Live Ledge #171: 1999

Creating entire shows out of a year's worth of releases is generally an easy job, as exemplified by earlier broadcasts dedicated to 1984, 1989, and 1994. This show that consists of nothing but 1999 releases was much tougher than I expected. It simply wasn't a great year for music. The punk and grunge explosions of the earlier part of the decade were a memeory, and the labels were taking back control. Teen pop was starting to pop up, and computer-based production styles were beginning to take over the charts.
Every year has some great music, though, so I was able to fill up my two-hour slot on realpunkradio. Some Americana artists were beginning to widen their scope, as exemplified by Wilco's marvelous Summerteeth album. Other artists such as Tom Waits and Joe Strummer saw comebacks, and Guided By Voices actually utilized a real studio and producer (Rick Ocasek) to create their catchiest album to date.
While there is a dearth of "classics" from that year, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few forgotten treasures from 1999. Hopefully, you also find yourself reacquainted with some old faves on this episode. Grab it from iTunes or Stitcher, or...

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1. Paul Westerberg, Best Thing That Never Happened
2. Wilco, A Shot in the Arm
3. Alejandro Escovedo, I Was Drunk
4. Drive-By Truckers, Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)
5. Tom Waits, What's He Building In There?
6. Guided By Voices, Teenage FBI
7. The Velvet Crush, Kill Me Now
8. Grant Hart, Think It Over Now
9. Built To Spill, The Plan
10. Sleater-Kinney, Start Together
11. Supersuckers, The Evil Powers Of Rock 'N' Roll
12. The Fastbacks, Goodbye Bird
13. The White Stripes, Stop Breaking Down
14. Superchunk, Hello Hawk
15. The Promise Ring, The Deep South
16. The Get Up Kids, Red Letter Day
17. The Shods, All Kinds Of Girls
18. The Chesterfield Kings, I'm Not Like Everybody Else
19. Zen Guerrilla, Moonage Daydream
20. The Vindictives, Radio Radio
21. Rancid, Cheat
22. Cracker, White Riot
23. Unwritten Law, The Guns Of Brixton
24. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, X-Ray Style
25. Mike Ness, Don't Think Twice
26. Mike Ness, Ball And Chain (Honky Tonk)
27. Wesley Willis, Jello Biafra
28. D Generation, Every Mother's Son
29. The Mopes, My Heart Won't Bleed for You
30. Deadly Snakes, Born To Burn
31. The Stitches, Amphetamine Girl