Another strong year - for me it was a tough choice between Beck, DJ Shadow, Stereolab and Pulp - I love Sleater-Kinney, but they wouldn’t really hit their stride until Janet Weiss came on board for their next record. Tossing a coin, I’m going with Stereolab, but there are plenty of good options here.
I have almost everything on this list, but albums that I used to think were fantastic (see: Odelay) wore out their welcomes. It came down to three:
Sleater-Kinney: Call the Doctor. It’s not quite All Hands on the Bad One, but I do like it a lot and still listen to it.
Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup. I just relistened to this after the other poll…it really is remarkable, and I can’t think of much else like it. This gets my vote.
Wilco: Being There. A really good album from a band about to stumble into greatness. Bring on Summerteeth (in 3 years)!
ETA: PS Hey, woodstockbirdybird…thanks for putting these polls together! They’re making me dig out music I haven’t thought of in a while, to good effect.
My pleasure!
Sleater-Kinney, I think. Maybe not the best but I still go back to that album more than most.
Great list! Went with Beck.
Pulp: Different Class
Pulp was pretty much the only Britpop band that I liked at the time and that album still holds up.
I found Blur’s music silly and hated, hated, hated Oasis which I considered on of the most overestimated bands in history (and still do).
For me, ultimately, this came down to two stellar fucking LPs: Different Class and Odelay. And ultimately, it took just one - ONE - song to make my decision for me. So. As good as Odelay is (and it’s REALLY fucking GOOD), it doesn’t boast a song as transcendent, as bloody perfect as “Sorted for E’s & Wizz”. So I had, just HAD, to go with Pulp.
Good list, I voted for Everything But The Girl.
Pulp for me, not just one of the best albums of '96, but the whole decade.
I think you misspelled “Common People”.
So tough here. I went with S-K, perhaps my favorite band of the last 20 years. (And despite it lacking Weiss on that album, it may well be my favorite, although Dig Me Out and the Woods are close.) The Stereolab album is my second favorite, with Beck, Dj Shadow, and Pulp just behind.