Like most Everything but the Girl compilations, 2001's Home Movies: Best of Everything but the Girl restricts itself to the duo's first decade, before they reinvented themselves as the pop face of trip-hop with 1995's "Missing." A roughly chronological sprint through Everything but the Girl's first seven albums, from 1984's Eden through 1992's Acoustic, there's no room for any more than two or three songs from any one record; while this does a handy job of tracing Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt's career path from folk-jazz indie to sophisticated and adult pop music, it also means that several worthy songs, especially from the group's early days, are missing: no "Night and Day," "When All's Well," "Riverbed Dry," "Sugar Finney," or "Oxford Street." On the other hand, the songs chosen are a balanced and representational lot, including favorites like Thorn's indelible bossa nova "Each and Every One" and the lovely, Dusty Springfield-like orchestral pop of "Come on Home." Home Movies is an excellent introduction to Everything but the Girl's early years for newcomers beguiled by later hits, but all of the group's early albums (Eden, released in a very different U.S. version as 1984's Everything but the Girl; 1985's Love Not Money; 1986's Baby, the Stars Shine Bright; and 1988's Idlewild) are well worth seeking out on their own.
For old-schoolers, Best Kept Secrets is Louise Rhodes and Andrew Barlow's thank-you note. The U.K. electronica duo accompanies each track with personal reflections, letting longtime listeners in on some first-time knowledge. But for the considerable portion of the globe that never discovered Lamb, its 16 songs are signal flares in the darkness. From the comforting, romantic swirl of "Gabriel" (from 2001's What Sound) through the chattering beats, slurping bass, and cut-up strings of "B Line" -- what is it, hot jazz in the 23rd century? -- all the way to the outfit's relative "hit," the chilly '90s electronica boom nugget "Gorecki," Best Kept Secrets covers the Lamb bases for both the knowledgeable and the neophyte.
Skunk Anansie were one of those acts in the 90s that you couldn’t help but be aware of, particularly around the time of their second album, Stoosh. A punkish hard rocking quartet, they stood significantly apart from the various cookie-cutter Britpop acts of the era, with an utterly different attitude and a significantly different sound. Also, the fact that they were fronted by one of few performers of the era to possess a genuinely effortless star quality didn’t hurt either.
Skin remains to this day a woman with a striking appearance and a voice that can channel a rare blend of vulnerability, soulfulness and fury. That’s not to say her bandmates were slouches, because Stoosh is all the evidence you need that they certainly weren’t, but one of the few things that Skunk Anansie did have with their female fronted contemporaries, was that the blokes tended to blend into the background somewhat, with the difference being that Skin didn’t have to be cynically marketed as a sex symbol in an attempt to shift units. Her voice alone did that.
Over two decades since its release, Stoosh remains a narky, aggressive and generally angry album. Cass, Ace and Mark (how come he didn’t get a vaguely ridiculous nickname?) get chance to demonstrate that they can do subtle, but they sound most at home when the volume gets cranked up and they are allowed to match their front woman’s aggression. Skin for her part sounds like a woman possessed, yet utterly dripping with conviction. Regardless of whether you liked Skunk Anansie at their commercial peak, you can’t argue that Skin came across as one of the most genuine performers of the era. Be it “Yes It’s Fucking Political”, “She’s My Heroine” or “Pickin’ on Me”, she can provide whatever the song needs vocally and you just don’t doubt the fact that she means every word she is singing. Skunk Anansie never sound anything less than full-blooded or committed to the material. It’s an aggressive hard rock album, released at a time when very few British acts were releasing aggressive rock albums, or at least not without a huge side-order of irony. Stoosh is played with an utterly straight, uncompromising bat, and if nothing else, you have to give Skunk Anansie credit for that.
The duo of Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia (with help from three others) gave us the refinement of the deeds they started before. This 1993 release garnered them the press and acclaim they deserved, and although it would be five years before their next release, they left the masses with a lasting impression.
The lead-off "Missing Link" burns by with the loudest number they had done up to that point. Using the loudness as a driving force instead of an accompanying factor, it's a refreshing blast of energy. An illustration of the opposite end of the noise spectrum is "Left of Mother" with its acoustic base and Halliday's airy vocals spilling into the tracks. "Unreadable Communication" showcases a different train of thought with its electronic intro and main body, only heightened with moments of the Curve grind. These are the extremes, and Cuckoo is the crystallization of previous works.
Following the blitz of "Missing Link," "Crystal" finds the band back in the mode of power through coloring and groove. The color of noise is used splendidly in the chorus, adding to the tone of the lyrics. "All Of One" leads off with Halliday's floating lyrics before plunging into a guitar driven choruses. Additional flourishes of guitar throughout add depth and teeth to the composition. The "Curve style" is used to great effect in "Turkey Crossing" with its simple bass groove and ultra-dirty guitar phrases accompanied by Halliday's seductive vocal. Lyrics like "I'm finished with you/please be finished with me" are only embellished by layered guitars adding musical weight to the lines. Flood's prowess at the board only helps "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" pound a groove into your head, only to have the salt of dirty guitar added into your wound. It's grind and melody join two things that at times seem to be in conflict, just like the objects of the title. Curve was one of the top purveyors of "shoe-gazing" pop, and Cuckoo demonstrates why. This is an essential album to the genre.
