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By: Da Sissop
Date: 12/30/00 11:25:04 AM
# Replies: 2
Best CDs of 199^h^h^h2000
The Dandy Warhols – 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia. Every so often somebody pieces together a CD (or as we used to call them in the 20th century, “albums”) that stands as a complete work of art as a whole, rather than a collection of mere songs. I think of the Pixies’ Trompe Le Monde and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik as recent rare shining examples of this sort of outstanding continuity in a recording. This Dandy Warhols release follows in that same example. The songs meld together and build upon one another, and wind up as my most enjoyable musical experience of 2000. You definitely should download this from Napster, and then rush out to buy the CD when you realize this is a band worth supporting finiancially.
Elastica – The Menace. Fresh off the success of their 1995 debut, Elastica rushes their 2000 follow-up to market, and the result is as refreshing as the Spice Girls were repulsive. There are a couple of clunkers, but they’re interesting clunkers, and the good stuff is very very good.
Gomez – Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline. Those adorable young moptops from Britain are back with a CD of throwaways and unreleased recordings from their previous sessions, and most of the material is as good or better than their “official” releases. Yes, they’re heavily influenced by psychodelia and early 70’s dinosaur rock, but unlike Oasis or Lenny Kravitz they actually do bring some freshness to the mix.
Ass Ponys – Some Stupid With a Flare Gun. They’re baaack. Surely you remember their early-90s MTV buzz clip “Little Bastard,” right? They’ve released at least one pretty crappy followup to that “Electric Rock Music” album in the interim, but they’re back on track with this new one. Jangley, whiney, straight-forward rock at its finest.
Soulhat – Experiment On a Flat Plane. Austin’s Soulhat is reunited and still kicking.
Response #1
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 12/31/00 10:05:27 AM
I've already mentioned my best-of-year albums in other threads, but here's a recap:
1) Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun. Velvet Underground meets Eno's 'Another Green World' while listening to Cocteau Twins. Everyone drinks a bunch of wine in a candle-lit room, and someone plays an electric guitar with a violin bow. Then George Martin shows up and does some string arrangements. The lyrics might be in Icelandic, or they might be from another planet.
2) Manu Chao - Clandestino. The lyrics are from Basque, as is Manu Chao, who sings in Spanish, English, Portugese, and French. Quite a number of cultures collide in southern France, and so they do on this CD. There's even a song about Tijuana ("..Bienvenido Tijuana/Tequila, sex, o marijuana..") Chao shoots in source materials from the Zapatistas, Spanish television, and a little video game noise that provides continuity all the way through the record. Beautiful and danceable and diverse and different every time.
Response #2
By: Fung Swazy
Date: 1/7/01 7:45:57 PM
On the list for 2000 - 2001 - Early suggestion (even if they are big rock stars) All that you can't leave behnd - U2. You have to give the boys credit. This album rocks - can't wait for the tour not to stop in Houston!