Picking the best 10 releases of the past year is nearly impossible when we've heard hundreds of records, some great, some forgettable. Here are our columnists' and editors' selections as the creme de la creme of 1993. Blues to Ireland emerge from the throat 1. Give It Up to Love~Mighty of Sheila Chandra, singing her Sam McClain (AudioQuest). meditations over layered tamboura Blues with soul gets no deeper and guitar drones. than McClain's red-clay heart. 4. Asian Pusion-Ancient Future 2. Bent Out of ShapeBobby Parker (Narada). Another album of r (Black Top). 30 years of pent-up Eastmest melodies, this time energy rush out into this electric using plucked string instruments singer/guitarists's debut album. from Vietnam and China. - 3. Still RiveRonnie Earl (AudioQuest). Viosoguitarist 5. EkstasifÑNick Skopelitis (Axiom). Burning techno-world and songwriter Earl plays only instrumentals and still man- fusion mixed in a cauldron of Skopelitis' mutant guitar- ages to create a new classic. and Bill Laswell's psychedelic production. 4. feel Like Doin' Somethin. Wronfledefl Davis (Fat 6. Enn~HirokiOkano (Innovative Communications). A 1. Gray Areas-P.O. BOX808, Possum). The debut of the last great country-blues stylist. meticulously crafted album of synthesizers and Japanese Broomball, PA 19008-0808. 5. The Cobra Records Story~variousartists (Capricorn). This winds, strings and percussion. 2. Half Truth-P.O. BOX 931013, CD box captures the sound of ghetto blues and early rock. 7. Into the LabyrinthÑDea Can Dance (4AD). An inter- Us Angeles, CA 90093-1013. 6. Blues Summi+B.B. King (MCA). Teamed with other section between the ancient and the present with Lisa 3. The Kvinde Hader Klub- greats, King catches flame, bums through his own tunes and Gerrard's haunting, otherworldly vocals coupled with 144 Hester Street #8, New Tork, proves a smouldering accompanist. sampled percussion and instrumental exotica. NT 10013-4768. 7. Shame + a SinÑRober Cray (Mercury). Cray expands his 8. Moon Shines at Night~DjivanGasparyan (Gyroscope). 4. Glen Burnieland-9195-H style to include the old Hi soul sound. This is the sound that seduced Peter Gabriel, and you'll Hitching Post Lane, Laurel, MD 8. IPity the Foolrne Duke Recordin~s,Vol. ]-Bobby Bland hear why on this disc of Armenian doudouk melodies. 20723. (MCA). This two-CD reissue of early classics crystalizes a 9. Blue DesirefÑOn (Chacra). One is Tino Izzo, a formida- 5. Nerve-Although now deceased, legacy that grows more profound with each listen. ble guitarist whose sophisticated fusion veers from fleet this zine waxed acerbic over the 9. Play Tour Guitar, Mr. Hooker~EarlHooker (Black Top). fingered acoustic runs to laconic, Knopfleresque melodies music industry's celebrity circus. Demos and rarities from the late sharp-shooter. 10. Stand By-Heldon (Cuneiform). First released in '79, this 6. Speed Kills-P.O. BOX14561, 10. Rare Chic~foBloo~various artists (Bullseye). Hear what was blistering Cyber-space journey presages today's techno-rave ChicaNL 60614. happening on Chicago's streets between '62 and '68. music, but with substantially more soul. ÑJoh Diliberto 7. Syndicate-P.O. Box 24633, NashviUe, TN 37202. Country- - --- - -- 8. Kahoutek-36 Chmywood Contemporary Instrumental 1. This TOne~DwightYoakam Place, Redwood, Christcburch 5, 1. Trfsan-Trisan (Real World/Caroline). A merging of Celtic (Reprise). So raw, so hard, so New Zealand. and Asian music with Clannad's Pol Brennen unifying the country. 9. Exploitation Retrospect- percussion of Joji Hirota and flutes of Guo Yue. 2. Only What I PeekPatty Loveless P.O. Box 1155, HaddonfieU, 2. For-tten GodsÑSuspende Memories (Hearts of Space). (Epic). A window into a woman's 08033-0708. Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes and Suso Saiz in a communion heart. 10. Lemon-P.O. Box 651, Gkb Nsw of modern technology and ancient primal instruments. 