:: RedHotHalos ::

Sparse and catchy, driven by pianos and acoustic guitars and pitch-perfect female vocals, sparse and catchy, driven by keyboards and some electric guitars and raspy male vocals, radio feedback and loud guitars--aggressive stuff, one of the great artists of our time...as presented in a poorly-recorded live performance, the conclusion of a band's impressive evolution, tender country from north carolina, indie rock's touchstone, four well-dressed lads, nodding to the past, scruffy and twangy and it started a movement, rocking and soulful and it was sucked up by a different movement.

20) Joni Mitchell - Blue

I'm probably not qualified to actually discuss this record. It's the only Joni Mitchell I've heard, and it's really the only thing I've ever heard from that generation--Joni Mitchell's the only 60's folksinger (that's what they called them then, I hear) that I've heard. I've got no context, but I've got her voice in my head. And her tender lyrics--"Oh, I wish I had a river / I could skate away on" and "I. Could drink. A case of you."--they grab hold and they don't let go. So, yes, in the context of my list, Blue sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. But it's good enough--great enough--to justify its being here.

19) Spoon - Kill the Moonlight

And now we enter 2002, the year in which this list was compiled, and year that might, when it's all said and done, get a bit too much credit in this list. But try arguing with this record...you just can't. Britt Daniel's songs are so simple, but so catchy. I don't think they're saying much, but sometimes it doesn't matter. Sometimes tales about a guy, Jonathan Fisk, who speaks with his fists (note the rhyme) is enough. Sometimes a story about 'getting high in backseats of cars'---nothing more, nothing less---says all that needs to be said. With Kill the Moonlight, Spoon might not have created the party album for the new millennium, but they have put out a skittering, shuffling half-hour that begs nothing more from the listener than to press the 'repeat' button.

18) And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead -Source Tags & Codes

Our second straight entry from Austin, Texas. I've never seen AYWKUBTTOD live, and it's something that I'm sort of supposed to do. In a way, though, I think their chaotic, cathartic, aggressive (are they "legendary" yet?) performace somehow detracts from the respect given to their recorded output. I've heard Madonna, and am duly impressed, but Source Tags & Codes is my first exposure to a record that combines tenderness and aggression, the first record that both evokes anger and provides solace. Single "Relative Ways" is a compromise-free stab at some mainstream airplay, and it does it well. But the real gems here are mid-album trio of "How Near, How Far," "Heart in the Hand of the Matter," and "Monsoon." And the title track? Quite frankly, a six-minute epic, complete with string fadeout.

17) Jeff Mangum - Live at Jittery Joe's

That he has the most evocative voice in rock is hardly debatable. Like no other artist, Jeff Mangum makes you feel. That his lyrics are heartfelt and beautiful and touching and make sense? That's another question. I'm in the camp that Mangum's lyrics always qualify as the first three, in which case the latter's not so important. Live at Jittery Joe's is a Mangum-only acoustic performance, about 45 minutes in length, released only because live show bootleggers were making serious loot on performances from both Mangum, and his band, Neutral Milk Hotel. The set mixes songs from both Neutral Milk full-lengths, including an early version of "Two-Headed Boy Pts. 2 and 3." But the treasures here are early b-side "Engine," a children's song with a strange story behind it, and Mangum's cover of Phil Spector's "I Love How You Love Me." Gut-wrenching.

16) The Dismemberment Plan - Change

Gone--for the most part--is the spastic nature of their early work. On Change, the Dismemberment Plan take what made Emergency and I outstanding and expand upon it. The rhythm section is tight as any I've ever heard, with persistent, throbbing basslines and emphatic drumming keeping the record constantly moving forward. At the fore, however, are Travis Morrison's lyrics, some of indie rock's most well-composed. It's tough to question a guy who can open the second verse of his record's first song (incidentally, "Sentimental Man," which sets the tone for the next 11 songs) with the couplet "I'm an Old Testament kind of guy / I like my coffee black and my parole denied." And that's less than two minutes in. You probably get the picture.

15) Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac

I think the pattern is becoming obvious, at least with the last few entries here. I like musicians with something to say, with a story to tell, with a unique way of telling it. I don't necessarily need to know what the musician is saying, but I need to know that something is being said...I'm not one for nonsense, and I'm not one for ridiculous, cliched love songs. At Whiskeytown's peak, on Strangers Almanac, Ryan Adams is every bit the country troubador he should focus most of his time being, telling tales of---well, something. Most of it could be described as'world-weary,' and the strongest cuts here are the contemplative "Avenues," the soaring ballad "Inn Town," and "Houses on the Hill," a World War II tale about finding 'a box of letters from the fella who broke your momma's heart.'

14) Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

I probably can't say anything about this album that hasn't been more eloquently stated somewhere else before. While it's considered the seminal work of 90's indie rock, its also important to recognize Slanted and Enchanted as being more than just 'influential'---Pavement's debut is sloppy and catchy and a wholly enjoyable listen. It's simply stunning that, under all those layers of distorted guitars, melodies manage to bubble up to the surface. "Two States," "Loretta's Scars," and "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" are probably the best example of this phenomenon. Elsewhere, "Here" might be where the band reached their peak, which makes the opening couplet---"I was dressed for success / But success it never comes"---a perfect example of the irony that Pavement was always striving for.

13) Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

The parade of 2002 continues, with one of the best debuts to be put to tape since, well, Slanted and Enchanted. Joy Division is the band that Interpol is constantly compared to, and I think the comparison is most obvious in the detached lyrical stylings of Paul Banks. Banks has a way of sounding both aloof and passionate, whether belting his heart out ('Stella I love you, Stella I love you,' from "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down") or just being pretentious ('The subway is a porno,' from "NYC"). The high point is probably "Obstacle 2," aggressive yet subdued. And dichotomies like that abound on Turn on the Bright Lights, sprawling but simple, perhaps best exemplified by the opener, "Untitled"--15 words in four minutes. They're a must-see live.

12) Uncle Tupelo - Still Feel Gone

The Uncle Tupelo record where their punk roots most shine through, particularly on Jeff Tweedy thrash attacks "Gun" and "D. Boon," his tribute to the late Minutemen frontman (incidentally, the song's 'not about any one man...' / Just the songs that he sang.'). But, as on most of the Uncle Tupelo recordings, it's Jay Farrar's baritone voice and more mature songwriting that shine, most notably on the small-town laments of "Looking for a Way Out" and "True To Life." This is the band that gets credit for the creation of insurgent country, and I'll hold this up as the best example of the genre. And the optigan fadeout (listen on headphones) on Jay Farrar's 'If That's Alright' is perhaps the genre's most heartbreaking moment.

11) The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

I'm still shocked that The White Stripes would have the audacity to release "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"--an utterly catchiness-free track--as a single. Incredibly enough, they garnered actual airplay for it, a definite triumph (finally!) of substance over style. Of course, there's nothing too groundbreaking about White Blood Cells--there's certainly nothing here that hasn't been done before--but nobody's managed to take the blues, strip it down, and then rock out in this way since the Stones. I've already praised Jack White's voice as one of rock's best, and I should add that his guitar playing is innovative and his showmanship is nearly peerless. "Fell in Love With a Girl," the Stripes' introduction to the world, is a burst of energy, but the slower songs, particularly "I'm Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman" and "The Same Boy You've Always Known," are the highest points. I'm interested to hear follow-up Elephant, and hopeful that the Stripes will proceed into their newfound fame with the caution they hint at on "Little Room"--"You might want to think of / how you got started / sitting in the little room."

 

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