Best of the Oughts: Albums 21-30

The tens just keep getting better and better. We're nearing the realm where you cannot argue. Be forewarned.

We're back to a lot of older stuff, but I believe that will level off soon. I bet you can't wait to see what comes next.


30. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Stephen Malkmus
No Pavement this decade. So, SM's first solo album will have to do. It was really just leftover Pavement stuff that he needed professional musicians to play. I'm sorry, but it's true.

29. Radiohead - Kid A
OK Computer seemed so tame and normal when this came out. Both beauty and guts are on full display on this album. It's still hard for me to fathom that this was only Radiohead's fourth album. Wow.


28. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Hey, looky what I found: another post-9/11 album. I feel a themed list coming on. Like the Cat Power album, this one was written and recorded prior to the attacks on September 11th, but the feelings and sentiments are profoundly dead-on. This makes two albums in a row in which Thom York appears.


27. Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Soundscapes and corn fields in summer are all you need to know.


26. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
This was Oberst's best folk album and it was accompanied by his Faint-inspired Digital Ash.


25. Caribou - Andorra
Drums. Drums. Drums. This album is so textured and perfect. #25 enters sacred territory on my list.


24. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Cluttered and whispered, this album should have been a hit, but no one heard it. That is, until Natalie Portman handed her headphones over to that guy from Scrubs.


23. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
There must be a name for the syndrome in which bands record their best album first, leaving the remaining material unwanted. This album is so good, it would have ruined a lot of careers. Interpol was never the same.


22. Port O'Brien - All We Could Do Was Sing
This one is raw and full of life and emotion. I've said it before, but if you're not hooked after the first track, forget it.


21. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
My family used to spend summers camping and traipsing around Michigan. This album doesn't just remind me of those days, it makes me long for them to return, awkward adolescence and all.

Best of the Oughts: Albums 61-70

And so the list continues...

It's actually getting really good around here. I still listen to several of the following records on a regular basis. Dan Bejar makes two appearances on this ten. Three of the bands feature strong female performers. The top two bands on this section of the list are scattered throughout the top-100, making them both strong candidates for band of the decade honors. This is getting fun.


70. M Ward - The Transfiguration of Vincent
This one was given to us by an artist friend who doesn't really follow that much music, but she was right to spread the M Ward. Is there any voice this side of Jim James that is more haunting? I think not.


69. Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
I realize that this might not be Bejar's best material, but this is the album I've got. He's so weird in his writing and vocal stylings that he draws you in and makes him your favorite New Pornographer every time.


68. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
This one fits somewhere in SY's trilogy of post-9/11 efforts, but I don't exactly remember where. Whatever, for my money, outside of Daydream Nation, this era of Sonic Youth is the best. They were able to take the extremes of experimentation to a place that was listenable and approachable but still not conventional. That's not easy to do.


67. Swan Lake - Enemy Mine
This album grabbed me from the first listen. It's so big and weird and all three male voices intertwined in some three-way action. It's good. It's pure rock.


66. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
This is the peak of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' ride. They just left their rough, indie beginnings and entered their ready-for-radio era. Before this, they were almost unlistenable. After this, they were practically Britney Spears. And the answer is 'yes, I overuse hyperbole.'


65. Cat Power - You Are Free
What a great protest record, even if it wasn't meant to be. Before Chan Marshal turned to soul and R&B legends, she turned to grunge gurus (Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl) for this excellent post-9/11 work (though recorded prior to that day). Like PJ Harvey, Marshal didn't mean to respond to 9/11, she just did.


64. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Ominous. That's how we all felt after 9/11 and stolen elections and once we listened to this album. Radiohead encapsulated this time perfectly. (Sorry for all the 9/11 connections. It's inspiring another list. Don't you worry.)


63. Loose Fur - Loose Fur
This album maybe better represents what Wilco was messing around with in the studio when they tried to piece together Yankee Hotel Foxtrot than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did. That and I love pseudo-super groups.


62. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
This album was so good that it bled into the next release, The Stand Ins. Will Sheff is a fantastic songwriter and he describes show business in a way that makes it familiar to even the most isolated. He has to be one of the most dynamic performers in indie rock and this album showcases that fact.


61. The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows I know that this is where The Walkmen begin and end for most folks. My line of the decade resides in this album. ("When I used to go out I would know everyone that I saw / Now I go out alone if I go out at all") The record is a testament to the most sonic material of the band's young life. Where most of their albums are woozy, boozy bar tributes, this one focuses on the confusion and dissolution we feel after a long night hopping from joint to joint.

Best of the Oughts: Albums 91-100

This is the first installment of my Best of the Oughts series. Today's post is the first ten of my best albums of the decade list. I love all the records on this list. Just because these ten are at the bottom does not mean I dislike them.

Numbers 91-100 actually have a decent representation of women. Despite my feminist leanings, I am not very good at filling my collection with female performers. However, the ones I do include are typically among my favorites. I'll spend loads of money on mediocre-to-crappy male musicians for some reason. I guess those are the limitations of gender roles on one's record collection.

