A few others favorites...

Chickisaw Mudd Puppies - 8 Track Stomp
Frank Zappa - The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
Fishbone - The Reality of My Surroundings
Violent Femmes - Why Do Birds Sing?
Dread Zeppelin - 5,000,000
Widespread Panic - s/t

Chickisaw Mudd Puppies - 8 Track Stomp!!!!!

it's more in line with what i listen to now, but back then it was just some crazy shit my brother liked and that i put on mix tapes.

Just coming in here to post about it. Far and away my favourite album from '91, one I've never felt a twinge of nostalgia for because I've never stopped playing it which is something I can't say for the vast majority of the other '91 albums in my collection. I don't remember the last time I played Nevermind but I played this album a few days ago.

all this talk about rap and no one posted this yet?



contains one of my top 3 PE songs

Cope's Peggy Suicide may be bloated... but it is the bloat of eccentricity, not bombast. Brit fry-brain guitar hero meandering with the deep-ecology Salisbury Plain atavism. Love Mother.

This is the Kilgour solo album I turn to the most.

AMG:


Listened to Green Mind a shitload in high school too

Still also like


Also not mentioned so far

The Orchids - Unholy Soul

I'm not a Sarah Records fan in the way that some people are Sarah Records fans. Those people who were heavily into music in the late 80s and early 90s, collecting each and every release this storied Twee label put out, obsessing over the gentle sounds and excellent pop music. I'm not in the category of people that have tirelessly tracked down every single and LP since music-sharing became popular, or wasted a decent ratio on a torrent site for gigabyte upon gigabyte of deliciously saccharine pop songs. Not for want of trying, it's just too much.

And while perhaps my favorite release (Talulah Gosh's "They've Scoffed The Lot") doesn't seem like it would be anything in my wheelhouse of preferential music, I've still tracked down all the releases I can from the bands whose sound I identified with right away: Heavenly, Blueboy, Brighter and perhaps my most favorite: The Orchids.

Upon first listen, it's not hard to make the comparison to Belle & Sebastian, one of the more storied and successful twee-influenced bands. It's not hard to imagine that Stuart Murdoch heard The Orchids in Glasgow in the 90s, where both bands were based - listening to "Unholy Soul" and earlier records certainly bares a striking resemblance musically. But while Belle and Sebastian work has always teetered on being almost too cute for words, there was a little something else to The Orchids. It's still cute sounding, but there is a certainly lingering haze and darkness over much of the music as well. Though they're not necessarily "dreamy" per se, it's also not hard to make comparisons to the things Slowdive was doing at the same time, and then would do later as Mojave 3.

The Orchids' next album, "Striving For The Lazy Perfection" is probably considered their masterpiece and one of the strongest LPs in the Sarah Records catalogue, but "Unholy Soul" is a bit of a forgotten gem. Endlessly enjoyable, with chiming guitars, breathy vocals and some unique, unobtrusive electronic samples - it's an album that works any time of year. It's pleasant listening and great pop music.

the early 90's is sort of a void in my library. haven't heard quite a few of these but will check out.

The Spongetones - Oh Yeah!

At the end of the 70s, The Spongetones were just a North Carolina-based Beatles cover band, playing the bar scene. Over the years, word spread that they were no ordinary cover band - but a really amazing cover band (seriously, check Youtube for some videos from 1980 and pretend you don't wish this band played at your favorite dive). Somewhere along the line though, they signed a record deal, starting writing their own music and in 1982 released one of the all-time great power-pop records "Beat Music", a homage to the great Beat bands of the 60s, complete with an absurdly mod-influence album cover.

Fast forward 3 records and 9 years later and The Spongetones released "Oh Yeah!", which to me is clearly their best album. While the band is still unabashedly Beatles influenced to the point that it might really drive away some lazy, cynical folks - this album features their strongest songwriting and most cohesive playing. Every song sounds like it was made for soundtracking the best pool party you ever went to. The guys are clearly musicians who just love music for what it is and don't need to try their hand at being the next big thing. It's power-pop, sure - but it still has that Mersey Beat sound to it. Beatles harmonies, Yardbirds guitars, early Kinks drums.

It's absolutely one of my favorite power-pop records because it doesn't try to be anything that it's not. It's music that is so well played, it's almost as though sunshine is emanating from your speakers right on your face. You feel warm when you listen to this music, the nostalgia it brings ups makes you smile. And while your first listen might make you double check whether this is actually an early Beatles records - you'll soon find the things that make this record uniquely a Spongetones record, one that belongs in everyone's record collection.

Two faves not mentioned yet:






Thumbs up on the Lloyd Cole; to me, a timeless recording.

stop just posting album covers, harry

how many words make it within the rules? One, two? Each thread should define the rules I guess in the first post.

Perhaps this was missed... Pretty please?

I would but I don't think I have it at anything higher than 192. (Just that and the vinyl.)

Fugazi - Steady Diet Of Nothing

This wasn't on my radar back in 1991 but I probably listen to it more than anything else from that year now:



Nils Lofgren - Silver Lining

Nils is best known for his guitar playing on Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young albums but his own work both solo and with Grin are deserving of more attention. This album is no exception to that and features guest contributions from Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Ringo Starr, Levon Helm and others.

Other albums I dig from 1991 that haven't been mentioned yet:

Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
Marshall Crenshaw - Life's Too Short
David Olney - Roses
Van Morrison - Hymns to the Silence
G.W. McLennan - Watershed
Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld & Eric Anderson - Danko/Fjeld/Anderson
Eek-A-Mouse - Uneek (worthwhile for the cover of Dyer Maker if nothing else)
Cesaria Evora - Mar Azul
Feelies - Time for a Witness
Gang of Four - Mall (pales in comparison to their best work but I still like it well enough)
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Persplex Island (last pretty good one from him for a long while)
The International Beat - The Hitting Line
Judybats - Native Son (haven't listened to this in a long time and not sure how it's aged but I was a big fan back in the day)
Salif Keita - Amen
Paul Kelly - Comedy
Legiao Urbana - V (thanks to Typeslowly for turning me on to them)
Marisa Monte - Mais
The Ocean Blue - Cerulean
The Reunion Legacy Band - Legacy
Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia
Archie Shepp - I Didn't Know About You
Darden Smith - Midnight Train
Young Disciples - Road to Freedom

I guess nobody mentioned:

fIREHOSE - Flyin' the Flannel

...which is a good album. As usual with them, pretty awesome musically but a little weak on the vocals/lyrics side where what's-his-name is concerned. I don't really know how it stacks up with their other records as it's the only one I've ever really owned a real copy of, but my general feeling with them when I've gone through and given a listen or two to their other albums was that they were all pretty consistent.


Something else I don't even really want to talk about:

Hafler Trio - Kill the King

Yes that image is supposed to oblong like that because that's how the case is, and it's all faded looking because there's this semi-transparent outer cover thing that goes over it. I know this because I actually paid about $25 for a physical copy of this thing back when I was more interested in this kind of stuff. It's electronic music, but not beat-based, not exactly ambient or drone, but kind of minimal at times. It's been quite a while since I've listened to it, but it's an interesting record if you've got the patience for it. For electronic music, at least, this kind of stuff doesn't really sound dated. Not really sure what's going in that picture, even when I look at it without the white cover over it.

I still have a soft spot for this one.

This one was pretty big for me too, even though I kind of disliked it the first time I heard it. I thought it would be too twee for most here.

Really like these.

That Danko/Fjeld/Anderson album is so good. They followed it with absolute dreck though.

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman

I have a certain soft spot for much of the "nugrass" movement that popped up in the late 70s and continues on today. Not the bluegrass-influenced jam bands that likely played your college campus every few months, but I'm talking about that group of gentle, accomplished musicians who played music sweeter than sweet. Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Norman Blake, Mark O'Connor, Mike Auldridge, Bill Keith and many more. They play music that is much slower than what would traditionally be called bluegrass, but it is often just breathtaking beautiful, and I'd be hard pressed to find musicians better at improvising than these guys. Essentially it's a combination of 70s folk and jazz and played on bluegrass instruments. And most of it is wonderful.

