1990

Maybe I'm just a crabby old man, but 1990 wasn't such a great year for music. During this odd transition from the 1980s to the 1990s pop music was a disgusting hybrid between what was left of synthesized beats and the re-emergance of guitar-oriented music to come. If I controlled the calendars I would've skipped directly from December 1988 to January 1991. But even the grayest of clams can spawn a glisteny pearl. Here are five songs from five bands that knew better.



Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth
Violator is a great album. "Policy of Truth" is a great song from this great album. In fact I could have gone with any of the songs from Violator (although Personal Jesus was released as a single in 1989), but "Policy of Truth" is my current favorite.

Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
I've only just discovered the Cocteau Twins (about twenty years too late). I don't know if this is true of many of their other songs, but the lyrics, though sung, are very conversational. The Scotsy slang and inflections crooned by vocalist Elizabeth Frazier are lovely (and indeed, if these same words were sung by a Scottish man then you'd end up with some sort of sea shanty).

Pixies - Velouria
This is a great song for many different reasons, not the least of these being the quivery theremin casually hanging out in the background.


Primus - Too Many Puppies
Best anti-war song ever.
Best worst album cover ever.
And puppies!





The Cure - Close to Me [Closest Remix] (.wma file)
Originally recorded in 1985, "Close to Me" was remixed (Paul Oakenfold doing the honors) for Mixed Up which, naturally, was an album of Cure remixes. There were actually two mixes of this song, the "Close Remix" and the "Closest Remix", which is what we're listening to here. This one appeared on the 7" single and cassette single, if you're interested. I think it's interesting that despite all the black garb and pseudo-goth make-up, The Cure made a lot of really bouncy songs.