From: jbernhardt AT tne.com
Subject: Re: 1996 Top 20
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 12:22:30 -0500


Bevis Frond - "Son of Elvis" Double LP
Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island - CD

Without a doubt, my two favorite records of the year. NMH's
inclusion might be colored by their inspired performance at
the Middle East Upstairs in July.

Ogonjok - LP (on the German Hausmuzik label)
A Million Mercies - Electricitat LP (also on Hausmuzik)

I fell in love with this label in 1995, but the hits just
keep on coming. Village of Savoonga, another Hausmuzik release,
is "bubbling under" my top 20. All three bands played at the
Hausmuzik 10th anniversary festival, an event against which all
other music festivals should be judged.

Various Artists - "Product Music" CD

A rare breed: a novelty record that stands up to repeated
listens.

Those Bastard Souls - LP

Another LP that might have been colored by their inspiring
live show at TT the Bears. The record just made so much more
*sense* after that show.

Cat Power - "What Would The Community Think" - CD
Stereolab - "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" CD

Two bands that seem to get better with each record.

Various Artists - "But I Can Write Songs O.K." - Triple CD

A history of music in Dunedin, NZ from the 1950's to the
present. The highlights are the live, and/or previously
unreleased tunes from Look Blue Go Purple, The Enemy, and The
Clean, as well as the rare "Dunedin Sound on 45" by Crystal Zoom.

These next 9 entries are individual songs that I couldn't stop
playing on my radio show.

Green Pajamas - "Deadly Nightshade" (from the "Succour" compilation)
Three Hour Tour - "If You Were Here"
Liquor Giants - "Fake Love"
Lynnfield Pioneers - "Newport"
Beatnik Filmstars - "Supremer Queener"
Tommy Keene - "Turning on Blue"
Foom - "Freakazoid Manifesto"
Loud Family - "Don't Respond She Can Tell"
Odes - "Number Thirty-Seven"

I close out my list with two self-indulgent entries.

Various Artists - "Pipeline!" - Double CD
88.1 Flushes - "Dueling Drums with Theremin" (from the "Carry on Ooij"
               compilation CD on Brinkman)

The first is a collection of live recordings by Boston bands made at
WMBR, the radio station I work at. As for the second ... well ... I
played the Theremin. It was recorded at WMBR's 35th birthday party.

~Jon Bernhardt
http://web.mit.edu/jonb/www/home.html