Top 30 of the Decade: 10-1

10. THE NATIONAL – Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003)
This is the album where the National really established their sound. It begins with the brooding Cardinal Song, then moves into more upbeat tracks like Slipping Husband, before letting rip on highpoint Available where the guitars are turned up and singer Matt Berninger is reduced to screaming at the end of the song.

9. INTERPOL – Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
Yes, it’s heavily influenced by Joy Division and late 70s/early 80s bands. But the band just get it so right. A lot of it is quite atmospheric (Untitled, Hands Away, Leif Erikson) but it also contains its fair share of anthems like Obstacle #1 and PDA. They tried for the rest of the decade to live up to this but didn’t quite manage it.

8. THE NATIONAL – Alligator (2005)
A great progression from Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, the album is full of great songs like Karen, Lit Up and emotional songs like The Geese of Beverley Road. Most of the songs are downtempo, dominated by Matt Berninger’s baritone but also featuring great guitar work. You either buy into this or you don’t. It’s essentially a drinking album for those of us with a past…

7. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Songs for the Deaf (2002)
A chaotic collection of metal, hard rock and heavy blues. It’s driven by Josh Homme but there’s a great mix of his songs and others sung by Mark Lanegan and screamed by Nick Olivieri. The songs are punctuated by snatches of radio which can be a little annoying, but at it’s best it’s driving rock that demands to be listened to.

6. EDDIE VEDDER – Into the Wild OST (2007)
On a personal level, this is the album I’ve been waiting for some time. I’ve always felt that Eddie Vedder had a way with a slow song and in my opinion he delivers them with pathos, along the lines of Bruce Springsteen. I’d love to hear Vedder’s version of Springsteen’s Nebraska album. While this is not the most varied collection it perfectly invokes Jon Krakauer’s novel.

5. SONIC YOUTH – Rather Ripped (2006)
This is the album where Sonic Youth left noise behind and turned in an album full of really good songs. Even Kim Gordon was somewhat tamed on this album which turns the noise down but the guitars up. The album is just great song after great song, many of which I feel justified in calling anthems.

4. RYAN ADAMS – Love Is Hell (2003)
On this album Ryan Adams largely left alt-country behind and recorded album of rainy day mid-tempo downbeat anthems, drawing on The Smiths, Radiohead, Lloyd Cole and even Prince. Lost Highway did their best to sabotage it – they didn’t feel it had commercial appeal so they asked him to try again (he came back with Rock N Roll, possibly his weakest effort) and released Love Is Hell is 2 separate EPs. However a few months later the released it ‘as the artist originally’ intended, as one album. It hangs together well as an album, apart from his stripped down version of Oasis’ Wonderwall, a series of slightly mopey songs for those days when your nerve endings are a little frayed.

3. SUN KIL MOON – April (2008)
A great return to form for Mark Kozelek, who had got bogged down earlier in the decade with cover albums. This one is a great mix of acoustic guitar led ballads ie Lucky Man, Unlit Hallway, which features a nice touch of banjo and the beautiful Blue Orchids; and electric guitar workouts, the best of which being the 10 minute long Tonight the Sky which is very self-indulgent but also very good. It won’t convert a new generation of fans, but it definitely pleased this loyal fan.

2. THE NATIONAL – Boxer (2007)
The first thing that struck me with this album is they appear to have made the musical arrangements more complex. Everything from the guitar, bass, piano, drums and the brass featured on the album avoids the obvious route which works to the benefit of the songs. It’s not a huge departure from Alligator but the songs are exceptionally strong. Of the faster ones, Mistaken for Strangers, Brainy and Slow Show are very strong but the heart of the album for me is the last 4 tracks, which are mostly slow.

1. MARK LANEGAN BAND – Bubblegum (2004)
Lanegan probably had the most diverse career of the decade, with a plethora of collaborations, but this album showed his talents to the full. His great strength is that wonderful deep, gravelly voice, which dominates any of his songs. What was great about Bubblegum is it signalled a departure from previous solo albums, which are all kind of blues-folk in nature. This album also had some ‘blues-folk’ but mixed it up with some heavier tracks and also featured samples and electronics. It was as if the collaborative work he had been doing rubbed off. Some of the highlights are: Hit the City, a driving duet with PJ Harvey, the slinky Wedding Dress and emotional highlight One Hundred Days.

