From: dbcloud AT panix.com (Douglas Wolk)
Subject: Re: POLL: send me a list of your 20 favorite records of the year
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 1997 22:56:09 -0400

ten albums:

              Sun City Girls ^^ 330,003 Crossdressers From Beyond The Rig-Veda
(on Abduction--the only thing this year that completely split my brain open)

               Karen Mantler ^^ Farewell (XtraWATT)
(great heartbreaking songs about human failures of a kind that usually
don't get songs written about them; beautifully played too)

                      The Ex ^^ Instant (Ex (Netherlands))
(in which a great punk band discovers the joys of improvisation, excuse me,
"instant composition")

                   The Clean ^^ Unknown Country (Flying Nun)
(they're _maturing_! They're _so good_!)

                   Cat Power ^^ What Would The Community Think (Matador)
(taps into something weird and elemental in--herself? me?)

                     Sebadoh ^^ Harmacy (Sub Pop)
(another fine album by Jason Loewenstein's rock band...)

                       Momus ^^ 20 Vodka Jellies (Le Grand Magistery)
(fake Nirvana, fake Pet Shop Boys, fake Gainsbourg, real real real Momus)

J.Parish & Polly Jean Harvey ^^ Dance Hall At Louse Point (Island)
(no, it's not _Rid Of Me_ III, it's something weirder and richer than that)

 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion ^^ Now I Got Worry (Matador-Capitol)
(oh my God does this rock)

                 Melt-Banana ^^ Scratch Or Stitch (Skin Graft)
(in some sense the best lyrics of any record this year)

and ten things that weren't albums:

Spaceheads U.S. tour (March-May '96)
Dymaxion: s/t 7"-plus-floppy-disc set (Hemiola)
Quintron and Miss Flossie's live extravaganza (w/ puppet show!)
Minga's side of her split single with Eye (Japan Overseas)
Ghostface Killah: "Daytona 500" (white-label 12")
Uncle Wiggly live at Rubulad Studios (tape from my Walkman)
The In Out, "Why Do You Have Self-Esteem?" (track from demo tape)
Third Eye Foundation, "Universal Cooler" 7" (Planet (UK))
the existence of Danielson
David Foster Wallace, _Infinite Jest_ (Little, Brown)


__
Douglas D. Wolk   dbcloud AT panix.com
"I wanted to buy a copy of _Capital_--but it was 20 bucks! I couldn't
afford it!" --Liza Johnson