It was the year that grunge retreated from the center stage, signaling the rise of post-grunge on modern rock radio and indie-rock on the stations that existed on the left of the dial. It was the year the Wu-Tang Clan consolidated their strength via individual projects from Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, and Genius/GZA. It was the year electronica made inroads into the mainstream via Chemical Brothers and Goldie. It was the year D’Angelo released Brown Sugar, ushering in an era of neo-soul. It was the year trip-hop took hold. And it was the year where Britpop peaked, with Pulp releasing the classic Different Class during the thick of the Blur vs. Oasis battle. It was the year 1995 — the year when pop music in all its forms began to fracture into niches and, maybe because of that diversity, it was one of the best years of the ’90s.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine [Spotify]
One of my favorite years, almost all due to Britpopmania — not just Blur vs. Oasis, but Elastica, Supergrass, and especially Pulp, who top both my album and singles lists. Actually, ranking the albums and singles of 1995 is a bit of a fool’s errand for me, as most of my favorites could easily swap positions depending on my mood. On Spotify, there are a bunch of other highlights but, as always, licensing restrictions prevent some great songs (such as Dionne Farris’ “I Know”) from making the cut.
Pulp – Different Class
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
Elastica – Elastica
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Blur – The Great Escape
Tricky – Maxinquaye
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
Urge Overkill – Exit the Dragon
Menswear – Nuisance
Whale – We Care
Radiohead – The Bends
Gene – Olympian
The Boo Radleys – Wake Up!
Rancid – …And Out Come the Wolves
Stereolab – Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center
Helium – The Dirt of Luck
Mercury Rev – See You on the Other Side
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine
Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
Royal Trux – Thank You
The Amps – Pacer
Björk – Post
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
Matthew Sweet – 100% Fun
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
Eric Matthews – It’s Heavy in Here
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
Black Grape – It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah
Pulp – “Common People”
Oasis – “Some Might Say”
Supergrass – “Alright”
Take That – “Back for Good”
TLC – “Waterfalls”
Blur – “Country House”
Edwyn Collins – “A Girl Like You”
Gene – “Sleep Well Tonight”
Sleeper – “Inbetweener”
Cast – “Alright”
Rancid – “Time Bomb”
Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
Foo Fighters – “This Is a Call”
Menswear – “Daydreamer”
Whale – “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe”
Guided by Voices – “Motor Away”
McAlmont & Butler – “Yes”
The Boo Radleys – “Wake Up Boo!”
Ash – “Girl from Mars”
Pavement – “Father to a Sister of Thought”
Madonna – “Take a Bow”
John Bush
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Unwound – The Future of What
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation
Pulp – Different Class
The Black Dog – Spanners
Robert Hood – Nighttime World, Vol. 1
Eric Matthews – It’s Heavy in Here
Autechre – Tri Repetae
The Boo Radleys – Wake Up!
The Sea and Cake – The Biz
Moose – Live a Little Love a Lot
The Orb – Orbus Terrarum
Carl Craig – Landcruising
Goldie – Timeless
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
Radiohead – The Bends
Low – Long Division
Mercury Rev – See You on the Other Side
The Apples in Stereo – Fun Trick Noisemaker
Air – “Modulor Mix”
The Chemical Brothers – “Leave Home”
Pulp – “Sorted for E’s & Wizz”
Black Grape – “Kelly’s Heroes”
Ash – “Girl from Mars”
Stereolab – “Pop Quiz”
Moose – “Love on the Dole”
Boards of Canada – “Sixtyniner”
Aphex Twin – “Donkey Rhubarb”
Autechre – “Eutow”
J Majik – “Your Sound”
Photek – “UFO/Rings Around Saturn”
Dillinja – “The Angels Fell”
Plug – “Plug 1: Visible Crater Funk EP”
Carl Craig – “Science Fiction”
As One – “We No Longer Understand”
The Roots – “Proceed”
Blur – “Universal”
Brooks & Dunn – “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone”
The Orb – “Slug Dub”
Heather Phares
The 6ths – Wasps’ Nests
Björk – Post
Blur – The Great Escape
The Boo Radleys – Wake Up!
