January 6, 2023 by A.S. Van Dorston

1992 rundown expanded with extra Stoner, Doom, Power Pop, Jazz and more.

Through March 2022 I did a rundown of top 31 albums from 30 years ago. During the holidays last year I did a year-end summary of 1988 because I felt like it. I was thinking I’d do 1986, but ran out of time, so I’m just repurposing my blurbs. I’ll probably do one for 1993 in a couple months too, eventually closing the gap to 1996, the first time I did a year-end summary after starting my site in 1995.

I’m not very nostalgic for 1992. Not that I have complaints about my Lucky 13. I still listen to most of those fairly often. But the year wasn’t nearly as deep with great albums as one would expect. It wasn’t about the inaccurate myth that grunge killed metal, just like punk never killed prog or classic rock. Several bands hit big in 1991 besides Nirvana — Metallica, U2, Pearl Jam, Guns ‘n’ Roses, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers — and they all did so by making their sound more mainstream. To be fair, Pearl Jam was a debut, but compare it with Green River, where most of the members came from. The results were over-polished, expensive sounding production and homogenized sounds, and I fucking hated it. I expected a couple indie bands to hit it relatively big, but I was thinking of something more along the lines of Dinosaur Jr. or Buffalo Tom. The damage caused by the ensuing signing frenzy, shaping the sound of bands chasing platinum dreams was immeasurable. If the top selling albums in 1991 were just Michael Jackson, Genesis, Garth Brooks, Roxette, Michael Bolton, Boyz II Men and Enya, I believe the underground rock, metal, indie and post-punk scenes would have been much healthier through the early 90s. In 1992, the other big sellers were Eric Clapton, Kenny G, Billy Ray Cyrus and Stone Temple Pilots.

Nevertheless, there was still about 30 great albums, 70 very good, and another couple hundred good to pretty good ones, more than enough to keep most people busy. As always, there’s still buried treasures lurking beneath the surface waiting to be dug up.

Genre

While Grunge is what everyone was talking about at the time, Stoner Rock is what has truly inspired a massive global culture, which has been growing steadily ever since the 90s. Those who don’t like the term can use fuzz rock, desert rock or heavy psych. Between the album of the year by Kyuss and Sleep, Melvins, Big Chief, Masters Of Reality, and Trouble representing psychedelic doom metal, the small but mighty batch of influencers’ status would grow over the decades.

Comeback

At a time when heavy metal was distinctly unfashionable, it seemed after five substandard albums from 1983-1990 with a variety of singers that Black Sabbath was done. But despite leaving under acrimonious circumstances, Ronnie James Dio once again brought his evil sorcery to Sabbath on Dehumanizer. It doesn’t really get close to the glory of Heaven and Hell (1980) and Mob Rules (1981), but with the diminished expectations of the early 90s, it gets close enough.

Debut

Mia Zapata brought a soulful swagger to the punk blues of grunge-adjacent Seattle band The Gits. It’s still heartbreaking that she was stolen from us so young. PJ Harvey and Walt Mink also had amazing debuts.

Memoriam

Jerry Nolan (45, New York Dolls), Willie Dixon (76), Arthur Russell (40), Marlene Dietrich (90), Charlie Ondras (25, Unsane), Stefanie Sargent (24, 7 Year Bitch), Mary Wells (49), Eddie Kendricks (52), Roy Acuff (89), Albert King (69), Eddie Hazel (42, Funkadelic).

Underrated

Th Faith Healers, next to PJ Harvey, was my favorite band on the amazing Too Pure roster. The fact that they only released two albums that quickly went out of print didn’t help spread the word on them, though arguably nearly the entirety of the Castle Face catalog is a tribute to the band.

Disappointment

It was hard to watch the decline of one of my all-time favorite heavy metal bands, Iron Maiden. Grunge had nothing to do with metal’s fall from favor. They could have made better albums, but they didn’t. In retrospect, it all seemed meant to be let the weak ones die off, the others have members leave for a while then come back nearly as strong as ever. The rest of the disappointments have softened over time, as my high expectations for The Cure, Sonic Youth, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Morrissey, Soul Asylum and Therapy? ebbed away over the years.

Surprise

Tom Waits seemed to be ageing in reverse. On his 1973 debut, he sounded like a ghost from the Tin Pan Alley era possessed him. Ten years later he got a bit more frisky and experimental after discovering Captain Beefheart and Harry Partch. But 20 years into his career, I expected him to slowly recede into mellow singer-songwriter piano blues kind of material. And while he’d still do an occasional ballad, Bone Machine was so fiercely experimental, playful and fresh sounding, he made most of the kiddies sound conservative in comparison, making “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” sound extra convincing.

Fester’s Lucky 13 – The Best Albums of 1992

1. Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun (Dali)

On June 30, 1992, Kyuss dropped the big one with Blues For The Red Sun. This time around, the recordings, with the help of Chris Goss, captured their thundering sound perfectly. Garcia sounds bigger than life, and Homme’s guitar, fed through a bass amp, is appropriately sunbaked, bombed out. Some press took notice, but what would become one of the most influential rock albums since Black Sabbath, only sold 39,000 copies at the time. Despite the whole Nirvana success, that still was considered not that bad at the time for most bands. But Kyuss would not get to enjoy the fruits of their legendary status while they were together.

2. Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island)

I often see criticisms of Tom Waits’ authenticity based on the mundane facts that he grew up middle class in L.A. and wasn’t actually born a beat poetry slurring drunken hobo. Go figure. Sure, he’s an actor who landed some great character roles, and arguably was method acting a character his entire career. But you can’t fake the ability to craft tunes that rival Kurt Weill, an affinity for experimental approaches to instrumentation and arrangements from Harry Partch to Captain Beefheart, and his genius as a storyteller. His career is packed with solid albums, with several all-time classics like Small Change (1976), Rain Dogs (1985) and now Bone Machine, his most unforgivingly harsh, bleak, yet darkly funny work. I always thought Tim Burton should do a video for Waits with decayed corpses clacking their bones to the intro of “The Earth Died Screaming,” a song that mirrors Beefheart’s ecological concerns. “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” was covered by the Ramones, and “Goin’ Out West” is a hilarious character sketch — “I know kung fu, karate too/I got hair on my chest, I look good without a shirt on.” This could easily have been a final curtain call, his twelfth album in two decades, but he continued with a run of more great albums, starting with songs he wrote for a Robert Wilson play, The Black Rider (1993) that got even more spins than Bone Machine. It’s already been 11 years since Bad As Me (2011), but I suspect he isn’t done yet. But be careful, too much Tom Waits at once is like wiping too often with rough toilet paper.

3. The Jesus Lizard – Liar (Touch and Go)

It seems that most boys are overwhelmed by an excess of testosterone in their late teens and early 20s. Some deal with it by becoming complete drunken pricks who get in fights. Others take a more healthy outlet and writhe about in a pit with other sweaty boys (and occasional woman, though I don’t blame most for being repulsed by the sight) to the aggressive noisy sounds of their favorite loud band. My band of choice in that era was The Jesus Lizard, who I saw over a dozen times between 1990 and 1994. They were the perfect live band at the time as they fused the depravity of 80s noise rock (Big Black/R@p_man, Scratch Acid, Amphetamine Reptile bands) with post-hardcore attack and the precision of well-lubricated post-punk in the best rhythm section (bassist David Wm. Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly) this side of Fugazi.

