Coleman's 1990's; Part six - 1995

Wow. Two months? Really? And a half? And it only feels like three...

Lame jokes aside, the summer break (not that there was supposed to be any summer break) is over and more than ever it feels that I'm just left on my own on this project. Which beats the point in a way but I'm reluctant somehow to switch off the lights just yet. Who knows, maybe the prospects of fame, money and occasional pint of gratitude are not completely lost yet. Besides, it's only 1995, can't give up before the end of the decade!

Of which '95 was just another year full of fantastic music. Something, you should be well used to by now... Have a little look then.

Closterkeller - Scarlet

Closterkeller is a band I've always had a bit of a problem with. As for me, they've always had that uncool and slightly cheap feel to them. The singer, Anja Orthodox, as most gothic princesses, was not very good looking (even then, in her younger years, I should add) and nowhere near as smart as often advertised. Her vocal mannerisms used to drive me absolutely nuts, being so mightily pretentious, it really made her sound like, shall we say mercifully, not a very well educated person. All that considered, Closterkeller was (for me at least) like a not very good Polish copy of a proper western band. Just like on TV, where every single good idea that comes from abroad is spoiled by polishness, like an elegant piece of garment with a stench of dampness and moth balls. So why bother then? Well, there were ups and downs but when they got it right, then the Closterkeller would shine like the blackest candle in the dungeon, and second, since they were the biggest band of that genre of the time, if you were into goth, cold wave and all that stuff, you just HAD TO be a Closterkeller fan. And so was I then, even if not always feeling comfortable with it. But with all the criticism I have, I'm still happy to admit that in that time Closterkeller was one of the most important bands for me and a one I still gladly come back to, even if it is for a handful of songs rather than full albums. And Scarlet is definitely one of those.

 Paula Jane Harvey - Down By The Water

 Now, this one's funny... We all know the artist. We all know the song. And we all know that Paula Jane, the only artist in history to receive a Mercury Prize twice, does take her music pretty much seriously. Ad yet, my earliest memory of this magnificent song is seeing the video on MTV while THESE TWO were taking the piss and making fart jokes (you know, after the big round bubble of air, when PJ is rubbing her belly? Shouting 'here comes another one!'? Yep, that one exactly). I guess the only thing that can be said is, when the song is THAT GOOD, nothing's going to spoil it. Besides, soon after that I got to know more about the album, about Mick Harvey's involvement and some time after, the whole Nick Cave affair (Murder Ballads was a bit of a give away, to be honest...). But even without all that extra dimension, To Bring You My Love was simply incredible and it was clear that whatever future holds it would be one of the albums that will forever remain in my collection. And quite a few years down the line this still proves to be true.

 Radiohead - Street Spirit

 Ah, Radiohead. That completely uninteresting band playing same music as the rest of Britain in mid-nineties. Which is such an odd thing to say now, with the hindsight, but back then there were still no signs of madness the band was about to inflict upon us. They've managed to grab my attention though (and I've got a feeling I wouldn't be alone in that) with this song. Which, as far as I can remember, I only stopped to listen to because of that incredible video. Good job I did. At least it gave me a chance to brace myself for the OK Computer's onslaught. But before things got really, really weird, to make us start asking WTF questions, for me, Radiohead starts with Street Spirit. Not a bad start, I say.

Faith No More - Evidence

Even though only three of us started posting, the initial interest was much greater with at least one more person getting as far as compiling the list of his top 50 of the nineties. Including him, Faith No More so far squeezed into four out of four. Does it make it the greatest band in the history of music? Maybe not. Does it make it the most important band of the nineties? Quite possibly, why not. Does it mean that my friends and me have similar music taste? Well, there is that, but still...

Interestingly enough, we all seem to agree that the best FNM album would be still Angel Dust. Which didn't stop us from choosing songs from different albums. Go figure. Speaking for myself I can only say that, again, from the word go I loved both, the song and the video. Even though the Angel Dust had the wow factor, the energy, the kick (and it pre-dated the whole grunge one-season affair, which scores it a handful of extra points), the Evidence was, at least for me, a sign that the Faith No More has grown up, that from now on, they're going to be not one, but two steps ahead of a curve. And it sounds great too, of course. The video steals the show though. The not-botherism shown throughout seems to reflect the self-confidence of the band at that time. They didn't have to prove anything to anybody any more. They were there to play whatever they wanted to whoever was interested and if not, well, bugger off then. Needless to say, I was more than happy to stay.

