(King's Crossing)
Bardo Thodol, commonly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, is an Eastern funerary text intended to guide the reader through states of consciousness into death. Death, in Buddhism as well as many religions, is a means of liberating the essence of being, or soul, for lack of a better word, into another metaphysical or spiritual state. All of Elliott Smith's albums, including this posthumous release issued a year after his suicide, chronicle very deep, very human states of suffering. Remarkably, they do so with pretty melodies and only subtle melancholy. This album can be criticized a bit for being finished by others, but nevertheless it remains a portrait of the artist's darkest days leading up to the decision for him to inflict upon himself that transcendent next step. Hopefully, Elliott Smith has found what he was looking for. "I can't prepare for death any more than I already have."
19. The Twilight Singers - Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers (2000)
(Last Temptation)
The Twilight Singers originally began as a side project to Greg Dulli's other vocation, The Afghan Whigs, during that band's dispute with a record label. Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers was primarily recorded in 1997, after Black Love but before 1965, and thematically, it probably fits in as a follow-up to Black Love better than 1965 does. Still, it wasn't released until 2000, on the eve of the Whigs' break up. It's soulful rhythm and blues, with a bit of New Orleans groove and sultry swagger. Kinda naughty. I've taken many, many, many late night drives with this album as my only companion.
18. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
(Blindsided)
In late 2008 remember going into a dinky little record store looking for a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club promo and picking up this little printout that listed all of the employees' favorite albums. The tastes of the various employees were quite eclectic, but without fail, each one of them included this album. I should have bought it then, I guess, but I didn't. It was about a year later I finally downloaded it, and finally learned for myself what all the fuss was about. The story of its creation has already gone down into legend, but suffice it to say, I'm glad that what happened happened, because this is an excellent album. Sad and pretty.
17. Black Mountain - In the Future (2008)
(Angels)
Throbbing, deep psychedelia with heavy bass and Moog organs. I'm pissed that these guys have never come to Salt Lake City. I bet their live show is killer.
16. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
(It's Summertime)
I got this album, along with Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Beck's Sea Change, for my birthday one year, and ever since then, the three of them have been inseparably connected in my mind. It is weird. It is like they were made to be listened to together, mostly because the three of them were in perpetual rotation in my car CD player for months. I had The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, and I liked it, but Yoshimi took things to a completely different, surreal level. The album tells the story of Yoshimi, who, predictably, is engaged in battle against Pink Robots. The songs, however, are individually about loss, love, longing, lying, etc. It's produced by Dave Fridmann of Mercury Rev, who made my favorite album of the 90's, Deserter's Songs, and this is a worthy successor, done Lips style. Lush and strange all stitched together to make some beautiful noise.
15. Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin-e (2003)
(Hallelujah)
Jeff Buckley is the Tupac of alternative rock; he's put out a shitload more music since he died than he ever did alive. Honestly, you can pass on a lot of the posthumous Buckley stuff, but Live at Sin-e is a must-own in my opinion. Originally released as a relatively short EP, it later got this deluxe reissue containing over two hours of songs, covers, jams, and audience repartee. This record captures Jeff Buckley just before his prime, and hints at his greatness. I've never heard a voice quite like his. Everyone knows his cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and I don't think there's a better version out there than the one on this record. If you only listen to one of the songs I've posted here, it ought to be this one. It is absolutely beautiful, and the rest of the album--while not quite as epic--does not disappoint.
14. Wolf Parade - At Mt. Zoomer (2008)
(Fine Young Cannibals)
I don't know how to really characterize these guys. Earnest like Arcade Fire (this album was recorded in Arcade Fire's church/studio), sorta weird like Modest Mouse (MM's frontman Isaac Brock signed the band to Sub Pop), and with that ethereal pop sensibility of Neutral Milk Hotel and Apples In Stereo. I guess a lot more people like their first full length, Apologies to the Queen Mary, which is also fantastic, but something about this album sucks me in over and over.
13. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007)
(My Body Is A Cage)
This album loses only a little from its predecessor, Funeral, because of its big(ger) budget production and some of the production tricks. It is a wholly ambitious, meaningful album, and listening to it, one can't help but feel the several dozen members of Arcade Fire pouring their essence into every syllable, every note. It is artistic over-achievement at its finest.
12. Wilco - A Ghost is Born (2004)
(Theologians)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot introduced me to Wilco, and I was eagerly awaiting their follow-up for more of the same. What I got instead was completely different, but mind blowing in a way all its own. Eleven years or so ago, a friend gave me a card that said that life wasn't about the destination, but the journey. Wilco's albums are like postcards from various points on the journey of life. Sometimes profound, sometimes simple, Jeff Tweedy and Company's songs never disappoint, even when they're the opposite of what you expect. Alt country enough to be classic, weird enough to be alternative, they always seem to hit the spot. "Hell is Chrome" off this record is probably my favorite song of all time.
11. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism (2003)
(Transatlanticism)
This one I had to totally rediscover. When this album was initially released, it was getting a fair amount of hype, so I bought the CD, listened to it to and from work that day, and then pretty much forgot about it for a few years. After Plans came out, I started getting into Death Cab a little bit more, and went back and listened to Transatlanticism again. I was disappointed in myself for missing out on so many great songs for so long. Each song is like a little snapshot into all the ups and downs of relationships, romance and heartbreak.
10. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes (2002)
(Heart in the Hand of the Matter)
As with Nirvana's Nevermind, you really have to go back to when this came out to grasp its full impact on rock-n-roll. Nevermind obliterated the hairspray rock world of the early Nineties, and similarly, Source Tags and Codes destroyed the early 2000's nu-metal shit by showing that rock could be loud and angry and still mean something. Nirvana got a little more mileage out of their statement than did Trail of Dead, but in my mind, this album is just as important. Smart, intelligent music that still rocks balls out.
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 (2007)
(Am I Only)
What is that thing that makes singers sound like robots? Cher used it in that one song, and now every rapper and hip-hop singer uses it. Some kind of vocabulator. Auto tune? Whatever it is, Rock and Roll is under attack from such bullshit. In an age when people think that the winner of American Idol actually makes something that can be called music, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are the vanguards of Rock and Roll. This album is raw, sexy, and powerful. God save Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They are Rock and Roll's last hope in the postapocalyptic wasteland of Clay Aiken and Nickelback.
8. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
(Say Hello to the Angels)
Wait. You mean every song is about sex? Yes. Totally. Every song is about sex. Other stuff, too, but mostly sex.
7. Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me (2006)
(Luca)
Screw you. I don't care. I love this album. I've probably told the story before, but I bought this one because of the album cover alone, went out into my car one cold, lonely winter night, put it in my car's CD player and listened to it right there in the parking lot, twice through straight. It blew me away. I still listen to it all the time.
6. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans (2005)
(Summer Skin)
Well produced, well written and well played. I can't really describe it. Wistful, rich sounds behind Ben Gibbard's boyish tenor singing about heartache in ways you've felt but never found the words to speak. It's a fantastic album, and it also strikes a number of sentimental chords with me. A real breakthrough.
5. Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)
(Wake Up)
As far as debuts go, they don't get much better than this. Win Butler's troupe of hypertalented musicians put together an album of introspective, haunting songs that you need to hum, and that make you think.
4. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2004)
(There There (The Boney King of Nowhere))
Radiohead are one of my favorite bands, and this is by far my favorite Radiohead album. This and Pearl Jam's Riot Act were the first overtly political records I remember coming out in reaction to the first four years of the George W. Bush administration. I was so relieved to finally hear artists commenting on the fucked up state of affairs the world was in. Radiohead, as they are wont to do, went beyond traditional protest songs, and made an entire album about the human consequences of the actions of global leaders, fanatics, fundamentalists, and reactionaries. Alienation and detachment are common themes for Radiohead, but this album addressed them with unparalleled prescience and urgency against the backdrop of a world falling apart.
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl (2005)
(Restless Sinner)
Named after a 1955 Allen Ginsberg poem, Howl is a real turning point for BRMC. Their first two albums had been Jesus and Mary Chain-influenced fuzz rock, and I love both of them. But Howl is a definite change in course; a more mature, steady, and fundamental record. It's a rootsy, blues influenced journey of purely American Rock and Roll, and every single song on the album--as well as the six songs off of the Howl Sessions EP--are excellent.
2. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
(Radio Cure)
This album is borne one of those legendary stories, like Axl Rose fucking Steven Adler's girlfriend to get the audible ecstasy in "Rocket Queen," or Mick Jagger fucking Marianne Faithfull during the recording of Beggars' Banquet. Except in this case, there was no actual fucking. Rather, Jeff Tweedy had grown enamored of producer Jim O'Rourke at the expense of his longtime relationship with co-songwriter Jay Bennett. Add to that label drama, as well as Wilco's demonstrated talent, and you've got a perfect storm of artistic perfection. Lyrically, there's not much to set Yankee Hotel Foxtrot apart from Wilco's previous efforts, but the mind blowingly weird-yet-beautiful sounds of traditional Americana fused with O'Rourke's Sonic Youthy noise influence make this one an absolute classic. Traditional yet discordant; accessible yet dissonant.
1. Tool - Lateralus (2001)
(Lateralus)
In a negative review, Blender said this record sounded like "Black Sabbath jamming with Genesis at the bottom of a coal shaft." I'll give the editors credit for a spot-on description, but I disagree with the implication that that's somehow a bad thing. Tool's third full length LP is a dark, dense, and somewhat difficult record about transcendence and enlightenment. Each song takes its time to develop, ultimately forming a sonically and thematically coherent whole. Musically, it's got Tool's signature complex time signatures and intricate rhythms, and lyrically, it takes a lot from Jungian psychology, science fiction, and eastern mysticism. It's heavy in every sense of the word, and it's my favorite album of all time.
I embrace my
Desire to
Feel the rhythm, to
Feel connected
Enough to step aside and
Weep like a widow, to
Feel inspired, to
Fathom the power, to
Witness the beauty, to
Bathe in the fountain, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral of
Our divinity and
Still be a human....
Desire to
Feel the rhythm, to
Feel connected
Enough to step aside and
Weep like a widow, to
Feel inspired, to
Fathom the power, to
Witness the beauty, to
Bathe in the fountain, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral of
Our divinity and
Still be a human....
