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Matthew Sweet: "Time Capsule: The Best of Matthew Sweet 90/00" |
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Volcano Records
Of the significant artists
to emerge in the Nineties, Matthew Sweet was the odd man
out. During a decade which featured cynicism,
overstatement and over all mean spiritedness, Sweet
captured an audience with subtlety, honesty and
unpretentiousness.
As a sophisticated aural designer of hip rhythms,
Sweet absorbed the works of the Sixties B-bands, The
Beatles, Beach Boys and the Byrds. He combined their
harmonious styles with the Seventies Rock and Roll
avatars, Neil Young
and Big Star, to create something
uniquely his own. Each of his songs are highly personal
and fresh, but with an understated appreciation of the
Old Masters.
Sweet is that rare artist who seems directly and
intimately knowable through his work; as much as
anything, this belief has caused his audience to feel a
close bond with him. However, outside of those who have
found him and those critics who have sung his praises,
Sweet has never enjoyed the commercial notoriety that
other bands seem to have found.
With short stints in Oh-OK (with Michael Stipe's
sister) and Buzz of Delight,
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Sweet released his first
album in 1986, entitled Inside, which
was highly polished but nothing special.
He followed this
up in 1989 with Earth, which featured
dueling guitars, buoyant melodies and drum machines, as
he seemed to try and find himself artistically.
Taken as a whole, the five albums he made during the
Nineties can be seen as a spiritual ride, a compendium of
insights and a neoclassical epic from the decade's
preeminent pop formalist. This anthology features these
albums, which includes Girlfriend, Altered
Beast, 100% Fun, Blue
Sky on Mars and In Reverse. It
also includes two previously unreleased tracks, Ready
and So Far, which although will never garner
commercial success exemplifies the rhythmical brilliance
of Sweet.
This anthology hits both his few commercial successes,
like Girlfriend, Time Capsule and Devil
with the Green Eyes, but also shows the musical and
emotional depth with songs like You Don't Love Me and
Someone to Pull the Trigger. Unlike other
"greatest hits" albums, this anthology succeeds
in telling a story; 90/00 tells the
story of an artist's coming of age.
By Aly Hirji, CanEHdian.com
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