My Favorite Albums of 2000
1 XTC - Wasp Star - Apple Venus Volume 2 (TVT)
-XTC's strongest album in over a decade - these would all be hit singles in a perfect world
2 DANDY WARHOLS - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (Capitol)
-At various times the sound like Iggy, the Velvets, Bowie, Stones, Blur, Peter Murphy, etc etc...yet no one sounds like them.
3 TSAR - Tsar (Hollywood)
-Supercharged glam pop from LA - lots of Cheap Trick with a little Sweet and Redd Kross
4 WAXWINGS - Low to the Ground (Bobsled)
-Sounding like a power pop Byrds at times - excellent songwriting, solid hooks, and tight playing - and it's only their debut!
5 MYRACLE BRAH - Miracle Brah (Not Lame)
-One of the best and most consistent pop bands out there today - classic pop - and their third in a row to make my top 10
6 DROWNERS - Is There Something On Your Mind? (Wind Up)
-More straight ahead pop (are you noticing a trend on this list yet?) rock
7 APPLES IN STEREO - Discovery of a World Inside the Moone (SpinArt)
-A weird little bubblegummy record that stuck with me - I love the guy's vocals, but I've heard that it drives most people crazy
8 EELS - Daisies of the Galaxy (Dreamwerks)
-Strange production and instrumentation and even stranger lyrics - E may
be a one trick pony, but he does that trick so damn well
9 JETS TO BRAZIL - Four Cornered Night (Jade Tree)
-A grossly under praised record of 2000 - top drawer lyrics and just
plain great songs - I would have killed for this record in my college
radio days!
10 TIM FINN - Say It Is So (What Are Records)
-Another one I can't believe how little I heard about - being a Tim Finn
record, it's a little weird and eclectic, but has some killer melodies
11 SUPERGRASS - Supergrass (Island)
-When I first heard this I only loved 3 songs, then four, then five, etc etc - now I love the whole damn thing.
12 BILLY BRAGG & WILCO - Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (Elektra)
-Volume 1 was just OK, so I thought this would be a little less than OK,
but it looks like they saved the best stuff for this volume
13 FROM BUBBLEGUM TO SKY - Me and Amy and the Two French Boys (Eenie Meenie Records)
-Emphasis on the bubblegum - more sugar than a pack of Lick Em Stix -
new wave meets 60's orchestral pop meets Saturday morning cartoons -
F-U-N!
14 DEATHRAY - Deathray (Capricorn)
-Pop from a band that seems to listen to the first few Cars albums quite a bit
15 JUPITER AFFECT - Instructions for the Two Ways of Becoming Alice (Eggbert)
-Three O'Clock/Permanent Green Light frontman has a new band and his
strongest album ever - 60's-ish psychedelic pop meets modern pop
16 U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind (Interscope)
-Good God - I haven't loved an entire U2 record since War - they're
finally writing real songs again, and they sound just wonderful
17 CHRIS KNOX - Beat (Thirsty Ear)
-New Zealand DIY lofi - Chris plays everything, records it in his home
studio, and has done it that way for years - a favorite artist of mine
that never disappoints
18 POSTER CHILDREN - DDD (SpinArt)
-Champaign Illinois' most consistent band - angsty college rock
19 GAZA STRIPPERS - 1000 Watt Confessions (Lookout)
-Equal parts 70's hard rock and 80's/90's punk - Rick Simms (former
Didjits frontman) just plain rocks - his best record since Hornet Piñata
20 FLASHING LIGHTS - Where The Change Is (SpinArt)
-Sloan-mates from Canada, fronted by former SuperFriendz leader - your basic meat and potatoes pop rock
21 CATHERINE WHEEL - Wishville (Columbia)
-A slightly more song oriented record from the band that does the wall
of guitar better than anyone (except maybe the Wedding Present)
22 TAHITI 80 - Puzzle (Minty Fresh)
-Lounge pop
23 GROOVIE GHOULIES - Travels With My Amp (Lookout)
-Carrying the 70's era Ramones punk pop torch
24 ROBBIE WILLIAMS - Sing When You're Winning (Capitol)
-And Robbie's not the biggest pop star because why?
25 THE SIXTHS - Hyacinths and Thistles (Merge)
-Stephen Merritt writes eccentric and eclectic songs and manages to get
some wonderfully odd results from Gary Numan, Marc Almond, Melanie, Bob
Mould, and 10 more guest vocalists
26 FRISBEE - The Subversive Sounds of Love (Hear Diagonally)
-Great sound, top notch musicianship, fabulous harmonies, they just need
a few stronger hooks for me to get as excited about them as many
critics and friends have
27 SWINGIN' NECKBREAKERS - Return of Rock (Telstar)
-Quite simply the best garage band working today
28 SHELBY LYNNE - I Am Shelby Lynne (Island)
-I avoided this record for a long time because of the hype, but it ended up being as good as everyone said
29 BADLY DRAWN BOY - Hour of Bewilderbeast (XL)
-Um, I don't even know what to say about this
30 WARREN ZEVON - Life'll Kill Ya (Artemis)
-I don't think I've ever loved an entire Warren Zevon album before - but he nails all my fave Zevonisms on this one
