Lifetime of Listening #27 - 1998 - 52 Albums/Years/Weeks

[@JohnPeel3904]

Bedhead's More Than Ever, such a classic !! What can I say more !!

[@craighudson6684]

Mark Hollis was always going to be on my shortlist for 98. So too is another one and only solo album, namely Neil Finn’s Try Whistling this. The Album that got most playtime that year was undoubtedly White Ladder. The simplicity of the production let the songs shine. Also a certain symmetry… I’m not usually a fan of covers, but Soft Cell’s Tainted Love was the standard for my generation, and arguably David Gray’s version of Say Hello, Wave Goodbye improves on the Soft Cell original. But it’s not my album of 1998. The intervening 25 years saw another debut album of that year take the lead. Not least for the short but beautiful Cello solo on Make no sound. Bring it on by Gomez is my choice for 1998.

[@blakebellis]

Half Thought and More Than Ever are unimpeachable classics. Great record choice, mate!

[@timjk]

These are peak album buying years of mine and just before as you flag the emergence of Napster where some of us went rogue and collectng become a less important part as opposed to being able ot listen to things not previosuly accesible or affordable. Local H Pack Up The Cats was big imo. There's two great Aust album The Fauves - Lazy Highway and Sandpit On Second Thoughts which include the bass player from Something for Kate.

[@discellany]

Yeah, I may have indulged in a little Napster at the time...bit of a crap shoot on dial-up speeds, I just sought out isolated things that I couldn't find in the shops at the time. "Long Division" by Low was almost impossible to source back then, so I remember bagging a copy of that (until it got reissued a few years later). Cheers, D

[@blakebellis]

Transaction de Novo! Music Has the Right to Children! Moon Safari! Aeroplane Over the Sea! And people poo poo it but… I lost my virginity to Adore so that’s a special one too lol

[@gloomforged]

Deserter's Songs for me, but only because it's the one I am sure I was listening to in that year.

[@michaelsylvain2172]

Plimsolls? Plopsolls more like. Bah. I can't even remember if this was the cacky-related hosiery threat I made, but regardless: it's your doing that you're now walking in my doings. Happy Portillaversary, by the way

[@discellany]

I see your Plopsolls and raise you a Plimsoil. Open goal, buddy. I would have stayed up for a declaration or two, but y'know...Hope vs lived-experience and all that. Older, wiser, yadda yadda.

[@ChristopherANeal]

Another I've not heard, but I will definitely check it out! The only album from 1998 that impacted my life was one I didn't get into until '99, but it was pretty significant: Prolonging The Magic by Cake. Not indie, but definitely on the quirkier side of mainstream alternative, this was the first album that my then girlfriend now wife and I got into together. It still takes me back to the earliest days of our relationship, and that feeling of the future being unknown. Great video, as always, Darren! (by the by, is there anywhere I can hear Alnico?)

[@discellany]

Cheers. We didn't stay Alnico for long (more on that next week!), so not sure what we got down. I think we might only have made one demo with this lineup. I'll double-check! D

[@ChrisJones-ht9zn]

This band passed me by but listening to it now on an early Saturday morning, with the sun breaking through the clouds and the possibility of a new hope for our battered country. There's some lovely stuff on this album and it feels just like the right record for today. The country isn't really celebrating and neither am I, but maybe it's time to start recognising that there's still beauty in the world, even if it's tinged with darkness. Nice recommendation, as always. My choice for this year would have to be Mermaid avenue by Billy bragg and Wilco purely for personal reasons.

[@discellany]

Clearly, my politics sit a little further left than our new government, but honestly, right now, this is needed. Love to see all the right-wing culture war bull take a back seat for a few years, but given the current media landscape, not sure how realistic that hope is. Just put me down for some "quieter, kinder" politics, ta! Bedhead were a wonderful band, three albums and out, lots to love. The Kadane brothers project after this, The New Year, are also pretty magical. Cheers, D

[@andrew6889-p5c]

For me: 1998 is Dirty Three, Ocean Songs.

[@discellany]

Great choice. Took me a little longer to discover them, but got there in the end. Really enjoying the new one, "Love Changes Everything", after only a couple of listens. Cheers, D

[@alanwilson1724]

I haven't heard the Bedhead album, I'll definitely check it out. My favourites from this year are The Boy With the Arab Strap by Belle and Sebastian, Moon Safari by Air, Big Calm by Morcheeba, Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada, and my top pick for 1998 is Mezzanine by Massive Attack. Although there's less "indie rock" in my favourites this year, I was playing bass in an "indie rock" band called Sawyer and I think I recorded with them for the first time in 98.

[@discellany]

S'weird. Mezzanine was just one of those records that was everywhere, had Bristol-based friends who were mega-fans, I heard it plenty myself, but have never owned an actual physical copy. It's a golden age for cheap used CDs, so I should fix that ASAP. Cheers, D

[@blakebellis]

Aaaah great records!

