I contributed some entries to the Pitchfork Best Albums of the 1990s and Best Songs of the 1990s - Oval Diskont 94 and Massive Attack Blue Lines in the long-players, My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow" in the short-players.
(I was taken aback really that the selectorate didn't go for "Soon" and "To Here Knows When" as the MBV Peaks of that decade. Or even "Loomer". Still, I'm hardly going to spurn an opportunity to hymn Loveless again, am I?)
Talking about selectorates (which was unusually large with this vote, I believe)... the selection process is two-fold with these P-fork lists.
First round, you pick your 50 Faves. If you don't see your fave in the list already, you can add it (thereby fractionally increasing the chance some other selector might pick it too). This stage of the voting is pretty close to one's very own absolute faves, although a low-key, by-default sort of tactical voting tends to seep into the process, in so far as I didn't pick some of my actual faves because they just seemed not to have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting through. I mean, Sacred's "Do It Together" is not going to make the final cut, is it? Nor Goldseal Tribe "Living Lonely". Nor anything by the Mover, Miro or Reign. So there's a little bit of preliminary sifting that takes place here, I should imagine it's the same with the other voters participating.
Second stage involves this huge mass of preferences getting boiled down by invisible hands into a sort of proto-consensus Long List - still a very large number of candidates - and it's out of this squad that you make another and final selection. (For some reason at this stage we were encouraged to select 100 singles rather than 50). Here's where some serious tactical voting took place, at least on my part. (Why bother? I honestly can't tell you! I've yet to outgrow these impulses, is all I can say.) Funnily enough, though, some things that I never considered on the first round, thinking them too marginal, actually popped up in this narrowed selection of top tracks and tunes. E.g. Double 99, "Ripgroove". So of course these got my vote on the second ballot
Here is the first round ballot of mine for song/track (as you can see I actually overspilled the Fifty)
