Tarnation returned with a new album, Mirador (CAD 7004), which found the group's subversive country sound moving in a more bluesy direction. "There's Someone" (TAD 7000) previewed one of the album's key tracks on a limited edition 7-inch. "You'll Understand" (BAD 7001; a limited double 7-inch was issued as ADD 7001) matched two of Mirador's songs with a pair of non-album tracks.
Gus Gus's debut album Polydistortion (CAD 7005) was a confident demonstration that Iceland had more than Bjork to contribute to the global music scene. Mixing sinuous electronic grooves with a perverse pop sensibility, Gus Gus caused a stir in clubs around the world with tracks like "Believe" (a two-part single : BAD 7002 came with non-album tracks while BADD 7002 featured a slew of remixes).
Michael Brook first 4AD release in five years was his soundtrack to the actor Kevin Spacey's directorial debut, Albino Alligator (CAD 7003). A set of disquieting music perfectly appropriate to the film's portrayal of raw nerves and bungled plans. Brook's sound palette veered from swampy blues-rock to modal keyboard ostinatos which pointed in the direction of Philip Glass. The album's most unusual moment was a slow motion duet between REM's Michael Stipe and peerless jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott on the standard "Ill Wind" - a track which featured Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass.
Scheer issued "Demon", (BAD 7006), a final single drawn from the Infliction album.
Having been an integral part of Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly during more than a decade on the 4AD roster, Tanya Donelly's debut as a solo artist was long overdue. Lovesongs For Underdogs (CAD 7008) was an album of quirky, evocative tunes in a variety of musical settings, unified by the force of Tanya's personality. It featured the singles "Pretty Deep" (a 7-inch and two CD's - AD 7007, BAD 7007 and BADD 7007 - which all featured different B-sides) and "The Bright Light" (another multi-B-side phenomenon : AD 7012, BAD 7012, BADD 7012).
As an epilogue, of sorts, to the Stars On ESP project, Warren Defever issued Nice Day, a limited edition EP (JAD 7009) featuring six new songs.
Issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Pixies' first release, Death To The Pixies (DAD 7011) assembled 17 of the band's greatest moments. Two deluxe editions - one a boxed set of four 10-inch vinyl records (DADD 7011), the other a slipcased double-CD set (DADD 7011CD) - added a complete live concert recording from 1990. The 10-inch vinyl set also included a pair of previously unreleased demos, which also showed up on a few super-limited copies of the 2CD set; these can only be identified by the initials "GT" (for "Golden Ticket") on the matrix numbers of the CDs themselves.
Just before Death To The Pixies hit the racks, "Debaser" was issued as a single, with a variety of choice unreleased material on its various formats : three Dutch radio session tracks on BAD 7010, three live tracks from a Chicago broadcast on BADD 7010, and a demo of the otherwise unissed "Number Thirteen Baby" on the 7-inch AD7011.
The soundtrack to an American independent film that wound up going straight to video, Joyride (46825) featured a variety of tracks culled from numerous 4AD releases over the years (three non-4AD tracks came courtesy of the German label Recycle Or Die).