One of the most accomplished songwriters of his generation, Grant-Lee Phillips matches poetic introspection with a visceral undercurrent of uncertainty and wonder. After leading the acclaimed group Grant Lee Buffalo, Phillips released three solo albums which captured the range and depth of his abilities: Ladies Love Oracle, Mobilize and Virginia Creeper. Described as having “a rare gift of empathy” by Entertainment Weekly, and celebrated by Dallas Morning News as “one of the most dramatic balladeers in rock,” Phillips is also known as the Stars Hollow Town Troubadour on the hit TV series, the Gilmore Girls.

The follow up to his highly acclaimed studio album, Virginia Creeper released in 2004, this selection is culled from the era that brought us Reganomics, frozen yogurt and dayglow, features eleven tracks which represent the most influential songs and artists of Phillips formative years. Featuring semi-acoustic renderings of cult classics by The Pixies, Joy Division, REM, The Cure, Robyn Hitchcock, The Church, Nick Cave, New Order, Echo And The Bunnymen and The Smiths, nineteeneighties exhumes an age whose underground music has long outlasted the more popular songs of it’s airwaves.
“It’s a nod to some of the songs and people that made a lasting impact on my own songwriting and musicianship,” says Phillips. “It’s my personal mix tape, just as it’s reeled around in my head for decades.”
While their influences are often sited today, you would be hard pressed to find most of these bands on the Billboard charts of the 1980s. There was an alternative, a parallel universe, existing just below the conservative, pastel surface of all the hits of the era. It was that same unstoppable energy that would come to erupt in the form of Nirvana in the early ‘90s. Hushed and evocative, nineteeneighties was performed and recorded almost entirely by Phillips alone and it uncovers new dimensions in old favorites of real alternative music.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Wave Of Mutliation [THE PIXIES]
2. Age of Consent [NEW ORDER]
3. The Eternal [JOY DIVISION]
4. I Often Dream Of Trains [ROBYN HITCHCOCK]
5. The Killing Moon [ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN]
6. Love My Way [PSYCHEDELIC FURS]
7. Under The Milky Way [THE CHURCH]
8. City Of Refuge [NICK CAVE]
9. So.Central Rain [REM]
10. Boys Don't Cry [THE CURE]
11. Last Night I Dreamt Some Body Loved Me [THE SMITHS]