Another incredible year for new music! I don't like getting older, but I'm sure happy I was around to live through this.
I know you weren't asking for more recs on this one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention New Order's Republic, Yo La Tengo's "Painful," Paul Westerberg's "14 Songs," and "Vs." by Pearl Jam.
Separately--and more importantly--can I just say hhow much I appreciate the "mission statement" at the top of this post? IMO, that's what music discovery/writing should be about-- surfacing stuff you like, finding new picks along the way, and sharing it all with people you hope will love it too.
Thank you Kevin, for the recommendations and the kind words! Your newsletter is one of the inspirations for my attitude. Also, I think I speak for everyone here when I say you have blanket approval to recommend music in every situation, especially when 90’s related!
1993 WAS a good year. I have 34 albums on my "shortlist" and In Utero is our only overlap! Kevin already mentioned Westerberg's 14 songs, which holds its own with the later Replacements albums, and I can add Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy, Saint Etienne's So Tough, Bjork's Debut, The Breeder's Last Splash, Bob Dylan's World Gone Wrong, and Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad to the "must-listen" list. P.S. my list should actually be 33 as The Velvet Underground's reunion album is mostly terrible!
Oh wow 34? I’m both very jealous and terrified of your shortlist 😆I see 2 more overlaps that I had in mind for part 2, but sounds like I’ll need a part 3 at this rate! Thanks for the recs!
some GREAT albums here... i'll add the breeders, wu-tang clan, janet jackson, sheryl crow, counting crows, letters to cleo, the the...dammit it was a better year than i thought.
also i learned about that header thing, too. it's annoying. you kind of have to add it in manually and not rely on substack to do it for you.
Yeah I’ll be sure to include more headed-type things in the future. Idk if everyone cares but it definitely helps me to self-justify what I’m writing about and why, even though I’m still figuring that out.
Thanks for the recs as always! I will admit I’ve got 1994 earmarked like you said before, but 1993 has been a super fun rabbit hole
Whoo, some great stuff in 1993. I’m sure others will mention Vs., which I prefer to Ten, but I also recognize that it wasn’t a huge change from Ten, which might have kept it off the RS list.
One of my faves from 1993 is the Laid album from James. I think the ubiquity of the title track is a detriment (IMO it’s kind of the “Friday I’m In Love” of this record, but better), but there are some deep and gorgeous songs, and hoo-boy can that Tim Booth sing.
Also Morphine’s Cure For Pain. Because those guys were just so cool.
I love Vs also! It’ll be making an appearance in part 2. And I hadn’t considered James but I’ll definitely check that album out - I mostly know them from the title track as well. Cheers for the recs!
You just made me feel a little better about having missed out on seeing the Smashing Pumpkins. I was soooo excited to get tickets for September (maybe October?) 2020 at a local venue. Of course, it ended up getting cancelled due to Covid and I’ve been bummed about it ever since.
Another incredible year for new music! I don't like getting older, but I'm sure happy I was around to live through this.
I know you weren't asking for more recs on this one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention New Order's Republic, Yo La Tengo's "Painful," Paul Westerberg's "14 Songs," and "Vs." by Pearl Jam.
Separately--and more importantly--can I just say hhow much I appreciate the "mission statement" at the top of this post? IMO, that's what music discovery/writing should be about-- surfacing stuff you like, finding new picks along the way, and sharing it all with people you hope will love it too.
Thank you Kevin, for the recommendations and the kind words! Your newsletter is one of the inspirations for my attitude. Also, I think I speak for everyone here when I say you have blanket approval to recommend music in every situation, especially when 90’s related!
1993 WAS a good year. I have 34 albums on my "shortlist" and In Utero is our only overlap! Kevin already mentioned Westerberg's 14 songs, which holds its own with the later Replacements albums, and I can add Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy, Saint Etienne's So Tough, Bjork's Debut, The Breeder's Last Splash, Bob Dylan's World Gone Wrong, and Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad to the "must-listen" list. P.S. my list should actually be 33 as The Velvet Underground's reunion album is mostly terrible!
Oh wow 34? I’m both very jealous and terrified of your shortlist 😆I see 2 more overlaps that I had in mind for part 2, but sounds like I’ll need a part 3 at this rate! Thanks for the recs!
some GREAT albums here... i'll add the breeders, wu-tang clan, janet jackson, sheryl crow, counting crows, letters to cleo, the the...dammit it was a better year than i thought.
also i learned about that header thing, too. it's annoying. you kind of have to add it in manually and not rely on substack to do it for you.
Yeah I’ll be sure to include more headed-type things in the future. Idk if everyone cares but it definitely helps me to self-justify what I’m writing about and why, even though I’m still figuring that out.
Thanks for the recs as always! I will admit I’ve got 1994 earmarked like you said before, but 1993 has been a super fun rabbit hole
Whoo, some great stuff in 1993. I’m sure others will mention Vs., which I prefer to Ten, but I also recognize that it wasn’t a huge change from Ten, which might have kept it off the RS list.
One of my faves from 1993 is the Laid album from James. I think the ubiquity of the title track is a detriment (IMO it’s kind of the “Friday I’m In Love” of this record, but better), but there are some deep and gorgeous songs, and hoo-boy can that Tim Booth sing.
Also Morphine’s Cure For Pain. Because those guys were just so cool.
I love Vs also! It’ll be making an appearance in part 2. And I hadn’t considered James but I’ll definitely check that album out - I mostly know them from the title track as well. Cheers for the recs!
Morphine’s Cure for Pain is so incredibly great! It’s been too long since I’ve listened to it! On my list for today’s listening!
You just made me feel a little better about having missed out on seeing the Smashing Pumpkins. I was soooo excited to get tickets for September (maybe October?) 2020 at a local venue. Of course, it ended up getting cancelled due to Covid and I’ve been bummed about it ever since.