Staff top 10 lists for 2001

(also see the full listing of Editor's picks for the year)
 

Jeff Arndt

• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• Mark Eitzel The Invisible Man
• Neko Case Canadian Amp
• Mark Lanegan Field Songs
• Stephen Malkmus Stephen Malkmus
• Dexter Romweber Chased by Martians
• Guided By Voices Isolation Drills
• Beachwood Sparks Once We Were Trees
• Ryan Adams (Disc 2 included in Special Edition Gold)
• Mark Eitzel EITZELSUPERHITSINTERNATIONAL

Confounding, challenging, anticipated, rejuvenated, soulful, infectious, fluid, atmospheric, honest music. Suffice it to say that all of these releases were welcomed reminders of the power and beauty these artists have to offer. We need this stuff.

Alan Crandall

• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• Alejandro Escovedo A Man Under the Influence
• Various Artists O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)
• Gram Parsons Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels
• Lucinda Williams Essence
• Olu Dara Neighborhoods
• The Velvet Underground The Bootleg Series Vol. 1

Jon Dale

• Herbert Bodily Functions
• Future Pilot AKA Tiny Waves, Mighty Sea
• Mercury Rev All is Dream
• Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott Miss E ... So Addictive
• Richard Youngs Making Paper
• Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information
• Neil Campbell The Hearing Force of the Humanverse
• Nagisa Ni te Songs For A Simple Moment
• Mouse on Mars Idiology
• Mary J. Blige "Family Affair"

Jeanne Fury

• The Plasmatics New Hope for the Wretched/Metal Priestess/+ 3 Bonus Live Tracks (reissue)   Three (two?) words: Wendy O. Williams. No one has ever or will ever come close.
• Amy Ray Stag The rock star Indigo Girl’s debut solo album was 14 years in the making. Worth the wait. "Lucystoners" is my favorite song of 2001.
• Suzanne Vega Songs in Red And Gray One of the most under-appreciated and under-recognized artists. Consistently excellent, innovative albums, and this is no exception.
• Weezer Weezer I danced to every song.
• The Butchies 3 From beginning to end, a stellar record for bleeding hearts. "Huh Huh Hear" is the runner up for my favorite song of 2001.
• Go-Go’s God Bless the Go-Go’s Retained a youthful, upbeat pop-rock flavor, yet avoided sounding like ditzy women acting younger than their years. A bit dark at times, but considering their Behind the Music episode...
• Groove Armada Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) I don’t know shit about house music, but I really dig this.
• The Strokes Is This It Get over it already. It’s a great album. Period.
• Burning Brides Fall of the Plastic Empire The rawness and "anti-emo" thing did it for me.
• Betty Blowtorch Are You Man Enough? F*in’ r ‘n’ r. I want more albums like this on my list next year.

