Tag: 2000s in Music

Classic Review: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [2005]

Title: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Release: 2005
Label: None [Self-Released]

1. “Clap Your Hands” – A-
2. “Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away” – A-
3. “Over and Over Again” – A
4. “Sunshine and Clouds (And Everything Proud” – A
5. “Details Of The War” – B
6. “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” – A-
7. “Is This Love?” – B+
8. “Heavy Metal” – A+
9. “Blue Turning Gray” – A-
10. “In This Home On Ice” – A+
11. “Gimmie Some Salt” – A-
12. “Upon This Tidal Wave” – A-

Comment: Hear me out! This album is awesome, but not over the top best of the 2000s kind of material. The gems are kind of obvious: “Over and Over Again,”In This Home On Ice,” and “Heavy Metal.” Though, strangely, I prefer Ounsworth’s early demo of “Heavy Metal” to the one on here. Still, it’s one of my favorite songs at any rate. The little instrumentals are not filler at all and this is something other bands just should (have) take(n) note of! On another note, I don’t really have many negatives to dish out. I’m willing to hope some of these songs grow on me (which is weird to say a mere five years after the album’s initial release).

Grade: A- (91)

Jay #3 On Top 10 Memphis Albums

Jay Reatard’s Blood Visions was recently voted the third best Memphis-based album of the decade by readers of Live From Memphis, a music, film, art, and culture blog about all things…Memphis.

Good vote, Memphis!

Jay's on the right...duh.

Classic CD Review: Funeral

Band: Arcade Fire
Release: 2004
Label: Merge

1. “Neighborhood  #1 (Tunnels)” – A+
2. “Neighborhood #2 (Laika) – A+
3. “Une Annee Sans Lumiere” – A-
4. “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” – A-
5. “Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)” – A
6. “Crown of Love” – A+
7. “Wake Up” – A+
8. “Haiti” – A++
9. “Rebellion (Lies)” – A++
10. “In the Backseat” – A

Comments: As the good man Matt alluded to a few posts back , this is truly a beautiful record. It does have tear-jerking attributes as well as uplifting pump-your-fists kind of moments. There isn’t much to critique, though I’d opine that some tracks definitely have more of an epic factor than others. Take “Crown of Love,” for instance. I don’t know whether to feel happy or sad. It’s like one of those feelings you get when you feel like you are going to pull through, yet you still feel a shitload of remorse. I guess that’s the best quality of this album: you can connect with it in a plethora of ways. I’m not good at interpreting songs from a lyrical point of view (at least the first time around), so I can’t comment too much on what’s actually going on during these ditties. It’s something amazing, though. Don’t know about your thoughts, but the transition from “Crown” to “Wake Up” is fucking incredible. You know the little old school jitter-and-jive on “Wake Up” gets me every time. It’s so random, yet so fitting. I’m going to wager “Haiti” to be my favorite song on here. It’s just about perfect. Not quite there, but just about. Ask your average AF fan, and they’ll probably say “Rebellion” is their flava-fave and it’s damn great, don’t get me wrong. In fact, it’s probably the most epic song of all time. Or something like that.

Final Grade: A (96)

Glen’s Fave Drummers (2000s)

1. Dean Allen Spunt – No Age –  Dean makes up for No Age’s lack of a bass player in a tremendous way. He is both a crafty artist and a heavy hitter. He defines some of No Age’s best tunes (Cappo, Every Artist Needs A Tragedy, Here Should Be My Home, etc), not to mention the fact that he sings on every one of them as well.

2. Matt Barrick – The Walkmen – The thing that I really love about Barrick is his pacing and control of tempo. He is just a commander from behind the drum set, whizzing through each song with passion and friendliness. A man of small stature and youthful appearance, Barrick is just as great on fast songs like “The Rat” and “Thinking Of A Dream I Had” (a personal favorite) as he is on a slower one like “Canadian Girl.”

3. Joe Bradley – Black Lips – Joe is simply the man, providing a solid vocal/drum combination for my favorite band. He’s incredibly high energy and intelligent. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. On record, admittedly I don’t really pay attention to his drumming as much as I do the other instruments; live, it’s a thing of a beauty to watch him play.

Glen’s Top Albums (2000s)

These albums really got me going at one time or another. After #1, the order doesn’t really matter. They’ve all been just about equally inspirational AND they are all pretty damn different.

