Best spins of 1996

It would be a critic's cliché to say the music of 1996 was simply more of the same. And while the world's most prostituted popular art was indeed butchered some more last year and audiences were saturated with what we can, for the sake of convenience, dismiss as meaningless re-hashings, it would be negligent not to go back with a fine-toothed comb to bring forth the memorable moments.

Rock 'n' roll suffered through many more re-workings of the Nirvana precedent -- there were a few artists who delved further back than 1990 in search of musical influences.

Meanwhile, the artist currently known as Beck, who had previously been dismissed as a one-hit-wonder due to having enjoyed the success of a hit single, "Loser" (none of the above-mentioned bands would know anything about that), broke out his old records by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Afrika Bambaataa and Pussy Galore, along with two turntables and a microphone. And he made the best record of the year, Odelay.

Guided By Voices drew upon the power-pop of The Who, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Byrds and Big Star, and made a strong album of pure pop rock 'n' roll.

While it is another cliché to say popular music has been deteriorating for quite some time now, some fans are looking deeper for explanations why spirited rock 'n' roll exploits have become so few and far between.

"You have to love music to make good music,

and I don't think that's happening much," said Adam Bujaj, member of local pop band Jason Likes Science and clerk at Arboria Records, 119 E. Beaver Ave.

Matt Bujaj, Adam's older brother by five years, agreed, displaying a loss of faith in the younger generation's musical pool.

"All my favorite albums are by older people. It's frustrating, because I'm not excited at all by what the younger bands are doing," Matt Bujaj said.

Some of the favorite albums of the Arboria staff include the releases by Los Lobos, Steve Earle, Patti Smith, Ernest Ranglin, Johnny Cash, Iggy Pop, Social Distortion, Guided By Voices, Chris Isaak, the Lemonheads, Superdrag and a compilation called Rig Rock Deluxe -- A Musical Salute to the American Truck Driver. The store's staff also liked jazz releases by Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders and Ornette Coleman. Adam Bujaj particularly like the 1996 release by British pop band Ride.

Paul Guzik, manager of Blue Train Compact Disc, 418 E. College Ave., shed light on the success of releases by local artists last year.

The Dirges album released early in the year and the e.p. released more recently did quite well, he said, in addition to releases by John Cunningham and Queen Bee.

"Sideshow Bob is one of the best sellers," Guzik said. Among other State College-based bands that released albums in 1996 were The Earthtones, Bump, Spider Kelly and Simple Gifts. Former State College natives Ruder Than You released an album at the end of the year, and Washington, D.C. punk bands The Delta 72 and Kerosene 454, both of which include members of defunct State College punk bands, put out albums.

The collective staff favorites at Vibes, 226 E. College Ave., include the releases by Beck, Cake, Tool, Sublime, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Butthole Surfers, R.E.M., Tricky, Wilco and Fiona Apple.

"The college music scene had a lot of new releases, so I think it was a good year for us," Vibes manager Nina Klein said.

Klein pointed out that 1996 harvested a bumper crop of new artists releasing either debut or follow-up albums.

"In past years, people were upset if a megastar didn't release an album, but megastars don't do as well in the college market anymore," Klein said. "People are looking for something new and different."

And although some record companies are said to be falling into a trend of high-speed milk-it marketing that causes artists' popularity to burn out fast, fans are excited about the diversity being created.

"I really like that there aren't certain staples of the music industry (anymore)," said Whitney Vass, music director for WKPS-FM (90.7).

Vass said she likes the fact that labels are being more courageous in who they sign and what they release because it allows for a great deal of experimentation on the artist's part. In accordance with her taste for experimentation of new artists, Vass's two favorite albums of 1996 were debuts by brand new bands, The Make-Up and Modest Mouse.

"There's so many different things out there," Vass said.

Ted Swanson, general manager of WGMR-FM (101.1), does see a couple of trends forming for the new year, however. For one, there is a wave of industrial music on the rise, Swanson said, such as Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills and Marylin Manson.

"I think you're going to see a lot less guitars and a lot more turntables," Swanson said.

"It's really time for (rock) to re-invent itself. Going into next year there's going to be a lot of cool new music. New artists that will be the future," he said.

Among artists that are falling into heavy rotation on WGMR are Fountains of Wayne and Kula Shaker, Swanson said.