Articles

2001 A Rock Odyssey: A Review of The Year By Three Bettawreckonize Staffers
by Gem City Joe, Motor City Rollie, and L.A. Woman Adrienne Lake

As another year comes to an end and every other publication in the world is begins their tops list for the year 2001, I find it only fitting to share three very different perspectives from our staff. This year has big a big one in music and Bettawreckonize is grateful all the musical treats we've come across this year. Our only wish is to have another great year in 2002.

Impressed Us

Gem City Joe's Top Ten Albums:

9. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American -- While this album is probably not my favorite Jimmy Eat World album, it is still a killer record. Add to the fact that I saw them live this year, and it easily puts them at number 9.

8. The Black Crowes - Live (in person not on record) - So I got my brother tickets for his birthday. They were damn expensive. Needless to say, I was a little pissed. I told him before we went to the show that for how much I paid they better shoot fire out of their asses. Well, they did.

7. Breaking Pangaea - Cannon to a Whisper - I have waited for this full-length since the first time I saw them live over a year ago. It was well worth the wait.

6. The Chase - The Better Part of Six Months - 10 songs in 15 minutes. You can't go wrong with this one. They take all of your favorite hard-core breakdowns, mix them with melodic, fast punk and wrap it all into 60 seconds of blistering rock. Most definitely 10 pounds of rock in a five-pound bag.

5. XRENOBX - The Rise Up EP - If you haven't heard or seen them yet you are missing out.

4. The Faint - Live - It's just like seeing Depeche Mode in the 80's, but we are all older than ten now.

3. The Blood Brothers - The Adultery is Ripe -This is a great rock record. Buy it. Listen to it. Rock it.

2. Ryan Adams - Gold - Yes, I am a sell out. I am buying in to all the magazine hype. Throw out the first two songs on this record and it may have made it to number one.

1. New End Original - Thriller - Finally a band with ex members of that doesn't suck it. I look forward to the next record.

Best Shows of 2001:

1.The Faint/ Blood Brothers/ The Lack - Besides the Lack's computer trouble and hour and a half set up time, this show was dance party 2001.

1. 2.The Black Crowes - Great rock band.

3.Cadillac Blindside - The energy and aesthetic of a true punk rock band.

4. 4. Breaking Pangaea/ Coheed and Cambria - Coheed and Cambria = emo version of Rush, Breaking Pangaea = rock.

6. 5.Rod/ The Avenue/ New End Original - Got drunk, had fun.

L.A. Woman Adrienne Lake's Top Ten Albums:

10. Tenacious D - Self-titled -- Who says irony and humor are dead? And who says that chunky guys aren't seXXXy? And who will thank the D for providing an album full of answering machine fodder, get-me-out-of-my-shitty-mood tunes, and clever jabs at metal, prog-rock and a thousand other lucky victims? I WILL!!!!

9. Le Tigre -- Feminist Sweepstakes -- Dripping in attitude, but still lighthearted, Le Tigre is a great, motivational party soundtrack. And it doesn't hurt to have the famous L.A. drag queen Vaginal Davis making porno-like sex noises on one track either. Even if you hate Kathleen Hanna and Riot Grrrrlism, you can't help but dig Le Tigre …secretly if you must.

8. Gorillaz - Self-Titled -- I don't care if you laugh, I think this is a brilliant album. This album artfully and eclectically blends a plethora of music styles from blues to soul, to punk to electronica, to hip hop to brit-rock, to brit-pop to gospel to… dammit, I could go on forever! That is what is so great about this record. It brings together the best of the best genres to create a delightfully sassy and often danceable masterpiece. Dan and Damon….cheers!

7. The Rapture -- Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks EP -- I absolutely love the way this little known band combines elements (the disco drum beat, the yelping vocals, funky bass, and schitzophrenic indy rock guitar) to create a truly rockin', bootyshaker like the title track. Once again, we are being robbed, being that this is only an EP. But, if quality over quantity was the idea…mama liiike!

6. Les Savy Fav -- Go Forth -- A truly dynamic, kick ass and underappreciated band. A little slicker, but still doin' it for me. And one cannot beat the live hijinks of singer and hilariously fun psychopath, Tim Harrington. He mopped the floor at a show, fer Chrissake…MOPPED THE FLOOR!

5. Pixies -- B Sides -- One of the greatest modern rock bands. They could do no wrong, as evidenced by this collection of B-sides. Each song is a gem. And, did I mention that THESE are the B-SIDES??? I miss The Pixies, but there is a lot to be said for quitting while you are ahead.

