Jon Dale Top 10 Lists for 2000
- Aaliyah "Try Again"
- MJ Cole "Sincere"
- Destiny's Child "Say My Name"
- Gas Pop
- Kid 606/Tigerboy "Attitude"
- Maher Shalal Hash Baz From A Summer to Another Summer
- Pimmon Assembler
- Royal Trux Pound For Pound
- Vibracathedral Orchestra Lino Hi
- Bill Wells Trio Incorrect Practice
Wes Freeman
- Mr. Airplane Man Primitive Massachusetts guitarist and drummer playing dead-on blues without bowing to any of their influences. Quoth singer/guitarist/lyricist Margaret Garrett: "We see no difference between Howlin' Wolf and Iggy Pop." When PRIMITIVE or MR. AIRPLANE MAN (the band's 1998 debut) is on the stereo, it seems like the only music that matters.
- The Strollers Captain of My Ship Swedish garage tyrants playing what should be cliches by now, and generally sound like cliches in the hands of less maniacal musicians. CAPTAIN is the band's sophomore effort, more diverse than its 1999 debut, FALLING RIGHT DOWN.
- Johnny Cash American III: Solitary Man Farewell music from the man in black. It plays like a cross between the two albums that came before it, AMERICAN RECORDINGS and UNCHAINED, but with more cover songs.
- R.L. Burnside Wish I Was In Heaven Siting Down A startingly effective post-Philadelphia soul cover of Skip James' "Hard Time Killin' Floor" and thoroughly galling bluegrass cover of Muddy Waters' "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble." R.L.'s weary and authoritative vocals transcend the CD's novelty production and make the whole work something to remember. Not the last thing to remember from Burnside, we hope.
- Kim Gordon, DJ Olive and Ikue Mori Strangely accessible deconstruction (or maybe realization) of dance music. Olive doesn't pump beats, just screws around with found sounds. Mori and Gordon keep up.
- Dead Soldiers Dead Soliders (EP) Another Swedish garage act, this one with a refreshing fondness for triple meters and a heavy, organ-driven sound. The band's sound is more distinctly Swedish than the work of the Strollers or Hellacopters, and probably more experimental.
- Morphine The Night Good night music from the Man of Sand. The only album since CURE FOR PAIN cirtics admitted Mark Sandman & Co. were experimenting on. Consequently it got tepid reviews. THE NIGHT can be the best CD you listen to all day, as long as it's the last thing you listen to. Like most of Morphine's CDs, it won't make sense until after the sun is down.
- Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele Easily the best CD by the Wu-Tang squad since Ghost's last CD in 1996. Never the Clan's most ingenious or diverse rapper, he has proved to be the most consistent, which is to say he is one of the most remarkable MCs in the game.
- Robert Belfour What's Wrong With You Fat Possum Records' best find in years. On a resonator guitar Belfour proves himself to be the best technician in the Fat Possum stable. Rock solid rhythms, funky bends and a big, achey voice.
- Scott Dunbar Live From Lake Mary A re-issue of a session from the '70s. It's not a remarkable CD, but it's a consistent one and it provides an interesting look at one of the most obscure facets of the Louisianna/Mississippi-border blues: the "grunting style."
Aaron Goldberg
- Tresor 2000
- Scotty Hard the Return of Kill Dog E
- Lou Reed Ecstasy
- Terry Lee Brown Jr Terry's Cafe3
- The Saints Wild About You complete recordings 1974-1977
- The Scientists Blood Red River 1982-84
- Mainstreet Records Round One to Five 1993-1999
- Plastic City Reconstructed
- Ghost Dog - Soundtrack to the Movie
- Roni Size In the Mode
Its getting harder to find 'new' music that really jumps out and kicks my ass, make me feel like burning down a bank, you know? I've got most of the Golden Oldies I need, but as noted anarchist philosopher Bob Black once said 'Rock, its got a great future behind it!'..Basically I'm really getting into pirate broadcasts through the Internet, esp of underground drum and bass and hiphop, and um ultra mainstream 'RnB' has become quite good, since its all influenced by Timbaland...but if you're talking guitars and attitude, I think thats a thing of the past, esp since most kids these days are spening their pocket money on computers and modems, rather than guitars and amps, I mean come on its the year2000 - where in that place called 'the Future'!
