Nearly God is Tricky's unofficial second album – he calls it a collection of brilliant, incomplete demos. When Tricky signed his contract with Island, it allowed him to release an album a year under a different name and Nearly God is the first of these efforts. Tricky recorded the record with a diverse cast of collaborators – in addition to his partner Martina, there's Terry Hall, Björk, Neneh Cherry, Cath Coffey, Dedi Madden, and Alison Moyet (Damon Albarn pulled his track just before the album's release). Building on the ghostly, dark soundscapes of Tricky's debut, Maxinquaye, Nearly God narrows the focus of his first record by making the music slower, hazier, and more distubing. It's not as coherent as Maxinquaye, but that's part of its appeal. Nearly God is a haunting, fractured, surreal nightmare that doesn't always make sense, but never fails to make an impact.

Too bad the film "Sliver" wasn't a hit, or else this could've been one of the greatest film soundtracks of all-time. While most soundtracks just throw songs together without much thought, there's a theme on this album. You can feel the atmosphere of loneliness, lust, and mystery even if you've never seen the film. Enigma's haunting "Carly's Song" and "Carly's Loneliness" are great tracks to get you in a trance, Massive Attack's "Unfinished Symphony" is downright sexy, and Aftershock's "Slave To The Vibe" is the album's showstopper. The film (which was beautifully shot in an MTV style) could rightfully be a showcase just for these songs, kinda like "Purple Rain".

Neneh Cherry has teamed up with some of today’s most exciting female artists for new album The Versions. The collaborative LP features covers from her expansive catalogue by an all female line-up of musicians, including Sia, Robyn, Anohni, Greentea Peng, Kelsey Lu, Sudan Archives, Tyson and others.

Until the End of the World is a definite contender for best motion picture soundtrack of the 1990s. With a lineup that includes Talking Heads, Lou Reed, R.E.M., Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, U2, and others all providing original songs or new covers, it's an absolute joy. Interspersed with Graeme Revell's haunting ambient score, virtually every pop/rock track works perfectly as part of a cohesive whole. "Sax and Violins," recorded during the dying days of Talking Heads, might be the band's most confident moment, as a jazzy background shuffle and keyboards provide compelling momentum underneath David Byrne's sarcastic vocals. Crime & the City Solution could have made an entire career out of the emotional yet existential "The Adversary." R.E.M. and Depeche Mode both contribute touching ballads. "Fretless" is one of the most beautiful tracks to be found in R.E.M.'s discography, documenting a wounded relationship with subtle grace. "Death's Door" is one of those sad numbers Depeche Mode fans have grown to love, with Martin Gore handling the vocals.

Neneh Cherry, the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and "rapstress" who burst onto the scene in 1989 with the mega-hit "Buffalo Stance," did not even see the release of her third album, Man, in the United States. This set differs from her previous efforts in that there is absolutely no rap to be found anywhere on the disc, and all of the songs are slow-burning, midtempo alt-rock numbers, as opposed to anything remotely resembling dance or rap (though there are some hip-hop styled beats). There are really no immediate hits on this album, although it includes the international chart-topping duet with Youssou N'Dour, "7 Seconds," as well as several other highlights, including "Woman," "Hornbeam," and "Everything."