Bestest 2001 – Tunage
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The Music That I Just Kept Playing:
For the first half of the year, I thought I wouldn’t even end up with enough
stuff worthy of filling up a list. But by the end of my tenth year compiling
a list of records that most people will never end up hearing, but might
enjoy reading about, it occurred to me that although this might have been
one of the weakest year’s for music in a decade, there were certainly ten
recordings that I will hopefully be listening to a decade from now which is
my usual litmus test.
With electronic music finally reaching an inevitable commercial corruption,
indie rock suffering from an inability to find an resuscitate and bygone
era, and true rock music seeming in need of a real torch bearer, it is no
surprise that this
1.) The Shins – Oh, Inverted World (SubPop)
There haven’t been too many psychedelic pop records this good since the
first Elephant 6 records (Olivia Tremor Control, Apples In Stereo, Neutral
Milk Hotel) came out in the mid 90′s. But “Oh, Inverted World” is smart
retro pop writing, with shiny guitars and extremely palatable vocals – most
akin to “Pet Sounds” era Beach Boys crossed with Big Star. But on the
immaculately produced, unbelievably consistent SubPop debut the New Mexico
Quartet deliver the finest, quirkiest indie pop songs of the year.
2.) The Strokes – Is This It? (RCA)
It’s probably best to think about the Strokes as just some band you bought
by chance, knowing little more about them than the fact that they’re from
New York and sound a bit like the CBGB’s bands from the 80′s. In another
words forget the hype, and enjoy the music. The eleven songs on this near
perfect 36 minute debut, should remind you immediately of The Fall, The
Ramones, and Television. So what if they are a bunch of trust funded, thrift
shop slumming kids, the songs on this record are both catchy and cool. The
tunes are filled with solid bass lines and controlled guitar riffs, which
anchor the barely decipherable lyrics. But who really cares – this is
punk-new wave music – and we’ve been missing it for too many years.
3.) Femi Kuti – Fight To Win (MCA)
Most children of musical geniuses more often than not tend to disappoint.
They either play familiar, but “not quite” renditions of their parents stuff
(excepting most recently Bebel Gilberto and Sean Lennon) or they try a new
path that just doesn’t really work. But Femi Kuti, the son of Afro-beat
originator Fela, is not only one of the best live performers you are likely
to see, but also a talented innovator in his own right. The sax and
percussion driven fusion of jazz and funk that constitutes afro-beat, has
been successfully passed from father to son. Femi and his large band pour
combine both a high level of lyrical and musical skill into their thumping
political songs. Fight to win, the follow-up to last years epic debut is
every bit as good as the last and what I hope will solidify his reputation
and the expansion of the genre well into the new millennium.
4.) Ron Sexsmith – Blue Boy (SpinART)
In the beginning I guess you could have called him an alterna-country
singer-songwriter, hailing from Canada and following comfortably in the
tradition of the countries best known singers (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young).
But “Blue Boy” is the album, most akin to the late career balladry of the
mighty Beatles, that most fully combines poetic lyrics and lilting melodies
with an incredibly unique vocal style. It is more McCartneyesue, sitting at
a piano tickling ivory, covered with the sweetly distinctive Sexsmith
vocals, and rounded out by moments filled with beautiful brass and even
back-up vocals from Emmylou Harris. This is an “album” in the truest sense
of the word, oand ne that deserves to be listened from beginning to end and
then over and over again.
5.) American Analog Set – Know By Heart (Tigerstyle)
“Know By Heart” features some of the softest, gentlest stuff you’re bound to
hear for a while. Brushed drums, carefully tapped xylophone pings, slow
measured bass and some lightly strummed guitar notes makes the Austin-based
band as warmly cool as any this year. “Know By Heart” sounds like soundtrack
music to some hipster, talkie indie movie that hasn’t been made yet, guided
by the music and good looks of it’s cast. Hushed vocals and smart often
jokingly literary lyrics like “Kindness of Strangers” will make this the
best, smartest record nobody heard in 2001.