David Yow’s arsenal of hollars, moans and gurgles were completely original, and also reveled in the absurdity of it all, staggering on a balance beam between drunken loutishness and clever dadaist humor (ex: Yow’s balls take the mic for the instrumental “Tight ‘n’ Shiny”). Goat (1991) was their most accessible, but Liar continued their peak, with other bands attempting anything similar (Mr. Bungle, Therapy?) sounding like a weak substitute. Nirvana admired their power and precision, releasing a split single with the band in 1993 featuring the Lizard’s “Puss” and Nirvana’s “Oh, The Guilt,” and the Jesus Lizard’s influence can be heard on the Steve Albini-recorded In Utero (1993). Just as Nirvana’s midas touch helped the Melvins get a major label deal, The Jesus Lizard ended up on Capitol for their fifth and sixth albums. It didn’t really make any sense, like putting a dragon in a petting zoo, as the band could not write a mainstream crossover song if their lives depended on it. Nevertheless it was a great run, at least for their first four albums. | Bandcamp

4. The Gits – Frenching the Bully (C/Z)

Before singer Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered in 1993, the Gits were one of many great Seattle area bands who didn’t quite draw the attention they deserved. While the the band’s performance of punk blues might seem basic, it is punk. No fancy multi-part arrangements or solos necessary to showcase Zapata’s vocal talents on “Another Shot Of Whiskey,” “While You’re Twisting, I’m Still Breathing,” “Cut My Skin It Makes Me Human,” and “Second Skin,” which can stop you in your tracks and inspire goosebumps. Her gritty voice channels Janis Joplin while conveying emotional power through melody not unlike Stevie Nicks. She could have also been influenced by Kat Arthur of L.A. punkers Legal Weapon, but tripling the power output. It’s perhaps haunting for some to listen to the only album released while Zapata was still alive, but it still holds up regardless. The follow-up Enter: The Conquering Chicken (1994) was not quite complete, but the band were able to pad it with a couple solo performances, and “Seaweed” and “Precious Blood” showed they were still improving. | Gits Documentary

5. PJ Harvey – Dry (Too Pure)

I immediately felt a connection with Polly Jean Harvey’s music. About my age, she grew up in Dorset, cutting her teeth on Captain Beefheart records at an early age. Her parents often hosted musicians who stayed over and she absorbed a wide range of music. While in spirit she could be aligned with the feisty spirit of riot grrrl and artists like Babes in Toyland, PJ Harvey was more eccentric and . . . pervy. Dry is a powerful debut, a great start to a long, varied career of one of the all-time greats.

6. Sleep – Holy Mountain (Earache)

In San Jose, a band called Abestosdeath, consisting of Al Cisneros, Chris Haikus and Matt Pike self-released the 7″ single “Unclean,” and “Dejection” with the label Profane Existence. Greatly influenced by Saint Vitus, the raw, screamy doom already showed potential for something special. Abestosdeath became Sleep, and released Volume One (1991, Tupelo). However, it was still indebted to 80s doom revival bands, and Sleep hadn’t quite fully grown into the stoner behemoth they were destined to become. They took a giant step when they submitted a demo to Earache Records, who released it as-is as Sleep’s Holy Mountain in the UK November 1992, and in the U.S. in March 1993. It was a landmark release in how it created a unique vision of stoner doom that was far more psychedelic and fuzzed out than any of their precursors. With the cannabis leaves on the cover and lyrics like “Look into the rays of the new stoner sun rising,” (“Holy Mountain”) and “Stoner caravan from deep space arrives,” (“From Beyond”), no one can deny that this is quintessential stoner rock alongside Monster Magnet and Kyuss. Even greater things were to come. | Bandcamp

7. Walt Mink – Miss Happiness (Caroline)

Underheard but not underrated: Those who heard the debut of one of the best live bands anywhere had their minds melted. Alas, like many great bands after the post-Nirvana label feeding frenzy in the 90s, their albums were neglected and lost in the digital black void. | Full Review

8. Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (Grand Royal/Capitol)

Beastie Boys were clearly embarrassed by their early work, trying to convince everyone that “Fight for Your Right to Party” and all their cringeworthy misogynist lyrics were satirical, when they really just kind of sucked. Their only way up was to prove their intelligence and cultural competence, which they did on the dense Dust Brothers samplefest of Paul’s Boutique (1989) and their third full-length, where they picked up their instruments for the first time in nearly a decade and showed they’d been practicing on basement funk jams all along, plus a revisit to their hardcore punk days on “Time for Livin’.” They would not top Paul’s Boutique, but they would establish themselves as one of the defining Gen X bands of the era.

9. Snatches Of Pink – Bent With Pray (Caroline)

Rescued from the landfill pile of neglected bands that Caroline failed to properly promote, I remember playing Send in the Clowns (1988) by Chapel Hill’s Snatches of Pink on my radio show and liking it, but losing track of the band. A tense mix of Afghan Whig’s soul-grunge, Drivin n’ Cryin’s moody noir Americana and Black Crowe’s Stones sway, they were perhaps a tricky band to package, but one that rewards deep listening. Michael Rank, Andy McMillan, Sara Romweber released two albums under the name Clarissa in 1996-97 on Mammoth records, then reconvened under the original name in the 2000s to record three more solid albums, also recommended. | Bandcamp

10. God – Possession (Caroline)

Mix Godflesh and Napalm Death with electric Miles Davis, Swans and John Zorn, and you get a frighteningly apocalyptic sound that served as an early template for post-metal. How much ego does it take to name your supergroup God? One in the shape of Kevin Martin, along with members of Henry Cow, Skullflower, A.R.Kane, AMM, Head of David, Slab and Godflesh. Zorn guests on “Return to Hell,” “Hate Meditation” and “Lord, I’m On My Way.” The elements are industrial and noise rock, avant jazz and no wave, but the atmosphere is almost psychedelic doom at times, unlike Zorn’s frenetic Naked City project. It makes other self-proclaimed heaviest of industrial rockers sound like crybabies, except this is so good it transcended 1992, but then slipped between the cracks into the Upside Down, largely forgotten.

11. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Love & Devotional (Real World)

Originally issued as two separate albums – Love Songs & Devotional Songs, in it’s combined state (which is all I ever knew, as I had the CD) is one of the most enchanting, addictive world music albums in the 90s. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan gained a following in Pakistan by releasing over 50 albums between 1973 and 1983, mostly cassette, and playing at weddings for five or more hours. Given that it’s sung in Urdu, he might as well be reciting a grocery list, and his voice would remain ethereal, augmented by a very simple setup of tablas and harmonium. A highlight among his releases on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, it’s become a Qawwali Kind of Blue, at least to many Westerners like me, who played it hundreds of times. Jeff Buckley was a fan, saying Nusrat was his Elvis before covering “Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai” on Live at Sin-e (1993). | Bandcamp

12. R.E.M. – Automatic for the People (WB)

It’s a testament to how great Murmur (1983) was that, while each subsequent R.E.M. album was a little worse than the previous one, even at a nadir with Out of Time (1991), they were still a great band. AFTP reversed that trend, with their most cohesive album, a study of autumnal melancholy. While many consider it their masterpiece, I still rate it below all their 80s albums, including Document (1987) and possibly even the Chronic Town EP (1982). That’s probably not fair, but to me even the difficult to love Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) was more exciting than their polished folk rock seven years later. Plus, it took me 30 years to get over hating the overplayed “Everybody Hurts” and “Man on the Moon.”

13. The Comsat Angels – My Mind’s Eye (Caroline/Renascent)

This Sheffield band released a trio of groundbreaking post-punk albums from 1980-82 that were overlooked at the time. Then they released another trio of more commercial new wave albums from 1983-86 that were somewhat more justifiably ignored. But now they returned triumphantly to their early fiery majesty, their psychedelic post-punk sound updated with a touch of shoegaze, to be ignored still.

