Rockfeedback Records of the Decade – #125-101
By: Michael Lewin, Chris Helsen, Jim Carroll, Kevin Molloy, Charlie Potter, Toby L, Tim Dellow, Thomas Hannan
125) Andrew WK – I Get Wet
A lot of this is practically unlistenable, I know. But the bits of it that are the most hilarious – ‘It’s Time To Party’, ‘Party Hard’, ‘I Love New York City’, ‘Girls Own Juice’ and the final part of the party trilogy, ‘Party ‘til you Puke’ – presented us with the best guide to how to live one’s life since Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, that being that if one doesn’t know what to do, one should party, and if one is unsure of how to party, one should always party hard. Yes, it was difficult to take seriously (and you could argue that if you were taking it seriously you completely missed the point), but amidst the vomit and beer bongs there were already hints here that Andrew WK would grow to be one of the most fascinating characters on the day’s musical landscape. Drum programming was done by his former Wolf Eyes band-mate Nate Young, for one thing, but if you take I Get Wet as just the first chapter in a story that is part in-joke, part philosophical experiment, part shameless exploration of unfettered hedonism, then you’re in for a hell of a ride. [THOMAS HANNAN]
124) 2 Many DJs – As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt.2
There are thousands of the 2 Many DJs compilations – this just happens to be the one where the brothers Soulwax actually bothered to get clearance for the samples they were using. Back at the beginning of the decade, it seemed that most people viewed the quest to combine rap songs with the riff from Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ as the most righteous musical endeavour available to them – you’ll remember your friend running through his hard drive full of the things at poorly attended parties. They were largely godawful. What was amazing about As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt.2 is that by becoming a part of what has since become one of the most maligned of all sonic developments in the past ten years, they created a party soundtrack that still stands up as well at the end of the decade as it did at the beginning. That’s probably down to the source material, mixing contemporary classics like Destiny’s Child and Basement Jaxx with Iggy Pop and Michael Jackson lead to chances of failure being slim. Give it another go. You’ll be surprised. [THOMAS HANNAN]
123) Mogwai – Rock Action
With 2001’s Rock Action, Mogwai managed to bring the sprawling, rough-hewn essence of the wave-making Young Team and post-rock touchstone Come On Die Young into notably sharper focus. Despite dramatically increasing the use of vocals, utilising synths for the first time, layering strings over several of the album’s eight tracks and getting as close as they ever could to a sub-4 minute pop song (the Gruff Rhys-featuring “Dial: Revenge”), Rock Action was not only a lush and relatively accessible record, but remained a vital, dynamic and emotive one that secured the Scots’ place at the very peak of the post-rock pantheon. [CHRIS HELSEN]
122) Mclusky – Do Dallas
Mclusky deserved a series of mansions in the country and flashy cars just for the fact alone they employed humour in their music. At the time, it made a hell of a refreshing change to all of the geeky-boy-chases-girl 'Emo' scene, let alone the 'Oh my God, please pass me the razor-blades now I've just had my convertible scratched by a low-flying pigeon' temperament of nu-metal. “My band is better than your band!”, they sung/shouted at one point, and what with so many rock-pretenders around, and an LP as vibrant, stimulating and exciting as this, the words they uttered were of a very truthful nature. [TOBY L]
121) Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Arriving in a dust-storm of hype around the emerging alt-country genre at the break of this century came one of its defining works: Heartbreaker. But from the outset this album rises above being simply part of its genre. Perhaps to prove a point, Adams has the the LP open with 'Argument With David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey' (which does exactly what it says on the tin) before swinging straight in with what would be, for a few years, Adams' trademark tipsy balance of quasi-anthemic melodies and Dylan-inspried lyricism. Swaying between the troubadour entertainer and the introspective melancholic, Adams helped define the alt-country genre in its first days. Sadly his later work became either ever more derivative, or too-conscious of its genre (see anything by The Cardinals, and Rock 'n' Roll, respectively), but with this and its followup breakthrough, Gold, Adams was at the height of his creative powers at just the right time and place to make a classic record. [KEVIN MOLLOY]
120) Malcolm Middleton – A Brighter Beat
