Tag Archives: 90s music

Apr30

Joe Jackson Sings “Home Town” (1999 live version)

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Joe Jackson Sings “Home Town” (1999 live version)

Listen to this track by spiky new wave piano man and skillful pop composer Joe Jackson. It’s “Home Town”, a track originally taken from his 1986 album Big World, with this version recorded live in New York City in 1999 and featured on the album Live in New York: Summer In the City.

The original is a bright, effervescent pop song full of buoyant guitar. Yet, the song holds a certain world-weariness that the original version masks. Ordinarily, this is a welcome contrast.

But, as good as the original is, something entirely new came out of it when he rearranged it for a new musical context. When it came time to get together in the summer of 1999 to perform some of his tunes in a casual series of club dates “just for the hell of it”, the songs were reinterpreted for a trio; himself on piano and singing, backed up by stalwart sidemen Graham Maby on bass, and Gary Burke on drums.

Yet on this song, it’s all Jackson, a middle part of a suite of songs (“Be My Number Two” and “It’s Different For Girls” bookend it) played solo. Instead of the irony that can be picked up in the original, here the solo version reveals an entire country of emotions waiting for the listener underneath.

You might think that Jackson had removed his signature element of surprise to be found in his music up until this point by interpreting this song as a straight up ballad, rather than a poppy guiter driven tune that hides some melancholic undercurrents. But, you’d be wrong. Here’s why.

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Feb27

Gomez Performs “Rhythm & Blues Alibi”

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Gomez Performs “Rhythm & Blues Alibi”

Here’s a clip of Southport quintet, and former Mercury-prize winners Gomez. It’s “Rhythm & Blues Alibi”, a key track as taken from their second album, 1999′s Liquid Skin. This record was the follow-up to their universally praised debut Bring It On, which placed quite a bit of pressure on the young band to come up with something great. And that’s what they did, with this song as something of a sonic reference point to their approach, mixing subtle electronics, folk-rock, blues, and classic British guitar-rock.

The band stood out on their debut as not quite fitting in with what other bands of their strain were doing at the time. Gomez referenced rootsier sources, while also using treated sounds and supplemental beats to offset traditional rock expectations. But on this record, they left some of their lo-fi sensibilities that were so prominent on their debut behind them and embraced a fuller sound.

And despite success of the singles off of the record, and the platinum sales figures, rock snobbery in some quarters decreed that they had had their time in the sun with Bring It On, and that it was all ‘diminishing returns’ from Gomez.

The band couldn’t have been unaware of this tendency of British critics to write off the follow-ups to critically acclaimed albums. And it’s this that makes me think that these kinds of criticisms are worked into the lines of this song. Read the rest of this entry →

Jan26

Graham Parker Sings “Partner For Life”

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Graham Parker Sings “Partner For Life”

Listen to this track by former angry young man turned happily-married stalwart singer-songwriter Graham Parker. It’s “Partner For Life”, an ode to love, commitment, and the realities of adult relationships as featured on Parker’s 1995 album 12 Haunted Episodes.

By the 1990s, Parker had been prolific as a writer and performer, even if his mainstream success didn’t match that of his contemporaries to whom he is often compared; Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, both of whom held Parker as an influence. He had become, and remained to be, a cult artist.

Parker had been through the wringer with various major label record companies as a result, suffering a lack of support and poor sales of his albums. Or was it the other way around, with the lack of support resulting in his cult status?

Either way, he’d established himself as an artist with a consistent body of work, despite the hardships and vicious cycles he’d experienced while tangling with the majors. He  certainly succeeded in consolidating a lasting core audience, doing so by being a steadfast songwriter, record maker, and tireless live performer.

By this record, he’d cut the shackles of major label skulduggery loose and gone indie on the Razor & Tie label. As such, there is a certain liberation that can be heard in a song like “Partner For Life”. And there is another kind of liberation to be found in this song, too.

