Top Albums Of T'Thousands 90-81

2000-2009: The real countdown continues...

90. Poe - Haunted [Atlantic - 2000]

Not just the accompaniment to the brilliant post-modern novel House Of Leaves but a brilliant record in its own right. From the eerie soundscapes of 'Exploration B' and 'House Of Leaves', through the gothic pop of 'Haunted' and the trip-hop of 'Spanish Doll', this is an emotional rollercoaster into the psyche of a girl who has recently lost her father. Listen to this late at night, and much like the neverending corridors of House Of Leaves you will lose your mind in this record.





89. Stars - Set Yourself On Fire [Arts & Crafts - 2004]

Quite possibly the musical equivalent of a 1930s Clark Gable romantic blockbuster. This is a timeless love story told across 13 indie pop gems. Simultaneously heartbreaking and life-affirming, this album was recorded across one bleak Canadian winter and tells the story of two lovers lives intertwining. Lavish and decadent textures hide the heart-rending drama at the centure of this masterpiece. As the album suggests, this is ageless beauty.




88. The Books - The Lemon Of Pink [Tomlab - 2003]

Electronica, folk and acoustic sampling all collide on The Books' sophomore effort. More developed and consistent than Thought For Food, this is when the NY experimental duo really hit their prime. The incredible amount of samples crammed into the 37 minutes of this record range from timeless and poignant to downright messed up. One thing remains a constant though, and that is the sense of contemplation this record creates. Listen and learn, and as guest vocalist Anne Doerner says "All's well that ends well".




87. Elliott Smith - Figure 8 [DreamWorks - 2000]

The final album Elliott Smith finished before his untimely death makes for particularly poignant listening retrospectively. It marks the final stages of his transition from bedroom songwriter to the creator of more open thinking high-end compositions and shows signs of what he could have become. Though arguably not on a par with his earlier work, what you have here is a portrait of the promise and talent of one of the most accomplished writers of recent times.





36. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering [Fat Cat - 2005]

The year is 1970, Vashti Bunyan's debut album Just Another Diamond Day has been released to lukewarm reviews and little success. Heartbroken, Bunyan retreated to the countryside and raised a family. Flash-forward 30 years and this solitary record has generated such a cult following including luminaries such as Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and Animal Collective that Vashti Bunyan is now labelled as the 'Godmother of Freak Folk'. Her response, she releases an album of timeless elegance and wonderful minimalism. This is folk for rainy days and cold nights, find out what the fuss is about.



85. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans [Atlantic - 2005]

Opening with the lines "If I could open my arms, and span the length of the isle of Manhattan, I'd bring it to where you are." really says all you need to know about this album. It is characterised by its sentimentality, its aspiration to do great things and above all else, its view of the world with a sense of romance. The production is magnificent, a record truly worth listening to through headphones just to appreciate its little intricacies. Rest assured, this is the sort of record that will stay in your mind and follow you into the dark when you sleep at night.



84. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca [Domino - 2009]

Dirty Projectors have always been known for their ability to dismantle the boundaries of experimentalism, pop, indie, etc, and re-arrange them until they are a mutated mish-mash. Much like a frankenstein of indie rock. These songs are joyous, sporadic little ditties that slip in through the ear and dissolve into your subconscious until you find yourself humming them at the most inopportune moments. Listen with caution, this kind of optimism is infectious.





83. Beach House - Beach House [Carpark - 2006]

Dream pop, has been a relatively resurgent genre. Since the 4AD golden years of the mid to late 80s and bands such as the Cocteau Twins, it has seemingly existed in some form or another. What Beach House did for it with this record in 2006 was to reinvigorate it with a sense of lo-fi beauty. What they have brought to dream pop, is that lo-fi fuzz just underneath the surface. Crackles underscore what are already beautiful arrangements and give them a timeless sense of beauty. What links Beach House and their namesake, peace and tranquility, and quite possibly a fleeting sense of beauty. The sea will erode the beach and destroy the beach house, this album will be over in under 40 minutes.

82. Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River [Dangerbird - 2007]

Halloween rendezvous, gypsy women, waterfalls, all bountiful and iconic imagery, throw in Phil Elverum and you've got yourself a regular trek into the dark side of indie folk. This is a bleak record that is somehow simultaneously resplendent in its arrangements, a contradiction of sorts? For some unknown reason this record just clicks, it has a sort of timeless quality to it and is soaked in the sort of storytelling that has made American folk music great.





