Prefab Sprout "Jordan: The Comeback" (1990)

Jordan: The Comeback
release date: Sep. 7, 1990
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Thomas Dolby
label: Kitchenware / CBS - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Looking for Atlantis" (4 / 5) - 2. "Wild Horses" (4 / 5) - 3. "Machine Gun Ibiza" - 4. "We Let the Stars Go" - 5. "Carnival 2000" (4 / 5) - 6. "Jordan: The Comeback" (4 / 5) - 7. "Jesse James Symphony" (4 / 5) - 8. "Jesse James Bolero" - 10. "All the World Loves Lovers" - 12. "Ice Maiden" - 13. "Paris Smith" - 15. "One of the Broken" (4 / 5) - 18. "Scarlet Nights" - 19. "Doo-Wop in Harlem" (4 / 5) (live)

5th studio album by Northhern English band Prefab Sprout following Protest Songs (Jun. 1989). The band has had a changing line-up but the two McAloon brothers have been the only stable members. On this, the band consists of what was the most stable line-up over a period of 13 years from 1984-97: Paddy McAloon on vocals, guitars, keyboards, Martin McAloon on bass, Wendy Smith credited vocals, guitars, keyboards, and Neil Conti on drums and percussion. Although, the band is founded with two brothers, the undisputed leader is older brother, Paddy, who writes (near) all songs for the band - not only for this album but on all their studio releases from 1982 to present days).
Jordan: The Comeback is untraditionally long, in terms of total running time for a 2-sided longplayer exceeding more than 64 minutes. It peaked at number #7 on the albums chart in the UK (by the band only surpassed by the '88 album, From Langley Park to Memphis, reaching number #5). The track "Carnival 2000" had a lot of airplay on the national Danish radio station P3 that year, but other than that, the album contains so many great tracks that the whole album is the biggest hit of the release., which initially made me confusing it as a compilation. I owned a cd issue for years and only as of 2022 managed to get hold of a fine original vinyl issue.
Prefab Sprout initiated their career by playing guitar-founded jangle pop but this one (like the majority of their albums) is dominated by a sophisti-pop style that loans from other genres and styles, and the album simply stands as one the best pop /rock albums of the 1990s, in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, SputnikMusic 5 / 5 stars ]

B-52's "The Best of The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around" (1990)

The Best of The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around (compilation)
release date: 1990
format: vinyl
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Best of compilation album by B-52's focusing on the band's first two albums. The band had only just released its "comeback" album Cosmic Thing in '89 on a new label, Reprise Records, so their old company, Island Records found it timely to issue this collection of old material.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Happy Mondays "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches" (1990)

Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches

release date: Apr. 1990

format: cd (2007 remaster)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]

producer: Paul Oakenfold, Steve Osborne

label: Rhino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Kinky Afro" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "God's Cop" - 3. "Donovan" - 4. "Grandbag's Funeral" - 5. "Loose Fit" - 6. "Dennis and Lois" - 7. "Bob's Yer Uncle" (4 / 5) - 8. "Step On"

3rd studio album by Happy Mondays following 1½ years after Bummed (Nov. 1988) originally released on Factory Records. After Happy Mondays' commercial breakthrough with a remix of the hit song "Hallelujah" taken from the ep Madchester Rave On (Nov. 1989) and a similar follow-up succes with the cover song "Step On", the band went to the studio with the two DJs and remix producers Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne to see if they could carry the succes of their Club Mixes into shaping a collection of new songs. After all, the band had always been a club house party band and just by its title, the album alludes to a certain unhealthy but nevertheless characteristic lifestyle of this particular band.

If the band blended styles and genres on Bummed, they simply take it to another level here by fusioning the whole mix of the predecessor with modern dance beats, electronic rave and basically embracing the style of acid house. It's a modern version of rock that mixes reminiscences of post-punk with indie pop, neo-psychedelia, funk, disco, soul, alt. dance, techno - and whatever made people dance.

The album was met by great enthusiasm and peaked at number #4 on the British albums chart list bringing new fame to the Factory label. Although, only released in a remix, the first single "Step On" went to #5 on the UK singles chart list, and "Kinky Afro" ecqualed that (and went #1 on the Modern Rock list in the US), which was followed by single releases of "Loose Fit" (#17 in the UK) and "Bob's Yer uncle" (US promo single only).

In retrospect, the album sits on top of the whole 'baggy / madchester' movement as an iconic cornerstone. With it's unique stylistic mix and Ryder's original singing style, it showcases a most specific time full of exstacy pills and abuse. Ryder mumbles along with funny semi-autobiografical lyrics about sex, drugs, and everyday life of the working-class in Manchester - events, episodes, and funny phrases all stashed together, just like the music. It's over-the-top and at times odd touching on the bizarre, but also damn charming and full of youthful energy. It's also obvious that with the right people to produce their music, the end result simply improves above what everyone can see is mere potential. John Cale and Martin Hannett simply didn't really know what they were dealing with - or, at least the latter knew something but wasn't quite able to follow suit. Oakenfield and Osbourne are both part of the contemporary dance-scene and in retrospect you may only ask yourself why on earth Factory weren't better in finding matching engineers and producers.

