1999: Top 50 Singles

Time for the final installment of our '90s Singles project - I hope you had as much fun listening to our playlists as we did compiling them!

Once a month since February we've been revisiting a year from the '90s and choosing our 50 favorite singles of that year, the majority of which you can stream through our Grooveshark playlists . The complete Top 50 lists can be found in Cool Music Database, the central hub for all our year-end lists, while you can easily find all our '90s related Top 10 posts by clicking here.

Our 1999 Top 50 Singles list is actually an updated version of the first ever year-end singles list that we published in the first incarnation of Cool Music Central which was launched in the summer of 1999 as a DIY webpage hosted by Netscape. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, but I still consider Sleater-Kinney's "Get Up" to be not only one of the band's finest moments but also one of the most moving songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening. The fact that the same year The Flaming Lips also released the greatest single of their amazing (and, of course, ongoing) career, while Primal Scream reinvented dance-punk with the venomous "Swastika Eyes" only helps to make 1999 one of the strongest years for music in the second half of the '90s, preparing the ground for an even better 2000.

Here's our Top 10 Singles of 1999 with accompanying videos (official or unofficial) - go here for the complete Top 50:

1.   Get Up - SLEATER-KINNEY
2.   Race For The Prize - THE FLAMING LIPS
3.   Swastika Eyes - PRIMAL SCREAM
4.   Hot Topic - LE TIGRE
5.   Metal Fingers In My Body - ADD N To (X)
6.   Pretty Please - VERBENA
7.   I Can't Wait - BRASSY
8.   Touch Sensitive - THE FALL
9.   6 Track EP - ELASTICA
10. Teenage FBI - GUIDED BY VOICES

The Cribs, live @ Kyttaro Club (Athens, November 15, 2012)

It was certainly long overdue. After almost ten years in the game, in which time they've built up a solid discography boasting no less than five first-rate albums, finally someone invited The Cribs over to Athens for their first ever Greek show. Unfortunately, a combination of lack of airplay and inadequate media coverage led to a sparsely attended gig, a missed opportunity for local music fans to enjoy in action one of the most consistent bands of Brit rock in recent years.

Thankfully for those of us in attendance, the band didn't hold back at all. The Cribs took to the stage after a brief set by local, grunge-influenced, indie rockers Keyser Soze and did their best to raise the temperature of the rather cold room. Ryan Jarman chatted with the fans, took requests and granted the wish for them to play "Bastards of Young", the band’s cover of The Replacements’ classic which wasn't on the planned set list, and towards the end of the show he ended up playing his guitar among the small but appreciative crowd.

The well-balanced 70-minute set included several tracks from the band’s latest album "In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull", without ignoring their strong back catalog. All five albums were represented in the set with the best moments coming from "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" and "The New Fellas", my two favorite Cribs albums.

The absolute highlight of the show came when the band played in succession "Be Safe", their Lee Ranaldo collaboration with Lee delivering his spoken word part through video, and their two best singles, "Hey Scenesters!" and "Men's Needs". Other highlights included "Mirror Kissers", "I’m a Realist", recent single "Glitters Like Gold" and set-closer "City Of Bugs" where the band ceremoniously trashed the staged and waved goodbye. A fine performance by a truly great live band that deserved a bigger audience.

Keyzer Soze

The Cribs - I'm a Realist, live @ Kyttaro (Athens, Nov. 15, 2012)

Ty Segall, live @ An Club (Athens, November 10, 2012)

Despite rumors to the contrary, rock music remains in fine health in 2012. It may be difficult in this day and age to find something truly new, something you’ve never heard before in the six decades since Bill Haley and His Comets rocked around the clock, but as long as there are musicians of Ty Segall’s caliber with the remarkable ability to effortlessly transmit their energy and passion to the fans, I see no reason for concern about the future of electric music.

Psychedelic garage punk has found fertile ground in San Francisco in recent years and the amazingly prolific Ty Segall has become a key player in this scene alongside Thee Oh Sees, who also paid us a visit recently. This sound always had a small but devoted fanbase in the local underground rock community, and it seems that the time is right for a new generation to embrace it as well, as Ty Segall’s tightly packed gig at An Club proved last Saturday.

