1993

Pizzicato Five - Bossa Nova 2001
The Juliana Hatfield Three - Become What You Are
Blur - Modern Life is Rubbish
Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith & Devotion
Suede - Suede

This was the year I headed off to Brighton for my ill-fated university attempt. I was left with a momentous decision during my first week there. Using my limited budget, do I buy tickets to the soulless & futile Freshers Ball at a cavernous shite-club, or plump for Blur on the 'Modern Life is Rubbish' tour at Mandella Hall? Of course the fear set in and I chose the Ball, ending up rejected and alone, and the rest is history. Ah, what can I say about Pizzicato Five that hasn't already been said before, well quite a lot, at least in english. The greatest Japanese band in existence, to my head-mounted aurally sensitive appendages. This is their most enduring record, a classic from the first track, the least rock n' roll track in the world, perversely encalled 'Rock n' Roll', to the last, a dreamy 'Eclipse' complete with many 'doo doo doo's. Just checked, and it's not actually the last track, but it's good anyway. I was never that keen on Depeche Mode till this LP, maybe it was something to do with all the unfeasibly thin whiners in their 'Violator' t-shirts at college. The Juliana Hatfield album contains the best song written in 5 on the subject matter of the sordid american game of spin the bottle. Suede, a very studenty album for a very studenty year.