Tindersticks - No More Affairs

To be honest, Tindersticks is one of those bands that are always there, somewhere, but never quite in the centre of vision. I keep their CDs near Nick Cave's but they never seem to be as exposed on the shelf. I can go on for months not remembering about them at all, until a gust of nostalgia would grab me by the throat (usually around November, for some rainy reason) and make me reach even for the soundtrack albums. And it all started back then, with this very song. I've heard it on the radio (good old Radiostacja of the nineties...) and that was it. I managed to remember the name of the band, and the title of the album, but when I finally managed to buy the cassette, the song wasn't there. It took some years before I found out that Tindersticks have released two self-titled albums, not one. But I got there in the end. And to this day No More Affairs remains my favourite Tindersticks' song. Still as beautiful and enchanting as the first time. Enjoy.

Moloko - Day For Night

Moloko came to my attention first with their name (how could Clockwork Orange reference go unnoticed!) and secondly with their first single - Fun For Me. I wouldn't maybe say that I fell in love with Róisin, but you know... Let me just say it was a video I would welcome very eagerly if shown in the evenings. As much as it got me interested and looking out for whatever else would show up from Moloko, in the long run it would be the more melodic songs I would like most. I think this is where Róisin's brilliance shows most, since it seems to be the case with her solo albums as well. And even though I also like Moloko for that little touch of madness, I decided to go for a nicer song. The video is still mad, mind you.

Fading Colours - Black Horse

It's quite funny to think that Fading Colours, one of the leading bands of Polish goth scene started its career as Bruno Wątpliwy/Bruno The Questionable. And if you don't see why would this be funny, use your Google, Luke. What is less funny is that they've never really released an awful lot of material. As far as I can remember first three releases were just full of the same material, which got a bit boring after a while, but Black Horse still stands out as a bit of an anthem of that era. At least for me, which is perfectly good enough as far as I'm concerned. Or it might be just that I know this song in fifteen, quite similar versions. Whatever the reason, try to ignore the cheaply made video and let the music speak for itself. DeCoy's voice alone is well worth it.

Ken Ishii - Extra

Without trying to pretend I know more than I actually do, I'd like to admit, that if you ask me about Ken Ishii, I wouldn't be able to tell you much. Yes, I know about the link with the Detroit techno style, I even read in Wikipedia about it. But the simple truth is, I'm far from being an expert in this matter. And yet, this song was an obvious choice for me. Again, it was a case of music and the video working together. To start with, the video probably more than music, to be honest. But who could blame me... Manga and anime were all the rage  in those days and after just getting myself familiar with Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed I would watch that video drooling. I kind of rediscovered the music again a few years ago and maybe not to the point of getting more into the whole scene, but at least as far as Ken Ishii goes, it has an appeal that made it significant enough for me to include that track here.

Lacrimosa - Schakal

Lacrimosa was another band I've discovered thanks to Tomasz Beksiński's radio programme. And it had everything. Hugely charismatic voice, make up, hair dos and vampires, pompatic orchestrations... you know, the whole lot. Oh, and they sang in German. What's not to love? Well, yes, they may have been taking themselves a little bit too seriously, but that is hardly my problem anyway. Otherwise, pure goth, with all the props a lad like me (then) could only dream of but would never be confident enough to go for anyway. But that wouldn't stop me from soaking up the music like a sponge, quickly elevating Lacrimosa to the Pantheon of the best bands in life forever. Which, in this case, didn't last for ever nor even the whole life. But definitely long enough. It may be that it's more of a case of going back to Lacrimosa these days than having that still burning interest, but even if I don't listen to them as often as I once did, I still like them just as much. 

Which nicely wraps up the Anno Domini 1995. It started on a goth note and so it ends. It was also the last year of that decade so richly represented on my list. It took a lot of music to go through the first half of it, the remaining years we'll rather race through. Which also gives hope that you won't have to wait so long for more.

SHORTCUTS:

1990s Tracklist

Part One - 1990

Part Two - 1991

Part Three - 1992

Part Four - 1993

Part Five - 1994

Part Seven - 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999