3. SpinningAround the Sun~Jiimie 2037, Australia. 3. Weaviqg My Ancestors VoicesÑSheil Chandra (Real Dale Gilmore (Elektra). Exquisitely World/Caroline). Ancient voices of the world from India sublime. Celestially earthy. Ancient Future absorbs Asian sounds; plus One, Gandatf; Heldon reissued CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL any artists have been running Steve Hackett. His blistering sus- Mtoward world music, trying to tained lines are instantly recognizable inject new life into their compositions. on the latest by ~ustriankey- For most, if s a superficial exercise; but boardist/guitarist Gandalf, Galley of for Ancient Future, it's at the core of Dreams (Eurock). Gandalf (Heinz what this band has been doing since Werner Strobel), a synthesist in the the late '70s. Asian Fusion (Narada grand orchestral school of Vangelis, Equinox), the group's latest release, has been leaning closer to Yanni's extends its Indian-derived fusion to the saccharine sound in recent years. But world of Asia and beyond. This isn't Hackett adds a cutting edge to this just a matter of tossing in some pentatonic scales and a shakuhachi sample. Founder Matthew Montfort paiistakenly weaves into the music traditional instruments such as the gu cheng, a Chinese zither, and the dun bau, a Vietnamese single-stringed gourd instrument. And the band traverses this fusion terrain with deft arrangements and beautifully wrought interplay, from introspective duets to the reggae of "Ja Nam." Ancient Future occasionally falls on the spikes of Asian cliche, but through it all, maintains its gift for intricate melody and textured percussion. Montfort's music, albeit one of bombastic scalloped fretboard guitar lines are crescendos. Gandalf has always wonders of ornamental design, while incorporated sword-and-sorcery Ian Dogole brings a world of imagery into his repertoire, creating Grammy-winner, percussive colors from Africa and symphonic grandeur that's some- South America. times inspired, sometimes like a bad- costume movie. Platinum recur9 seller, At the opposite end of the fantasy ANCIENT FUTURE spectrum is Heldon, a French band which draws its imagery from a technologically malignant future. am)famous Mannheim Originally released as an obscure import in 1979, Stand By (Cuneiform)is a blistering assault, right from the Steamrobr composer. opening acid-blues pitar and sequencers of the title track. The 22- minute epic, "Bolero," is a techno-rave r\ Chip DavLt share^ journey of churning sequencers and fuzz-tone furry. Helmed by French guitarist Richard Pinhas, Heldon struts '\rJ". through the psyche of technological hw wtpersonal Tino Izzo seems like an exotic alienation with a mixture of glee and enough name, but he's decided to paranoia. Gurgling sequencers and record as "One" on his debut album, juggernaut drums frame Pinhas' Jimi Blue Desires (Chacra), a lush session of Hendrix-siphoned-through-Robert guitar instrumentals. Izzo is a for- Fripp guitar pyrotechnics. midable player, flying off with fleet- While Stand By is certainly the best musical delf-portrait. fingered acoustic runs one moment, record in Cuneiform's Heldon/ and laconic, Knopfleresque melodies Pinhas reissue series, (which also 7.99 CS 11.99 CD the next. Blue Desires starts out as includes It's Always Rock and Roll/ a sophisticated, atmospherically Electronique Guerilla), Heldon's music AVAILABLE FROM AMERICAN GRAMAPHONE framed fusion album, yet Izzo is always an adventure, and usually a stretches out more and more with harrowing one. each track until the second half is full of open spaces and orchestral layers John Diliberto is the host and producer of of guitar melody. Echoes, a daily music soundscape A pioneer of instrumental guitar syndicated nationally by American music is former Genesis stringman Public Radio. 98 rn PULSE! NOVEMBER1993 .