:: RedHotHalos ::

Overwrought orchestral pop done the right way, sparse acoustic pop done slightly better, trailer trash waxes universal, alt-country? psychadelia? classic rock?, indie rock's flagship band in fine form, indie rock's most productive band in its embryonic stages, a blues/metal duo before they were cool, sensitive indie pop--25 tracks of it, a breath of fresh air during the 'alternative' explosion, pop gems soaked in tape hiss.

30) Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

First things first. This record is certainly over the top. The production is lush, too lush for most bands to handle. But take the emotional weight of Wayne Coyne's words and add his emotional delivery of those lyrics and it all sort of makes sense. "Race for the Prize," the album's opener, and "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate," the penultimate cut, serve as the highest of the high points. Taken out of context, "The Spiderbite Song" elicits laughter; listen to the lyrics, and it's gut-wrenching. This record is bounds ahead of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, its hit-and-miss follow-up.

29) Silver Jews - Bright Flight

David Berman is a poet first, a musician second. He puts his vocals high in the mix, keeps the instruments down, and waxes, well, poetically about southern life. "I'm drunk on a couch in Nashville / in a duplex near the reservoir / and every single thought is like a punch in the face. / I'm like a rabbit freezing on a star." And so opens "Horseleg Swastikas," one of many standout tracks. This record was put to tape in Berman's new home of Nashville, and the backing tracks--acoustic guitars, spare percussion, pedal steel--reflect the twang of the region. Berman's lyrics are evocative without being obvious, and are often open to interpretation. But he's a witty writer, and Bright Flight is ten tracks of wholly enjoyable listening.

28) Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

I'll come clean. I don't even own this album. But six months of pumping the promo copy at work, an occassional listen to my roomate's copy, and a recent download clearly justify The Moon and Antarctica's position near the top of the list. Isaac Brock's spastic delivery perfectly matches the universal bent of the lyrics, while Brian Deck's swirling guitar production cues the listener to pay attention to Brock's words. The sprawling, ponderous "The Stars Are Projectors" is a major highlight, as is the bouncy, aggressive "Paper Thin Walls."

27) Wilco - Being There

There was a time, a wonderful time, when Jeff Tweedy's ego was the size of the average mortal's, or at least the average musician's. In those halcyon days, he took his country leanings, meshed them with the big-thinking production of Jay Bennett, and created a genre-bending, double-disc opus called Being There. Gone was the half-assed, forgettable alt-country of A.M., replaced by horn sections, six-minute openers, and classic pop-rock 'hits.' Being There marked Wilco's arrival as one of rock's best bands, and Jay Bennett was the main reason for the artistic leap. He pushed Tweedy's boxed-in songwriting tendencies to their maximum potential, and the Tweedy-Bennett marriage was something great for a few years. And then Tweedy started believing the hype.

26) Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

It's similar to Slanted and Enchanted, but very different. A tremendous achievement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain adds a considerable pop feel to the sprawling, messy opus that was their debut. One of Stephen Malkmus' main strengths as a vocalist is his ability to deliver non-sensical lyrics - lyrics that make you both want to scratch your head and sing along. "Cut Your Hair" - catchy and exciting - was somehow an alt-rock hit...such was once the state of mainstream music. "Gold Soundz" and "Range Life" - simlar-sounding, laid back ditties - are perhaps the record's high points, while "Silence Kit" is an anthemic opener.

25) Guided by Voices - Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

"Airshow 88" opens with Same Place with a distorted sample of an apparent spousal abuse scene from a Lifetime movie (really) - and pretty much sets the tone for this fairly dark record. "The Hard Way" and "Pendulum" are probably the band's best pop songs until the release of Bee Thousand. Meanwhile, there's the ramshackle, tossed-off excitement that was early Guided by Voices, best exemplified by the maniacal "Ambergris" and the sing-song, echo-laden "Club Molluska." And as always, Robert Pollard finds a way to include a few acoustic guitar-and-voice tracks, "When She Turns 50" and "How Loft I Am?"

24) The White Stripes - De Stijl

Jack White has the most expressive voice in rock music, and he's also in the upper echelon in terms of showmanship. I doubt there's another singer with the vocal versatility to perform both opener "You're Pretty Good Looking" and follow-up "Hello Operator" - by the way, a remarkable one-two punch. Straight through, De Stijl is incredibly cohesive and eminently listenable, the mark of a band about to explode.

23) Kleenex Girl Wonder - Ponyoak

Is he the new Ben Lee? Just into his twenties, KGW's Graham Smith has already peaked, and he's already been relegated to has-been status. (Witness the follow-up work to this record: uneven concept album Smith and the 80-20 crap-to-pop ratio of After Mathematics.) But on Ponyoak, he delivers 25 catchy, literate love songs that grab hold of your consciousness and stay latched on for months on end. The sound is lo-fi--it was recorded on Smith's dorm room computer--and the songs are rarely more than power chords over rudimentary drum beats, but it doesn't matter when the lyrics are strong and the melodies are catchy. It's tough to pick a highlight, although "Power Bird," "Ain't Going Anywhere Soon," "Don't Wait Up," and "Tendency Right Foot Forward" (closing lyric: "Tendency right foot forward / Odds are I'm left behind" - genius!) are in contention. And, like Tom Waits, this record made Kleenex Girl Wonder 'big in Japan.' Please, please, let him bring back the pop.

22) The Breeders - Last Splash

Most of the populace, if they know the Breeders at all, know them as 'that "Cannonball" band,' which is not a bad thing to go by at all. But on Last Splash (and to an extent Title TK and Pod), they're so, so much more than that. Like "Cannonball," "Divine Hammer" is a straight ahead pop song. But other tracks are the antithesis of radio-friendly rock--"I Just Wanna Get Along" is spiteful, and "Hag" is simply sprawling. Last Splash is a truly appealing record because of its pacing - the anthemic singles flow perfectly with the snippets.

21) Robert Pollard - Not in My Airforce

It's hard to imagine that, under all that tape hiss, something can rock so hard. "Maggie Turns to Flies," "Psychic Pilot Clocks Out," and "A Girl Named Captain" are basically classic-rock songs draped in fuzz, but they're fresh, catchy and outstanding. Of course, as with all things Pollard, it's the sequencing and the snippets that make this record stand out. "Quicksilver" is just that, while "One Clear Minute" is all a lie - it's really just 47 fuzzy seconds. What propels Not in My Airforce into the pantheon of great records are its final seven tracks, same-sounding toss-offs like "Meet My Team" and "Did it Play?" written and recorded one morning and available to the masses three weeks later.

 

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