Best Of 2000s Master List and Discussion Thread

[Irishteen]

Listening to Ashley's list now...

 

[LMP]

Nice lookin' lists, guys. I look forward to seeing how Gaffer's and Ax's offerings sound in succession.

I'll have to juxtapose those now, too. Oh my God.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Starting off the morning with LMP's list. "Wake Up" ends up working nicely for that, plus it's a phenomenal song.

 

[onebloodonelife]

LMP: Excellent list. I don't think there was a song on it that I disliked, even the U2 song you chose was one of the few I can stand from ATYCLB. It all flowed nicely too, and "Knights of Cydonia" was a kickass ending.

Next up: Imperor's

 

[namkcuR]

The "Six Days" file in Lance's upload is a .m4p, a protected ITunes file; it won't play.

 

[phillyfan26]

Did someone else have Six Days? I think you can just use that, then.

EDIT: Yes, Jive has Six Days.

 

[AtomicBono]

Sunday is homework day, and that means time for listening!

Just finished LMP's. The only song I didn't care for was Summertime Clothes ... yeah, I don't get Animal Collective. I guess I'll never be a true hipster Lots of fantastic songs on this one. Wake Up was the perfect way to start, though I kind of expected City of Blinding Lights to come next I really liked the pairing of The Birth and Death of a Day and Stand Inside Your Love, though because of the way the former ends it's hard to make a perfect transition, I thought those two awesome songs really worked well together. Idioteque-->7/4 Shoreline was an excellent run of 5-star songs (The Man Comes Around/Do You Realize?? was another good pairing. I like the Cash song, just don't love it). Hoppipola-->Knights of Cydonia was a little weird, but it actually worked better than I expected. So, awesome list, definitely my taste. The more I listen to the harder it's getting to rank them... I'm trying to just do it as I go along. I've listened to 5 so far.

I think I'll check out phanan's next

 

[onebloodonelife]

I enjoyed Impy's list a lot too. "Treefingers" set off the mood perfectly. "Banshee Beat" got me interested in listening to more early Animal Collective, something I've been meaning to do for ages now. The Okkervil River track was an odd choice, but fit in with the tone of the list, and I'm a lot more fond of the song than I was when I first heard it. I need to listen to more St. Vincent too. The last four song stretch was amazing (Major Label Debut-->Unlikely Japan-->You Are Chains-->Dondante). Speaking of "Dondante," wow, another fantastic closing track, and yet another reminder about a band I need to check out.

Definitely more of an abstract list, but wonderfully executed.


I'm going to give LM's a listen next.

 

[LMP]

Yo Oneblood, I know I could count on you for the illest rhymes in the contest. On top of that, there was a great mix of that and some good 'ol fashioned indie rock, which I'll always be a fan of. If I'm going to isolate a track to champion, it'll have to be that Hot Chip song. Why they're not as big as someone like MGMT, I have no idea.

Plus, we overlap on 3 songs, so that's cool.

And Irishteen, really solid mix of songs as well. The Verve and Snow Patrol tracks stood out particularly well, as I've been lukewarm on their work for the most part. That stretch from "Rebellion" to the end is stellar from a flow n' shit standpoint and elevated it a little bit for me. Good stuff here as well.

I'm working through LM's right now, then I'll probably do GAF and Axver's back-to-back for some comedic juxtaposition.

 

[phillyfan26]

The Phils' stressful playoff run is really interfering with my listening to these lists.

 

[AtomicBono]

phanan's definitely had the strongest 1-2 punch of any list so far with Blackest Eyes and Hysteria (which barely missed my list). Really the first 5 were great. Weapon of Choice is a fun song, but I don't consider it one of the best of the decade. Didn't really care for Springsteen, but other than I liked pretty much everything. The Exact Colour/GBHF was a good combo. Props for using Outkast. A well put-together and diverse list.

Pfan next

 

[onebloodonelife]

Yo Oneblood, I know I could count on you for the illest rhymes in the contest. On top of that, there was a great mix of that and some good 'ol fashioned indie rock, which I'll always be a fan of. If I'm going to isolate a track to champion, it'll have to be that Hot Chip song. Why they're not as big as someone like MGMT, I have no idea.

Plus, we overlap on 3 songs, so that's cool.

Word. Thanks for the kind words, I always appreciate your opinion. And, seriously, yeah, why the hell aren't Hot Chip huge? I noticed we had a few of the same songs once I queued yours up too, though I'm still more partial to the live version of "Idioteque," but it was nice to hear the album version. Plus it worked well for your list.



LM's list inadvertently ended up being the fucking perfect soundtrack to my sunset chasing escapades this evening. I realized that tonight's sunset was probably going to be one of the last nice ones here before hell freezes over, and started biking from the river back towards the city to get a few good pictures. This happened just as "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" came on. Hilarious. Then, "Soft Shock" and "1901" were great energetic songs to bike along to, but the real payoff came as "When I Look at the World" started, and I got to the sunset:



So, yeah, I liked this one a lot too. I have no fucking clue how I'm going to rate these if they're all this good...

 

[Imperor]

Definitely more of an abstract list, but wonderfully executed.

That was the idea. If you recall, I said I wanted to eschew obvious choices even if I used some obvious artists. I'm very pleased you enjoyed it.

I managed to listen to several lists in all my driving this weekend. Some I liked, some I didn't. But so far, JT's is taking the proverbial cake.

I'm already disgustingly familiar with all but three songs on Lance's and Peef's, and every song on both YLB's and ElMel's, so they should all be listened to fairly quickly. After that, the only ones I need to listen to now are Screw's, phanan's, Ruckman's, and AtomicBoner's.

More to come.

