Top 5 - Bob Gajarsky
1) Space Monkeys, The Daddy Of Them All (Interscope). If someone fell asleep for the past ten years and wanted to know the history of British music in 1 hour, this is the disc to give them. The amazing part is that while Oasis, Blur and the Prodigy are getting all the hype, Manchester's latest export is the one that deserves all the credit. And if you absolutely need to get your Oasis fix, they periodically have the Gallagher snarl on their songs.
2) Space, Spiders (Universal). Included in some writers' 1996 list by virtue of its early release in Europe, the category-defying Spiders saw a 1997 issue in the States. Space appeared in the Austin Powers movie ("Female of the Species"), and could have been just at home in Jackal. Absolutely underrated.
3) Meredith Brooks, Blurring The Edges (Capitol). Sure, she sometimes sounds like Alanis. But more often than not, Brooks establishes her own identity in a world where female singer/songwriter/guitar-players are becoming a more common occurrence.
4) Artificial Joy Club, Melt (Interscope). "Sick and Beautiful" was the warped single, but lead singer Sal hits all the right chords on tracks like "Skywriting" while the line between pop and alterna-rock is blurred even further.
5) Monaco, Music For Pleasure (A&M). Peter Hook gets his revenge on those who thought he couldn't do anything significant outside the shadow of New Order. The leadoff single "What Do You Want From Me" is brilliantly derivative New Order, while "Buzz Gum" is more traditional Britpop. New Order afficionados are probably still worshipping this disc.