There are also some marginal releases from really great bands at this end of the list. I sometimes prefer an OK album from a great band because even their worst material is better than the best unknown bands. That or I am a sucker for rock tradition.


100. St. Vincent - Marry Me
I bought this months after it was released on a trip to Seattle. I have to say that I was blown away from the first listen, so intense and complex. The layers, textures, and incredible performances on this album made me wonder whether Annie Clark is the female Sufjan Stevens or the other way around.


99. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
The last two tracks get me every time with this one. It's no Apologies to the Queen Mary, but it's not as bad as some thought. This is the album Wolf Parade meant to make before Isaac Brock got a hold of them. (Also, this is easily the worst album cover of the decade.)


98. Silver Jews - Bright Flight
David Berman is maybe the most gifted wordsmith on this list. His best work was in the last decade, but this was a good send-off to his musical career.


97. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat
This was Sleater-Kinney's protest album. What were they protesting? What have you got? 9/11 just happened and George W Bush was running the country into the ground. This provided some good material.


96. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
I have forgiven Devendra Banhart for his hippie ways. How can you not when someone records an album like this that transcends jam bands, indie rock, and punk?


95. The Black Keys - The Big Come Up
Dirty and fat are the licks on this record. You should only listen to this on vinyl. Oh, and they're from Ohio.


94. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
There's a ton of Vancouver all over my top-100. This is another from from the Wolf Parade co-op. Difficult but so worth the effort.


93. Radiohead - Amnesiac
It's amazing what Radiohead has done this decade. Here's the first of several Radiohead efforts on the list. I never saw the direction they've taken in this century since OK Computer. Truly inspired.


92. The White Stripes - Elephant
By the time Elephant came out, the Stripes were huge. The sound on this record matches their hugeness better than any other point in their oeuvre.


91. Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
I don't know exactly where I'd rank this among the Belle and Sebastian records, but it does hold some special memories for R and I. I haven't been impressed much from the material coming out of B&S alums since. This may have been the beginning of the end.

The Future of Music

From time to time, I blog about music, primarily that of the indie variety. Currently, the music industry has gone through some significant shifts of which I have an opinion.

This guy got me to thinking about how music is and will be distributed. Bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have bypassed record labels and traditional distribution outlets by making their latest releases available online for little or no money. Of course, other musicians such as Prince have done this before, but none as current or recognizable as Radiohead have taken on the industry in such a way. It's akin to the Beatles handing out copies of Abbey Road at Piccadilly.

The free music doesn't stop there. Bands are utilizing tools on the internet to get their music to the masses by giving it away. A site like Daytrotter might make exclusive recordings available or Brooklyn Vegan provides MP3 samples of nearly every band it covers. Some bands simply give the music away in the form of free CDs in order to drum up some buzz for their tours where they make their real income.

Of course, the music industry might as well give it away as they continue to lose money. In fact, some have looked at giving it away in various ways to excite consumers enough to buy the records. What they used to call "getting a single played on the radio" is now just flat out giving it away. Will the 99 cent single go the way of the CD? Wait and see.

For me, it doesn't matter whether they give the music away or not. Most of it is crap. And that which is not crap has been done before. Whatever is left is what I buy and am happy to do so.

What has filled this void in music left by all that inferior product put out by an out-of-touch music industry? Indie rock. Band after band have made a living since the mid-nineties (in Sonic Youth's case, longer) by simply recording better music and hitting the road. They may not be selling millions of records, but they are not suffering from the same affliction as the majors have. Never before have independent labels and bands have been so successful. It gives me hope.

What isn't filled with a lot of hope is the state of music journalism, especially in indie circles. As people turn to Pitchfork or Brooklyn Vegan, they turn away from such indie publishing stalwarts like No Depression or Punk Planet. Does it mean that music magazines are dead? No. Does it mean that mediocre rock journalism leads to your magazine folding. No...look at Rolling Stone. What it does mean is that magazines are behind the times. They are not able to keep up with the next "it" band or latest genres. Online magazines and blogs are just better equipped to provide that up-to-the-second information indie fans crave. (As for RS readers...I can't explain it.)

Magazines are even turning to the blogosphere for their tips and news. Take the latest Spin. For the first time in the magazine's history, they featured a band on their cover (Vampire Weekend) that had yet to release its first album. All this was based on the buzz the band had created among the blogging elite. First Tapes 'n Tapes, then Vampire Weekend, now there's Black Kids. (Actually, there's probably someone else, but you get the point.)

The accessibility to new technologies has meant greater access to new music and at faster speeds. For a music junkie like myself, it's meant a nonstop flow of fresh tunes. For the majority, though, it has meant an over saturation of mediocre noise. This will most likely continue until record labels realize that, in the end, good music is actually profitable. And they better keep it coming, because we're reading and listening faster than ever.  The magazines aren't keeping up.  Will the record industry?

#28 of 2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows

Thirty-One Words: Radiohead do something that has never been done before: create a bunch of hype, never live up to it, and release an album without corporate help. You say it’s been done?

The one song that makes it worth $--.-- (whatever you decide): "Faust Arp"

Pitchfork Says: You Decide