Spotify Mix

Kyuss – Blues For The Red Sun (Dali) | USA
Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island) | USA
The Gits – Frenching The Bully (Broken) | USA | Buy
PJ Harvey – Dry (Too Pure) | UK
Sleep – Holy Mountain (Earache) | USA | Bandcamp
The Jesus Lizard – Liar (Touch And Go) | USA | Bandcamp
Walt Mink – Miss Happiness (Caroline) | USA
Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (Capitol) | USA
God – Possession (Caroline) | UK
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Love & Devotion (Real World) | Pakistan | Bandcamp
Catherine Wheel – Ferment (Mercury/Polygram) | UK
The Comsat Angels – My Mind’s Eye (Caroline/Renascent) | UK
Melvins – Lysol (Boner) | USA
Solitude Aeturnus – Beyond The Crimson Horizon (Roadrunner) | USA
R.E.M. – Automatic For the People (WB) | USA
Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer (EMI) | UK
The Wedding Present – The Hit Parade (RCA) | UK
Luna – Lunapark (Elektra) | USA
Ride – Going Blank Again (Sire/Reprise) | UK
Snatches Of Pink – Bent With Prey (Caroline) | USA | Bandcamp
Sonic Youth – Dirty (WB) | USA
Th Faith Healers – Lido (Too Pure/Elektra) | UK
Souled American – Sonny (Rough Trade ) | USA | Bandcamp
Moonshake – Eva Luna (Too Pure) | UK
Bark Psychosis – Scum EP (3rd Stone) | UK
Alice In Chains – Dirt (Columbia) | USA
Spiritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies (Dedicated) | UK | Bandcamp
Godflesh – Pure (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Buffalo Tom – Let Me Come Over (Beggars Banquet) | USA | Bandcamp
Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes EP (Too Pure) | UK
Babes In Toyland – Fontanelle (Reprise) | USA
Overwhelming Colorfast – Overwhelming Colorfast (Relativity) | USA
Blind Mr. Jones – Stereo Musicale (Cherry Red) | UK
Trouble – Manic Frustration (American) | USA | Bandcamp
Red Red Meat – Red Red Meat (Perishable) | USA | Bandcamp
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion (Epic) | USA
The Telescopes – The Telescopes (Creation) | UK | Bandcamp
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Honey’s Dead (American/Blanco y Negro ) | UK
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream (Elektra) | Australia
Bored! – Junk (Bang!) | Australia
Sugar – Copper Blue (Rykodisc) | USA
Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky (Peaceville) | Norway | Bandcamp
Pavement – Slanted And Enchanted (Matador) | USA | Bandcamp
Ministry – Psalm 69 (Sire/WB) | USA
Seam – Headsparks (Homestead) | USA | Bandcamp
3Ds – Hellzapoppin (Flying Nun) | New Zealand | Bandcamp
The Young Gods – TV Sky (Play It Again Sam) | Switzerland
Big Chief – Face (Sub Pop) | USA | Buy
Stereolab – Peng! (Too Pure) | UK | Bandcamp
Uncle Tupelo – March 16-20, 1992 (Rockville ) | USA
Dead Moon – Strange Pray Tell (Music Maniac) | USA | Bandcamp
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
Th’ Faith Healers – L’ (Too Pure) | UK
Malevolent Creation – Retribution (Roadrunner) | USA
The Flaming Lips – Hit To Death In The Future Head (WB) | USA
Guided By Voices – Propeller (Scat) | USA | Bandcamp
Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island) | USA | Bandcamp
XTC – Nonsuch (Virgin) | UK
Cannibal Corpse – Tomb of the Mutilated (Metal Blade) | USA | Bandcamp
The Aints – Autocannibalism (Hot) | Australia
Papa Sprain – May EP (H.ark!) | UK
Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (American) | USA
Red House Painters – Down Colorful Hill (4AD) | USA
The Band of Holy Joy – Tracksuit Vendetta (Rough Trade) | UK | Bandcamp
Helmet – Meantime (Interscope) | USA
Popsicle – Lacquer (Telegram) | Sweden
Bolt Thrower – The IVth Crusade (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Juliana Hatfield – Hey Babe (Mammoth) | USA
Rocket From the Crypt – Circa: Now! (Interscope) | USA
High Rise – Dispersion (PSF) | Japan | Bandcamp
And Also The Trees – Green Is The Sea (Normal) | UK | Bandcamp
Jayhawks – Hollywood Town Hall (American) | USA
The Wannadies – Aquanautic (Snap) | Sweden
Afghan Whigs – Congregation (Sub Pop) | USA | Bandcamp
Bullet Lavolta – Swandive (Sub Pop) | USA
Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond (Virgin) | Germany | Bandcamp
Unrest – Imperial f.f.r.r. (No. 6 Records) | USA | Bandcamp
Polvo – Cor-Crane Secret (Merge) | USA | Bandcamp
Seaweed – Weak (Sub Pop) | USA
Dead Flowers – Moontan (Mystic Stones) | UK | Bandcamp
Social Distortion – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell (Epic) | USA
Masters Of Reality – Sunrise On The Sufferbus (Chrysalis) | USA
Earwig – Under My Skin I Am Laughing (La-Di-Da) | UK | Bandcamp
The Darling Buds – Erotica (Chaos) | UK
Revolver – Baby’s Angry (Caroline) | UK
Lunachicks – Binge And Purge (Safe House) | USA
Nits – Ting (CBS) | Netherlands
Aspid – Extravasation (Stigmartyr) | Russia
Baaba Maal – Lam Toro (Island/Palm Pictures) | Senegal
Änglagård – Hybris (Mellotronen) | Sweden | Bandcamp
The Boo Radleys – Everything’s Alright Forever (Creation) | UK
Morphine – Good (Rykodisc) | USA
Paul K & The Weathermen – The Killer In The Rain (SilenZ) | USA | Bandcamp
Saint Vitus – C.O.D. (Hellhound) | USA
The Cure – Wish (Fiction/Elektra) | UK
Count Raven – Destruction Of The Void (CyCloneEmpire) | Sweden
Able Tasmans – Somebody Ate My Planet (Flying Nun) | New Zealand
The Spinanes – Imp Years EP (Merge) | USA | Bandcamp
Scrawl – Bloodsucker EP (Feel Good All Over) | USA
Basehead – Play With Toys (Imago) | USA

See full list here.

Breakdown: Genre Lists

As always, you can deep dive any of these these genres with the list search. While previously I had limited an album to one genre list, it didn’t accurately reflect the multi-genre nature of many of these albums. So this year an album will show up in multiple lists. I have a widget that automatically pulls from the database, so as albums are added and moved around in the future, this will reflect it.

Psych

“I say madness is too pure like mother sky.” It’s fitting that the first band signed to the Too Pure label would cover Can’s “Mother Sky,” here in a compressed 4:17 version. Like I mentioned in the Stereolab blurb, this label gave me hope for a more colorful, interesting and psychedelic future. Th Faith Healers delivered it on their debut album, along with the essential companion compilation of their first three EPs, “L” packaged within the dirty, fuzzy little noise pop creatures spawned in the dark corners between garage psych and German kosmische. They certainly delivered the most spastic punk energy among their labelmates on tracks like “Hippy Hole” and “Love Song.” The band would sadly disband over just their second album (1993’s Imaginary Friend), with Tom Cullinan forming Quickspace, which narrowed Th Faith Healer’s potential scope rather than expanded. But they they did leave a litter of noisy kosmische garage psych critters in the entire roster of John Dwyer’s Castle Face record label.

