40. The Faint, Danse Macabre One of the things I’ve addressed with some regularity in the One for Friday feature was my old appreciation for what I considered to be great radio records. These were the albums that rewarded the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 40 and 39
42. Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs I was an early adopter of the music of Ben Folds. I read a review of the debut album from Ben Folds Five in CMJ New Music Monthly back in the day when I was scouring its pages for any palatable respite from the Pearl Jam wanna-bes that were flooding the playlist at the commercial radio station I worked for. The write-up was fine (although reading it now, it strikes me a surprisingly off-base), but it was the inclusion of the song “Underground” on the supplemental CD that came with the issue which sent … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 42 and 41
44. Rival Schools, United By Fate As I’ve noted, I entered 2001 feeling somewhat detached from the college rock music that I once adored. Certainly part of that was just a natural part of growing older, but it also felt a little bit like a betrayal of my former self, the one who emphatically agreed with one of my collegiate cohorts who openly hoped that he wouldn’t be that middle-aged guy who was still calling the college station to request the music that he liked decades earlier. I had tacitly pledged to stay current, dammit! So it was a special … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 44 and 43
46. Spoon, Girls Can Tell There were certain albums I was especially excited to hear when I got to my new college radio job in 2001. While I was trying mightily to keep up with the music scene by reading … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 46 and 45
48. The (International) Noise Conspiracy, A New Morning, Changing Weather I suppose there was room for a new band operating with fealty to an anti-capitalism manifesto after Rage Against the Machine announced their dissolution (even though it may have been … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 48 and 47
50. Creeper Lagoon, Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday Creeper Lagoon was one of those bands that was a complete mystery to me when I became reacquainted with college radio in 2001. All these years later, they’re still a mystery. Maybe the kids were playing Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday and I just don’t remember. The band name and the album title stir absolutely no memories for me, although I’ll acknowledge that some of the more obscure offerings from those first few months do tend to blur together for me. The band was a project … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 50 and 49
As I mentioned the other day, I had the good fortune to experience a second spin with college radio around a decade after my undergraduate glory years. While I was operating at a very different capacity in relation to the day-to-day operations of the radio station, one of the things I was most grateful for was the opportunity to simply hear excellent new music once again. Despite my best efforts, I’d grown detached from the left of the dial sort of sounds that I favored, having few outlets to hear the latest material where I was living and lacking the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, An Introduction
2. “Just Play Music” by Big Audio Dynamite I’m sure the expectation was that Big Audio Dynamite would have a significant breakthrough with their 1988 album, Tighten Up, Vol. ’88. The main preoccupation for Mick Jones after departing the Clash has enjoyed some amount of success with their first two outings, especially garnering some attention when Jones reunited with his former bandmate Joe Strummer on B.A.D.’s sophomore release, No. 10, Upping Street, with Clash co-producing the record and co-writing several songs. They’d spent a chunk of 1987 opening for U2 on a world tour that just so happened to be … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 2 and 1
4. “Breakfast in Bed” by UB40 I’m going to try and untangle just what was going on with UB40 on the Billboard charts in the fall of 1988. On the Hot 100 chart, the band was rapidly climbing with a new version of Neil Diamond’s “Red, Red Wine,” which would eventually reach #1 (preceded and followed at the top of the chart by absolute junk). It’s probably more accurate to describe the gently loping, Brit boy reggae of the UB40 take as a cover of Tony Tribe’s 1969 go-round with the song. Diamond reportedly didn’t especially care for the good … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 4 and 3
6. “Intoxication” by Shriekback Dave Allen was the bassist for Gang of Four, a band that fully understood the value of a killer rhythm section. He left the band after the release of their sophomore effort, Solid Gold, and formed Shriekback with Barry Andrews, who was previously the fourth member of XTC. By the time 1988 rolled around, Allen had given up on the group and departed. In the absence of his former compatriot’s fierce, propulsive basslines, Andrews apparently decided to accelerate the band’s gradual evolution to a commercially polished, club-friendly outfit. Nothing like KC and the Sunshine Band cover, … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 6 and 5
Coffee for Two 