6.) Jenny Toomey – Antidote (Misra)
As the founder of the fiercely independent pop-punk label Simple Machines
and leader of bands like Tsunami, Liquorice, Grenadine, Jenny Toomey has
always lived so comfortably at the intersection of indie rock, folk, and
melodic punk. With long awaited double disc solo debut, Toomey has crafted
some of the finest chamber pop songs since Nick Drake. With half the record
recorded in Chicago with an allstar lineup of Chicagoans, and the second
disc recorded in Nashville with another local slate, she crafts the
emotional leftovers of a tattered relationship into the most intelligent
thoughtful way possible – and for this we should be glad.
7.) Ryan Adams – Gold (Lost Highway)
The second solo effort by the former Whiskeytown lead singer will likely be
remembered as his “Blood on the Tracks” or “Born To Run.” At 70 minutes,
“Gold” is the most diverse collection of songs on any record this year.
There are heartbreaking ballads, full-fledged country-tinged rock songs
mixed in with his own original song stylings. This is the breakthrough
record for this reluctant star still very much at the beginning of his
career – one that promises to be one to follow anxiously for years to come.
8.) The Avalanches – Since I left You (Modular/Sire)
You need an unbelievable record collection, and an even more incredible
imagination to do what The Avalanches do. How else could you go about even
conceiving to mix songs like America’s “Ventura Highway” with Dylan’s
lyrics, and then blend it into the beats from Madonna’s “Holiday?” On this
full length, from Australia’s finest DJ collective, you take a trip down
memory lane through a bunch of songs that, when played on their own, sound
cheesy and dated, but under the creative tutelage of these mad geniuses
provides a truly ingenious potpourri of funky danceable beats and clever
renditions of sacred classics. Who says DJ music has stopped being
interesting?
8.5.) Lemonjelly – Lemonjelly.ky (XL/BeggarsBanquet)
Every year for the past half decade the number of “electronic” albums has
increased to the point where unless you’re a DJ, seven-night a-week rager,
or record store employee you don’t stand a chance of keeping on top of them
all. But alas the best packaging of the year, also happened to package one
of my two favorite bopping-bouncing electronic albums of the year. Smooth,
melodic grooves culled from the three hard to find UK only EP’s, this full
length blends the calmness or Air with the chilled out beats of Kruder &
Dorfmeister. Not a better, more environmentally friendly piece to be found
this year, and with art that is every bit a cool as it sounds.
9.) Stereolab – Sound Dust (Elektra)
Like almost every Stereolab release, the loopy guitars and various synthetic
blips and pops just continue to get better, more sophisticated and musical
with every effort. “Sound Dust” is another pure pop gem, filled with
gorgeous vocals, moody lounge instrumentals and the signature groove
oriented electronica that they have evolved so nicely into a now decade old
career. As a first Stereolab record this one is quite a nice place to start,
as your tenth it might sound a bit too familiar, but alas I am a sucker for
the addition of brass and flute to their traditional keyboard and guitars
formula. This is another lushly produced record and one that will once again
leave me longing for the next one.
10) Turin Brakes – Optimist LP (Source/Astrelwerks)
Part Pink Floyd part Flaming Lips, England’s Turin Brakes are a genuine rock
band that just happens to rock very mellowly. There are chunky bass lines,
groove laden guitar beats and vocals that hover somewhere between Jeff
Buckley and Donovan. I guess there is nothing groundbreaking here, but one
day while back east driving back in Manhattan on a sunny summer day, the
“Optimist LP” just kind leapt out of the stereo at me. Poppy folk songs and
slow building retro guitars make this a record to own and eventually make
its way into your stereo at just the right time.
10.5.) Cousteau – Cousteau (Palm Pictures)
This is easily the most romantic record of the year – the “in front of a
raging fire” smoker of a debut by five English blokes. Cut from cloth once
probably worn by Brian Ferry or the Tindersticks, “Cousteau” is a rich
multi-layered brass, keys, guitar and bass crooner band that thrives on
their genuine ability to create a sense of atmosphere out of their music.
More than just rock band, Cousteau gracefully plays music that harkens back
to a kind of bygone age when Sinatra was considered a god, and lyrics were
meant to make you melt.
Honorable Mention: Radiohead – Amnesiac (Capital), Gigi – Gigi (Palm
Pictures), Clem Snide – (SpinART), Beulah – The Coast Is Never Clear
(Velocette), Femi Kuti – (MCA), Bonny Prince Billy – Ease On Down The Road
(Drag City), Mercury Rev – V2
