Monday, December 21, 2009

best of 00's 60-69

  • 60)O' Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, This is the only soundtrack on my list but it is composed of songs you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else. This collection of bluegrass personifies everything great about american music. It is beautiful, fun, heartfelt and sincere.
  • 61)Broken Social Scene-You Forgot It In The People, This Canadian super group headed by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, embraces chaos yet still manages to put together some terrific songs. Broken Social Scene resembles Sonic Youth meets 80's new wave meets a bunch of canadians.
  • 62)Sufjan Stevens-Michigan, The first album in Sufjan Stevens fifty states project was a clever piece. Sufjan's arrangements are unique and always sound fresh. Lyrically he's smart but not self -indulgent, he's not afraid to say things in a simple and unique yet beautiful way both lyrically and musically.
  • 63)Beck-Guero, Guero is Beck ode to heartbreak. It is poignantly beautiful. This mellow meloncholly collection is clever, has great textural depth and is a solid listen from start to finish.
  • 64)Stars-Heart, Heart was Stars second album and is a fine collection of pop that has hints of the Smiths and Paul McCartney. It comes across as an urban love story in a scared, white canadian sort of way.
  • 65)Gorillaz-Gorillaz, Gorillaz qualify as one of the artists that defined the last ten years. There debut album was a fun danceable amalgam of clever tunes that meld genres.
  • 66)The Decemberists- Castaways and Cutouts, Castaway and Cutouts is a beautiful collection of stories, the Decemberists literary indie folk, is clever and smart but also has moments of emotional depth. This album is particularly stirring for it's balladeer qualities.
  • 67)My Morning Jacket-Evil Urges, My Morning Jackets most recent album length release is an interesting blend of the bands southern rock roots and prince. This odd paring leads to a fun interesting album that is at time whimsical and over the top (in a good way) and at other times sincere and heartfelt.
  • 68)Cheyenne-I Am Haunted, I Am Alive, This is probably the most underground and hard to find selection on my list. Cheyenne is a small indie folk band from Oklahoma and I don't believe this album is in print anymore, although it is available for mp3 download. I am haunted is a unique lo-fi folky album that blends clever textures with poetic folk, The lead singers voice is probably a little bit of an acquired taste, but I feel that it adds personality.
  • 69)Outkast-Stankonia, Stankonia is an extremely satisfying blend of dirty south hip-hop, r&B funk, jungle beat and soul. It still sounds as fresh today as it did nine years ago and has influenced rap for the better. If more artists tried to follow in the footsteps of andre and big boi maybe commercial hip-hop wouldn't be such a vacuous wasteland.

Friday, December 18, 2009

top albums of the 00's 70-79

Here's top albums of the 2000's 70-79, enjoy
  • 70)Death Cab For Cutie-Plans, Plans was Death Cabs major label debut and is probably the most accesible Death Cab For Cutie will ever be. It's astute, smart and catchy and still manages to have sincerity that betrays it's major label nature.
  • 71)Secret Machines-Ten Silver Drops, Ten Silver Drops is powerful and reminiscent of U2 at times, in that it has an athemic quality to it's songs. It utilizes textures well and is a solid release.
  • 72)The Flaming Lips-At War With The Mystics, At War with the Mystics follows in the vein of The Flaming Lips previous two releases by treating us to more melodic psychadelic songs. The Lips dare to be experimental as always and never sound dull, yet still on this album they remember that they are most at home writing quirky songs with surprising depth and great melodies.
  • 73)Goldfrapp-Black Cherry, This is probably the sexiest album of the decade. The slow sultry electronica is smart, well produced, and interesting, but really it shines best as a mood setter. Alison Goldfrapp's voice is silky and sensuous and, well it's just a damn sexy album.
  • 74)Shout Out Louds-Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff is great fun, but there is also substance, solid songwriting and clever arrangement. It features many textures and is a perfect introduction to the Shout Out Louds.
  • 75)Elliot Smith-Figure 8, Elliot Smith was a great song writer and he was always daring enough to let a fragility show through his music, which made it more human and rewarding. Figure 8 is no exception and highlights the loss of this great talent.
  • 76)Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins-Rabbit Fur Coat, Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins gospel twinged tunes are well crafted and familiar yet never dull. It brings the sound of country western (Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline and the like) into the present without sounding at all derived and is so much more enjoyable sincere and fresh then most of the Idol style pop country being put out by Nashville these days.
  • 77)Alexi Murdoch-Time Without Consequence, Murdoch's songwriting and voice is reminiscent of Nick Drake, yet he brings a sincerity that moves this album beyond derivative. The rich folk sung by the scott is satisfying and comforting
  • 78)Band Of Horses-Cease To Begin, Band of Horses unique blend of southern and college rock is all at once fresh and familiar. All the songs are melodica and full.
  • 79)Bishop Allen-The Broken String, This is an album of beautifully intimate clever songwriting. No matter the topic this album feels sincere, and the quirkiness of some of the subject matter,

