27-11-2018 ˙ FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-1997

David Bowie

27-11-2018 ˙ FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-1997  >>David Bowie, Jazzanova, 16 Horsepower, Dead Meadow, PJ Harvey16 Horsepower, Boss Hog, The Greenhornes, Wilco, Tom Waits, Suzie Higgie & Conway Savage, Mick Harvey<<

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2002-1997

The mercurial music icon widely considered the original pop chameleon and figurehead for countless musical movements. The cliché about David Bowie is that he was a musical chameleon, adapting himself according to fashion and trends. While such a criticism is too glib, there's no denying that Bowie demonstrated a remarkable skill for perceiving musical trends at his peak in the '70s.
David Bowie
5.15 the Angels Have Gone (David Bowie) 5:02
Sunday (David Bowie) 4:46
from Heathen 2002
Heathen marks a new beginning for David Bowie in some ways -- it's his first record since leaving Virgin, his first for Columbia Records, his first for his new label, ISO -- yet it's hardly a new musical direction. Like Hours, this finds Bowie sifting through the sounds of his past, completely at ease with his legacy, crafting a colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic Bowie album. That's not to say that Heathen recalls any particular album or any era in specific, yet there's a deliberate attempt to recapture the atmosphere, the tone of his '70s work -- there's a reason that Bowie decided to reteam with Tony Visconti, the co-producer of some of his best records, for this album -- even if direct comparisons are hard to come by. Which is exactly what's so impressive about this album. Bowie and Visconti never shy away from electronic instrumentations or modern production -- if anything, they embrace it -- but it's woven into Bowie's sound subtly, never drawing attention to the drum loops, guitar synths, and washes of electronica...

Hailing from Berlin, this collection of six DJs are nu-jazz proponents, mixing electronica beats with classic jazz samples. Jazzanova arrived in 1997 with "Fedime's Flight," an exquisitely layered production that had more in common with dancefloor jazz-funk truffles by Azymuth and Lonnie Liston Smith than with anything contemporary...
Jazzanova
The One-Tet (Alexander Barck / A. Judson Green / Stefan Leisering) 3:51
L.O.V.E. and You & I (Alexander Barck / Stefan Leisering) 7:48
from In Between 2002
Though Jazzanova's underground credibility and respect among fellow artists never wavered during the late '90s, the German six-piece waited a long time to release a proper full-length (reportedly, it required five years of recording). In Between certainly proves the wait was worth it; the collective has not only a Teutonic efficiency for creating complex, precise, detailed beat tracks -- recalling the earthier side of house, hip-hop, and jazz fusion -- but also the wisdom to focus away from music that sounds like it came out of a laboratory...

Denver alt-country band known for brooding songs reminiscent of Nick Cave and the Gun Club. 16 Horsepower were a Denver-based alternative country band that revolved around the unique songwriting and singing of David Eugene Edwards. The band made its name with music that combined rural backwoods kitsch with edgy, off-kilter country-rock...
16 Horsepower
American Wheeze (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower /
South Pennsylvania Waltz (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower / Keven Soll / Jean-Yves Tola) 5:45
from Hoarse 2001
Recorded in the band's hometown of Denver during 1998's Low Estate tour but not released until 2001, this live document of predominantly a single show is an accurate no-frills portrait of 16 Horsepower's tough goth rock attack...  the passionate music speaks for itself, and this is the disc you'll want after seeing 16 Horsepower tear up a stage in your town.

Critically praised hard rockers who blend heavy riffs with dreamy guitar fuzz. Dead Meadow's unique marriage of Sabbath riffs, dreamy layers of guitar-fuzz bliss, and singer Jason Simon's high-pitched melodic croon have won over psychedelic pop/rock and stoner rock fans alike, while elements of folk and pop would creep into their formula over time.
Dead Meadow
Drifting Down Streams (Dead Meadow) 8:19
Jusiamere Farm (Dead Meadow) 4:57
from Howls from the Hills 2001
Hailing from the nation's capital and looking rather like the teenage cast from the cult film Rushmore, Dead Meadow garnered many an accolade with its first album's surprisingly accomplished and highly authentic brand of psychedelic rock. The young musicians' subtle yet dazzling technical interplay lies at the core of this formula, where power chords and all other such outbursts are usually hinted at, but rarely fully vented through the soft haze of the group's stoner musings. With its flowing grooves and measured, slow stomp, the band's self-titled debut was a discreetly seductive affair, slowly creeping up on the listener when least expected. Quickly released later the same year, second opus Howls from the Hills reprises this same M.O., with only slightly inferior results...