'A Brighter Beat' is the sort of album in which every song is good enough to be your favourite, and will undoubtedly be your favourite at one point. The very fact that the album wills you to partake in finding a favourite speaks volumes, and is another reason you should put it at the top of your 'must purchase' list. 'Superhero Songwriter' is a brilliantly honest critique of his position and trade, in which he openly admits that songs don't change the world, songs are good because they make you feel emotive, and I thank Malcolm Middleton for reminding me of this, for making me think of the many reasons I enjoy music. I thank Malcolm Middleton for reminding me that there are people out there, lots of people, that feel the same as I do. I'm not deluded in thinking that there are people that can truly and deeply empathise with me after all. [CHARLIE POTTER]
119) Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim
When Laura was first signed by Virgin records at the age of 16, word fast spread around town about a female protégé with a truly unique, exceptional voice - and for once, the industry bluster was justified. However, signed at a peak of bloke-ish girlies (Lily Allen) creating dents in the charts, there was a strong fear amongst appreciators that she'd be nudged into a similar direction. Fortunately for us, however, Marling's talent is almost as distinctive as her defiance; a beautiful and wistful, yet contemporary, folk record greeted us in Alas I Cannot Swim, intimately produced by former partner Charlie Fink of Noah & The Whale. [TOBY L]
118) The Rakes – Capture/Release
This perfectly balanced, eleven-track, thirty-something-minute album, is ideal for setting up your weekend, fixing your hair in the mirror bravado, but sympathetic to a night of rejection in a pills and booze comedown haze. It's refreshingly inventive and it's gutsy too. Released the week of the London bombings and featuring a song about mass paranoia entitled 'Terror' in which every suitcase on the underground could be a bomb, this album perfectly encapsulates the emotional pressure of living in our time; surviving and enjoying a post-apocalyptic comedown. [TIMOTHY DELLOW]
117) The Knife – Silent Shout
The Knife remain one of the most over analysed bands currently active in any form of electronica. But what The Knife are, and what they always have been, is a pop band. The reason that they confuse people is that they're a very good pop band, and that's such a rare thing to be able to say these days that its very utterance baffles people in to thinking that there might be something more going on here, something mystical, some dark purpose... there isn't. There are just some brilliant songs. As such, we can use words like 'banging', 'thumping' and 'joyous' rather than searching for long winded ways to describe Silent Shout, because that's what it is - it's a masterful concoction of easily loveable electro tunes sung in unavoidably silly voices. [THOMAS HANNAN]
116) Gas – POP
In terms of influence, few other albums this decade could match the extreme minimalism of Wolfgang Voigt's legendary project. This album, the fourth in a series based on his recollections of trips (mentally and physically) within the forest of his youth, and the only one made this decade, has a depth of sound lightyears beyond the post-Eno ambient works of his contemporaries. Perhaps the crisper, or most polished of his records, POP is still not easy listening - an immersive underwater soundscape with the comforting guiding kickdrum of previous records not making an appearance until as late as track four. The connection with environment is undeniable with winds rustling and pine needles prickling your ears, yet this record remains an unreal interpretation - a form of musical poetry that overwhelms the source of its inspiration with the imagination of its author. Moving on to found Kompakt, perhaps the most important label of the era and influencing everyone from Foals to The Field, his work is truly that of legend and not only an essential work to own and appreciate, but a dreamscape to love and live in for your entire life. Perhaps only Reich has achieved such levels of passive absorption in music and a transcendental beauty that, like the vapour that give rise to his moniker, is formed of incomprehensibly delicate wisps of true love that offer a glimpse of heaven, before vanishing in front of your very eyes [TIMOTHY DELLOW]
115) Rufus Wainwright – Want Two
Agnus Dei is a statement of intent. A dichotomy of soaring vocal classicism and rampant camp music hall. Take 'The Art Teacher' for example - an equisite rendering of Rufus' own awakening to his sexuality at the same time as an imaginative leap into the shoes of a young girl's crush on her teacher. But more than the sheer lyricism of his work, and the lavishly layered production, it's Rufus' voice that sets him up as the only Wainwright who should be truly holding your attention and acclaim. It acheives Antony (and the Johnsons) heights of emotion and uniqueness, without the need for the same 'signature' style of vocalisation. It's simply as if you one day woke up to find your best friend had a voice like Frank Sinatra crossed with Billie Holliday. Your gay best friend, that is. On which note, Antony himself even makes a guest appearance here, on 'Old Whore's Diet'. Even when the camp-o-meter tips into the far end of the red on tracks like 'Gay Messiah' Rufus somehow gets away with the tongue in cheek, and can even get away with politically targeted lines without either coming across as an idiot or ruining a good song for a good reason (see 'Waiting for a Dream'). Oh, and lastly, 'Crumb by Crumb' is just a perfect song. Perfect. [KEVIN MOLLOY]
