Jeff Buckley - Everybody Here Wants You (Columbia, 1998)

Prince-y, slow jamming beauty

Perhaps better known for the sky-soaring, expansive alt rock of his 'Grace' album, this is effectively a demo for his never-recorded second album. It's still heartbreakingly beautiful but it really grooves where 'Grace' went for widescreen guitars.

Download Jeff Buckley 'Everybody Here Wants You' (Alternative, mp3) (Divshare)

Primal Scream 'If They Move, Kill 'Em (My Bloody Valentine Arkestra)' (Creation, 1998)

Mad-eyed, dubbed-out overhaul of Primal Scream by My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields.

I thought I'd post something touched by the genius of Kevin Shields just to celebrate the latest email from Amazon telling me that the remastered version of My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' has had its release date moved back again - having been originally slated for 2008.

This total overhaul of Primal Scream's 'If They Move, Kill 'Em' was the last release on Creation Records. And it's a doozy.

Shields freaks out the dubby rhythmic undercarriage, adding tablas and a dirty great breakbeat. But that's nothing. On top of that he adds swathes of drifting melodic flute, loops of what sounds like feedback, low-down filtered wah-wah guitar and tops it off with a drunken Sun Ra brass section.

It's a headfuck of a track that slowly increases in intensity to the point where it's a simmering cauldron of noise and competing sounds. A glorious headfuck, though.

Download Primal Scream 'If They Move, Kill 'Em (My Bloody Valentine Arkestra)' (indie, alternative, Creation Records, mp3) (Mediafire)

Tortoise 'Taut & Tame (Luke Vibert Remix)' (Thrill Jockey, 1998)

Intriguing battle between languid postrocking and rubbery drum and bass. Music is the winner.

Tortoise's poised, evolving postrock of 'The Taut And The Tame' is teased into a laid back piece of jazz and bass by former Mo'Wax face Luke Vibert.

It opens with frantic, pattering drums that set a pace that the bass completely undermines. It's slow, thoughtful and very spare, allowing trademark vibes to enter and resonate before Vibert brings the beat back. This time it's a trademark, mid-paced, piece of big-box-little-box-bubblecar-fish drum'n'bass rhythmic delight. And we're steppin' like it's 1999.

Originally released on 12", it was collected onto the 'Remixed' album but both are now out of print.

Download Tortoise 'Taut & Tame (Luke Vibert Remix)' (postrock, drum and bass mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Arab Strap 'Trippy' (Chemikal Underground, 1998)

1998's thematic follow-on to 'The First Big Weekend' from the sadly-missed Arab Strap.

'Trippy' amounts to twelve minutes that encompass monologue, Blue Monday-edged frenetic indie disco, some kind of deranged hybrid of those things and some squelchy Acid love.

It's the sound of young Scotland getting wasted on cheap booze and even cheaper trips. Utterly messy but strangely compelling.

Aidan Moffat has a considerable way with words. The opening section is dominated by his monologue, juxtaposed by some lovely rolling, Ganger-esque bass work and Math Rock drums.

The song evolves through the story, a bad trip resulting in some disturbing shrieking as the music shifts in intensity and the mood changes. Caustic guitars are added to the mix before a relentless kick-drum takes us into 'The First Big Weekend' territory. The guitars subside and electronics take over for six minutes of throbbing intensity until the comedown is accompanied by the subdued post-rock rumble.

Download Arab Strap 'Trippy' (postrock, alternative dancefloor, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

James Iha 'Silver String' (Hut/Virgin, 1998) (mp3 download)

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha obviously wasn't wasting his downtime between touring and playing some part in the creation of brain-wettingly good alt-rock albums likes 'Gish' and 'Siamese Dream'. (Though legend has it that Billy Corgan played practically everything himself on 'Siamese Dream'.)

In 1998 he quietly released a stunningly gentle and beautiful album called 'Let It Come Down'. No liquid guitar solos, no shrieking vocals and no explosive drums. So something of a departure from the alt-rock dynamics of the Pumpkins.

'Let It Come Down' features some gorgeous harmony vocals and guitar lines wrapped around lush country-rock-flavoured songwriting. It was an absolute treat and, unfortunately, something of a secret treat, meaning that it is still his only solo album. He has since played the role of gun-for-hire in other people's bands, which is a shame.

'Silver String' is so sweet and languid, Iha's acoustic guitar and rich vocal supported by full band and strings.

Simply beautiful.

Download James Iha 'Silver String' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Stump 'Buffalo' (Ensign, 1988) (MP3 Download)

With the benefit of hindsight it's hard to imagine how Stump got within a hundred yards of the offices of a major recording company, let alone being signed to one (as despatch riders maybe?).

Incredibly, after a couple of EPs, Stump found themselves signed to a major, releasing their album 'A Fierce Pancake' and dealing in more of their Beefheartian psychobilly psychodrama. 'Buffalo' has a reasonably attractive and quirky sound but it's a lolloping jalopy of a song and it's hard to imagine it troubling the likes of Mel & Kim, Deacon Blue or Rick Astley in the late eighties pop charts.

"How much is the fish? How much is the fish! How much is the chips? How much is the chips!" semi-crooned singer Mick Lynch along to a sound that veers between arhythmic funk and the sound of a therapy group discovering a fretless bass and some pots and pans in the dressing-up box.

It's an arresting proposition that, of course, didn't find its way onto Top Of The Pops. Instead the more alt-friendly home of The Chart Show beamed Stump into Saturday morning homes after the kids has just had their fix of Saturday Superstore or somesuch family-friendly entertainment (these were the days before Dick & Dom).

Encountered in that context Stump stood out but it took a few additional listens before the internal logic of Stumpworld revealed itself. Once it did, though, you're hooked.

Download Stump 'Buffalo' (mp3) (Rapidshare)

Read more about 'Buffalo' and the origin of its striking lyrics - all makes sense when you know why - on the Left and to the Back blog.

MJ Cole - Sincere (Metrix/A&M, 1998)

On first encountering this record, it sounded like it came from another dimension. The rolling breakbeats rendered alien by the lack of treble, before bursting into full-spectrum life.

I'm not sure where I first heard it (it certainly wasn't in a club), but it made me stop, double-take and desperately try to process/understand the sound I was hearing.

I love records that don't make sense when you first hear them - LFO by LFO, Blue Monday, Beautiful Pigeon by Moonshake, lots of Autechre's stuff, for example. With 'Sincere', classically-trained Matthew (J Cole), crafted a deeply soulful tune with enough subtle tweaks and twists to engage brain and body. Every element is utterly processed and treated but retains a yearning, authentic passion, riding on top of irresistable groove.

Sumptuous.



MJ Cole page at Prolific Recordings