The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Both the '88-album and the successor contains great tunes, but this is simply the band's best effort. Imho, I never was a huge fan of The Mondays. Generally, I have always found the huge blend of styles to be too much of mix, although, really enjoying a few of their songs, but with the rest being too far from that. Still, this one is more than just fine.

The 2007 Rhino remaster contains five bonus tracks: two 12'' versions of tracks #5 and #7; two remixes of tracks #1 and #8; and the previously unreleased song "Tokoloshie Man".

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Select 5 / 5, NME 4,5 / 5, Sounds, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

C.V. Jørgensen "I det muntre hjørne" (1990)

I det muntre hjørne

release date: 1990

format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]

producer: C.V. Jørgensen

label: Epic Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "På gyngende grund" (live) - 2. "Pligterne kalder" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Træt som en junkie" - 4. "Det si'r sig selv" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Til skaberens fulde tilfredshed" - 6. "Tre portrætter" - 8. "Tiderne skifter" (4 / 5) (live-uddrag) - 9. "Tak for sangen"

10th studio album by C.V. Jørgensen following two years after Indian Summer (Aug. '88) is like that produced by C.V. Jørgensen himself. And just as was generally the case with the predecessor, the lyrics and music here are credited Jørgensen himself, with the exception of "Træt som en junkie", which was composed together with Lars Hybel. The album offers nine tracks and has a total running length of just over 40 minutes. Among the participating musicians are a number of old acquaintances including Lars Hybel on guitar, banjo and bass, Jacob Andersen on percussion, and with Gert Smedegård on drums. The album shows a reunion with Aske Jacoby, who also took part on four tracks on Vennerne & vejen (1985) and who has been a stable member of C.V.'s touring backing band. Here, Jacoby is featured on on all tracks and he is credited guitar, mandolin, and keyboard - normally, instruments Jørgensen's long-time fellow musician, Nils Henriksen, previously handled, as he did on Indian Summer.

As the title and certainly also the cover indicate, C.V. here is in a more positive mood than previously heard, and it's an atmosphere he brings to the musical expression. Incidentally, the title is taken from the song "Pligterne kalder". Musically, he continues some of the positive tones you'll find on the predecessor, and the style is warm and laid back. It's a turn back to the folk rock that initially inspired him, but which he has never really made as stylishly as he does here. There is a clear inspiration from his old role model Dylan, as well as both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. On his earlier albums, the inspiration was clear, both musically and lyrically, while this is almost like a tribute to a musical style, as the music is quite original and the lyrics are also Jørgensen's own shape, which has gained a clearer layer of humour and a positive tone. The album may easily be seen as Jørgensen's own comment to national music critics who have long labeled C.V.'s albums as sarcastic sulkiness, just as he has long fought against a media image as a left-wing social critic, although he has never professed to a political position and instead deliberatedly have pointed to the corrupting power. On most of these new songs, he continues his new narrative 'I' form, which he initiated on Indian Summer. He says, among other things, that he is ...'so tired of being a communist' with a barely concealed salute to the critics' predicate, and on the album's end track "Tak for sangen" he thanks his sources of inspiration and his musical acquaintances. After poor sales figures with the album Indian Summer, the band Sort Sol's cover of the title track, released as a single in late '91, helped to bring new focus to this very album, and C.V. here sends a direct greeting to the band with the line: "...tak til Sort Sol for den lyse nat" [...'thanks to Sort Sol for the bright night'] - in other words: With their tribute, Sort Sol helped pointing out the qualities of the album.

I det muntre hjørne found positive reception, and the album was nominated Danish Album of the Year at the 1991 Danish Music Awards, it won as Danish Rock Release of the Year, and C.V. was handed the award for Danish Songwriter of the Year.

In sales numbers, the album is one of Jørgensen's biggest successes, although, critics were divided. Some hailed C.V.'s new positive style and the musical turn, while others found it too light, without his trademark of social awareness and without his sharp wit with which his name was bound.

In Jørgensen's discography, the album is one of my absolute favourites and the it's the only C.V. album I so far have purchased on vinyl.

Front cover and artwork are (as usual) credited Annemarie Albrectsen.

Highly recommended.

