Great CDs from the '90s.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
While outside working in the yard I rediscovered these 2 cds. The 1st one is Throwing Muses "University" from 1995. Kristin Hersch leads the Throwing Muses on the best cd of their career. It starts off with "Bright Yellow Gun" a college radio staple and probaby their most radio friendly song. From there it goes into "Start" a dark and brooding song with lots of fuzz guitar and drums. Track 3 "Hazing" is probably the 2nd best song in the cd, Kristen's haunting vocals sing cryptic lyrics reminicent of the late Kurt Cobain. With track 4 "Shimmer" the best song on the cd, Kristen sings "Shake barrels of whiskey down my throat, I'll still see straight. Ride out on a pony at least I won't be late". The guitar builds into a grand cresendo for a great finale. Track 6 "Crabtown" its a slow, dusty ballad with whispering background vocals. Kristen keeps you entranced throughout the whole record. A little history behing the Muses, Tonya Donnelly from Belly used to be in the band and is Kristen's step sister. Both have great voices and while Kristen explores the darker side, Tonya excels on the bright jangle pop.
Moving on to Travis, they were one of the best bands from the UK in the late 90s but fell quickly. "The Man Who" Travis's 2nd release blows away anything Coldplay could ever do. They were the originators of the soft, introspective post Oasis sound. The cd is another one great from start to finish and Francis Healy woos you with his simple, yet beautiful melodies. Track 1 "Writing To Reach You" screams for a love lost and you feel that Francis has the weight of the world contantly on him. Whereas Thom Yorke from Radiohead is the king of the whiny voices, Francis keeps himself from going too far into this territory. Track 2 "The Fear" has a clouded aura throughout it, not too heavy but just the right level of remoteness. Track 4 "Driftwood" injects a bit of melancholy into a lyrically bittersweet song. Track 7 "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" is full of bright sunshine and very Beatlesesque. Track 10 "Slide Show" has Fran dropping lines like There is no design for life, there is not a devil's haircut in my mind, there is not a wonderwall to climb or step around. There is a slide show, so slow flashing thru my mind. today is the day, only for a 1st time". All references to previous songs by The Manic Street Preachers, Beck and Oasis. What does it mean, I have no idea but it makes for some good lyrics.
Fran invites you into his soul on this record, its very personal yet you don't feel sorry for the guy. He isn't a downtrodden and broken lad, singing about how his life sucks, he just takes you on a journey thru friendship, love, lost and what makes life so great. Seeing Travis live, you can see that Fran really cares deeply for his music and his fans, the 1st US tour had them opening for Oasis. The 2nd nite was in Portland, OR where the theatre was over half full to see an opening band. Everyone in the audience sang along even though the cd was not out in the states yet. This was before the invention of peer to peer and people used to buy imports. Fran was so impressed that all of us sang along to their music and could not thank us enough. Travis's follow was "The Invisible Band" which was recorded in LA and had a brighter, sunshine feel to it. Their next record "12 Memories" was not that good. There were a few good songs but it seemed like they lost what they had. They gave up on the sound they perfected with "The Man Who" and let Coldplay run with the style.
Posted by mardenhill 6/25/2006 03:57:00 PM
1 Comment:
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8:08 PM
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