Rothko - Roads Become Rivers (Rivers Become Oceans - Four Tet Mix) (Lo Recordings, 1999)

Delicious, ebbing post rock with gently skittering washes.

Rothko's gently meandering warm bass patterns are given a re-rub with Four Tet's trademark melodic skittering.

Undulating bass weaves together the track with piano and tones pulsing across the sound before a lazily euphoric percussive breakdown takes the track off in a different direction - Tortoise playing a samba band in an underground bar in Rio.

Eight minutes of insidious wonder.

Download Rothko - Roads Become Rivers (Rivers Become Oceans - Four Tet Mix) (Post Rock, Electronica, mp3) (Divshare)

The Auteurs - Light Aircraft On Fire (Live at LSE 1999)

Splenetic, punky brilliance. Cellist forced to mimic sound of engine failure.

Part National Treasure, part national emetic, this live gallop through 'Light Aircraft On Fire' is from the late, who-gives-a-fuck phase and is pure searing, bile-stained genius.

Download The Auteurs 'Light Aircraft On Fire (Live at LSE, 1999)' (live indie mp3) (Rapidshare)

Download the whole 'No Dialogue With Cunts' live set over on archive:live+rare

Annie - The Greatest Hit (Telle, 1999)

Sumptuous, Madonna-sampling darkpop

Anne Lilia Berge-Strand deals in a delicious strain of moody pop and has released a handful of delightful singles and co-written with the likes of Richard X and Saint Etienne.

'The Greatest Hit' is a bouncing, disco-hand-clapping explosion of day-glo pop with Pigeon Street syndrums, rubbery bass and a sassy strut.

Download Annie 'The Greatest Hit' (dark pop mp3) (Rapidshare)

Tahiti 80 - Yellow Butterfly (Atmospheriques, 1999)

Divine, Stereolab-esque indie-Krautrock-pop.

Another lost gem, recently rediscovered. Tahiti 80 are a French band whose debut album 'Puzzle' dealt in a bright and breezy but nicely layered line in demure indie pop.

'Yellow Butterfly' is a simple pop song on the surface but beneath lies a web of interlocking instrumentation. It's decidedly Stereolab-esque in the way of 'French Disko'. The Krautrock-ing rhythms are augmented with a web of interlocking bass and drums but the melodies above are awash with sweet brass and vocals.

The b-side features a fairly faithful cover of The Left Banke's classic of baroque pop 'Desiree'. But that's one for another day...

Download Tahiti 80 'Yellow Butterfly' (Krautrock, indie pop mp3) (Divshare)

Tarentel - The Waltz (Temporary Residence, 1999)

Fifteen minutes of staggering beauty from post-rock magicians Tarentel.

Originally released on their Travels In Constants disc in 1999, this was rounded up on a great compilation of singles and stuff on 2002's 'Ephemera' compilation. I recommend it highly (direct from Temporary Residence).

'The Waltz' is almost Necks-like in it slowly evolving sound. A gentle, uncoiling tracks that builds from rotating guitar patterns, evolving into a sweeping, keening, droning simmer.

After ten minutes it develops an intricate post-rocking coda, drums pattering out a cuboid rhythm, guitars picking honeyed melodies, adding a little more strident guitar as it builds back up. Hypnotic.

Epic and awestruck, it's somewhat like Explosions In The Sky without the loud bits.

Very beautiful.

Download Tarentel 'The Waltz' (post-rock mp3) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Low 'Just Like Christmas' (Tugboat, 1999)

Irresistable, sleigh-bell powered version of Low. Works well.

Low's 'Christmas' EP is a modern classic, marrying ponderous, wintry ballads more aligned to Low's usual hushed fare to perky sleighrides like this and their slowcore version of 'Little Drummer Boy'.

Lovely.

Download Low 'Just Like Christmas' (christmas, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Kenny Dope 'Can U Handle It (Full Length)' (BBE, 1999)

Slab of rumbustuous deep funk from Master At Work, Kenny Dope.

Masters At Work were hot as hell for about ten years (the nineties, basically), unleashing killer track after killer track - Nuyorican Soul, Masters At Work's own 12"s, 'Everybody Be Somebody' by Ruffneck ft Yavahn, I mean, I could go on...

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales dropped this delightful slice of deep funk pastiche in 1999 on a nice 7" single with Part One on one side and Part Two on the flip, no doubt in homage to the 7"s of James Brown, Jerry & The Medicine Men et al.

It's a rolling, hard-nosed groove with neat clattering drums, horn stabs, a James Brown grunt, a wiggling clavichord solo and some breathless vocals.

Just divine. Check out Karl Hector & The Malhouns' 'Girma's Lament' (mp3) while you're at it too.

Download Kenny Dope 'Can U Handle It (Full Length)' (soul, funk, mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Isolee 'Beau Mot Plage' (Playhouse/Classic, 1999) (download)

Wonderfully crisp and sparse piece of Balearic-tinged minimal house.

The original 'Beau Mot Plage' meanders and burbles along, creating a fascinating soundscape of minimal melodic chirrups, vibrant bass and crunchy, twitchy beats.

Tweaked to perfection in this ten-minute Freeform Reform version, some more verdant, soulful bursts are added to the variety with more breakdowns, rhythm guitar texture and some free-blowing flute.

Perfect summer bliss that would sound nice sandwiched between Ultramarine's 'Saratoga', Farley and Heller's remix of Espiritu and Flowered Up's 'Weekender'.

Download Isolee 'Beau Mot Plage' (mp3, 320k) (Mediafire)

Papa M 'Arundel' (Drag City/Domino, 1999) (mp3)

It's usually the case that music sounds better loud, cranked up so the frequencies can breathe. I don't think I've ever found myself listening to a song and suddenly thought, "turn this down, so I can really hear it."

That would be daft. Louder = more = better.

The first time I heard 'Live From A Shark's Cage' by Papa M (aka Aerial M aka M aka post-rock's go-to guitarist David Pajo, formerly of Slint) was early on a Sunday morning a few years ago. I was staying over with friends and, on waking early, I went downstairs and scouted the CD rack for something to listen to. Obviously, as it was early it was only proper to put it on at a low volume.

In the quiet of the house, with just a copy of Sound On Sound for company, Pajo's guitar waves sounded spellbinding, punch-you-in-the-face awesome. It's so hushed and of such minimal instrumentation that it draws you in to listen closer.

This track in particular - 'Arundel' which opens the album in shorter form too - just flows out of the speakers, overtones entwining and flying free.

It's pretty much solo guitar recorded in one take as far as I can tell, played in a nice, church-y room. It's a steady progression that rises to a peak, balancing moodiness with optimism.

Just beautiful.

Download Papa M 'Arundel' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Check out David Pajo's official site for more on his extensive discography.

Ben & Jason 'Air Guitar' (Go! Beat, 1999) (mp3)

Ah, pity the empty trophy cabinet of the "Intelligent Singer-Songwriter"...

How many worthy but doomed of these folk are there? For every Divine Comedy or Ben Folds that crosses over to sustained success there must be hundreds who don't make it. Ed Harcourt anyone?

Ben & Jason sadly fell into the latter camp, though a run of four albums suggests that someone believed in them enough to give it a bloody good go.

'Air Guitar' is an exquisitely constructed, irresistibly melodic and insanely catchy concoction. It consists of sweetly strummed guitar, mellow and wistful vocals, what sounds like a recorder (is that even allowed?) and assorted clanking noises in lieu of percussion.

File under gorgeous.

Download Ben & Jason 'Air Guitar' (mp3) (Mediafire)