With an already solid discography which was enriched this year with the aggressively noisy "Slaughterhouse" and the more melodic and accessible "Twins", Ty Segall has the right material at his disposal for a great live set. And, indeed, Segall and his band delivered the goods in spades, in a 65-minute storming performance with two encores that gave us exactly what we needed: heavy doses of delirious, incandescent garage rock.

It’s not easy to pick highlights in such a thrilling set but, if I had to choose, my vote would go to "You're The Doctor", "The Hill", "Oh Mary", as well as the brief cover of Black Sabbath’s "Paranoid". In fuzz we trust!

Ty Segall - Oh Mary, live @ An Club (Athens, Nov. 10, 2012)

Listening Habits 09-10.12

As we’re coming closer to the end of 2012 and the beginning of the annual internet listmania, let’s take a closer look at our favorite albums and tracks of this autumn:

Cat Power’s return to action with "Sun", her first album of original material in six years, turns out to be a runaway success here at Cool Music Central. Both of the album’s singles, "Ruin" and "Cherokee", have been in heavy rotation for the last few months and now the album itself tops our autumn Top 15 list. Arguably this type of success will not solve any of Chan Marshal’s recent troubles, but we do feel she has done an exceptional job with this record and we’d like to send her our best wishes for a speedy recovery. "Peace and Love" to you, too, Chan!

Meanwhile, the '90s comeback is at full swing right now, with several of the era’s indie rock protagonists offering excellent new albums that can stand their own against their ace back catalog. Bob Mould’s "Silver Age" is a return to the sound of his Sugar years, a record that proves he can still produce the same fire and fury that inspired the early '90s alternative rock explosion.

With the release of "I Bet On Sky", Dinosaur Jr.’s third post-reunion album, the original line up of the band now has as many albums as it did in its '80s heyday. Although it’s rather impossible to reproduce the excitement of a record like "Bug", there’s no denying that the new material has the strength to inspire the same awe and keep the band at the top of today’s noisemaking elite, without any help from their past glories.

Other notable returns of our '90s indie rock heroes include the reunited Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with the hard-hitting "Meat and Bone" and Corin Tucker with her ace, blues-killing, second solo work "Kill My Blues". Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Wolf Parade - Handsome Furs vocalist - guitarist Dan Boeckner have joined powers as Divine Fits and have produced a thing of divine noise-pop beauty, "A Thing Called Divine Fits". Ariel Pink has gone hi-fi for "Mature Themes", a record whose psychedelic experimentation pays off handsomely, a statement that is also true for Tame Impala’s "Lonerism". Wild Nothing offer the purest of pop delights with "Nocturne", while Canadian newcomers METZ are here to kick ass and take names with their vicious noise bomb of a debut album. Killer staff, indeed!

Top 15 Albums

1.   Sun - CAT POWER
2.   Silver Age - BOB MOULD
3.   I Bet On Sky - DINOSAUR JR.
4.   A Thing Called Divine Fits - DIVINE FITS
5.   Metz - METZ
6.   Mature Themes - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
7.   Lonerism - TAME IMPALA
8.   Nocturne - WILD NOTHING
9.   Kill My Blues - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. Meat And Bone - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
11. Twins - TY SEGALL
12. Circles - MOON DUO
13. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES
14. Centipede Hz - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
15. Four - BLOC PARTY

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Wet Blanket - METZ (mp3 via sub pop)
2.   My Love Is Real - DIVINE FITS
3.   Peace And Love - CAT POWER
4.   Elephant - TAME IMPALA
5.   Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know - DINOSAUR JR.
6.   You’re The Doctor - TY SEGALL
7.   Only In My Dreams - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
8.   Paradise - WILD NOTHING (mp3 via rolling stone)
9.   Neskowin - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. I Got Nothing - DUM DUM GIRLS
11. Star Machine - BOB MOULD
12. Black Mold - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
13. Sleepwalker - MOON DUO
14. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES (mp3 via spinner)
15. New Town Burnout - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
16. Octopus - BLOC PARTY
17. Secret Days - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS (mp3 via stereogum)
18. Fireflies - STILL CORNERS (mp3 via pitchfork)
19. Wrath Of God - CRYSTAL CASTLES (mp3 via stereogum)
20. Underground - THE DARK RAGS

Wild Nothing - Paradise, starring Michelle Williams!

