I went with Barafundle as I figured it was the SOMB friendliest. It may of got five or six votes (I could check) but I doubt they were that high. Probably a real vote split like you say. The Coral I placed at #20 so that might help it more then a couple of low votes. Can't see Shack making it to be honest , I'm going to try and rectify that with year end though.

I think the likes of Bobzilla, Nick, TheEyes, No Magnets and Bob The Squid and maybe more voted for The Great Eastern. "Pull The Wires From The Wall" got five votes in the singles list so there's real hope there.

unless peloton splits votes with TGE...

edit: actually, hate might be the vote-splitter. it's the one that first got them a lot of u.s. attention, sadly enough

this getting stickied or what

oh its pinned around here sorry

I've got about 100 used copies of Enema, if someone wants to buy a dozen or so.

Mitchell: what Roots Manuva did you vote for? I think Awfully Deep is my favorite, but I don't think I voted for any. Also...is that you on the karl pilkington wiki page?

Me too



Yeah, in light of this, most of the albums i feel most passionate about on my list, which include a few of the ones Mitchell listed above, just bit the dust.

Run Come Save Me. like a black version of The Streets.

(yes it's me on the Pilkington page. My stories about him are probably best told in another thread though)



Well that makes 8 of us now!



It would be a shame if we have 45 adult indie records of this century on this list but I'm prepared for it. It'll be the albums like TGE that crop up and make it interesting (and hopefully win over some new fans.)

A few albums from the MTV Amp groups aside, this is pretty much right.

I tried in vein to get people to download one, just one Isolee single but there were no takers.

i've just gotten into barfundle but spanish dance and how i long to feel made my list.

AGIB> HTTT

agreed

I love Wearemonster, is the first one as good?

really? i thought the great eastern was the one that really broke them into the US since it was mercury-nominated. i remember there being a serious gap between hate's release in the UK and US. i thought that'd kinda hurt it. either way, i think we can all agree that this is a good band who hopefully has one album on this list. for the record, i voted for both the great eastern and hate.

If Pulp wins this too, Iwill be very upset.

Seriously, does anyone else not like them?

you're probably right. Hate was the first one that was anticipated in the U.S., which inflates a record's reviews upon its release but wouldn't make much of a difference in a poll like this, assuming Americans eventually went back and heard TGE at some point.

i don't mind pulp
i have different class. it's a fine record in a retro (would you call it?) brit pop way. but i just never have the desire to put it on and listen to it from the begining to the end.

I like them quite a bit - but they are not "#1" material.

get the new compilation by isolee. it's rather good.

The Great Eastern was definitely the U.S. breakthrough for the Delgados.

I agree with 100% of this comment.

And Mitchell, I'd love to hear about your connection to Pilkington... listened to that podcast until it stopped being free, and it was the best half hour of my week. I may have to start a thread for this...

::::raises hand::::

I dont think I've ever heard a Pulp album. I like some Joe Jackson and I'm pretty sure he was their singer. The local library has a great selection of shit so I should probably rent something from them, any suggestions? I voted for "Common People" in the singles poll, only it was the William Shatner version. I guess this post means my votes wont count as much in the year end list.

how did you get to this?

lol, I have no fucking clue, I thought he sang background on the Shatner "Common People". Their is this thing Google, and Wikipedia, maybe I should use thoose more often before making dumb ass posts.

EDIT: The first time I heard "Common People" Ben Folds and Shatner were on Stern. I thought Folds made a refrence to Joe Jackson being backing vocals and that Jackson wrote the song.

I'd hope so

Good to see this out of the way so quickly. Also kind of neat to see them nearly bookend the Top 250

ah, i see. yeah, joe jackson was in on that "common people" abortion, but, as i'm sure you've discovered, jarvis cocker is pulp's singer and main songwriter. and, really, i think he's one of the best storytellers in music over the last fifteen years.

Dig the twist


#246.



