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Great Albums of 2000 (There's Plenty!)May 11 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Just take the time to find the right places to look, and you'll find that 2000 was just as good a year in music as any other year has been.
An awful lot of people here have written that 2000 wasn’t a great year in music. I’d have to disagree. Almost every year in music is a great year if you look in the right places. I’d agree that corporate radio wasn’t very kind to us this year, but that’s been the case for decades. It takes at least a little effort to find great music, just as it takes a little effort to experience most of the best things is life. Having said that, here’s my Top 15 list for 2000: 1. THE DELGADOS: THE GREAT EASTERN. An all around beauty. Lush arrangements and sweet, painstakingly crafted melodies collide with an awesome but understated rhythm section. The female vocalist shines with a seductive delivery, and the male vocalist sounds out his well-written lines with an endearing fragility. Somber moods often slide seamlessly into hopeful tunes. Massive guitar crunches fall out of nowhere to supplant delicate harmonies, and it somehow remains coherent. A bit like Radiohead meeting Belle & Sebastian at the pub and getting lost in the Beatles' neck of the woods. 2. PRIMAL SCREAM: EXTERMINATOR. A brutal onslaught of thoughtful, politically tinged electro-rock and pretty noise. Though a bit odd in spots, it is proven to cause shakin' booty syndrome in even the most geeky of white boys (e.g. myself). Makes you want to break things for all the right reasons. 3. YO LA TENGO: AND THEN NOTHING TURNED ITSELF INSIDE OUT. Superb slow-core with a few bouncy beat-driven tracks to lighten the mood and prevent you from dozing off. Essentially it delves into the intimate nuances of any long-term relationship. Very thoughtful and pretty. Sounds terribly depressing at first, but after a few listens, it turns out to be a loving story of triumph over tough times. For those don't know YLT, they tend to whisper out pretty things over droning instrumental parts, whether they are aggressive or minimalist. Not as much great Neil Young in indieland guitar on this one, but they make up for it in other ways. 4. BELLE & SEBASTIAN: FOLD YOUR HANDS, CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT. Their latest batch of literate sugar pop is perhaps their least impressive. However, the masters of clever sissy rock are still plenty good. As usual, some of the smartest and most unique lyrics around are accompanied by some of the prettiest melodies to be heard. A few missteps when the two main vocalists lend their cores to others. Think Nick Drake's melodies with a Velvet Underground sensibility. Even when the words are black as night, it all sounds like sunshine. 5. BLONDE REDHEAD: MELODY OF CERTAIN DAMAGED LEMONS. I don’t own this one, so I don’t have much to say about it except that it’s quite impressive. It’s unique rock music with an experimental White Album bent. I guess the band includes twin Italian art students and a Japanese woman who met in New York City. That’s interesting, and so is the album. 6. ARAB STRAP: ELEPHANT SHOE. This album hits on, with a few exceptions, all the dark sides of real relationships. Very slow, brooding songs which are often spoken more than sang. The guitar lines are silky, simple and dark, and very well crafted. There’s some great beats. It’s quite a personal album, which is hard to digest at first, but it makes the album better in the end. 7. RADIOHEAD: KID A. Well, not to many people accuse Radiohead of being uninteresting. While this one lacks the punch and hooks of their previous albums, it no doubt leaves you food for thought. Heavy on electronics-and-weirdness and light on guitar-and-catchy-ness. There's a few real good tracks, including a rocker and a wrist-slasher, but the rest seem to be out of focus a bit. However, the album seems better and more focused as I listen to it more. A not-quite great Radiohead album better than the best album of most groups. 8. GRANDADDY: SOPHTWARE SLUMP. Pals of Jed the Humanoid tell you his tale. Here's to overly-obvious allegory. The cheesiness fades further away with each listen. Think Wilco with the vocals pitched up an octave, and some extra technobells 'n whistles. 9. BADLY DRAWN BOY: THE HOUR OF BEWILDERBEAST. Brit-pop in too many styles to list. Mostly rock with a folkie edge, but going so far as to being almost disco on one track. Definitely a psychotic wilderbeast. A little something for everyone. Cheese is limited for the most part here, which is a rare thing in brit-pop. Lots of pretty camp-fire type tunes and get-the-girl pleas. A few beats, too. 10. STEREOLAB: FIRST OF THE MICROBE HUNTERS. Wacky and addictive British n’ French techno-drone-pop-rock. Live instruments in an electronic setting, with very quirky melodies. Very light hearted for the most part. Too bad it was only an EP. If aliens invaded and they were really into music, this is what they would play. 11. AIR: THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE). Dark, mostly instrumental/electronic bliss. Very "airy", to put it succinctly. The spooky organ riffs and sloth-like 70's guitar lines and tone fit right with the movie. The beats are impressive but subdued. Spooky sweet. 12. MATT POND PA: MEASURE. Acoustic indie-rock. Somewhere between a down-tempo Dave Matthews and the Cure, I suppose. Well written, poetic lyrics. A sad album for the most part, but quite pretty. 13. BILLY BRAGG & WILCO: MERMAID AVENUE, VOL. II. Get Volume I first, realize how amazing it is, and then get this one. Billy Bragg & Wilco have done us all a great service by so faithfully committing to this project which brings some never-completed Woody Guthrie tunes to incredibly authentic life. 14. DOVES: LOST SOULS. Brit guitar rock with an electronic feel. The drums are great, too. There’s a certain atmospheric feel to the songs. The catchy melodies and tempo shifts mesh well with the rest of the package. 15. OASIS: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS. Okay, songs 2 through 4 or 5 or so pretty much suck. The rest of the album is their best since Morning Glory. Noel seems to have grown up, although he still throws some really awkward lines into otherwise great songs sometimes. There’s touches of classic bands… more Floyd than The Beatles, though. They never sounded like the Beatles anyway. “Good Places to Look” ALLMUSIC.COM Check out the genre info. Check out the “music trees” Look up your favorite artists and skim the “similar artists” and “influenced by” lists YOUR FRIENDS' STEREOS YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDANT RECORD STORE YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDANT RADIO STATION 3WK.COM (GREAT INTERNET RADIO) MAGNET MAGAZINE YOUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE Musicians know about great little-known bands from all over the place VARIOUS ON-LINE "BEST OF" LISTS CDNOW AND AMAZON.COM RECOMMENDATION WIZARDS You put in what you know you like, and they come up with what else you might like  |
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