Jeremy Radway's (Player Piano) albums of the decade
It was certainly hard to choose these, and I'm sure I've forgotten some BLATANTLY OBVIOUS ones, but Itried to keep to the things that I ACTUALLY LISTENED TO, and not the stuff that was shoved down my throat by magazines and TV...
Not entirely sure about the order---it's roughly right...
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I've been a pretty big fan of them, like all the rest, for a long time, and the thing that is remarkable about them is that they progress artistically, almost in a Miles Davis sort of way, never repeating themselves, and that is very commendable in a modern recording artist. In some ways I suppose I see them as being lucky, that they managed to come back from being a one hit wonder (Creep) and then slowly, organically morphed into a band that can pretty much do whatever the hell they want, and have done some really compelling stuff, particularly due in part to a really creative producer (Nigel Godrich) who helps make them sonically compelling, but also the thread of melody and emotion in Thom Yorke's songwriting and singing is really special, especially in this day and age of a mechanised music industry overrun with so many shallow imitations. In Rainbows might actually be their finest hour to date, and it certainly is a product of a band being allowed (or fighting, i dont know the ins and outs of their story) to mature and develop as artists, following their "muse", if you can forgive me for using that particular word. Amazing.
I don't want to have "i was there first!" moment, but...back in 2003, I saw Dave Longstreth perform in Bloomington, IN, all alone, with nothing but a beaten up old classical (nylon string) guitar and his fantastic voice, to an audience of about 15, in this guy Jim Zespy's repurposed garage. I had never heard of this guy, and I went to this show because my friend Mark Rice (drummer extraordinaire for Electric Magnolia Co, The Coke Dares, Impossible Shapes) told me it was gonna be "hot". The moment i heard him sing the first bars of "(throw on) the Hazard Lights", it was pretty amazing. His song writing was part Mingus, part Cole Porter, part Jack Kerouac, and his voice was an other-worldly emotionally honest ackward sort of Chet Baker on acid kind of thing, but beautiful. I really dug this era in his artistic climb, its raw and authentic. I DO really like the new album, "bitte orca", its pretty amazing, but theres something over done about it, the female backing singers are great, but its a case for me of more is less--it feels as though we are meant to be dazzled by all the stuff going on, when whats great about longstreth is the basics: his voice and his songs. This album is a perfect example.
Alright, say what you will about this guy, most people will probably think of the video with his shirt off, he's a sex symbol, etc.---make no mistake, this guy can fucking sing. In a SEA of talentless hackswith their autotune and their gimmicky beats, this guy is a man of another time, in league (in my opinion) with marvin gaye, sam cooke and others, he's the real deal. Here's the beginning of ?uestlove (drummer from the roots) putting a stamp on things, and really, this album has almost single-handedly defined this (frankly tiresome) neo soul genre---but thats not their fault! the laid back, behind the beat basslines (care of Pino Pallindino--an inspired choice, the man behind "Every time you go away" by Paul Young and Gary Numan's "I, Assassin" album), were largely informed by the style of Hip hop producer, the late James Dewitt Yancey (J Dilla), making the feel of the album right in line with the best Hip hop of the time. But more than that, the SONGS are actually amazing. As a matter of fact, "Untitled (how does it feel?)", said nude video, is one of the finest moments in soul in the past 20 years, certainly thanks in part to Raphael Saadiq's (Tony Toni Tone) contribution, there's REAL LIVE SOUL on this album, and if you put it on---be careful! babies might get made! so listen responsibly!
I feel i had to put the Lips up here, as I think they've been pretty important to me throughout the years, its a shame this list cant include a few years before 2000, as my fave of theirs is probably Clouds Taste Metallic, but Yoshimi is fantastic. What strikes me most about the album is how hard (in the hip hop sense) Steven Drozd's beats are. I weirdly had an offhand conversation with him in a bar around the corner after a show (anyone will tell you the Lips are probably the most approachable down to earth "big" band you'll encounter), and he said he did all the drum programming/sampling (and playing), and said he was listening to lots of hip hop and electronica. I like this album in particular, because i think it got a lot of "indie" kids into beat-oriented stuff. Or maybe most indie kids will say the Lips sold out at this point. Who cares. Also, this is a great headphone album.
