featuring a vast range of styles and artists - and not a single one felt out of place. Two of Cohen's songs were used on the soundtrack album (a third was used in the film), and this track in particular was pretty special. A musing on the pessimism of the world, and what is to come in light of what has already has happened, it's slightly cheesy synth lines and the big gospel chorus are brought together to make a song ostensibly about everything going to shit actually sound quite positive...

159
Converter
Conqueror
Shock Front
1999

The monstrous opening track from Converter's debut album, it's seething, near white noise intro gives way to massive, hulking beats, before another set presumably stomped out by AT-ATs obliterates all before it. This is dancefloor noise at it's finest.

158
Pop Will Eat Itself
Urban Futuristic
The Looks or the Lifestyle
1992

The first inkling that the Poppies were angling for a heavier sound came from this industrial metal monster, and maybe the repeated refrain "no more Mr Nice Guy" just rammed home the point all the more. Everything about this song rules, and it also hasn't dated as badly as certain other Poppies tracks...

157
Covenant
Stalker
Sequencer:Beta
1998

A while before they became bona-fide futurepop stars, earlier Covenant material was a whole lot darker. Brooding synths, less danceable beats, and an almost gothic delivery in the vocals. It's still recognisably Covenant, though, and if you got into later-period Covenant without ever going back, this whole album is worth a look.

156
Incubus
New Skin
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
1997

Ah yes, back when Incubus weren't acoustic bores. Back when they were still a band full of their native california sunshine and funk metal…and were awesome fun. Particularly this track, a song about reinvention, and it simply teems with life.

155
Paradise Lost
Enchantment
Draconian Times
1995

Interesting here in that I could have picked any number of PL songs from the mid-90s from this list, but hearing it live recently sealed the deal for it to be this. The epic, doomy power of this track for me makes it one of PL's very best songs, but it's not all growling and hate - it's beating melodic heart is what seals the deal.

154
Queen Adreena
Cold Fish
Taxidermy
1999

The first QA song I ever heard, as I recall. It's still nuts, too. I've no idea what Katie-Jane Garside is on about during it, but it's bruising rock is a hell of a thrill, even if it is something of a tease with out only lasting two minutes or so.

153
Radiohead
Subterranean Homesick Alien
OK Computer
1997

OK Computer has been analysed to death, befitting it's status as many critics view that it is the best album of the 90s. It's certainly an extraordinary album, vast in scope and frankly fearless in it's endless experimentation with their basic rock sound. My favourite track on the album, though, is this gorgeous track, sometimes forgotten in it's position in the shadow of Paranoid Android. As guitars shoot across the sky like shooting stars, Thom Yorke muses on the idea of being abducted, how great it would be, and how no-one would ever believe him anyway. One of Radiohead's prettiest songs, and still somewhat underappreciated, in my view.

152
Sneaker Pimps
6 Underground
Becoming X
1996

Part of the coffee-table craze for anything "trip-hop" related, in reality Sneaker Pimps were always a little more interesting than that (and perhaps were even more so once Chris Corner stepped out on his own as IAMX). This is the track that started it all, though, and it's slinky, after-dark feel (and Kelli's frankly heavenly vocal) is still great. There was no need for it and the rest of the album to be re-recorded, re-mixed and re-issued, though, and if anyone can help me with a copy of the original version (i.e. the one with the motherboard-style green and silver cover), please let me know...

151
Leftfield
Inspection (Check One)
Leftism
1995

There is certainly a case for the album as a whole in a best of the 90s list, and certainly other tracks from this album could have made this list - however I had such a long list of possibles for this, that I decided to restrict it to one song per album (and two songs for certain artists at most). So the one from Leftism? This titanic, slower-paced track, that when played loud probably has more bass contained within than I've ever heard. The spacey, dubby vocal intro on the album version rules, too.

150
My Dying Bride
The Cry of Mankind
The Angel and the Dark River
1995

We'll be here all day debating which MDB album is the best, but The Angel… puts in a convincing case. Not least for it's epic, twelve minute opener. It's yearning, bleak seesawing riff that opens it, the stately piano, the occasional vocals that break through, and that foghorn blaring out through the mist as the song descends into it's ambient second half...the whole thing is a glorious wallow in bleak misery (in other words, exactly what this band should be). I am astonished it has a video, though, even if it is only a third of the song.