Jason Gross
- Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
- Kid Koala Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Warren Zevon Life'll Kill Ya
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore One Endless Night
- Corey Harris/Henry Butler Vu-Du Menz
- Moneen Small Chairs for the Early 1900s
- Lolita Storm G.F.S.U.
- River City Rebels Racism Religion and War
- Foil Never Got Hip
- Tektonics
Good year! In a bigger list, I would have also included Van Morrison/Linda Gail Lewis, Blackalicious, The Go-Betweens, SoleSides Greatest Bumps, Modest Mouse, Deltron 3030, Elf Power, Outkast, The Apples in Stereo, Mystical, Shelby Lynne, Beautiful South, Nelly, Wyclef Jean, Idlewild, Sonic Youth and Chumbawamba. Also lots of good archival material out there: Raymond Scott, Harry Smith Anthology 4, KMD, Trinkont's Novelty Songs and Prayers From Hell. Reissues/comps: Richard Pryor, Sonny Sharrock, Belle and Sebastian, Half Japanese, Gizmos, F/I, Xenakis, Sun Ra, Louis Armstrong and Biz Markie.
Eric Hage
- Richard Buckner The Hill
- Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology
- The Gentlemen Ladies and Gentlemen...
- Primal Scream XTRMNTR
- Small Faces The BBC Sessions: 1965-1968
- Kind of Like Spitting Old Moon in the Arms of the New
- The Stooges 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions
- Merle Haggard If I Could Only Fly
- Damon and Naomi With Ghost
- Laura Cantrell Not the Tremblin' Kind
- Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Kurt Hernon
- The White Stripes De Stijl Jack and Meg White are brother and sister. He's got a guitar; she's got a bass and snare drum. And now I've got the horrible suburban blues too.
- Longwave Endsongs When someone has this much guitar energy you'd kinda figure the songs would be secondary, but then again, if there weren't so many gals breakin' hearts, who'd need to be in a band?
- Chris Harford and the Band of Changes Wake "Joe Strummer's Midnight Dream" as a song title? And it lives up to it? You gotta be kidding - but I ain't.
- Ass Ponys Some Stupid With a Flare Gun "Time marches on I've heard / and I won't contest it" Chuck Cleaver sings, knowing that it's not gonna change the songs he's singing. Which is fine by me also. There's something about the grace that comes with age, no matter how sullen it seems.
- Shelby Lynne I Am Shelby Lynne Ms. Lynne re-concocts herself as a Southern soul sister with a voice that has always been like so much sweet molasses. Maybe it was Memphis, or was it just Shelby in Memphis?
- Josh Ritter Golden Age of Radio Lost people in times that no one is supposed to be lost. Economy be damned, not everybody's part of the fast-paced American economic pipe drream.
- Great Plains Length of Growth 1981-89 Hardly fair to put this all-encompassing retrospective on a best of this year list. But then again, it's hardly fair that no one else ever got to hear America's premier garage pop punks.
- Sunshine Velvet Suicide A late entry, but one that matters if only as a reminiscing stroll through snapshots of pop music culture. They're from Czechoslovakia, so they don't have the definition that other bands do. I prefer it that way.
- COCO COCO I'm not even sure what it is they call themselves (is it see-oh see-oh, or is it Ko-Ko?), I don't think they are either. A bass, a drummer and big, huge, fat groove beats make this 30 minutes of the best "what me worry?" rock in ages.
- PJ Harvey Stories from the city, stories from the sea For the first time she doesn't sound so goddamn sure of herself (re: angry?) - therefore she doesn't scare me anymore. Thus, I feel more comfortable too. Not a perfect relationship, but when is love?
Jay Hinman
- Cheater Slicks Refried Dreams
- Various Artists Homework, Volume 4
- Various Artists Homework, Volume 1
- Gizmos 1976/1977 The Studio Recordings
- Cat Power The Covers Record
- Various Artists Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4
- Various Artists All Tore Up
- Barbara Manning & The Go-Luckys Homeless Where The Heart Is
- Various Artists Wolf Call!
