Fatboy Slim "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" (1998)

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

release date: Oct. 1998

format: cd / digital (2008 2cd 10th Anniversary Edition)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]

producer: Fatboy Slim

label: Skint Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Right Here, Right Now" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "The Rockafeller Skank" - 4. "Gangster Tripping" - 5. "Build It Up - Tear It Down" - 9. "Praise You" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "Acid 8000"

2nd studio album by Fatboy Slim following his fine debut Better Living Through Chemistry from '96 is like that released on Skint and produced by Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook). The title is taken from the American cigarette brand Virgina Slims, which was sold (to women as target group) in the 1960s and 70s using the slogan "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" - the title here then is used with reference to the cover and the official video for track #1 as an ironic statement about the human race.

Despite being crafted almost only using heavy sampling, the album is very much of a whole, building on hooks, catchy phrases and small bits from this and that, primarily soul and funk artists, but the common denominator is something original within the big beat style of electronica.

The album spawned four single releases and they all peaked in top 10 on the UK singles chart list. In order, the songs selected for single releases were tracks #2, 4, 9, and 1 with the first two preceding the album release and the last two issued in '99. The third single, "Praise You" (Jan. '99) followed by an official video creation that was work of geniality performed the best peaking at #1 in many countries world-wide including the UK, Scotland, Iceland, and it peaked at #2 in the US on the Alternative Songs list. The last single also performed quite well peaking at #1 on the UK Indie list (#2 overall) and furthermore, the video for "Praise You" won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Awards, and in 2000 it was voted #1 of the 100 best music videos ever released in an MTV anniversary poll. The album peaked at #1 in the UK, and it has sold more than 3 mio. copies worldwide and is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

The album is undoubtedly Fatboy Slim's best and most coherent album. In 2008, a 2-disc 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition with 10 bonus tracks was issued on Skint.

Highly recommendable.

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

1998 Favourite releases: 1. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee - 2. Mark Hollis Mark Hollis - 3. Fatboy Slim You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Far Out Corporation "FOC" (1998)

FOC [debut]

release date: Oct. 26, 1998

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: Tim Whitten & The FOC

label: Polydor - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Blame the Beam" - 4. "Montreal" - 6. "If You Want Release" - 9. "Suicide at Home" - 10. "Parachute"

Studio debut and only album by side-project band The Far Out Corporation consisting of vocalist & guitarist Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens), guitarist & vocalist Ian Haug (Powderfinger), bassist Adele Pickvance (Natives of Bedlam, later in Dave Graney Show, later member of The Go-Betweens), and drummer Ross MacLennan. Apparently, Grant McLennan had been asked to provide some ambient music for an art project event in early '98 after which he gathered a band that could perform the music live, which then led to the idea to produce an album.

Stylewise, this is far from McLennan solo and / or The Go-Betweens - and it basically sounds more like something his bandmate Steve Kilbey from Jack Frost could have been involved in, which is also reflected in Grant's singing style (listen to "Montreal"). It's touching on neo-psychelia but may be characterised as art pop blending inspiration from an alt. rock / art rock sphere (Australian alternative rock band Underground Lovers being inspired by The Velvet Underground) with bonds to earlier classic synthpop (Depeche Mode meets New Order). The band played some gigs after the release but as The Go-Betweens was reformed in '99 the project was abandoned.

It's not entirely bad, and then on the other hand, it doesn't deliver something remarkably unforgettable. Most of all it shows McLennans artistry, and although all songs are credited all band members it seems likely that Mclennan - who started the project - wrote the lyrics, and especially the song "Suicide at Home" made Robert Forster attentive on McLennan's mental state, which Forster in this period recalls as 'really bad'. Luckily, the two kept touring supported by Adele Pickvance, and when McLennan approached Forster about the idea of reforming the Go-Betweens he accepted, and in the Summer of '99 the two constituted the new band assisted by Pickvance, Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes.

