Hey folks!

We’re well past the midpoint of the Best Album of 2001 Tournament, which means we need to start thinking about the next tournament, the Best Album of 1988. Towards that, I’m going to try and have a Sunday edition of the newsletter every week that highlights albums I and others think you should listen to and consider nominating. (Towards that, be sure to check out the end of this newsletter.) Previously, I’ve done these huge 15+ album info dumps, but that’s probably a bit weighty on you, the reader and listener, and it’s definitely weighty on me, the guy who has to put all this stuff together. So I’m going to limit the number of albums per newsletter to ~ 5 or so. Please, if you can, give these albums a listen, even if it’s only the first 3-4 tracks. (In my experience, that’s usually enough to form an opinion.)

Boye, DOSTA! DOSTA! DOSTA! (YouTube, Spotify)

Longtime Best Album Bracketeers will remember Boye from the 1990 tournament, when their album 78 got the #112 seed after much cheerleading from me and others. (It was, of course, wiped out by the #17 seed, Galaxie 500’s THIS IS OUR MUSIC, 316-102. This was Twitter era, so the numbers were bigger.) I really don’t have anything to say here than what I said at the time: Imagine if Elastica were Serbian, and took more influence from Gang of Four than Wire. You probably already know from that description if this is for you, but try it anyway. This is just like 78, full of bangers in that tense, post-punk New Wavey register. (Here, they add some turntable scratching, which in 1988 was pretty forward-thinking.) Rating: Love.

Jan Garbarek, LEGEND OF THE SEVEN DREAMS (YouTube, Spotify)

One of the purposes of these listening prep newsletters is to advocate for stuff that’s… well, if not difficult per se, then stuff that’s going to get some resistance. Like, say, jazz. Especially when it opens like saxophonist Jan Garbarek’s LEGEND OF THE SEVEN DREAMS, when the first reaction is likely, “What is this Kenny G shit?” STAY IN LINE. The whole album doesn’t always sound like that — a lot of it is driven by Naná Vasconcelos’ non-European percussion and Rainer Brüninghaus’s keyboards. textures, but to my mind it’s too propulsive to be ambient or New Age. I mean, parts of “Aichuri the Song Man” sound like Laurie Anderson’s backup band circa 1986. There are ambient (some might say New Age)And while it starts on a happy, Up With People note, to my ears it gets darker as it goes, creating an almost folk-horror feel. (That said, I think the Kenny G-esque saxophone melodies on the first track are marvelous.) I’ve listened to this sucker three times so far, not tired of it yet. Rating: Love.

Helen Ripley-Marshall, GREEN CHAOS (YouTube, Spotify)

Not much to say about this one — according to the bio info on Bandcamp, this was inspired by the ambient of Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream, but to my ears, Ripley-Marshall invents IDM a few years ahead of schedule. Pretty much every track on here could slot into one of the ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE comps from the mid-90s, high praise from me. Since this kind of electronic music is rare-ish for the 80s, I hope you give it a listen. Rating: Love.

Ornette Coleman, VIRGIN BEAUTY (YouTube, Spotify)

Ornette Coleman. Maybe you’ve heard of him? Jazz legend? Kind of invented the notion of free jazz? Coleman’s output in the 90s was limited, so we’ve never seen him in a tournament. Why not start now? What’s going on here is that Coleman’s using his electric jazz-funk backup band Prime Time (rather than his usual acoustic accompaniment), along with guest Jerry Garcia, to create some danceable bops for him to improvise some saxophone in front of. “Bourgeois Boogie” sounds indebted to Prince (was this Ornette’s son Denardo’s doing?) and “Happy Hour” has this country twang that’s totally incongruous and makes me laugh every time I hear it. What’s kind of crazy is that the drums and percussion often sound electronic, but there’s no indication they aren’t “real.” Anyway, every song is about four minutes, in and out, no fuss no muss. Give it a shot, see what you think. Rating: Like/Love.

Anna Vissi, TORA (YouTube, Spotify)

Another potential hard sell, but from a different genre angle: this is Euro pop-rock, arena-style. Think Cher around this time (no wait come back!), or perhaps adjacent to hair metal (please stay!). When I first put it on, I immediately thought, “Oh God, the cheese.” (Look at her pants!) But then a funny thing happened: the songs revealed themselves as hooky as hell, in a “leave no audience member behind” kind of way. The energy here infectious; I’m mentally waving my lighter by the end. Maybe I’d feel different if sung in English and not Greek, but it’s not, so there. One song is about sex? (I deduced this from the word “sex” being used a hundred times.) Again, probably not in the average Best Album Bracketeer’s wheelhouse, but give it 3-4 tracks. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised. Rating: Like/Love.

Thanks for reading! But please read this important announcement:

Starting now, I’m inviting people to send me one (1) 1988 album recommendation. This should be something you think is obscure or otherwise might not make it in the 1988 tournament on nominations alone. Use your best judgment. If you follow me on Bluesky (@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social), please DM me there, or you can send in your choice via email ([email protected]). I’d prefer to keep your recommendations secret, as I will reveal them in a series of Sunday newsletters. I also solemnly swear to listen to all your choices, but be warned, I often renege on my sworn vows to listen to things.

Thanks everyone!

Kent