Retroactively, Cornelius took pole position, due to his untouchable remix form, which allowed him to take 7 disparate acts and make a fully fledged mini album out of the results. Handsome Boy Modeling School - So.How's Your Girl? Dooom, First Come, First Served (Funky Ass) Lady) Randy Newman, Bad Love (Dreamworks) 10 Years of Strictly Rhythm-Mixed by 'Little Louie' Vega (Strictly Rhythm) Sleater-Kinney, The Hot Rock (Kill Rock Stars) Dr. 1 (Cold Front) Tom Waits, Mule Variations (Epitaph) Aphrodite (V2) Spring Heel Jack, Treader (Tugboat import) Basement Jaxx, Remedy (Astralwerks) Le Tigre (Mr. Honorable mention: The Real Hip-Hop: Best of D&D Studios Vol. DJ DB, Shades of Technology: A Drum and Bass Journey (F-111/Higher Education) The most (OK, the only) convincing argument I've come across that drum-and-bass is still as exciting as it used to be, Shades is made even more remarkable by the fact that it bypasses both Shy FX's 'Bambaataa' and Adam F's 'Brand New Funk'-and still sounds definitive. Luna, The Days of Our Nights (Jericho) The sexiest-sounding rock band in America whisper more sweet nothings in your ear, from the points-of-view of a stalker ('Dear Diary'), a paranoid ('Math Wiz'), and, um, Axl Rose (the jaw-dropping 'Sweet Child o' Mine').ДЎ0. The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros) Their melodic smarts and sonic wizardry have never been more elaborate, yet the Lips' grandiosity never overwhelms their sense of emotion. His nine duet partners are heaven-sent, too, especially Iris DeMent, who plays wacked-out Tammy Wynette to his goofball George Jones.ДЁ. John Prine, In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy) A sidesplitting, heartbreaking catalogue of love, rural American-style, rendered by the best New Dylan of them all. A really great joke, one so convincing that you believe every dumbfounding word of this now-legendary 1997 interview with WFMU radio DJ Scharpling.Д§. Tom Scharpling and Ronald Thomas Clontle, Rock, Rot & Rule (Stereolaffs) A historian so inept he thinks Madness invented ska, Clontle's catch is that he's also the pseudonym of Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster, and that the whole thing is a joke. Neither his most ambitious album nor his most perfect-just his most deeply felt.Д¦. Then you tune into those melodies and get swept away. Moby, Play (V2) Beats slowed to a crawl, simpler-than-ever melodies foregrounded, screaming divas replaced by folk-blues crooners, this album feels at first like a retreat, as if Moby is relinquishing the intensity that has always been his trademark.

Armand Van Helden, 2 Future 4 U (Armed) Sticking to what he does better than anyone, and doing it to better effect than ever, Van Helden's freaky, kinetic house throwdowns practically turn you into Tony Manero upon contact: If you can't, as one song demands, 'get down' to this, honey, you're already dead.ДҐ. Latin Playboys, Dose (Atlantic) Even more consistent than their classic, self-titled 1994 debut, this punningly titled gem comes replete with bent blues, scratchy childhood reminiscences, and lo-fi studio cunning that imagines dub had it been born in the LA barrio instead of Kingston's slums.Д¤. And the songs stand up without the (excellent) plot.ДЈ. But even if it never gets made, this blueprint remains one of hip-hop's sharpest albums.

Prince Paul Presents A Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy) The best blaxploitation soundtrack this side of Superfly didn't even come with a movie, though Chris Rock, who cameos here, is working on that. Built to Spill, Keep It Like a Secret (Warner Bros) The most cathartic guitar album since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, with Doug Martsch's bleeding heart and bleed-through guitar first laying his emotional cards on the table, then blowing 'em out of the room by shredding in ecstatic tongues.Дў.

Here's what I wrote in Seattle Weekly, Decem(apologies for the writing quality, hey I was young!):ДЎ.

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