The Church "Hologram of Baal" (1998)

Hologram of Baal

release date: Sep. 8, 1998

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: The Church

label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Australia

*Track highlights: 1. "Anaesthesia" - 2. "Ricochet" - 3. "Louisiana" (official video, short version) - 4. "The Great Machine" - 5. "No Certainty Attached" - 6. "Tranquility" - 7. "Buffalo" - 8. "This Is It" - 9. "Another Earth" - 10. "Glow-Worm"

*[all tracks]

10th studio album by The Church, which here consists of Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Marty Willson-Piper, and Tim Powles. The album follows the critically acclaimed Magician Among the Spirits from 1996. Koppes had left the band back in '92 after the release of Priest = Aura due to disagreements with Kilbey and Willson-Piper, and the band continued until '97 when the trio of Kilbey, Koppes, and Powles released Pharmakoi / Distance-Crunching Honchos With Echo Units as The Refo:mation founded without Willson-Piper. Subsequently, Kilbey decided that The Church should release just one more album before finally disbanding. The Church therefore embarked on a farewell tour in Australia, which was surprisingly quite successful, and the last grand finale in Sydney convinced all members to give it another shot in the studio. For the first time, they found themselves in full control of the production assisted by the band's new drummer Tim Powles, and with him at the helm as sound engineer and mixer, they managed to combine the band's original strengths with a new distinctive set of traits. Powles is also mentioned in several places as the person who managed to shelve old internal tensions between Kilbey, Koppes, and Willson-Piper and make them all look ahead. The album was released in Australia on the label Festival Records, in Europe on Cooking Vinyl, and for the North American market by Thirsty Ear and True North. After the release, the band went on their first world tour for many years, which led the group to New York, where Kilbey was arrested and sentenced to community service for buying heroin.

The album garnered generally positive reviews and is one of the band's most coherent and better albums, which clearly wins for a special feeling for a whole cast rather than individual strong compositions. There are no fillers and the 'featured highlights' above are all ten tracks.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

org. Australian cover

Talk Talk "Asides Besides" (1998)

Asides Besides (compilation)
release date: Apr. 20, 1998
format: digital (2-disc)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: EMI - nationality: England, UK

A 2 cd compilation by Talk Talk is like most other compilations with the band issued by EMI. This was released shortly after Mark Hollis released his eponymous solo album in January on Verve Records. Most tracks here are original Talk Talk compositions in (heavily) altered versions labelled "Extended Version", "Extended Remix", "12'' Mix", "Dub Mix", "Dance Mix", "U.S. Mix", "Demo Version", or just "Edit"... Yes, the old label surely understood how to make profit. Everything, of course, is released without the band's consent, and to make the responsible staff even less sympathetic, they chose to release the album only a few months following the release of Mark Hollis' first and only solo album - using that as promotion to harvest a bit more... The band had sued and won the case against EMI with its release of the album History Revisited (1991, see Natural History...), but here EMI 'only' release the same remixed songs on an album, claiming it's 'demo material'... And my guess - as well as that of EMI - is that the band members simply wouldn't go through another lengthy law suit, so you may ask yourself, who ended up winning the case.
The songs are there - a few of them have been made into extended versions by the band's co-composer and main producer throughout the band's career, Tim Friese-Greene, but the majority of the tracks are edited by EMI engineering staff.
Especially, the older compositions sounds truly fine, but it's also a mixed bag with so many compositions tampered with, and frankly, the studio albums are there, and they're all you need.

Mark Hollis "Mark Hollis" (1998)

Mark Hollis [debut]
release date: Jan. 26, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Mark Hollis
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Colour of Spring" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Watershed" - 4. "The Gift" - 5. "A Life (1895-1915)" - 6. "Westward Bound" - 7. "The Daily Planet" - 8. "A New Jerusalem"

