Top Tenzzzz Noize

i nearly forgot, my new newspaper piece on the top ten records of the decade so far. i think the white stripes album that shouldve been on there is "get behind me satan" after i realized i have no 2005 albums on there. and also i think i shoulda not had "college dropout" and put the MIA album instead. but shes my number one for '05 (coming soon) and the stripes are number three, so forgive me. another note, it was for the school paper hence '08 etc etc etal.

The Decade (so far) In Music
By Joe Gallagher, ‘08

The 00’s. What can we make of it so far? Mr. Szcerba told me that when you think 80’s music you get synthesizer, and the 90’s come with flannel shirts. But what can we associate this middle aged decade with? We have witnessed the total crossover of hip-hop into every day life. Indie rock has witnessed a huge upsurge and newfound popularity. Rock has become… stale, to say the least. There has also been a massive amount of genre mixing and bending, then turning around again, whether it is synth infused post-punk/dance revival bands, garage blues, psychedelic garage, metalcore, and so on and so on and so on. So the 00’s can be defined as… let’s give it a shot… cross-genre breeding crossover upsurge revivalist. I guess. But anyway, what it boils down to is these ten essential albums for the decade so far, covering all those decade-defining traits we have seen so far.

10. U2-All That You Can’t Leave Behind: Emerging from their dark ages, their pop/disco experimentation, side projects, and (short-lived) hiatus, U2 came back with this. ATYCLB is a glorious comeback, inspirational to an extent, and while not resorting back to former devices and muses, made an album that sits well between The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

9. Franz Ferdinand-Franz Ferdinand: The post-punk/dance revival I was speaking of. Gang of Four as channeled through a fashion show, this album really came out of nowhere (Scotland) and helped to curb the addiction of those so enamored by garage revivalists like the Strokes.

8. Sleater Kinney-One Beat: That other band without a bassist. Almost like a feminine Clash for the new millennium. Fever pitch vocals combine with a raw dual start/stop guitar assault, and simplistic, urgent drumming, complete with lyrics about post 9/11 motherhood, subway riding dogs, and their beloved home of Portland, Oregon.

7. Kanye West-The College Dropout: After Jay-Z called it quits in 2003; people were left wondering what’s going to happen to great hip-hop. West made a name for himself throughout the late 90’s and into the 00’s producing artists, and finally in 2004, answered that question. Great social commentary layered on top of sped up soul samples, and the simplest, least bass heavy beats this side of the Streets.

6. The White Stripes-White Blood Cells: The underrated darlings of that garage rock boom we saw at the turn of the century. Infusing blues, folk, and cabaret piano into punky garage, all the while Jack White’s voice yelps and Meg White bashes away at the drums like a curious three year old who just drank a can of Coca-Cola. This album put Detroit back on the map for underground rock and roll for the first time since the emergence of Iggy and the Stooges, and this record is just as dirty as anything Ig and his gang of white trash ever put out.

5. The Blood Brothers-Burn Piano Island, Burn! What can we make of these skinny Seattle natives? This album rocks, freaks, writhes, squirms and mostly anything else through a messy taco of keyboards, frantic drums, spasmodic guitars and those cat choking-esque howls of vocalists Jordan Billie, and Johnny Whitney. Towards the middle of the album, you may become fearful one of their tonsils is going to come flying from your speakers. It’s raw, it’s certainly not Simple Plan, it’s acid punk.

4. Bright Eyes-Fevers and Mirrors: The perfect compliment to winter, characterized by singer/songwriter/guitarist/heart and soul Conor Oberst’s hypothermic voice. Some songs are sparse; others are vastly layered underneath harps and flamenco guitars. It’s a trip through depression and apathy, but at the same time marking Oberst as the greatest songwriter since maybe Bob Dylan. Oddly enough, he was only twenty when he recorded Fevers, but he sounds as if he’s been around the world and seen just about everything.

3. Radiohead-Kid A: The only way I can describe the feel of this album is by comparing it to being wrapped in a warm blanket. Radiohead fully embraced machinery on this album, creating lush soundscapes, and on some songs, completely taking over from the guitar playing of Ed O’Brien and Johnny Greenwood. The album puts on airs of uncertainty until the very last song, the gorgeous “Motion Picture Soundtrack”. It’s almost like watching someone’s entire life before your eyes or something. Needs to be heard to be understood.

2. The Streets-A Grand Don’t Come For Free: Like I said last year, the best you could hope for from a British white rapper with a thick cockney accent. A Grand is a trip through a bad weekend, breakups and lost bets, stolen cash and loss of friends, but only to be rectified in the last song, the eight minute “Empty Cans”. This album is an incredible listen, from the storyline, to the amazing simplicity of the beats. It’s soulful and bluesy in the most untraditional sense possible. A must for any aspiring kid making beats on his bootlegged copy of Fruity Loops.

1. Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: A lot of press has called this album folk as done on a laptop, or put Wilco as the American Radiohead. I am not going to do that. This record is an understated epic. It shows a constantly evolving band just becoming familiar with electronic music and running wild with it. It’s sparse mostly; you’re left sensing a lot of empty gaps and the like. It opens slowly, culminating in the quiet drone of “Ashes of American Flags”. It begins to pick up with “Heavy Metal Drummer”, and immediately bleeds into the guitar stomp of “I’m The Man Who Loves You”. The climax comes in the form of the anthem-ish “Pot Kettle Black”, making one last hurrah out of “Poor Places”, finally coming back down in the beautiful “Reservations”. The first half could be about America, and just our culture, the psyche of the people who make us us. The second half seems to just drop all that and make use of ideas and freedom, just living life. All the while the album draws inspiration from the Conet Project, a compilation of eerie radio broadcasts, supposedly holding secret codes for spies in other countries. The album is just pure greatness, and an expression of artistic truth. This album could quite possibly define the rest of the century.