1 Omni Trio: Renegade Snares (Foul Play VIP Mix)
2 Foul play: Open your mind (Foul Play Remix)
3 Apollo Two: Atlantis (I Need You) (LTJ Bukem Remix)
4 The House Crew: Euphoria (Nino's Dream)
5 Acen: Trip II the Moon (Pt. 1 and 2)
6 Boards of Canada: Roygbiv
7 Orbital: Chime
8 Nightmares on Wax: Aftermath
9 Aaliyah: One in a Million
10 Tricky: Aftermath
11 Beltram: Energy Flash
12 Blame: Music Takes You (2 Bad Mice Remix)
13 My Bloody Valentine: To Here Knows When
14 Prodigy: Firestarter
15 Busta Rhymes featuring Janet: What's It Gonna Be?!
16 My Bloody Valentine: Soon
17 New Radicals: You Get What You Give
18 Urban Shakedown: Some Justice
19 LFO: LFO
20 Dem 2: Destiny (Sleepless)
21 Seefeel: Time To Find Me
22 Second Phase: Mentasm
23 Human Resource: Dominator
24 Aphex Twin: Analogue Bubblebath
25 Björk: Human Behavior
26 Goldie: Angel
27 The Prodigy: Charly
28 Aphex Twin: Alberto Balsam
29 Slowdive: Catch the Breeze EP / specifically "Shine"
30 Craig Mack: Flava in Ya Ear
31 Aaliyah: Are You That Somebody
32 Beenie Man: Who Am I:
33 Future Sound of London Papua New Guinea
34 Cypress Hill: How I Could Just Kill a Man
35 Goldie: Inner City Life
36 Missy Elliott: The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
37 Cypress Hill: Latin Lingo
38 World of Twist: Sons of the Stage
39 The Chemical Brothers (ft. Noel Gallagher): Setting Sun
40 Liz Phair: Fuck and Run
41 Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain
42 LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out
43 Primal Scream: Higher Than the Sun
44 The Prodigy: Breathe
45 Jane's Addiction: Stop!
46 Saint Etienne: Avenue
47 Jane's Addiction: Been Caught Stealing
48 DJ Shadow: Midnight In a Perfect World
49 TLC: Waterfalls
50 Edwyn Collins: A Girl Like You
overspilling -
51 Elastica: Connection
52 Alice in Chains: Would?
53 Deee: Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
54 The Breeders: Cannonball
55 Ice Cube: It Was a Good Day
56 Busta Rhymes: Dangerous
57 Pulp: Common People
58 Britney Spears: Baby One More Time
59 Fatboy Slim: Praise You
60 The Verve: Bitter Sweet Symphony
61 Public Enemy: 911 Is a Joke
62 Missy Elliott featuring Nas, Eve and Q-Tip: Hot Boyz
63 Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
64 Naughty by Nature: O.P.P.
65 Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
66 Wreckx-n-Effect: Rump Shaker
67 My Bloody Valentine: Only Shallow
And here is the second round, winnowed-down selection of songs / tracks
1 Omni Trio: Renegade Snares (Foul Play VIP Mix)
2 The House Crew: Euphoria (Nino's Dream)
3 Aaliyah: One in a Million
4 Boards of Canada: Roygbiv
5 New Radicals: You Get What You Give
6 Blame: Music Takes You (2 Bad Mice Remix)
7 Acen: Trip II the Moon (Pt. 1 and 2)
8 Tricky: Aftermath
9 Beltram: Energy Flash
10 Urban Shakedown: Some Justice
11 Orbital: Chime
12 My Bloody Valentine: Soon
13 Aaliyah: Are You That Somebody
14 Beenie Man: Who Am I
15 The Stone Roses: I Wanna be Adored
16 Prodigy: Firestarter
17 Liz Phair: Fuck and Run
18 Prefab Sprout: Wild Horses
19 Björk: Human Behavior
20 Craig Mack: Flava in Ya Ear
21 Missy Elliott: The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
22 LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out
23 Liz Phair: Divorce Song
24 The Future Sound of London: Papua New Guinea
25 Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain
26 Pulp: Common People
27 Blackstreet ft. Dr. Dre: No Diggity
28 The Breeders: Cannonball
29 Juvenile ft. Mannie Fresh, Lil Wayne: Back That Azz Up
30 The Verve: Bitter Sweet Symphony
31 Double 99: Ripgroove
32 Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
33 Busta Rhymes: Put Ya Hands Where My Eyes Can See
34 Goldie: Inner City Life
35 Stardust: Music Sounds Better With You
36 Outkast: Elevators (Me & You)
37 Orbital: Halcyon On + On
38 Artful Dodger ft. Craig David: Re-Rewind
39 Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome
40 Green Velvet: Flash
41 TLC: Waterfalls
42 Primal Scream: Higher Than the Sun
43 The La's: There She Goes
44 Blur: Girls & Boys
45 Smashing Pumpkins: 1979
46 k.d. lang: Constant Craving
47 Destiny's Child: Bills, Bills, Bills
48 Björk: Army of Me
49 Naughty by Nature: O.P.P.
50 Ice Cube: It Was a Good Day
51 Beck: Loser
52 Destiny's Child: Say My Name
53 Britney Spears: Baby One More Time
54 Deee-Lite: Groove Is in the Heart
55 Elastica: Connection
56 DJ Zinc: Super Sharp Shooter
57 DMX: Ruff Ryders Anthem
58 Alice in Chains: Would?
59 K.P. & Envyi: Swing My Way
60 Missy Elliott ft, Nas, Eve and Q-Tip: Hot Boyz
61 Busta Rhymes: Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check
62 PJ Harvey: Rid of Me
63 Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg: Still D.R.E.
64 Crystal Waters: Gypsy Woman
65 Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg: Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang
66 DJ Shadow: Midnight In a Perfect World
67 Massive Attack: Unfinished Sympathy
68 Warren G, Nate Dogg: Regulate
69 Robin S.: Show Me Love
70 Ginuwine: Pony
71 Björk: Hyperballad
72 Dr. Dre, Eminem: Forgot About Dre
73 Weezer: Undone (The Sweater Song)
74 Isolée: Beau Mot Plage
75 My Bloody Valentine: When You Sleep
76 Brandy, Monica: The Boy Is Mine
77 Mazzy Star: Fade Into You
78 Snap: I Got The Power
79 My Bloody Valentine: Only Shallow
80 Nirvana: Heart Shaped Box
81 Julee Cruise: Falling
82 My Bloody Valentine: Sometimes
83 Daft Punk: Around the World
84 Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
85 Cutty Ranks: Limb By Limb
86 TLC: No Scrubs