Mazzy Star "She Hangs Brightly" (1990)

She Hangs Brightly
release date: May 21, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: David Roback
label: Rough Trade Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Halah" - 2. "Blue Flower" (live on Later) - 3. "Ride It On" - 6. "Give You My Lovin' " - 7. "Be My Angel" - 10. "Free"

Studio album debut by American indie rock band Mazzy Star, which basically is the continued project of the band Opal (initially named Clay Allison) - a band with Kendra Smith (of The Dream Syndicate) on vocals and bass, and after her departure, the remaining members changed name to Mazzy Star, which here is made up by songwriter and main musical composer David Roback (former member of The Rain Parade), who is credited as guitarist, keyboardist and pianist, Hope Sandoval on acoustic guitar, organ, harmonica, xylophone, and drummer Keith Mitchell. Allegedly, Sandoval replaced Smith in Opal for the live tour after the band's debut album, and after some time touring as that unit, and as they were still contractually bound to a follow-up to the debut with songs composed and written by Smith / Roback ready to be recorded, but Sandoval had also initiated a composer partnership with Roback, and the decision was then made to trade the Opal follow-up contract with Rough Trade for the debut release with a bunch of new songs by Mazzy Star.

Stylistically, the band stands out as one of the prominent artists of what became known as the style of Shoegaze / Dream Pop with strong bonds and influence from 'noise rock' and the sound of Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. The sound is stripped from the element of noise rock and instead Mazzy Star focusses on the moody side, which also connects them with Cocteau Twins, who on the other hand played with a more layered wall-of-sound to create their visceral sound. Mazzy Star may start as a band but is primarily held together by its two songwriters, Sandoval and Roback, and the music is related to the Paisley Underground movement with bands like The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Green on Red, and Thin White Rope amongst others. Hope Sandoval has her very own singing style and melancholic sound with bonds to Nico, Marianne Faithfull and Leonard Cohen, and followers like Cat Power and Lana Del Rey is mentioned as singers who owe much of their singing style to Sandoval.

I really enjoy the songs by Sandoval and Roback, who support each other quite nicely. Sandoval's almost mourning vocal is a fine balanced blend of periods and styles, but all with focus on a certain melancholy, and Roback's swirling guitar is another fine blend with reminiscence of Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Stooges, and then also contemporaries like Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Jim & William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain) and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), and the production sound of She Hangs Brightly is somewhere in the neighbourhood of the same bands with strong spacious feedback on both vocal and guitars helps creating that "dreamy" atmosphere, which paved way for the style of dream pop.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Select 5 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Obey the Time" (1990)

Obey the Time
release date: Dec. 1990
format: digital (fact 274)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,88]
producer: Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Vino della Casa Blanco" - 3. "Fridays" - 5. "Art and Freight" - 10. "Vino della Casa Rosso"

8th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factory Records and produced by Vini Reilly. This was a bit of a musical disappointment to me. The interesting part about the album is Reilly's experimentation with the electronic genre. He explores new styles and 'machinery' but the end result is not favourable on this one, which was his last studio album at legendary Factory Records. The company declared bankruptcy in '92 and Reilly found a temporary record label in Italy.
After this he released two semi-studio albums Dry (1991) and Red Shoes (1992) both on the Italian record label Materiali Sonori (both with some new tracks but also new versions of older material) before returning to England and the label Factory Too to release Sex and Death (1994).
[ allmusic.com hands it 2 in 5 stars ]

The Divine Comedy "Fanfare for the Comic Muse" (1990)

Fanfare for the Comic Muse [debut]

release date: 1990
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,62]
producer: Sean O Neill
label: Setanta Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Ignorance Is Bliss" - 5. "The Rise and Fall" - 6. "Logic vs Emotion"

Studio debut album by The Divine Comedy. The music is indie pop jangle pop, pop / rock not far from the style of The Smiths (listen to tracks #5 & #6) and that of R.E.M. (listen to tracks #1 & #6).
In retrospect, the album has more of historical interest. The music seems unoriginal and is far from the style normally associated with the band and Neil Hannon. At this early stage The Divine Comedy is a band consisting of Neil Hannon on guitar & vocals, Lawrence Hoy on guitar, John McCullagh on bass, and with Kevin Traynor on drums.
Within a few years after this, the band was to be synonymous with solo releases by Neil Hannon, and over the years Hannon has himself disowned the album.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Easy "Magic Seed" (1990)

Magic Seed [debut]
release date: 1990
format: vinyl (MNWP 208) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: John Fryer
label: MNW - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: A) 1. "Castle Train" (4 /5) - 2. "He Brings the Honey" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Cloud Chamber" - 4. "Damn Sugar" (5 / 5) - 5. "Sunny Day" (4 / 5) - - B) 3. "Between John & Yoko" - 5. "Magic Seed" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Swedish indie pop band Easy formed in 1987, Jönköping, Sweden. The band went through some changes in the line-up during the 1990s but here the band is a quintet made up by Johan Holmlund on vocals, Tommy Ericsson on guitar, Anders Petersson on keyboards and guitar, Rikard Jormin on bass, and with Tommy Jonsson on drums.