Something a lot of people forget though is that Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia actually cut many bluegrass styled albums with these musicians in the late 80s and early 90s, including this session with perhaps the most accomplished mandolin player of the last 40 years: Dave Grisman.

I'm not a Dead Head and I'm not a bluegrass or acoustic music expert, but since beginning to explore this genre (including many other Grisman/Garcia collabos) a couple years ago - this release is one of my favorites. I love Garcia's voice on acoustic songs, even though the version of "Friend of the Devil" on this record was cut 20 years after the legendary American Beauty, Jerry still sounds like the vocalist that was idolized by so many fans.

While the acoustic nature and "jamminess" of this record might distract some people who like their Dead a bit more psychedelic, you can't help but be wowed at how accomplished and natural these two sound together. Clearly the two of them are expert musicians, and they play off each other beautifully. The music is simple, but the improvising and the way their instruments interact just sounds so focused, so clean - it's really quite tremendous.

These two and some of their friends cut other records during this time period and Jerry played out the last few years of his life gigging around with these guys, but this is probably the high point of that entire era. Brilliant musicians playing brilliantly.

I really like this album too. Not as much as their debut but still quite good. I'm somewhat surprised to see it on BG's list.

"Ballerina Out of Control" is one of my favorite songs from that year.

This makes me happy
I still regularly listen to their "Acustico MTV" disc that you sent me back when we actually mailed discs to each other. When Russo belts out "...sofrer!" at the end of "Faroeste Caboclo", it gives me chills. Reminds me of Kurt Cobain unleashing that "shiverrr" at the end of their Unplugged album. It's almost as if both guys knew their time was almost up and they were going to leave absolutely nothing in the tank following these performances.

one of my favorite comps of the era:

Guitarrorists (1991)
1. Sonic Boom - Overture [Spaceman] (1:54)
2. Kurt Ralske - Tar, Iodine, Blood + Rust [Ultra Vivid Scene] (2:40)
3. Kathy Korniloff - I Really Can't Say [Two Nice Girls] (2:59)
4. Jeffrey Evans - Longwood Mansion [Gibson Brothers] (1:46)
5. Wayne Coyne - I Want to Kill My Brother: The Cymbal Head [Flaming Lips] (3:36)
6. J Mascis - A Little Ethnic Song [Dinosaur Jr.] (2:58)
7. Dean Wareham - West Broadway [Galaxie 500] (2:38)
8. Mark E. Robinson - Guitarrorists Theme [Unrest] (1:44)
9. Marc Gentry - Mariposa [Rein Sanction] (2:43)
10. Dave Rick - Where's Gitchi Oombigat At? [King Missle] (4:01)
11. Kat Bjellend - Bruise Violet [Babes in Toyland] (3:12)
12. Thurston Moore - Blues for Spacegirl [Sonic Youth] (4:51)
13. Helios Creed - Green Volcano [Chrome] (1:37)
14. Tom Hazelmeyer - Guitar Wank-Off #13 [Halo of Flies] (3:16)
15. Paul Leary - Fillipé Mepelpeepe [Butthole Surfers] (3:19)
16. Nick Salomon - Dark Field [Bevis Frond] (3:00)
17. Don Fleming - Sound as Steel [Gumball] (1:08)
18. Kim Gordon - Kitten [Sonic Youth] (1:43)
19. Nikki Sudden - Cats Cradle (3:26)
20. Kramer - Ovulation Always Brings Me Down [Bongwater] (2:23)
21. Neil Haggerty - Fallen off the Rocks [Royal Trux] (4:03)
22. Wayne Rogers - Hoichi the Earless [Crystalized Movements] (3:28)
23. Rick McCollum - Spider Plum [Afgan Whigs] (4:18)
24. Marcy Mays - Always Late [Scrawl] (1:06)
25. Lee Renaldo - Here [Sonic Youth] (5:27)
26. Steve Albini - Nutty About Lemurs [Big Black] (1:43)


pw:p-l-m.blogspot.com

Pretty much a "who's who" of indie rock guitar slingers here. Not for everyone, but its definitely an interesting take on guitar improvisation in the early 90s.