New Releases: October 2012

Round up of October’s most interesting albums, singles and EPs:

Albums

Metz

METZ - Metz
TAME IMPALA - Lonerism
BAT FOR LASHES - The Haunted Man
MOON DUO - Circles
...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD - Lost Songs
TY SEGALL - Twins
TAMARYN - Tender New Signs
PAUL BANKS - Banks
FLYING LOTUS - Until The Quiet Comes
DEATH GRIPS - No Love Deep Web
TITUS ANDRONICUS - Local Business
TRASH TALK - 119
BO NINGEN - Line The Wall
EGYPTIAN HIP HOP - Good Don't Sleep
TAKEN BY TREES - Other Worlds
TOPS - Tender Opposites
THIS MANY BOYFRIENDS - This Many Boyfriends
ALLAH-LAS - Allah-Las
BENJAMIN GIBBARD - Former Lives
A.C. NEWMAN - Shut Down the Streets
MARK EITZEL - Don't Be a Stranger
JASON LYTLE - Dept. of Disappearance
TILLY AND THE WALL - Heavy Mood
EARLIMART - System Preferences
PINBACK - Information Retrieved
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR - Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend!
MASERATI - Maserati VII
DAPHNI - Jiaolong
U.S. GIRLS - GEM
KENDRICK LAMAR - Good kid, m.A.A.d city
SEAPONY - Falling
CHELSEA WOLFE - Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs
PETER BUCK - Peter Buck
JASON MOLINA - Autumn Bird Songs
MOUNTAIN GOATS - Transcendental Youth

Singles & EPs

Brats

LIARS - Brats
BAT FOR LASHES - All Your Gold
STILL CORNERS - Fireflies (mp3 via pitchfork)
HOSPITALITY - The Drift / Monkey
JACK WHITE - I'm Shakin'
THE BLACK KEYS - Little Black Submarines
BEST COAST - Do You Love Me Like You Used To?
DJANGO DJANGO - Life’s A Beach
EGYPTIAN HIP HOP - Syh
FOUR TET - Lion / Peace for Earth
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - Cough Cough
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - Cholla
PINS - Luvu4lyf EP
MUSHY featuring A.R. KANE - My Life So Far
TIMES NEW VIKING - Over & Over EP ("Sleep-In" video)
MY DISCO - Wrapped Coast / All I Can Do
THE DEATH RAYS OF ARDILLA - Diamonds / Daggers
PALMA VIOLETS - Best Of Friends / Last Of the Summer Wine
CHARLIE BOYER AND THE VOYEURS - I Watch You / Be Nice
DEAP VALLY - End Of The World
FUN ADULTS - Sap Solid
ANGEL HAZE - New York (mp3 via stereogum)
ALT-J - Something Good
DEAD CAN DANCE - Opium
FEAR OF MEN - Mosaic / Your Side

TELEPATHE - Destroyer

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD / HELL'S BEACH - Turpentine / Teenage Whore

THE WALKMEN - Dance With Your Partner / Vermeer ’65

1998: Top 50 Singles

Time for our monthly trip back to the '90s, with another killer playlist featuring our favorite singles from 1998.

Despite a recent “gleeful” attempt to ruin it, “Celebrity Skin” retains its captivating glam rock glow after all these years and remains one of the best moments of '90s alternative rock. The lead single from Hole's third album of the same name was co-written by Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson and Billy Corgan and became the band’s most commercially successful release, reaching number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song on the b-side of the single, the gorgeous “Best Sunday Dress” (co-written with Babes In Toyland’s Kat Bjelland and originally recorded by their short-lived band Pagan Babies in 1985) is another reason for naming “Celebrity Skin” our Single of the Year for 1998.

Check out below the Top 10 and click here for the complete Top 50 Singles of 1998 list:

1.   Celebrity Skin - HOLE
2.   Waltz #2 (XO) - ELLIOTT SMITH 
3.   Goddess On A Hiway - MERCURY REV
4.   Somethin' Hot - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
5.   Space Lord - MONSTER MAGNET
6.   Boys Better - THE DANDY WARHOLS
7.   Intergalactic - BEASTIE BOYS
8.   Sunday - SONIC YOUTH
9.   A Perfect Day Elise - PJ HARVEY
10. Talk About The Blues - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION

The 1998 playlist: