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-- AVERY JONES --
Q And Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep
Summer Hymns - Voice Brother & Sister
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes
Outkast - Stankonia
Engine Down - To Bury Within The Sound
Firebird Band - Setting Sun And Its Satellites
Turing Machine - A New Machine For Living
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
God Speed You Black Emperor - Raise Your Skinny Fists
WORST RECORDS
Hey Mercedes - Hey Mercedes (don't they know that Braid is over)
Bright Eyes - Fevers And Mirrors (lordy lordy, i am drunk again!)
-- CASSIE GLANNEY --
Radiohead - Kid A
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Faraquet - The View From This Tower
Laika - Good Looking Blues
Engine Down - To Bury Within The Sound
Red Shirt Brigade - Mock Election and the Post Selection
Bright Eyes - Fevers & Mirrors
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Summer Hymns - Voice Brother & Sister
Sleater-Kinney - All Hands on the Bad One
-- CHRISTOPHER ASHWORTH --
Boards of Canada "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country" (Warp)
Bluetip "Polymer" (Dischord)
Abilene "EP" (Slowdime)
Versus "Hurrah" (Merge)
Les Savy Fav "Rome" EP (Southern)
Yo La Tengo "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" (Matador)
Gauge "1" Retrospective Compilation (Tree)
Supergrass "Supergrass" (Island)
V.L.A.D. "Motion Institute" (Warp)
"Rock 'n Roll Singer" (Badmanrecordingco)
-- RYAN ALLEN --
010... karate- "unsolved": geoff farina finally sheds all the bullshit emo
tags, and makes a jazz rock album the members of steely dan would have
killed to make in their hey day
009... j mascis and the fog- "more light": successfully making lou barlow
jealous/j can shred like a mofo/kevin sheilds+neil youngesque drunk rock+bob
pollard being old and still singing well+ guitar players who play drums as
well as they play guitar= a fucking awesome record
008... ida- "will you find me": the best fleetwood mac album never
made/harmonies like butter/"i'm tired, what should i listen to? oh, how
about ida"/warm and fuzzy
007... bright eyes-"fevers and mirros": cut your wrists and sing
along/"jeez that guy seriously needs to take a chill pill duuuuuude"/"conor
has anime hair"
006... the sea and cake- "oui": like taking a long bubble bath in musical
goodness... fresh as hell ya'll
005... grandaddy- "the sophtware slump":
004... modest mouse- "the moon and antartica": nobody thought they could do
it, but they did it, and they did it with style, wit, alcohol, and some
fucked up dreams about the devil... scarier than kid a?
003... death cab for cutie- "we have the facts and are voting yes": if i was
trapped in the woods with no food, bleeding from the head, and hallucinating
about killer raccoons, i'd still have the sense to think this is a fantastic
album
002... godspeed you black emperor- "lift your skinny fists like antennas to
heaven": gybe is new favorite band... if you haven't heard this record and
you like music, maybe you should beat yourself up or something... 2 discs of
majestic, instrumental orchestration that will rock the skinny levis off
your tweep pop asses... canadian!!!
001... radiohead- "KID A": pretentious studio wankery? brian eno obsessed
crap? thom yorke's musical masturbation session? well of course silly!
that's the point. "kid a" is so punk rock it hurts... not only an big "fuck
you" to the music industry and pop culture, but a creative, introspective,
intelligent, and, dare i say, melodic (??) piece of music... wonderful.
-- JAMES HOEY --
10. The Moonlighters - Dreamland
9. Don Caballero - American Don
8. Tara Jane O'Neil - Peregrine
7. The Recruders - s/t
6. Hazmat Modine - s/t
5. "Oh, Brother, Where Art thou?" soundtrack
4. Cat Power - the Covers Record
3. Sad Rockets - Transition
2. Pankration - split EP
1. Faraquet - The View From This Tower
-- MATHIAS SVALINA --
Anti Pop Consortium—Tragic Epilogue
Q and Not U—No Kill No Beep Beep
Kid 606—Down with the Scene
Faraquet—The View From this Tower
Sigur Rós—Ágætis Byrjun
Sleater-Kinney—All Hands on the Bad One
Engine Down—To Bury Within the Sound
Strike Anywhere—A Chorus of One
Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek—Reflection Eternal
Modest Mouse—The Moon and Antarctica
-- JOHN STEINBACHER --
Ten Best Albums and/ or Songs
1
The Letter E - “number 2” “Goodbye” from EP and “Better Days” “Block and Tackle” from #5 Long Player
The Letter E did not exactly win over most critics as a new indie-rock super group, but I think they were pretty damn good, especially these four songs. Sunset country meets time changes. Yes, I prefer it when Curtis Harvey sings, but I can get over it with songs like these. “Better Days” is the best song of the year.
2
(Slint) The For Carnation – self-titled / Papa M – Live from a Shark Cage
The guys from Slint had their best year since Spiderland. I thought the For Carnation was a waste after their last album, but this one is the best album ever to crank up really loud when you go to sleep. Papa M turned up on a Gateway Computers commercial, but that didn’t surprise with Dave Pajo’s laid back yet excellent guitar work. The best album ever to put on at about five on the volume knob and got to sleep to.
3
Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
A perfectly subtle album from the perfectly something band who lives somewhere near everybody else and keep doing stuff that everybody who is anybody likes.
4
Crooked Fingers – self-titled
If it wasn’t for one song, this would be number one all by itself, but unfortunately Eric Bachman wrote perhaps the worst song of the year and put it on this album (“She spread her legs and flew away”) Otherwise an all-time great album that gives darkness beauty and lays to rest any doubt of this man’s ability to write a song.
5
Portastatic – De Mel, De Melao
Who knew a mix of the guy from Superchunk and Tropicalia could be so perfect together (except the third song). And he sometimes sings in Portugese.
6
Blonde Redhead - Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons
Head and shoulders above their previous record, the songs seem bittersweet instead of pretentious. This album set new standards for French-Japanese Italian groups with twins.
7
The Handsome Family – In the Air
I am scared and sad and alt country will never sound any better.
The title track hasn’t gotten out of my head for at least six months.
8
Radiohead – Kid A
Yeah, I liked it too. Sorry.
9
Schema – self-titled
I was very surprised and delighted by this CD’s mix of everything anybody ever wanted from a rock band in the twenty first century.
10 tie
Bargos Steeler - Classic Steve
An excellent EP from a band that never gets enough credit for doing something that absolutely no one else does. Construction rock at its finest. The third song rips.
10 tie
Don Cabellero – American Don
New wave, brit-pop casio stars do it again.
Honorable Mentions
Best Album by Legend - Johnny Cash
Check out his cover of Will Oldham’s “I see a darkness”, taking a decent song and making it great. Also, I never knew that Tom Petty was so dark until I heard it through Johnny Cash’s voice.
Best Compilation CD - Badlands A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen
Son Volt wins me over to the side of Bruce with the kind of cover only they could do. Los Lobos, Hank Williams III, and Crooked Fingers also build upon the legacy of the Boss.
Worst Album – Belle and Sebastian
Aren’t they precious? Fold your hands children, you are the most frivolous band of all time.
-- ERIC J HERBOTH --
Q And Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep : heard it 60 days in a row and
couting
Radiohead - Kid A : duh
Bright Eyes - Fevers & Mirrors : instant classic
Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes : all good
Turing Machine - A New Machine For Living : nothing remotely as intense
Weakerthans - Left And Leaving : another instant classic
Johnny Cash - III : all he touches turns to gold, even Will Oldham
God Speed You Black Emperor - Raise Your Skinny Fists : get lost in it
DMS - s/t : maybe a bit arrogant to list but I can't stop listening to
it
Appleseed Cast - Mare Vitalis : unfortunately associated with Deep Elm
HONORABLE MENTION
Salvo Beta - Abrasive Stuttering
Camden - Reel Time Canvas
Deftones - White Pony
Durian - Sometimes You Scare Me
Laika - Good Looking Blues
National Skyline - s/t
Killowatthours - Strain of Positive Thinking
V/A - Songs of the Geographically Challenged Comp
Firebird Band - Setting Sun And Its Satellites
Engine Down - To Bury Within The Sound
Summer Hymns - Voice Brother & Sister
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Sleater-Kinney - All Hands on the Bad One |