Elastica – Elastica
The Flaming Lips – Clouds Taste Metallic
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Bwyd Time
Helium – The Dirt of Luck
Mercury Rev – See You on the Other Side
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
Pulp – Different Class
Royal Trux – Thank You
Smog – Wild Love
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine
Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Tarnation – Gentle Creatures
Throwing Muses – University
Tindersticks – Tindersticks
Tim Sendra
When I saw we were doing 1995, I was all like whatever but then I quickly realized that a large number of my favorite albums of all time were released that year. A couple that changed the way I was thinking about music at the time, a few that had so many good songs it seemed impossible, and a handful that made me feel all teenage-y and raw as hell. You can guess which is which, send in the answer on a self-addressed 3×5 postcard.
The Apples in Stereo – Fun Trick Noisemaker
The Boo Radleys – Wake Up!
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
Comet Gain – Casino Classics
Holly Golightly – Good Things
Henry’s Dress – Henry’s Dress
Jawbreaker – Dear You
Magic Hour – Will They Turn You On or Will They Turn On You
Eric Matthews – It’s Heavy in Here
The Orchids – Striving for the Lazy Perfection
The Pastels – Mobile Safari
The Pooh Sticks – Optimistic Fool
Rancid – …And Out Come the Wolves
Rocket from the Crypt – Scream, Dracula, Scream!
The 6ths – Wasp’s Nests
The Softies – It’s Love
Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Stereolab – Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center
Swervedriver – Ejector Seat Reservation
Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix
1995 also produced the song I want played at my funeral. I suppose at that point most of my possibilities will be exhausted, but at least the handful of people there will have the most peaceful, easy-grooving song ever to listen to as they wipe away the tear(s).
The Pastels – “Worlds of Possibility”
Any of these jams would work just as well:
The Boo Radleys – “It’s Lulu”
CIV – “Can’t Wait One Minute More”
Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”
The Pharcyde – “Runnin’”
Rancid – “Ruby Soho”
The Rentals – “Friends of P.”
Skee-Lo – “I Wish”
Matthew Sweet – “Sick Of Myself”
Yo La Tengo – “Tom Courtenay”
Chrysta Cherrie [Spotify]
Air Miami – Me, Me, Me
Apples in Stereo – Fun Trick Noisemaker
Blonde Redhead – La Mia Vita Violenta
Dave Douglas’ Tiny Bell Trio – Constellations
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio – Big Cliff
Elastica – Elastica
Ben Folds Five – Ben Folds Five
Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
Fugazi – Red Medicine
Geraldine Fibbers – Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home
Guided by Voices – Alien Lanes
Guv’ner – Hard for Measy for You
Helium – The Dirt of Luck
Jawbreaker – Dear You
Myra Melford – Alive in the House of Saints
New Bad Things – Freewheel!
Slant 6 – Inzombia
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine
Sweet Baby/Brent’s TV – Hello Again
Mike Watt – Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
The 6ths – “Falling Out of Love (With You)”
Archers of Loaf – “Harnessed in Slums”
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – “Tha Crossroads”
Boss Hog – “I Dig You”
Jeff Buckley – “Last Goodbye”
Cardigans – “Carnival”
Mariah Carey – “Fantasy”
For Squirrels – “Mighty K.C.”