Top 30 albums of the Decade: 30-11

So here goes. In a month’s time this list could look a lot different:

30. LOW – The Great Destroyer (2005)
29. ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN – Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006)
28. JOHNNY CASH – Solitary Man: American Recordings III (2000)
27. TINDERSTICKS – Waiting for the Moon (2003)
26. RYAN ADAMS – 29 (2005)
25. RICHMOND FONTAINE – Post to Wire (2004)
24. SONIC YOUTH – Murray Street (2002)
23. ROBERT FORSTER – The Evangelist (2008)
22. RADIOHEAD – In Rainbows (2007)
21. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Rated R (2000)
20. THURSTON MOORE – Trees Outside the Academy (2007)
19. SOULSAVERS – Broken (2009)
18. MORRISSEY – You Are The Quarry (2004)
17. THE GO-BETWEENS – Oceans Apart (2005)
16. STUART A. STAPLES – Leaving Songs (2006)
15. RADIOHEAD – Kid A (2000)
14. DOVES – Lost Souls (2000)
13. DAKOTA SUITE – Signal Hill (2000)
12. AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB – Love Songs for Patriots (2004)
11. SONIC YOUTH – Sonic Nurse (2004)

Top 10 to follow

Review of the Decade - Part 2: Reformations

The Go-Betweens kicked off a trend of bands reforming in 2000. The Go-Betweens had sat out the 90s, leaving Robert and Grant to release solo albums. When The Friends of Rachel Worth came out in 2000, it signified a rebirth for the band, not aping former glories but peddling a brand of world wise melodies which easily stood up with previously released material. After 2 more strong albums (Bright Yellow, Bright Orange and Oceans Apart) the band came to an abrupt end with the passing of Grant McLennan.

American Music Club also (improbably) reformed in 2004. The Love Songs for Patriots album contained a number of great Eitzel songs and bettered any of his solo albums, which served only to prove that he needed the band more than he thought! The band reformed without steel guitar player Bruce Kaphan, and for the follow-up album, The Golden Age, which was a lot smoother-sounding, the only 2 original members were Mark Eitzel and Vudi. Eitzel has continued to put out solo albums also, but the band still appears to be a going concern. Which is a good thing.

The Lemonheads reformed in name but in reality was just Evan Dando plus assorted guests. Their self-titled album in 2006 was a little punkier than their 90s albums and contained some pretty good songs, along with some fairly indistinctive ones, but for the most part it worked. Unfortunately Dando went and blew it all with a pretty useless follow-up album, Varshons, which consisted of some pretty bizarre (in a bad way) covers.

Tindersticks went on a short-term hiatus after 2003’s Waiting for the Moon, during which time singer Stuart Staples (or as he calls himself Stuart ‘A’ Staples) released a couple of solo albums. These didn’t differ greatly from Tindersticks, a little more stripped-down, but dominated by Stuart’s morose croon. 3 of the 6 members of the band regrouped for 2008’s The Hungry Saw which is every bit as good as previous albums, and plans are in place for another album, Falling Down a Mountain, early next year.

Most bizarrely of all, given the untimely death of singer Layne Staley, Alice In Chains reformed with a new singer, William DuVall, and released an album, Black Gives Way to Blue in 2009. And the funny thing is the album sounds like it could have been released a year or two after 1995’s self-titled album. The combination of DuVall and guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s vocals are incredibly close to the Staley/Cantrell combination of before, which is really quite odd when you think about it. Many of the heavier tracks (All Secrets Knowns and Check My Brain) stand up well against the older material, though the slower, less heavy material is a little dull. Word is that pop-grunge kings Stone Temple Pilots, who reformed for touring purposes in 2008 are recording an album, let’s hope it’s not an embarrassment.

