December 6, 2001

10:04 AM

NME has picked their top 50 albums of 2001They picked The Stroke's "Is This It." We haven't had a music discussion thread lately, so the opportunity arises to ask the question: What was your favorite album of 2001?
posted by Darke (83 comments total)

my preliminary vote goes to new order's "get ready."
i may be biased.
posted by moz at 10:08 AM on December 6, 2001

Time (the Revelator) by Gillian Welch.
posted by transient at 10:16 AM on December 6, 2001

Fugazi - The Argument

No doubt, best of the year.
posted by SweetJesus at 10:20 AM on December 6, 2001

White Stripes 'White Blood Cells' (at the minute). Bjork, Royksopp, Slipknot, Tortoise and Fridge/Four Tet dudes/dudettes can all take bows, thanks for the tunes!
posted by boneybaloney at 10:21 AM on December 6, 2001

White Stripes 'White Blood Cells' (at the minute). Bjork, Royksopp, Slipknot, Tortoise and Fridge/Four Tet dudes/dudettes can all take bows, thanks for the tunes!
posted by boneybaloney at 10:22 AM on December 6, 2001

I really liked Cake's Comfort Eagle. Really liked it. Oh, and Radiohead's Amnesiac.
posted by pnevares at 10:24 AM on December 6, 2001

Jamiroquai - A Funk Odyssey. Infectious.
posted by spunkster at 10:26 AM on December 6, 2001

I'm very bad at picking a single favorite, but Fugazi's The Argument, The Dismemberment Plan's Change, and Low's Things We Lost in the Fire are all way up there, as are Hey Mercedes' Everynight Fire Works, Shiner's The Egg and Strike Anywhere's Change is a Sound.
posted by redshifter at 10:28 AM on December 6, 2001

I loved The Beta Band's new album, Hot Shots II. Damn it's good.
posted by spork at 10:29 AM on December 6, 2001

"Album" ? Since this thread seems to be pointing retro, my favorite wax cylinder for all of '01 is "My Gal Irene" a duet published by Edison.

But I hear tell of wax cylinders going the way of the buggy whip. . .Gee whizz!
posted by BentPenguin at 10:35 AM on December 6, 2001

They picked the who's what as their #1?

I guess I'm not completely unhip, I recoginzed the names of half the groups on that list. Although the total number of albums of the fifty that I own is, um, one, and it's not the one of which they said "you own it, you love it."
posted by kindall at 10:36 AM on December 6, 2001

Daft Punk - "Discovery" for me.
posted by Mark at 10:42 AM on December 6, 2001

As yet officially unreleased in the form of a piece of plastic for sale, but since it was streamed over the web on the band's official website, I hereby nominate Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's truly amazing, and I'm still hoping someone at Reprise gets shot in the foot for not releasing this.
posted by elvissinatra at 10:46 AM on December 6, 2001

It certainly wasn't by The Strokes, boy bands make me nauseous. I'm not sure I could pick one album, too indecisive, but my favorites were:
The Shins: Oh Inverted World
Manu Chao: Proxima Estacion Esperanza
Fugazi: The Argument (their best in years, IMO)
Mercury Rev: All is Dream
posted by emptyage at 10:48 AM on December 6, 2001

Man, I must be the only one who just don't get all The Strokes hype. For all their plaigarism, why don't they just call themselves the Black Crowes and get it over with. I think the indie-rock community was just craving some new genre to exploit once it had gotten sick of Pet Sounds ripoffs, and looked toward late-70s Garage and Velvet Underground for something "new".

Oh, in answer to your question: Poses, by Rufus Wainwright
posted by Karl at 10:49 AM on December 6, 2001

I am so unhip it's scary.

I know 11 of the 50 artists.

One of those 11 I know because she died this year, and the other because they were on the High Fidelty sound track.
posted by szg8 at 10:50 AM on December 6, 2001

We haven't had a music discussion thread lately.

What is this, chopped liver?
posted by milnak at 10:51 AM on December 6, 2001

Favorite album of the moment is It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. That might just be because Christmas is coming up though.
The Moldy Peaches remind me a lot of earlier Magnetic Fields stuff which is nice.
Death Cab For Cutie: The Photo Album, The Standard: The Standard, and Explosions in the Sky: those who tell the truth shall die, those who tell the truth shall live forever.
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 10:52 AM on December 6, 2001

Tool - Lateralus
posted by jbelshaw at 10:58 AM on December 6, 2001

I hate music.
posted by corpse at 10:58 AM on December 6, 2001

This year has been terribly disappointing for music. A bunch of releases I was looking forward to with great zeal were ultimately let-downs. Radiohead, REM, Sloan, Dave Matthews Band, the Beta Band, Ben Folds, Tortoise... the list goes on.

What's been good?
Mogwai's Rock Action, the Reindeer Section's Y'All Get Scared Now, Y'Hear? , Zero7's Simple Things, the Kings of Convenience's Quiet is the New Loud and Versus, Elbow's Asleep at the Wheel...

(Oh, and TiggleTaggleTiger, that Jeepster Xmas album is delish, I agree.)
posted by Marquis at 11:00 AM on December 6, 2001

Damn man, I can't believe the good stuff that they forgot off that list, while including some things that were pretty much papp (Basement Jaxx, Slipknot, Daft Punk...WTF?). I don't see Fridge - Happiness (although they fortunately included Kieren Hebden's Four Tet release), Mum - Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is OK, Lali Puna - Scary World Theory, Avalanches - Since I Left You, and several other things.

At least they included Fugazi, White Stripes, and Sparklehorse, though.
posted by almostcool at 11:02 AM on December 6, 2001

Fila Brazilia's Another Late Night. Okay, it's technically a glorified "Make-Out Mix" we all made in junior high, but I'll take it over Al Green anyday of the week.

For more fun make-out mixes check out the Back To Mine series which is very similar:Talvin Singh, Faithless, Everything But The Girl, and Groove Armada.
posted by remlapm at 11:06 AM on December 6, 2001

My vote goes to Dj Shadow + Cut Chemist's Product Placement.

This successor to Brainfreeze is an amazing jaunt through the world of forgotten 45s.

This was only sold at their live shows, until hiphopsite.com bought out the remaining batch and sold them online.

(i got mine via audiogalaxy)
posted by ewwgene at 11:07 AM on December 6, 2001

Best big albums: New Order "Get Ready" and R.E.M. "Reveal"; best indie albums, Fugazi "The Argument" and Dntel "Life Is Full Of Possibilities." But of course there were lots of good records like there always are. The Strokes record is pretty good too!
posted by josh at 11:10 AM on December 6, 2001

Any site that ranks Destiny's Child - Survivor higher than Fugazi - The Argument (IMHO the best of the year) is a bit questionable. I really liked 2 Skinnee J's - Volumizer, but it hasn't been officially released because their label folded.
posted by jed at 11:27 AM on December 6, 2001

Survivor was a wonderful album, certainly worthy of any list it makes this year.
posted by corpse at 11:28 AM on December 6, 2001

I must be out of touch. I haven't heard of the majority of the artists listed. But then again, NME has always been like that. There has always seemed to be a flavor of the month type of feeling to the British pop scene.
posted by jbelshaw at 11:34 AM on December 6, 2001

I would say Sparklehorse It's a Wonderful Life was my favorite album of the year. I also like Spiritualized - Let It Come Down, and Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator). Tindersticks' Can Our Love was good but not up to their past efforts IMHO. I'm waiting for the next two Tom Waits albums (due out soon), to best all these.
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:35 AM on December 6, 2001

I agree, Marquis. Biggest let down was DMB...one of the worse releases of the year. I wanted to throw a brick at the radio every time i heard their big single. Forgot what its called, but it SUCKED. Other stuff wasn't that good either.
Being from UGA, though, i have to be biased towards REM and Stripe.
posted by jmd82 at 11:36 AM on December 6, 2001

If live albums are allowed, Bon Jovi's One Wild Night live album was good. Collective Soul's 7even Year Itch (Greatest Hits) was good including the new songs.
Cybernauts' double CD was incredibly good. A good buy for any Def Leppard - Mick Ronson - David Bowie fan.
posted by riffola at 11:39 AM on December 6, 2001

hmm... just had this conversation last night.

it's a toss up between the strokes, rufus wainwright and ryan adams, for my favorite. travis was good, bjork was good, air wasn't what i thought it was going to be. i'm surprised daft punk didn't place higher...

all in all, i didn't think 2001 was a great year for music.
posted by jerseygirl at 11:41 AM on December 6, 2001

Hmm... Aphex Twin's Drukqs. But I don't listen to much music anyway.
posted by tiaka at 11:41 AM on December 6, 2001

I had just written this up for a year-end post to the Sugar mailing list, so i'll just cut and paste:

1. Orbit - XLR8R. After getting dropped by A&M during that enormous
merger, and having their finished record scrapped by the label, they
released this fabulous punk-pop record themselves. You can listen to the
whole album for free at http://www.orbitband.com/xlr8r/

2. Superchunk - Here's to Shutting Up. This one rocks a little harder than
their last album. 'Art Class' might be my favorite rock song written in
the last few years.

3. Belle & Sebastian - Jonathan David & I'm Waking Up To Us (singles). I
wasn't a huge fan of 'Fold Your Hands Child...' but as with older B&S
singles, these songs stack up favorably alongside their best albums.

4. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus. Way better than the last Pavement
album. He's now writing songs that are actually _about_ things. 'The Hook'
is the best song ever written about pirates.

5. Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs. Tight pop song writing, a fun record

6. Built To Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future. More of Doug's
wonderful atmospheric rock.
posted by chacal at 11:43 AM on December 6, 2001

Prefuse 73 Vocal Narratives and Uprock Studies. Nothing else even came close.
posted by gnutron at 11:45 AM on December 6, 2001

It's got to be a toss-up between Ryan Adams, Cocco and Shakira, with a strong lean toward Cocco. Gotta be down with the j-pop to know about her, though.
posted by Dreama at 11:47 AM on December 6, 2001

It's mentioned on the list, but Sparklehorse's It's A Wonderful Life is probably my top, followed by the Fugazi record and Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein. The Spiritualized record is damn fine as well, but I thought the Boredoms record the NME picked was released at least a year and a half ago (in Japan, at least).

As for the knocks towards the Strokes, sure, they owe a lot to their forebears, but you've got to differentiate between the band and the praise that's heaped upon them. I thought the record was a fun, not-a-lot-to-think-about session. It's great for the car and cleaning the house.

Erm, did I just say that - about cleaning?
posted by videodrome at 11:48 AM on December 6, 2001

How 'bout Garbage? Anybody like them?
posted by nofundy at 11:49 AM on December 6, 2001

How 'bout Garbage? Anybody like them?

i don't know if releasing 'androgyny' as the first single was a good idea. it seemed to turn a lot of people away... but it was a pretty good cd.
posted by jerseygirl at 11:54 AM on December 6, 2001

The best are determined by the ones I listened to the most:

Pete Yorn - Musicforthemorningafter
Joseph Arthur - Come to Where I'm From
Teenage Fanclub - Howdy
Ryan Adams - Gold
New Order - Get Ready
Cash Brothers - How Was Tomorrow
posted by chainring at 11:59 AM on December 6, 2001

For me the best album of the year was Muse's "Origin of Symmetry".
posted by chrimble at 11:59 AM on December 6, 2001

Calibre, Musique Concrete.
posted by decklin at 12:07 PM on December 6, 2001

Manu Chao Proxima Estacion: Esperanza

Definitely.
posted by armando at 12:08 PM on December 6, 2001

Kelly Hogan -- Because It Feel Good
Steve Wynn -- Here Come The Miracles
Ramones -- Anthology
posted by spilon at 12:09 PM on December 6, 2001

Hello? The execrable 'Andrew WK' with his vomit inducing debut 'I get wet' is the 19th best album of the year? I thought I was supposed to be right in the middle of the NME's target market (hep young student indierock bloke about Londres) and some of these choices are a triffle wierd.