114) Saul Williams – Saul Williams
Nothing more need be said about this album's incredible contribution, its utter domination of our speakers, or its necessity of being on this list (whatever position it landed up in, it should have been higher), than the below, excerpted 'Telegram' (track 3):
"Dear Hip Hop STOP This shit has gone too far STOP Please see that mixer and turntables are returned to Kool Herc STOP The ghettos are dancing off beat STOP The master of ceremonies have forgotten that they were once slaves and have neglected the occasion of this ceremony STOP Perhaps we should not have encouraged them to use cordless microphones, for they have walked too far from the source and are emitting a lesser frequency STOP Please inform all interested parties that neither cash nor murder have been added to the list of elements STOP We are discontinuing our current line of braggadocio, in light of the current trend in "realness" STOP As an alternative, we will be confiscating weed supplies and replacing them with magic mushrooms, in hopes of helping n*ggas see beyond their reality STOP Give my regards to Brooklyn..." [KEVIN MOLLOY]
113) The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches
The definitive record in the antifolk movement, through their eponymous album, Kimya Dawson and Adam Green accidentally stumbled across some of the most hilarious and heart-breaking pop songs of the decade, whilst recording on the worst sound equipment manageable. Yet the specific charm lies just in its brittle technical prowess - given the full proper studio treatment, the magic would have been lost; you hear the pair and friends laughing their way through their own lyrics, overdubbing ridiculous Guns n Roses-aping guitar solos in the midst of ballads, and at once instance, throw together some really rather iffy hiphop. Still an essential houseparty soundtrack. [TOBY L]
112) The Breeders – Title TK
The immediacy of The Breeders’ return was hardly forthright from the get-go. Those that wanted to enjoy 'Title TK' had to put the work in as much as The Breeders themselves have, and - once this had happened - the chirpy oompah-oompah magic of 'Full On Idle' could be even more appreciated, let alone the freaky mood-changes in 'Forced To Drive', and the finale of instrumental 'T and T' and the cheeky pop of 'Huffer', the latter suggesting that, hmm, maybe life ain't so gloomy after all... They didn’t return with an obviously commercial record. They didn’t set out to repeat past triumphs. They just wrote music to enjoy and share with those that want to experience their fiery range of indie-based blues and thrills. Because of this, not only was their credibility still intact, but so was their undeniable talent for punchy and relevantly modern rock-ravishings. [TOBY L]
111) Sunn O))) & Boris – Altar
You might have needed to have the ears of a dog to hear them, but this was one of the few records in the decade that actually managed to create NEW sounds. As both bands were at pains to stress, Altar is not a split album. It doesn't see Sunn O))) do their thing and Boris do theirs. Perhaps the most remarkable moment was actually it’s poppiest - listen, hark will you, at 'The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)'. It's got a melody, it's got a chorus (heck, it's got words - that's odd enough for these bands), it's got me in flipping tears. It's beautiful. It's what this whole project was about - getting together to feed off each other, try out what it is the other does best, but ultimately make something new out of it. A new band. A new sound. A new way for music. It's an utter delight. You'll hum it to yourself next time you're trying to get to sleep in a strange place, mark my words. [THOMAS HANNAN]
110) Junior Boys – So This Is Goodbye
If you were somehow unable to listen to So This Is Goodbye, I would suggest locking an icily beautiful Scandinavian lady in a clear Perspex box and staring at her for 49 minutes. The effect would be identical: a vision of gorgeous minimal modernity which is both unsettling and delicious. Junior Boys’ second album is a glacially sad record of mid-tempo electronica: containing frigid dance tracks with austere percussion, sometimes thawed by the glow of synth melodies to reveal austere pop songs, everything is held together with majestic calm by the weary wanderlust voice of Jeremy Greenspan* observing love failing. It is a very 21st Century record. (* - No relation to the economist Alan, to our knowledge) [MICHAEL LEWIN]