Studio solo debut and only album by Talk Talk front-figure Mark Hollis released seven years after the disbandment of Talk Talk. A record deal for two albums with Polydor before the band's final album may likely be the practical grounds for the initial process in having this album released at all. Hollis never was an artist who sought out or enjoyed time in the limelight before or after releasing albums, and a fundamental reason to the disbandment of Talk Talk appears to have been his personal wish not to live life as a performing artist but to recede to family life - so here's at least one good reason for having record contracts that matter for the fans (!).
Stylistically, the album is quite different from any other album released with Talk Talk. The only common characteristics with the final two studio releases and the presence of a jazz-feel, which had its biggest impact on Laughing Stock but also found way to Spirit of Eden and first introduced on The Colour of Spring. You will also find the sense of progressiveness on this one but the overall tone and style is not that of a post rock-release as much as a minimalist and almost ambient jazz pop-sensation, which could be measured as one-third chamber pop, one-third art pop, and one third focussing on jazz; however, produced with minimal arrangements, and in a way, it could also be labelled as sheer minimalism if not that style also hinted at repetitious elements, often made with classical or electronic instrumentation, which is not the case here. If not touching on silent, this is just extremely delicate. The Hollis and Frise-Greene partnership, a remarkable songwriter / composer duo had come to an end with the final Talk Talk album, but several familiar musicians contribute on the album. Mark Feltham on harmonica, Martin Ditcham on drums and percussion, and Robbie McIntosh on guitar, and they have all played on several albums by Talk Talk before, but it's really remarkable how many additional musicians Hollis enlists on this near-quiet album 'cause what you really end up hearing on the majority of the tracks, is basically only the voice of Mark Hollis, some piano parts by Lawrence Pendrous, the double-bass by classical and jazz bassist Chris Laurence alongside Mark Ditcham's percussion sounds. On top of that, parts of other instruments are layered briefly to ensure a sensation of a warm, spacious room of beauty.
I purchased the album on its release without having heard one single tone from it 'cause I knew it had to be good. Not that it was what I expected, but it just didn't disappoint. Perhaps my only regret is its short total running time clocking in just below 47 mins.
The album was met by positive reviews but (naturally) it wasn't followed by live performances or anything such as a promotion tour. Although, Hollis produced and arranged two tracks on the album Smiling & Waving from 2001 by Norwegian Anja Garbarek (daughter of Jan Garbarek), he only returned to his private life and regrettably seems to have abandoned music from hereon for good.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Uncut and NME 4 / 5 stars ]

1998 Favourite releases: 1. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee - 2. Mark Hollis Mark Hollis - 3. Fatboy Slim You've Come a Long Way, Baby

The Divine Comedy "Fin de siècle" (1998)

Fin de siècle
release date: Aug. 31, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Jon Jacobs and Neil Hannon
label: Setanta Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Generation Sex" - 3. "Commuter Love" (4 / 5) - 6. "National Express" (4 / 5) - 8. "The Certainty of Chance" (4 / 5) - 6. "Sunrise"

6th studio album by The Divine Comedy. After the great but short A Short Album About Love (1997), Hannon has returned to his tongue-in-cheek stories about modern life. The album isn't really great but still contains a number of fine compositions worthwhile, however, it's seen better from Mr. Hannon. Somehow, and apart from the fine track highlights, this appears as one of his "middle of the road" albums.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari "BlueSugar" (1998)

BlueSugar (Italian version)
release date: Nov. 5, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,34]
producer: Corrado Rustici
label: Polydor - nationality: Italy

Track highlights: 1. "You Make Me Feel Loved" - 2. "Blu" - 5. "Back 2 U" - 7. "(Temporaneamente) X sempre tuo" - 8. "Eccetera eccetera" - 9. "Karma, stai kalma" (feat. Irene Fornaciari) - 10. "Dopo di noi"

