Nena Nena
Krautrock!! I used to know this album by heart, a reason why I was ahead in German lessons in school, fact that made my German teacher Mr. Van Bever very happy. 99 Luftballons of course is a classic, but there are other good songs on the album. The other single Nur Getraümt is one of them, and Kino is a great opener. Also slightly 'different' songs like Indianer or Satelliten-Stadt are highly recommended.
The New Inspiration We bought this because one of the members of this band is a long-time colleague of Jan. And my Mum was a fan back in the 60's. It's a small world. One of the first Belgian bands to score a hit in the U.S.A., together with The Pebbles.
Nine Inch Nails Nirvana A pivotal album in the history of rock, making 'alternative music' or 'alt-rock' more mainstream (whether that was, in the end, a good thing... that's debatable), and shooting the band into stardom, a fact they obviously didn't handle too well. But, when you forget about all those things, this still is a great album: it's very consistent and the band plays very powerful and tight. The guitars sound raw and exciting, Kobain screams out his frustrations and angst in songs sometimes filled with distortion, fuzz and echo, but the song structure never gets lost in too much noise. Smells Like Teen Spirit, even though it's been played to death on every radio station, still sounds as powerful as it did in the early days. The guitars in Come as You Are sound fantastic, Lithium is another outstanding track with classic tempo changes.
Should have gotten MTV Unplugged in New York instead of this From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, even though I think I may be nitpicking here. It's just that this album is a bit haphazard due to the different sources of the live tracks, and some essential songs are missing (Come as You Are, All Apologies). Still, this is Nirvana at the peak of their live performances, with chilling versions of Drain You and Breed and a beautiful Heart Shaped Box.
The Nits I've always loved the music of this Dutch idiosyncratic band, songs like J.O.S. Days, Sketches of Spain, or Adieu Sweet Bahnhof were often played on the radio and they always sounded good. But it wasn't until the most wonderful song In the Dutch Mountains that I was tempted to buy an album, and I opted for this double live album. And it's very good indeed, with excellent versions of the aforementioned songs.
The Notwist Novastar This eponymous debut album is one of the best Belgian albums to appear in 2000. Where Did We Go Wrong? is the question asked in the first song of the album, and the answer is simple: nowhere at all. This album fully deserves the exhilirant reception it got: raving reviews, top spots in diverse hit lists and girls swooning when they spot 'beautiful young god' Joost Zweegers. Sometimes Zweegers' falsetto doesn't have the effect it's supposed to have, and some songs are a tad too sweet, but that's about the only criticism I can think of on an otherwise fantastic album. Wrong is by far the best song, closely followed by The Best Is Yet to Come, Lost & Blown Away and Moreau. Go get it!
Promo CD given away by Belgian magazine Humo, with 3 acoustic versions of songs of the Novastar album. Quality is the keyword.
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