4. Modest Mouse -- Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks EP -- This album secures Modest Mouse's position as an INDIE BAND, despite their major label status. It meanders, twists and turns…beautifully. These songs are fluid, with a smooth quality that is somewhat new to the band. Leaves you wanting more. And it's reassuring that the boys haven't been brainwashed into spitting out some radio friendly shite to keep blink 182 company.

3. Radioheaad - Amnesiac -- OK, yes, they are my favorite band. And yes, Amnesiac is NOT OK Computer. It's a lovely piece of work once you finally grow up and realize that they don't need to do another OK Computer. Also up there with Sigur Ros as the best live experiences of the year. The band that brought intelligent music to the masses…long live Radiohead! Hopefully the Republican Party and/or Tony Blair won't make Thom Yorke a political prisoner before we get another few albums out of them.

2. Sigur Ros -- Ageist Byrdrygfd#$#%%^* -- Just truly some of the most moving and gorgeous music I have ever heard. It's like reliving the purest parts of your childhood, like running through meadows full of flowers with your arms outstretched in the dappled sunshine…with unicorns. They are the only band that has caused me to sob uncontrollably at a live show. These boys prove that there is something more to Iceland than Bjork and cold-ass weather!

1. Fugazi -- The Argument -- They did it and they did it even better than before. It's more intricate and intelligent than anything they've ever done, yet it still rocks. All hail the saviors of punk fookin' rock!

Honorable Mentions:

The Faint - Danse Macabre
Trail of Dead - EP
White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Spoon- Girls Can Tell
L.A. Symphony - Big. Broke. L.A.
All Tomorrow's Parties - Compilation
The Tight Bros From Way Back When - Lend You A Hand
Dilated Peoples - Expansion Team
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
International Noise Conspiracy - A New Morning, Changing Weather
Pleasure Forever
The Strokes - Is This It?
Bats & Mice - EP
Spiritualized - Let It Come Down

Motor City Rollie's Top Twenty Albums:

20. John Vanderslice -- Time Travel is Lonely -- Is there really a person more interesting than John Vanderslice making music in the 22nd century? Probably not... Time Travel Lonely is the follow up to the controversial album Mass Suicide Occult Figurines. This album is proof that San Francisco is still a hot bed of American music. If music hasn't felt the same after Sept. 11th... give this album a shot. It's been a savior of sorts.

19. Fugazi -- Argument -- Fugazi has returned with a patient urgency with there latest effort Argument. This may be the bar of excellence for musicianship in the year 2001. Something to note when one mentions the precious * Fuck - All * that is Radiohead when stuck in line for coffee. I assure you all that this album will do as much for Post * fill in the blank * movement as Repeater did 11 years ago.

18. Firewater -- Psychopharmacology -- Firewater has returned from NYC after an overdue hiatus. Gone are all things that were "Klezmer" in this effort... but needn't worry! Tod A. has penned another incredible album with about the cruel world that we live in. Finally an album as serious as infant death! I give you Firewater.

17. Arab Strap -- Thin Red Line -- Was there a better album to purchase at the tail of February earlier this year? (Perhaps MATADOR's finest release of the year) The Scottish "post-folk" twosome Walter Becker and Donald Fagen deliver another album about the romantic unease of life. I can't think of a finer album to have on during the long winter months.

16. American Analog Set -- Know by Heart -- I really didn't think that they could make an album that could rival their release From Out Living Room to Yours. I see it as the brother album to the Arab Strap release this year... another textured book end for the upcoming winter evenings.

15. Jaguares -- Cuando La Sangre Galopa (When the Blood Gallops) -- Is the third release by the Jaguares. A rooted effort that sounds similar to earlier work Saul Hernandez (lead singer/songwriter) did with the seminal Mexican band Caifanes. Every track may be in his native tongue, but it shouldn't keep anyone from purchasing this incredible effort.

14. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World - Psychadellic pop was never a bad thing in my book... and the Shins continue to be a band that does no wrong. They somehow stray away from the term "tinkering" and continue to grow and create new and inventive ways to express the sound that is trapped in their heads. One word is needed for this album. * Bravo *

13. Beulah - Coast is Never Clear - Why don't more pop outfits embrace horns like Beulah? You couldn't ask for a better follow up to the poptastic marvel of When you Heartstrings Break. If you have a pop tooth like I do... please don't let a top shelf effort like this escape your collection!

12.The Mink Lungs - The Better Button - I really couldn't think of a more infectious album in my carousel this year than the Mink Lungs. It has a certain fuzz to it.... and I just needed to hear the CD on my desk boom box, my car, my computer, my shitty alarm clock and my home system. For some reason... it takes on a new character when I throw it on a new system! I haven't had the same reaction to an album since Turns Into Stone by the Stone Roses.