8th studio album by Zucchero released as 'Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari' follows more than three years after SpiritoDiVino (May '95). The album is Zucchero's fifth consecutive album and sixth overall to be produced by Rustici. Despite the relative long period in between albums this follows the blueprint of the two predecessors by being released in a national, an international (English) version as well as a Spanish version. The international version comes with six translated songs of which five have been given new titles.
Compared to Miserere (1992) and SpiritoDiVino this shares stronger bonds with British-styled pop soul and pop / rock, which I normally prefer to his ever-present American blues inspiration. However, listening to Zucchero at this point of his career, he isn't an artist who feels a strong urge to make stylistic changes when writing and composing music. He has found a formula he sticks to, and staying with the same label and using the same producer his music do tend to sound much like on earlier releases. It's in the small details that you may notice a progression - it's not that everyone has to reinvent themselves all time. Most would accept a new Frank Sinatra album had a certain Sinatra-feel, and I guess fans of Bruce Springsteen or Coldplay may expect their artistic fingerprints, respectively, and Zucchero has in many ways put himself in a certain category with artist like Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker, Martha Wainwright, etc. who are all expected to deliver recognisable music and not to excell in experiments - like Neil Young, Paul Weller or Gorillaz are expected to do.
Anyway, I think it all sounds quite nice - the execution, the production, arrangements mixing, but I have simply lost a great portion of my curiosity for Zucchero's music - much like I did a long time ago with U2, Sting, late R.E.M. and Simple Minds. BlueSugar is a mighty fine album, it just doesn't ring the big bells, and I personally think it doesn't matter much what version you pick anymore. Be it Italian or English, they basically sound much alike. Now don't get me wrong, Zucchero is undoubtedly a great and truly fine songwriter and most likely Italy's finest rock artist of all their great names, and as much as I enjoy his earlier albums, I also find that he has ended up reproducing too much without being sufficiently original to do exactly just that.
BlueSugar is fine - put the first two tracks on repeat - they are part of his legacy, but at this point of his career, I think his compilation albums may be better choices, e.g. the 2-disc album All the Best (1999) or Wanted (The Best Collection) a 3-disc album from 2017.

Note: both the Italian and the international version have the same cover.

The Durutti Column "Time Was Gigantic...When We Were Kids" (1998)

Time Was Gigantic...When We Were Kids
release date: Nov. 3, 1998
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]
producer: Keir Stewart
label: Factory Too / London Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Organ Donor" - 2. "Pigeon" - 3. "I B Yours" - 4. "Twenty Trees" - 7 "Sing to Me" - 9. "For Rachel" - 10. "Highfield Choir"

11th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factory Too (with the aid from London Records) and produced by Keir Stewart. Factory Records had closed in '92 and Factory Too closed in '96, which only explains why many of the original album releases on the two Factory labels are rather hard to find anywhere in distribution. This album is not entirely electronic but it shows Reilly's journey into avant-garde indie pop.

Mogwai "Kicking a Dead Pig - Mogwai Songs Remixed" (1998)

Kicking a Dead Pig - Mogwai Songs Remixed (remix album)

release date: May 18, 1998

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC - 2001 reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,88]

producer: Mogwai & various

label: Mogwai self-relase - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Like Herod (Hood Remix)" - 7. "Mogwai Fear Satan (Surgeon Remix)" - 10. "Mogwai Fear Satan (Mogwai Remix)" - 12. "Mogwai Fear Satan (My Bloody Valentine Remix)"

Remix album by Mogwai primarily of compositions from the band's debut album Young Team (1997). Originally the album was released as a ten track album on Eye Q Records, but after the label had closed the album was expanded by another two tracks and it was released as a 2-cd album with the two new remixes on disc 2 as the final version, track #12 is a 16 minute long version of "Mogwai Fear Satan" - the original being 10 seconds longer.

Most of the compositions have been heavily altered and mostly into electronic dance or with an ear for old school techno rave. You may argue that the point in making a remix album with songs that sound much like the original seems wrong, but when the end result is music of a completely other genre, it's also a natural source of criticism. It's experimental and daring and some ideas and even whole compositions are made with some success, but overall it doesn't fit that well in the band's discography - it's more of an oddity. Best remixes here are actually Mogwai's own mix of "Mogwai Fear Satan" only bettered by Kevin Shield's (My Bloody Valentine) daring but aso highly original version.

Collector's item only.

