Favorite Musical Releases of The Decade

Well, the first decade of the 21st century is almost over and it definitely was not only a turbulent and polarizing time of politics, but also a time of massive change in the music industry and music styles. With the advent of portable mp3 players and music downloading programs, paying $16.99 for a new CD release was no longer justified and it sent the major record labels scrambling to stop the loss of money. They also tried in vain to stop the illegal downloading by arresting large-scale downloaders, slapping anti-piracy stickers on new CDs and in the case of some mid-decade Sony releases, computer-damaging copy protection software. The vinyl LP, a musical medium largely abandoned by the major labels by the late-1980s and kept alive by audiophiles, DJs, techno artists and underground rock groups, makes a resurgence. When I began collecting records in late 2002, other kids my age looked at me weird and would say "Records are so old! Why don't you just get it on CD?". Now lots of people arou nd my age love collecting records and it's something that's seen as cool now. Musical styles that began in the 90s such as pop-punk, emo, and gangsta rap would reach their zenith in popularity and subsequent decline in this decade while by decade's end indie rock would flourish. Looking back at this crazy time for music, it's hard to narrow the list down but here are my very own personal favorite recordings of this crazy decade:

INTERPOL- TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS (2002, Matador)

Though I didn't give this album a listen until a full six years after it was released, I can only imagine how daring it must have been for Interpol to release an album like this when bands like Creed and Nickelback were still dominating the charts. The emergence of indie rock and the post-punk revival movement wouldn't happen for another few years. The dreamier, more ethereal side of post-punk, embodied in such bands as The Chameleons, early Durutti Column, and And Also The Trees, clearly shows its influence on this album and the sparse, minimalistic album cover shows it. A few songs are clunkers in my opinion, but others are simply fantastic to listen to.

THE FLAMING LIPS- YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS (2002, Warner Bros.)


By 2002, The Flaming Lips had already been around for basically 20 years and we already very well known by the alternative rock scene after their big 1993 college radio hit "She Don't Use Jelly", but it took until then for the band to make a big breakout album that would get them noticed beyond the alternative rock press. The Oklahoma group would scrap much of their earlier psych-rock sound and build on the synth sounds from their previous release, 1999's The Soft Bulletin. On top of a spacey electronic backdrop, The flaming Lips tackle with artificial emotions, existentialism, mortality, pacifism and deception. When I first heard it on my friend's car CD player it blew my mind because as nu-metal and post-hardcore dinosaurs leftover from the 90's were still occasionally dominating rock radio at the time, no other mainstream release I heard sounded like it in 2002 and I just had to go get a copy myself. I also happen to love the cover art as well.

SPOON- KILL THE MOONLIGHT (2002, Merge)

If not for my friend Roxy, it would have probably taken me longer to find out all that good indie rock out there. She introduced to me to The Shins, Built To Spill, Pavement, The Dismemberment Plan and of course, Spoon. I just can't get the catchy choruses, the angry pounding of the piano in "All The Pretty Girls Go To The City", and motorik drum beats out of my head. Elements of such bands as Wire and The Pixies can be heard. Many critics can agree the album helped the ascendancy of indie rock in the 2000s.

THE POSTAL SERVICE- GIVE UP (2003, Sub Pop)

Created as a one-time side project between Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard  and Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, The Postal Service brought early-Mute Records-style minimalist synthpop out of the 80's and refreshed it for the 21st century indie rock scene. Though I have to be honest, this definitely isn't rocking out music. This is hardcore mellow stuff, man. For an album with lyrics about a relationship breaking up and the Kennedy assassination, it sure is a peaceful and transcendental record. Credited with helping bring back synthpop, this album would have countless influences on many future releases afterwards as traces of Give Up can be heard on alot of recent indie releases.

Funny Story: Gibbard and Tamborello almost got in trouble over the band's name with the US Postal Service. The USPS eventually relented but on the condition that The Postal Service would perform at a company meeting and that they could use their song "Such Great Heights" in their commercials. 

GREEN DAY- AMERICAN IDIOT (2004, Reprise)


Your feelings about Green Day notwithstanding, no one can deny the impact American Idiot had on the music world when it was released in late-summer 2004. I can't think of any better album that captures what it was like growing up in the U.S. during the George W. Bush years. Suburban isolation, a crumbling post-industrial landscape, paranoia, and American politics seemingly goose-stepping towards fascism, all set to the tune of Green Day's three-chord pop punk stylings. It launched Green Day back under the pop music spotlight during a time when it was dominated by pop divas and gangsta rappers. It was also made the ideas of a concept album and a rock opera doable in the 2000s and is probably the most significant rock opera since The Who released Quadrophenia .

FRANZ FERDINAND- FRANZ FERDINAND (Domino, 2004)

In opinion, 2004 was the year the fault lines of popular music shifted. The last final remnants of the 90s musical scene were thrown out and indie rock began entering the music mainstream. And among those hot new bands to emerge around that time was Franz Ferdinand. I could seriously listen to this album over and over again. It's just so damn catchy and witty. Maybe it's because I can clearly hear the influence of such funky post-punk era acts like Wire, Gang of Four and Talking Heads on this record. I first heard of them when I caught the video for "This Fire" on TV and figured with a video that awesome and arty the rest of the album would be good, and I definitely wasn't disappointed.