Sparklehorse are a dark horse (sorry) of a band, seemingly existing on the periphery of what goes on. I sort of like that about them. This album is their best in my opinion, as the songwriting is probably the strongest. Mark Linkous is definitely one of those "studio" songwriters (I suppose we can thank the Beatles for setting THAT precedent) who thinks of songs in terms of their colours and the sonic palette, and i can relate to that. It comes with being obsessed with music and the SOUND of it all. I think Linkous really achieves some great colours and atmosphere on his stuff. I think this album is only a smidgeon superior to Dreamt for lightyears..., the one after this, which is a stunner as well.
OK OK OK, so yeah you've heard "Crazy" probably one too many times, that doesn't mean its not pop genius. I really love this project, because I think these are two great minds and stars in their own right (Dangermouse and Cee-lo) who actually work WELL together. I've been absolutely LOVING Cee-lo's voice ever since I first heard it on the Goodie Mob's Still Standing album---he's been a shining light of profound eloquence and righteousness in the world of hiphop from some years---and Dangermouse is something of a champion of the "MPC generation"-turned MEGA producer who is putting his stamp on many an artist (Modern Guilt is Beck's best work since Midnight Vultures). This is a great work of absolute electicism. F'n great.
As much as I LOVE The Love Below (I'm still not tired of Hey Ya, amazingly), I still think this has been Outkast's best work. Back to front, there's not a dull moment and everything is brimming with intelligent, playful words and incredibly original beats. There still is no one in my opinion that has managed to command a mass audience whilst retaining artistic integrity like these dudes. As a native of the ATL, they make me proud.
This is probably another case of a band that I've loved for a long time whose best work (in my opinon) is in the 90's (Featuring "Birds"), but this is a special album. It was mixed by Dave Fridmann (does ALL the Flaming Lips stuff, Mercury Rev and more) so it has the same edginess that those albums do, and its a nice band/producer marriage I think. Quasi is Sam Coomes (guitars, keys, vox) and Janet Weiss (drums, vox). Sam was in Heatmiser with Elliot Smith and Janet has played with Sleater-Kinney and currently plays with Stephen Malkmus. This is a group that embodies a very raw sense of melody, song and (often) bitter lyrics. I've had the pleasure of doing their sound and Janet gave me a copy of this. They were both very cool and were real hard workers, DIY style, having self-recorded alot of their early output, and are by no means rich, bloated rockstars---simply amazing musicians who are (no doubt) doing it for the love.
This guy---shit...this guy is the MAN. Its just something about how he talks about his life, he manages to be self-effacing AND pimping at the same time. His lyrics usually revolve around life's everyday trials and mores and I suppose there is something disarming about the dude. Most of all, in a sea of copiers and bling and all that nonsense, here's a real person who presents himself honestly, and its incredibly refreshing.
This was certainly one of those records that was hotlisted by NME type folks, but I'll say it was for good reason. There's a nice contrast between Tunde Adebimpe's vocals and Dave Sitek's production, its a sort of weird new school soul and its got a real element of lo-fi disco-ness to it, but with lots of atmospheric guitars. The unfortunate upshot is LOADS of copycat bands, cause its a painfully trendy sound (believe me, I work in Shoreditch)---but whatever, these guys did it first, and this is a wonderful album to have on in the background while you do something constructive...like soldering cables, making flyers for your band, or, i don't know---knitting a really trendy bright-coloured jumper?
Other artist's top tens
All these lists were compiled into one Artist's top ten albums of the decade poll. But here are all the individual lists that went into it...
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