1. Los Valienteles Del Mundo Nuevo (Black Lips/2007/Punk)
2. Nouns (No Age/2008/Experimental Noise Pop)
3. You and Me (Walkmen/2008/Post-Punk)
4. The King Khan & BBQ Show LP (The King Khan & BBQ Show/2004/Doo-Wop)
5. In Rainbows (Radiohead/2007/Art Rock)

Top Songs of 2000s (A-C)

It was hard choosing just three songs for these guys!

A maximum of three songs per band and they must be favorites!

Alec Ounsworth
1. Pass Along This Way – 2003

Almighty Defenders
1. Cone of Light – 2009
2. Ghost With The Most – 2009
3. All My Loving – 2009

Animal Collective
1. Fireworks – 2007
2. Grass – 2005
3. Peacebone – 2007

Arcade Fire
1. Rebellion (Lies) – 2004
2. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) – 2004

Arctic Monkeys
1. Fluorescent Adolescent – 2007
2. I Bet You  Look Good on the Dancefloor – 2005
3. Dancing Shoes – 2005

Atlas Sound
1. Walkabout (Featuring Noah Lennox)

Beirut
1. Postcards From Italy

Black Lips
1. Not A Problem – 2007
2. Fad – 2003
3. Juvenile – 2007

Bobby Ubangi
1. Back To You – 2009

Bon Iver
1. For Emma – 2007

Bright Eyes
1. Road To Joy – 2005
2. We Are Nowhere and It’s Now – 2005
3. Lua – 2005

Built to Spill
1. Strange – 2001

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
1. Over and Over Again – 2005
2. Heavy Metal – 2005

Cold War Kids
1. Passing The Hat – 2006
2. Pregnant – 2006
3. Hang Me Up To Dry – 2006

Crystal Castles
1. Crimewave (Crystal Castles Vs. Health)

Dandy Warhols
1. We Used To Be Friends – 2003

Deerhunter
1. Disappearing Ink – 2009

Editors
1. Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors – 2007
2. Munich – 2007
3. Papillon – 2009

Flashy Python
1. Obscene Queen Bee – 2009

Fleet Foxes
1. White Winter Hymnal – 2008
2. Mykonos – 2008

French Kicks
1. Abandon – 2008
2. So Far We Are – 2006
3. 1985 – 2002

Fugazi
1. Argument – 2001

Grizzly Bear
1. Colorado – 2006
2. Knife – 2006

Handsome Furs
1. Dead + Rural – 2007
2. All We Want, Baby, Is Everything – 2009
3. Evangeline – 2009

Head Automatica
1. Please Please Please – 2004
2. The Razor – 2004

Immortal Technique
1. Freedom of Speech

Glen’s Best LPs of 2000s

The Top 10 will be named on December 31, 2009. These LPs all are 9.7+ caliber, to give you a rough outline.

Animal Collective
– Strawberry Jam (2007)
– Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)

Arcade Fire
– Funeral (2004)

Arctic Monkeys
– Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not (2006)
– Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)
–  Humbug (2009)

Beirut
– Gulag Orkestar (2006)

Black Lips
– Good Bad Not Evil (2007)
– Los Valienteles Del Mundo Nuevo (2007)

Bright  Eyes
– I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
– Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)

Death From Above 1979
– You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine (2004)

Grizzly Bear
– Yellow House (2006)

Jay Reatard
– Blood Visions (2006)

The King  Khan & BBQ Show
– The King Khan & BBQ Show LP (2004)
– What’s For Dinner? (2006)
– Invisible Girl (2009)

King Khan & The Shrines
– The Supreme Genius of King Khan & His Shrines (2008)

The Libertines
– Up the Bracket (2002)

The Lovely Feathers
– Hind Hind Legs (2006)

No Age
– Weirdo Rippers (2006)
– Nouns (2008)

Panda Bear
– Person Pitch (2007)

Peter Bjorn and John
– Writer’s  Block (2006)

Radiohead
– Kid A (2000)
– In Rainbows (2007)

The Raveonettes
– Lust Lust Lust (2007)

Rogue Wave
– Out of the Shadow (2003)

The Strokes
– Is This It? (2001)

Tapes ‘n Tapes
– The Loon (2005)

Uninhabitable Mansions
– Nature Is A Taker (2009)

Vampire Weekend
– Vampire Weekend (2008)

The Walkmen
– Bows and Arrows (2004)
– A Hundred Miles Off (2006)
– You and Me (2008)

Wolf Parade
– Apologies to the Queen Mary (2005)