Aaron Goldberg

• Joel Silbersher and Barry Stockley SPONDOOLY! (email bfats_stockley@hotmail.com for more details) : Australia youngest rock veteran continues to refine his totally unique 'decomposing rock' with equal doses of nasty humor and sensitive psychedelic minstreling.
• The Dirtbombs Chariots of the Gods? : on this Aussie only EP, Mick Collins proves his legendary status by writing the first ever computer-Internet-nerd rock anthem with the awesomely fuzzed out strut that is 'Encrypted.'
• Rhythm and Sound Rhythm and Sound deep, down and dirty dub-techno - this album really is 2001 the SPACE odyssey! With Beats so deep the only way you can hear them is, in the finest rock tradition, to play LOUD!
• Luomo VocalCity : you go to a nightclub and see all these sexy girls gyrating to Luomo traxx and you wish that one day one of them will notice your existence, and take you home. They never do. One day you play this at home to a sexy friend, and you get lucky.
• Hawd Gankstuh Rappuhs MC's Wid Ghatz 2hype 2 wype : while all the trendy fucksticks out there went on about how good the horribly over-rated OutKast were, these lunatics headed by Prince Paul deliver the SHIT in rap recordings for 2001. In fact, they even put some on the album cover!
• Downbeat the Ruler (Best of Studio one, Vol3) : the secret with Dub is that its what you barely hear, that counts.
• MX-80 Out of Control : with all these post-modern New York style art-bands out there these days - like the Strokes and TransAm and the Fucken Champs and whatever - these guys were doing a similar thing nearly 20 years ago. They looked like Computer lecturers and made a sound that not only resonates now, but will probably resonate in another 20 years when the next batch comes around.
• Norma Jean Bell Come into my room : obscure Detroit female percussionist/vocalist team up with obscure Detroit tech-house legend to make music for tomorrow. Despite the at times cringe inducing Kenny-G sax in there, there's still enough freestyling 'bump and grind and have a good time' to stuff on this album.
• In the Red Zone: The Essential Collection of Classic Dub : More old school Jamaican dub just the way Jah made it for ya.
• The Dirtbombs Ultraglide in Black : post modern garage-mod-soul is really, really trendy these days, much like grunge music from Seattle was in 1992. The thing is in 1992, few of those fuckheads liked Mick Collins band the Gories because they were too much like the 'Cramps', and everyone wanted to be a sensitive-redneck with a fuzz pedal. Is Collins the Lenny Kravitz of the scuzz set? Is this album great? I liked it, and only time will tell.......

Jason Gross

• Manu Chao Proxima Estacion: Esperanza
• Michael Franti and Spearhead Stay Human
• Ass Ponys Lohio
• Troubleman Mix-Tape
• KaitO You've Seen Us... You Must Have Seen Us...
• The Rapture Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks
• Replikas Koledoyuran)
• Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1
• Ware River Club Don't Take It Easy
• Every Tone A Testimony

 

Joss Hutton

• Love Forever Changes A thing of beauty is a joy forever! Free Arthur Lee!
• Soundtrack Of Our Lives Behind The Music Melodies, riffs and a singer in a kaftan, what more do ya need?
• The (International) Noise Conspiracy A New Morning Beware of the Swedes! Marxist garage punk at it's best!
• The Mighty Hannibal Hannibalism! Second only to Andre Williams in the glorious stupidity stakes.
• Sparklehorse It's A Wonderful Life Not as good as Mark's first brace of opuses but nearly as heartbreakingly beautiful.
• Ryan Adams Gold Verging on MOR at time but the track Sylvia Plath ensures its Top 10 placing.
• Maskman & The Agents "Wigs" b/w "The World's A Cafeteria" "I goooo for a woman who wears a wig!" Genius soul 45...
• Various Artists New Orleans Funk Volume 2 Mucho Big Easy magic, including Betty Harris's "Break In The Road" and Roger & The Gypsies "Pass The Hatchet"
• Buffalo Springfield Box Set You want it, you got it! truly, a cannon of great magnitude (fuck the 'Dead sideways!)...
• O.V. Wright Giant Of Southern Soul Woah daddy! You can't fail to be moved by the likes of "Poor Boy" and "Ace Of Spades"... Southern soul at its best...

I. Khider

• Fennesz Endless Summer Balances the abstract with the accessible, highly musical and saturated in nostalgia Fennesz takes classic pop tunes and uses then as instruments in themsleves. Fennesz has created a new electronic music, pushing the boundaries of this genre to uncharted territories.
• Raffael Toral Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance As beautiful as the title, a Dante-esque sonic journey into emotional and spiritual depths and summits, reflecting the clamor of life itself.
• Landing Oceanless Unconventional music from a conventional band settup, Oceanless is a sky-dive through sonorous melodies and billowing guitar loops.
• Polmo-Polpo Acqua/Oarca Both microscopically subtle and powerfully teutonic this album submerges the listener in an ocean of sound set in a glorious world of echo...a superb release.
• MRB MRB A tragic could-have-been story, MRB committed suicide after these gorgeous Lo-Fi psychedelic and accoustic songs were recorded. MRB exorcises some serious emotional demons through music, exemplifying the essence of the blues.
• PTHH PTHH A group of mischievious, musically adept nymphs who angelically sing melifluous, humerous and sometimes downright pornographic songs. PTHH are jewels of the U.K. based label, Lom Recordings.
• Brian Eno/J. Peter Schwalm Drawn From Life
• Laurie Anderson Life on a String
• King Jammy Meets Dry & Heavy in the Jaws of the Tiger
• Muslimgauze Melt