If Jason Pierce’s previous band Spacemen 3 was a beat up interplanetary freighter ship, bouncing between space garbage and reveling in the grittiest of drones found in the least popular VU, Stooges and Suicide tracks, Spiritualized is a shiny new intergalactic cruiser with more celestial destinations. Distorted guitars are still present but smoothed out, augmented by organs, a Farfisa, autoharp and some classical instrumentation via dulcimer, piano, brass and strings. Most tracks feature languid melodies that slowly, majestically crescendo. Every sound is lovingly fucked with for the most pleasing psychedelic effect, with this album serving as a classic template for psychedelic dream pop, space rock and ambient pop. | Buy

Bubbling under: More Experience, Goat, Papir, The Babe Rainbow, Hooveriii, Electric Orange, Trees Speak. | More

The Comsat Angels – My Mind’s Eye (Caroline/Renascent) | UK
Ride – Going Blank Again (Sire/Reprise) | UK
Spiritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies (Dedicated) | UK | Bandcamp
Blind Mr. Jones – Stereo Musicale (Cherry Red) | UK
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion (Epic) | USA
The Telescopes – The Telescopes (Creation) | UK | Bandcamp
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
The Flaming Lips – Hit To Death In The Future Head (WB) | USA
The Aints – Autocannibalism (Hot) | Australia
Papa Sprain – May EP (H.ark!) | UK
High Rise – Dispersion (PSF) | Japan | Bandcamp
Dead Flowers – Moontan (Mystic Stones) | UK | Bandcamp
Revolver – Baby’s Angry (Caroline) | UK

Psych Pop & Prog Pop

Slowcore did not exist yet as a genre tag in 1992, but Galaxie 500 and Codeine were taking distinctive approaches with mixing noise pop and psych and removing most of the percussion and velocity until they hovered like a new subdivision of ambient. Mark Kozelek’s debut came out of a demo that gave the same treatment to psych folk, and what seemed like a quirky anomale then, has become a sort of genre classic. The long tracks can challenge your attention span, but let it melt into your surroundings, it definitely sounds more relevant now than many albums from that year.

Luna – Lunapark (Elektra) | USA
Red House Painters – Down Colorful Hill (4AD) | USA
Love Battery – Dayglo (Sub Pop) | USA
The House Of Love – Babe Rainbow (Fontana) | UK
The Steppes – Atomic Cossack (Voxx/Delerium) | USA
Television Personalities – Closer To God (Fire) | UK | Bandcamp
Lilys – In The Presence Of Nothing (spinART/Frontier) | USA | Bandcamp
The High Llamas – Santa Barbara (Alpaca Park) | UK
Dogbowl – Flan: Songs from the Novel by Stephen Tunney (Shimmy) | USA
Poverty Stinks – Gobbledygook (Poko) | Finland
Vanessa Paradis – Vanessa Paradis (Remark) | France

Noir (Folk, Garage, Psych, Punk, Surf)

After achieving a towering peak on his fifth album with the Bad Seeds, Tender Prey (1988), Nick Cave lost me with his Leonard Cohen/Scott Walker style crooning on The Good Son (1990). It speaks to his talent that the stiff, samey Henry’s Dream, while not as good as his earlier work, nor the much more fiery Let Love In (1994), is still a very good album. At some point most Nick Cave fans learn to just give in and absorb everything he does, because it’s all worthwhile. Except maybe that pretentious chore of a movie, 20,000 Days on Earth.

Snatches Of Pink – Bent With Prey (Caroline) | USA | Bandcamp
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream (Elektra) | Australia
Dead Moon – Strange Pray Tell (Music Maniac) | USA | Bandcamp
Paul K & The Weathermen – The Killer In The Rain (SilenZ) | USA | Bandcamp
Come – Eleven: Eleven (Matador) | USA
These Immortal Souls – I’m Never Gonna Die Again (Mute) | Germany
Gallon Drunk – You, The Night…The Music (Rykodisc/Sartorial ) | UK
Gallon Drunk – Tonight, The Singles Bar (Rykodisc) | UK
Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes – I Was the Hunter And I Was The Prey (Fire) | Australia
Barry Adamson – Soul Murder (Mute) | UK | Bandcamp

Prog

Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island) | USA | Bandcamp
Aspid – Extravasation (Stigmartyr) | Russia
Änglagård – Hybris (Mellotronen) | Sweden | Bandcamp
At The Gates – The Red In The Sky Is Ours (Deaf) | Sweden
Devil Doll – Sacrilegium (Hurdy Gurdy) | Slovenia
Mekong Delta – Kaleidoscope (Intercord) | Germany
Edge Of Sanity – Unorthodox (Black Mark) | Sweden
Veni Domine – Fall Babylon Fall (Edge/Massacre) | Sweden
Naked City – Grand Guignol (Avant) | USA
Kingston Wall – Kingston Wall (Trinity) | Finland
Cardiacs – Heaven Born and Ever Bright (Alphabet) | UK
King’s X – King’s X (Atlantic) | USA
Devil Doll – Sacrilegium (Hurdy Gurdy) | Slovenia

Punk & Post-Punk

The primary genre tags applied to Babes In Toyland — grunge and riot grrrl — are not quite accurate. Noise rock and post-hardcore is closer, but it’s really the epitome of righteous bitch goddess rage that 99% of punk rock failed to achieve, not to mention the valient early efforts of Bikini Kill and Hole. From the very earliest shows I witnessed in ’88 in underground venues like the Speedboat Gallery basement, Babes transcended their unpracticed musicianship through sheer force of will and desire. It was inspiring. Spanking Machine (1990) was a solid start, but Fontanelle was a whole new level of pure catharsis, leaving any indie bands in their dust and competing with the energy levels of Napalm Death. Fucking classic.

The Gits – Frenching The Bully (Broken) | USA | Buy
PJ Harvey – Dry (Too Pure) | UK
The Comsat Angels – My Mind’s Eye (Caroline/Renascent) | UK
Moonshake – Eva Luna (Too Pure) | UK
Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes EP (Too Pure) | UK
Babes In Toyland – Fontanelle (Reprise) | USA
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream (Elektra) | Australia
Dead Moon – Strange Pray Tell (Music Maniac) | USA | Bandcamp
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
Guided By Voices – Propeller (Scat) | USA | Bandcamp
Rocket From the Crypt – Circa: Now! (Interscope) | USA
And Also The Trees – Green Is The Sea (Normal) | UK | Bandcamp
Unrest – Imperial f.f.r.r. (No. 6 Records) | USA | Bandcamp

Garage Rock

The Gits – Frenching The Bully (Broken) | USA | Buy
Snatches Of Pink – Bent With Prey (Caroline) | USA | Bandcamp
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream (Elektra) | Australia
Bored! – Junk (Bang!) | Australia
Dead Moon – Strange Pray Tell (Music Maniac) | USA | Bandcamp
Guided By Voices – Propeller (Scat) | USA | Bandcamp
Rocket From the Crypt – Circa: Now! (Interscope) | USA
High Rise – Dispersion (PSF) | Japan | Bandcamp
Paul K & The Weathermen – The Killer In The Rain (SilenZ) | USA | Bandcamp
The Grifters – So Happy Together (Sonic Noise) | USA | Bandcamp
Come – Eleven: Eleven (Matador) | USA
These Immortal Souls – I’m Never Gonna Die Again (Mute) | Germany
The Steppes – Atomic Cossack (Voxx/Delerium) | USA

Hard Rock

At the time, after Melvins’ mighty third album, Bullhead (1991), this one initially seemed a toss-off or even a piss-take, with one untitled 31:17 track that appeared to bait CD users. It kicks off with the 10:42 long drone, “Hung Bunny” that spawned Earth, Sunn O))) and Boris, not to mention the entire genre of sludge metal, while they paid homage to their own influences with Flipper’s “Sacrifice” and Alice Cooper’s “Second Coming” and “The Ballad of Dwight Fry.” All three covers feature the same signature heavy Dale Crover drums and King Buzzo’s growling guitars, and are just as entertaining as their closing classic-style Melvin’s rocker, “With Teeth.” They would get a well deserved boost from devotee Kurt Cobain and put out a trilogy of the most awesomely challenging major label albums ever on Atlantic.