- Various Artists Teenage Shutdown -- The World Ain't Round, It's Square
John Howard
- The Fall Unutterable
- Dead Prez Let's Get Free
- Anti Pop Consortium The Tragic Epilogue
- Sleater-Kinney All Hands on the Bad One
- Queens of the Stone Age R
- The Dead C 2 CDs
- Sun City Girls Carnival Folklore Resurrection 1-5
- Anderson/Jordan/Parker/Drake 2 Days in April
- Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele
- London Composer's Orchestra Proceedings
Mentions and reissues: Kid606, Cecil Taylor - Nailed, Pete Townshend - Lifehouse Chronicles, Marc Ribot - Muy Divertados, Wu Tang Clan - The W, Ornette reissues, Miles - Get Up With It (his best, EVER), The JBs - Pass The Peas, Fat Cat Split Series 1-8, the Jandek reissues, Atavistic's Unheard
Music series, Thirsty Ear's Blue Series (Shipp, Parker, et al), and Knitting Factory's Wildflowers reissue. Not to mention, my tapes of the Clean and Marilyn Crispell live in NZ (not together, alas). Also, all the other good shit I forgot to put in this list.
Steven J Hyden
- Air The Virgin Suicides
- Beach Boys Sunflower/Surf's Up (reissue)
- Beachwood Sparks S/T
- Built to Spill Live
- Coldplay Parachutes
- Radiohead Kid A
- Sunny Day Real Estate The Rising Tide
- Supergrass S/T
- Travis The Man Who
- U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind
I hate top 10 lists. Most of the music I buy is older because I can't ever keep up. As soon as this is posted, I know I'll find 10 albums I love way more than these. Cds just cost too damn much for me to buy everything I want.
Steve Kulak
- Christian Marclay-Thurston Moore-Lee Ranaldo Fuck Shit Up
- Cecil Taylor CT: The Quintet Nailed
- Captain Beefheart Grow Fins
- The Ganelin Trio Poco-a-Poco
- Sun Ra Arkestra Live at Praxis '84
- Efzeg Grain
- Peter Brotzmann Tentet Stone Water
- Evan Parker-Keith Rowe Dark Rags
- Anthony Ortega Scattered Clouds
- Sex Mob Solid Sender
Dave Lang
- Lou Reed Ecstacy
- Schlippenbach Trio Swinging the Bim
- Sonny Sharrock Black Woman reissue
- Jazzactuel 3-CD box (and all other BYG reissues)
- Current 93 Faust
- Noah Howard Patterns/Message to South Africa
- Fred Anderson+3 2 Days in April
- F/i Space Mantra reissue (shameless plug)
- Jemeel Moondoc/William Parker New World Pygmies
- Charles Bronson Complete Discography
Richard MasonI can't think of my favourite top 10 recordings of 2000. I just can't. Doesn't mean I didn't like 10 records this year, doesn't mean I'm stuck in the past. Doesn't mean much. Only thing I can say for sure about the new music I heard in 2001 is that I heard FLICK OF THE SWITCH, the latest AC/DC CD, the other day, and enjoyed it immensely. That probably tells you all you need to know. The rest is a bit of a blur, frankly. What sort of a rock critic does that make me? What indeed?ED NOTE: Despite Richard's crankiness, he was nice enough to give us his other top 10 lists (for the pre-pop era, for 1951 and for 2011).
Michaelangelo Matos
- Lifter Puller Fiestas + Fiascos
- Outkast Stankonia
- Luomo Vocalcity
- Quasimoto The Unseen
- Rancid Rancid
- Lucy Pearl Lucy Pearl
- Green Velvet Green Velvet
- James Carter Chasin' the Gypsy
- Spring Heel Jack Treader
- Mouse on Mars Niun Niggung
Scott McGaughey
- The Fucking Champs IV
- RZA Ghost Dog
- Radiohead Kid A
- Air The Virgin Suicides
- Melt-Banana Teeny Shiny
- Luc Ferrari Chansons pour le corps, etc.