87 Le Tigre: Deceptacon
88 Björk: Venus as a Boy
89 P.M. Dawn: Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
90 Ghost Town DJs: My Boo
91 Portishead: Sour Times
92 Björk: Jóga
93 Utah Saints: Something Good
94 The Sundays: Here's Where the Story Ends
95 Korn: Freak On A Leash
96 2Pac: Dear Mama
97 Madonna: Vogue
98 Harvey Danger: Flagpole Sitta
99 Dawn Penn: You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)
100 The KLF: 3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)
101 Spice Girls: Wannabe
102 SWV: Right Here
103 The Notorious B.I.G.: Hypnotize
104 The Offspring: Self Esteem
105 Underworld: Born Slippy (Nuxx)
106 SWV: Weak
Albums now - here is the first round ballot o' mine
1 Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92
2 Tricky: Maxinquaye
3 Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II
4 LFO: Frequencies
5 Boards of Canada: Music Has The Right To Children
6 Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
7 Ultramarine: Every Man and Woman Is A Star
8 Wagon Christ: Throbbing Pouch
9 Omni Trio: The Deepest Cut, Vol.1
10 Saint Etienne: Foxbase Alpha
11 Seefeel: Polyfusia
12 Insides: Euphoria
13 My Bloody Valentine: Loveless
14 Pulp: Different Class
15 Massive Attack: Blue Lines
16 World of Twist: Quality Street
17 Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly
18 Björk: Debut
19 Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
20 Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms
21 Kraftwerk: The Mix
22 Goldie: Timeless
23 Saint Etienne: So Tough
24 Morrissey: Vauxhall and I
25 Oval: 94 Diskont
26 Portishead: Dummy
27 Seefeel: Quique
28 Pulp: His n Hers
29 Björk: Post
30 Prefab Sprout: Jordan: The Comeback
31 Stereolab: Mars Audiac Quintet
32 Herbert: Around the House
33 Pulp: This Is Hardcore
34 Cypress Hill: Black Sunday
35 Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup
36 The 6ths: Wasps' Nests
37 Radiohead: OK Computer
38 Stereolab: Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements
39 PJ Harvey: Dry
40 Basement Jaxx: Remedy
41 Elastica: Elastica
42 Busta Rhymes: When Disaster Strikes
43 Björk: Homogenic
44 Kirstin Hersh: Hips and Makers
45 Destiny's Child: The Writing's on the Wall
46 Busta Rhymes: The Coming
47 Daft Punk: Homework
48 GZA: Liquid Swords
49 Busta Rhymes: Extinction Level Event
50 Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted
And the second and final votes for album, taken from the reduced-in-number consensus squad. Now here an interesting thing happens which is that I start running out of real faves (my own abfavs having been taken out of contention, you see). So I start drifting into "approve of" criteria, or have some other metric of solidarity or tangential reason to support (see if you can spot which artist is in there really only because a 4 Hero remix made me fall for that particular song and come to greatly appreciate the remixee's own skills of storytelling and delivery. But in truth the album from which said remixed track hails I only heard this year!).
Truthfully, from number 23 onwards in this second shorter shortlist, it's often the case that the singles off the album, perhaps even just one track on it, are the reason it's included (Aaliyah is for the title track obviously - and "If Your Girl Only Knew" which is decent). Other times there might be another album (or albums) by the same artist that I much much prefer, but since the selectorate has gone for it, I've lent it the support.
1 Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92
2 Tricky: Tricky: Maxinquaye
3 Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
4 Boards of Canada: Music Has the Right to Children
5 Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II
6 Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly
7 Pulp: Different Class
8 Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
9 Cypress Hill: Black Sunday
10 My Bloody Valentine: Loveless
11 Massive Attack: Blue Lines
12 Oval: 94 Diskont
13 Goldie: Timeless
14 Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms
15 Björk: Post
16 Destiny's Child: The Writing's on the Wall
17 Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup
18 Prefab Sprout: Jordan: The Comeback
19 Dr. Dre: The Chronic
20 Elastica: Elastica
21 Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted
22 Radiohead: OK Computer
23 DMX: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot
24 Beck: Odelay
25 Portishead: Dummy
26 GZA: Liquid Swords
27 U2: Achtung Baby
28 Nirvana: Nevermind
29 PJ Harvey: Rid Of Me
30 Wu-Tang Clan: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
31 DJ Shadow: Endtroducing
32 OutKast: ATLiens
33 Nirvana: In Utero
34 De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead
35 Daft Punk: Homework
36 Aaliyah: One in a Million
37 Bone Thugs n-Harmony: E. 1999 Eternal
38 The KLF: Chill Out
39 Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes
40 Teenage Fanclub: Bandwagonesque
41 Primal Scream: Screamadelica
42 Aphex Twin: Richard D. James Album
43 Ice Cube: Death Certificate
44 The Beta Band: The 3 EPs
45 Juvenile: 400 Degreez
46 Scarface: The Diary
47 Tortoise: Millions Now Living Will Never Die
48 Le Tigre: Le Tigre
49 Slint: Spiderland
50 Main Source: Breaking Atoms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Looking at these ballots again, some glaring and unaccountable omissions inevitably emerge - most notably the absence of A Guy Called Gerald's Black Secret Technology and several of the 12-inch releases on Juice Box.
