70. Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) - Cloud Cult (2008).I couldn't get enough of this album in summer 08. Everyone Here is a Cloud is an an unstoppable force of nature. I was helpless against it's powers. That said, there is no excuse for naming your album two times. Parentheses are a cop-out. Pick a name and stick with it Cloud Cult.
69. The Satanic Satanist - Portugal. The Man (2009).
By far the best thing to ever come out of Wasilla, Alaska. In fact, I'm reasonably sure that John McCain could have done better in the 2008 election with a little known indie rock band as a running mate (until they titled their album "The Satanic Satanist" - that would probably rub some voters the wrong way).
68. Cease to Begin - Band of Horses (2007).
As it turns out, I don't have anything interesting to say here. All I can come up with is that the phrase "cease to begin" kind of reminds me of the word "commencement". Commencement means "to begin", but I used to think of it as meaning "end". Fascinating, eh?
As it turns out, I don't have anything interesting to say here. All I can come up with is that the phrase "cease to begin" kind of reminds me of the word "commencement". Commencement means "to begin", but I used to think of it as meaning "end". Fascinating, eh?
67. The Crane Wife - The Decemberists (2006).
What can I say, I'm a sucker for concept albums about old Japanese folklore*. One of my favorite things about the Decemberists is the long, three part stories within songs. I guess this is called Prog Rock, but I'm not going to admit to liking that.** This album has two of them! The Island, and the The Crane Wife 1 &2 and The Crane Wife 3 song pairing. If you have 25 minutes to kill, go find them on YouTube.
* You don't want to know how much money this costs me. My record collection is like 70% filled with records like this.
** One thing I do like doing is creating sets of songs that tell a story in their song titles. Someday I'll have a radio show that will do only this - play a series of songs that tells a story with the titles. First show:
- If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers
- Missing Children - Okkervil River
- No Children - The Mountain Goats
See how fun that was!
66. Young Liars - TV on the Radio (2003).
Okay, I'll be honest. I have no idea how this one made it this high. I do like it quite a bit, but it's just an EP. However, if I ever join a college a capella* group, we are definitely going to sing the version of Mr. Grieves that is on this record.
* Yes, that is a capella group references in 2 different write ups on this list. I'm disappointed in me too.
65. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008).
Excellent summer music. Plus, how many bands can reference L'il Jon in a song named after obscure grammatical conventions (The Oxford comma)?
63. Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (2003).
Maybe Radiohead should have made the new Robin Hood movie instead of Ridley Scott. I probably would have seen it then.
I like my Iron and Wine with more instrumentation on the side*. Sam Beam, despite having one of the best names in music (and it isn't even a pseudonym), has been subject to some backlash after adding more instrumentation to his once spare songs. Elliott Smith and the Decemberists have also experienced this. This always seemed a little narrow-minded to me. I get that you are going to prefer some albums over others, but when your favorite artists grow as musicians and try different things, it can also open up the listener to different types of music. I say to try and grow with your favorite musicians, don't blame them for not making the same type of music every album. 
65. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008).Excellent summer music. Plus, how many bands can reference L'il Jon in a song named after obscure grammatical conventions (The Oxford comma)?
64. Kill the Moonlight - Spoon (2002).
Best bands named after kitchen utensils:
Best bands named after kitchen utensils:
1. Spoon
2. the Knife
3. Shonen Knife
4. Scissor Sisters (I assume they were named after kitchen scissors, not regular scissors).
5. Skillet
6. Rob Zombie's Cauldron of Cheese Graters
63. Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (2003).
Maybe Radiohead should have made the new Robin Hood movie instead of Ridley Scott. I probably would have seen it then.
62. The Shepherd's Dog - Iron and Wine (2007).
I like my Iron and Wine with more instrumentation on the side*. Sam Beam, despite having one of the best names in music (and it isn't even a pseudonym), has been subject to some backlash after adding more instrumentation to his once spare songs. Elliott Smith and the Decemberists have also experienced this. This always seemed a little narrow-minded to me. I get that you are going to prefer some albums over others, but when your favorite artists grow as musicians and try different things, it can also open up the listener to different types of music. I say to try and grow with your favorite musicians, don't blame them for not making the same type of music every album.
* If i had an editor, this sentence would certainly be cut**. Hooray blogs!
** Actually, i would probably have to rewrite this whole blurb. Nope - too lazy.
61. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips (2002).
More Japanese concept albums! (maybe). When I kids, I'm going to play them Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1 to stress the importance of taking vitamins. How else is he/she going to be strong to fight [pink robots]?
some overlap! cease to begin is only 4 apart !!
ReplyDeletei am one of those who doesn't like the more instrumental iron & wine albums (beneath the balcony is my all time favorite sam beam song). same with elliott smith. (give me either/or or his self-titled over his later stuff.)
weirdly, i actually prefer the majestic majesty over the satanic satanist. i just love the acoustic versions. i even like the black and white album cover better.
love the tv on the radio ep. who else would make an a capella cover of a pixies song? so good. too bad tv on the radio kind of lost steam after that...at least to me.
yoshimi is amazing. mine is ranked pretty high.
hail to the thief is one album i just had a very difficult time ranking. it ended up not making my list, but some songs (where i end and you being) are just so so so good. probably should have made it (maybe on my revised version...). while doing this, i have found a handful of albums that either fell by the wayside, or i had completely forgotten about, or just haven't listened to enough to justify inclusion (probably about 5-10 of them). they will probably make the revised edition. i think hail to the thief will be one of them
ehhh.. where i end and you.. BEGIN
ReplyDelete