81. Sonic Youth - Murray Street [DGC - 2002]

A return to form of sorts for the kings of hipper than thou experimentalism. Gone are the art school clichés of A Thousand Leaves and NYC Ghosts + Flowers, and welcomed back into the fold are the alternative anthems of golden era Sonic Youth. These are classic left of centre songs brimming with unbridled joy and an undeniable summerish quality. Peaking and troughing through noisy guitar fuelled explosions and delicate ravines in their very signature wall of re-tuned sound. On their collaboration with peers Borbetomagus, the Youth refer to themselves as 'radical adults', on the basis of this record they are not only still youth but are as vital as they have ever been.

Until next time...

Top Albums Of T'Thousands 100-91

2000-2009: The real countdown begins...

100. Wiley - Playtime Is Over [Big Dada - 2007]

In a constantly evolving UK urban scene, this album still remains fresh, uncompromising and most importantly of all, dripping with attitude. When placed against 2004's Treddin' On Thin Ice, this album emerges stronger and more varied with obvious improvements in Wiley's production and songwriting.

99. Japandroids - Post-Nothing [Polyvinyl - 2009]

How can a two-piece make such a colossal noise? Japandroids can. Think of lo-fi and what do you imagine? An introvert recording his carefully constructed but never fully realised songs on a 4-track? An underground band releasing fuzzy pop gems? Japandroids better the latter with a line-up closer in numbers to the former. This is a punk Boston in a basement, inspirational to DIY lovers everywhere.

98. The Dismemberment Plan - Change [Desoto - 2001]

Will The Dismemberment Plan be remembered for Change, their final outing before parting ways? Probably not, their previous release Emergency & I was somewhat of a cultural zeitgeist of indie rock at the turn of the century, defining the mood of the times but at the same time breaking free of it. What Change marks is a band aware of their abilities, growing older and wiser. More calm and competent than its predecessor, perhaps Travis Morrison really was just a sentimental man at heart. Does it matter if The D-Plan are remembered for Change? Probably not, the music will speak for itself, it's been blown from the face of the Earth.

97. Balmorhea - Rivers Arms [Western Vinyl - 2008]

One of modern music's greatest attributes, and quite frankly, assets, is its ability to be versatile. In terms of style, you will not find a better example of versatility and variation in a record than Rivers Arms. At one moment freak folk ballad, the next an Einaudi-esque lullaby, and that's just the first two songs. An album for contemplation, and celebration of life's little intricacies.

96. Zomby - Where Were U In '92? [Werk - 2008]

Where were u in '92? This is what Zomby asks his listener. Turning from creator of interesting and crowd-pleasing dubstep tunes to full-blown producer extraordinaire in the space of 38 minutes. As the title suggests, this record evokes now distant memories of the late 80s and early 90s rave heyday. Zomby is not afraid to mix things up, no pun intended, listen to this at night, intoxicated, as often as deemed necessary, until you really ARE in '92.

95. Efterklang - Tripper [Leaf - 2004]

An eerie and haunting bundle of IDM meets post-rock flirtations. From the wonderfully understated 'Foetus' to what is arguably the album's focal centrepiece 'Collecting Shields', what you have here is something to cherish for those moments when everything comes together and just feels right. Immerse yourself in their world and chances are you won't want to return.

94. Dappled Cities - Granddance [Dangerbird - 2006]

Dappled Cities Fly, that is what this Australian 5-piece were once called. Well in spite of dropping the fly from their name for this album, they have never truly flown in quite this way, irony much? 'Holy Chord' builds to a tense peak before erupting into all sorts of mess, soaring left, right, and yes, centre. The singles 'Fire Fire Fire' and 'Vision Bell' only begin to scratch the surface of what a hidden gem this record is. Catch them now before everyone and their indie friend called Rain do, and they fly on away into the sunset.

93. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday [XL - 2007]

If there is any justice in the world this album will one day be truly appreciated. Elvis Perkins, son of actor Anthony Perkins, best known for playing Norman Bates in Psycho is an undoubtedly gifted songwriter. This album is a eulogy to his mother who died in the 9/11 attacks. An album for Wednesday 12 September, the day after Perkins lost his mother and had "Nothing left but ash". While also being a tribute to his father who died on the same day in 1992. Rousing acoustic ballads with lush orchestration, listen to what this man has to say, preferably through headphones and you'll cherish every bittersweet word.

92. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike [Memphis Industries - 2004]

Imagine, if you will, taking a ridiculous assortment of paraphernalia that has made twenty-first century life fun and carefree, and then put it to music. This is the epitomy of the word party. Playful vocals, danceable rhythms, pop culture samples and Sonic Youth on E guitars. All of these and more are combined into a cohesive whole that will have you frothing at the mouth and in some kind of frenzy.

91. No Age - Nouns [Sub Pop - 2008]

This is lo-fi at its most frenetic and scary. Distorted fuzzy guitars and powerful drumming. And yet, as with the aforementioned Japandroids, they're only a duo! These lo-fi partnerships really are putting serious questions to bands with larger memberships over their inability to create a ruckus quite like this. If two guys can create songs such as 'Teen Creeps' then so help you, the rest of you better get your act together lest they wipe the floor with you.

Next time, the waste of paint continues with numbers 90-81 announced. The next ten in the list include deaths, comebacks and mainstays. In the meantime, parting is such sweet sorrow but sorrow is such sweet inspiration.

Top Albums Of T'Thousands 150-101

Well it's the end of the decade and time to start making ridiculous lists for the sake of retrospect. A lot of deserving albums just didn't make that top 100 so here's a brief list of 150-101 of our top albums of the 2000s. They all deserve credit and a lot of these are under appreciated gems, check them out. Expect more detail and articles for the top 100....


150. Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland
149. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
148. Cex - Being Ridden
147. Magik Markers - Boss
146. Distance - My Demons
145. Enon - High Society
144. Shipping News - Flies The Fields
143. Skepta - Greatest Hits
142. Electric President - Electric President
141. Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia... - My Elixir, My Poison
140. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
139. Flying Lotus - 1983
138. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Cansei De Ser Sexy
137. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
136. Aarktica - No Solace In Sleep
135. The Bug - London Zoo
134. Ohbijou - Beacons
133. The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
132. Ricardo Villalobos - Salvador
131. Storm And Stress - Under Thunder And Fluorescent Lights

130. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Etiquette

129. VHS Or Beta - Night On Fire
128. Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
127. The Young Knives - Voices Of Animals And Men
126. Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas
125. Cursive - The Ugly Organ
124. Kanye West - Graduation
123. Aloha - Here Comes Everyone
122. Hot Club De Paris - Drop Till It Pops
121. Shannon Wright - Maps Of Tacit
120. HEALTH - You Will Love Each Other
119. Skream - Skream
118. Korouva - Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette
117. Saul Williams - Saul Williams
116. The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters
115. Cadence Weapon - Breaking Kayfabe
114. Erase Errata - Nightlife
113. Calexico - Hot Rail
112. Comets On Fire - Blue Cathedral
111. Spoon - Kill The Moonlight
110. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
109. Low - Things We Lost In The Fire
108. The Decemberists - Picaresque
107. Kode9 & The Spaceape - Memories Of The Future
106. Slavic Soul Party! - Slavic Soul Party! In Makedonija
105. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
104. Headlights - Some Racing, Some Stopping
103. Radiohead - Amnesiac
102. Blonde Redhead - Misery Is A Butterfly
101. Sigur Rós - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust


Check back here within the next few days for the start of the big countdown of the best albums of the last ten years (according to us)...

Låt Den Rätte Komma In

Late nights, early mornings. A tried and failed combination. Your mind plays tricks on you. Some middle of the night things bound to warp your mind and feelings.




Haunting. Poetic. Chilling, Wonderful.

Recently Elliott has been the man. Been dead for years though, still a man.

Waltz No.2 (XO, 1998)



Twilight (From A Basement On The Hill, 2004)



Roman Candle (Roman Candle, 1994)



It is almost the end of the decade. WE here at Dandelion have been racking our brains over a top records of the decade list, expect part one next week...

Sky Flowers

The saturday after bonfire night. This has always been a day each year that has served me well. Some of my greatest moments have been spent on this night. It holds a certain resonance for me to say the least.