 

THE BRAVERY- THE BRAVERY (2005, Island)

Yes, I know the high and mighty reviewers over at Pitchfork poo-pooed this album as Cliff notes for the mid-decade new-wave revivalist set, but I thoroughly enjoy this album. Influences are obvious, ranging from New Order (An Honest Mistake), circa-1987 Echo & The Bunnymen (The Ring Song) and The Cure (frontman Sam Endicott's vocal stylings). People accused them of copying The Killers with this album and there are a few similarities here and there, but both those groups took a great deal from 80s New wave. 

DEPECHE MODE- PLAYING THE ANGEL (2005, Mute)

I became a Depeche Mode fan shortly before the release of the album, and unlike many of the bands from 80s I got into, DM was one of the few that was still around and touring. Many of my Depeche Mode-loving fans got excited about this album and showed it was proof the band could compose a great album without Alan Wilder. It was a return to form after the pretty lackluster Ultra (1997) and Exciter (2001) albums when frontman Dave Gahan was getting over his drug addiction and the group was still finding its sound sans-Wilder. There are a few clunkers, but most of the songs on this record is fantastic, like this "Precious", the main single off this album, and others like "Suffer Well", "Lillian" and "John the Revelator". It was also the first album to feature songwriting by Dave Gahan, the first time a band member other than Martin Gore had written  song for the group since 1984. 

 

M83- SATURDAYS=YOUTH (2008, Mute)

This album by a Frenchman was released in 2008, but it sure would've been at home on the 4AD Records roster circa-1985. Blending 1980s Cocteau Twins-style dreampop with subjects straight out of a John Hughes film, this album captures what it's like being a teenager just discovering the world. Just look at the album cover! The girl on the front even looks like Molly Ringwald. The videos accompanying the songs are equally as good, albeit strange at times.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS- FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS (2008, Sub Pop)

When New Zealand anti-folk comedy duo Flight of the Conchords appeared on HBO, I discovered two very talented actor/musicians who could do parody pastiches of music styles not seen since Frank Zappa, The Bonzo Dog Band and Alberto Y Los Trio Paranoias. Everything from David Bowie, 60s psychedelia, hip-hop and dance pop are all spoofed here. It's like they were perfectly formulated for a music junkie like me.

Well that raps up my favorite albums of the decade. This post is getting quite tl;dr already. Happy New Year and a fantastic 2010 from me!  

Favorite Christmas Gifts From My Childhood

While it gets closer and closer to Christmas, I've been getting pretty nostalgic. I began to remember all the great gifts I got as a kid, though buying them was no easy task for my parents since during that time they didn't exactly have a lot of money. I was surprised at the difficulty in finding images of some of these toys considering the scope of the internet and how trendy nostalgia is lately. The list begins around the time I was three which was the earliest Christmas I can remember:

Hess Fire Truck (1989)
Hess gas stations have been releasing a holiday truck every year for the past forty-five years and they don't disappoint. My three year old self was entranced by the myriad of lights and siren noises this truck made. It was one of my all-time favorite toy trucks as a kid. Sadly I don't know what happened to it over the years. Perhaps it's in a box with the ladder attachment broken off. Though they were attractive, Hess trucks weren't exactly the most durable.

 

Micro Machines Super City Toolbox and Super Van City (1991/ 1993)

Ask anyone around my age about "Micro Machines" and the first thing they'll probably remember were the TV commercials featuring fast-talking and nearly incomprehensible pitchman John Moschitta, Jr., but my fondest memories of these miniscule N-scale vehicles were the ridiculously detailed playsets that were around during the late-80s and early-90s. I still have some of those sets in differing condition levels. But the most memorable playsets were the ones disguised as something inconspicuous on the outside, like the toolbox and the van, but when you opened them a miniature metropolis would be there inside when you opened it. I would play with these for hours! My memories of the Super City Toolbox and super Van City got fuzzy over the years and i mistook one for the other before I wrote this. Maybe it's because I'd link both playsets together... Sadly, sometime in the late-90s Hasbro bought out Galoob (the company that made Micro Machines) and phased the toy line out. I'm surprised they managed to last as long as they did without being slapped with lawsuits because some kid swallowed them.

Nintendo Game Boy (1993)

Whenever my sister and I wanted to play a video game, my mom would get us those Tiger Electronics games that were usually tied in with some popular movie or TV show (I clearly remembering having ones such as The Flintstones, Chip'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Home Alone 2) where crude black figures would appear over a static LCD screen background. When my sister and I received Game Boys for Christmas 1993, it was the first time we got to play a cartridge-based gaming system and we were excited. They would become esstential on any long car rides when I'd spend hours playing Dr. Mario, Kirby's Dream World, and Super Mario World. I still have these old "bricks" stored away in a cabinet somewhere though the back panels over the battery case has fallen off of them.


I'm sure many other people my age have similar memorable Christmas gifts. There were other great gifts but I don't remember the time I got them as well as I did these and remember the times I had afterwards playing with them. There might be more yuletide trips down memory lane in store, stay tuned!