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Also From Modern Humorist: Colin Powell's Pop Pals Dear Dick: A Letter From George W. Boredom in the Court Behind the Music Napsteropoly Macdonna's Wedding Box Set of the Year Rock 'n' Roll Factory Worker Phish Fan Resume |
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2001: This Was It by Scott Lapatine When all eyes fell on the Big Apple this fall, our city did the unthinkable - it became a paradigm of human decency. Slightly less surprising was the flood of amazing music that came soon after. From The Strokes to Jay-Z, some of the year's best discs were born on these streets. And you'll no doubt be hearing from these guys well into 2002 - there's a whole lot more New York stories to be told. 1) The Strokes - Is This It (RCA) The hype was ridiculous, as were the haircuts, yet you couldn't help but dig their quick and dirty approach. Sloppy riffs got stuck in your head, and the tunes were gratifyingly brisk, but it was Julian Casablancas's roughed-up vocals that made the indie-rock girls swoon. 2) Jim O'Rourke - Insignificance (Drag City) The pornographic cover art clued us in to the singer's perversions. But avant-garde rocker O'Rourke so skillfully drew you in with warm instrumentation and inventive arrangements, it was easy to miss the twisted lyrics. 3) Daft Punk - Discovery (Virgin) When these French space cadets got lost in the shuffle of the late-'90s electronica boom, no one could have guessed they'd return with the dance disc of the year. "Aerodynamic" sounded like Van Halen on ecstasy, and "Digital Love" bounced along so joyously, it didn't matter that the bridge sounded exactly like Supertramp. 4) Lucinda Williams - Essence (Lost Highway) The diary of a country gal, composed with the economy of a gifted poet, Essence laid bare the mess of emotion that looms over lost love. With one of pop's most passionate voices, Williams yearned for intimacy, for the past, and for God in a sultry drawl that has seen its share of lonely Texas nights. 5) Jay-Z - The Blueprint (Def Jam) Only the smoothest mouth in rap could turn a line of new-school pig latin and a stale Jackson 5 sample into the party anthem of the year. His Jehova complex may have been laughable, but Jigga Man's hilarious follow-up single - a "California Girls"-style send-up of his favorite flavors of girls, girls, girls - was genius fo' sheezy! 6) Kings of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud (Astralwerks) With acoustic strums, barely-there orchestration, and Simon & Garfunkel harmonies, this soft-spoken Norwegian duo spun a handful of tender lullabies for the lovelorn. Think Travis without the bombast, or Coldplay without the pathos, and you've got the year's most charming chill-out soundtrack. 7) The Avalanches - Since I Left You (Sire) These ADD-addled Aussies cut and pasted their way to a new kind of booty-shaking soul. Their seamless recycling of beats both obvious and obscure was great proof of DJing being an art. And with a taste for the absurd, the clever collagists brought a refreshing dose of Monty Python to the dance floor. 8) Ryan Adams - Gold (Lost Highway) Gold found the up-and-comer experimenting with his tried and true folk formula, and emerging a roots-rock sensation. He pounded like Tom Petty on "Enemy Fire," and did a respectable Van Morrison on "Answering Bell." And the standout track "New York, New York" was an inspiration even before its added relevance in the wake of 9/11. 9) Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus (Matador) More pop than Pavement, Stephen Malkmus's first solo outing showed the alt.rock poster boy trading in his famously inscrutable prose for more straightforward storytelling. The hooks were jokey and the personas amusing (ice fisherman, pirate, Yul Brenner), but the product was his most honest work in years. 10) Gorillaz - Gorillaz (Virgin) With a who's-who of underground hip-hoppers on board, you can't blame this eclectic supergroup for turning 2D on us. Cartoonist Jamie Hewlett went wild with the animation, Del Tha Funky Homosapien stole the show with lazy rhymes about drugs and dancing, and in the end Blur's Damon Albarn had managed to sneak back onto MTV - 'bout time. > Do you agree? Post your 2001 picks in our message board. |
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