Liars - They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top

Year: 2002

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #30 (year), #183 (decade), #1479 (all-time)

AMG Says: "The debut LP from Brooklyn's Liars is a churning collection of jerky punk rock, funk grooves, and computerized mayhem that oddly enough comes off quite charming. With sufficiently angular guitars, British-tinged vocals, and a truly pummeling bass presence, the group rocks with phenomenal energy and absolutely no restraint. The half-hour-long closer, "The Dust That Makes the Mud," collapses into a puzzlingly repetitive, sample-ridden hip-hop beat that ends things on a bizarre note, but the lead-up is pure rock & roll, complete with the attitude and aggression that makes for a great listen. Liars have a surprisingly unique approach that distinguishes them from other groups in their willingness to experiment with different tones, volumes, and styles, all of which make They Threw Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On an astounding debut. Catchy group vocals are all over the disc, and just about every chorus is instantly memorable yet still somewhat pummeling. The use of digital sounds and beats only adds to the unique properties of the record, giving it a feel somewhat akin to later Les Savy Fav records, only with a much more punk-fueled sound. Liars are something special, and when a young band puts out a record like this it is hard not to pay attention. Where they'll go from here is impossible to guess, but with a band this hyperactively creative, that seems to be the point."

Ranked Highest By: Gil-Scott Heroin (#7)

Amazon Link

love the last track of that album

this is one of my most-despised albums ever...


and this was just the icing on the hate cake.

"mister, you're on fire, mister" is pretty great.

i don't even want to think about your attitude towards drum's not dead. you hate it, don't you?

I SEEN something
And you seen it too
You just can't call its name


#245.



The Roots - Phrenology

Year: 2002

US Chart Position: #28 / #11 R&B

UK Chart Position: n/a
'
Charting Singles: "Break You Off" (#99 / #55 R&B US, #59 UK), "The Seed 2.0" (#33)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #13 (year), #83 (decade), #740 (all-time)

AMG Says: "The easy-flowing Things Fall Apart made the Roots one of the most popular artists of alternative rap's second wave. Anticipated nearly as much as it was delayed, the proper studio follow-up, Phrenology, finally appeared in late 2002, after much perfectionist tinkering by the band -- so much that the liner notes include recording dates (covering a span of two years) and, sometimes, histories for the individual tracks. Coffeehouse music programmers beware: Phrenology is not Things Fall Apart redux; it's a challenging, hugely ambitious opus that's by turns brilliant and bewildering, as it strains to push the very sound of hip-hop into the future. Despite a few gentler tracks (like the Nelly Furtado and Jill Scott guest spots), Phrenology is the hardest-hitting Roots album to date, partly because it's their most successful attempt to re-create their concert punch in the studio. ?uestlove's drums positively boom out of the speakers on the Talib Kweli duet "Rolling With Heat"; the fantastic, lean guitar groover "The Seed (2.0)" (with neo-soul auteur Cody ChesnuTT); and the opening section of "Water." The ten-minute "Water" is the album's centerpiece, a powerful look at former Roots MC Malik B.'s drug problems that morphs into a downright avant-garde sound collage. Similarly, lead single "Break You Off," a neo-soul duet with Musiq, winds up in a melange of drum'n'bass programming and live strings. If moves like those, or the speed-blur Bad Brains punk of "!!!!!!!," or the drum'n'bass backdrop of poet Amiri Baraka's "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" can seem self-consciously eclectic, it's also true that Phrenology is one of those albums where the indulgences and far-out experiments make it that much more fascinating, whether they work or not. Plus, slamming grooves like "Rock You," "Thought @ Work," and the aforementioned "The Seed (2.0)" keep things exciting and vital. If this really is the future of hip-hop, then the sky is the limit."

Ranked Highest By: Simulated Stereo (#5)

Amazon Link

i've never even heard it. i listened to trench a few times, saw liars put on an awful show later that fall, and gave up on liking them. and i spent their pitchfork set at the record fair this past summer. oh well...