[ bandcamp ]

Gangway "Compendium - Greatest Hits" (1998)

Compendium - Greatest Hits, compilation

release date: Jan. 28, 1998

format: digital (18 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

producer: various

label: BMG - nationality: Denmark

Compilation album by Danish synthpop band Gangway following the band's decision to call it quits in Sep. 1997 after poor sales numbers of their seventh studio album That's Life (Sep. 1996).

The album ums it up: Gangway was more than just 'one-hit wonders' - a term that was attributed the band after "My Girl and Me" open the doors to the British market in '86 but they weren't themselves aware of music business strategies and too many times ended up with people seing profit rather than a talent that needed nursing. The story is long, and it's full of examples of how you also need luck on your side, but the music is there to testify their talent. In the end the band was a trio consisting of songwriter and main composer Henrik Balling, keyboardist and other composer Torben Johansen, and vocalist Allan Jensen.

The eighteen songs here stem from all their seven studio albums from 1984 to 1996. They are mixed with one another but all show us the element of pop as a common denominator, and although, they have played with jangle pop, indie pop, r&b, and synthpop there's a positive spirit running through it all.

The debut album The Twist is only represented by one song: "Yellow", and their '96 finale only delivers two songs - revealing some of the feelings they have for that. The other albums deliver three songs each, except for The Quiet Boy Ate the Whole Cake (1991), which is the only be represented with four songs - again telling what that album means, and I'm completely with them: it was their best.

Robbie Robertson "Contact From the Underworld of Redboy" (1998)

Contact From the Underworld of Redboy
release date: Mar. 10, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Howard Bernstein
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Sound Is Fading" - 3. "Making a Noise" - 4. "Unbound" (4 / 5) - 5. "Sacrifice" - 6. "Rattlebone" (4 / 5) - 9 "Stomp Dance (Unity)"

4th studio album by Robbie Robertson when also including his soundtrack album Music for the Native Americans (1994). The sound of his former colleagues of The Band and its great and vast musical legacy still lives on a bunch of albums, and if you don't really know The Band, you should at least check out one of the most legendary live albums, The Last Waltz (1978), either on DVD or as a music album.

Robbie released his solo debut Robbie Robertson (1987) and once again fascinated the world of popular music. Everyone wanted to work with him after that and "we" all yearned for a follow-up that never seemed to come. Storyville (1991) proved to be a bit of the difficult sophomore album. After creating a fine blend of styles he fell for the music of too many others and was so inspired by the sound and music of the Scottish band, The Blue Nile that he simply had to copy and paste on his second album and basically just forgot to make his own music. After that he then made the album of his heart and blood: Music for the Native Americans (1994), which was very well-received in the US but quite frankly is to say it politely: a difficult listen. Not that it's bad, it's just very 'native American' and with little sign of traditional popular music to it... And then - BOOM - he releases this fantastic inspiring album on which he (again) makes his own brew of all his music influences and reveals at least a new one: 'electronica'. 

Had it not been for its inconsistency, I'd rate it higher - it really contains some great tunes that stay with you. This has become one of my favourite albums by this great Indian blooded everlasting old-timer who needs to make more music, or: release more often.

1998 Favorite releases: 1. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee - 2. Mark Hollis Mark Hollis - 3. Robbie Robertson Contact From the Underworld of Redboy

David McAlmont "A Little Communication" (1998)

A Little Communication
release date: Oct. 12, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,85]
producer: Tommy D
label: Hut Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "A Little Communication" - 4. "Honey" - 5. "Who Loves You?" - 6. "The Train" - 7. "Love & Madness" - 8. "It's Enough" - 9. "Sorry"