John Kruth

• Various Artists O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack
• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• Don Julin Tractor
• Holiday Clocks More Batteries
• James Blood Ulmer Memphis Blood
• Shuggie Otis inspiration information
• Miles Davis The Complete In A Silent Way Session
• Various Artists Timeless - the Hank Williams Tribute
• Gram Parsons Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels
• Tabla Beat Science/Bill Laswell Tala Matrix

Dave Lang

• Now Time Delegation Now Time Delegation Hard-assed soul meets garage crunch, this one took me by surprise. Killer hooks, great vocals.
• Candlesnuffer Candlesnuffer Melbourne experimental stalwart David Brown's solo debut. A hybrid of Derek Bailey, This Heat, Suicide and Whitehouse, it's an astonishing piece of work.
• Jemeel Moondoc Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys Downtown NYC veteran alto player mixes it up in grand Mingus/Ornette style. On the ever-great Eremite label.
• All those lovely BYG vinyl reissues: Alan Silva, Braxton, Sunny Murray, etc. Not a decade too soon.
• Velvet Underground The Quine Tapes, Vol. 1 Ditto the above.
• Neu! vinyl reissues   Sheez, see above.
• The Sailors Violent Masturbation Blues Full-length debut from these homoerotic Melbourne garage punkers. Lewd, crude, often hilarious and of a musically competent nature.
• Merle Haggard Roots, vol. 1 A real gem from this lifer. Great summer music.

Gigs: Richard Thompson, January, Melbourne Concert Hall; "The Three Stooges" @ the Cherry Bar, May (that's Mike Watt, J. Mascis and friend doing only Stooges covers- unbelievably good). Meeting my hero Watt was an honour I'll shamelessly never forget. Also, a toast to the great mags: Mojo, Wire, Black to Comm and Ugly Things. The Year's bummers: car crash; car stolen; our recent federal election result; September the 11th; the deaths of Joey Ramone, John Fahey, Michael Karoli, Sean Greenway (Aussie garage r'n'r king) and George Harrison. R.I.P.

Michaelangelo Matos

• Basement Jaxx Rooty
• Clinic Internal Wrangler
• Daft Punk Discovery
• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• The Avalanches Since I Left You
• The Coup Party Music
• Various Artists Superlongevity
• Atmosphere Lucy Ford
• Richie Hawtin DE9: Closer to the Edit
• The Moldy Peaches

Scott McGaughey

• Autechre Confield
• Bjork Vespertine
• Axel Dörner & Kevin Drumm Axel Dörner & Kevin Drumm
• Radiohead Amnesiac
• Secret Chiefs 3 Book M
• Timbaland
• Triangles Triangles
• U.S. Maple Acre Thrills

Derek Monypeny

• U.S. Maple Acre Thrills
• Erase Errata Other Animals
• Gregg Brendian's Interzone Requiem for Jack Kirby
• Sun City Girls Libyan Dream
• This Heat Deceit
• Johnny Dowd Temporary Shelter
• David S. Ware Quartet Corridors and Parallels (I think Shipp on synth works)
• The Coup Party Music
• Scott Tuma Hard Again
• Granfaloon Bus Exploded View

I'm excited about the angular punk sound of several new local (SF Bay Area) bands, i.e. Erase Errata, Numbers, Pink & Brown. Very refreshing.

