Urban75 Album of the Year 1994

[belboid]

Julian Cope - ‘Autogeddon’


Not my favourite but definitely in the right groove

The final part of the trilogy and probably his last all-killer album. It was the first time I met him, as well, we had a good chat.

And, despite releasing no official singles from it, he gave a magnificent TOTP performance “I know what your dad’s thinking. But he’s wrong”

 

[Indeliblelink]

Some of my favourite ambient albums from the chill-out room in 1994-
Global Communication - 76:14


Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin - From Within


Further - 5 Further Journeys


The Irresistible Force - Global Chillage


Spacetime Continuum - Sea Biscuit

 

[Spandex]

Global Communication - 76:14

That's etched in my brain as the sound of the day after, when the drugs are wearing off and so much weed has been smoked it no longer makes any difference, sleep seems like it might soon be a possibility and 76:14's gentle beauty is all my head can take.

 

[The39thStep]

This is great. Poison Girl Friend - Love Me. Japanese indi discovers trip-hop and with chanteur singing in French . Never heard of it before, it's definitely an undiscovered gem of the year.

 

[belboid]

Soy un perdedor

One of the first things I looked up on that newfangled internet was what the above meant. To discover Beck translated it himself in the next line. His third album is the best of the three (!) he released that year

 

[Spandex]

A couple more trance albums:

Resistance D - Ztringz Of Life

Pascal FEOS & Maik Maurice being excellent on Harthouse.



Paul Van Dyk - 45rpm

Mr Van Dyk creating the formula that all euro-trance would follow to ever diminishing effect a few years later.

 

[hitmouse]

Soy un perdedor

One of the first things I looked up on that newfangled internet was what the above meant. To discover Beck translated it himself in the next line. His third album is the best of the three (!) he released that year

Blimey, did Audible Slayers: A Buffyverse Story come out in 1994? Truly ahead of its time, that.

 

[hitmouse]

Also, I don't really know much of the Mountain Goats' catalogue before Galesburg, but turns out that, although there are cassette-only releases going back as far as 91, Zopilote Machine was the first proper album and that was 1994:

Apparently the full list of MGs releases for that year includes Taking the Dative, Yam, The King of Crops, Beautiful Rat Sunset, Philyra, and Why You All So Thief? I feel like one album, two tapes, and three EPs is too much music for one artist to release in one year.

 

[Spandex]

Lush - Split

I fucking love Lush.

 

[belboid]

Blimey, did Audible Slayers: A Buffyverse Story come out in 1994? Truly ahead of its time, that.

Yes, yes it did.

 

[ska invita]

Jungle is not an album format but the first truly great album IMO was DJ SS - Rollers Convention. Most of the tracks are in 12 inch format so outros can be a bit long, but no one seemed to mind that with Reprazent ....

SS is a big name but still underrated I think, anti midlands bias.

https://www.discogs.com/master/374697-DJ-SS-The-Rollers-Convention

 

[ska invita]

Arguably the best Alpha and Omega LP...
Safe In The Ark

https://www.discogs.com/release/149621-Alpha-Omega-Safe-In-The-Ark

 

[ska invita]

Oh and this was also 1994 from them! But made with a German production crew ... These two records massive influence on me..... Top militant political lyrics on this one

klang

https://www.discogs.com/release/216004-Iries-In-Roots-Meets-Alpha-Omega-The-Signs

 

[klang]

Yes huge records for me. Peak a&o

 

[klang]

Have been in my life permanently since they been released. Very inspiring stuff for me.

 

[ska invita]

The mighty Digables.... Playing in London in November iirc. Going to try and go to that

 

[stavros]

Officially Trailer was Ash's debut "mini album", and so not technically an EP.



And I think I prefer File Under: Easy Listening to Sugar's debut:

 

[ska invita]

one of my most played albums in 94...its only short though...jazz guitarist Ronnie Jordan with great beats from DJ Krush - trip hop I guess, but its more up beat than GB trip hop tunes ...more like jazzamatazz project

a little dated today I expect

https://www.discogs.com/master/45637-Ronny-Jordan-Meets-DJ-Krush-Bad-Brothers

and a strong back cover since we were talking about that

 

[ska invita]

Two best from JA that I can see are the late great Garnett Silk's final album Love Is The Answer (eta looks like there was a posthumous album too)....he died in Dec 1994, saving his mums life in a house fire...what a loss, what a voice

https://www.discogs.com/release/6669651-Garnett-Silk-Love-Is-The-Answer

Dancehall wise Terror Fabulous is top tier, the album is mainly killer, includes the big hit Action, but lots of strong tunes on there - maybe skip Waterbed Expert

https://www.discogs.com/release/10048507-Terror-Fabulous-Yaga-Yaga

 

[stavros]

No Take That album in 94, but we did get the second one from East 17:



Oh for the days when boy band members were called Brian and Tony (and The Other Two).