[@michaelsylvain2172]

That Mark Hollis album is fantastic. I didn't hear it until years later, but it's just an absolute stunner - so stark and unlike anything else was doing or has done since. But that's all irrelevant because 1998 was Boards of Canada, Music Has The Right To Children. That was me all year, and every year since. Your unforgivable refusal to have the same opinion as me on this regrettably means that I shall - as forewarned - do a shit in your shoes. I'm not saying when. But I will. So you're going to have to check your footwear forever like some kind of Australian screening their brogues for scorpions. Only poo, not a scorpion. Bah. Don't say you were not given advance warning, old chum. Neither of us wanted this, but here we are. That is all.

[@discellany]

Livin' on the edge, man...the mother-crushin' edge. Shoe-poo fear is what fuels me. Better bring your A-game, my friend. I'll don your scatty plimsolls and run a mile in them. Kapisch? In all fairness, this was all about the guitars this year, what with my own plucky endeavours looming large in my life. Quiet night so far, but I'm sure there will be much BOC love from others here imminently. I've brought it on myself. The Hollis album is incredible. If I'd bought it this year, it would have been my choice. Non negotiable. D

[@markroff1012]

My mind blown intro to BOC was 'Geogaddi'; coming soon hopefully? 😉

[@grahamwales3249]

1998 was also the year I got serious with a band. Saidwrong was a four year journey into all of the pitfalls and sweet sweet fun that a diy hardcore band could be. We tried. We failed. I bought a Gibson SG and a nice Marshall amp. Album wise - the winner for me is Refused’s ‘shape of punk to come’. They got picked on a lot by scene purists but I loved it. Runners up - Spy Vs Spys’s ‘How the cat was invented’, Converges ‘when forever comes crashing’, Rocket From The Crypts ‘Run For The Caves’, Cave-In’s ‘Beyond Hyperthermia’, The Locusts self-titled, Jets to Brazil’s ‘Orange Rhyming Dictionary’, Karate’s ‘The Bed Is In The Ocean’ and Boards of Canadas ‘Music Has The Right to Children. Safe to say I was veering from the indie world and diving into the hardcore scene way more. This would continue for some time. I’ll check out Bedhead and that Mark Hollis record - great place for recommendations this show. Cheers, mate!

[@discellany]

Hardcore. Yeah, had friends in Cambridge who were doing their own distro/promo thing around about this time. Plenty of UK/local acts and the occasional US touring band. I definitely remember them hosting Bluetip once. If you're a fan of "Bed Is In The Ocean", there's a good chance you'll like "Transaction de Novo" a lot. Cheers, D

[@grahamwales3249]

⁠@@discellanylove Bluetip (serious man-crush on Jason Farrell). Bedhead is my going into work soundtrack this AM.

[@grahamwales3249]

@@discellanyjust remembered - saidwrong shared a bill with Bluetip one time. Egypt cottage in NCL. Memories.

[@discellany]

Dug deep, and I think their distro was called Spread. They put gigs on at The Boat Race pub in Cambridge (now a trendy wine bar). Struggling to remember other shows they put on...Bob Tilton maybe? I saw my mate Gav's emo band play a night there...also remember confiding in him with my dream band name, and the cheeky so-and-so pinching it for himself. They were called Cassiel. Never forgiven him! D

[@markroff1012]

'Deserter's songs' for sure as well as 'Good morning spider' (although I too prefer the first album - sorry Mrs Darren). 'Mezzanine' by Massive Attack? Possibly 'End hits' by our friends Fugazi? 'Moon pix' by Cat Power. Possibly 'Swans are dead' even tho it's a live album. Would love to say 'What burns...' by Don Cab but came to that some years later, sadly

[@discellany]

"End Hits" is a funny one...definitely the most "out there" Fugazi album, but with some absolute barnburners...."Break", "Five Corporations", "Arpeggiator". Don Cab were another of the band favorites that I didn't mention (cut for time), and The Sea And Cake album from this year ('97?), "The Fawn", was one that I remember one or two of the other guys being into as well. Cheers, D

[@brunoduarte6437]

I hope that political change brings social well-being and prosperity to the United Kingdom. My year 1998 brought exactly this, with my favorite album being "In an Expression of the Inexpressible" by Blonde Redhead. but the album I listened to the most was certainly "The Future of War" by Atari Teenage Riot produced in the previous year.

[@discellany]

Cheers. Politics has just been so noisy and combative in the UK for the last 10-15 years. A government whose stated aim is to quietly go about fixing all the broken things, is much needed. D

[@bgeek]

Oh my. Deserter's Songs (bought) is one of the best albums of the '90s for little old me. I'm not sure that there is better. I've just had a cursory glance at '98 albums and there's loads that I loved - Beastie Boys (bought), Air (library copied), Gang Starr (copied from a mate), Massive Attack (library copied), Madge (bought - it was good at the time, I agree), and the always gorgeous Jeff Buckley (some of the tracks on it are staggering - bought). Yes, I forgot to add - in the '90s before downloading albums from shady FTP servers, I used to hire out CDs from Cardiff Central Library for 20p a pop and tape them. We lived by it. Pop into town, go to the library. Someone at Cardiff Central Library had really bloody good taste in music. Whatever I wanted, I always found there. It was ace. And you could go back for older albums that you had missed. I only did it with music though - never books or films. Buy a multi-pack of TDK SA90s and you were set for a while. Nostalgia for tape again. Sigh... FWIW, I think my first MP3 was Prodigy's Firestarter. And my PC could barely cope with playing it. It was an old PC and the codecs seemed to still be evolving.

