Town and Country - Town and Country (1998)

"The Loam Hazard" by Town and Country

Josh Abrams juggled playing bass for The Roots in Philly—busking, doing open mics, recording, the like—with school at Northwestern. After graduation, he would stay in Chicago where he became a notable presence in both the jazz and improvised music scenes. After Organix, his next full album recording was Town and Country with his band of the same name. The independent music label BOXmedia released the album in 1998.

Town and Country describe their sound as "back porch minimalism." Their use of "minimalism" places them in the modern classical tradition. It's audible in how they construct their songs through a layering of drones and melodic repetition. The "back porch" implies a folk approach to the classical. It starts with the primary instrument choices: two bass (played by Josh Abrams and Liz Payne,) guitar (played by Ben Vida) and especially the harmonium (played by Jim Dowling.) The "back porch" also brings into account the band's improvisation, unrestricted by rigid sheet music, and the embrace of imperfection. The band's improvisations are slight and can be as simple as one of the drones shifting notes or as rare as the introduction of an unexpected melody amidst the layers—all in search of new sonic combinations. And error, too, can lead to new paths.

Of course, drone music is not for most people, but the "back porch" quality is an invitation to come and go as one likes or even join in. After all, the "back porch" is also a space as can be the music. This music has a flexibility to it. It can occupy a space but also warp that space or bend to it. Because the music is ruled by its minimalism, it becomes a deep exploration of the qualities of each instrument, their breath and texture and their amplitude. The musical space these explorations create can be loose enough to welcome natural sounds (especially if played where their descriptor implies) or dense enough to drown all thought in. The distance traveled from one to the other is the tension the music thrives on.

I think I'd like to listen this album again, outside, on a rainy day.

Here is the discography surrounding Town and Country's debut album:

Sonance Quarry (1997 compilation songs by Odradek and Belokwa String Ensemble)

Town and Country

Town and Country - February 5, 1999 BOXmedia Festival

"And See" by Town and Country

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Park - Scene 14 (1998)

"1000 Yard Stare" by Park


Baxter packaged the song "These Times" on the compilation album How to Be a Hero.  Of course, the compilation album featured about 15 other bands but most of them more established.  There was one other, sort of, "rookie band" on the compilation though:  Park.  From Springfield rather than Chicago (like the last handful of tour stops), Park plays a hard-edged pop-punk.  They released their debut album Scene 14 in 1998 on Playing Field Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Park's debut album:

Demo (1996 demo)
Blue Screen (1996 EP)
Mood Ring (1997 EP)
Atmosphere Only Gets You so Far (1998 compilation song)
Scene 14
The Sound of Sirens (1998 split EP)
How to Be a Hero (1999 compilation song)
Pocket Bomb (1999 compilation song)
Live at Viele's Planet (1999 live bootleg)
Random and Scattered (1999 EP)

"Racing a Train" by Park


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Racetraitor - Burn the Idol of the White Messiah (1998)

"Suffocation" by Racetraitor


As the tour keeps touring, let's keep following Pete Wentz.  We're not quite to the band he was most famous for fronting, and, in fact, our next stop is a band he wasn't in but with which he occasionally played fill-in bass.  Like Extinction, Racetraitor was a straight edge hardcore band from the mid-to-late 90s.  Short-lived, they released their only (short) album Burn the Idol of the White Messiah in 1998.

Here is the discography surrounding Racetraitor's debut album:

Hinckley (1995 single by Hinckley)
Continuing the Tradition Demo 1996 (1996 demo)
The Great Age of Enlightenment? (1998 compilation song)
Burn the Idol of the White Messiah
Make Them Talk (1999 split EP)
By the Time I Get to Pennsylvania (2016 single)
Invisible Battles Against Invisible Fortresses (2017 EP)
Compilation Vol. 1 - A Benefit for Animal Sanctuaries (2017 compilation song)

Racetraitor Live at the Fireside Bowl


Racetraitor Live at the Electric Factory


An Interview with Racetraitor's Andy Hurley


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Gomez - Bring It On (1998)

"Free to Run" by Gomez


Snow Patrol had trouble getting off the ground commercially, and they nearly missed their first best chance at an early boom in sales and promotion when Philips Electronics didn't chose them for their $100 million ad campaign for their new line of HD televisions.  They were passed over in favor of English roots-rockers Gomez who released their debut album Bring It On in 1998 and won the Mercury Music Prize for their trouble.

Here is the discography surrounding Gomez's debut album:

78 Stone Wobble (1998 single)
Bring It On
Get Myself Arrested (1998 single)
1998 BBC Sessions (1998 compilation album)
Whippin' Piccadilly (1998 single)

"Whippin' Piccadilly" by Gomez


"Get Miles" by Gomez


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Snow Patrol - Songs for Polarbears (1998)

"NYC" by Snow Patrol


Stow College is recognized for its successful student-run record label Electric Honey.  The label is a by-product of the college's music business program with a particular course geared towards the recording and release of a single by a local band the class would scout itself.  The label established its reputation with the discoveries of a handful of will-to-be breakout bands.  Belle and Sebastian were one of these discoveries and such a revelation at the time that the label broke its own model to release Belle and Sebastian's debut album rather than just a single.

Another one of Stow College's discoveries was Polarbear (previously known as Shrug), whose Electric Honey single included the participation of various Belle and Sebastian members.  Their success was not as immediate and the band had to find a bigger label for their debut album.  They eventually found a home on Jeepster Records but had to change their name in the process in order to avoid litigation with a stateside band of the same name.  Snow Patrol referenced the loss in the title of their 1998 debut album Songs for Polarbears.

Here is the discography surrounding Snow Patrol's debut album:

Starfighter Pilot (1997 EP as Polarbear)
Little Hide (1998 single)
One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed (1998 single)
Songs for Polarbears
Velocity Girl (1998 single)
Starfighter Pilot (1999 single)

"Velocity Girl" by Snow Patrol


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Anoushka Shankar - Anoushka (1998)

"Bairagi" by Anoushka Shankar


Anoushka Shankar is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Rajan. She started her training on the sitar at the age of ten under the tutelage of her father. Anoushka performed for the first time at 13 and started touring with her father at 14. She released her debut album Anoushka in 1998 at the age of 17.

Here is the discography surrounding Anoushka Shankar's debut album:

Anoushka

"Pratham Prem (First Love)" by Anoushka Shankar

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Reatards - Teenage Hate (1998)

"I Can Live Without You" by Reatards


Guitar Wolf stopped through Memphis on their first American tour and caught the attention of Eric Friedl of Goner Records. The independent label mainly released local garage and punk rock 'n' roll, but were impressed enough to get the publishing rights to Guitar Wolf's debut album. Goner Records has signed a number of bands and artists, but one of their most famous discoveries was Jay Reatard whom they signed at the age of 15.

Jay Reatard was born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr.  Originally, Jay was the only member of the Reatards, recording all of the instruments himself.  After signing with Goner, label leaders Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber helped play on and record his first single "Get Real Stupid" released in 1997.  Then, a more tour-ready band was put together with Elvis Wong Reatard and Steve Albundy Reatard (taking monikers ala Ramones) joining the band as drummer and bassist respectively.  Together the Reatards released another cassette in 1997 and their debut album Teenage Hate the next year.

Here is the discography surrounding the Reatards's debut album:

The Reatards (1996 cassette demo)
Get Real Stupid (1997 single)
Fuck Elvis, Here's the Reatards (1997 cassette demo)
Teenage Hate

"Out of My Head, Into My Bed" by Reatards


"When I Get Mad" by Reatards


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Black Eyed Peas - Behind the Front (1998)

"Fallin' Up" by Black Eyed Peas


In an attempt to move out of the underground hip hop scene, I find myself still stuck in the underground only nearly a decade removed from when I started. A Tribe Called Quest's and Black Eye Peas's debut albums are connected through one individual. Neither performer nor producer, sound engineer Tim Latham worked on both debuts as a mixer in charge of the recordings' final mixes (at least in part).

Released in 1998 through Interscope Records, Black Eyed Peas's debut album feels a decade late. By this time on the underground circuit, De La Soul and the Tribe's zeitgeist had run its course. As the curtain closes, Black Eyed Peas don't hesitate to follow both groups' themes, style, and diverse sampling catalog from their earliest years. The Peas even déjà vu when they intersperse game show skits amongst their songs, a concept previously used by De La Soul to better humor and success on 3 Feet High and Rising. Behind the Front feels like an album that missed the alternative boat and got stuck on the docks for a good six years.

As generic as that analogy is, that's about exactly what happened to the Peas. Amidst the group's history, they were originally known as A.T.B.A.N. Klann (A Tribe Beyond A Nation). They signed to Ruthless Records and were scheduled to release their debut album Grass Roots in 1992, but the death of Ruthless co-founder Easy-E left both the album and the group in limbo. In a state of flux, the Klann lost three of their members (originally a group of five) with only will.i.am (Will Adams) and Filipino rapper apl.de.ap (Allan Lindo, Jr.) remaining. They would reform as the original core of Black Eyed Peas. In 1995, the duo added a third in Mexican rapper Taboo (Jaime Gómez). A possible reason for the album's dated sound is the fact that the demos from which Behind the Front originated harken back to the Peas's A.T.B.A.N. Klann (early nineties) days. Most of the songs, in fact, simply added extra lyrics from Taboo before being mixed for the LP.

Unlike in other hip hop groups, the jobs of each Pea aren't clearly defined as MC, DJ, or hypeman. All three members of the Peas rap and the DJ work probably comes from the musical mind of will.i.am and the producers he worked with. Although they do sample music, the album also supplements the sound with session musicians, making the album sound fresh with smooth transitions. Although the album harkens back to a more innovative past, Behind the Front was released to positive reviews from critics but barely left a ripple on the commercial charts.

Here is the discography surrounding Black Eyed Peas's debut album:

Grass Roots (1992 unreleased album as A.T.B.A.N. Klann)
Fallin' Up / ¿Que Dices? (1997 single)
Behind the Front
Joints & Jam (1998 single)
Karma (1999 single)

"Karma" by Black Eyed Peas


If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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