The most challenging singer/songwriter to emerge in the '90s, her brutally honest lyrics match well to a progression of raw musical styles. During the alternative rock explosion, several female singer/songwriters rose to prominence, but few have proved as distinctive or as widely praised as Polly Jean Harvey. Over the course of her career, Harvey established herself as one of the most individual and influential songwriters of her era, exploring themes of sex, love, and religion with unnerving honesty, dark humor, and a twisted theatricality...
PJ Harvey
Big Exit (PJ Harvey) 3:51
Good Fortune (PJ Harvey) 3:20
A Place Called Home (PJ Harvey) 3:42
This Is Love (PJ Harvey) 3:48
from Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea 2000
During her career, Polly Jean Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She's gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me's punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?'s postmodern siren; on Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea -- inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside -- she's changed again. The album cover's stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up. Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album's production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks...

Denver alt-country band known for brooding songs reminiscent of Nick Cave and the Gun Club. 16 Horsepower were a Denver-based alternative country band that revolved around the unique songwriting and singing of David Eugene Edwards. The band made its name with music that combined rural backwoods kitsch with edgy, off-kilter country-rock. Teaming up with drummer Jean-Yves Tola and bassist Pascal Humbert in the band's original lineup, Edwards lost the latter member when the band relocated to Denver from California, adding Keven Soll to the roster instead...
16 Horsepower
Clogger (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower) 3:28
Wayfaring Stranger (Traditional) 2:42
Cinder Alley (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower) 4:42
from Secret South 2000
Sin, salvation, deliverance, redemption, the Holy Spirit, divine intervention, and prayer; it's all in a day's work for 16 Horsepower singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist David Eugene Edwards. On their third album and first for indie Razor & Tie, the band works within the unique sound it has already defined. With a voice as windswept, barren, and generally spooky as the Bates Motel, Edwards unravels 11 mini-sermons with a frightening intensity and emotional edge. When he sings, the ghostly moan that emanates sounds like he's overcome by forces beyond his control. It's that creepy voice, similar to Michael Been of the Call, along with sparse but powerful instrumentation and a fire-and brimstone-lyrical slant, that separates 16 Horsepower from the rest of the alt-Americana pack. Seldom have banjos, violins, organ, and bandoneon (an old accordion that helps define the band's unique sound), let alone guitar, piano and, standup bass, seemed quite as intimidating and brooding as in the hands of this band...

Raw and raucous blues-punk ensemble fronted by the husband-and-wife team of Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez. All-star N.Y.C. blues-punk combo Boss Hog was helmed by the husband-and-wife team of singer Cristina Martinez and singer/guitarist Jon Spencer, who'd previously teamed up in the legendary cult band Pussy Galore.
Boss Hog
Whiteout (Boss Hog) 3:07
Nursery Rhyme (Boss Hog) 3:47
Jaguar (Boss Hog) 2:41
from Whiteout 2000
It's difficult to consider Boss Hog without invoking the name of Jon Spencer. Not only is the Blues Explosion leader a member of Boss Hog, but he's also married to Boss Hog leader Christina Martinez, so his overwrought post-modern downtown, white-boy blues-funk is always lurking just around the corner. To her credit, on Whiteout Martinez keeps the dude at bay by taking the aesthetic helm (taking bass player Jens Jurgensen, drummer Hollis Queens, and keyboardist Mark Boyce along for the ride, too). The ten cuts that comprise this, Boss Hog's sixth album, are obviously her vessel. Don't be fooled by the dreamy atmospherics, the sultry vocal ruminations, or the awkwardly funky new romantic synth beats; she's painting the picture of garage punk and new wave girl groups as refracted through a 21st century looking glass...

Ohio born and bred Nuggets-meets-Stooges garage band; provided the rhythm section for the Raconteurs. Cincinnati, OH's the Greenhornes earned a devoted following during the garage rock boom of the 2000s, but while the band was clearly influenced by classic blues-based acts of the '60s (the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks) and first-era garage rock (the Sonics), their instrumental skill and songwriting chops put them well ahead of most of their peers. 
The Greenhornes
Good Times 2:11
Hold Me 3:50
So Cold 3:42
from Gun For You 1999

On this sizzling garage rock debut, Cincinnati, OH's Greenhornes showcase their talents at combining solid early- to mid-'60s Stones/Kinks-style rock with a jovial mod influence and Detroit blues-rock punchiness. Their lineup features former members of the Nevada Death Band, including Craig Fox on guitars and vocals, Brian Olive on guitar and backup vocals, Patrick Keeler on drums, and Jack Lawrence on bass; the pervasive organ right up front in the mix comes courtesy of spectacular keyboardist Jared McKinney...