The Jesus Lizard – Liar (Touch And Go) | USA | Bandcamp
Alice In Chains – Dirt (Columbia) | USA
Red Red Meat – Red Red Meat (Perishable) | USA | Bandcamp
Seam – Headsparks (Homestead) | USA | Bandcamp
Big Chief – Face (Sub Pop) | USA | Buy
Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (American) | USA
Helmet – Meantime (Interscope) | USA
Bullet Lavolta – Swandive (Sub Pop) | USA
Polvo – Cor-Crane Secret (Merge) | USA | Bandcamp
Seaweed – Weak (Sub Pop) | USA
Masters Of Reality – Sunrise On The Sufferbus (Chrysalis) | USA
Treepeople – Something Vicious for Tomorrow (C/Z) | USA
Shudder To Think – Get Your Goat (Dischord) | USA | Bandcamp

Stoner/Desert/Fuzz

Singer Barry Hennsler was a member of the similarly underrated Ohio hardcore punk band Necros. When he joined Ann Arbor’s Big Chief in 1989, they developed a sound on their singles, compiled on Drive It Off (1991), that perhaps owed something to Mudhoney and Tad, but also share Afghan Whig’s appreciation for soul, plus funk and hip hop. They can also be considered early pioneers of stoner rock. They toured hard, made an entertaining tribute to Blaxploitation soundtracks with Mack Avenue Skull Game (1993), then got signed to a major label (Capitol) for their last album in 1994, destined to be neglected and forgotten. It’s too bad they couldn’t persist like peers Melvins and Fu Manchu, they could have been touring and celebrating the 30 year anniversary of this great debut.

Kyuss – Blues For The Red Sun (Dali) | USA
Sleep – Holy Mountain (Earache) | USA | Bandcamp
Melvins – Lysol (Boner) | USA
Big Chief – Face (Sub Pop) | USA | Buy
Masters Of Reality – Sunrise On The Sufferbus (Chrysalis) | USA
Tumbleweed – Tumbleweed (Waterfront) | Australia
Kingston Wall – Kingston Wall (Trinity) | Finland
Hoss – You Get Nothing (Dog Meat) | Australia
Spiderworks – Shiver (Spiderworks) | USA | Bandcamp
The Mike Gunn – Durban Poison (Anomie) | USA

Heavy Metal

The holier part of the American doom trinity of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed (and Pentagram as sort of gutter-dwelling dogfathers), there was some hope that Rick Rubin’s Midas touch could push Trouble to cross over as well as Slayer, The Cult and Danzig did. Alas, despite some rave reviews, they remained a cult concern on both their self-titled in 1990, and the more psychedelic direction they took on this one. While cocaine turned Black Sabbath from good devil-fearing church boys into drooling degenerates, mushrooms simply expanded Trouble’s concerns from occasionally quoting the bible, to cosmic travelers. Eric Wagner’s needlesharp vocals remind me a bit of Axl Rose but damn, they were a million times better than Guns ‘n’ Roses. They had the chops, the voice and the sound, but probably just not enough hooks. With the thousands of stoner/doom/psych albums that have been released in the wild in subsequent decades, this sounds more important than ever. | Bandcamp

Solitude Aeturnus – Beyond The Crimson Horizon (Roadrunner) | USA
Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer (EMI) | UK
Trouble – Manic Frustration (American) | USA | Bandcamp
Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (American) | USA
Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond (Virgin) | Germany | Bandcamp
Saint Vitus – C.O.D. (Hellhound) | USA
Count Raven – Destruction Of The Void (CyCloneEmpire) | Sweden
Running Wild – Pile Of Skulls (Noise) | Germany
Penance – The Road Less Travelled (Rise Above) | USA
W.A.S.P. – The Crimson Idol (Capitol) | USA | Bandcamp
Veni Domine – Fall Babylon Fall (Edge/Massacre) | Sweden
Revelation – Never Comes Silence (Hellhound) | USA | Bandcamp
Internal Void – Standing on the Sun (Hellhound) | USA

Doom

Doom

Doom was in bloom in 1992. In my Doom Goes Pop (God May be Dead, but Doom Isn’t) timeline from 2013, I noted that Robert Lowe formed Solitude in Arlington, TX way back in 1987, later changing the name to Solitude Aeturnus. After the strong debut Into the Depths of Sorrow (1991), they got even better with their second album, surpassing major players like Candlemass, Saint Vitus, and even Black Sabbath. They extended their peak to Beyond The Crimson Horizon (1993), which made Decibel magazine’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

Sleep – Holy Mountain (Earache) | USA | Bandcamp
Solitude Aeturnus – Beyond The Crimson Horizon (Roadrunner) | USA
Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer (EMI) | UK
Trouble – Manic Frustration (American) | USA | Bandcamp
Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (American) | USA
Saint Vitus – C.O.D. (Hellhound) | USA
Count Raven – Destruction Of The Void (CyCloneEmpire) | Sweden
Penance – The Road Less Travelled (Rise Above) | USA
Veni Domine – Fall Babylon Fall (Edge/Massacre) | Sweden
Revelation – Never Comes Silence (Hellhound) | USA | Bandcamp
Internal Void – Standing on the Sun (Hellhound) | USA
Paradise Lost – Shades Of God (Music For Nations) | UK
Candlemass – Chapter VI (Peaceville) | Sweden

Power Metal, Epic Adventure & Symphonic/Dark Romance Metal

Starting with Helloween, Germany quickly became a power metal powerhouse, and was strong as ever, particularly the mighty Blind Guardian, who’s fourth album was winding up to heat a peak with their fifth in 1995. Amazingly, three decades later, they topped the Metal Archives poll with The God Machine. | Bandcamp

Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond (Virgin) | Germany | Bandcamp
Running Wild – Pile Of Skulls (Noise) | Germany
Forté – Stranger Than Fiction (Massacre) | USA | Bandcamp
Manowar – The Triumph Of Steel (Atlantic) | USA
Rage – Trapped! (Noise) | Germany
Heavens Gate – Hell for Sale! (Steamhammer) | Germany
Stratovarius – Twilight Time (T&T) | Finland

Metal

Black Sabbath and Megadeth had decent albums this year, but most exciting were younger death metal bands like Bolt Thrower, who blew me away in 1989 with Realm of Chaos. These Brits hit a peak on their fourth album, with better material than fellow trailblazers Napalm Death, and way more interesting than Pantera. The best death metal album of the year.

Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky (Peaceville) | Norway | Bandcamp
Malevolent Creation – Retribution (Roadrunner) | USA
Cannibal Corpse – Tomb of the Mutilated (Metal Blade) | USA | Bandcamp
Bolt Thrower – The IVth Crusade (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Aspid – Extravasation (Stigmartyr) | Russia
At The Gates – The Red In The Sky Is Ours (Deaf) | Sweden
Sadus – A Vision Of Misery (Roadracer) | USA
Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction (Capitol) | USA
Mekong Delta – Kaleidoscope (Intercord) | Germany
Edge Of Sanity – Unorthodox (Black Mark) | Sweden
Napalm Death – Utopia Banished (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power (Atco ) | USA
Neurosis – Souls At Zero (Alternative Tentacles) | USA

Avant, Experimental, Post-Rock, Modern Classical, Drone

I mostly found industrial rock irritating. I liked Skinny Puppy conceptually but not to really listen to. Nine Inch Nails felt fake, and Ministry were exciting for a minute, then quickly became a cartoonish self-parody. Meat Beat Manifesto were a chore on record, but at least had great dancers in dinosaur costumes. But I always had a soft spot for Swiss band The Young Gods, at least on their first four albums. Their weirdness felt unforced, as was their mix of Wagnerian classical with electronics and doomy noise rock influenced by Swans. That heaviosity meshed well with Godflesh and Therapy’s Caucasian Psychosis. Their Kurt Weill tribute album was inventive, eclectic and adventurous. T.V. Sky ends with the 20 minute proggy epic “Summer Eyes.” It’s their last great album before they succumbed to the mediocrity of the 90s like all their peers.

Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island) | USA
Moonshake – Eva Luna (Too Pure) | UK
Bark Psychosis – Scum EP (3rd Stone) | UK
Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes EP (Too Pure) | UK
The Young Gods – TV Sky (Play It Again Sam) | Switzerland
Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island) | USA | Bandcamp
Papa Sprain – May EP (H.ark!) | UK
Earwig – Under My Skin I Am Laughing (La-Di-Da) | UK | Bandcamp
Codeine – Barely Real EP (Sub Pop) | USA
Devil Doll – Sacrilegium (Hurdy Gurdy) | Slovenia
Disco Inferno – Summer’s Last Sound EP (Cheree) | UK
The Grifters – So Happy Together (Sonic Noise) | USA | Bandcamp
Pram – Gash EP (Howl) | UK

Industrial & Noise

In many ways, Pavement were a case study in style triumphing over substance, and a leak building up to an unusual amount of hype years before the Internet played a part in the hype machine. In 1991, various versions of cassette dubs of their upcoming debut were floating around, one of which garnered a rave Spin review. It certainly worked on me. I wanted that damn album, but could not get it. Instead I bought their first three EPs, which included an occasional jangle pop gem (“Box Elder,” which was covered by The Wedding Present in 1989), and a lot lo-fi noise rock heavily influenced by The Fall and Swell Maps, to some ears a load of hipster bullshit. The 3Ds, Unrest, Grifters, Polvo and Guided By Voices were doing very similar things, and it’s amazing the raves they got by sparingly sprinkling a few melodic hooks around. Perhaps Royal Trux could have gotten similar acclaim if they could only have written a few catchier tunes. The album disappointed me when it came out, as I liked less than half of it. But the critical raves just kept piling up, and I figured I just needed more time with it. I saw them at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis around that time and it was a good show, giving some of the more indulgent masturbatory noise tracks a fuller, more energetic sound live. I remained a fan but full of doubts, and 30 years later, it just doesn’t hold up as top 5 or even top 30 material, despite it continuing to top various lists of 90s albums. Eventually Pavement got more consistent but less cool which is fine by me. I dunno, there are worse musical crimes committed in the early 90s one could be embarrassed by than being a fan of lo-fi “slacker” rock. Remember funk metal?

Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island) | USA
The Jesus Lizard – Liar (Touch And Go) | USA | Bandcamp
God – Possession (Caroline) | UK
Sonic Youth – Dirty (WB) | USA
Babes In Toyland – Fontanelle (Reprise) | USA
Red Red Meat – Red Red Meat (Perishable) | USA | Bandcamp
Pavement – Slanted And Enchanted (Matador) | USA | Bandcamp
Ministry – Psalm 69 (Sire/WB) | USA
Th’ Faith Healers – L’ (Too Pure) | UK
High Rise – Dispersion (PSF) | Japan | Bandcamp
Polvo – Cor-Crane Secret (Merge) | USA | Bandcamp
Therapy? – Caucasion Psychosis (Quarterstick) | UK
The Grifters – So Happy Together (Sonic Noise) | USA | Bandcamp

Dream Pop & Shoegaze

There’s some similarities between 1992 and 1985 in that a lot of music sounded immediately dated. Meaning, they sounded contemporary, of the time, but that sound was shit. All the arena rock bands trying to pass off as grunge like Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, even Pearl Jam — I hated them all. To my ears, the sound of the future, or one particularly enticing branch of it, was the Too Pure roster, including Moonshake, Pram, Th’ Faith Healers, PJ Harvey and Stereolab. Many of them picked up where Eno and Bowie left off in the 70s in tapping into the inexhaustible potential of German Kosmische musik. Humming, quivering and burping analog synthesizers and incessant rhythms take bits of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray,” and come up with fresh sounds. The songwriting isn’t quite where it will be for their extraordinary run of the next six albums or so, but sonic blueprint is laid out, the post-structuralist theories drafted, and it’s still a pleasure to revisit. The companion compilation of their early singles, Switched On, has some more immediate tracks, along with more experiments. | Bandcamp

Catherine Wheel – Ferment (Mercury/Polygram) | UK
The Comsat Angels – My Mind’s Eye (Caroline/Renascent) | UK
Luna – Lunapark (Elektra) | USA
Ride – Going Blank Again (Sire/Reprise) | UK
Spiritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies (Dedicated) | UK | Bandcamp
Blind Mr. Jones – Stereo Musicale (Cherry Red) | UK
The Telescopes – The Telescopes (Creation) | UK | Bandcamp
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Honey’s Dead (American/Blanco y Negro ) | UK
Stereolab – Peng! (Too Pure) | UK | Bandcamp
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
Th’ Faith Healers – L’ (Too Pure) | UK
The Flaming Lips – Hit To Death In The Future Head (WB) | USA
The Aints – Autocannibalism (Hot) | Australia

Ambient, Art Pop Goth, New Age & Sophisti-Pop

Heyday (1986) was always my Church jam, for good reason, as it’s by far their best album. I was immediately turned off by the watered down production of Starfish (1988), and dismissed the band for several years. I blinked and then realized that the band never really made a bad album, and by the end of the 90s, they had a dozen of them, and nearly doubled that number since then. Their seventh album corrected the production shortcomings, and their most consistently solid songwriting since Heyday. Their influence has started to manifest in some of the more psychedelic of the shoegaze aligned bands like Ride, and future developments in dream pop. They even produce a sprawling, edgy, gothy post-punk epic in the 9+ minute “Chaos.”

Bark Psychosis – Scum EP (3rd Stone) | UK
Godflesh – Pure (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream (Elektra) | Australia
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
XTC – Nonsuch (Virgin) | UK
Papa Sprain – May EP (H.ark!) | UK
The Band of Holy Joy – Tracksuit Vendetta (Rough Trade) | UK | Bandcamp
And Also The Trees – Green Is The Sea (Normal) | UK | Bandcamp
Earwig – Under My Skin I Am Laughing (La-Di-Da) | UK | Bandcamp
Nits – Ting (CBS) | Netherlands
Leonard Cohen – The Future (Columbia) | Canada
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (Distance) | UK | Bandcamp
Devil Doll – Sacrilegium (Hurdy Gurdy) | Slovenia

Indie Pop & Jangle Pop

The hype over Pavement, at least initially, was misplaced. They weren’t the only band delving in chaotic, noisy pop with occasional sweet melodies. Unrest had fine-tuned that formula on their seventh album, and the best band of that ilk in 1992 was the 3Ds, a supergroup of sorts of New Zealand Dunadin bands Look Blue Go Purple and Bird Nest Roys. While Pavement’s EPs are only half listenable, spilling over with amaturish bullshit hipster parodies of Swell Maps and The Fall, 3Ds were fully formed on the EP compilation, Fish Tales / Swarthy Songs for Swabs (Flying Nun, 1991). Their debut full-length matches the melodic highlights of “Sing-Song” and consistently hooky guitar fuzz with the opener “Outer Space” and the high energy never flags. Given its conspicuous absence on all the canonical charts, it’s officially a lost classic. | Bandcamp

Bubbling under: Miracle Legion, They Might Be Giants, The Beautiful South, Lemonheads, The High Llamas, The Posies, The Chills, Moose, Vomit Launch, The Sundays, Del Amitri.

