Monday, October 19, 2009

Sunless Shortlist: Best of 2000's (15-11)


15. Broken Social Scene - s/t (2005)

While You Forgot it in People was a quiet and understated album, their self-titled follow-up was like an explosion. I guess that could count in more ways than one. The band was less of a secret after this album. Feist found huge success solo. Broken Social Scene became less of a band and more of a brand, but still have always kept their indie cred... because they are still an indie band after all.


14. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008)

In this new world, everybody can be a guru. Some artists stand out from the bloggers (James Murphy?). But amongst the congestion we can still find the older-aged gurus like Tom Waits and Nick Cave going strong. The biggest difference between these two is that Tom Waits is fine as he is, and Nick Cave will never settle. On this album Nick Cave sounds like a reverend wanting to party as the world ends. Sounds fun.


13. Superchunk - Here's to Shutting Up (2001)

This album really stands out in the Superchunk discography for two reasons. First of all, it sounds completely different than any other release they have. The sound textures they had been toying with in the previous decade are much more prevalent here. It works beautifully too. And it’s mature. It’s the most mature Superchunk album. Secondly, this is the last proper Superchunk album. They are still together, and just started releasing new material, but this is the last album they put out. Hopefully they will put out a new album soon because this album left me wanting much, much more.


12. Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (2002)

When you talk about the most important bands of the decade, Spoon has to be considered. Album after album their allegance keeps growing. Everybody has a favorite Spoon album, and nobody would be wrong with their choice. This just happens to be my favorite Spoon album.


11. Wilco - A Ghost is Born (2004)

Jim O’Rourke’s partnership with Wilco was arguably the best and most important producer-artist relationship of the decade. While Yankee Hotel Foxtrot featured O’Rourke, that was a Wilco album. On A Ghost is Born, however, the partnership is much more prevalent. “Hell is Chrome” would be a perfect fit on any of O’Rourke’s Drag City releases. Okay, so this album is great. Everything about it is great. It’s a little pretentious at times, but it’s art. The songs are so strong that they are pure art on record, and some of the best music I heard live this year. In fact, it took hearing these songs live to truly understand this album.

((MORE SOON!!))
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