Critics Roundup 1988

It’s official 1988 was a great year for music because it finally returned guitar-based pop to the chars where it belongs. Forget the turgid (Fl Acid House invasion which was merely a minimalist retread of early ’70s disco (what’s the betting on House Sucks badges in ’89?). No, for me the year was won by band like Voice Of The Beehive, The Primitives, and REM. Guitar pop music at its best, all three bands have a way with melody that is in turn breathtaking and plaintive.

R.E.M.’s ‘Green’ arrived late in the year, and is my No. 1 – but my most listened to album of the past ten months is Everything But The Girl’s ‘Idelwild’. A bittersweet classic, it sucks you in and blows you out in soft, whispering bubbles and is readily quite faultless. Space prevents me from waxing lyrical about Voice Of The Beehive, The Colorblind James Experience, Something Happens! and Prefab Sprout. Suffice to say, that if you haven’t heard these albums yet, do so pronto. You won’t be let down. Ultimately however, 1988– excellent music notwithstanding – was a year of hype: Acid House, Hothouse Flowers, Rattle and Hum (the movie, the book, the philosophy, etc … ) People most likely to in ’89? The Stunning, and Bintti (I kid you not …)