Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica
This is one of those that at first many will find immediately grating, and some may never grow to like it. It is wild and irreverent, with no real pleasing melodies; at least not in the traditional sense. But, as with a lot of great albums, the ones you have to work at are the ones that will stick with you. When I first heard it the sound was like nothing I had ever come across, which up to that point had mostly been U2, Radiohead, and The Smashing Pumpkins. This was alien.
U2 - Achtung Baby
It's hard for me to remember what I listened to before I discovered U2. Petra...and, well, like I said...it's hard for me to remember. I do remember a band called Poor Old Lu, and they were alright. Anyway, I heard Joshua Tree first, and it is a great album, but Achtung Baby was different; rather than soaring anthems the songs on Achtung Baby get down to nitty-gritty - the real human stuff. And it still sounds great too.
Radiohead- Kid A
The reason why Kid A is here rather than OK Computer, is again because of how immediately inaccessible it was, and how after so many repeated listens I came to love it all the more. The first time I heard it I thought they had finally jumped the shark, but I'm glad I stuck with it.
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
I recall seeing this CD around for a few weeks before I finally heard it. I can clearly remember it near the front of the store in Fred's; something about the cover just stood out to me. There are a couple moments of pretty intrusive noise in between songs, that I sometimes wish weren't there, but the songs are all great, and Jeff Tweedy can write a lyric as good as the best of them.
The National - Boxer
The National are a recent favourite of mine, and I can't really say for sure that they will be in a list like this ten years down the road, but I think they will. The songs seem to capture the "feeling" of what it is sometimes like to be in the late 20's, early 30's stage of life.
Weezer - "the blue album"
What's not to love about this album? And man, did I ever love Say It Ain't So. I recorded the video for that song off Much Music and could not get enough of it.
Elliott Smith - XO
I don't really listen to Elliott much anymore, but all of his albums will always have a place with me. I was on a Radiohead message board and was looking through a "favourite albums of the year" thread, and I saw XO come up frequently. I went to Music City to try and find it, but they didn't have it. I had to order it in. That was the first time I realized that there were hundreds and hundreds of good bands and musicians out there that I had never heard of. It was an eye-opener.
Amon Tobin - Bricolage
My first exposure to drum and bass. This is another one of those albums that sound alien; like it could have been composed out in interstellar space. Or something.
My list would cross over in a few places with yours, probably. Sadly I've fallen badly out of love with music the last couple of years, so by default something that belongs in any personal 'best of' list is basically that rare thing that I don't get sick of.
ReplyDeleteAchtung Baby, absolutely. Probably paired with the (admittedly very different) Zooropa.
The National's Boxer, absolutely agreed albeit I probably get a different vibe from it (I think there's more going on there than twenty/thirtysomething zeitgeist).
Radiohead's Kid A.
Sleater Kinney's "The Woods". Wall to wall, a battle to the death between joy and chaos.
Tricky - Maxinquaye.
Sometimes, I think about listening to REM's Out of Time. It's not their best, not even a great album maybe, but it has Country Feedback, Losing My Religion, Texarkana and Half A World Away.
I like Wilco and Elliot Smith well enough but not to all-time levels.