Review of the Decade - Part 1: New names

Here I go then, jumping on the end of decade/best of articles, just like everyone else. Here is a snapshot of new bands in this decade.

The older I get the less easily I discover new music, but the early part of this decade threw up a few. Doves released their debut, Lost Souls in 2000, a welcome dose of widescreen Manchester misery, following in the downtrodden footsteps of Joy Division and the Smiths. In a similar vein, Elbow released their debut, Asleep in the Back in 2001. Though Doves’ album was the more impressive, by the end of the decade it was Elbow who had gained the plaudits, helped in no small way by their Mercury Prize win in 2008. In my view neither has surpassed their debut, indeed, Doves’ subsequent albums seemed to consciously move away from it.

On the Irish front, David Kitt emerged in 2000 with a series of low key, goose-bump inducing gigs and a wonderful mini-album, Small Moments, showcasing his soft vocals, acoustic guitar and electronic beats. Subsequent albums (and gigs) went for a bigger sound, and ultimately diminishing returns. Word is that he is playing with Tindersticks now.

Gemma Hayes’s debut album Night on my Side was an interesting blend of Nick Drake-esque acoustic folk and rougher pop with shades of My Bloody Valentine. Unfortunately the record company got hold of her and airbrushed any roughness out of her music, and her follow-up albums concentrated on smooth pop, much less endearing.

Mark Kozelek junked his Red House Painters band name and re-emerged under the name Sun Kil Moon. It wasn’t a major departure from RHP, though it did give him the freedom to be even more indulgent, with long-drawn out Crazy Horse style rockers and pretty acoustic tracks on the albums Ghost of Great Highway and April. His songwriting remained as strong as ever, which is why it was somewhat of a surprise to hear his cover album of Modest Mouse tracks, Tiny Cities. I guess it can be filed alongside his ACDC cover albums.

Mark Lanegan evolved from tortured solo artist to serial collaborator. Apart from 2 solo albums, he also found time to guest on Queens of the Stone Age albums, record 2 albums of largely folky tracks with Isobel Campbell, collaborate with Greg Dulli as the Gutter Twins, and interestingly appear as lead vocalist on 2 albums by electronica duo Soulsavers. His singing remains as strong as ever, irrespective of the backing, truly a great voice of the decade.

The National began life in 2001 with an unremarkable country-tinged self-titled album. Happily, this template was blown out of the water by 2003’s Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers. The title says everything to me about their music, describing it a lot better than I can. While they have been compared with Tindersticks, Morrissey and other ‘miserabilists’, singer Matt Berninger proved a more varied vocalist on this album, letting rip on a couple of songs. They fine-tuned this further again on the follow ups, Alligator and Boxer. In my view, best new band of the decade.

The Strokes got a lot of attention for their debut, 2001’s Is This It, which distilled a New York attitude, reminding many of Television’s Marquee Moon. And pretty damn good it was too, 11 shortish songs delivered in half an hour. Their follow up albums didn’t quite deliver on the first. It was a similar story with Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights, their debut released in 2002 was a great collection of songs, drawing heavily on Joy Division. They also spawned a series of imitators of the imitators (Editors, Boy Division, can’t believe it’s not Ian Curtis… ok I made the last 2 up but they’ll probably mean more than the bands who did actually surface).

After the demise of alt-country band Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams launched his solo career with the critically acclaimed Heartbreaker. He spent the decade recording and releasing as many albums in as many different styles as he could, some brilliant (Love Is Hell, 29), others less so (Rock N Roll). Although he was inclined to annoy with his interviews, erratic live shows and general attention-seeking, he has proved himself above all else to be a talented songwriter.

Woven Hand sprung from the ashes of 16 Horsepower. While not a huge departure, if 16 Horsepower were fire and brimstone, Woven Hand were burning embers for the most part. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, essentially Bible bashing Goth with Americana overtones but it does. Their self-titled debut set the template for future albums, all in a similar vein.

Towards the end of the decade, Peter Broderick emerged from the shadow of Efterklang, releasing beautifully crafted albums of alternately classical and acoustic music, though I suspect the next decade will see him release something definitive.