coming soon... my very own top 20 of 2001... i'm working on it. until then, check out pitchfork's list.
9:53 AM   {l} {c}

amazon has posted their 'best of' lists for 2001, and as usual in the music category, there's a wide gulf between the discerning editors' list and the customer's list, obviously created by that insipid flock of TRL-loving sheep known as the listening public.
among the editors' top 20: dylan; the white stripes; bjork; sparklehorse, it's a wonderful life; califone; the shins; gbv; rufus wainwright; the strokes; radiohead; and paul burch.
among the customers' top 20: dave matthews; u2; dido; david grey; train; john mellencamp; britney; alicia keyes; the moulin rouge strk; and jewel.
it's a good thing i'm a music snob, or i might be pissed that creed only made it to # 69.
5:35 PM   {l} {c}

a few more that are on my heavy rotation list right now:

the frames, for the birds: is it sacriligeous to utter the words, "better than radiohead"? maybe it's a bit premature, but the frames may fit that description, if not now, by their next album... i'm in awe of this disc. they're irish, and were recommended to me by my friend stephen, who lives in belfast and has seen these guys live several times. on his recommendation i bought the import, hear unheard, and it's wonderful, kind of the way "the bends" was wonderful, in that you could just tell that the next album could be perfect... steve albini produced it, so the production is a +, the instrumental melodies are as intense and beautiful in some parts as mogwai; the vocals at times as buoyant and mysterious as thom yorke's; but they never seem derivative or imitative. you have to hear it. my favorite song at the moment is "headlong".

branvan 3000, discosis: possibly the last album released on grand royal records before they went under last month, and oh. my. god. it's the new definition of danceable, eclectic soul music, even resurrecting curtis mayfield for a track. it's like a big mix of jamiroquai plus the beastie boys plus curtis mayfield plus maybe a little buster poindexter, a bunch of new wave, and a good bit of world music courtesy of eek-a-mouse, and maybe some juliana hatfield, and maybe lush, and, and, aw hell, there's too much here to mention, and it all just works... it's like the magnetic fields' 69 love songs, or the avalanches album, where there's just too much going on to explain, with different vocals and samples and sounds all over the place, layered and chopped and added and multiplied and it's just fucking amazing. and you can't help movin'... "speed" is a standout, though it's the kind of album you have to listen to from start to finish...

spiritualized, let it all come down: i got the l.e. packaging, which looks kind of like a hot lunch styrofoam container, with an indented plaster mold. it's pretty cool. and the music is good too. big spiritualized sound, orchestras and stuff, and of course j.spaceman being whiny and morose...
4:18 PM   {l} {c}

lots of good new music lately that i've been meaning to mention here, but it's taken me a while to get around to it. sorry. anyway...
lemesee, let's just go down the list, shall we? it'll give you a good idea of what's on my mp3 player right now, too.

radiohead, i might be wrong: great, if at seven songs, a bit short. they're surprisingly adept at translating their recorded music to the live setting - you'd think that with all the effects and samples and electronics they'd either be crap or just have to reduce everything to an acoustic setting, but they pull it off quite well. "idioteque" is the standout, i think.

beulah, the coast is never clear: my current pure-pop addiction. from the first track, "hello, resolven" it's just sweet, catchy retro-pop hooks one after another. it's not great music by any means, but it's fun. pleasant vocal harmonies, strings, horns, bells, tambourine. and occasionally charmingly wry lyrics, e.g., "when they drilled holes in your scull / and screwed that halo to your head / did you think you could fly?"

natalie merchant, motherland: she definitely pushes her boundaries here more than on her first two discs, to mixed success. she experiments with several different sounds, and at times this exposes the limits of her vocals - but it's really a credit to her that she's trying new things. she's still natalie, and my favorites are the songs where that's all she tries to be, like "henry darger."

metrovavan, retrofitting: it's like looper, without stuart david's magical spoken word stories. which is exactly what it is, because scott twynholm is the other half of looper. about the first half of this disc is spectacular, especially "french lessons", but then it kind of descends into background type, low-key, slow beats and bleeps. nice enough. how do you pronounce "metrovavan"?

kasey chambers, barricades and brickwalls: i bought this import at the virgin records in times square. couldn't wait for the domestic release, she's the best alt.country singer ever to come out of the australian outback. i love her voice, though it's similar to the point of being indistingishable from garrison starr's, if you know who she is, which is odd considering kasey's an aussie and garrision's from memphis... a really solid follow up to the captain. and with lucinda williams, matthew ryan, and buddy & julie miller on board, how could it be bad? the title track rocks.

the langley schools music project, innocence & despair: they're not virtuosos or prodigies, these kids, but they're really trying. music is ultimately about the emotion, isn't it? and it's just beautiful, in all its little imperfections and nuances. though those cymbals might have been a bit close to the mic, because they can be painful when you hear them... my favorite right now is the eagles' "desperado", which sung solo by a little girl who just nails it, in that cute little kid voice, with some amazing phrasing...



12:50 PM   {l} {c}