I don't remember why or where I came across the album but it's most likely a puchase from the early 1990s. I was hooked on shoegaze and dream pop and this is a great example of just this kind of music. Somehow the band succeeded in making a deal with the Swedish indie pop label MNW and hired the hot British producer John Fryer to produce the album. Most likely, I found his name on the back of the cover and knew it couldn't be all bad. At this point he had already produced albums for Cocteau Twins, Modern English, This Mortal Coil and Peter Murphy among others. I played this very album quite a lot for a period of time and I never really understood why the band never gained more recognition. Especially the A-side of the album is great. The sound is a bit one-dimensional in the long-run but it really consists of enough fine compositions to be a legendary ep of the genre. It's the only album I know of by Easy but they have many other studio albums. Their most recent release is a non-label album from 2014.

Recommended.

Robert Forster "Danger in the Past" (1990)

Danger in the Past [debut]

release date: Nov. 1990
format: cd (BEGA 113 CD)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Mick Harvey
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Baby Stones" - 2. "The River People" - 3. "Leave Here Satisfied" - 4. "Heart Out to Tender" (live) - 7. "Danger in the Past" - 8. "I've Been Looking for Somebody" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Justice"

Solo studio album by Australian songwriter Robert Forster after the disbandment of The Go-Betweens. The album is produced by Mick Harvey of The Bad Seeds, and Forster simply continues the contractual obligations with the record label who stood behind releases with his former band.

Harvey is also credited as multi-instrumentalist together with Hugo Race (former The Bad Seeds guitarist) and drummer Thomas Wydler from The Bad Seeds. Apart from these four only Karin Bäumler is credited for additional vocals.

The story goes that before breaking up with The Go-Betweens and after ending their one-year world tour, Forster had relocated to Berlin to be with Karin Bäumler - his future wife (May 1990-) - before returning to Brisbane to initiate what should have been the band's follow up to 16 Lovers Lane (1988) and immediately upon the decision to end the band (Dec. '89), he then returned to Berlin and initially began writing new songs for a duo-project - or perhaps a continuation of The Go-Betweens - as a duo with Grant McLennan, but instead the songs solidified as Forster's solo album debut. Berlin was a second home to The Bad Seeds, so it was natural to contact Harvey and then the inclusion of two other Bad Seeds members was at hand, you may say.

Although, all songs are credited Forster alone, the album as a whole have many similarities with the works by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Only tracks #1, #2 and #9 with a bolder / more typical 'jangle pop' / 'folk rock' guitars actually sound like songs that you could find on albums by The Go-Betweens, but the remaining six of the album's nine songs all share some of the same influences from 'blues rock' as albums by The Seeds by having that dark tone and wry sentiment to it. At the same time the album is also a 'singer / songwriter' release but it's quite easy to imagine Nick Cave substituting Forster's vocal and then you'd simply have a late 90s album by Cave, who at this point made more 'punk rock' / 'blues punk' albums, and on the other hand it's even imaginative to think that Cave was influenced by this when turning his / their music towards a bolder 'singer / songwriter'-style, which may be heard on his albums of the second half of the 1990s.

That said, the songs here are typical Forster material about (his new-found) love with realistic everyday narrations dealing with relationships - he and Grant ("Leave Here Satisfied") and about Karin ("Heart Out to Tender", "I've Been Looking for Somebody"), and he makes sure not to try to replicate Cave's voice but instead cleverly keeps to his own usual melancholic vocal.

The songs, the style and the production sound all makes this anything but a discontinued journey of The Go-Betweens or the follow-up to their fine '88 album. Instead it marks a fine start of Forster's solo career.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Presley "Danske single hits" (1990)

Danske single hits (compilation)

release date: 1990

format: vinyl (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: various

label: RCA / BMG - nationality: USA

Danish compilation album with Elvis Presley single hits. This collection is with liner notes by Danish radio host Jørgen de Mylius giving his account of how Elvis was welcomed in Denmark back in the day, and he sums up bits of the story of the selected singles. An awkward thing about the selected tracks is the end note stating that four of the hits don't have any registered ranks on the Danish hit lists - which make their part in this very compilation a bit of a mystery.

The album was part of my parents' record collection, and it's an album they have purchased after I left the home of my childhood, however, Elvis was a popular figure in our home. Both of my parents had so to speak grown up with Elvis as background music to their formative years as parents. They were no die-hard fans but they especially enjoyed his bolder ballads as opposed to his early rock & roll-period.

a-ha "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (1990)

East of the Sun, West of the Moon
release date: Oct. 22, 1990
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]
producer: Christopher Neil, Ian Stanley
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: Norway

4th studio album by a-ha is another pop / rock album with stress on pop. To me, it's much the same output as Danish band Michael Learns to Rock - another band I never really understood. It's music loaded with piano, keyboards, saxophones and vocal harmonies, and music without any distinction, I think. It bores me, and I'm on the verge to delete this album from my collection, 'cause why on earth do I keep it?
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Jack Frost "Jack Frost" (1990)

Jack Frost [debut]
release date: Nov. / Dec. 1990 (?)
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Steve Kilbey
label: Arista Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Every Hour God Sends" - 4. "Geneva 4 a.m." - 6. "Providence" - 7. "Thought That I Was Over You" - 8. "Threshold" - 9. "Number Eleven" - 12. "Ramble"

Studio album debut from Australian duo-project Jack Frost founded by Steve Kilbey (front figure of The Church) and Grant McLennan (one of the main composers and lead vocalists of The Go-Betweens). The name of the project refers to the pseudonym Bob Dylan used as a producer on his latest album Under the Red Sky (1990) released a few months earlier. The story behind this perhaps uneasy pairing is that Kilbey reportedly contacted McLennan in Jul. 1990, at a time when, half a year earlier, McLennan and Robert Forster had decided to end 'their' band, The Go-Betweens. Both had then begun their respective solo careers, and Kilbey, on the other hand, had found himself in a personal crisis with obvious conflicts within The Church, and he went through a strained relationship with the group's record label, Arista, who had pushed the band's progress in a more commercial direction, although the band itself had other ideas in relation to its musical development.

The most recent album by The Church, Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb. '90) didn't turn out as succesfully as the band, and probably especially the record company, had expected. McLennan was in a position where he had ended his first and only band, a decision and an aftermath that sent him into an emotional slump when his girlfriend Amanda Brown subsequently ended their relationship. So, that's how Kilbey and McLennan met as two 'lost souls' and began this short-lived musical partnership, which led to this very debut and the 1995 follow-up Snow Job.

Jack Frost consists of thirteen tracks with a total running time at just under one hour. In addition to being credited as album producer, Kilbey is credited vocalist, guitarist, bassist, keyboards, and drummer, while McLennan is credited as vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. Along the way on the album, the two switch roles as lead vocalists, and they also [quite] apparently switch roles as songwriters without it being stated who wrote the individual tracks, as they are both credited all tracks.

However, it would be an obvious continuation of the practice McLennan was familiar with from his many years of pairing with Robert Forster in The Go-Betweens. While Kilbey / McLennan are songwriters and composers of all tracks, they have teamed up with Pryce Surplice, who is credited on drums, computers, and synthesizers without being an official member of the project. In addition, some other musicians participate, which includes Kilbey's (Swedish) girlfriend, Karin Jansson on backing vocals. The album was first released in Australia in late 1990 on the Red Eye Records label and later on Arista in early '91 for international releases - actually to positive reviews, but at the same time to very little commercial interest. Two singles were released: Tracks #1 and #7 released in Nov. '90 and Apr. '91, respectively.

Stylistically, the album falls in the box of alt. rock with elements from jangle-pop and neo-psychedelia as well as folk rock. It's in no way surprising that some songs bring memories of The Church while others point more in the direction of The Go-Betweens, but the two bands have always shared the jangle-pop element as a common starting point, even if Kilbey and McLennan have different starting points, when it comes to lyrical narratives but also the musical arrangements. In the simpler arrangements with classic melodic song structure, McLennan focuses on down-to-earth personal relationships centrered on family and love affairs, whereas Kilbey's songs generally are more complex in structure, focusing on cosmic ideas and mysticism. So even though they are both credited as songwriters and composers on all compositions, it's pretty obvious who is actual writer of the individual tracks. In this way, the album is anything but coherent, as in places it sound like the art of compromise, which nevertheless points in multiple directions.

Well, Jack Frost is both an interesting project and an album that hasn't gotten the attention it rightly deserves.

In later interviews, Kilbey - who has been open about his use of illicit drugs, which dates back to the beginning of The Church - has said that it was McLennan who introduced him to heroin and that his usage started during the recording of the songs for this first Jack Frost album.

The pair played some national concerts soon after its release, after which McLennan returned and concentrated on recording the tracks that would later result in his solo debut Watershed (Jun. 1990).

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Zucchero "Zucchero" (1990)

Zucchero (compilation)

released: Sep. 3, 1990

format: cd (1991 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: various

label: London Records - nationality: Italy

1st compilation album by Zucchero had some issues with the sticker: "Zucchero Sings His Hits In English". This is the first album released for the Italian market completely without his usual stage name "Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari". The first issues consisted of only nine compositions (which also applies for all vinyl pressings), whereas cd re-issues from '91 and later all came with twelve tracks.

On some lists the album is filed as a studio album, and I admit it is difficult to label entirely. Fact is, the songs here have all been issued before-hand, BUT never in these versions. British songwriter Frank Musker has written English lyrics for seven of the original nine compositions - the last two songs are together with the additional three extra tracks held in the original Italian versions. This makes the majority of the songs appear in new versions and in new arrangements, but then again: they have been selected for the purpose of widening the knowledge of Zucchero's music, and five of the songs still come in their original versions...

Anyway, the collection is fine, the songs are splendid and show what a great songwriter Zucchero is.

It's a recommended acquisition of alternative international versions of his older songs, although, later compilations better this one.

The Go-Betweens "1978 - 1990" (1990)

1978 - 1990 (compilation)
release date: Mar. 19, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Rebel Records - nationality: Australia

Compilation album by The Go-Betweens originally released on Beggars Banquet after the disbandment of the group. The album is not a mere best of album but more the collection of selected songs in incomplete order starting off with "Hammer the Hammer" from 1982. Also, the title suggests that you'll find songs from 1978 to 1990 on this album, which you won't - at least not on the CD issue of the album, which contains 22 tracks. However, the 2 lp vinyl issue comes closer to embracing the whole period with its 27 tracks, but the timespan is widened here to a full decade: '78-88 - since they didn't record any new material after 1988 (and there's also a Japanese 2 CD issue of the album with 28 tracks). Hence, the title is a reference to the life-time of the band, and there's a timeline in the inlay with the various line-ups of the band reflecting years as a duo ('78-80), as a trio ('80-82), a quartet ('82-86), and two different periods as a quintet ('86-88 / '88-89). But if the band ended in '89 (which it did), then why is it titled "1978 - 1990"? To justify this album... Well, that's of course a label decision.

Anyway, the album is fine but also rather redundant since it doesn't really add anything to the whole picture, and for those who do not know all albums, well, a true best of album would be the better option. But guess what - sadly there are no decent best of albums with this band. There's the album Bellavista Terrace: Best of The Go-Betweens (1999), which "only" contains 14 tracks and leaves too many great tunes out, and even the 2-disc versions just adds a live concert as further material. Then there's Quiet Heart: The Best of The Go-Betweens (2012), which contains 18 random songs - some fine, yes but best? No. And that one also contains a live disc...[!], as if this band didn't make enough great songs. Then there are some anthologies but all with their flaws. So please [e.g. Beggars Banquet], go ahead and make the genuine album featuring the best from one of the most important Australian bands ever.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Breeders "Pod" (1990)

Pod (debut]
release date: May 28, 1990
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,34]
producer: Steve Albini
label: 4AD - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Glorious" - 3. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" - 4. "Oh!" - 5. "Hellbound" - 8. "Iris" - 11. "Lime House"

Studio album debut by The Breeders, a project band created in the late 1980s as Pixies bassist Kim Deal and Throwing Muses vocalist and guitarist Tanya Donelly became friends and as Deal was unsatisfied with her part in Pixies as merely instrumentalist, and was writing her own original material the two decided to try to make music together. After a short demo tape was sent to British 4AD-founder Ivo Watts-Russell, as both Pixies and Throwing Muses were signed to that label, he made arrangements with Deal and Donelly to come to England to record some tracks. Deal then contacted Josephine Wiggs of the English band The Perfect Disaster (who had supported Pixies at a London concert in '88) to play bass in the band. Kim also asked American producer Steve Albini to record the sessions, and he made contact to Slint drummer Britt Walford to stand-in - initially as studio musician, which he subsequently agreed to if they would have him credited under another name. Thus, the band here consists of Kim Deal on lead vocals and guitar, Tanya Donelly on guitar and backing vocals, Josephine Wiggs on bass and backing vocals, and with Britt Walford (credited as Shannon Doughton) on drums and backing vocals.
The majority of the tracks are written by Kim Deal (two songs co-written with demo bassist Ray Halliday, one composed with Donelly, and one track with Wiggs), which means Deal in a way finds her outlet for her creativity on this album.
Stylistically, it's typical indie rock of the early 1990s with strong and natural bonds to Pixies and Throwing Muses; also with producer Albini in the seat, the sound is far from over-produced and basically sound like it was recorded as is playing live in the studio; however, there's also a distinct original sonic shape, which has to do with more simple and harmonic melodies pointing at The Beatles (the album contains the cover of the Lennon-McCartney song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun") and Velvet Underground as natural sources of inspiration AND an alt. rock sound, which can only be referred to as grunge rock, which makes it one of the earliest of that style and therefore a natural source of inspiration for many bands to follow in the early 1990s. Thinking of one of Pixies most beloved compositions from Surfer Rosa, the song "Gigantic", written and song by Kim Deal, in a way comes closer to the music of "Pod" than any other song by Pixies or Throwing Muses.
Now, the album isn't famous for its innovative sound or great songs, but in time it has found its way to critical appraisal. Also, Kurt Cobain apparently has been sited to refer to the album as one of his top 3 favourite albums of all time.
I didn't come across the album until after buying The Breeders' Last Splash (1993), and that probably influenced my verdict on the album, as I have never found that appealing, but I must also confess that it's quite good, although, it sounds quite dated from a contemporary perspective. Listening to of the
[ allmusic.com, Spin, NME 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Droolian" (1990)

Droolian

release date: 1990

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]

producer: Ron Fair

label: Zippo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sqwubbsy" - 3. "Unisex Cathedral" - 5. "Safe Surfer" - 7. "Jellypop Perky Jean"

6th studio album by Julian Cope is his second sel-released album to follow his pompeous and disowned My Nation Underground (Oct. 1988). The album follows closely on the same path laid out with Skellington (1989) despite both pointing back on the '89-album as a kind of leftovers and at the same time laying out his future fully-formed style, which comes to full blossom on the successor Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991) .

Droolian is a peculiar mix of spontaneous fanciful ideas - appearing as improvs and quite subtle arrangements. Cope demonstrates original ideas, although, he may have followed an urge - as a result of the lawsuit tried by Island Records [see Skellington] - just to record and release a complete album without the proper finish, which could have resulted in something closer to Peggy Suicide. As a curiosity Droolian contains "Safe Surfer", which on the '91-album is rearranged to "Safesurfer". Some tracks sound like complete improvs and at times Cope appears as an artist, who is about 100% on some (acid?) trip, which often create unconventional, not seldom quite funny, but also easily forgotten moments.

All in all, Droolian is funny, different, and flawed, and nevertheless worth a moment of your time.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Hex "Vast Halos" (1990)

Vast Halos

release date: Sep. 28, 1990

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Steve Kilbey

label: self-release - nationality: USA / Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Monarch" - 3. "March" - 4. "Centaur" - 5. "Antelope" - 6. "Hollywood in Winter"

2nd and final full-length studio album by the duo Hex consisting of Donette Thayer and Steve Kilbey, also a privately formed couple. The title has only been released on CD and cassette via Rykodisc in the US and as a digital self-release in Australia. As a curiosity, the album came out at the same time when Kilbey and his (other) girlfriend, Karin Jansson, released their debut album Charms & Blues (also Sep. '90) under the name of Curious (Yellow). Vast Halos is the direct continuation of the '89 debut with more delay and bolder use of echo effects to create a stronger musical spaciousness. All tracks here are credited Thayer / Kilbey and again it's Thayer's vocals alone performing on the songs, which have been further arranged with keyboards, synthetic strings, and the vocals on this function more as musical instrumentation a bit á la Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins. Jangle-pop elements have crept in (Kilbey), but otherwise the album (again) most of all points to earlier dream pop releases of the mid-eighties.

The album garnered even better reviews than the debut, but without promotion it only sold a few copies and Hex only released one single from the album, the track "March".

During this period, Kilbey found himself at a low point with The Church, who, after bad studio experiences, had released Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb. '90) to lukewarm reviews, but Kilbey subsequently released his fourth solo album, Remindlessness (Jul. '90) and in the Summer of '90, he embarked on a new duo-project, now with Grant McLennan from the recently defunct Go-Betweens, and together the two released the debut album Jack Frost by the end of the year.

Vast Halos is quite a nicely arranged album if you are into dream pop in the darker and more moody end of the scale, where Hex leans on the same qualities as Mazzy Star with their debut She Hangs Brightly from May this year, and without being excellent, it is clearly the duo's best and most interesting outing.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Curious (Yellow) "Charms & Blues" (1990)

Charms & Blues [debut]

release date: Sep. 1990

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]

producer: Steven Kilbey

label: Red Eye Records / Polydor - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Silvia" - 2. "Taken by Surprice" - 4. "Charms and Blues" - 5. "Insomnia" - 7. "Serendipity" - 10. "Empress"

Debut album from the duo-project Curious (Yellow) consisting of Swedish vocalist Karin Jansson (formerly Pink Champagne) and boyfriend Steve Kilbey (of The Church, here credited Steven Kilbey) released on Australian Red Eye in Sep. '90, at which point Kilbey also together with his (other) girlfriend Donette Thayer later that month released the album Vast Halos under the name of Hex. For several years, Kilbey has written songs together with Jansson, which have appeared on Kilbey's solo albums or releases with The Church - among others possibly the band's biggest hit "Under the Milky Way" (1988). Curious (Yellow) is the only studio album under a name taken from the Swedish erotic film, "I Am Curious (Yellow)" from '67 by Vilgot Sjöman. 'Coincidentially', a plot in the film is that of a female protagonist who finds out that her new boyfriend is also seing another woman. In the late eighties, Kilbey was in a relationship with Jansson, with whom he had twin daughters and from '88 (with Jansson's knowledge) he also formed a couple with Donette Thayer for a few years.