Daniel and Seth Nelson

• Marvin Gaye What's Going On: Deluxe Edition
• Delroy Washington Rasta
• Various Artists Tafari/Aries History
• Bob Marley & The Wailers Catch A Fire: Deluxe Edition
• Tony Chin Music & Me
• Willie Williams From Studio One To Beat Street
• Reggae Domain Tribute To The Prince Of Reggae
• Various Artists Kings Of Reggae
• Bushman Higher Ground
• African Brothers Want Some Freedom

Jeff Penczak

• Alphastone Life's A Motorway The first great drug record of the 21st century! Like swimming in marshmallows or doing pushups in a lemon meringue pie, former Spacemen 3 bassist Pete Bassman has concocted a cotton mouthed cocktail of electronic euphoria that will set your head reeling and keep your senses working overtime.
• Dipsomaniacs Stethoscopic Notion Singer/composer/guitarist Oyvind Holm is the "main-iac" at play here and his confections run the gamut from Beatles-esque pop to Byrds-ian guitar-based psych with stops off at the Monkees' headquarters on the way through the paisley underground to the left banke of swingin London in the 6Ts.
• The Donnas Turn 21 Three chords, juvenile, coming of (legal) age lyrics celebrating beer, bongs and boobs and vintage Ramones' riffs with ocassional forays into The Runaways, Nikki & The Corvettes and Girlschool songbooks all served up with the gusto and joie de vivre of four young babes in skintight, hooker regalia who obviously just wanna have some fun.
• Flyte Reaction Sensilla Mick Crossley (t/a Flyte Reaction) has been quietly issuing some of the best pop psych albums to emerge out of Great Britain over the past decade and his fifth is chock full of radio friendly ear candy.
• The Go Go's God Bless The Go Go's The '80s answer to the quintessential girls next door have moved back into the neighborhood with a killer set of tunes that blows most other "rock chix" out of the water.
• Lamp of the Universe Cosmic Union Pick up this debut release from New Zealand's Craig Williamson, turn out the lights, assume the cross-legged yoga position, burn some incense and candles and lose yourself inside the hypnotic sounds of sitar, tabla, flute, chimes, finger cymbols and soothing electric and acoustic guitars as Craig intones hosianic mantras to inner peace and outer space.
• Low Things We Lost in the Fire Low's sixth release combines exquisite vocals, tastefully minimalistic orchestral flourishes and stick in the head melodies into their best release yet.
• The Montgomery Cliffs The Montgomery Cliffs The 21st century's first all-out power pop extravaganza and the soundtrack to a night on the town, cruising the meat markets, looking for an easy score.
• Graham Parker Deepcut To Nowhere The mature, brutally honest work of a major figure in the pantheon of rock and roll survivors. GP has aged and mellowed like a fine wine and Deepcut To Nowhere will reawaken fond memories of what was, and offer encouragement for good times ahead.
• Windy & Carl Consciousness The newly-married couple continue to mine the ambient soundscapes begun by Eno with a series of relaxing drones for all ages to enjoy, whether staring at the cover art, relaxing with your favorite beverage or illicit substance, or just reintroducing yourself to a loved one.

Marc Phillips

• Lucinda Williams Essence
• Marvin Gaye What's Going On (Deluxe Edition)
• Ghost World film soundtrack
• Radiohead Amnesiac
• Vic Chesnutt Left To His Own Devices
• Edith Frost Wonder Wonder
• Pernice Brothers World Won't End
• Led Zeppelin (Classic Records LP Reissues)
• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• Tool Lateralus

Tony Rettman

• Sea of Tombs Sea of Tombs
• Dirtbombs Ultraglide in Black
• Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information
• Neil Michael Haggerty Neil Michael Haggerty
• Sightings Sightings
• Margo Guryan 25 Demos
• The Outer Sound Project The Outer Sound Project
• Montage Montage
• Mighty Baby Live in the Attic
• Various Artists Killed by Hardcore Volumes One and Two

Thomas Schulte

• Attention Deficit The Idiot King
• Pierre Bensusan Intuite
• Raoul Björkenheim Apocalypso
• Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer Drum Hat Buddha
• Einstürzende Neubauten Strategies Against Architecture III: 1991-2001
• Satoko Fujii April Shower
• Teresa McCollough New American Piano Music
• Jimmy Scott The Source
• Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp's New Orbit
• David S. Ware Quartet Corridors & Parallels

