The Albums

Little Miss Wronged assembles another staggering collection of straight-to-the-point love gone wrong songs that make even the casual listener wince.  And this one actually sold a few copies, thanks to last winter’s plug from Magnolia.  All people should be so inspired after marriage.  It’s usually the kiss of death.  Michael (Penn, her husband), whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.

Robbie Williams-Sing When You’re Winning (Capitol).

Faith, Part Deux, essentially.  An unashamedly British, unabashedly pop record.  Give Williams credit.  At least he knows his place.  He’ll never pull a Listen Without Prejudice on us and demand that we take him seriously.  It’s only pop, and I, for one, like it. Yes, I do.

Travis-The Man Who (Independiente/Sony)

Radiohead for sissies, said some.  Oasis for sissies, said others.  Fine, they weren’t the most hard rocking band to come out this year, but lead singer Fran Healy did happen to write some incredibly good pop songs, some that certainly must make Noel Gallagher jealous (man, has he lost the plot or what?).  Didn’t get any airplay, but they did break through better than most British bands these days. What a relief.

Favorite Tracks: “Writing To Reach You,” “As You Are,” “She’s So Strange”

Never, ever, ever saw this album breaking out as big as it did.  Hands down the best success story of the year for any of “my” bands, and proof that word of mouth can sometimes be enough.  It’s also a great story too; a guy who was scraping change together to record a deliberately lo-fi album in his house after his label had written him off.  As far as I’m concerned, releasing this album is the best thing Dave Matthews has ever done.

Some have accused Radiohead of manipulating the press by hiding from them (“Oh, he’s going for that anti-marketing dollar,” as Bill Hicks once said), but let the music speak for itself.  Was there any point in releasing a single from this album?  No.  Making videos?  No.  It’s not that kind of record.  It’s meant to be taken in as a whole, however difficult that may seem at first.  With patience come rewards, and this album paid off faster than I expected it to.

How this record didn’t become a major hit, I’ll never know.  Deb and I had the marketing scheme all worked out.  Send “I Know It Shows” to modern rock; send “Mary Ann” to AAA/Adult Alternative radio.  Repeat.  LOADS of potential hit singles contained here.  And Jesus, don’t even get me started on their live shows.  You haven’t heard the last of these guys.

If you had told me three years ago I’d be putting a Ween album in any top ten list other than my top ten list of Worst Bands Ever, I’d have laughed you out of the room.  And then they make this.  Fans of Jellyfish would approve.  But they already have the record by now, I’m guessing.

What a comeback for the Jayhawks.  I was not at all pleased with Sound of Lies, their last album (and first without founding member Mark Olson).  But co-founder Gary Louris circled the wagons and made one of their best records yet.  Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Oft compared to Travis (fans of this band view Travis with severe contempt, it seems), but I see very little in common between them, save maybe in the way that singers from both bands borrow from Jeff Buckley.  Where Travis stole from Radiohead, Coldplay looked to the Verve or Del Amitri.  It took a few spins, but this one is getting better and better.

The rocker cousin to last year’s orchestral masterpiece Apple Venus Vol. I, this one is also chock full ‘o killer songs about evil, evil ex-wives (“And what made me think we’re any better/And what made me think we’d last forever/Was I so naïve?/Of course it all unweaves”) and other assorted traumas.  Messrs Partridge and Moulding, please don’t make us wait another seven years for the next albums. Please.

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The Singles

This is a misleading list, because by no means am I saying that the albums these songs were taken from are disappointments.  On the contrary, many of them are from excellent records.  But I felt these songs were such stellar moments that they deserved their own attention.

“Moving,” Supergrass (Island)

No song popped up on my compilation CD’s this year more than this one.  They may seem like cheeky monkeys, but these guys are playing for keeps.  This song proves it.

So I’m at this volleyball contest in a big sports bar here called North Beach.  They’re playing all kinds of pop music, no big deal.  This song comes on, and the place just EXPLODES.  Everywhere I look, people are dancing, even the ones who are playing volleyball.  This is just one of those songs that can pick a crowd up and move them.  Love that stop-start drum track, too.

The album does still not blow me away, but this is bar none one of the best songs they’ve ever done.  And how about that video, with the planes taking off juuuuuuust over their heads?  Pity the remixes suck.

These guys were musically homeless upon release of their second (and damn good) record The Menace.  Modern rock has forsaken them for the rap/rock contingent, and the Mix stations aren’t aggressive enough to play this.  Too bad, because this song must have the B-52’s seething with jealousy.

A mellower than average release for DJ Norman Cook, this was a nifty piece that used a Jim Morrison loop for a vocal and had a not-quite-big beat drum track that skittered all over the place.  If only the rest of the record were this enjoyable.

Warners are idiots of they don’t release this song as a single.  It’s the best song they’ve done since ‘Geek Stink Breath.”  After a few years of losing their way, they remembered how to write a good batch of tunes again.  This is their new album’s crown jewel.

Yes, Electronic, remember them?  After a less than good second offering, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr came back in a big way here, making a lovely slice of now-I-guess-it’s-retro modern pop that sounds like the Stone Roses remixed by the Chemical Brothers.

I’m not a big fan of house music, at all.  But I dig this.  It has two things going for it.  One is a sense of structure that’s usually missing from house music (most house, to me, is just nine minutes of THUMP, THUMP, THUMP), the other is a decidedly ambient, minor key feel.  Oh, and as a bonus, it’s sung by Clannad’s Maire Brennan (based on their song “Harry’s Game”)

The teen pop bands of today may sell more records than A-ha ever will, but let’s see how many of them are releasing songs or albums of this quality fifteen years after their debut.  I always thought A-ha were better than they were ever given credit for, but even I didn’t think they could put together something this good again.

Brainchild of Damon Gough, BDB is a really difficult outfit to peg. Some sounds like Belle & Sebastian crossed with the Cardigans.  This song is more like Van Morrison crossed with The Smiths.  A gorgeous “Moondance”-style waltz that Van would love to call his own.

“Simple Kind of Life”-No Doubt

“Pinch Me”-Barenaked Ladies