Musically, the most obvious connection is to Kilbey and Thayer's musical project Hex and its debut album from '89. Charms & Blues is dream pop / indie pop carried in a simple style, which may remind a little of Cardigans meets Cranberries. Kilbey is not quite as prominent in the sound image and on the composition side as he is in Hex or for that matter in the band The Church and in Jack Frost. Most of all, it appears like Jansson's project, which Kilbey supports with his know-how and ability as a producer. He plays on some tracks, he has written two tracks and composed the music on three of the album's eleven tracks in total, but Jansson participates on all songs and she has written nine songs and composed the music on three tracks. In addition to the two main actors, Pryce Surplice also participates as an instrumentalist and composer - he also plays together with Kilbey and McLennan in the duo-project Jack Frost.

Charms & Blues is mostly interesting as one of Kilbey's many releases, but it's not on par with the music from Kilbey's other side projects, nor with the music Kilbey and Thayer released under the Hex moniker.

Steve Kilbey "Remindlessness" (1990)

Remindlessness
release date: Jul. 15, 1990
format: digital (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Steve Kilbey
label: Karmic Hit - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 2. "Vanishing Act" - 3. "Life's Little Luxuries" - 5. "The Amphibian" - 6. "Random Pan" - 7. "Pain in My Temples" - 9. "Goliath" - 14. "Music From Commercial for 'Eternity Inc.' " / "No Such Thing" - 16. "Remindlessness"

4th solo album from The Church frontman Steve Kilbey, originally released as a double vinyl lp on Red Eye Records - in 2002 released on the small label Karmic Hit (founded in '92 by Steve and his younger brother John Kilbey). The album is an 18-track release with a total running length of just over 78 minutes. Most of the songs are written and composed by Steve alone, and the material leans closely to the latest studio albums from The Church - a bit of a contrast to other of his more experimental solo releases. The reason for a closer bond with the material from The Church could be the band's dissatisfaction with the studio recordings for their latest album, Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb '90), where the record company interfered in the artistic decisions surrounding the creation of the album - and perhaps Remindlessness therefore could indicate a style of music, which Kilbey & Co. actually were looking for had they been offered more freedom in the studio.

I don't think that the album here is significantly better than the band's 1990 album, but Kilbey's solo releases are undoubtedly less mainstream and the album here represents a stronger independent expression with loans from The Church and its many sources of inspiration. It doesn't contain any obvious hits nor any sing-a-long material, and it's clear that Kilbey at this point has some years behind him since the early jangle pop days with the first albums with The Church.

Musically, the new compositions are somewhat more complex and the lyrical side is the continued focus on universal human subjects and thoughts about existentialism. And to finish the comparison with the latest release from the band The Church, Kilbey's solo album wins in the long run because you never stop discovering new details with each new listen of these rather complex and diverse tracks.

After this, Kilbey contacted musician Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens and together they founded the joint project, Jack Frost.

The Church "Gold Afternoon Fix" (1990)

from top to bottom:
Koppes, Kilbey, Ploog, Piper

Gold Afternoon Fix
release date: Feb. 22, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Waddy Wachtel & The Church
label: Arista Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Pharoah" - 2. "Metropolis" - 3. "Terra Nova Cain" - 4. "City" - 5. "Monday Morning" - 6. "Russian Autumn Heart" - 9. "Disappointment" - 10. "Transient" - 11. "Laughing"

6th studio album by The Church released almost two years after the international breakthrough album Starfish (Apr. '88) and the band's second album on Arista. With the same producer, the company has made attempts to ensure that The Church would follow roughly the same approach and repeat the success, although, the band reportedly had expressed a desire to work with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones to avoid similar negative experiences as adjacent during the recordings for the '88 album. Needless say, record companies are in a position of immense power and controlling recording settings. Internal conflicts led to the band's exclusion of drummer Richard Ploog after the album's release (apparently due to uncontrollable substance abuse) - some tracks were recorded with drum programming; yet Ploog is credited as the drummer.

Having followed the band from the beginning, this was my first real disappointment with their new music. My understanding was that the band had made a clear decision to make music with a wider appeal with their previous album, but upon hearing them try to repeat the success of music that was so close to the same output, didn't make things much better. With this, I gradually tired of the music by The Church, although, I still saw them as having unfulfilled potential - and the album is certainly not without fine moments, and the knowledge of their previous releases also made me continue to listen to the band, even though most often it was their older albums. With producer Wachtel at the helm here, you see the band playing large-scale tracks with heavy arrangements obviously adapted to satisfy the American market - it provides me with the image of being a driver of a mobile home on an American highway. It's no longer a question of being original or innovating - but what's left is the task of forging while the iron is still hot.

Gold Afternoon Fix was met by positive reviews, but it didn't quite reach the expected sales figures. The album peaked at No. #66 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. #12 in Australia, which isn't bad after all. The problem was that the band had seen better chart positions and that they were left with a negative experience with studio recordings and by being residents in Los Angeles. Richard Ploog left the group after this album and he was replaced for the upcoming live tour by Jay Dee Daugherty (of Patti Smith).

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]