This year has been different. The most remarkable thing to happen this year was. I was walking along the cut this morning at 5 am. A drunken women approached me saying "Who are you?" I didn't know how to respond. As she drew closer she simply said. "Sorry, I thought you were someone, but you're not."

These are things that have made this night special. In my own experience, they matter.

Sigur Rós - Starálfur



Blá nótt yfir mér, horf-inn út um glugann, minn með hendur, faldar undir kinn.
Hugsum daginn minn í dag og í gær.
Wonderful.

This time last year, I spent this night alone for the first time for a long time. Reading On The Road by Anton Chekhov. It really gave off that sense of desolate hope that this time of year brings.

"She was silent. When the sledge started, and had to go around a huge snowdrift, she looked back at Liharev with an expression as though she wanted to say something to him. He ran up to her, but she did not say a word to him, she only looked at him through her long eyelashes with little specks of snow on them.

Whether his finely intuitive soul were really able to read that look, or whether his imagination deceived him, it suddenly began to seem to him that with another touch or two that girl would have forgiven him his failures, his age, his desolate position, and would have followed him without question or reasonings. He stood a long while as though rooted to the spot, gazing at the tracks left by the sledge runners. The snowflakes greedily settled on his hair, his beard, his shoulders. . . . Soon the track of the runners had vanished, and he himself covered with snow, began to look like a white rock, but still his eyes kept seeking something in the clouds of snow."

I'm a sucker for the winter. This made me think of a quote by Whittier: "For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."

Stopping writing before this turns into a self-indulgent literary essay. Winter's coming so I'll leave it with these...

Feist + Bon Iver - Train Song (Vashti Bunyan)



Vashti Bunyan - Train Song (Original)



Grizzly Bear + Feist - Service Bell

A Blog To Pass The Time

Boredom is a funny thing. It's also a valuable thing. It's a motivator, leads you to discovery.

One of my favourite performers of all time, Leadbelly, is a man I have a great deal of respect for. Even if he was infamous for his actions. Stabbing. Sung his way out of prison though. Twice if I remember rightly. Talent, you might say.

Back to the point, boredom led me to find this, hardly his most chilling work, give it a look through the keyhole though. Pretty rare to actually see a video of him, enigmatic.



I hear fireworks right now, led me to remember something. Staralfur by Sigur Ros, is that fireworks in the mid section? Look at this, can't recommend Blogotheque enough.




Danielewski - House Of Leaves, read it. Post-modern as fuck but incredibly creative and terrifying. Brooding and sexy too. That's a tale for another day mind. Anything that can get some Dante in has my approval though. Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate.

"No matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then, for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got, not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name. And then the nightmares will begin."

Danielewskis sister performs under the pseudonym Poe. She released an album that interlinks with House Of Leaves, Haunted. Quality varies throughout but some of the soundscapes are haunting, as the title suggests. She uses a lot of samples of her recently deceased fathers voice, eerie to say the least..

This sound collage gave me shivers the first time I heard it. In my room in pitch black one night late at night. Based on House Of Leaves it was always going to. You must watch this. Art in it's most primordial fearful state.



That is all.

Inauguration

The inaugural post was always going to be a difficult one: is there a theme to this blog? Is it about flowers, towns in Bavaria, baseball players, Boards of Canada songs, a conurbation of all these things.

There's not much that won't be written about in this space so have a gander from time to time, see if you can figure things out. Major stream of consciousness however.

There's a soupy sales in my fly.

Right now I'm listening to these guys, it's a regular Sunday night miracle.



It's kind of like a mournful folkified Interpol record, which I won't argue with.
All gypsy women, halloween rendezvous, hardly mind expanding but comforting indie kid imagery, tried and true, homogenized by every kid in a flannel shirt with an acoustic guitar.

Misty scenes seem the way forward to me at the moment, preferably with foliage. Like these guys

Owen - At Home With Owen

Jennifer Donnelly - A Gathering Light

Aloha - Light Works

Two great records and a superb book, all with great artistic direction.

And one last piece of paraphernalia, great bit of filmmaking, great film in general, awesome soundtrack too. Proper shoegaze/dream pop stuff, Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie, Slowdive, Rush, Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros.

Think I'm just about out of ink for now, the pot's dried up. Gonna get back to reading Crime and Punishment now, Dostoyevsky is king.

One last thought - the point of doing this blog is still pretty, well, ambiguous.