Critically acclaimed Chicago band initially connected to the No Depression neo-country scene, later emerging as an experimental-pop powerhouse. 
Wilco
Can't Stand It  (Wilco) 3:46
A Shot in the Arm  (Jay Bennett / John Stirratt / Jeff Tweedy) 4:19
Summer Teeth  (Wilco) 3:21
from Summerteeth 1999
Jeff Tweedy once blazed the trail for the American rock underground's embrace of its country and folk roots, but as the decade drew to a close he also began spearheading the return of classic pop; simply put, what once were fiddles on Wilco records became violins -- the same instrument, to be sure, but viewed with a radical shift in perception and meaning. While lacking the sheer breadth and ambition of the previous Being There, Summer Teeth is the most focused Wilco effort yet, honing the lessons of the last record to forge a majestic pop sound almost completely devoid of alt-country elements...

A neo-beatnik songwriter who grew weirder and wilder in the '80s, earning a cult following that only grew larger as the years passed. In the work of American songwriter Tom Waits, swampy blues, Beat poetry, West Coast jazz, Tin Pan Alley, country, 1930s-era cabaret, and post-Civil War parlor songs meet neon-lit carnival music, and the wheezing, clattering, experimental rhythms (often played by makeshift musical instruments from car radios to metal pipes and tin cans -- hence his love of Edgard Varese and Harry Partch) form a keenly individual musical universe. It has often been imitated but never replicated...
Tom Waits
Hang on St. Christopher  (Tom Waits)  2:44
Temptation  (Tom Waits) 3:48
Clap Hands  (Tom Waits) 3:48
from Beautiful Maladies / The Island Years 1998
Tom Waits' brilliance is messy -- he has so many ideas that sometimes unrealized songs are juxtaposed with moments of greatness on his albums. That may make for the occasional uneven record, but each album has its own distinct tone that makes it a unique listening experience, whether it's a masterpiece or a missed opportunity. And that's the reason why his work, especially his sprawling Island albums, doesn't lend itself to retrospectives like Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years. On the surface, the collection looks promising...

Suzie Higgie was the singer/songwriter for the Australian group the Falling Joys, who put out numerous releases (including three albums) over the course of a decade... Her material is slightly jazzy, breezy singer/songwriter rock, delivered with a cool restraint.
Conway Victor Savage (27 July 1960 – 2 September 2018) was an Australian rock musician. He was a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, providing piano, organ and backing vocals from 1990. From 1993, Savage had a solo career and released albums...
Suzie Higgie & Conway Savage ‎
Wishbone 3:19
Hooplaville 3:32
Just One Of Those Things 5:11
from Soon Will Be Tomorrow 1998
Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Suzie Higgie
Vocals, Piano, Organ, Keyboards – Conway Savage

Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer known for his longtime collaborations with Nick Cave and his own project, Crime & the City Solution. Multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey is best known for his deep roots in the tangled family tree of singer Nick Cave. Playing a pivotal role in the Cave-fronted Boys Next Door (1977-1980), Birthday Party (1980-1983), and Bad Seeds (1984 on), Harvey added intricate details and anonymous atmospherics that gave life to the singer's ominous narratives...
Mick Harvey
Pink Elephants (Bertrand Burgalat / Serge Gainsbourg / Mick Harvey) 2:35
Requiem.... (Michel Colombier / Serge Gainsbourg / Mick Harvey) 2:35
Comic Strip (Serge Gainsbourg / Bill Solly) 2:42
Scenic Railway (Serge Gainsbourg / Mick Harvey) 2:52
from Pink Elephants 1997
Pink Elephants continues what Mick Harvey began with Intoxicated Man -- it's the second collection of Serge Gainsbourg covers that the Bad Seeds guitarist has recorded. This time around, he concentrates on lesser-known songs... while the results aren't as immediately beguiling as those on Intoxicated Man, it's still rich, evocative, seedy, and alluring...

Mick Harvey by Sam Baker London 1997