Guru – “Watch What You Say”
April March – “Chick Habit”
Monica – “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)”
Neutral Milk Hotel – “Everything Is”
Oasis – “Don’t Look Back in Anger”
Radiohead – “Just”
Redd Kross – “Lady in the Front Row”
Rocket from the Crypt – “Born in ‘69″
Smoking Popes – “Need You Around”
Smog – “Bathysphere”
Supergrass – “Alright”
Matthew Sweet – “Sick of Myself”
Gregory Heaney
Archers of Loaf – Vee Vee
At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul
Bolt Thrower – For Victory
Deftones – Adrenaline
The Flaming Lips – Clouds Taste Metallic
Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
Fugazi – Red Medicine
Guided by Voices – Alien Lanes
Karp – Suplex
Low – Long Division
Meshuggah – Destroy Erase Improve
Opeth – Orchid
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
Radiohead – The Bends
The Rentals – Return of the Rentals
Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine
Today Is the Day – Willpower
Ulver – Bergtatt
Unsane – Scattered, Smothered & Covered
David Jeffries
4 Hero – Parallel Universe
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – E 1999 Eternal
Buju Banton – ‘Til Shiloh
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
DJ Food – A Recipe for Disaster
Elastica – Elastica
Emergency Broadcast Network – Telecommunication Breakdown
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
Ken Ishii – Jelly Tones
Massive Attack – No Protection: Massive Attack Vs. Mad Professor
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers
Radiohead – The Bends
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
Renegade Soundwave – Next Chapter of Dub
Shaggy – Boombastic
Switchblade Symphony – Serpentine Gallery
Tricky – Maxinquaye
Various Artists – Give ‘Em Enough Dope, Vol. 2
Scott Walker – Tilt
Thom Jurek
My list doesn’t pretend to be representative of anything other than recordings from 1995 that have stuck with me in the ensuing 17 years; albums that I’ve pulled out at least once a year since they were released, and still resonate with me. Others were left off because some artists issued so many records in a given year I couldn’t choose from them. (For instance, I couldn’t decide which of the five Masada records, or which one of the half-dozen Anthony Braxton records — all issued in 1995 — so I’ve simply taken the easy way out and refused to make a decision. None of them are here.)
Scott Walker – Tilt
Tricky – Maxinquaye
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
Jackie Leven – Forbidden Songs of the Dying West
Kazutoki Umezu – Ecelcticism
Madredeus – Ainda
Cassandra Wilson – New Moon Daughter
Gavin Bryars – The Sinking of the Titanic
Grant (G.W.) McLennan – Horsebreaker Star
Don Byron – Music for Six Musicians
Steve Turre – Rhythm Within
Charlie Sexton – Under the Wishing Tree
Anthony Coleman – Sephardic Tinge
Chris Whitley – Din of Ecstasy
Tindersticks – Tindersticks
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
Ani DiFranco – Not a Pretty Girl
Long Fin Killie – Houdini
Lori Carson – Where It Goes
Carl Craig – Landcruising
A Guy Called Gerald – Black Secret Technology
Dirty Three – Dirty Three
Ornette Coleman – Tone Dialing
Model 500 – Deep Space
Money Mark – Mark’s Keyboard Repair
Pulp – Different Class
Courtney Pine – Modern Day Jazz Stories
Steve Roach/Vidna Obmana – Well of Souls
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Rey Azucar
Loren Mazzacane Connors – 9th Avenue
Paul Bley/Gary Peakcock/Franz Koglmann – Annette
Swervedriver – Ejector Seat Reservation
Buddy Miller – Your Love and Other Lies
Andy Kellman [Spotify]
Memory from the late evening of April 3, 1995: at work, opening a shipment of new releases from CEMA Distribution, pulling out the one copy of The Bends, and thinking something like, “These clowns were allowed to make a second album?” And then I placed stickers on 90 copies of Duran Duran’s Thank You.
