Here is a list of the best albums that have loitered on my turntables during 1999. It wasn't the best of years, so thank Buddha for Mogwai, Campag Velocet, Death in Vegas and, erm, some girl band . . . oh, what's the name? Maybe it'll come to me later.
1. Mogwai -- "Come on Die Young" (Chemikal Underground)
This is a double album, but now, for me, it's a single album, because some git stole half of it during one of my parties. Can't blame the thief; this album is the only way at the end of the night when lobotomization sets in. Scottish ambient no-vocals punk, I guess, introduced by a sampled Iggy Pop, ranting his philosophy of punk rock. The slow guitar networks are pure musical Valium. More mega than a spliff of Chernobyl-strength Amsterdam skunk, but so seductive that snooze doesn't set in until the last puff of the last track.