Thursday, December 17, 2009

  • 80)Bright Eyes-Digital Ash In a Digital Urn, see I'm Wide Awake It's Morning #81
  • 81)Bright Eyes-I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, Digital Ash and I'm wide awake were released the same time and although intended to be opposite sides of Oberst's seminal project, they share the common thread of Oberst's superb lyrical sense and melodic astuteness. They are cut from the same cloth, now you just need to decide if you want electronic(Digital Ash) or acoustic (I'm wide awake).
  • 82)Radiohead-Hail to The Thief, This is one of Radiohead's darkest efforts yet it is more accessible than Kid A and Amnesiac, It never stops being interesting and has surprising melodic depth.
  • 83)The Killers-Sam's Town, Sam's Town also has definite hints of Springsteen, and shows the Killers prowess as songwriters. The tunes are all enjoyable and very sing-a-long worthy.
  • 84)Steele Train-Trampoline, Trampoline is melodic rock that has a warmth and instrumental depth. To me It is reminiscent of Springsteen and the E-Street band, blended with the ferocity of a classic punk band like the Clash or Ramones.
  • 85)Stars-In Our Bedroom After The War, The baroque Pop of Stars is always enjoyable and with this effort the band continues to explore the depths of the human relationship in a slightly more dramatic style.
  • 86)The Decemberists-The Hazards Of Love, The Hazards of Love is probably The Decemberists most ambitious project to date. The Rock opera tells a fascinating tale and does so in Rock n' Roll splendor.
  • 87)Alexandre Desilets-Escalader L'Iversee, Desilets produces an ethereal blend of electro and dream -pop with this work and does so with beautiful clarity and simplicity
  • 88)Asobi Seksu-Citrus, Asobi Seksu's modern shoegazer meets electro-pop is unique. It is at times dreamy other time bludgeoning but never dull.
  • 89)The Shins-Chutes To Narrow, Chutes is a more upbeat sunnier sequel to Oh Inverted World. The songwriting is still excellent and a greater sense of fun is conveyed.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Top albums of the decade 100-90

Here are my top 100 albums of the decade, This list is based on how artistically satisfying something is, as well as just my own personal preference.
  • 90) Sufjan Stevens-Seven Swans, Sufjan Stevens shows one of his greatest strengths in this album. He creates an album with largely devotional subject matter without appearing preachy, often spirituality is no more than a setting for superb song craft. This is a don't miss for Christian and Heathen alike.
  • 91) William Shatner-Has Been, This has to be one of the most bizarre albums of the last decade as well as the best, Has Been, is a collection of mostly spoken word pieces produced by Ben Folds. It is at times comical, heartbreaking and surreal.
  • 92) Rilo Kiley-Under The Blacklight, I consider this Rilo Kiley's ode to L.A. It features the sleaze the transience and a bizarre well-produced sincerity. The album is colored with solid song writing and disco arrangements and does not disappoint.
  • 93) Sigur Ros-(), () is probably among Sigur Ros' darkest efforts, yet it always is majestic, dreamlike and soaring and despite the darkness still manages to lift up the listener.
  • 94) The Shins-Oh Inverted World, Oh Inverted world is a songful satisfying piece of the Shins, neo-R.E.M. Melodic pop rock and features there most well known tune, New Slang
  • 95) Yael Naim-Yael Naim, Yael Naim's debut is heartfelt and enjoyable. It has a nice balance of sincerity, fun, sorrow and lightheartedness.
  • 96) Cat Power-Jukebox, This album and The Life Aquatic Sessions Are the only albums on this list that are cover albums. Cat Powers rich strong bluesy vocals and unique arrangement make every song on this album something completely fresh and new.
  • 97) Seu George-The Life Aquatic Sessions-This album and Jukebox are the only albums on this list that are cover albums. Seu George's emotionally touching acoustic renditions of Bowie classics bring fresh life and a different light to the tunes and makes them something altogether different and rewarding
  • 98) Jem-Finally-Woken, Jem's debut album is a collection of Pop friendly danceable tunes that are fun and well crafted
  • 99) Coldplay-X and Y, X and Y is among the most consistent of all of Coldplay's catalog, and almost certainly the most likely to cheer you up.
  • 100)Silverchair-Young Modern, Young Modern is a dramatic large scale melodic rock piece at times reminiscent of the Rock Opera and Queen.