Top 5 - Simon West
1) Massive Attack, Mezzanine (Virgin). Bristol's finest follow-up 1994's Protection with a dark masterpiece, as ominous as the huge insect on the cover. The mood is bleak, uneasy and downbeat, and absolutely compelling. The beats are slow, crashing and burning as rumbling, ominous bass crawls and writhes around menacing guitar riffs and metallic samples. Essentials include Horace Andy's tortured, lovesick wail on the throbbing, paranoid "Angel", and Liz Fraser's ethereal vocals on the astonishing "Teardrop". Massive Attack continue to stand without peers.
2) Manic Street Preachers, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (Epic UK). Faced with the impossible challenge of following up their remarkable 1996 comeback/breakthrough Everything Must Go, the Manics stop just short of the classic mark of their last two albums, but an excellent album regardless. Accurately described by Nicky Wire as "the album with the most sense of purity and most sense of beauty", This Is My Truth is slow, lavishly produced and still as affecting as everything else they've ever released. North American audiences can discover the truth for themselves - Virgin has scheduled This Is My Truth for a spring release in the US and Canada.
3) Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue (Elektra). A masterful tribute to Woody Guthrie, Mermaid Avenue saw Bragg and Wilco supplying new music to previously unreleased Guthrie compositions. The Bard Of Barking was born to sing Guthrie, and makes these songs as much Billy as Woody. Wilco provide fine backing, and Jeff Tweedy's voice adds variety to the proceedings, particularly on the slow "California Stars" and the light-hearted "Hoodoo Voodoo". The standout is Bragg, backed by Natalie Merchant on "Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key". "Ain't nobody that can sing like me", sings Bill. Damn right.
4) Pulp, This Is Hardcore (Island). Whoops - party over. Cocker and company returned to the fray with a world-weary, demanding album. This Is Hardcore may have alienated recent Pulp converts more used to the singalong of "Common People", but those prepared to make the effort were amply rewarded. Jarvis Cocker's wit and observational skill are just as sharp as ever, the title track is absolutely astonishing, and the mood brightens somewhat toward the end with the upbeat pop of "Glory Days" and the hopeful "Day After The Revolution".
5) 60 Channels, Tuned In...Turned On (World Domination). One of two full length releases involving DJ/producer/composer/singer The Angel in 1998 - 60 Channels is a masterful blend of trip-hop, big beat, jazz, funk, rap, dub and drum-n-bass into a cohesive, compelling soundscape. Real instrumentation mixes with samples and breakbeats, with The Angel and assorted guest vocalists providing the vox. An astonishing talent on an essential album. Check out also the more jazz-influenced Jaz Klash project on Thru The Haze, also on World Domination.
