Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Best 100 Songs of 2000-2009: Part 7/10



















Shove It (Santigold); kicks ass and seductive as hell too. ()


Walking with Thee (Clinic): a rock quickie that never stops giving. ()


Glow (Nelly Furtado): La Bella Furtado treats the underground with her fabulousness and it works. ()


Freetime (Kenna): a less sober pop/rock aeuter than Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson and TV on the Radio but no less a threat as evidenced here. ()


Alla This (Ani DiFranco): A vicious yet sweet anti-war, anti-branding, anti-sexist track that restores the feminine mystique only DiFranco seems to hold up, years after being out in the fields. It figures such a complex artist would not be able to do a ballad decked out with only personal views on, say, such pastoral things like the changing of the season. Not Ani, not ever. Here she swipes organized religion, George W Bush and just men on a whole. Whew! ()
Dirt off Your Shoulder (Jay Z): forget 99 Problems and focus on real Jigga Swagger. ()


Hot Wuk (remix) (Mr. Vegas feat. Opal): a huge splice of Jamaican dancehall with an even huger impact on hip/hop culture. ()


For the Pier (and dead Shimmering) (Sunset Rubdown): Spenser Krug does rock drama more lavishly and better than anyone else and here is but one of the many proofs. ()


Wamp Wamp (What it Do) (Clipse): the nefarious gangster rap that cats like Nas can no longer deliver divert into the hands of Clipse and while critics have gone way too overboard to hand them props, this is very much deserved. ()


Miss Jackson (Outkast): revenge Badu ode? ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:









Santogold (Santogold)(2008):

Philly native Santi White is the residual force of this entity (John Hill runs the tweaks in the background). The album effortlessly mirrors the 80’s pop vibe she clearly fell in love with growing up, without overdoing it. Subtle tracks like Lights Out and Anne reveal a Pixies fixation that is mingled with a contemporary funk intuition. Even better, the punk-tinged You’ll Find a Way runs its heavenly chorus with remarkable skill. Not content there, she rolls out ska by numbers on Say Aha and infuses it with dub and new wave. If that hasn’t hooked you then L.E.S Artistes tags along merely for bragging rights and, as brawta, Shove It downright kicks ass. She could have comfortably fit right into ‘American M.I.A’ space critics were desperately trying to pin her down in but White’s brilliance is as stubborn as it is unique. One hell of an authoritative body of work too. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:







I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (Yo La Tengo) (2006):

like drinking champagne under-water and never wanting to come back up for air. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:








In Rainbows (Radiohead) (2007):

Thom Yorke reworking old material into one emotional core and, voila, tenderness in rock the way no other band can. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:









Dear Emily, Best Wishes, Molly (Prussia) (2008):

for the most part, punk was pretty low-laying in 2008 but no one told Prussia. These kids actually impress upon the genre their own intent: Oil wreaks itself with a type of narcissism, slick its space with lyrics that actually fits its title. Supreme Being glides over its start-stop-start terrain. There’s a wide-eyed pragmatism that Prussia blends on the album that keeps the focus steady. Even more stunning is the funkiness of their beats (Lady, Lady). It’s not all sledge here; there’s some real heart and realism in it too. Besides how does one not love a Rolling Stones-esque track like Closed Lips?