TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2001.
1. SPIRITUALIZED -- LET IT COME DOWN. Jason Pierce is one of the finest musical geniuses of our lifetime. Deal with it.
2. LABRADFORD -- FIXED:CONTEXT. The band retreated from their shimmery, orchestral trademarks, headed into the studio with Steve Albini, and emerged with an album so full of lingering, tantalizing empty space that it was practically agoraphobic. Everything moves in slow motion, as the album passes by in some of the most lethargically forever thirty-seven minutes you'll ever hear. A brooding, meloncholy gem.
3. MOGWAI -- ROCK ACTION. Not as intense as their live shows but every bit as epic. "Young Team" had more fury, "CODY" had more conviction, but "Rock Action" carries more emotional weight. If they can put it all together on the same record, you can't help but feel that Mogwai, one day, could make the greatest album of all time.
4. DEADBEAT -- PRIMORDIA. Rumbling basslines and swampy (ahem) effects quake throughout this expansive masterpiece. The influences loom large (i.e. Chain Reaction) but this is darker and nastier than just about any predecessor. And it's painfully minimal in the best possible way.
5. DRUGSTORE -- SONGS FOR THE JETSET. Drugstore, who hadn't been heard from in years, returned from their brief brush with B-list stardom and got back to basics with a folky, lo-fi, understated gem that reminded you why anyone had cared about them in the first place. The album likely sold fewer copies than Mick Jaggers latest solo effort and will unfortunately be forgotten, if it hasn't been already.
6. A SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA AND TRA LA LA BAND -- BORN INTO TROUBLE AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARD. At first, the expansion of ASMZ from a trio to a collective seemed to blanket the serenity that had been their trademark. Upon further listening, more turned out to be less. That is, they use more instuments to play fewer notes, with incredibly effective results.
7. NEW ORDER -- GET READY. Say what? The years best pop album was made by New Order? As infectious as anything they've ever done, "Get Ready" is "Brotherhood" squared and forces the dredging of the phrase "dance-rock" from the cuss words of yesteryear. Who cares, New Order invented the damned thing anyhow.
8. ARAB STRAP -- THE RED THREAD. The years' most distinctive Verve release. It may ramble (beautifully) in its weakest moments, but when its on, it invokes pangs of contempt, disgust, lust and longing, all at the same time, and often with reference to the same person.
9. PULP -- WE LOVE LIFE. The impossible has happened. Five years ago, who would have guessed that Pulp would be making some of the most challenging music in pop? This album, like its predecessor, will take months to fully digest. What makes the world go round? Sex, class struggle, fame, and now nature.
10. MARKUS GUENTNER -- IN MOLL. A fine extension of the "Regensburg ep". Gas-like beats crop up in spurts, but mainly this is beatless, serene, twinkling ambient music of the highest order. A grower, to be sure.