11. Andrew Bird -- Swimming Hour -- This can best be described as "best kept secrete" of the year. A jazz violinist that showcases his talents with hints folk and rock. When Andrew isn't striking it out on his own he participates with two other bands the Bowl of Fire and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. So quit reading this and become a part of the freak cult fanaticism I have for Andrew Bird.

10.The Incredible Moses Leroy - Electric Pocket Radio - One of the summers most undersung albums. Electric Pocket Radio is a venture into the unsafe ground of "style hopping". 9 times out of 10 when an artists releases an album that jumps around as often as Ron Fountenberry did with this effort... I think to myself. "Why is this artist trying to prove that he can fuck up more than one style of music?" A sick gimmick done by many to try and find a niche in radio. "Oh, I have a rawk song, I have a techno track, or I kind of have a hip hop thing going on also". It's all fucking TRIPE! But every once in a while... someone gets it right. If you got your rawks off to the Gorillaz album this year... seek out this album too. It's touches on so many obscure American influences... that It makes you fall in love with the art of Music again. * Thank You so much for the recommendation Mary... I owe you. *

9.Spoon - Girls Can Tell - Why is this album not on everyone's 10 ten list this year? If you don't own this little gem... then thou sucketh. Im here to tell you right fucking now that this band is as good as the POLICE. Don't believe me? Slap this disc on...and play the song Lines In Suit and tell me that it's not the finest Police song that the Police never wrote.

8.Wolfie -Tall Dark Hill - What is in the water down in Champaign Illonis? This is the fourth and very sadly the * final * release by Wolfie. I don't see how Tom Yorke can fart into a 32-track recorder and get a 4 out of 5 star review in every publication in the country when true fucking genius is going unoticed here in the states. I raise my glass to you Wolfie... I am forever regretable for discovering you at the end of your carrier.

7.Philadelphia Experiment - The Philadelphia Experiment - I have this odd thing about jazz. It triggers such a response from deep down within... that if it's on and I'm not ready for it... I look around for things to break. I don't know what it is... I think it's something about music that is truly created in thin air and it deserves ones full attention. I can't listen to it at work... where phone calls and co-workers disrupt my concentration. So when I sit at home all I can think about is how special the session was when I hear a great jazz album. Unlike other genres... It's a specific time and place that pulls things together. Then you get a special treat.... when Pat Martino does a guest appearance on the album. Mr. Martino is a very gifted guitar player who picked up the instrument as a child and played it on a remarkable level till he got sick one day... lost his memory and forgot how to play the guitar. He then has to relearn a craft that flowed through him for 40+ years and he doesn't drop a FUCKING NOTE. :::Amazing::: The album is crafted around 1st takes and there isn't a bad moment on the Record. I only hope that someone will one day review the Philadelphia Experiment sessions.

6. Trembling Blue Stars - Alive to Every Smile - Why oh, why doesn't Sub-Pop push this incredible album more? I really don't know what it is about the Trembling Blue Stars that I like... They somehow tap into everything that was once great about the 4AD bands of the 80's and do so much more. Making that comparison sill isn't fair to this group and they deserve so much more recognition for this effort. This may sound silly... but I think it's the true "Sister " release to the Coast is Never Clear by Beulah. Poptastic.

5. Barcelona - Transhuman Revolution - I can't seem to figure out my fascination for Barcelona just yet... Remember how you idolized They Might Be Giants in J.R. High simply because they seemed distant and happy? Computer, bad sex and Soccer references are all I need sometimes on lazy Saturday afternoons. I can't help but smile for 30 minutes or so every time I hear this record and for that alone... Barcelona you have made it into my top 5. Thank You.

4. The Lucksmiths - Why Doesn't that Surprise Me - Remember when Belle N' Sebastian could do no wrong? Yea you do... it was right before they released that shitty EP called Johnathan David. I then said to myself... "well, no more twee for me." Till someone hit me upside the head with the Lucksmiths Discography for my birthday! I can't thank the person enough for sharing this private gem with me this year. The Lucksmiths hail from Australia and have a strong love for (yea you guessed it) the Smiths. Their album Why Dosent that Surprise Me shows a mature growth for the band. A must pick-up for those who miss the days of Tiger Milk by Belle n' Sebastian. It being a refreshing change of pace is the reason why it made my top 5. thanx Bug.

