Top 5 Albums of 1995
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- Wagon Christ: Throbbing Pouch
- Tricky: Maxinquaye
- Massive Attack: Protection
- The Ballistic Brothers: London Hooligan Soul
- Red Snapper: Reeled and Skinned (qualifies as an album, or what?)
Top 5 Singles/Songs of 1995
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- UFO: United Future Airlines (haven't hear the mixes but song rocks)
- Massive Attack: Karmacoma EP (no filler on the vinyl version)
- Depth Charge: Legend of a Golden Snake EP (killer EP!)
- Spacepimp EP (electro, but whatta heck. if hip hop is okay then
why not?)
- Guru: Lifesaver (beautiful beautiful track!)
Top 5 Artists/Groups of 1995
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- Beastie Boys (music, looks, everything. damn cool as always)
(did the album come out this year or last?)
- Pizzicato Five (only caught up with them this year - very yeah!)
- Tricky (tracks, looks, good live show, what more do you need?)
- St. Germain (euro-copycat who showed me what real house music can be)
- Towa Tei (well he spun nice and everything)
(all of these quite hyped - me a media victim?)
Best Vocal Song of 1995
-----------------------
- Massive Attack - Protection
Best Instrumental Song of 1995
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- tough one.. most of the new funky stuff in my record pile is
instrumental, and it's so hard choosing one best song anyway.
(couple of hours thinking about something else and here's what
my brain gives)
London Funk Allstars: Theme from A Six Million Dollar Man
(great no-retro take on the classic! cool as anything)
"Easy Like Sunday Morning" Song of 1995
---------------------------------------
- The Wiseguys: The Real Vibes (not most chilled out but e-z listening)
"Four On The Floor" Song of 1995
--------------------------------
- St. Germain: 'What's New?'
"Thick Morass of Hazy Chronic Smoke" Song of 1995
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- Earthling: Nefisa (Faraway Miles remix by Plunderphonics - Mo' Guitars!)
Best Compilation of 1995
------------------------
- Rebirth of Cool Phive - haven't got it, but have seen the
tracklisting and heard the shit!
Best Label of 1995
------------------
- Wall of Sound (we did have Mo'Wax and NinjaTune around last year,
and I missed a lot of Ninja stuff this year)
Best Magazine of 1995
---------------------
- uh oh.. don't read any. acid-jazz@ucsd.edu and mo'web sites for me!
planning to start reading Straight No Chaser (though they don't sell
it here in Finland!)
Best Album Cover of 1995
------------------------
- Tricky takes the lead here. I'll give my vote to 'Overcome' even
though both 'Hell E.P.' and 'Pumpkin' (plastic bag & coloured vinyl
version) are good as well.
Best Club of 1995
-----------------
- 'It Is What It Is' (London), for the music (not for the atmosphere
- too crowded without enough Real Vibes to cope with the fact if I'm
coming through). Still, for someone visiting from Finland it was
an experience. Especially with Towa Tei as a guest DJ..
Best DJ of 1995
---------------
- Somebody at The Rumpus Room (London) this summer - too bad I can't
remember the names but there was two guys with three SL-1200's
delivering some mad turntable trickery like, for example, Hancock's
electro classic 'Rockit' served with scratches on the top
through the whole song..
Overrated Project of 1995
-------------------------
- Massive Attack live sound system spectacle whatever - total scam..
They're still one of my all time most important 5 groups,
but live show sucks big time. Can you imagine that they only did
a something like a half an hour set and then came on again just to play
Eurochild for the second time(!!), when likes of Unfinished Sympathy
did not get played at all. And as for the stuff they actually played,
instead of stripped down versions (Safe From Harm for example) they
should have added some remix-like stuff instead or something to keep
things interesting, where were live scratches, where Nicolette where
Tracy Thorn .. ? 3D rapped like he was too stoned and Daddy G was
_nowhere near_ Tricky's live performance. Horace Andy did great
though. Too bad many of my friends' couldn't appreciate his
hardcore Jamaican voice.. :(
Underrated Project of 1995
--------------------------
- (did have rough time with this one.. didn't have an obvious choise)
Earthling (well, I haven't got the album but the first two singles
rock mightily, with all the quality remixes)