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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Thursday, March 4, 2004
Neumu's Top 20 Of 2003: It's Cat Power, By A Whisker
Neumu's Steve Gozdecki writes: At long last, the lists submitted by Neumu contributors have all been run and the pertinent numbers dropped into a spreadsheet to bring you what you need: the top 20 albums of 2003 according to the Neumu Nation.
The methodology I used to compile the top 20 was simple. Looking at each Neumu contributor's list, I assigned points to each album according to where writers ranked them, with each critic's #1 album being worth 10 points, each #2 worth 9, etc., down to 1 point for 10th place. In cases where writers didn't rank their lists — and, unlike your children, you're allowed to rank albums since you didn't create these particular loved ones — each entry was worth 5.5 points. For lists that were longer than 10 items, I only included the top 10.
The 22 writers included in this exercise (sorry, John Darnielle and Joseph Larkin, your lists didn't meet our stringent entry requirements) managed to squeeze a total of 131 different albums into their top 10s. No album appeared on more than eight lists.
I won't go all Christgau on you and try to interpret what it all means — this is, after all, "just" a comprehensive look at 22 music enthusiasts' faves from last year presented for your enjoyment. So, here's the list. (Note that the first number shown after each title is the total points it received, while the number in parentheses is the number of Neumu-ies who included it on their lists. Each top 10 also includes one of my colleagues' comments about the album from their own individual lists.)
1. Cat Power, You Are Free (Matador) 47 (8): "Whereas on earlier releases, Chan Marshall seemed to stumble upon melodies by accident, here she attacks them like a tiger, extracting their tiniest messages and moments with a voice so vividly expressive that they don't stand a chance of escape." (Neal Block)
2. The Postal Service, Give Up (Sub Pop) 44 (8): "The sound of sunlight bending, fog refracting, leaves falling upwards. Give Up is what all emo should be but never is: sharp, woozy, clever, gut-wrenching, hopeful, gorgeous, unafraid to have a fucking beat. This very moment, that little chump from Saves the Day is somewhere scratching his head and trying to figure out Pro Tools." (Tom Breihan)
3. Radiohead, Hail to the Thief (Capitol) 43.5 (7): "Like a 'greatest hits' album with all new songs, this record is a good summation of all the sonic territory Radiohead have covered over the last decade. The oft-imitated, never-duplicated voice of Thom Yorke returns to the fore, reiterating the main reason this band is so great in the first place." (Ryan Dombal)
4. The Wrens, Meadowlands (Absolutely Kosher) 41 (5): "It came out of left field and smacked me in the face, and I love it. This album makes me want to cry and yell and shout and laugh, then yellingly laugh while crying. It is perfect in every way a record about heartbreak, exhaustion and almost giving up can be." (Kate Guay)
5. OutKast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (La Face) 37.5 (6): "I'll admit it — I heard 'double album' and figured 'bloated, ego-driven, career-killer that won't top Stankonia.' Goodness gracious was I ever wrong. Thankfully. It's so good that it almost is worth it to speculate on an OutKast breakup, since this set seems impossible to top. Then again, I thought that about Stankonia as well." (Randy Reiss)
6. White Stripes, Elephant (V2) 36.5 (6): "It ain't easy to move forward while looking backwards, but here's where Jack and Meg show us how to move in two directions at once. Turns out the only way to do it is to loosen up, and defuse all the hype with a bit of humor.... In the end, it seems like Jack knows that his strengths can be limitations and Meg's figured out how to turn her limitations into strengths." (Jim Connelly)
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell (Capitol) 33 (6): "As uncool as it may sound, it was very nice to have a couple of groups like The Strokes and the Yeahs come along. It had been some time since some real wild rock 'n' roll had stirred things up, for better or for worse. It was even nicer to see them make a second coming, proving the so-called revival's lasting power. The Yeahs toned things down just slightly on their second release and debut album to reveal the power of love, l-u-v, mixing a couple of gorgeous, spine-tingling ballads into their ferocious, growling punk spasms and quivering, trashy seductions." (Jenny Tatone)
8. The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop) 28 (5): "What's changed since the Shins' smash debut: The sound's a little clearer and a little quieter — and this time they even try their hand at twang. What hasn't changed: James Mercer's supple voice, his gift for melody, and his knack for squeezing complex concepts (and words, and phrases) into bite-sized pop songs — in other words, everything that matters." (Anders Smith Lindall)
9. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Hearts of Oak (Lookout!) 27 (4): "Pure pop genius from New Jersey's finest, Ted Leo.... [E]very song bristles with huge hooks and ants-in-your-pants energy. Sure, he's probably doomed to be an irrelevant indie icon, which is too bad, because I can't think of a better man to play the fatherly Nick Lowe role to this generation's emo punks." (Matt Helgeson)
10. Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It in People (Arts & Crafts) 23 (3): "A great indie-pop record — solid songs, great production, tens of hooks — and it's pretty obscure too. All the makings of a critic's favorite, really. I hope for everyone's sake that this band is discovered and that, consequently, this great, great record can be shared like so many cheap hostel beds." (Ben Gook)
11. The Decemberists, Her Majesty, The Decemberists (Kill Rock Stars) 22.5 (3)
12. New Pornographers, Electric Version (Matador) 21.5 (3)
13. The Strokes, Room on Fire (RCA) 21 (5)
14. Jay-Z, The Black Album (Rock-a-Fella) 20 (5)
15. Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism (Barsuk) 19 (2)
16. Songs: Ohia, The Magnolia Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian) 17 (3)
17. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Pig Lib (Matador) 17 (3)
18. Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, Streetcore (Epitaph) 15 (3)
19. The Rapture, Echoes (DFA) 15 (2)
20. The Concretes,The Concretes (Licking Fingers)13 (2)
The InsiderOne Daily Report appears on occasion.
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