Well, I loved Radiohead's Amnesiac (and I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings), who else were good:

Delirious, Audio Lessonover
Sing-Sing, the joy of Sing-Sing
French Kicks, Young Lawyer
Fugazi, the Argument

But my top album of the year has to be the amazing Souljacker from Eels. Rockin'

did I just say that?

worrying
posted by nedrichards at 12:13 PM on December 6, 2001

Seems like we went through all this about a month ago, but hey.

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire -- The Swimming Hour. It's just a great little album. Nothing like their earlier stuff.

(btw, spilon, Kelly Hogan guests on it.)
posted by me3dia at 12:13 PM on December 6, 2001

Right on, chrimble.
posted by rory at 12:16 PM on December 6, 2001

I think the indie-rock community was just craving some new genre to exploit once it had gotten sick of Pet Sounds ripoffs,

The Strokes are on RCA, get top-40 airplay, and are all over MTV. Not what I would call indie.
posted by skallas at 12:19 PM on December 6, 2001

1) what is the fucking deal with the strokes?

2) destiny's child?

this year, i don't think i'll trust any list that doesn't have the shins on it. (not just because they're hometown, y'all.)
posted by sugarfish at 12:29 PM on December 6, 2001

The Strokes sure have been hyped a lot. I've been listening to their cd for about a week now - at first I rated it at 2 stars on Amazon - but the other day I decided to upgrade it to 3. So - maybe in another week or so I'll be really happy with it... but the in the back of my mind it just doesn't jive with me. Usually a favorite cd will instantly appeal to me and then as I further examine it I'll find more and more rewarding stuff - not so with The Strokes - there just doesn't seem to be much depth to it.
posted by wfrgms at 12:31 PM on December 6, 2001

i like the glow pt. 2 by the microphones.
posted by kliuless at 12:32 PM on December 6, 2001

System of a Down's Toxicity has seen the inside of a stereo most frequently within the past few months, with Radiohead's Amnesiac following closely thereafter.
Coaster of The Year, however, goes to Tenacious D. After all their talk about not selling out, they coughed up an overproduced, lame disc that disappointed me even more than this year's travesty-distributed-as-music by the Dave Matthews Band.
posted by Danelope at 12:34 PM on December 6, 2001

The Strokes - there just doesn't seem to be much depth to it.

There's not. And they will disappear off the radar like every one-hit-wonder before them. But they do symbolize one thing, and that is just how fucking lame everyone else is. The state of 'new music' is so pathetic these days that a band as average as The Strokes can set the world on fire, even if just for a little while. I asked a buddy at BMG what the deal was with all the hype, and he said, "To tell you the truth, we're just happy to have a new band that's not embarassing... that's why everyone's so excited."

So there you have it -- "Not embarassing" is the new standard to reach for.

(and me3dia: thanks fer the tip!)
posted by spilon at 12:37 PM on December 6, 2001

Why, without a doubt, that would be Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, the 7 CD Box Set from the late John Fahey's Revenant Records, about the most excellent and lovingly elaborate production I've ever seen or heard...
posted by y2karl at 12:42 PM on December 6, 2001

Out of the cds I bought this year,

Best:
Bran Van 3000 - Discosis: They just get better.
Ozomatli - Embrace the Chaos: Can't stop OZO

Worst:
Tool - Lateralus: God we love listening to ourselves, don't we.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:42 PM on December 6, 2001