#244.




Calexico - Feast of Wire

Year: 2003

US Chart Position: #45 Heatseeker

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #39 (year), #283 (decade), #2234 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Feast of Wire does indeed offer a tantalizing array of sounds new and old from Calexico, including more pop-oriented takes on their already eclectic style as well as some different sonic twists. Though the album features plenty of the atmospheric interludes of their previous work -- such as the squelchy, piano-based "Stucco" and the cello- and pedal-steel-driven "Whipping the Horse's Eye" -- the overall feel of Feast of Wire is one of restraint and refinement. The album's longest song, the gorgeous, film noir/spaghetti western fusion "Black Heart," tops out at just under five minutes, and the vast majority of the tracks barely make it past the three-minute mark -- not enough time for experimentation to turn into self-indulgence [...] Feast of Wire does indeed offer a tantalizing array of sounds new and old from Calexico, including more pop-oriented takes on their already eclectic style as well as some different sonic twists. Though the album features plenty of the atmospheric interludes of their previous work -- such as the squelchy, piano-based "Stucco" and the cello- and pedal-steel-driven "Whipping the Horse's Eye" -- the overall feel of Feast of Wire is one of restraint and refinement. The album's longest song, the gorgeous, film noir/spaghetti western fusion "Black Heart," tops out at just under five minutes, and the vast majority of the tracks barely make it past the three-minute mark -- not enough time for experimentation to turn into self-indulgence."

Ranked Highest By: Bobzilla (#11)

Amazon Link




#243.



D'Angelo - Voodoo

Year: 2000

US Chart Position: #1

UK Chart Position: #21

Charting Singles: "Untitled (How Does it Feel)" (#25 / #2 R&B US), "Left & Right" (#75 / #18 R&B US), "Send It On" (#33 R&B US)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #14 (year), #77 (decade), #698 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Five years after his Brown Sugar album helped launch contemporary R&B, D'Angelo finally returned with his sophomore effort, Voodoo. His soulful voice is just as sweet as it was on Brown Sugar, though D'Angelo stretches out with a varied cast of collaborators, including trumpeter Roy Hargrove and guitarist Charlie Hunter, fellow neo-soul stars Lauryn Hill and Raphael Saadiq, and hip-hop heads like DJ Premier, Method Man & Redman, and Q-Tip. It must have been difficult to match his debut (and the frequent delays prove it was on his mind), but Voodoo is just as rewarding a soul album as D'Angelo's first."

Ranked Highest By: Citiizen (#19)

Amazon Link

#242.



Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive

Year: 2001

US Chart Position: #2 / #1 R&B

UK Chart Position: #10 / #25 in '02

Charting Singles: "Get Ur Freak On" (#7 / #3 R&B US, #4 UK), "One Minute Man" (#15 / #8 R&B US, #10 UK), "Take Away" (#45 / #13 R&B US), "Lick Shots" (#25 Rap US), "4 My People" (#5 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #7 (year), #59 (decade), #595 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Sounding more assured of her various strengths than at any time since her startling debut, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott broke in several directions for 2001's Miss E...So Addictive. At the same time, she's a sexed-up rapper demanding respect from men, a loved-up club diva leading the charge of rappers into the brave new world of dance culture, and a sensitive female spreading syrup over a few great ballads. It's a tribute to her incredible songwriting skills and Timbaland's continuing production excellence that she can have it any way she wants it and still come away with a full-length that hangs together brilliantly. She definitely starts out hardcore, with a pair of self-explanatory titles ("Dog in Heat," "One Minute Man") featuring Elliott cooling down on a trio of rappers (Redman, Method Man, Ludacris) and definitely getting the best of them. By "Get Ur Freak On," the lead single, she's changed angles and become a new-millennium diva straddling the worlds of hip-hop and commercial dance with bumping club tracks like "Scream a.k.a. Itch" and "4 My People." But before listeners can reconcile Elliott the club kid, special guest Ginuwine takes the album into love-ballad territory with "Take Away," a half-step ballad with an irresistible plucked-string production from Timbaland. Though Miss E...So Addictive is undeniably Elliott's affair, Timbaland's production really stretches out and pulls the album together. He's less reliant on his oft-copied trademarks, and more willing to experiment with left-field samples and seemingly odd bridges that always work despite the audio high-wire act. Though it fails to come up with anything to top her big singles hit, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," Miss E...So Addictive is her best album so far."