- Various Artists OHM: the early gurus of electronic music
- Scott Walker Scott 3
- Various Artists Barry Lyndon
- Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza Musica Su Schemi
This isn’t in any particular order. I’m ashamed to admit it, but for various reasons didn’t listen to much new music released in 2000. It was a good year for reissues, as far as I could tell, and I spent far too much time and money on those. As for Ghost Dog, I’m referring to the Japanese version, which includes RZA’s 'score', unlike the soundtrack released in the US and elsewhere.
Bill Meyer
- Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
- Alastair Galbraith Cry
- Peter Brotzmann Tentet Stone / Water
- Mats Gustafsson Windows
- Huon Songs For Lord Tortoise
- Oval Ovalprocess
- Evan Parker and Keith Rowe Dark Rags
- Don Cherry Complete Communion
- Sun Ra The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums
- Miles Davis Get Up With It
Derek Monypeny
- Sun City Girls The Dreamy Draw
- Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
- Various Artists Indonesian Guitars
- Pinetop Seven Bringing Home the Last Great Strike
- Souled American Fe, Flubber, Around The Horn, Sonny (reissue)
- David S. Ware Surrendered
- Milford Graves Stories
- Faust The Wumme Years
- Cat Power Covers Record
- John Fahey Hitomi
SCG: CD Title proves they can't forget Arizona- best CD of "Carnival" series so far. YLT: Continued excellence. Ind Gui: Bliss. P7: Great underappreciated band. SA: Monumental reissue. DSW: Keep burning. MG: Personal hero. Fau: Overwhelming collection. CP: Great approach to the tunes. JF: Hope you like our new direction.
C. Burnett Newman
- Peroxide Mocha Suberpop!
- Volcano The Bear The One Burned Ma
- Mojave 3 Excuses for Travellers
- The Apples in Stereo Discovery of a World Inside the Moon
- Papas Fritas Buildings and Grounds
- Moon Mission Death Squad The Fake Pope
- Olivia Tremor Control Black Foliage
- Radiohead Kid A
- Bjork Selmasongs
- Bright Eyes Fevers and Mirrors
Jeff Penczak
- Voyage One From the New Nation of Long Shadows
- Aarktica No Solace In Sleep
- In Gowan Ring The Glinting Spade
- Ash Ra Tempel Gin Rose
- Jeff Kelly Melancholy Sun [4xCD box set]
- Tom Rapp A Journal of the Plague Year
- Belle & Sebastian Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant
- Cerberus Shoal Crash My Moon Yacht
- Various OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music [3xCD box set]
- Shalabi Effect Shalabi Effect [2xCD]
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth and slightly less stressful than determining a president, herewith (starting at #1) my favorite releases of 2000. Not a particularly memorable or rewarding year once I got past my Top 25 or so - the 20th century pretty much went out with about as much excitement as the Y2K bug
Marc Phillips
- Yo La Tengo ...and then nothing turned itself inside-out
- Suba Sao Paolo Confessions
- Radiohead Kid A
- Eels Daisies of the Galaxy
- Neil Young Silver & Gold
- Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl
- XTC Apple Venus Vol. 2: Wasp Star
- Lambchop Nixon
- Yo La Tengo Danelectro
- Belle and Sebastian Fold Your Hands Girl, You Walk Like A Peasant
Tim Ryan
- Wu Tang Clan The W
- Bjork Selmasongs
- OutKast Stankonia
- Ornette Coleman Skies of America
- Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
- Nelly Coutry Grammar
- PJ Harvey Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
- Elliot Smith Figure 8
- Various Artists Ego Trip's The Big Playback
- Radiohead Kid A
William Sacks
- 8 Bold Souls Last Option
- Vandermark Five Burn The Incline
- Andrew Hill Dusk
- Cat Power The Covers Record
- Badly Drawn Boy Hour Of The Bewilderbeast
- The Sea And Cake Oui
- Blackalicious NIA
- Erykah Badu Mama's Gun
- Kronos Quartet Caravan
- Ute Lemper Punishing Kiss
I walked away from the crit game 18 months ago and then relocated to a new city, so the stream of free product trickled down to nil late last year and I actually had to take risks with my own money again. My finding: the secret variety on the American scene persists despite the malaise of mass indifference. It would be easy to load down any short list with great reissues- this year's offerings of Miles Davis, Grateful Dead, Beefheart, The Band, Jimi Hendrix and Ornette Coleman were all brilliantly well done- but where's the challenge in it?