109) Fionn Regan – The End of History
'The End of History' is one of the two albums of the years 2000 to 2009 that actually made folk music exciting at the same time as swimming somewhere near the mainstream. Not being privvy to where Johnny Flynn's 'Alarum' ranked in Rockfeedback's lists until the final
piece is revealed, let's just say that between Flynn and Regan folk finally made sense again - something of Joni Mitchell, of Bob Dylan, and of Cat Stevens shone through on Regan's debut LP in 2006. Somewhere along the way Regan very much picked up the knack of making three chords and a melody achieve an astonishing beauty, despite the fact the words are pratically spoken rather than sung, so close and direct is the delivery. The simplicity here is key, as is the message. The words don't need to make sense, and quite probably don't to anyone but their originator, but should you care to there's a compilation of sublime poetry contained in the lyrics to 'The End of History'. The way the guitar threatens to rise between the gaps in the words, always peeking slightly out of time in the spaces between lines - the whole affair feels so potent, so laden, that you can't talk over the music, in case you wake the songs up. Terrifyingly beautiful depths underlie every tale, bedtime terrors and elusive dreams, be it on the sure-fire singles that were 'Put A Penny In the Slot' or 'Be Good or Be Gone' or the more obscure (but no less rewarding) 'Snowy Atlas Mountains' or 'Bunker or Basement'. Beautifully produced, but starting from the basis of exceptional songs, 'The End of History' is an absolutely stunning reminder of the power that can reside in nothing more than an acoustic guitar and a voice. [KEVIN MOLLOY]
108) Jeffrey Lewis – ‘Em Are I
Jeffrey Lewis's voice rolls along with a heart-warming indifference to tone-perfection in something approaching a monotone jumble of tumbling words, in the loose surrounds of two or three ramshackle chords. But they're two or three chords played with a perfect slacker (of a folk and country bent) nonchalance. The songs are rambling explorations of philosophies on love, life and death, each with a gravelly lyric that will cry for your attention anew with every listen. My favourite of the moment is the observation on 'Slogans' that you have to take life 'day by day' repeated over and over, ending with the conclusion that "it's 'a lucky coincidence, because I think it even comes that way". As I write this segment it's been overtaken by 'Whistle Past the Graveyarrd''s "if I was in hell I would be happy knowing other people were in heaven, it would make hell not so hellish...". I want to quote another one now, but I'll end up in a self-destructive cycle of reference and reverence. Jeffrey Lewis' fanboy charms, geeky sense of humour and NY-cool all came together here to make this alt-troubador's curious, penetrating and yet ultimately heartwarming take on our everyday existences. [KEVIN MOLLOY]
107) Cat Power – You Are Free
Following the sublime Moon Pix and her ever popular Covers Album the stage was set for genuine cross over with this, Chan Marshall's 6th album. Following the split from Bill Callahan and a lengthy battle with both stage fright and alcoholism, she enlisted Warren Ellis, Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder to bolster her previously sparse sound. A lighter record in general, with ‘He War’ and ‘I Don't Blame You’ enticing new fans, it was the downbeat material that perhaps has stood out over the course of time: ‘Good Woman’, ‘Werewolf’ and the haunting ‘Maybe Not’ encapsulating a spirit of mournfulness that seemed to match the prevailing sense of human incapability to prevent an unjust war with an overriding sense of broken-hearted compassion that, one regrets, will probably not be exclusive to the time of its conception. [TIMOTHY DELLOW]
106) Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
There is little sweeter as a music fan than when a band not only fulfils their potential, but absolutely nails it. With Veckatimest, the follow up to the hugely promising – and special album in its own right – Yellow House, Grizzly Bear did just that. Matched only by Animal Collective in terms of sonic texture and the ability to make melodic lo-fi music bubbling over with grandeur, Grizzly Bear outdid themselves with their second album proper. Although still experimental to a degree, Veckatimest is at heart a pop record – and a sumptuous one at that. Indeed, the most ‘difficult’ thing about it is its title. [CHRIS HELSEN]
105) Buck 65 - Square
