Blur - 13 - 1999 - Already Been Deluxed!

Already Been Deluxed - Day Two - Blur's album "13"

After the release of all of the Blur Deluxe Editions, I thought that this one was the only one that I couldn't and wouldn't tinker with.  It's complete, and has it all.  Not my favorite of theirs, it is still their most mature and best written.  It's really their most vulnerable, I feel, and definitely an example of their best production (William Orbit, of course)

Again, nothing I could add, but needed to be posted.  If you don't have it already.....

Blur - 13 - 1999 - Disc One

Blur - 13 - 1999 - Disc Two

Starting tomorrow, I will be normalizing all of the tracks that I post.  Makes for a better sounding album, and I just found the software to do it....

gusGus - This Is Normal - 1999

In 98 and 99 there were quite a few new albums that were very very good.  These albums exposed me to several new groups that I hadn't considered before, but now I'm glad to have heard them.  And in some cases, that one album was all I wanted to hear.  Gusgus was one of those groups.  I really like this album, but everything else by them has not caught my ear.  In fact, I usually cringe.

This Is Normal is the second album from Gusgus.  I got this one at the same time I got Kula Shaker and Suede's new albums, along with Fat Boy Slim's megahit album.  I was instantly drawn to the melody and vocals, along with their unique sound.  Lyrically... meh.  But, for the most part, it was awesome.  The mixes aren't bad, and there was only one b-side.  But, I threw on their cover of DM's Monument.

I bought this album when I was working at this really horrendous restaurant, and we'd play it in the kitchen.  It was the second worst restaurant job I've ever had, and I have horrible memories of the place, but I can still listen to this album and enjoy myself.  Don't you hate when there is music that you love, but your brain associates it with a bad time in your life?  Sometimes it's good times, and that's fine.  But, the bad times can totally ruin some great albums for you.  FOR INSTANCE, I cannot for the life of me listen to Cure's Bloodflowers album without thinking about killing myself and feeling that gnawing bite of dread in my chest.  This Gusgus album is almost there, but not quite....

gusGus - This Is Normal - 1999

gusGus - This Is Normal - Remixes - 1999 

Electronic - Twisted Tenderness - 1999

Although I really liked Electronic, I still preferred Revenge and Monaco, simply due to their darker edge.  But, as always, it is Bernard's voice that always sucks me in.  And when you couple that with Mr Marr's excellent skills of writing and musicianship, Electronic's work was always top shelf.

After Raise the Pressure, I was a little nervous about how this album was going to turn out.  I never cared much for RtP, as it seemed tired and worn out.  It was as if they had phoned the performance in.  I guess they were also competing with Grunge and Britrock at the same time.  The fact that Twisted Tenderness was also only going to be released in the UK even furthered my concern.  If you can't even get a US label to pick your album up, there's got to be trouble.

Needless to say, the album was almost as good as their first one, and far better than their second.  Some of the tracks you had to warm up to, but there were other anthems that really stood out as exceptional.  The title track, Twisted Tenderness, and Late At Night are the best ones on the disc, by far.  But, nearly every track is worthy and I will always treasure the work that these guys put forth.

I hate the old man cover, so I switched it with the interior art and staggered the boxes like the LAN single sleeves.  The construction of their covers, too, make it a little odd, as the track listing is on the front.  That being said, When you look at the sleeves above, remember, the two squares go on the front, and the group shot (?) goes on the inside.

For those of you who remember when this album came out...  Can you believe it's twenty years old this year?  And, it's stood the test of time.  Great work!

Electronic - Twisted Tenderness - 1999 - Disc One

Electronic - Twisted Tenderness - 1999 - Disc Two

Chemical Brothers - Diamond Sky - the Surrender B-Sides - 1999

I always loved the Chemical Brothers cover art.  Posterized and retro, very representative of their style and sound.  Their music is pretty good.  I like it.  I'm not in love with it.  I'm not going to drop mega-coin for anything by them, and I don't listen to them on a regular basis.  But they're good, and I'll listen to them every once in a while and enjoy myself.

This album came out shortly before I moved to Kansas City and I listened to it regularly at work and in the car.  The b-sides were interesting, and I loved Bernard's vocals on Out of Control.  Noel did pretty good, and, in fact, all the vocalists did great jobs.  But Bernard's were the best.  It sounded like a ravey sorta funky electro New Order.

I thought the b-sides were too experimental to mix into the album set, plus I'd run over the 80 minute mark on the CD limit.  I'm not really a fan of any of the remixes offered, as it's hard for a mixer to offer their interpretation without destroying the integrity of the Chemical Brothers sound, except for that slammin' Sasha mix.  That being said, I simply put the b-sides on their own disc, essentially making a album addendum for Surrender.  A little Surrender EP of sorts.

I used the cover to Let Forever Be, the best from the Surrender singles, so it maintains the art theme for the album and singles.  Nothing special, but it blends in well....

Chemical Brothers - Diamond Sky - the Surrender B-Sides - 1999

Kula Shaker - Peasants Pigs & Astronauts - 1999

My favorite album of 1998-99 was Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts by Kula Shaker.  I had thought their K album was pretty good when I got it, but this one completely blew it out of the water.  It's a complete blast.  From the eerie, spacey opening of Great Hosanna, to the very last mystical chant of Stotra, the album pulls you into this otherworldly experience of psychedelia that I can only describe as cosmic transcendence.  Don't I sound full of shit?

Needless to say, this was an album that still rocks my house at least 3-4 times a year.  It's musicmusicmusicmusic...  Okay, where's that Kula Shaker album? It's also freekin' awesome to play air guitar on this album, too.  Pull out that Townshend windmill move.  Or maybe that Billie Joe Armstrong stance.

It's hard to think of areas in which the album suffers.  It's speeds up and slows down just where it needs to, and never gets boring.  It sucks you in when it slows, and explodes all over you on the power anthems.  Mystical Machine Gun, Great Hosanna and Golden Avatar to name a few.  My favorite song is Timeworm, a slow subtle track that's slinks in and melts all over your brain, right before the albums closing tracks.

BUT, the reason for this post wasn't the main album, but the B-Sides, which are just as good, and I have compiled into a nice supplemental disc to accompany this fine album.  They're pretty good, not as good as the album, but a necessity to a complete Kula experience.

Just remember, you don't have to be a hippy to like this kind of music.  Ain't that right, Ryan Parr?

Kula Shaker - Peasants Pigs & Astronauts - 1999

Kula Shaker - PP&A B-Sides - 1999