BlurArtist: Blur
Community Score: 7.42
The Great Escape, for all of its many virtues, painted Blur into a corner and there was only one way out -- to abandon the Britpop that they had instigated by bringing the weird strands that always floated through their music to the surface. Blur may superficially appear to be a break from tradition, but it is a logical progression, highlighting...
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In a DoghouseArtist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 7.00
Throwing Muses' classic first album was never released in the U.S., nor was their follow-up EP, Chains Changed. For well over a decade, the two records were only available as imports through 4AD, which meant that Throwing Muses, one of the most influential and individual albums of late-'80s alternative rock, was very hard for anyone outside of...
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International VelvetArtist: Catatonia
Community Score: 8.67
Prior to International Velvet, Catatonia offered modest, lovely pleasures -- pretty, ringing pop songs filled with sweet and sour melodies. Apparently, the band was concerned that they were a little too precious, a little too similar to late-'80s indie pop groups like the Primitives, so they beefed up their sound, turned up the guitars and...
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Fantastic Pirate SatelliteArtist: Liquid Gang
Marchin' AlreadyArtist: Ocean Colour Scene
Community Score: 8.00
Ocean Colour Scene reinvented themselves as trad rock journeymen with their second album, Moseley Shoals, a record indebted to late-'60s blues-rock, mod pop, psychedelia, and prog rock. Surprisingly, the album became a blockbuster in the U.K., so it isn't entirely surprising that its successor, Marchin' Already, is essentially Moseley Shoals,...
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Tone Soul EvolutionArtist: The Apples in Stereo
Community Score: 5.62
The second full-length album by the Apples in Stereo isn't as surprising as their debut, 1995's Fun Trick Noisemaker, but it doesn't sound like simply more of the same. Graced with a larger budget and access to a fully equipped 24-track recording studio for the first time, the group (particularly singer/songwriter/producer Robert Schneider) is...
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When I Was Born for the 7th TimeArtist: Cornershop
Community Score: 5.67
When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal...
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RetrospectiveArtist: Pin Group
Siltbreeze's Retrospective is a re-issued collection of recordings by New Zealand's seminal Pin Group (fronted by Roy Montgomery) -- the disc includes the "Ambivalence"/"Columbia" 7" (actually the first single issued on the Flying Nun label), the "Coat"/"Jim" 7", the Pin Group Goes to Town EP, a live cover of War's "Low Rider" and two low-fi...
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Egomania (Love Songs)Artist: Cobra Verde
Atmospheric, earthy sounds are what Cobra Verde specialize in, and they deliver the goods yet again on Egomania (Love Songs). It's a compilation of new songs, unreleased material, and tracks that have been previously unavailable on CD (from 45s released on the Sub Pop, Scat, Wabana, and Get Hip labels from 1995-96). The band shows off its many...
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Fush Yu MangArtist: Smash Mouth
Community Score: 6.06
The groovy, '60s soul-funk of "Walking on the Sun" disguises the fact that Smash Mouth is a ska-punk band. With its organ riff and breezy melody, "Walking on the Sun" is a great one-shot single, yet Smash Mouth never come close to replicating its easy charm anywhere on Fush Yu Mang. Regardless, there are some moments that'll satisfy third-wave...
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Restraining BoltArtist: Radish
Community Score: 9.67
Sing Sing (1984-1994)Artist: Honeymoon Killers
Blur - AUSTRALIA BONUS TOUR CD
Artist: Blur
The Great Escape, for all of its many virtues, painted Blur into a corner and there was only one way out -- to abandon the Brit-pop that they had instigated by bringing the weird strands that always floated through their music to the surface. Blur may superficially appear to be a break from tradition, but it is a logical progression,...
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