149
Red Snapper
Wesley Don't Surf
Reeled and Skinned
1995

I was never entirely sure where this lot were meant to fit in. Broadly a jazz band that used live instruments but filled in the gaps with electronic textures, their early singles were a fascinating mix of styles. Many of their earlier tracks were a rather more mellow, so the uptempo attack of this track was something of a change - and was by far the best of them.

148
The Verve
Brainstorm Interlude
A Northern Soul
1995

While The Verve may be better known for their later albums and greater success, their earlier material remains intriguing. One track I've adored for years now has been this one - a reverb and feedback drenched jam that is one of the centrepieces of A Northern Soul. Rather than the naked emotion that much of the rest of the album gives away, this near-instrumental track (just try and work out the lyrics in the dense sound) gives nothing away and is perhaps all the better for it.

147
PJ Harvey
Long Snake Moan
To Bring You My Love
1995

No two PJ Harvey albums are alike, which always results in some odd surprises each time around. To Bring You My Love, though, was still a bit of a shock. Much wider in sound than the previous albums, it's was still bluesy, but less raw (Flood being producer saw to that, I think). The swampy, blues-rock of this track, though, was possibly the most eye-catching on the album, and her almost screamed vocals as the song climaxes still sends chills through me.

146
Soundgarden
Let Me Drown
Superunknown
1994

Never mind grunge, this was metal. The snarling opener to Soundgarden's most successful (and on balance, best) album, it's heavier, and thanks to the big-budget production, much…bigger than anything they had recorded to this point. Lyrically as dark in tone as the rest of the album, listening to it again for the first time in a while has reminded me that if I ever get asked the High Fidelity question of "five side one, track ones" again, this gets included.

145
Nitzer Ebb
Getting Closer
Showtime
1990

Nitzer Ebb's third album was the first time that they really even moved beyond their EBM core, and the results were pretty impressive - not least in the awesome, steady build-up of opener Getting Closer, as the beat winds up from a standing start into a full-on industrial attack with what I see as their best vocal performance (as a live opener, this is incredible, too), before the sweeping, stabbing chords herald the mid-section, a breakdown, and then back to the chorus where it steps up again. Sod newer industrial, I'll take this every time.

144
Dub Pistols
There's Gonna Be a Riot
Point Blank
1998

What much of Barry Ashworth's material has concentrated on a more ska-based sound, this track was a roof-raising, dancefloor-slaying track that was something of an underground hit back in the days of "Big Beat" - I vividly recall this being played at The Heavenly Jukebox at Turnmills in '97 and sounding utterly immense.

143
Cold
Go Away
Cold
1997

Originally "discovered" by Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, but honestly, don't let that put you off. Their first album was impressively dark, emotional metal, and the opening track's ominous rumble (everything is downtuned, resulting in a marvellously deep, fuzzy sound that the bright production only helps to accentuate) coupled with Scooter Ward's wracked, gritted teeth vocal delivery is a spectacular start that the rest of the album never quite lives up to.

142
Slint
Good Morning, Captain
Spiderland
1991

Pretty much year zero for Post-rock as we know it, this band, and the album Spiderland has been feted to an incredible degree as a result. It fully deserves the praise, mind, but it's this stupendous closing track that takes the honours. Lyrically based around The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - if you can make out the muttered words - it's the use of quiet-LOUD dynamics that catches the ear, and as the track reaches it's climax, you realise that more than just post-rock owes this a debt.

141
Die Krupps
Iron Man
II - The Final Option
1993

They may be EBM pioneers, but their later industrial-metal hybrid phase produced some outstanding material, too. Including this, one of the ultimate tracks on the classic industrial music cliché of shedding human form for robotics. A monstrous, mechanised beat couples with equally mechanised guitars, and that whole cyborg idea gets better with every passing minute of this song.

Shortly: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.02b: 140 to 121
Tuesday: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.03: 120 to 81