Three that haven't been mentioned yet:
Bob Dylan-"Love and Theft" (A journey through the American songbook...his best since "Blood on the Tracks"...standout track "Mississippi")
The Avalanches-"Since I Left You" (A simply amazing sound collage...funniest song of the year, "Frontier Psychiatrist")
Gorky's Zygotic Munki-"How I Long to Feel that Summer in Your Heart" (Horrible name, wonderful songs by the unhearlded Welsh popsters)
Among those mentioned that deserve merit: Ryan Adams' "Gold," Wilco's "Yankee, Foxtrot, Hotel," and the Shins' "Oh Inverted World."
Overall though, it was kind of a blah year. Lots of very good records that may emerge as favorites as time passes on, but right now don't get the blood pumping like the six listed above.
posted by alexg23 at 12:48 PM on December 6, 2001

'The Word', a terrific instrumental blues/gospel album faeturing memebers of the North Mississippi Allstars and Medeski, Martin and Wood. The playing is damn near virtuostic and has a terriffic, loose relaxed feel but never descends into "jam band" style self-indulgence.
posted by jonmc at 12:48 PM on December 6, 2001

What's wrong with the Strokes?

Plenty.

Dylan's new one and Hayseed Dixie - A Hillbilly Tribute To AC/DC are the two new releases I listened to the most this year.

Overrated of the year are the Strokes and Ryan Adams.

Not bad music there, just way too much hype.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 1:02 PM on December 6, 2001

just because of the heavy guitar rock bias in this thread:

Gorillaz - a conceptual fuck you, absolutely brilliant

and, to repeat myself:

Spearhead - Stay Human ; not many make music from compassion. these guys do :)
posted by elphTeq at 1:31 PM on December 6, 2001

boy bands make me nauseous

emptyage: I hate to break it to you, but if ever there was a "boy band" it is fugazi.

hmmm....I hate these questions:

Burnt Friedman-
Plays Love Songs

Black Box Recorder--England Made Me

...and don't forget
The Wire
posted by anathema at 1:43 PM on December 6, 2001

Che Fu - Navigator and Nathan Haines - Sound Travels. I'm a huge New Zealand music fan.
posted by animoller at 1:44 PM on December 6, 2001

robert normandeau - sonars
posted by juv3nal at 2:14 PM on December 6, 2001

Call and Response's self-titled record is at least 6 different kinds of rad.
posted by willpie at 2:37 PM on December 6, 2001

Hmmm.. that's easy:

The Hellacopters: High Visibility.

I would also say that Karma to Burn's: Almost Heathen is a close second as well.
posted by punkrockrat at 2:55 PM on December 6, 2001

Firstly:
I am fascinated by the fact that no one gives a shit (including me) about the new Weezer album or the new U2 album.

I loved Radiohead's Amnesiac and Shiner's The Egg (despite j robbins characteristically inept production). By the way, I saw Shiner in Austin about a month ago and it was really great. If you like them, GO!
posted by tcobretti at 4:17 PM on December 6, 2001

I forgot Secondly.
posted by tcobretti at 4:17 PM on December 6, 2001

ok, i feel awfully lonely:
coldplay - parachutes
o brother, where art thou - soundtrack
posted by brookish at 4:25 PM on December 6, 2001

What about Britney? I love the CD insert on that album.
posted by ktheory at 4:25 PM on December 6, 2001

Overall though, it was kind of a blah year.

Yeah.

Hey, just to see what sells, stop by the Biilboard poll for the "No. 1 album of 2001".
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 4:38 PM on December 6, 2001

But parachutes came out in 1999/2000 didin't it? Or it did in the UK anyway.

And yes, Gorillaz take the stand along with Radiohead for best artwork.

I liked Weezer, but I didn't love them. None of the songs allow you to have a deep and involved personal relationship like Souljacker part I by Eels does. It's the only time I've ever been faux nostaligic that I'm not an incestuous trailer park dweller (not that all trailer park people are incestuous, just the one in the song.)

Just remembered, The Hives! 'Your New Favourite Band' just blew me away. I know it's a 'greatest hits' album but it's the only one out this year. They're from Sweden you know.
posted by nedrichards at 4:44 PM on December 6, 2001

Wow. I got an "server is dead" error when I tried to post this, and assumed it never went through. That's why I didn't post my personal opinions.