Tom Schulte
- The Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists
- Various Artists OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music
- Steve Hancoff Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar
- George Schuller & The Schulldogs Tenor Madness
- Ruben Gonzalez Chanchullo
- Dayna Kurtz Otherwise Luscious Life
- Ken Vandermark's Joe Harriott Project Straight Lines
- Morphine The Night Dreamworks
- MegaDrums Terra Nova
- Psychic TV Origin of the Species, Volume Too!: Psychic TV 1988-1994 Invisible Records
Will Shade
- The Yardbirds Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page
- The Drunk Thumbs Instant Antiques
- The Monks Let’s Start A Beat
- Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys Blue Moon Of Kentucky
- The Strollers Captain Of My Ship
- The Electric Prunes I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
- The Mooney Suzuki People Get Ready
- The Standells Ban This!
- The Yardbirds Cumular Limit
- The Blues Magoos Psychedelic Lollipop/Electric Comic Book
These ten albums are listed in order according to how frequently I listened to them. Five of them were brand spanking new while the other five were reissued in 2000. Sadly, Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page is once again out of print. More on the convoluted history of that album by yours truly in this Yardbirds story.
Matt Silcock
- Acid Mothers Temple Troubadours From Another Heavenly World
- Noah Howard Patterns/Message To South Africa
- Sun City Girls Cameo Demons And Their Manifestations
- Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts and Flowers
- Various Artists Harry Smith s Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume 4
- Various Artists Muckraker #9 CD
- Ilk Zenith
- Angus MacLise Brain Damage in Oklahoma City
- late The Thomas Gordon EP
- Naturaliste plays LVD31
Pat Thomas
- Shirley Collins & Davey Graham Folk Routes/New Routes UK folk reissue
- Miles Davis Big Fun reissue
- Larry Coryell Barefoot Boy reissue
- Barbara Manning Under One Roof singles compilation
- Hannah Marcus Black Hole Heaven new artist on Bar None
- Elliott Smith Figure 8 you know this guy
- Judee Sill S/T Japanese reissue of 70s US singer/songwriter
- Eddie Harris Excursions reissue
- Les McCann Live At Montreux reissue
- The Band Music From Big Pink reissue
I heard very little music from this year that excited me, but I heard tons of stuff from 30 years ago that moved me.
Richie Unterberger
- Donovan Summer Day Reflection Songs
- John Fahey Vol. 4: The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party
- The Leaves The Leaves...Are Happening! The Best of the Leaves
- Satya Sai Maitreya Kali Apache/Inca
- The Shakers Por Favor
- Matt Suggs Golden Days Before They End
- The Who BBC Sessions
- Various Artists The Girls Got Soul
- Various Artists The Stax Story
- Various Artists Whistle Bait! Rockabilly Rave-Ups
Rene Vasicek
- Uz Jsme Doma Ears
- Thelonius Monk The Definitive
- Solas The Hour Before Dawn
- Ceskomoravska hudebni spolecnost Cechomor
- Optiganally Yours Exclusively Talentmaker
- Guitar Boy Freaks Like Me
- Emma Lou Harris Red Dirt Devil
- Brenda Kahn Hunger
- Heather Eatman Candy & Dirt
- Ecstasy of St. Theresa In Dust
Mark Williams
- Alistair Galbraith Cry
- The Renderers Live at Otago Festival of the Arts
- The Murdering Monsters 10 truck drivin' classics
- Donald Miller Winter Calling
- Jay Clarkson Kindle
- Various Naked in the Afternoon (a tribute to Jandek)
- Luna The Days of our Nights
- La Gloria Jeremiad
- The Go-Betweens The Friends of Rachel Worth
- Wendyhouse Live from the pillow
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