It was obvious right from the start of his masterpiece that Richard Tefry wasn’t afraid to stand out from the pack. When he deals with the subject of one-night-stands and casual sex, it's not a tale of numerous conquests, but instead a fantastically disturbing diatribe against the shallowness of the situation without a 'bitch' or 'ho' in sight. “It's a match made in purgatory, what more do you want to know?” Such a brave stance, controversial for all the right reasons, was particularly refreshing to these ears. But neither was it all Bible-bashing, holier-than-thou ethics - for example, roughly 10 minutes through 'Square One' (the hour long album being split in to four ‘sqaures’) we get the perverse but oddly moving tale of a man who 'sometimes cries into his own cumbersome hands' because such a disfigurement renders him unable to perform basic household tasks. Thoughts of orthodoxy out the window and the tunes to carry heavy themes without sounding pretentious, this is a special record. [THOMAS HANNAN]
104) Q And Not U – Power
Fantastic erudite post-punk from the Washington DC trio that mixed jitterbuggin’ dance with just a hint of nuanced hardcore punk sensibilities – with all manner of synths and melodicas thrown into the bargain. Its influence was far reaching too, acting as a missing link between bands with authentic East Coast hardcore credibility and those who were tuneful and danceable enough to have genuine mainstream appeal. It’s hard to imagine a band like Foals being as successful without the band who put the ‘disco in Dischord’ acting as an antecedent. AND they broke up directly after this career highlight whilst being on the cusp on crossover acclaim. Hardcore bastards. [JIM CARROLL]
103) Micachu – Jewellery
Apart from answering a dictionary-lookup-inspiring questing, viz how to actually spell the word jewellery, Micachu's debut LP achieved the following. Exquisite use of distortion. An absolutely sodding brilliant smattering of singles. Compositional excellence with a punk ethic. Incomprehensibly accessible pieces of genius. And a legion of industry support, that bewilderingly hasn't yet seen Micachu raised to the pedestal heights she deserves. 2010 will be here year. 2011 to
2019 will be her decade. And so on and so forth - Micachu will surely be nothing short of a career musician and composer... we simply can't wait to see what weird and wonderful things she'll bring our way, but in the meantime are more than happy to simply revel in the astonishing debut that is Jewellery.
102) Justin Timberlake – Justified
It's fair to say that hopes were not particularly high for a high quality debut from one time Britney boyf/N-Sync member but rather than spending the marketing budget of a small country on attempting to create the facade of maturity and pertain to become that "Serious Artist", Justin cannily worked with some of the best producers of the time and focused on delivering a full set of quality songs. Harking back to the Michael Jackson (who was rumoured to have turned down classic opener ‘Senorita’) Bad school of thought where every track should be a potential single Justin fashioned a complete work that, while not carrying the same gravitas of re-invention of say Marvin Gaye's What's Going On created perhaps the finest party album of the time and a refreshing burst of quality pop that has been facsimiled over the following years to lesser returns, whilst he himself embarked on the bonkers yet brilliant concept album follow up Future Sex/Love Sounds. While that tome (or its first half at least) may appeal more to the "serious" (read snobby) music fans, it's the songs here that really shine. The aforementioned ‘Senorita’ showcases The Neptunes brilliant ability to bring life and a band vibe to a clean pop template, echoed on the club smashes ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Rock Your Body’, but the iconic track on here is perhaps Timbaland's greatest moment ‘Cry Me A River’ a melodramatic opera of emotive beats that will continue to soundtrack millions of broken hearts long after the world has forgotten about his previous lovers and tabloid scoops. A masterpiece and a true classic album that sounds as fresh today as it will tomorrow. [TIMOTHY DELLOW]
101) Wolf Eyes - Dread
Extreme aggression and textural subtlety is the easiest way of summing up Dread's unique aesthetic; oh but there's so much more to it than that: Dread is the culmination of years of looking at music from a completely new angle - finding rapports with new instruments made from old unwanted machines and decaying electronics. The result is that the very basic structural material that comprises Dread is completely alien to the dogma of conventional music in a way that is perfectly reflected in these beautiful yet hideous Frankenstein assemblages. Dread sits in the beginning of the 21st century like a social outcast - a genealogical heresy that is hideous to the public but a fascinating important discovery to science. [CHARLIE POTTER]
THIS IS PART ONE
Artists in this article: Wolf Eyes, Justin Timberlake, Micachu, Q And Not U, Buck 65, Grizzly Bear, Cat Power, Jeffrey Lewis, Fionn Regan, Junior Boys, Boris, Sunn O))), The Breeders, The Moldy Peaches, Saul Williams, Rufus Wainwright, Gas, The Knife, The Rakes, Laura Marling, Malcolm Middleton, Ryan Adams, Mclusky, Mogwai, Soulwax, Andrew WK