My personal album of the year is Kenna - New Sacred Cow. Its not officially released yet, but promo copies have been availible on Ebay for a long while. Its sort of like Radiohead's "Amnesiac" with an 80's dark pop feel. I also really enjoyed Therapy's "Shameless" a lot more than I expected to.

I didn't really like what I've heard of the Strokes so far. Friends have been telling me that they're the best thing ever, but they're just "blah" to me.

This years biggest disappointment for me would probally be tied between Aphex Twin's "Druqks" and Orbital's "The Altogether". Druqks was a decent album, but not comparable to his previous works, and definately not worth the three year wait. "The Altogether" was just horrible.

I've been meaning to pick up Peter Yorn's album, as the two singles I've heard are really good.
posted by Darke at 5:10 PM on December 6, 2001

The Strokes are great because, first, they are tearing apart the horrible creed crap all over the airways, which is even worse than the hair bands, and, second, they are a great band playing great songs their first shot out of the gate. No band, except for Pavement, have done that in years. Ever song they have is a winner. They don't shave their heads and wear ski caps and baseball hats. Sure, I he sounds exactly like Lou Reed in one song, but, hello, all art is derivitive. Say, oh I don't know, Dave Eggers. Donald Barthleme was banging his stuff out in the sixties. Everything can be traced back. Especially art. Read Wolfe's The Painted Word. Music is no different.
posted by BigRock at 5:13 PM on December 6, 2001

The Avalanches-"Since I Left You" (A simply amazing sound collage...funniest song of the year, "Frontier Psychiatrist")

I could've sworn that was from 2000 (at least in Australia) - yes, "Frontier Psychiatrist" was number 6 in the Hottest 100 of 2000.

As for being unhip: I recognised 13 of the artists listed by NME, and that was by going 'hmm, I think that name sounds familiar...' I don't own any cds that were released this year (not just none listed by NME, but none at all). I did slightly better on the NME 2000 list, I own a whole two of the cds listed. and I'm listening to Simon and Garfunkel now. Can I have the Totally-Un-hip Award?
posted by eoz at 6:11 PM on December 6, 2001

i'd say for best albums of the year (in my opinion!)...

glen phillips - abulum
john mayer - room for squares
marathon - the year of you

megan
posted by hazelmeg at 6:26 PM on December 6, 2001

The one album that has remained glued in my CD player since it arrived; the one album that sets my fiancee and I bellowing in the car to its every word; the one album that haunts my dreams:

The Ass Ponys Lohio

I thought Some Stupid With a Flare Gun was good, but gawd, this album is one of the best ones I've ever heard ever. Chuck Cleaver is simply the most amazing songwriter you never heard of. And while the Ass Ponys show I saw this year wasn't the best I saw, that was only because it was too short because they were opening for the lame-ass Neko Case, who was too insecure to allow them or the Handsome Family the encores they so richly deserved and the audience so badly wanted. When they have time to actually play, they are the best band I've ever seen live. The first time I saw them was in Columbus, Ohio, at the Anyway Fest a few years ago, and you could have scraped me up off the floor after their set, they were so good. They closed that night with "Extra Nipple", which hadn't even been released yet, and I spent the next year singing it until it was. When we saw them at ScrawlFest in Columbus last year, they even played "Earth to Grandma".

My fiancee figured out why Lohio is even better than Some Stupid. Some Stupid was about oddballs in situations you couldn't imagine yourself in. Lohio is about oddballs just like us.