Will Shade

• The Flies Complete Collection 1965-1968
• Various Artists Nuggets 2
• Various Artists Acid Drops

Pat Thomas

• Grateful Dead The Golden Road box set
• Neu!  all 3 reissues
• Velvet Underground Bootleg Series volume 1
• Various Can You Dig It? 70's soul box
• Miles Davis In A Silent Way box
• Various Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers (Mojo mag 60's box set)
• Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield box set
• Martin Carthy The Carthy Chronicles box set
• Fairport Convention Full House remaster
• Eddie Harris High Voltage / Plug Me In

Richie Unterberger

• Buffalo Springfield Box Set
• The Yardbirds Ultimate!
• The Blue Things The Blue Things
• The Poets Scotland's No. 1 Group
• Lou Reed American Poet
• Various Artists Nuggets II
• Richard & Mimi Farina The Complete Vanguard Recordings
• Various Artists Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Boom 1950-1970
• Zakary Thaks Form the Habit
• Giles, Giles & Fripp Metaphormosis

Kurt Wildermuth

• Amy Allison Sad Girl
• Built to Spill Ancient Melodies of the Future
• Johnny Dowd Temporary Shelter
• Bob Dylan Love and Theft
• Heather Eatman Real
• Firewater Psychopharmacology
• Low Things We Lost in the Fire
• The Nields Live from Northampton
• Old 97's Satellite Rides
• Professor and Maryann Professor and Maryann

Numbers 11, 12: The Walkabouts Ended Up a Stranger, Lucinda Williams Essence

Mark Williams

• Peter Jefferies Closed Circuit
• Mr Pudding Instant Pudding
• Alex Chilton Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy
• Luna Live
• Various Arcbeats Compilation
• Stephen Malkmus Stephen Malkmus
• Prodrag In Deep Shit
• Suka Dancing to Tibet
• Cloudboy Down at the End of the Garden
• SEHT Drone Music

Shane Xmas

• Reigning Sound Break Up Break Down - Country apex from Greg Cartwright (Oblivians). Tipping its mitt into folk and blues. For jilted lovers who find themselves in the arms of their new love.
• The Cars Anthology. Just What I Needed - Power pop mayhem and demo’s. Gel with a cover of Iggy Pop’s Funtimes, by the bass guitarist. Weirdness that’s enjoyable. I can’t believe it’s in my Top Ten.
• The Dirtbombs Ultraglide In Black - Go get on the grubby good foot NOW! and dust out your old sharp suits. The Dirtbombs will keep you warm over winter, shimmying again like the dizzy, amphetamine Mod you always were.
• Ike & Tina Turner River Deep Mountain High - Phil Spector! Need I say anymore? Just listen to the cymbal crashes, explosions? on A Love Like Yours.
• Lazycame Finbegin - William Reid’s solo album, the sound of a feedback schismatic waving? Aberrations, scopes, recorded on drugs, off drugs.
• The Deadly Snakes I’m Not Your Soldier Anymore - Toronto’s finest, deliver a new set, with Greg Cartwright as inducted member. An original force, heralding its past, but signalling its rabid future, while doing the hardest thing of all, appearing timeless, and well established with its roots.
• Monsieur Jeffrey Evans I’ve Lived A Rich Life - Whilst most live recordings come across as being flat, without a noticeable indication of the surroundings, I’ve Lived A Rich Life gives off a great sense of place. Memphis comes alive, with kids running through the carpark
• Bantam Rooster Fuck All Y’All - Stompability from Detroit with affection. Remember say Fuck All Y’All and then take a big old laugh at the world.
• Cosmic Psychos 15 Years A Million Beers - I believe them when they say, they want a twenty inch cock, like David Lee Roth, and I like it when they say ‘This time it is the end ... you fucked all my friends ... you spent all of my pay ... gonna blow you away ... I’m Up .. You’re Out! .. you scream ... I shout’
• Neil Michael Hagerty Neil Michael Hagerty - Royal Trux goes solo, and conjures up an ancient masterwork.