A New Stereophonic Spider Spectacular

I have a nasty habit of picking up on good music several years after it has hit its prime and moved on to the bottom shelf of the CD rack or the clearance section at the record store.

The last few months have proved no exception. So, over a decade late, I would like to recommend the following:

Space - Spiders


Do you remember that song Female of the Species that was popular in the late 90s? It featured a large marimba part and a singer who couldn't quite tell if they were female or male. I hated this song when it came out and stabbed wildly at the radio whenever it came on.

But twelve years later, this song has become quite catchy to me, and even better, the entire album has that odd dark quirkiness that can't be shoehorned into any genre. The track Neighborhood also received airplay on X96 back in the day, but there are a lot of hidden gems on the rest of the album, especially Money and Dark Clouds.

I don't know how to recommend this CD to anybody because they don't really sound like any other group out there, so I guess give it a listen if you like weird stuff like bacon-print wallets, massive doses of Swedish Fish, obscure license plates, or t-shirts with giant happy tacos on them.

Hooverphonic - A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular


This is also a debut album, but isn't quirky like Spiders. Hooverphonic is Portishead after taking Zoloft, with some extra keyboards thrown in. The songs aren't as erotic, but they're not depressing either. They're also more harmonically rich, although not quite as interesting in their technical nature.

Listen to this album if you want lustful energetic sex, as opposed to seductive kinky sex from Portishead's self-titled album.

Next year I look forward to recommending albums released in 1997.