1984
Arguably the French avant-garde icon's best work, Une Éclipse Totale de Soleil is a typically unsettling yet fascinating collage of quasi-industrial rhythms, children's voices, and Tazartès' own multi-layered howls, whispers, and warbles, mainly delivered in a self-invented language. The CD reissue also includes a later piece called "Il Regale Della Befana," a truly unhinged, theatrical performance which memorably incorporates mangled Sex Pistols samples.
June 8, 1993
Urge Overkill's crash-and-burn was one of the saddest stories of the '90s alt-rock explosion, but 1993's Saturation was their great moment of flashy glory before things went sour. While their early albums made them sound like a canny parody of a '70s arena rock band, Saturation was where they gained the skills and production smarts to become the sort of band they pretended to be, and its roar and swagger made this album a masterpiece.