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Jan12

Ron Sexsmith & The Uncool Play “Don’t Mind Losing”

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Ron Sexsmith & The Uncool Play “Don’t Mind Losing”

Listen to this track by St. Catharines Ontario favourite son and effortlessly awesome singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, with his former collective known as The Uncool – Steve Charles on bass, and Don Kerr on drums and backing vocals. It’s “Don’t Mind Losing”, a jubilant Moondance-era Van The Man style acoustic soul-pop gem as taken from his 1991 independently released album Grand Opera Lane.

The song, and the album off of which it comes exists as something of a prequel to his major label debut Ron Sexsmith in 1995. You can hear the decidedly different tone and approach to presentation and style characterized by more overt soul and rockabilly references.

Ron Sexsmith had spent some time living in rural Quebec, letting his dream of becoming a songwriter steep while mapping out how he was going to pay for his life in the meantime. While working out how to bring his talent to the table of the music industry, he had a wife and newborn son in tow, with a daughter soon to join them by the end of the 1980s. So, in returning to St Catharines, and then to Toronto, he had to secure a day job as a courier, wondering if his real calling as a songwriter and musician would ever really come to fruition.

It’s a pretty common tale, many versions of which we’ll never get to hear from songwriters who never found their path.

With that in mind, never has a song about feeling set upon by circumstance and existential despair sounded so bright and bouncy, gleaming with horns, a seriously groovy bassline, and ecstatic backing vocals.  But, in all of that aural joy, where does it connect with where Sexsmith was going as a professional musician?

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Dec22

The White Stripes Play “Candy Cane Children”

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The White Stripes Play “Candy Cane Children”

Listen to this track, a yuletide assault from two-piece blues-indie heroes, the late, lamented White Stripes. It’s their Christmas tune from 1998, and something of a rarity, “Candy Cane Children”. This was an early single from a band who had yet to break through, yet clearly had the juice even this early on.

The song is on the books to be one of a number of early singles from our heroes to be re-released from Jack White’s Third Man Records.

Have a great Christmas from the Delete Bin, and as of this past December 18, happy birthday to us – the Delete Bin mark II has been going for four years! We’ll be taking the next week off, so see you in the New Year!

 

Enjoy!

Dec15

Shawn Colvin Sings “Love Came Down At Christmas”

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Shawn Colvin Sings “Love Came Down At Christmas”

Listen to this track by angelically voiced singer-songwriter and Christmas fan Shawn Colvin. It’s “Love Came Down At Christmas” as taken from her seasonally-flavoured 1998 Holiday Songs & Lullabies album , which is comprised of crisp and tender renderings of seasonal favourites, matched with restlful lullabies.

This song is a retelling of the Christmas story, infused with a sort of spiritual wonder. Yet, to me the ideas in this song are less about a religious message, and more about the universal themes of aiming one’s sights for greater awareness of, and connection to, those around them. What better message is there for this Yuletide time of year?

Aided by producer and fellow Christmas music fan Doug Petty, Colvin produced a record that put original songs alongside traditional holiday songs. The result is something deeply personal, yet accessible too.

But, where did this record come from, exactly?

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Dec8

Jellyfish Play “The King Is Half Undressed”

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Jellyfish Play “The King Is Half Undressed”

Jellyfish BellybuttonHere’s a clip of neo-psych power-popsters Jellyfish. It’s their single “The King Is Half-Undressed”, as featured on their classic 1990 record Bellybutton.

This is an album that pulls together an irresistible concoction of The Beatles, Sell Out-era Who, the Beach Boys, and with a certain sonic affiliation thereby with XTC, Badfinger, and Cheap Trick. This song scored #19 on the Billboard modern rock chart, and would be one of five singles off of the record.

The band wore their power pop and psych colours proudly on this song, and on the album in general. But, there are multiple strains of rock music to be found here, and on the rest of Bellybutton. There’s certainly an anthemic quality to this tune, which makes it large scale in a way that most power pop isn’t.