2nd solo album by David McAlmont released four years following his fine debut album McAlmont - here produced by Tommy D (aka Tom Asher Danvers). Since the debut, McAlmont released the acclaimed McAlmont & Butler collaboration album The Sound of... McAlmont & Butler (1995), which may have influenced McAlmont to record an album of slower and more jazz-influenced material than one will find on his dance-pop debut. This is quite different from his first solo release, and if he hadn't made the album with Bernard Butler, many would find it hard to tell this is the same guy, who gave us uptempo pop-songs like "Either" and "It's Always This Way".
Stylistically, it's slow pop soul ballads with a strong vocal jazz tone, and the songs are almost the opposite of the multi-layered compositions you'll associate with his first album out but which also characterises his McAlmont & Butler collaboration material.
As was the case with the debut where McAlmont worked with Saul Freeman, McAlmont has written the songs in collaboration with various musical composers featuring especially Graham Kearns who is co-writer on four songs and who plays guitar on three compositions. Gary Clark and Peter Gordeno are both credited for musical score on two songs each, and also Guy Davies contributes as composer of one song and is credited as keyboardist on half of the album's ten tracks. Aside from producing the album, Tommy D is credited for keyboards and programming as well as for mixing an album, which shows us a new side to McAlmont's talent. I remember listening to the album at a local record store back in '98 or '99 and my rejection of the album as I found it too soft and for lyrically displaying too much Christian appraisal - in other words, my preconception stood so much in the way that I just couldn't appreciate it for what it is... Another decade later I returned to the album after having heard his fine 2005 album, and I was surprised how I could have rejected it then.
The album is a very delicate but beautiful collection of slow ballad-like pop soul and modern vocal-jazz compositions that once again demonstrate what a gifted vocalist, David McAlmont truly is. It's also an album where the highs are more than ordinarily hard to pin out 'cause McAlmont shines here, there - practically all over the album. To me, this outshines both of his collaboration albums with Bernard Butler (the second followed this album in 2002) but unfortunately, it's nearly an unknown release to the public.
Highly recommendable.

Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach "Painted From Memory" (1998)

Painted From Memory
release date: Sep. 28, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
label: Mercury Records - nationality: UK / USA

Track highlights: 1. "In the Darkest Place" - 2. "Toledo" (live) - 3. "I Still Have That Other Girl" (live on Letterman) - 4. "This House Is Empty Now" - 9. "Painted From Memory" - 10. "The Sweetest Punch" - 12. "God Give Me Strength"

Collaboration album by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach subtitled "The New Songs of Bacharach & Costello", which is the result of a collaborative partnership that had been initiated with the song "God Give Me Strength" for the comedy film "Grace of My Heart" (1996). Apparently, all songs were made with Costello writing sketches of songs, sending demos to Bacharach - as well as to Bill Frisell, who would later release his interpretations of the Costello (and Bacharach?) demos as The Sweetest Punch (1999). All songs are credited Costello / Bacharach and the duo are credited for voice / piano respectively and they are supported by Steve Nieve on keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Greg Cohen on bass, and with Dean Parks on guitar. Bacharach is also credited for his role as arranger and conductor as both a horns and strings sections participate.

Musically, it represents a variety of styles ranging from baroque pop, vocal jazz, singer / songwriter and some folk and country elements not to forget chamber pop, and then it's all arranged with heavy use of horns and strings much in a Bacharach tradition.

The album was met by positive reviews and acclaim from near and far, and it was nominated to a number of prizes.

I heard about the project quite early and just purchased the album without actually listening to it, and I may not have spent my money on it immediately, had I listened through the whole album first. From my perspective, critics seems overly happy about the songwiting qualities - a dimension I've always found difficult when speaking of music. It really doesn't matter how good the lyrics are, if the music is crap. Now, this is far from that, but I just don't find that the Costello / Bacharach excessive production cocktail an interesting lyrical foundation. That said, it's far from bad, it just sounds too much as a replication of former Bacharach productions where, in fact, Costello heighten the quality thanks to his strong vocal performances. I like it because of Costello's vocal jazz performance, but to me the later Bill Frisell interpretations of the songs is simply a better album.