Ranked Highest By: Ben (#15)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Miss E...So Addictive

jesus, why does everyone keep voting under construction ahead of ...so addictive (assuming that's going to happen) - is it just because it was the first LP to be released after rock kids realized it was 'ok' to like her? that one right there is better top to bottom, and its singles are so much better.

Agreed. I'm surprised I had the highest vote on that. But both albums are pretty great. "Back in the Day" is one of my favorite Missy songs. That Jay-Z verse is so great. "TRY AND STOP HIP HOP/ WE ALL GON' RALLY" The whole retro theme on Under Construction is fun, and probably appeals to white Jurassic 5 types more than the X steez on Miss...E.

I am so jonesing to hear "Wake Up" right now. That's the one after Under Construction, isn't it?

I'd also like to take this opportunity to big up what may be the last great (and by great I mean ridiculous) X inspired music video.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fR93oGuVRIk"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fR93oGuVRIk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

yeah.

And don't get me wrong: Under Construction is a good album, too.

I still remember the summer "Miss...E" blew up. My most poignent memory wasn't "Get Ur Freak On" bombing the club, though. It was walking across the quad at DePaul and some delivery guy for the old cafeteria (now a parking lot) had it banging out of his truck. Dude had the volume so high you could hear it like four blocks away. It was around 1:30 in the afternoon. That guy was awesome.

two of my favourite albums
although, i only recenlty bought "so addictive" and i think i didn't vote for it. shame.

#241.



Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State

Year: 2003

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singleso: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #25 (year), #178 (decade), #1438 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Sufjan Stevens's third album is a charming homage to his home state of Michigan. Filled with heartbreak, the album cryptically addresses Stevens' frustration with the notorious job market in the city of Flint in a lovely ballad that opens the record, and documents the depressing struggle the city of Detroit has fought to once again attain the elegance it had prior to the riots in the late '60s; however, it also touches on a brighter side, as in the cascading "Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!" Its title is a reference to the campaign adopted by the state in the 1980s and serves as the centerpiece as well as Stevens' attachment and amour for the state he is from. Musically, Stevens often plays his Jim O'Rourke and Stereolab cards, riffing along with complex polyphony in building loops and dynamics, but he also frequently imports lightly strummed guitars and stark banjo picking to break up the album and give it a rustic northern folk aesthetic. Stevens comfortably handles nearly every instrument on the album -- an impressive task that includes various keyboards, woodwinds, guitars, and percussions -- but also enlisted the help of Megan, Elin, and Daniel Smith from the Danielson Famile to help out with vocal duties, and the outcome is a haunting and hypnotic studio opus certainly worth getting lost in."

Ranked Highest By: Dr. Jimmy (#9)

Amazon Link

That Liars album makes for some great Halloween party music, as my friends and I discovered last night.

edit: ALSO. The HTTT backlash is disheatening. It's still a fine record, with or without the previous albums to compare it to.

#240.



Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters

Year: 2004

US Chart Position: #102 / #1 Electronic

UK Chart Position: #11 / #1 a few months later / #25 a few months later / #25 a few months later / #20 a few months later / #16 a few months ago

Charting Singles: "Take Your Mama" (#23 Adult Top 40 US, #17 UK), "Filthy/Gorgeous" (#1 Dance US, #5 UK), "Comfortably Numb" (#10 UK), "Mary" (#14 UK), "Laura" (#54 / #12 in '04 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #16 (year), #74 (decade), #676 (all-time)

AMG Says: "The eponymous release is a gleaming composite of epic, unabashedly pretty '70s songwriting and fancy-pants disco hedonism, reflecting the decadent dance-pop afterglow of all that George Michael wrought [...] As fun as all of this is (and the lip-smack glam of "Music Is the Victim" is very, very fun), the Sisters' revisionism can also get them in trouble. "It Can't Come Quickly Enough"'s dance-pop is too accurate, getting the bland side way too right, while "Return to Oz" cribs from Pink Floyd without the salve of artful dance club redirection. Still, these missteps are forgivable when pseudonyms like Del Marquis and Paddy Boom populate the band. Like some of their in-the-know peers, Scissor Sisters are happy to raid rock and pop's simpering peony past to soundtrack the parties and prurience of the silvery present day."

SOMB Says: With all the aplomb and verve of a young prizefighter, New York's Scissor Sisters bravely went this year where many had gone before--but few had recently dared to tread.
With more concern for melody and rhythm than partisan politics or radio formating, they used modern technology and an open mind to nimbly skip between opposing camps in pop’s past; drawing in a wide variety of sounds in their quest to craft a great pop song they emulated the anything goes spirit of their fellow New Yorker's Blondie.
The debut album’s lead single “Take Your Mama Out” is a guitar-driven sing along that recalls the flamboyant heyday of Elton John as it charts a champagne-fueled evening on on the town with the materfamilias. Bouncy, carefree and instantly rewarding, “Take Your Mama Out” is an irresistible pop confection.
Their fabulous electronic update of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" may improve on the original, “Filthy/Gorgeous” is a fine bit of bass heavy disco, “Tits on the Radio” is my official nominee for chorus of the year and “Laura” tosses in a dash of cabaret.
But it’s the solemn ballads “It Can’t Come Quickly Enough” and “Mary” that shine the brightest. Willing and able to take the emotion all the way to 11, lead singer Jake Shears proves once again that pop music is at its best when it lets nothing stand in the way of a good song. –Ben Welsh (#15 Album of 2004)

Ranked Highest By: Pookie (#7)

Amazon Link

Crucify me but I'm back at your bed
Jesus Christ coming back from the dead


#239.



Garbage - Garbage

Year: 1995

US Chart Position: #20

UK Chart Position: #6

Charting Singles: "Stupid Girl" (#24 / #5 Dance / #2 Modern Rock US, #4 UK), "Only Happy When it Rains" (#55 / #16 Modern Rock US, #29 UK), "Vow" (#97 / #26 Modern Rock US), "Queer" (#12 Modern Rock US, #13 UK), "Milk" (#10 UK)

AMG Says: "Garbage's self-titled debut has all the trappings of alternative rock -- off-kilter arrangements, occasional bursts of noise, a female singer with a thin, airy voice -- but it comes off as pop, thanks to the glossy production courtesy of drummer Butch Vig. Not only is the sound of the record slick and professional, but all the songs are well-crafted pop songs. Unfortunately, only a handful of the songs are memorable, but those that are -- "Vow" and "Queer," in particular -- are small, trashy alternative pop gems."

Ranked Highest By: jdubs3 (#8)

Amazon Link

Does Garbage have a greatest hits album yet? If and when they do, I betcha it'll be rad.

Also, list is pretty good so far. Nothing terribly exciting, but these are all solid albums for the most part.

haha, good one. But even you have to have a place in your heart for "Special".

Great.... so far I've heard 2/10 albums. One of which I just mildly enjoy (enema) and the other I really dislike (httt). I am mildly interested in The Secret Machines, The Roots, and Michigan, and very interested in The Scissor Sisters (though I've only heard their first single off the new one, which is great).

Side note: What does calexico sound like?

Calexico's sound aint easy to explain. Sort of Air/Portishead/Flaming Lips/Some really happy bands spliced in.

Good stuff, though.

I don't hear any of those comparison's in Calexico, but we at least agree to like their music.