From: hoffsten AT ypn.com (Eric Hoffsten)
Subject: Re: POLL: send me a list of your 20 favorite records of the year
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 13:47:08 -0500 (EST)

Alright, Doug... In alphabetical order, the 20 records (term used rather
liberally here) which I played the most over the course of the last year
(and due to my own laziness I've deliberately left off cassette-only
releases and 7"s, of which there were many of value):

A Million Mercies, _Elektrizität (hält dich in Bewegung)_ (Hausmuzik)
John Davis, _I'll Burn_ (Shrimper)
Dirty Three, _Horse Stories_ (Touch n' Go)
Dust/Omit, _Deformed_ (Corpus Hermeticum)
Gastr del Sol, _Upgrade & Afterlife_ (Drag City)
Ghost, _Lama Rabi Rabi_ (Drag City)
K-Salvatore, _The Zahir_ (s@1)
Loren MazzaCane Connors/Alan Licht, _Live in NYC_ (New World of Sound)
Roy Montgomery, _Temple IV_ (Kranky)
Neutral Milk Hotel, _On Avery Island_
No Neck Blues Band, _Letters from the Earth_ (s@1)
Sandoz Lab Technicians, _(s/t)_ (Siltbreeze)
The Shadow Ring, __Wax-Work Echoes_ (Corpus Hermeticum)
Spoke, _(s/t)_ (Hausmuzik)
Thela, _Argentina_ (Ecstatic Peace)
The Tower Recordings, _The Fraternity of Moonwalkers_ (Audible Hiss)
Twenty-Six, _This Skin is Rust_ (Bobby J.)
Village of Savoonga, _Philipp Schatz_ (Hausmuzik/Kollaps)
White Winged Moth, _(s/t)_ (Poon Village)
v/a, _Harmony of the Spheres_ (Drunken Fish)

...and 11 *damn* close runners-up:
Beck, _Odelay_ (Bong Load)
Climax Golden Twins, _Imperial Household Orchestra_ (Scratch)
Coffee, _Destination Moon_ (Blackjack)
Dead C., _Repent_ (Siltbreeze)
The Marilyn Decade, _(s/t)_ (Freek)
The Pickle Factory, _Our Pledge_, (Swill Radio)
Railroad Jerk, _The Third Rail_ (Matador)
Stereolab, _Emporer Tomato Ketchup_
Zen, _Derya_ (Father Yod/Ecstatic Peace)
v/a, _Festplatte_ (Hauzmusik)
v/a, _Le Jazz Non_ (Corpus Hermeticum)

...and sure, the Ubu and Galaxie boxes were damn nice to have around, too.
And for whatever it's worth, the best live shows over the course of the
last year were the No Neck Blues Band, the Tower Recordings, and John
Davis, each of whom I was fortunate enough to see on more than one
occasion, and on each I was more impressed than before.

__________________
Eric Hoffsten
hoffsten AT ypn.com
http://www.ypn.com