"big evening up ahead
wide array of choices
bladerunner, robocop,
or the bride of frankenstein"
posted by geneablogy at 8:00 PM on December 6, 2001

I cannot pick just one, so here's 10, in no particular order (yet):

Ryan Adams - Gold
Travis - The Invisible Band
Starsailor - Love Is Here
Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters
Ours - Distorted Lullabies
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
R.E.M. - Reveal
Spiritualized - Let It Come Down
The Strokes - Is This It
Low - Things We Lost In The Fire
posted by whatevrnvrmind at 2:18 AM on December 7, 2001

Off the top of my head I'd say:

Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World

Pulp - We Love Life

Rocket From The Crypt - Groupsounds


All did cracking gigs this year too, and even the Furries DVD version of the album was pretty good.
posted by dodgygeezer at 6:25 AM on December 7, 2001

I'd have to go with Ben Folds' Rockin' the Suburbs, which is just a tasty progression from his earlier albums and Cake's Comfort Eagle, where they finally get back to form. If greatest hits count, then Barenaked Ladies (hey, I liked 'em before they were cool) 1991-2001. If re-releases count, then Aimee Mann's UK Bachelor #2. Finally, if reissues count, then anything in the Rudy Van Gelder line of jazz remasters. Stunning work.
posted by fncll at 9:32 AM on December 7, 2001

The Strokes - there just doesn't seem to be much depth to it.

And the Ramones were *so* deep.
Granted, I've only heard their one radio hit, but the Strokes seem to be playing a punk '77-meets-Rolling Stones sound, which isn't all that original but sure is catchy. Number 1, no, but top 50, maybe.
posted by me3dia at 9:47 AM on December 7, 2001

Following glenwoods hilarious, um i mean ill-considered comments on the demographic on display on metafilter, i was thinking about copying out a chart from the excellent music magazine big daddy, to show how street and down and generally upside yo' grill we all are here. But that just wouldn't do.

Seeing as guitar based rock still holds sway in this court, i shall attempt to broaden the spectrum a bit.

Now, if like me you had dismissed goa-trance in 1994 as a spent force rapidly gaining mainstream acceptance and therefore on the down slope as far as innovation is concerned - think again!

That may have made no sense to you, but check this out: the latest thing in goa is HEAVY METAL TRANCE. I jest not, 3 note base lines interspersed with roaring HM riffs and break-downs to guitar solos. So, offers an access point for those of you who insist that it just can't be right unless there is a guitar to the fore.

Also, they are organising some of the craziest over-ground US style mega-raves for your pleasure over the next year. Why not spend three days in the south american jungle bugging-out to psy-trance (web site features some of the *loveliest* java mouse trails in existence).
Alternatively, a similar thing in the middle of western australia for the eclipse next year (web site 'still under construction').

On to my albums of the year (no guitar based rock, sorry) -
as i am seeing them soon: manitoba
as i have just bought it: pilote
as they are great: need new body (may include guitar sounds!)
as it is quality uk hip-hop: braintax
posted by asok at 10:25 AM on December 7, 2001

media: Oh, this is so funny. You hear the strokes one song on the radio and bash them. Wow. Insight is amazing here. And other people are prasing REM as best album of the year. And New Order. And whatever. Let's focus: the best album of the year is something that is completely unlike the other stuff on the radio, but just as good or better. Next someone will talk about Seal. Some people have a serious problem of accepting music that gets popular appeal. Just think how lame you would be if you hated early 70's Stones during the early 70's. (Oh, and sorry for the righteousness here, but I think it's funny.)
posted by BigRock at 10:38 AM on December 7, 2001

BigRock -- I wasn't bashing them. I like the song -- it's just not all that original. You said it yourself:
all art is derivitive...Music is no different.
My point exactly.

the best album of the year is something that is completely unlike the other stuff on the radio, but just as good or better.

Huh? Why can't something that's on the radio be the best album of the year? If it's good, wouldn't lots of people like it, leading to widespread success? Or can only hard-luck, underappreciated bands create killer sounds?
posted by me3dia at 2:28 PM on December 7, 2001

Hey Media! Someone's paying attention. I like that. I can't write so good; I meant to say that the best album *should* be one that is completely.. (and so on). If they happen to be on the radio (The Strokes! National Coverage!), that's great. Remember when Nirvanna destroyed practically everyone's career at the time? Band of the year, no doubt.
posted by BigRock at 3:42 PM on December 10, 2001