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

The Cardigans "Gran Turismo" (1998)

Gran Turismo
release date: Oct. 19, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Paralyzed" - 2. "Erase / Rewind" - 3. "Explode" - 6. "Higher" - 8. "My Favourite Game"

4th studio album by The Cardigans is a stylistic change. Completely gone is the loose and 'blue-eyed' lounge and jazz pop and instead the band is transformed into a Blur sound-a-like clone with a sudden strong love for britpop. The producer (Tore Johansson), record label (Stockholm Records), as well as primary songwriters, Nina Persson and Peter Svensson, all remain unchanged, so the band has simply grown, wanting to explore new grounds. The result, however, is to me less interesting, but record buyers didn't care as the album became the best-selling The Cardigans album so far and the first to reach number #1 on the national albums chart list (peaking as number #8 in the UK). The music video for My favourite game, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, was received as highly controversial in many countries as it shows Nina Persson acting a staged GTA suicidal game of crashing her car into other cars on an American straight highway driving in the wrong lane.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Outkast "Aquemini" (1998)

Aquemini
release date: Sep. 29, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Outkast, Organized Noize, Mr. DJ, Donny Mathis
label: LaFace - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Return of the 'G' " - 3. "Rosa Parks" - 4. "Skew It on the Bar-B" (feat. Raekwon) - 5. "Aquemini" - 8. "West Savannah" - 11. "Mamacita" - 12. "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" - 15. "Liberation"

3rd studio album by Outkast is an album controlled more by the duo of André Benjamin and Antwan Patton as primary producers and as arrangers of album concept and songs, which has been recorded with a wide range of featuring artists, who has also had influence on the writing process.
Stylistically, the duo experiments more with its style and incorporates all sorts of instruments on an album that maybe referred to as southern hip hop and conscious hip hop but also pays more attention on neo-soul than previously.
I didn't get to listen to the album before discovering their perhaps most wide-spread success with Speakerboxxx / The Love Below from 2003 and the acclaimed follow-up to this one, Stankonia from 2000, but I simply feel that "Aquemini" is the duo's best and best balanced album ever. Speakerboxxx... is the bolder move into popular music with its fusion of contemporary r&b, neo-soul and hip hop but also points in so many directions that you had absolutely no idea of where they'd go from there on. On the 2000 album they try to be more hardcore, but in essence that is also a fine album, though.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 5 / 5, Spin 4,5 / 5, Uncut, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

XTC "Transistor Blast" (1998)

Transistor Blast, [Archival] (compilation)
release date: Nov. 24, 1998
format: digital (4-disc box set)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: England, UK

A 4-disc box set with the subtitle "The Best of the BBC Sessions" containing 51 tracks released after the band was finally set free from Virgin Records. Disc 1 and 2 contain BBC sessions recorded for various BBC programs including John Peel Radio 1 Show recorded from 1977-79, but it also include BBC programs recorded up until 1989. Disc 3 and 4 contain early live recordings - CD 3 is the collection of recordings from two different concerts in London, in 1978 and '79, and CD 4 is exclusively the recordings from a specific concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, Dec. 1980.
Needless say, this is a collector's item as it's more about showcasing the band playing well-known songs in alternate and live versions. With the relatively long timespan found on the first two discs they represent the most varied material, and Disc 3 and 4 only document what a great live band XTC was.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 3 / 5, The Music Box 4 / 5 stars ]

Paus "Paus" (1998)

Paus [debut]
release date: May 1, 1998
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Peter Svensson
label: RCA Victor - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: 1. "Ett undantag för vem som helst" - 2. "Smeknamn" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Mitt samvete din hämnd" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Amerikana" - 5. "Snöängel" (4 / 5) - 6. "Fotografi" - 7. "Sårbar (jag önskar jag var)" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Leia" (3,5 / 5) (live) - 9. "En lögn" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Chock" (4 / 5)

A collaboration debut album by the Swedish duo-project Paus consisting of the two prominent songwriters, Peter Svensson, guitarist (and songwriter) of The Cardigans and Joakim Berg, vocalist (and songwriter) of Kent. Paus is Swedish for 'pause', reflecting the hiatus they both were experiencing in their respective bands. Actually, the drummer of The Cardigans, Bengt Lagerberg is one of the studio musicians and he plays on all tracks. This is not the style they're normally associated with in their "own" bands but it's more of a chamber pop and ambient art pop with fine delicate harmonies and beautiful pieces of sound. A precious little album that deserves much more attention.

[ Here's another fine track: "Kärlekens tunga" from this duo (with Joakim on vocals) on the Eldkvarn, or Plura Jönsson, tribute album Plura 50 - En hyllningsplatta (2001) ]

Olesen-Olesen "Dagens gerning" (1998)

Dagens gerning
release date: Sep. 23, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]
producer: Kim Hyttel
Label: Exlibris - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Pondus" - 2. "Mit liv i flere versioner" (4 / 5) - 3. "Sol" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Nu går lykken forbi" (4 / 5) - 7. "Ny dag (morgen i København)" - 8. "Dagens gerning" - 9. "Jeg tog fejl, jeg har fortrudt" - 10. "Himlen er et kedeligt sted"

2nd studio album by Olesen-Olesen released on Exlibris and produced by Kim Hyttel like the debut Indenlands udenbys (1987).

Stylistically, the duo has not entirely abandoned the indie rock style of their common musical upbringing, but they take a stronger move into the origins of folk with songs that nearly all have a sort of singer / songwriter tone lurking at hand - a style that clearly contains Dylan-inspiration but also stays true to a highly original narration with personal subjects and all in Danish lyrics. These are provided by primary songwriter and vocalist, Peter H. Olesen, who constitute the duo with primary musical composer and guitarist, younger brother Henrik Olesen. Where the debut already showed us a fascination for classic American songwriting, the style and subjects were more of a tribute to the beat-generation, whereas this is very much another look at classic America, only with inspiration stemming much more from traditional folk.

I recall finding the album a bit of a disappointment when it came out but have come to enjoy it a lot more over the years. My initial verdict was somewhere around 2,5 / 5, regarding only "Nu går lykken forbi" as the only great song on an uneven album. That song is still very fine, but overall, the album has proved to be a rather strong follow-up, alas completely overlooked. The stylistic change towards more introspectiveness and a softer tone in style probably wasn't the natural choice of progression the public eye expected from the duo, who previously had been associated with a sneer of indie rock and post-punk. This is something else but it surely contains much more of the fingerprints that identify the duo when comparing to their successive releases. This is actually where they consolidate their common style, and in retrospect the album is bettering a fine and promising debut, and by that simply deserves much more recognition.

Recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Natalie Merchant "Ophelia" (1998)

Ophelia
release date: May 25, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Natalie Merchant
label: Elektra Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Ophelia" - 2. "Life Is Sweet" - 3. "Kind & Generous" (4 / 5) - 4. "Frozen Charlotte" - 6. "Break Your Heart" - 7. "King of May"

2nd solo album by Natalie Merchant, again self-produced and released through Elektra Records. The album is mostly in the same style as her debut Tigerlily, although, the focus on folk has been if not left then at least subdued to focus more on her singer / songwriter profile with the addition of chamber pop traits. More strikingly, this is a much stronger release with a number of fine tracks that once again documents her status as both songwriter and singer.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Cornershop "Brimful of Asha" (1998) (single)

Brimful of Asha, cd single

release date: Feb. 16, 1998

format: digital (4 x File, FLAC)

[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]

producer: Tjinder Singh; Norman Cook (remix producer)

label: Wiiija Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracks: 1. "Brimful of Asha (Single Version)" - 2. "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix Single Version)" - 3. "u47's" - 4. "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix Extended Version)"

Single release by Cornershop is a four-track release of the band's best known song, which brought them international fame in the Summer of '97, when the single was first released in a 7'' version (August '97). The first Norman Cook Remix single was released in late '97 as single-sided or 3-track 12'' vinyl issues. The original single peaked at #60 on the UK singles chart list, but when re-issued with the Norman Cook remix [this], the single ended up as number #1 on the charts.

The original is a great 1997 song, but the speeded up Norman Cook Remix simply makes it another great tune. Both the single single remix and the extended version are impressive takes.