Chronologically
2000
Various artists: O Brother Where Art Thou?
released December 5, 2000
2000, as a year for music, was not a good one for me. Well first off, I was eight. And in love with George Gershwin. So I wasn't into the current music scene that much. But looking back on what was released in 2000...not much of a fan. But this compilation/soundtrack was one of my favorite albums then and is a now, and is considered one of the greatest soundtrack albums of all time. Seriously stick Emmylou and Gillian on a record and I will listen to it. Plus Alison Kraus! If I could sing, I would want to sing like Gillian Welch. In the spirit of country that isn't really country, the country music that escapes Nashville's commercialism and is marginalized as "Americana," O Brother sounds both old and new at the same time. And it is still very current as the country's fate looks more and more reminiscent of the time in which the movie is set.
2000, as a year for music, was not a good one for me. Well first off, I was eight. And in love with George Gershwin. So I wasn't into the current music scene that much. But looking back on what was released in 2000...not much of a fan. But this compilation/soundtrack was one of my favorite albums then and is a now, and is considered one of the greatest soundtrack albums of all time. Seriously stick Emmylou and Gillian on a record and I will listen to it. Plus Alison Kraus! If I could sing, I would want to sing like Gillian Welch. In the spirit of country that isn't really country, the country music that escapes Nashville's commercialism and is marginalized as "Americana," O Brother sounds both old and new at the same time. And it is still very current as the country's fate looks more and more reminiscent of the time in which the movie is set.
2001
Gillian Welch: Time (the Revelator)
Jay-Z: The Blueprint
The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
2001 was a year that changed music for me. Out of these three albums, I think I only listen to Time (the Revelator) contemporaneously to the year. My dad bought the album and I fell in love Gillian's solo voice as much as I had with her duets and trios in O Brother.
But I'm pretty sure I heard the Shins in 2004 and Jay-Z around the same time. And they were some of the first times I liked music my parents had never really listened to. The Shins really did change my life and Jay-Z showed me that rap wasn't "crap" like my suburban peers kept announcing. Rap could be music as much as the indie folk of The Shins could be.
2002
Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Maroon 5: Songs About Jane
Again this year, I listened to one of these albums contemporaneously. Norah Jones Come Away With Me was the first album I ever bought with my own money. I would say I got off to a pretty good start. Norah Jones was a young woman with a great voice, who had musical talent. whoa. That didn't seem to happen a lot in the early 00's.
Now, so many people hate on Coldplay. I really don't get it. I like them better than Radiohead. It seems when a band gets popular, they sell out. Whatevs. I love Coldplay. I feel like people who hate on Coldplay are the people who put in their facebook profiles under music "everythig (sic) except country and rap." They listen to Radiohead because someone who they thought was cool said Radiohead was cool. I like Radiohead too, but I always felt Coldplay was more accessible. And "Clocks" is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. I think this album works better as a whole than Parachutes, which is why I chose it as best of the decade.
I didn't really listen to Wilco until this year, but this album is amazing and I can see why so many of my favorite artists cite Wilco as an influence.
Maroon 5, I love you. One of the best pop groups of the decade, Songs About Jane was just a a great album. The whole thing was amazing. Every song, every harmony, every falsetto by Adam, incredible. I've seen them live at least three times and they are great in concert. And Songs About Jane is an album of what Adam Levine does best, sing about heartbreak and sex in a way that every 12-99 y/o woman in the United States falls in love with him.
2003
Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
Death Cab for Cutie: Transatlanticism
Yellowcard: Ocean Avenue
Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers
2003 was my year, for shizz. Outkast really was my first exposure to rap and I fell in love and by means of them I found Jay-Z and Kanye. I think "Hey Ya" could easily be one of the greatest songs ever written. I don't know anyone who doesn't like it. It is a little bit like "Twist and Shout" except dirtier, but I still listen to it and shake it when Andre tells me too.
Is it wrong that I put another Shins' album on here? Maybe. But I love them so much. And I would say Chutes Too Narrow is the best album of the Shins if not my favorite.
Death Cab brought indie pop/rock to middle school for me and once all the emo girls got over them and started to like Hawthorne Heights, little indie hipsters had them all to ourselves. whoo hoo!
Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue will probably not be remembered in 20 years as a great album. Because it isn't. But it was the first rock album I ever bought and I still listen to it. The melodies are a little weak and the vocals scream a lot. But for a 13 year old girl I loved rocking out to it. so it made my Best list, even if it was the experience that was the best, instead of the music.
Fountains of Wayne. They knew how to write a pop song. Sure "Stacy's Mom" had great novelty value, but the album as a whole is incredible. "Hey Julie" "Mexican Wine" "Supercollider" "Yours and Mine" all amazing, even if usually only musicians recognized it. See Robbie Fulks song "Fountains of Wayne Hotline"
2004
Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
Kanye West: The College Dropout
The Killers: Hot Fuss
mmm, Kanye. Don't really care what he did to Taylor Swift [still love you Taylor!], his music is awesome, especially Dropout. "Jesus Walks" is one of my favorite songs of all time. It is great running music by the way. This album is a rap album through and through, but has the musicality of a rock-concept album without the cheese of R. Kelly (barf)
Iron & Wine-one dude. and what a sweet dude he is. Iron & Wine is kind of like easy listening music for people care about music.
The Killers: WElCOME TO MY EIGHT GRADE LIFE FOLKS. The Killers's first album and I are like this [make gesture to show closeness with fingers.] Another sign of me swinging into the indie scene, I anticipated the release of this record and raved about it. Then "Mr. Brightside" got ridiculously over-played. I didn't care. Brandon Flowers could do no wrong in my mind. Then of course, they released Sam's Town. Day and Age was a lot better than the scum of a sophomore concept album that was Sam's Town. But no album will ever replace Hot Fuss in my heart.
2005
Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Shakira: Oral Fixation, Vol. 2
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning could also be called I'm Conor Oberst, I started listening to Mike Mogis and got over my emo self, now please listen to good music that will follow. I never thought I would see the day where I liked Conor Oberst. He was for girls who liked guyliner. no thank you. But Wide Awake is folky enough for me to like and signaled the change in where Bright Eyes was going [btw, that would be towards the glory that is Monsters of Folk]
^^^also check out Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst's duet of this song on Dark Was the Night. AMAZINGNESS
^^^also check out Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst's duet of this song on Dark Was the Night. AMAZINGNESS
Shakira, Shakira, Shakira. I love her. She's a diva, first and foremost. But she also is super smart and just makes great music. Look past the single of "Hips Don't Lie" and Fixation is a flat out great crossover pop album.
2006-2009 coming soon!
all music links from lala, a great website if you want to listen before you buy because you can listen to the whole album, not just a little snippet. but you can only listen to it once, so pay attention!
No comments:
Post a Comment