The Best of 1994

Well, I say the best of 1994 but it's actually the best of 1994 according to me. Just to clarify. On occasion in the nineties I'd put together a compilation C90 at the end of the year of my favourite songs from whatever that particular year happened to be. I'll probably post a few of these but '94 seemed like a good place to start as it was a bit of a stonker. Suede, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, Shampoo, P.J. And Duncan; none of these band made the cut. So who did? Brace yerselves (and click on any of the highlighted tracks to listen to/watch a performance of that song)...

A Side

Lush - Hypocrite
Echobelly - Father, Ruler, King, Computer
Sebadoh - Rebound
Smudge - The Outdoor Type
My Life Story - Funny Ha Ha
Daryll-Ann - I Could Never Love You
Pulp - Babies
Boo Radleys - Barney And Me
Green Day - Longview
Aimee Mann - I Should've Known
Cranberries - Linger
Thrum - So Glad
Dinosaur Jr - Feel The Pain
Tindersticks E-Type Joe

B Side

Echobelly - Insomniac
Sleeper - Delicious
Madder Rose - Panic On
Magnapop - Slowly, Slowly
Oasis - Supersonic
Pulp - Lipgloss
Inspiral Carpets & Mark E. Smith - I Want You
Blur - Parklife
Crowded House - Locked Out
Smudge - Desmond
Kristin Hersh - Uncle June And Aunt Kiyoti
Beastie Boys - Get It Together
Blur - Supa Shoppa

So there you go. A bit Evening Session-heavy in places, I'll grant you, but I still stand by everything on there. Special mention must go to Panic On for actually sounding better than ever, all these years on. I've mentioned it before but I properly loved Madder Rose. Why weren't they huge? Why?!

Three of a Kind #114

It's always a pleasure to chance upon one of the old Indie Top 20 compilations on one's travels - and that's exactly what happened to yours truly the other day when I got Volume 6 on CD for a quid in a charity shop. I already had this one on vinyl and if I'm honest it's not my favourite in the series - there are eight or nine songs on here that I could happily live out my days without ever hearing again - but it does house a handful of gems, three of which I've selected below.

So we've got David Gedge and chums giving us a French version of Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? (Tres bien! Ou est la bibliotheque? etc), the Colorblind James Experience thinking about relocating, and Sandie Shaw still clinging on to some indie credibility in the wake of her collaboration with the Smiths some five years previously. If this had been Five of a Kind, Bradford and The Parachute Men would have made the cut too. But hey, that's showbiz.

1 Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonable? - Le Cadeau De Mariage
2 The Things You Want - Snapdragon
3 The World Is Ours - Rose of Avalanche
4 Rent Act - Wolfhounds
5 Butterfly - Inspiral Carpets
6 Rain of Ruin - Suicide
7 Black Sun - Loop
8 This Is Not Blasphemy - Christian Death
9 Pas Mal - Young Gods
10 Revolution - Spacemen Three
11 Transcendental - Bam Bam, Shamen
12 Headhunter [VI] - Front Two Four Two
13 Voodoo Ray - A Guy Called Gerald
14 Tangiers - Screaming Trees
15 Blow Up - The James Taylor Quartet
16 Dodging Around in Cars - Bradford
17 Nothing Less Than Brilliant - Sandie Shaw
18 Sometimes in Vain - The Parachute Men
19 Considering a Move to Memphis - Colorblind James Experience

Le Cadeau De Mariage - Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonable? mp3

The Colorblind James Experience - Considering A Move To Memphis mp3

Sandie Shaw - Nothing Less Than Brilliant mp3

"Forget we're English just for one night"

Most of my favourite music is on the twee side, but from time to time my mp3 player cries out for something louder. That's when I break out Revolution74. They're a Chichester-based 5 piece with memorable hooks, crunching guitars and an energy that jumps out of the speakers. It's pure indie powerpop. Take the non-disco song Disco Boy as an example:

Revolution74 - Disco Boy mp3 (available for 7 days)

Revolution74 started off as Captain in 2002 before realising that some other gits had got to the name first. For the past year and a half they've been signed to digital label Criminal Recordz with whom they've released 2 EPs, How Long Must You Wait and You Are The Disco. In 2006 they supported Pagan Wanderer Lu at The Water Rats and in 2007 The Hoosiers at The Joiners.

Revolution74 - Big Man mp3 (available for 7 days)

You can download the EPs from their Captain days from the Revolution74 website and listen to the two most recent EPs. To my ears there's been an obvious improvement since the early days.
Revolution74 can also be found on myspace and you can buy the EPs from Criminal Recordz. I've got my fingers crossed for a full-length album in the not too distant future!

Here they are live (and sweaty) performing Pink Hair.

"I come in various flavours so why am I permanently bitter?"

In 1999 I had high hopes for the future. I was partying like Prince told me to and, although I was gutted that Kenickie had split up the previous year, I was happy to see that they were being succeeded by Lancashire four-piece Angelica (incidentally, both bands formed in 1994). It didn't even cross my mind that Angelica might not become the biggest band in Britain (or that they might share a name with a rubbish Canadian metal group). It never occurred to me that Holly Ross, Brigit Colton, Claire Windsor and Rachel Parsons might not become household names.

Their pessimistically-titled mini-album of 2000, The End Of A Beautiful Career, was getting plenty of exposure in the British indie scene - they played at the NME premier awards that year - and the previous year their catchy punky single Why Did You Let My Kitten Die? was voted alternative single of the year by listeners of the Evening Session.

Angelica - Why Did You Let My Kitten Die? mp3 (available for 7 days)

In August 2000 their fourth (and final) single crashed in to the indie charts at number one. Quite right too! It's marvellous, as you can hear below.

Angelica - Take Me I'm Your Disease mp3 (available for 7 days)

In 2002 Angelica supported Babes In Toyland on tour and also released their first full length album, The Seven Year Itch, which was produced by Kat Bjelland. The following track is from that album.

Angelica - Misdemeanour mp3 (available for 7 days)

The band played their last gig in September 2003 and sometime after that Angelica seemed to just fizzle out. Holly is now one half of The Lovely Eggs, and Brigit and Rachel joined up with Steve Wade to become The Adventures Of Loki. To be blunt, I don't think much of either band, which is disappointing.

For posterity, here they are performing their debut single Teenage Girl Crush with the lyrics of Ice Ice Baby over the top in a live session for John Peel.

Angelica - Tenage Girl Crush vs Vanilla Ice mp3 (available for 7 days)

It certainly was a beautiful career.

Buy Angelica CDs here