 

[ska invita]

The first Fugees album before they became famous...played this a lot in 94 but its pretty dated now, production was a bit basic...one track I still love is the Lauryn Hill solo rap track Some Seek Stardom, killer lyrics and flow

the production got better on later Fugees but the lyrics were great on this one

 

[ska invita]

Maleem Mahmoud Ghania with Pharoah Sanders – The Trance Of Seven Colors
This is pretty special but niche listening for sure...I bought it at random mainly because of the title Trance of Seven Colours ... this was the first time I'd heard Pharoah Sanders play.... I was blown away....its a mixture of what to me sounded like some form of traditional tribal african drumming and chants with Pharoah coming in and really blowing free and wild - felt very powerful and profound. I've never since looked up what the provenance of all this is, so interesting to read that:

"Originally released in 1994 on BILL LASWELL’s AXIOM imprint, “The Trance Of Seven Colors” is the meeting of two true musical masters: MALEEM MAHMOUD GHANIA (1951 – 2015), son of the master of Gnawa music MALEEM BOUBKER GHANIA and the famous clairvoyant and "moqaddema" A'ISHA QABRAL, and a master of the traditional Gnawa style in his own right.

MAHMOUD learned this craft as a youth along with his brothers, walking from village to village, performing ceremonies with his father BOUBKER and was one of the few masters (Maleem) who continued to practice the Gnawa tradition strictly for healing (the central ritual of the Gnawa is the trance music ceremony – with the purpose of healing or purification of the participants).

With 30 cassette releases of music from the Gnawa repertoire with his own ensemble and performances at every major festival in Morocco, including performing for the King in various contexts, MAHMOUD GHANIA was also one of Morocco's most prominent professional musicians.

In 1994, BILL LASWELL and PHAROAH SANDERS went to Mocrocco, equipped with just some mobile recording devices, to record GHANIA and a large ensemble of musicians (to a good part family members) in a very intimate set up at a private house with the legendary free jazz musician contributing his distinctive tenor saxophone sounds that gained him highest praise as a truely spiritual soul right from the days of playing with JOHN COLTRANE and his wife ALICE and on seminal solo albums like „Karma“."



Its amazing music I think but intense

https://www.discogs.com/master/1084374-Maleem-Mahmoud-Ghania-with-Pharoah-Sanders-The-Trance-Of-Seven-Colors

 

[Indeliblelink]

No mention of the Big Poppa debut yet?
The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die

 

[hitmouse]

No mention of the Big Poppa debut yet?
The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die

I was literally just coming here to post that, you beat me to it by a minute. Was going to say that I suppose it's a significant album but yet another one I've never actually heard before. Unlike this, which is a New York hiphop album I do know:

 

[hitmouse]

Turns out there are also Cows and Jesus Lizard albums from 1994 I've never heard before as well:



Uploader of that Orphan's Tragedy video seems to think it was 1995 but everything else I've seen says 94.

 

[hitmouse]

Also, I don't really know much of the Mountain Goats' catalogue before Galesburg, but turns out that, although there are cassette-only releases going back as far as 91, Zopilote Machine was the first proper album and that was 1994:

Apparently the full list of MGs releases for that year includes Taking the Dative, Yam, The King of Crops, Beautiful Rat Sunset, Philyra, and Why You All So Thief? I feel like one album, two tapes, and three EPs is too much music for one artist to release in one year.

Oh, and if you want to listen to a Mountain Goats song from 1994 but don't have the time for one album, two tapes, and three EPs, Going to Georgia is kind of the "hit" from Zopolite, although he somewhat disavows the song nowadays:

 

[zahir]

Os Tubarões - Porton D'Nós Ilha

 

[zahir]

Tito Paris - Dança Ma Mi Criola

 

[zahir]

Cássia Eller

 

[hitmouse]

You might think we've posted a lot of albums from 1994 already, but I suspect we've barely begun to scratch the surface: