| Best New Releases: |
| 1 |  | The Thermals - More Parts Per Million [Sub Pop]
If you dont know about this band, were not friends anymore.
Buy This Album |
| 2 |  | Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below [Le Face]
Buy This Album |
| 3 |  | Rufus Wainwright - Want One [Dreamworks]
Wow, this is one album you can play if youre a straight guy who likes to drink bourbon, or if youre in what Wainwright describes as gay hell.
Buy This Album |
| 4 |  | The Darkness - Permission to Land [Atlantic]
Yes, I'd rather listen to AC/DC, Guns n' Roses, etc., but consider the fact that I'm getting older and maybe a bit nostalgic as well. You might think this is some album I picked for kitsch purposes, but Ill have you know this album made my summer great.
Buy This Album |
| 5 |  | Sarah McLachlan - Afterglow [Arista]
Buy This Album |
| 6 |  | Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute [Fat Wreck Chords]
Buy This Album |
| 7 | NO
COVER ART
AVAILABLE | The Swayback - The Voices in My Head Were Right [self-released]
In a year where every single goddamn band has the word back or pin or switch or sway in it, this rocking Denver band has what it takes to show all the poseurs where to stick it.
Buy This Album |
| 8 |  | Black Eyes - Black Eyes [Dischord]
Buy This Album |
| 9 |  | Devotchka - Una Volta [Cicero]
Im not Eastern-European, but I dont think that matters much, because this album is simply a reminder to the lucky folks who have seen them live lately that you can get your fix for all things carnivalesque right here. Its damn near impossible to describe the emotions that are fluttering when you can experience a band of this caliber. When Nick Urata spills his cabaret/burlesque-loving guts to the crowd you realize that when Chan Marshall (Cat Power) cries on-stage, shes just being such a pussy! Get it? Cat PowerPussy. Oh damn, now shes gonna jump off a bridge. Now we are free, too!!!
Buy This Album |
| 10 |  | Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow [Load]
This band makes me want to crap my pants. I dont know if I want to laugh, cry or if I just want to ring a random phone number and crank the volume on my end just to know that they are suffering. I give respect to bands like Melt Banana and anything Sonny Kay or Steve Albini shit into my ears, but I ultimately go with this record for having the ability to go ape-shit while retaining its calm, in a schizophrenic sense of course.
Buy This Album |
| Ten Albums I Thought Would Suck But Eventually
Ended up Sounding Decent: |
| 1 |  | Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham - L'Avventura
[Jet Set]
Ok, this album is my favorite simply because I used to be a loser who would dismiss a band based on the fact that I didnt discover them first. Well I was wrong, so there.
Buy This Album |
| 2 |  | Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress [Rough Trade/Sanctuary]
Wellity, wellity wellity. Why, if I didnt know better, this is the band whose bandwagon I hopped on after my girlfriend spent years trying to convince me that I was a moron for not loving them. While this album doesnt exactly have the tortured lyrics I came to expect from their releases, I have to say, musically, their sound has evolved, so I give them credit there. The lyrics tend to be of a more playful nature, but songs such as Lord Anthony and Stay Loose make me lose control of my tearducts. This album turned out to be magic.
Buy This Album |
| 3 |  | Peaches - Fatherfucker [Beggars Xl]
HmmI dont know, I think electroclash is so 2002. Ahem. At any rate, this album has some choice beats and some lyrics that Ive had to cop as my own. You go girl.
Buy This Album |
| 4 |  | Lil Kim - La Bella Mafia [Atlantic]
Buy This Album |
| 5 |  | Ween - Quebec [Sanctuary]
Buy This Album |
| 6 |  | The Black Keys - Thickfreakness [Fat Possum]
I didnt expect this album to be as biting as The Big Come Up, but when I realized I overhyped that debut album to begin with, I realized this album has every much of a right to appear in my collection of pleasant surprises for the year.
Buy This Album |
| 7 |  | The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow [Sub Pop]
Buy This Album |
| 8 |  | Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Take a Break [LABEL]
Buy This Album |
| 9 |  | Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site [Epitaph]
You know when you just pretend to like a band to get closer to a girl or guy you think is really swell, and then you actually get into them, but then there is a messy breakup/divorce and there are custody battles and alimony disputes, but for some reason, you just cant let go of the band? Well, it doesnt matter if Im the only one, but for some reason, I find this album comforting even though I promised myself it was going to suck horribly and would help my get on with my miserable life. Well, I decided the album is really pretty and I need therapybadly.
Buy This Album |
| 10 |  | Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium [Universal]
Im getting tired, so I all I can say is that Im sick of pretending like this album doesnt have anything to offer to ex-At the Drive-In fans. I will admit, it was quite hard to get used to the fact that all the songs just run into and out of each other. Some call it musical brilliance. I call it making it hard for retarded listeners such as myself who think they are having LSD flashbacks when they hear this. It rocks, but ever so sweetly. Get the spiders off of my arms!!!
Buy This Album |
| Top Ten albums that I knew were going to suck, but ended up sucking far worse than I could ever imagine:
(Note that legends such as Nick Cave and Lou Reed are excluded from this list because they're better than us so if they release an album that is less than wicked, you are obliged to accept this and move on.) |
| 1 |  | Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - Fever to Tell [Interscope]
Karen O used to be kinda cute. Then she started drinking heaps and now has a raging beer gut. I think this album was the most over-hyped album of the year, because instead of making rocking art-punk in their mega-bucks studio, Karen O spent half the year in rehab and the other half at Jenny Craig trying to get back down to size.
Buy This Album |
| 2 |  | The Rapture - Echoes [Universal]
So, you think youre a cool indie rock kid ? Ohh, you bought the Rapture album the day it came out, even though it features mostly songs weve all heard before on their previous singles and EPs? OH, you havent admitted to yourself that you have no sense of detecting originality in completing a decent record collection? Good, now jump off of a bridge.
Buy This Album |
| 3 |  | A.F.I. - Sing the Sorrow [Dreamworks]
Hopefuly this is the one and only nu-metal album these ex-hardcore greats will ever record for release.
Buy This Album
Read LOTD's Review |
| 4 |  | Britney Spears - In the Zone [Jive]
Her first three records were magic. Now that she's 22 and friggin' loaded beyond belief, shouldn't she think about purchasing that gold plated toilet that she's been itching to get?
Buy This Album |
| 5 |  | Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance [Island]
Damnit, all the good bands with smoking guitarists go emo.
Buy This Album |
| 6 |  | Broadcast - Haha Sound [Warp]
One of my colleagues here at LOTD turned me onto this band. After I was done pretending that I hated bands that sound like Stereolab, this band grew on me. However, after too much time off from recording, I found that their break from making music led to stagnated results. Oh well, good thing Stereolab has a new record coming out soon!
Buy This Album |
| 7 |  | Connor Oberst
This little punk didnt do anything this year except for re-release his old shit for his hopeless fans. Hes old enough to drink now, which means that his music will get more depressing in the years to come. Jump ship now, or enter A.A. only to find this pervert as your sponsor. He gets some sort of Honorable Mention, even though hes practically innocent of all charges. He just creeps me out, that little bugger.
Buy This Album |
| 8 |  | The Locust - Plague Soundscapes [LABEL]
30-second snippets of dyslexic, whirwind keyboards matched with confusing vocals that people only pretend to know. If you like this band, or know someone who appreciates them, seek professional help immediately.
Buy This Album |
| 9 |  | The White Stripes - Elephant [V2]
Ok, is this trend over, finally? Im proud of most of America for the fact that they almost unitarily forgot about this band, but there are still some out there who must be treated.
Buy This Album |
| 10 |  | The Strokes - Room on Fire [RCA]
This band could not be any more useless than they currently are. If singer/drug-addict Julian Casablancas is done snorting coke off of thirteen-year-old nipples, he should consider the fact that his parents were already rich enough for him to dick around so that he could be self-destructive without making records that damage the youth of America.
Buy This Album |
| Note to LOTD readers: This has been an exceptionally difficult year for me. Firstly, my favorite record store (Wax Trax in Boulder, CO) closed its doors. I had to say goodbye to some friends this year. I have some great memories, however. Everyone has been really supportive towards me, especially over the past few months as Ive been tortured by rumors and finally confirmation that Gweneth Paltrow was to marry that hack from Coldplay. I still have hope, as we all should. When I think about the things for which I should be thankful this year, the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that The Cure is finally going to release a comprehensive box-set of all of their B-sides. Another great thing about everyone involved in this two-bit operation is the fact that we all love music more than we can even begin to describe. As much as I dis certain musicians and their fans, its all in fun, so I urge everyone out there to buy your sister-in-law a shitty record if a shitty record is what she wants. Youll never be able to break through to the ones who wont listen to you when you just want to help them out. Thats what Ive learned about others and myself over this past year. I want to thank everyone who sent us a demo or a self-released LP for us to review. That takes some serious courage. Just because someone here bad-mouths it doesnt mean you need to jump off a bridge (unless of course, youre in the Rubber City Rebels). It also doesnt mean that we just dont get it if we give your album your album a less-than-glowing review; one record will never be the cornerstone of human civilization (except for Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool). I also want to thank every single person who has stumbled across the site, be it through word-of-mouth or through a search engine. Discovering new music isn't always easy, so I thank every single reader (except for Rod Firestone from the Rubber City Rebels) for the opportunity to share my views on some of the lesser known talent out there. Id also like to say that Im thankful for all the wonderful writers here, and I'm fortunate to have you as colleagues. Were a diverse bunch, and its marvelous reading what my peers think of the music that comes our way. Lastly, and most importantly, Id just like to express my deep gratitude to Catherine Nicholas, our Editor-In-Chief here at LOTD. Shes been more than patient with her staff as well as the countless people she deals with so that we as writers dont have to think about anything other than the music. We rock, so give it up. |
