Best of the Oughts: Albums 31-40

Now, this is a nice mix of new and old. I'm still not 100% about the Flaming Lips album, but this is where it stands today. I was late to the Strawberry Jam party as with Okkervil in general. Oh, and Deerhunter as well. However, I was on time, if not early, for TVOTR and The White Stripes.


40. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
After The Soft Bulletin, I didn't care much for any of the work put out by the Lips. That is, until this fall. I felt some urgency and excitement returned to the band. They feel punk again. It may be the newness or the hype, but I'm liking what they've done here.


39. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
I picked this up long after all the press lavishly proclaimed it great but a while before their next greatest album. It's bigger and fatter than Merriweather, so it sits in the top half of my list. With their string of critically acclaimed records (including this one), Animal Collective could soon be the new REM/Radiohead/Wilco/TVOTR hybrid monster of the future or something.


38. Okkervil River - Don't Fall In Love with Everyone You See
I fell in love with the first Okkervil album I ever owned. It may not be the epic concept album its successors have all been, but it hooked me into Will Sheff - The Most Dynamic Performer in Indie Rock Today.


37. Dearhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.
I cut my indie teeth (or ears) on shoegaze and lo-fi. This dude has combined both aesthetics to create a sound that is unstoppable.


36. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youths, Blood Thirsty Babes
This was back when TVONR were the cool doo-wop punk band on Touch and Go. Thems were the days.


35. Elliott Smith - Figure 8
Before he released a plethora of posthumous material, Elliott Smith was a living, breathing pop master. And I mean pop in the Beatles sense, not the Black Eyed Peas.


34. The White Stripes - De Stijl
Awesome. Led Zeppelin. Back in the day. Before the Legos video. I have to go listen to this again. Right now.


33. Sonic Youth - NYC Ghost and Flowers
New York albums are always good. Free-form poetry over experimental noise should not normally be attempted, but somehow SY knows just how much is just right.


32. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Somebody's going to tear me apart for this one. It's a great record. Sure, some of the newness has not worn off and provides it a lofty spot on my list, but you will dance when I put this thing on. Oh yes, you will dance.


31. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Superwolf
Matt Sweeney played and wrote most of the songs with Will Oldham. It's a perfect pairing, apparently never to be tried again. It's dark and dirty and dingy...and somehow beautiful.

Best of the Oughts: Albums 41-50

Strangely enough, I discovered all these albums after moving here. A couple were actually released before making the nine-hour trek, but I didn't listen to them until landing in Misery. It says something about my tastes that so many albums from recent years are popping up at the top of my list. I'm either forgetting how much I loved music from the first half of the decade or the newer stuff is just fresher. It will be interesting to see what I'm listening to in ten years.

This list really could be someone's top-10 of the decade. I'm not kidding about that.

Although my list is still vacant of female musicians, there are typically 2-3 in each set of ten, which isn't as bad as I thought. It's certainly better than the hip-hop representation.


50. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
All the magazines told me this was the best album of 2006 and I believed them. With this record, TVOTR became the next REM/Radiohead/Wilco. Now, they're collectively known as Remradioheadwilcotvontheradio: The Band Pitchfork will never admit to loving all the way, but Spin will crown as album of the year every time.


49. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
Have I mentioned my affinity for Will Sheff and his indie rock star powers?


48. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
I still can't get that "Funeral" song out of my head. This formula of falsetto voices over straight up guitar onslaughts should not work anymore, but it does. That and trucker hats and beards. Aren't we done with that look yet? Apparently not.


47. Eef Barzelay - Bitter Honey
I never really ever got Clem Snide, but this I did get. Eef Barzelay made the saddest record about Thanksgiving disasters and music video girls you've never heard.


46. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
What a perfect way to end a band's run. Clap Your Hands decided to put out their best record first, delegating them to one-indie-hit wonders. Bravo! It sounds like a John Hughes movie to me.


45. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Lovely Jenny Lewis and the lovelier Watson Twins Patsy Clined and Neko Cased their way into our hearts. Pairs nicely with She and Him.


44. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go
Who knew that Bjork wasn't the only Icelandic princess? Will Oldham is bald with a beard to boot. Haunting and beautiful and haunting. Again.


43. Cat Power - The Greatest
Actually, it's #43, not the greatest of the oughts. Chan Marshal sold her soul to get some soul and a rhythm section plus some horns and guitar. This shouldn't have worked, but it did.


42. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon. They are all over this list. They might be another candidate for band of the decade. This album just has them chugging along until the next. They are on such an incredible roll of great, great albums it's unbelievable.


41. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
For me, this was Isaac Brock's best effort of this decade. He brings in guitarists from melodramatic 80's Manchester bands and singers from melodramatic 00's Portland in order to add layers to his warped vision never thought possible. I suspect big things beyond this album.

#13 of 2008: TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Thirty-Two Words: TVOTR recorded the best Prince record of his career and somehow persuaded elite music rags to declare them the next Radiohead or Wilco. Whatever, it's a solid record from beginning to end.

The Moment of Truth: When the band released Return to Cookie Mountain, you knew that subsequent records would be pretty great.
Killer to Filler Ratio: 8:3

September in Review

I had planned this group of reviews for a certain website which will remain unnamed until someone finally makes some changes. September was a busy month, but I was able to fit in a few interesting releases. Forgive my tardiness and the lack of music posts on this site. I do realize that my music posts are the milkshakes that bring all the boys (and girls) to the yard. So, here goes...

I barely had any time to listen to the two albums from the ninth. They arrived in the mail late and we were busy starting at about 3:30 AM on the 10th. Since then, I made it a point to listen to Kimya Dawson's Alphabutt and Okkervil River's The Stand Ins as much as I could.

Luckily, Alphabutt was purchased with Lucia in mind. This is Dawson's foray into Zooglobble territory after contributing more mature fair to Juno and less mature material to The Moldy Peaches. She wrote songs for and about her daughter, Panda, and all their EC misadventures. There are also plenty of songs about smoothies, animals, and anything generally related to butts. I have always loved the quirky naivete of The Moldy Peaches and it's great for my kid. Actually, Lucia loves this album. It sooths her every time I play it.

The Okkervil River album is the follow-up/companion to last year's The Stage Names you would expect. The songs fit seamlessly with Stage Names while also creating something new and unique. Main songwriter Will Sheff moves the band's sound away from Uncle Tupelo and closer to Spoon as the arrangements and instrumentation take on a pop-centric style not entirely expected. Part of me wonders how much their tour mates, New Pornographers, had to do with this evolution. Either way, album is a suitable follow-up. Every time I listen to it, I want to put on Stage Names. Actually, Lucia was soothed one day as my mom rocked her to sleep to Sheff's emotive vocals. I have more to say about Will Sheff in an upcoming post.

One of the more highly anticipated albums for the fall has been TV on the Radio's Dear Science,. This is now a case of records I have barely been able to listen. To me, it sounds as if the band is making a vain attempt at crossover success. The result is a Prince album from the back of his vault. I can't say that I'm very impressed after the first listen. Honestly, it's only been one listen with several interruptions in between. If I mention this album again, it's because it did grow on me, much like TVOTR did several years ago. However, I'm skeptical.

The other release I anticipated on the same day TVOTR dropped (September 23rd) was Cold War Kids' Loyalty to Loyalty. Let me just say this record is a major disappointment. It's the same thing that happens every time a band of white dudes with some soul or a case of the blues spend too much time in the studio or start to over-think their shtick. Check the Afghan Whigs for example. Gentlemen, their first major label release, was as perfect an album as you'll ever find. The next record was fine, but you could see what was coming: an over-produced, Vegas-like piece of crap (1965).

So, I made it through four freakin' records in a month. I guess that's OK. Anyway, here 's the reason for the lack of posts this week (this is for you, Ashley)...

(Lucia loves her little lamb!)