The record was a critical success, during the very brief window between the ’80s college rock era, and game-changing ’90s grunge. This video was honoured with a Best Art Direction at the MTV video awards. Once again, this happened during a time when it was possible that a band like Jellyfish could be so honoured.

They had the tunes, and the sound that allowed them to be a singular presence in the charts. But, Jellyfish was another example of a band who, despite their clear talents, were doomed to be short-lived. So, what happened? Read the rest of this entry →

Nov17

Rheostatics Perform “Bad Time To Be Poor”

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Rheostatics Perform “Bad Time To Be Poor”

Rheostatics the Blue HysteriaListen to this track by Canadian art-rock doyens Rheostatics. It’s “Bad Time To Be Poor”, a crunchy and ragged Neil Youngian study in short-sighted economic policy on the part of the then-Conservative provincial government around the time the song, and the album off of which it comes, The Blue Hysteria, was released in 1996.

The band was made up of four guys hailing from the outlying Toronto-area, specifically the City of Etobicoke (the “k” is silent for you out-of-towners). As writers, they had always worn their cultural context on their sleeve, even if some of their music explored the gamut of the rock spectrum. Here, it turns to life in the province of Ontario, under the Mike Harris provincial government in the mid-90s.

This was not an era (1995-2002) known for support of the arts or social welfare to say the least. It was a time when policies arising out of right wing ideological stances (known in this context as the Common Sense Revolution) were beginning to run rampant internationally, even before the age of George W. Bush. This was certainly the state of affairs in Ontario, in Canada, a country known for its sturdy social safety net held, very simplistically, in opposition to American neo-conservatism.

It was clear that the safety net was wearing thin, or more to the point it was being worn thin by a government who wasn’t interested in funding it. The Rheos submitted this song to address that trend, during a time when writing about oppressive policies was a matter of course. And they even got radio play! But, where did it lead them otherwise? Read the rest of this entry →

Oct3

Spearmint Play “Isn’t It Great To Be Alive?”

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Spearmint Play “Isn’t It Great To Be Alive?”

Spearmint at Bush Hall, London. (Photo: Andrew Bulhak)

Listen to this track by British jangle popsters by way of Northern Soul influences meeting the London bedsit, Spearmint. It’s “Isn’t It Great To Be Alive?”, a sardonic sentiment as stuck inside a tale of hopeless longing, and taken from the band’s 1999 debut A Week Away.

The subject of unrequited love, and often the cruelties that simple missed cues can cause, have been fodder for the pop writer for generations.  In more recent times, even more so, when the idea of the swaggering rock n roll singer had given way to a more sensitive side, when the hero did not always get the girl. In fact, more drama surrounds those songs when the girl is so close, yet so far away, a trusted friend who doesn’t know that she is the object of passionate love at all.

That’s what we’ve got in this song, with a man who is otherwise unseen by the one he loves as anything other than someone she hangs out with. But, what makes this tale of unrequited love different? Read the rest of this entry →

Sep15

Tori Amos Performs “Jackie’s Strength”

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Tori Amos Performs “Jackie’s Strength”

Listen to this track by fearsomely talented pianist and singer-songwriting auteur Tori Amos. It’s “Jackie’s Strength” as taken from her strongest selling record to date, 1998′s From The Choirgirl Hotel, a record named after a mythical place where the songs ‘”live”. The song was the second single from that album, and was a minor hit on the U.S hot 100. Yet, in the UK it was top twenty, complete with a club remix as approved by its author.

The record was loosely tied together by musings on the subjects of marriage, motherhood, and the experience of loss that is unique to them. In this song, the image of an American golden age is contrasted with the experiences of girls coming of age, and what awaits them as they journey into womanhood.

There is something of dread in the story, as that golden kingdom ends, as alluded to in the evocation of the name of Jackie Kennedy neé Bouvier, once wed to an American King Arthur, and as another marriage begins.

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