Tricky – Maxinquaye
Throwing Muses – University
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
Claude Young – DJ-Kicks
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
4 Hero – Parallel Universe
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
A Guy Called Gerald – Black Secret Technology
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
Carl Craig – Landcruising
Slowdive – Pygmalion
Swervedriver – Ejector Seat Reservation
Goodie Mob – Soul Food
Goldie – Timeless
Scott Walker – Tilt
Chavez – Gone Glimmering
Faith Evans – Faith
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
Techno Animal – Re-Entry
Autechre – Tri Repetae
The Notorious B.I.G. – “One More Chance (Stay with Me Remix)”
Groove Theory – “Tell Me”
Junior M.A.F.I.A. – “Get Money”
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Brooklyn Zoo”
The Pharcyde – “Runnin’”
Photek – “Rings Around Saturn”
Aaliyah – “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number”
Method Man – “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By”
Maurizio – “M4″
Dillinja – “The Angels Fell”
Paperclip People – “The Climax”
Dopplereffekt – “Cellular Phone”
Green Velvet – “Flash”
Mariah Carey – “Fantasy”
Subway – “This Lil’ Game We Play”
Group Home – “Livin’ Proof”
Round Two – “New Day”
Adina Howard – “Freak Like Me”
Total – “Can’t You See”
Smoothe da Hustler – “Broken Language”
Jason Lymangrover
Autechre – Tri Repetae
Björk – Post
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
Elastica – Elastica
The Flaming Lips – Clouds Taste Metallic
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
Juliana Hatfield – Only Everything
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
Morphine – Yes
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
The Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia
Primus – Tales from the Punchbowl
Radiohead – The Bends
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
The Roots – Do You Want More?!!!??!
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Tricky – Maxinquaye
James Christopher Monger
Andy Prieboy – Sins of Our Fathers
Cornershop – Woman’s Gotta Have It
Red House Painters – Red House Painters
At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul
Radiohead – The Bends
Björk – Post
Mason Daring – Secret of Roan Inish
Jackie Leven – Forbidden Songs of the Dying West
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Aphex Twin – …I Care Because You Do
The 6ths – Wasp’s Nests
Various Artists – Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru
Garmarna – Vittrad
Julian Cope – 20 Mothers
Ben Folds Five – Ben Folds Five
Friends of Dean Martinez – The Shadow of Your Smile
Pulp – A Different Class
The Apples in Stereo – Fun Trick Noisemaker
Kurt Elling – Close Your Eyes
Scott Walker – Tilt
The Jayhawks – “Blue”
Whale – “Hobo Slumpin’ Slobo Babe”
Eric Matthews – “Fanfare”
Garbage – “Stupid Girl”
David Bowie – “I Have Not Been to Oxford Town”
Spookey Reuben – “These Days Are Old”
Throwing Muses – “Shimmer”
Adam Ant – “Wonderful”
Foo Fighters – “This Is a Call”
Elliot Smith – “Needle in the Hay”
Blur – “Universal”
Tears for Fears – “Raoul and the Kings of Spain”
Bruce McCulloch – “That’s America”
The Mavericks – “Missing You”
Oasis – “Wonderwall”
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks – “Orange Crate Art”
Spacehog – “In the Meantime”
David Bowie – “Buddha of Suburbia”
The Boo Radleys – “Find the Answer Within”
Catherine Wheel – “Judy Staring at the Sun”
Sean Westergaard
4 Guitaristes de l’Apocalypso-Bar – World Tour 1998
5ive Style – 5ive Style
Ashwin Batish – Sitar Power #2
Lurrie Bell – Mercurial Son
Blast – Wire Stitched Ears
William S. Burroughs – Naked Lunch
George Clinton – Dope Dogs
The Coctails – Long Sound
Dirty Three – Dirty Three
The Dream Syndicate – Day Before Wine and Roses: Live at KPFK, September 5, 1982
Freakwater – Old Paint
Wayne Hancock – Thunderstorms and Neon Signs
Wayne Horvitz & Pigpen – Miss Ann
Charlie Hunter Trio – Bing, Bing, Bing!