10 comments:
They sure seem to me American-centered lists. And they keep on championing stuff like Mariah and Whitney. Seriously? I had some good laughs.
Carlos
The "entry via 4 Hero remix" is, I'm guessing, Scarface's "The Diary".
Solid lists (no room for "The Soft Bulletin"?) though recalling your enthusiasm at the time for Mille Plateaux-style avant-electronics, a little surprised Oval is the only representative.
Yes you got it - "Seen A Man Die" as recast by 4 Hero so brilliantly it feels he was rapping along to it.
I'm trying to think what Mille Plateaux-style avant-electronica would be up for contention here. Most of it.... has not aged that well, at least for me.
One huge omission though is that I forgot Gas's Königsforst.
I also should have put some Basic Channel and Chain Reaction type stuff - Resilient, Monolake, Maurizio.
So that is sort of in the zone you're talking about - but not exactly avant. It's a bit too dance-functional and pleasure-intensive. I mean, there's reason Kevin Martin dubbed it "heroin house". It floods your body with bliss. There weren't too many things on Mille Plateaux that did that.
I'm a little bit suprised that you didn't include something from Royal Trux or Ritual de lo Habitual in your 50 favorite albums. Btw, did you ever did 80's best albums ballot somewhere?
That's a good catch - must have slipped my mind. Ritual definitely ought to be there. Of all the Trux stuff I think Cats and Dogs is the one that endures with me - awesome record.
I don't think I was ever presented the opportunity to 'do' the Eighties. Melody Maker didn't do a critics vote on the best of that decade, but we did do a huge feature package on the most notable trends, genres, and artists of the '80s, you can see my contributions here. https://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-to-z-of-eighties-definitive-guide.html
Perhaps in an idle moment I'll have a go and doing my '80s - it's the first decade when i was paying attention in real time from start to finish, and started writing about its music from around '82 in college magazines and fanzines, and then graduating to the music press for the second half of the decade.
Unfortunately sometimes it happens with these records - lists are strange beasts, you can change them everyday and they still will be far from perfect. Yeah, Cats and Doga is great, but for me their masterpiece is Twin Infinitives - utterly brilliant and bonkers album. Your review of it and article/interview with the band from '93 is excellent. Ritual also a truly great album, masterpiece in fact - that second side (31 minutes) is just jaw-droppingly stunning.
I read this melody maker best of 80s decade on your blog - it was really interesting (as you noted, it was written from memory, so the task wasn't an easy one).
"Perhaps in an idle moment I'll have a go and doing my '80s" - So i'm waiting inpatiently for it. This will be fascinating for sure. Isn't Anything should win, but who knows? Maybe some other album will take the top spot.
Isn't Anything is a contender, so is 69 by AR Kane... or even Pixies's Doolittle
but then you got to take into consideration Sulk by the Associates, Dirty Mind or Sign O' Times by Prince, maybe something by The Smiths, the Throwing Muses debut, Cocteau Twins's Head Over Heels... and the little fact that Closer came out in the first year of the decade...
Something marvelous I didn't listen to in the 1980s but only later: Juju Music by King Sunny Ade.
Same applies to E2:E4 by Manuel Gottsching.
And Movies by Holger Czukay.
And so it goes on...
Prefab - Steve McQueen
Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
you've got me started on this... and beyond albums, there's also singles, yikes
Okay, few albums you mentioned totally suprised me. Doolittle is one - it’s a great album, but I didn’t expect it that you rate it so higly. Second is Miss America - in million years i woulnd’t guess that you like it so much. Third with Prefab Sprout - I still think they’re somewhat underrated and Steve is an excellent album. I know that you’re really fond of Jordan’s comeback, so it’s nice to see here their piece from 85’. With Prince i’m all into Sign - it’s sublimely eccentric and eclectic. A glorious mix of all Prince’s tricks. E2-E4 - love it. In the past you choosed the smiths debut as your fav. Do you still feel it’s the one? I’ve listened to Closer a few days ago and yes, it holds up just great. In fact, one can appreciate it ever more know. I need to relisten Kane’s 69 and Czukay’s Movies. Daydream nation of course for me is the greatest album from 80s. I need to check Juju Music - it’s one of my regrettable omissions. And You know - it’s always exciting when you’re pouring this albums and lists. An immense fun.
Surprising omissions: Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Substrata, Robert Wyatt, Pram, Come Together (Weatherall extended mix)
I would also have included: Vision Creation Newsun, The Boatman's Call, Renegade Soundwave's Next Chapter of Dub, Ween.
A few great obscurities: Daniel Figgis 'Skipper', Epic Soundtracks 'Rise Above', Pinkie Maclure 'Favourite', Księżyc
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