3. The Strokes - Is this It? - (U.K. Import) - "Oh, the hype is what turns me off" - If you uttered these words this year... please take a long walk off a short cliff. Before the Red Coats fawned over them and proclaimed them the "saviours or rawk"... there were those who stumbled across something. So with that said... people either love or hate the Strokes. If you found out about the Strokes on your own... then chances are you're going to like them. If you "heard" about it through someone else... chances are that you will lambaste their very existence. That's fine... you have every right to have an opinion, but don't be a nipple and publicly site them for sounding like "the Velvet Underground". Because A.) the Modern Age is the only track that has a Lou Reed like approach B.) With that said... Lou Reed had a flat bark so the comparison in delivery is shitty and unintelligent one on your part. Why aren't comparisons to Richard Hell and the Voidoids being discussed amongst music critics instead about how rich their parents are!

The simple facts are that they had a handful of songs... that created a buzz. Within a year they were signed to a major and had a full length out in 6 months! A feat that was unprecedented and when you look back it... think about the risk involved. RCA put out a raw record that doesn't particularly turn over any new rocks, but fuck if it doesn't stay rooted and make your ass shake!

The album (Import preferably) is 11 songs a little under 40 minutes that is my opinion a great artistic arc. The track listing is amazing also! There's something about having that record on and hearing the song "Someday" and know that it hit's a peak. It then winds downward till, it hit's a Stooge like stance and "nYc Cops" blares through your speakers... Then after the swift kick in the taint spot... you sit and let the last two songs ring out.

Fine effort... and the hint of brilliance being an album or two away makes it an incredible effort and worthy of a top 5 release.

2.White Stripes - White Blood Cells - Ok... so I reside in Detroit and many may think that they made the Top 5 because they hail from my "home town". Seeing the White Stripes become a hometown fascination over the past couple of years was a blessing... but seeing them and Detroit the focal point of international buzz-worthiness is unfathomable. Let's hear it for the duo that played a three-night stand in Detroit for the release of White Blood Cells! Or how they have praised the City, the Local artists, and the overlooked venues that help bands develop in Detroit around the country. With music being so homogenized in the U.S., The White Stripes may be one of the first acts to sound regional again.

1.Elbow - Asleep at the Back - The finest release of 2001 goes to Elbow for their on Asleep at the Back. Highly influenced by Talk, Talk * most notably the album the Color of Spring.* The album is experimental, passionate, and dare I say Epic? I do... I do dare and for taking that leap on a debut album. My hats to the Spanish archers also known as -- Elbow.

Disappointed Us

Gem City Joe's Top Five Disappointments:

1.The Strokes - Is This It? - Anyone can buy their way to stardom.

2. Saves the Day - Stay What You Are -- Come on guys, I heard the metal riffs in the last one, I know it's in you.

3. Dashboard Confessional -- You don't need a whole band, the first album was just right by me.

4. Weezer - The Green Album -- Do you guys know you're Weezer. Damn, smack yo'selves.

Top Five "Live" Disappointments:

1. Weezer

2. Poison The Well

3. High On Fire

4. Saves The Day

5. Built To Spill

Motor City Rollie's Top Five Disappointments:

1. Le Tigre - Feminist Fashonista - I really can't think of a bigger disappointment this year by any group or individual artist. The album is a classic case of the "sophomore slump"... with distracting ventures into noise and beats. While some critics and fans may fawn over their "message". I'm here to tell you that this album makes a finer coaster for my morning coffee than a CD in my Discman.

2. Hey Mercedes - Everynight Fire Works - Take 75% of BRAID and have J. Robbins produce the record and what do you get? The Jawbox album that J. Robbins didn't get to record! We were supposed to get a fantabulous record but all I got was a CD that bellowed EJECT from my Discman.

3. Belle n Sebastian - Jonathan David / Im Waking Up to Us the EP's - What happened to the remarkable EP efforts of the 90's? I once championed them as the *the New Smiths*!!! Well thank you very little for making me look like a HEATHEN!

4. JJ72 - S/T - Sea Chantry TRIPE, although the drummer has an eerie resemblance to Ian Curtis of Joy Division. The canny resembalence still doesn't save this awful album! *T R I P E*

5. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Ok... If you champion this album, then chances are that you don't own Psychocandy by the Jesus Mary Chain. Don't worry... I can help you out. Step One - Return this album and demand an exchange for the Jesus Mary Chain album Psychocandy. Step Two - Listen to the JMC album and thank me later.

While I don't find anything wrong with artists being derivative of their influences i.e. the Strokes, but at least have two acts to rip your material off from! Oh and for the love of humanity don't dress and act like them on stage!

Thanks to the rockers who gave so much of himself or herself this year. Thanks to all our friends for helping us get through another one. Thanks for all the lessons we've learned. Thanks for all the wonderful music that has been shared. Most of all thanks for the hope and promise of a new year.

Bettawreckonize!