Top Nine Friday – Best Tunes of the 00′s Edition
For the remainder of December I will be dedicating Top Nine Friday to a “Best of” series for the decade (I know its fucking crazy, the 00′s are over and no flying cars, wtf?) I am going to start with something very close to my heart – the Top Nine Albums. I have pretty much stopped listening to the radio at this point – the shit they play is brutal. I have resorted to combing Amazon, pitchfork.com (read: hipster douchebag), seeing live shows and friends recommendations for all of my tunes. The only time I ever hear the music I like is on commercials and it annoys the shit out of me. It always happens the same way – some indie band that I started liking a few months prior is on a Cadillac or GE commercial – fuck that. I am all for the bands cashing in but it is sad that the best music that we have today is the soundtrack to shitty commercials. *end rant*
Top Nine Albums of the 00′s (In no particular order)
Arcade Fire – Funeral
I downloaded this when it first came out and hated it. After liking their follow-up album “Neon Bible” I decided to give it another try – and realized that Arcade Fire was the best Canadian import since I smuggled those bottles of Absolute out of Ontario when I was 19.
My Morning Jacket – Okonokos
I listened to “Z” and thought these guys were pretty good… then I got this album and was blown away. It was taped in San Francisco at the Fillmore and they blew the doors of the fucking place. They are one of the best live bands I have ever seen – they are a ROCK band in a time when there are very few. I have the attention span of a termite and I actually watched their entire performance onscreen at a movie theater in San Diego – any band that can entertain me without even being there for that amount of time ROCKS.
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
I stumbled onto this band online randomly and listened the shit out of this album for about a year. Now it has become my go-to chill-out music. Jeremy Greenspan whispers his lyrics over the synthesized beats that don’t know if they want you to get up and dance or relax and smoke a J. Just to be safe throw this CD on and do both.
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Probably the most unique of all of the bands on the list, Animal Collective seems to be able to take some of the most bizarre sounds and put them together to make very compelling music. It is definitely an acquired taste but give it a shot – hey, I didn’t like beer the first time I tried it either but now I put it on Cheerios. Trust me – give this one a listen.
Justice – Cross
I had no clue who Justice was until Street Scene 2008. They were one of the headlining bands and I had no idea why. Their name sounds like they are a “creed-esque” christian rock band and I was ready to skip the show altogether and check out someone else. My friend convinced me to stay and I thought I would regret it when I saw a big white cross onstage. They dropped the first beat of Genesis, whipped the crowd into a frenzy and I have been a fan ever since – for two creepy chain smoking French guys they can throw down!
Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
This album still reminds me of dreary Chicago winter afternoons. Their monotone lyrics and great guitar riffs were the soundtrack to my swan song in Chicago. “Turn on the Bright Lights” is a great album to curl up under the covers and listen to wondering why the fuck anyone lives in a cold weather climate.
Radiohead – Kid A
The best band of my generation. Period. There is no question about it. They have changed their music style and been successful every time. Their live shows are AMAZING. Every time I get off of a plane I listen to “Everything in its Right Place” – I don’t know why but I feel it is a great bookend from leaving your destination – and it just so happens that the rest of the album is a great soundtrack to wait for your bags to come. Don’t knock it until you try it… trust me.
TV on the Radio – Dear Science,
TV on the Radio followed up “Return to Cookie Mountain” with the best album of 2008. “Love Dog” is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. I am looking forward to what these guys come up with next.
Pheonix - Wolfgang Amadaeus Pheonix
I may look back that this pick and regret it just because it is new to me but I have been listening to it non-stop since I bought it. It is fantastic – it feels to me like a more fully baked version of MGMT’s “Oracular Spectacular” without the annoying filler songs. Every beat seems to land at the right time – the way they have put together the album gives you everything you want just when you want it. I am going to check them out in a few weeks and can’t wait to see if they can deliver live what they have produced on this CD.
Honorable Mentions – The National – Boxer, Mew – And the Glass Handed Kites, We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor, Philip Glass – Metamorphosis, Outkast – Stankonia, Anything that I missed?