[@discellany]

Won't lie, I was a bit of a blogspot/mediafire/zshare whore in the very early '00s. Money was tight, and it was a great source for OOP alt/post-punk releases that just weren't widely available in any other way. Have picked up physicals of most of that stuff over the years, but still have the odd album as MP3 only on a cranky old NAS drive that I fire up periodically. Cheers, D

[@mikegutterman3427]

Love Bedhead as well as their post Bedhead project, The New Year. They had a way of building a slow sparse song into a massive ending at times that always managed to sneak up on you.

[@discellany]

Yeah, their songs have this odd "blooming" quality that catches you out. I think that's what I was trying to get at with the Galaxie 500 mention (although it isn't a perfect fit, by any means). Just really concise, but organic, flowing songs in a way that a lot of the more "precise" post rock bands weren't attempting. The last few tracks on 2004's "The End Is Near"..."18" and "Stranger To Kindness"...is the Kadanes in a nutshell. An extended transcendent almost-Crazy-Horse marvel, followed by a beautifully brittle little haiku of a song. Just perfect stuff. Cheers, D

[@blackearwax]

Agreed re: Mark Hollis/TT.. So hard to say which of those LPs I favor, although I had MH on while cooking earlier I see Navigator on the Aerial M / Mogwai poster - there's an overlooked gem of a band

[@discellany]

Navigator were (mostly) UEA students, and their time overlapped with my undergrad years. Didn't know Nick personally, only via friends...actually, one of my earliest musical hookups (pre-Alnico) was with a guy called Pete (aka Irish Pete, bass) who was good mates with Nick. Navigator recorded/released via Noisebox, where my band ended up rehearsing and recording a fair bit. Their Assay EP is a particular favorite of mine. They pivoted in a very experimental, improvisatory direction, which marginalised them in some ways, but I was always extremely impressed with them. Serious musicians, who knew exactly what they wanted to do. Cheers, D

[@OperationPhantom]

Those are some nice band memories. Looking/thinking back on 1998... Elliott Smith's XO and NMH's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea almost immediately spring to mind. Got into 22-Pistepirkko, Boards of Canada, Cat Power, Motorpsycho, Monster Magnet a bit later but they all released arguably their career best album in 1998. As did Garbage, which I did listen to of course and Heather Nova still sounded fresh and intriguing to me. Really was into GBV and so Robert Pollard's fine second solo album was very welcome, it has some great tunes but I've always preferred his first. Scott Weiland also released a great solo album: 12 Bar Blues, he didn't need the band as much as they needed him. Another underrated album: Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb by Tripping Daisy. Ah well. Great year overall.

[@discellany]

Cheers. We were active in one form or another for about 7 years, so I'll drop in some more band stuff on the upcoming videos. Never set the world on fire, but shared stages with some great bands, and had a lot of good times. Saw NMH supporting Sparklehorse this year IIRC. Good band that, for whatever reason, never really landed with me on record back in the day. I guess my musical focus was pretty tight over this period...I certainly have considerably shorter album shortlists for the next few years! D

[@OperationPhantom]

@@discellany Yeah, more about your musical adventures coming up is certainly very welcome! Had dreams about being a guitarist and writing songs myself once upon a time but got nowhere slowly. If you listen to NMH (specifically Jeff Mangum's rudimentary rhythm guitar) you'd figure, well, anybody can do that, right?! Took me a while to warm up to his voice, sure but he's kind of like this mad genius that only made a few brilliant records where seemingly all you need are those basic chords, some sympathetic friends, horn arrangements and a bizarre concept about Anne Frank and just pour your heart out unrestrained. I'm admittedly also a sucker for a pretty melody and unusual lyrics. It's really like prog rock done by "amateurs" maybe? Bet they played Naomi at the concert you attended right? IF you can remember that far back ;) It seems to be their famous song and Naomi DID make a video for it later.

[@timjk]

Also managed to give you a shout out in a fill on 3RRR Respect the Rock not sure it will move the dial for you on one of the best things on You Tube but I tried. Unfortuntely it will not let me post a link to that for some reason. So its about 1 hour 25 mins in. Tried to send via X as well

[@discellany]

Mate, just listened in, and it's quite the thrill getting a mention on radio from the other side of the world. Really appreciate the shout! I did get an odd unexplained spike on a video the other day, and you wonder if it's just the algorithm doing it's thing, or if you've got a little push from somewhere. No idea which it was, but thanks all the same. I'll definitely be bookmarking your show for future listening! All the best, D

[@timjk]

@@discellany your welcome, the show is not mine I just do Fills as in fill in for regular announcers that are away. If I get another fill and it’s the right show I’ll give it another blast as I’ve got a whole playlist from your stuff which I’ll of course credit you. Keep up the good work.