The Wedding Present – The Hit Parade (RCA) | UK
Luna – Lunapark (Elektra) | USA
Buffalo Tom – Let Me Come Over (Beggars Banquet) | USA | Bandcamp
3Ds – Hellzapoppin (Flying Nun) | New Zealand | Bandcamp
The Church – Priest = Aura (Arista) | Australia
Popsicle – Lacquer (Telegram) | Sweden
Juliana Hatfield – Hey Babe (Mammoth) | USA
The Wannadies – Aquanautic (Snap) | Sweden
Unrest – Imperial f.f.r.r. (No. 6 Records) | USA | Bandcamp
The Darling Buds – Erotica (Chaos) | UK
Able Tasmans – Somebody Ate My Planet (Flying Nun) | New Zealand
The House Of Love – Babe Rainbow (Fontana) | UK
The Apartments – Drift (Talitres) | UK | Bandcamp

Power Pop

Power Pop

You don’t often hear most people talk about this subgenre, despite the fact that it’s some of the most accessible sounds of both indie rock and pop rock with power chords. Buffalo Tom was my top prediction in 1990 to crossover to the mainstream, based on Bill Janovitz’s catchy melodies and passionate delivery. My second bet was Nirvana based solely on the “Sliver” single. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of fuzz guitar on their third album, but I understand they didn’t want to overlap their sound with Nirvana, since by 1992 everyone was in their shadow. Nevertheless it’s their best batch of songs, and they got a bit of MTV play and sold a bit more, but were swallowed up by the post-grunge frenzy, while the Gin Blossoms were the only ones in this batch to really hit it big. So it goes.

Bubbling under: The High Llamas, Mega City Four, The Posies, Poverty Stinks, Sloan, Del Amitri, Gin Blossoms, The Primitives, Green, The Rembrandts, Tripping Daisy.

Walt Mink – Miss Happiness (Caroline) | USA
Buffalo Tom – Let Me Come Over (Beggars Banquet) | USA | Bandcamp
Overwhelming Colorfast – Overwhelming Colorfast (Relativity) | USA
Sugar – Copper Blue (Rykodisc) | USA
Guided By Voices – Propeller (Scat) | USA | Bandcamp
XTC – Nonsuch (Virgin) | UK
Popsicle – Lacquer (Telegram) | Sweden
Juliana Hatfield – Hey Babe (Mammoth) | USA
The Wannadies – Aquanautic (Snap) | Sweden
The Magnolias – Off the Hook (Alias) | USA
Material Issue – Destination Universe (Mercury) | USA
Flop – Flop & the Fall of the Mopsqueezer! (Frontier) | USA
They Might Be Giants – Apollo 18 (Elektra) | USA

Global, Reggae, Dub & Afrobeat

Baaba Maal has recorded better representations of Senegelese Fula Music, sung in Pulaar, before and after his sixth album. But this poppier crossover attempt was a good introduction, still including the distinctive sounds of the kora and saba drums, and enabled Maal to tour North America multiple times with one of the best live shows in the 90s.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Love & Devotion (Real World) | Pakistan | Bandcamp
Moonshake – Eva Luna (Too Pure) | UK
Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes EP (Too Pure) | UK
Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island) | USA | Bandcamp
Baaba Maal – Lam Toro (Island/Palm Pictures) | Senegal
Khaled – Khaled (Cohiba ) | Algeria
Fela Kuti – Underground System (MCA) | Nigeria | Bandcamp
Mano Negra – In The Hell Of Patchinko (Virgin) | France
Linton Kwesi Johnson – LKJ In Dub Volume Two (LKJ) | Jamaica
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – El Leon (Sony Discos ) | Argentina
The Master Musicians of Jajouka – Apocalypse Across The Sky (Axiom ) | Morocco | Bandcamp
Bahia Black – Ritual Beating System (Axiom ) | Brazil
Sheila Chandra – Weaving My Ancestors’ Voices (Caroline/Real World ) | India/UK

Electronic

House and techno were still going strong in 1992, but the primary form for the electronic dance music was 12″ singles, not albums. The more progressive armchair electronic music was yet to come, hence, only three albums this year.

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (Distance) | UK | Bandcamp
The Orb – U.F. Orb (Island) | UK
P-Model – P-Model (Polydor) | Japan
Deee-Lite – Infinity Within (Elektra) | USA

R&B, Soul & Funk

Washington D.C.’s Michael Ivey’s one-man band Basehead was a revolutionary in the lowest key possible. Super slow, stoned out grooves that would later be attributed to abstract hip-hop, downtempo and trip hop, no one quite knew what to make of his debut. In hindsight it still stands out as one of the more unique albums that year.

Basehead – Play With Toys (Imago) | USA
Sade – Love Deluxe (Epic) | UK
Medeski, Martin & Wood – Notes From the Underground (Gramavision) | USA
Paul Weller – Paul Weller (Go!) | UK
Annie Lennox – Diva (Arista) | UK
The Commitments – The Commitments Vol. 2 (MCA) | Ireland
The Beautiful South – 0898 Beautiful South (Go!) | UK
Prince – O(+> [aka Love Symbol Album] (Paisley Park) | USA
Swing Out Sister – Get in Touch With Yourself (Fontana) | UK
Neneh Cherry – Homebrew (Virgin) | UK
Dr. John – Goin’ Back to New Orleans (WB) | USA
Mary J. Blige – What’s the 411? (Uptown) | USA
Terence Trent D’Arby – Terence Trent D’Arby’s Symphony or Damn: Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness (Columbia) | USA

Hip Hop & Rap

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth collaborated for just two albums, arguably the peak of boom bap, while providing a hugely influential template for jazz rap, and with the white label instrumental versions of both this and The Main Ingrediant (1994), turntablism.

Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (Capitol) | USA
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – Mecca and the Soul Brother (Elektra) | USA
The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (Delicious Vinyl) | USA
Gang Starr – Daily Operation (Chrysalis) | USA
Neneh Cherry – Homebrew (Virgin) | UK
Mary J. Blige – What’s the 411? (Uptown) | USA
Arrested Development – Three Years, Five Months & Two Days in the Life of . . . (Chrysalis) | USA
The Goats – Tricks of the Shade (Ruffhouse) | USA
Das EFX – Dead Serious (East West) | USA
House of Pain – House of Pain (Tommy Boy) | USA
Redman – Whut? The Album (RAL) | USA
Dr. Dre – The Chronic (Priority) | USA
The X-Clan – X-Odus (Polydor) | USA

Folk & Americana

Minneapolis Americana/country rockers employ producer George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, Maria McKee, Tom Petty) for their third album and hit their polished peak with tidy harmonies and consistently great tunes. All the best bits of Flying Burrito Bros/The Band/CSNY and a touch of Matthew Sweet style jangle/power pop, managing to sound timeless, no small feat in the 90s..

Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island) | USA
Souled American – Sonny (Rough Trade ) | USA | Bandcamp
Uncle Tupelo – March 16-20, 1992 (Rockville ) | USA
Red House Painters – Down Colorful Hill (4AD) | USA
Jayhawks – Hollywood Town Hall (American) | USA
Paul K & The Weathermen – The Killer In The Rain (SilenZ) | USA | Bandcamp
Chris Bailey – Savage Entertainment (New Rose) | Australia
Los Lobos – Kiko (Slash/WB) | USA
Neil Young – Harvest Moon (Reprise) | Canada
Caifanes – El Silencio (RCA) | Mexico
Lucinda Williams – Sweet Old World (Elektra) | USA
Joe Henry – Short Man’s Room (Mammoth) | USA
Alejandro Escovedo – Gravity (Watermelon) | USA

Country, Country Blues/Psych/Rock/Soul

It’s funny how on Uncle Tupelo’s third album, which veers in a more folky Americana direction from their country punk origins, Jay Farrar was still considered the stronger songwriter. Even after Jeff Tweedy’s debut with Wilco, I still slightly preferred Son Volt. That would soon change, as Wilco soon transcended the whole Alt Country scene. I never liked the “Alt” qualifier myself. No one calls Neil Young’s music Canuck Country, at least I hope not.

Souled American – Sonny (Rough Trade ) | USA | Bandcamp
Uncle Tupelo – March 16-20, 1992 (Rockville ) | USA
Jayhawks – Hollywood Town Hall (American) | USA
Freedy Johnston – Can You Fly (Bar/None) | USA
Neil Young – Harvest Moon (Reprise) | Canada
Lucinda Williams – Sweet Old World (Elektra) | USA
Joe Henry – Short Man’s Room (Mammoth) | USA
Alejandro Escovedo – Gravity (Watermelon) | USA
Vic Chestnutt – West of Rome (Texas Hotel) | USA
Lyle Lovett – Joshua Judges Ruth (MCA) | USA
Michelle Shocked – Arkansas Traveler (Mercury) | USA
Cowboy Junkies – Black Eyed Man (RCA) | Canada
Green On Red – Too Much Fun (China) | USA

Jazz, Jazz Fusion

I grew up listening to and playing jazz, so it’s odd that I would have large gaps in my jazz listening. The kind of avant-jazz that interested me wasn’t to be found at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but I’m sure a lot of these players came through Minneapolis and Chicago (I moved from the Twin Cities in September that year). I’d gotten turned onto John Zorn in college, and he was prolific that year, participating in PainKiller and Naked City along with his solo work. Chicago born Anthony Braxton had been recording since 1968, but his album blew away all the younger players.

Anthony Braxton – Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (Hat Hut) | USA
Hal Willner – Hal Willner Presents Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus (Columbia) | USA
David S. Ware – Flight of I (Columbia) | USA
Randy Weston – The Spirits of Our Ancestors (Verve) | USA
PainKiller – Buried Secrets (Earache) | USA | Bandcamp
Medeski, Martin & Wood – Notes From the Underground (Gramavision) | USA
Brand X – Xcommunication (Ozone) | UK
John Zorn – Elegy (Tzadik) | USA
Diamanda Galás – The Singer (Mute) | USA | Bandcamp

Non-Metal For Metalheads

Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island) | USA
God – Possession (Caroline) | UK
Moonshake – Eva Luna (Too Pure) | UK
Godflesh – Pure (Earache) | UK | Bandcamp
Moonshake – Secondhand Clothes EP (Too Pure) | UK
Ministry – Psalm 69 (Sire/WB) | USA
The Young Gods – TV Sky (Play It Again Sam) | Switzerland
Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island) | USA | Bandcamp
Disco Inferno – Summer’s Last Sound EP (Cheree) | UK
The Grifters – So Happy Together (Sonic Noise) | USA | Bandcamp
Pram – Gash EP (Howl) | UK
Hal Willner – Hal Willner Presents Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus (Columbia) | USA
Dadamah – This is Not a Dream (Majorah/kranky) | New Zealand | Bandcamp

Labels

Elektra (10)
Sub Pop (9)
Caroline (8)
Virgin (8)
WB (7)
American (6)
Columbia (6)
4AD (5)
Dischord (5)
Matador (5)

Videos

Shows

Walt Mink, Loring Park
The Jesus Lizard, Uptown Bar
My Bloody Valentine, First Avenue, 6/26
Melvins, First Avenue, 6/15
Fugazi
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Eleventh Dream Day
Helmet, First Avenue, 7/20
Pere Ubu, The Metro
Television, The Metro, 12/6
Dinosaur Jr., Babes in Toyland, First Avenue, 2/12
Pavement, Uptown Bar, 6/11
L7

KMFDM, Godflesh, Arcwelder, Run Westy Run, Soul Asylum, Tar, Cherubs, Silkworm, Yo La Tengo, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Seaweed, The Dwarves, Boiled in Lead.

Movies

This quirky indie road movie starred John Doe (X) and Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys). It was super weird, funny, bittersweet at times, and featured spontaneous combustion and a cameo of an unhinged John Cusack with an eye patch. What more could one want? It may feel dated were I to watch it now, if I can even find it, but at 22, this movie was made for me.

Roadside Prophets – Abbie Wool (comedy)
Leolo – Jean-Claude Lauzon (black comedy)
Simple Men – Hal Hartley (drama)
Malcolm X – Spike Lee (drama)
Gas Food Lodging – Alison Anders (drama)
Light Sleeper – Paul Schrader (drama)
The Player – Robert Altman (black comedy)
Bob Roberts – Tim Robbins (comedy)
Singles – Cameron Crowe (comedy/drama)
The Lover – Jean-Jacques Annaud (erotica)
The Crying Game – Neal Jordan (drama)
Map of the Human Heart – Vincent Ward (drama)
Sneakers – Phil Alden Robinson (drama)

Bubbling under: Aladdin, Reservoir Dogs, Basic Instinct, Man Bites Dog, Sister Act, Glengarry Glen Ross, Army of Darkness, Wayne’s World, Little Man Tate, Unforgiven, All Ladies Do It, Claire of the Moon, Freejack, The Living End, Universal Soldier.

Television

I still didn’t really watch TV then, as I didn’t have cable. I rented a lot of VHS movies from the video store.

Books

Neal Stephenson’s second novel Snow Crash recalibrated my brain like nothing since William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984). It takes place mid-21st century Los Angeles after a worldwide economic collapse, when franchises line the freeway as far as the eye can see. Hiro Protagonist is a pizza delivery driver for the Mafia for his “day” job, and by night his avatar is legendary in the Metaverse. In a club called The Black Sun, his fellow hackers are being felled by a new virtual drug called Snow Crash that reduces them to nothing more than a jittering cloud of bad digital karma (and IRL, a vegetative state). Investigating the Infocalypse leads Hiro all the way back to the beginning of language itself, with roots in an ancient Sumerian priesthood. He and teenage skater courtier Y.T. try to stop a shadowy virtual villain. Stephenson incorporates anthropology, archaeology, computer science, cryptography, history, linguistics, memetics, politics, religion, philosophy and politics, but without some of the lengthier deep dives as his later books. The book has been optioned for film and television numerous times over the past decades, but hasn’t gotten liftoff. The success of Peripheral, based on a William Gibson book is a good sign that a well done series could still happen at some point.

Neal Stephenson – Snow Crash
Terry Pratchett – Small Gods
Christopher Moore – Coyote Blue
Benjamin Hoff – The Te of Piglet
Douglas Coupland – Shampoo Planet
Douglas Adams – Mostly Harmless
bell hooks – Black Looks: Race and Representation
Christopher Moore – Practical Demonkeeping
Connie Willis – Doomsday Book
Cormac McCarthy – All the Pretty Horses
Kim Stanley Robinson – Red Mars
Ann Rice – The Tale of the Body Thief
Kim Newman – Anno Dracula

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