Mike Keneally – Boil That Dust Speck
Kiss Me Screaming – Kiss Me Screaming
Only a Mother – Feral Chickens
Hans Reichel – Lower Lurum
Cheikha Remitti – Sidi Mansour
Ned Rothenberg – Power Lines
Ned Rothenberg – Real and Imagined Time
John Zorn – Masada, Vol. 3: Gimel
James Wilkinson
Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix
Spiritualized – Pure Phase
The Jayhawks – Tomorrow the Green Grass
Blur – The Great Escape
Daryll-Ann – Seaborne West
The Cardigans – Life
Elastica – Elastica
Shack – Waterpistol
The Apples in Stereo – Fun Trick Noisemaker
Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball
Radiohead – The Bends
Ben Folds Five – Ben Folds Five
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Pulp – Different Class
Tindersticks – Tindersticks
Green Day – Insomniac
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith
Neil Young – Mirror Ball
Bruce Springsteen – The Ghost of Tom Joad
Super Furry Animals – “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwl”
Super Furry Animals – “Moog Droog EP”
The Bluetones – “Slight Return”
The Stone Roses – “Ten Storey Love Song”
Teenage Fanclub – “Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It”
Flying Saucer Attack – “Beach Red Lullaby”
The Beatles – “Free as a Bird”
Foo Fighters – “This Is a Call”
Further – “Distance EP”
Plush – “Three-Quarters Blind Eyes”
The Bluetones – “Bluetonic”
Ash – “Girl from Mars”
China Drum – “Wuthering Heights”
Paul Weller – “You Do Something to Me”
The Connells – “‘74-’75″
Tricky – “Black Steel”
Cast – “Finetime”
Smoking Popes – “Need You Around”
Sparklehorse – “Spirit Ditch”
R.E.M. – “Crush with Eyeliner”
Matthew Garbutt [Spotify]
Boss Hog – Boss Hog
Cee Bee Beaumont – Prestressed
Cornershop – Woman’s Gotta Have It
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
Dubstar – Disgraceful
Dutronc – Dutronc! Dutronc! Dutronc!
Flat Duo Jets – Introducing
Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
Goodie Mob – Soul Food
Madredeus – Ainda (Lisbon Story OST)
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
Pulp – Different Class
Rocket from the Crypt – Scream, Dracula, Scream!
The Black Dog – Spanners
The Kaisers – Beat It Up!
The Neanderthals – The Last Menace to the Human Race
The Sabres of Paradise – Haunted Dancehall
Thee Headcoats & the Headcoatees – The Sound of the Baskervilles
Tindersticks – Tindersticks
Tricky – Maxinquaye
Alex Reece – “Pulp Fiction”
Bomb the Bass – “Bug Powder Dust”
Daft Punk – “Da Funk”
Edwyn Collins – “A Girl Like You”
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – “Llanfwrog”
Gravediggaz – “Six Feet Deep EP”
Gretschen Hofner – “Acts of God”
Laika & the Cosmonauts – “Floating”
Massive Attack – “Karmacoma”
Paul Weller – “The Changingman”
Rockers Hi-Fi – “What a Life!”
Roni Size – “Time Stretch”
Saint Etienne – “He’s on the Phone”
Super Furry Animals – “Moog Droog EP”
The Astronauts – “War of the Satellites”
The Flaming Stars – “The Face on the Bar Room Floor”
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion! – “Bellbottoms!”
The Make-Up – “Blue Is Beautiful”
The Mummies – “Get Late!”
Tindersticks – “The Smooth Sounds of Tindersticks”
Richard Wilson
Buffalo Tom – Sleepy Eyed
The Flaming Lips – Clouds Taste Metallic
Snuff – Reach
Sebadoh – Rocking the Forest
Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Superchunk – Here’s Where the Strings Come In
Yo La Tengo – Electr-O-Pura
Radiohead – The Bends
Beatnik Filmstars – Astronaut House
Collapsed Lung – Jackpot Goalie
Dirty Three – Dirty Three
Goldie – Timeless
Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
The God Machine – One Last Laugh in a Place of Dying
Pavement – Wowee Zowee
Palace Music – Viva Last Blues
Pulp – Different Class
Spiritualized – Pure Phase
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix
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