My Top Ten Singles of 1997

Didn't find most of this year's releases worth buying. For the record, I wasn't particularly impressed by Sleater-Kinney's highly praised Dig Me Out and while critics' darlings Radiohead had a neat album, it lacked a killer single. Maybe I'm becoming an old foagie, who refuses to really listen to new music, and remains mired in the music he already knows. Or maybe there's just not a lot of good music being made. I vote for the latter, since I managed to discover plenty of great reissues. Even in the worst of times though, there are songs which can't be denied. Here's ten tunes I said "YES" to in 1997 (in no particular order):

• "The Impression That I Get" - Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Ska-core pioneers finally hit big at the crest of the so-called "third wave" of ska. No rudie-come-latelies, they've been skanking away since before ska went mainstream. All they had to do was tone down Dicky Barrett's engagingly gargly vocals a smidgen, and voila!
• "Block Rockin' Beats" - Chemical Brothers - The title says it all. A sampled Schoolly D demands 'em and the Brothers deliver. Beats to bob your head, move your butt, and rattle your teeth. Beats Prodigy, hands down.
• "Somewhere" - Pet Shop Boys - More proof the Pet Shop Boys can make just about any song danceable and irresistable.
• "Electrolite" - R.E.M. - Their early work was described as having "melodies to make a young man cry". More than a decade later, they still haven't lost the touch. Hope they can survive the loss of drummer Bill Berry.
• "Hypnotize" - Notorious B.I.G. - Not a banner year for hip-hop. Drive-by deaths and bloated double albums were the order of the day. Biggie's 2-CD set is chock full of filler, but the singles pack a punch. "Hypnotize" is anchored by an assertive bassline which makes Biggie's boasts resound. The flipside, "I Got A Story To Tell" is a great gangster story with an after-hours-at-the-club feel. "Mo Money, Mo Problems" was the even more popular follow-up single, but its wholesale use of Diana Ross' "I'm Comin Out" shows a lack of innovation. Its thumping bassline, likely played by the late Bernard Edwards, is hard to resist, so I guess its an honorable mention. But keep in mind that its success led producer Sean "Puffy" Combs to even more uninspired ripoffs of 80's songs. Witness his butchering the Police for the Biggie tribute "I'll Be Missing You" or any number of his recent productions (Mase, etc.) [soapbox off]
• "Song 2" - Blur - Leaving behind the baggage of the "Brit-pop" label, they turn to the American indie/lo-fi scene for inspiration. And in return we get a single that blows away anything arch-rivals Oasis did this year -- in about one-third of the running time! Woo-hoo!
• "Autumn Sweater" - Yo La Tengo - With a hypnotic groove and sustained organ notes providing the basic melody, this is indie-rock's answer to the Smashing Pumpkins' "1979".
• "I JusWannaChill" - Large Professor - The "live guy with glasses" a.k.a. Extra P, explains his philosophy of life over a beat that's relaxed, but never slack. Some unobtrusive turntable scratching, a dying old-school art form, is the cherry on the sundae. I know it was actually released late in '96, but it got me through the year. Where the hell is his album!?
• "Volcano Girls" - Veruca Salt - A catchy song, convincing enough for me to buy the album (Eight Arms To Hold You) and realize how many better candidates for a single they had! Why they chose "Shutterbug" for the second single, I'll never understand. Especially since they had "Awesome" (indeed), "The Morning Sad" (The Bangles with a touch of metal), and "Loneliness is Worse" (a pretty ballad) available (just to name a few). Who cares if they've got heavy-metal-guy Bob Rock producing?
• "Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind - Yeah, yeah, I know. But when they sang "I want something else", it was a sentiment I could agree with, especially this year. Plus it was catchy enough that I was mouthing along without realizing it. So it makes the list -- deal with it.