The Sugarcubes were one of the great cult bands of collegiate rock, not only because they had a distinctive sound, but because they were so damn weird. They sounded like nothing else in the late '80s/early '90s or anything that came before, creating an unusual hybrid of pop, dance, and the avant-garde. So rabid was their cult that some critics said they could cross over into the mainstream, yet that never really happened, despite their strong English following. However, that notion gives the title to their best-of collection, The Great Crossover Potential. The 14-track compilation proves that they could never really have crossed over, mainly because their pop sense is quirky and they're often an acquired taste. Björk, of course, wound up being a pop star with equally ambitious music, and while her talent is apparent here, it's often submerged by Einar's excruciatingly ridiculous showboating. Einar was often overbearing on the Sugarcubes albums (particularly toward the end of their career), and it is true that he's less irritating here than on the proper records, but casual fans should be aware that The Great Crossover Potential is only slightly less uneven than the actual albums, with the exception of the remarkable debut, Life's Too Good. The collection, however, remains a nice way to round up the highlights, particularly those from Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! and Stick Around for Joy
Acting as a sampler for MTV's flagship alternative show, Never Mind the Mainstream... was the best compilation of '80s alternative music released in America at the time. Featuring powerhouse tracks by R.E.M., Joy Division, Depeche Mode, and the Violent Femmes, this album serves as the ultimate introduction to what was popular in the alternative underground at the time. Several good, underrated songs are stacked up next to the classics and do just fine on their own. New Order's "Perfect Kiss" stands surprisingly well between Joy Division's classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and Depeche Mode's mega-hit "Personal Jesus." Hüsker Dü and the Jesus and Mary Chain contribute driving, powerful rock tracks; elsewhere, Ministry showcases their paranoid anger with the club hit "Stigmata.This is a fantastic album that serves as a wonderful sampler for these artists' talents.
Released in 1991, Rhino's MTV: Best of 120 Minutes is one of the last snapshots of college rock/alternative music just before grunge dominated, inflated, and ultimately burnt out the genre. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' version of "Higher Ground" is probably the album's hardest-rocking track -- though Sonic Youth's classic "Kool Thing" comes close -- making way for a brace of moody, quirky, but above all, poppy songs like Camper Van Beethoven's "Eye of Fatima, Pt. 1," They Might Be Giants' "Ana Ng," Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians' "Balloon Man," and World Party's "Put the Message in the Box." Alt radio staples of the era, such as the Stone Roses' "Fool's Gold," Sinéad O'Connor's "Mandinka," XTC's "Dear God," the Church's "Under the Milky Way Tonight," and Bob Mould's excellent "See a Little Light" retain their status as underground classics yet still sound fresh, aging far more gracefully than the grunge and nu-metal that supplanted them. Songs from Cocteau Twins, Julian Cope, Mission ,and Soul Asylum round out this engaging, somewhat nostalgic time capsule of a time when MTV not only played videos, but gave airtime to smart, left-of-center artists like these.
James became an institution on the British alternative music scene during the ’80s and ’90s thanks to their catchy songwriting and intelligent lyrics.
Early in their career, they were praised by the likes of Morrissey and even crashed the acid house-inspired “baggy” scene with the baggy-inspired Sit Down, a hit that helped catapult them to massive fame.
Buoyed by the success of that track, however, the band became more experimental and eclectic, changing their sound and creating a unique template for success in Tim Booth’s distinct vocal style and delivery – not to mention his physical prowess in live form.
Hits came in the form of the epic Sound, the euphoric Ring The Bells, the anthemic Tomorrow and Destiny Calling and the enchanting change of pace that marked the lush romanticism of Just Like Fred Astaire.
Unfortunately, the band decided to split as they seemed to be going from strength to strength, citing solo ambitions as the reason to part company. A farewell tour was memorably delivered but tinged with sadness at the loss of a band that was continually willing to push their sound forward and do something different on the mainstream indie scene.
That was 2001 and six years later they’ve decided to reform, hit the road and record some new material. But as a reminder of the story so far, they’ve put out another greatest hits compilation (to rival 1998’s Best Of) in the form of the double CD Fresh As A Daisy: The Singles.
As its name suggests, this is all about the hits rather than the personal favourites and picks up the story of the whole career – from early take-notice offerings Folklore and If Things Were Perfect to the songs that defined their biggest successes.
What’s most striking about the songs (particularly during the second CD) is just how timeless many of them are. Whereas a lot of “baggy” tracks contain a retro glow that keeps them rooted in the era, a lot of James’ work seems to transcend such boundaries.
Sit Down does sound dated and was even rubbished by the band themselves as one of their least favourite recordings – but songs like Sound, Ring The Bells, Born of Frustration and the beautifully under-rated Say Something continue to sound as fresh and inspired as they were way back when…
And it’s only through listening to an extensive compilation such as this that you begin to realise how many hits James delivered, from the easy sing-along value of live favourites such as Destiny Calling, Laid and Come Home to the more thoughtful moments such as She’s A Star and Getting Away With It (All Messed Up).
Of the two new tracks, Who Are You? expertly combines the vocal theatrics of songs like Sound with an altogether grittier guitar sound to produce a song easily capable of appealing to both their existing following and the uninitiated, and Chameleon is a clever stop-start track that’s delivered with verve.
So, whether you’re intending to buy it as a reminder of memories old, or trying to discover what the fuss is all about, or even just playing catch up, Fresh As A Daisy (clever name) is well worth a place in anyone’s record collection.
