Major labels filled landfills with CDs, genres splintered into thousands of branches, and post-rock’s tendrils spread throughout the underground.

Top 100 Albums of 1996 |  Breakdown: Genre Lists | Playlist | Videos | Movies | Books

1996, like most years I suppose, was a mixed bag. The Unabomber was caught after two decades, but another bombing tainted the mood of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The internet went mainstream and it’s first gift to us was that creepy-ass dancing baby, like your cat gifting you with the rotting corpse of a mouse. Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess, marking the beginning of AI, and possibly the beginning of the end for humanity. Dolly the sheep was the first cloned mammal. The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan, and the Motorola StarTAC mobile phone went on sale. DVDs started selling big, and everyone but me were watching Seinfeld and Friends. People were smacking each other at Walmarts for Tickle Me Elmos.

The Ramones played their final show, while The Spice Girls blew up with “Wannabe” and the “Macarena” was all the rage. Tupac was murdered and the optimistic innocence of early hip hop had mostly disappeared. Music revenue was at $12.5 billion, and would reach a peak of $23.7 billion in 1999. The smell of money is a great way to fuck up a culture, as the snaking, oily fingers of big business becomes ever more omnipresent. The top selling album was Celine Dion’s Falling Into You, at 32 million copies, followed by Spice Girls (23M), Matchbox Twenty (15M), Toni Braxton (15M) and Backstreet Boys (14M).

Genre

For 1995 I kind of cheated and picked Experimental, which encompassed post-industrial, electronic, noise, and free improvisation. 1996 was a hodge podge, and no one genre stood out. Trip Hop was filtering down to the masses, resulting in mountains of cringeworthy compilations by talentless bandwagon jumpers. Post-Hardcore saw some satisfying results from Unwound, Sleater-Kinney, Team Dresch, Failure and Chavez, but even more far-reaching, Post-Rock was touched on by many major releases from Tortoise, Swans, Dirty Three, Labradford, Low, Jessamine, Bowery Electric, Long Fin Killie, Quickspace, Fishmans, Bedhead, June of 44 and more. So to the chagrin of all the bands that whinged about being categorized under this tag all those decades ago, Post-Rock.

Comeback

Ryuichi Sakamoto of Yellow Magic Orchestra started his solo career strong with Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (1978) and B-2 Unit (1980). Then his star power started gradually diminishing, though probably not in Japan, as he remained prolific, doing a ton of soundtrack work. Nothing made much of an impact beyond his home country in the 90s until 1996 kicked off adventurous new paths with experiments in post-minimalism, modern classical and impressionism. From then on he would remain very much on the Western radar, collaborating with everyone from Arto Lindsay to Fennesz, all the way until is death in 2023.

Peter Perrett, from one of my favorite bands The Only Ones, was radio silent for well over a decade, probably due to addiction issues, but triumphly emerged with his first official solo album, Woke Up Sticky.

Debut

I know I counted Sixteen Horsepower last year, but their debut was officially released on Feb 6 by A&M. Gothic country/Americana and garage noir has a new king, and his eyes are glowing with Old Testament fury and judgement. DJ Shadow is the only other debut that made the top 30.

Memoriam

The Gun Club was an important band for me, one of the original architects of garage noir that got heavy rotation on my radio show. I regreet never getting to see them live. Tours were sporadic as Jeffrey Lee Pierce struggled with addiction. May he rest in pieces and rock in excelsis DIO, along with his fellow musicians.

Les Baxter (73), I.K. Dairo (65), Jeffrey Lee Pierce (37, The Gun Club), Johnny Guitart Watson (61), Ella Fitzgerald (78), Jonathan Melvoin (34, Prince, Smashing Pumpkins), Chas Chandler (57, The Animals), Jason Thirsk (28, Pennywise), Mel Taylor (63, The Ventures), Bill Monroe (84), Tupac Shakur (25), Jack Ryland (45, Three Dog Night), Tiny Tim (64), Patty Donahue (40, The Waitresses).

Underrated

For potential crossover appeal, The Afghan Whigs were written off, and Walt Mink were just never heard by enough people.

Disappointment

So much to choose from. Iggy Pop’s Naughty Little Doggie, Butthole Surfers’ Electriclarryland, The Jesus Lizard’s Shot, Rush’s Test for Echo. The weakest of the lot was Metallica’s Load.

Surprise

What a sleeper hit Acid Bath’s two albums became decades later, despite how rough ‘n’ raw they sound. On TikTok no less, with an instant fanbase of tweenage girls. So freakin’ weird!

Fester’s Lucky 13 – The Best Albums of 1996

1. Sixteen Horsepower – Sackcloth ‘n’ Ashes

What on first glance was a rootsy/folky Americana band has much more interesting pedigree. David Eugene Edwards is well versed in the post-punk/garage noir of The Birthday Party/Bad Seeds, The Cramps and The Gun Club. They even covered Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” live. While Nick Cave used religion as a literary device, Edwards appears to sincerely take to heart the old testament fire and brimstone themes. His anguish is not fake, but nor is he any kind of bible banger, having a deep affinity for Native American culture and spirituality, for example. Judging from the modest crowd at a tiny bar the one time I saw Sixteen Horsepower before they dissolved, they were underappreciated at the time. Edwards continued his creative progression via Wovenhand and solo, and I have to believe this band will be revered as a groundbreaking American band someday.

Gothic Country | Americana | Progressive Bluegrass | Garage Noir | RYM #28