 

[onebloodonelife]

That was the idea. If you recall, I said I wanted to eschew obvious choices even if I used some obvious artists. I'm very pleased you enjoyed it.

I do, and I'm glad you stuck with it instead of switching up the tone, like you were briefly considering.

 

[Screwtape2]

I need to listen to more St. Vincent too.

You really should. She is fantastic.

 

[phanan]

First playlist today was LMP's.

Another stellar LMP production. Great songs (for the most part), nice execution, good variety of genres.

Both you and LM had When I Look At The World; that wouldn't have been my U2 choice for the decade, although it's still a good song. I also think there are much stronger choices from Beck's Sea Change than Paper Tiger.

But I enjoyed the inclusion of some post-rock, and Knights Of Cydonia is the perfect closer.

I'll try to get through another list this afternoon.

 

[LMP]

First playlist today was LMP's.

Another stellar LMP production. Great songs (for the most part), nice execution, good variety of genres.

Both you and LM had When I Look At The World; that wouldn't have been my U2 choice for the decade, although it's still a good song. I also think there are much stronger choices from Beck's Sea Change than Paper Tiger.

But I enjoyed the inclusion of some post-rock, and Knights Of Cydonia is the perfect closer.

I'll try to get through another list this afternoon.

Thank you, praise from you is always well-received.

As far as the U2 and Beck choices go, I had some others in the running, but thought the ones I ended up going with her both awesome and maybe something that wouldn't be on another list. I was half-right.

 

[phanan]

Went through namkucR's playlist just now.

The first part was fantastic. I really enjoyed that all the way through The Killers.

After that, there were some things that I just didn't care for, like the Sean Lennon and Norah Jones tracks. Things picked up again with Stateless through to the end though.

So there was a bump in the road in the middle for a bit, but otherwise, a very good set.

 

[Zoots]

Just started Ashley's list now. Never knew Top 40 material and indie music could exist on the same list like this!

Nice opening!


ETA: although I guess very little on your list qualifies as indie.

 

[Zoots]

Ashley, I enjoyed your list for the most part even though a lot of it was quite "greatest hits-y". The only song I didn't particularly care for was the Fatboy Slim one, although Outkast sounded perfect following it! Your list was a lot of fun to listen to and that was a pretty ballsy move to open the whole thing with a Top 40 fest, that too in a forum as indie obsessed as this one.

 

[Imperor]

I think you'll find most worthwhile internet forums about music lean toward the "indie" aesthetic. If you're willing to post on a forum about music, you're probably more of an aficionado than the layman, which lends to the kind of relationship with music that finds you listening to less mainstream artists.

It's like folks on Facebook who list the music they like as "i like everything!" No, they don't. They might be able to listen to and enjoy just about anything on Top 40 radio, but their love of music is considerably less than those of us with defined tastes.

 

[LMP]

That's a nicer way than I was going to put it.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I think you'll find most worthwhile internet forums about music lean toward the "indie" aesthetic. If you're willing to post on a forum about music, you're probably more of an aficionado than the layman, which lends to the kind of relationship with music that finds you listening to less mainstream artists.

It's like folks on Facebook who list the music they like as "i like everything!" No, they don't. They might be able to listen to and enjoy just about anything on Top 40 radio, but their love of music is considerably less than those of us with defined tastes.

Well-put. We just had a conversation about this in a seminar on pop music I'm taking. Our conclusion was much the same: those who are really more deeply committed to and invested music tend towards more eclectic and often indie tastes, while the vast majority claim to love everything, but really don't and instead swing towards limited and mainstream tastes.

 

[Zoots]

That's a nicer way than I was going to put it.

I was not necessarily trashing indie music, geez! All I said was that I thought it was a ballsy move to submit a Top 40 fest to a B&C DI contest.

 

[AtomicBono]

I will likely get back to listening to these tomorrow...

but for now I wanted to say thank you to Jive Turkey for introducing me to The Twilight Sad. I got their 2009 album Forget the Night Ahead because I was intrigued by their song on your playlist (though it's from a different album)... I really like them.

 

[Jive Turkey]

cool. glad to hear you like them. you should check out their earlier one too. Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters. I just saw them play last weekend. Amazing show

 

[LemonMelon]

I was not necessarily trashing indie music, geez! All I said was that I thought it was a ballsy move to submit a Top 40 fest to a B&C DI contest.

The usage of "obsessed" in "indie obsessed" has a negative connotation is the thing. Besides, indie music is so broad and undefinable that you might as well have just said B&C is anti-mainstream, which is not necessarily true, and the above arguments have a lot to play in the perception of that, but it's closer to the ballpark.

 

[LMP]

I was not necessarily trashing indie music, geez! All I said was that I thought it was a ballsy move to submit a Top 40 fest to a B&C DI contest.

As it is to have a list of all-female artists, all post-rock, all-rap, etc... It's the tone you use that makes it annoying. As if because it's popular I or anyone else doesn't like it.

No, I don't like "I Gotta Feeling" because it's popular, I don't like it because I find it to be awful in its own right.

 

[onebloodonelife]

The usage of "obsessed" in "indie obsessed" has a negative connotation is the thing.

As it is to have a list of all-female artists, all post-rock, all-rap, etc... It's the tone you use that makes it annoying. As if because it's popular I or anyone else doesn't like it.

No, I don't like "I Gotta Feeling" because it's popular, I don't like it because I find it to be awful in its own right.

Precisely. Language is a slippery slope, and most of the time, connotations, whether intended to or not, end up resonating stronger than that intended meaning.

And, like LM pointed out, using "indie" to define anything gets into tricky territory. I mean, an "indie" band like Grizzly Bear ended up debuting Veckatimest at #8 on the Billboard 200 this year; if that doesn't put them in the mainstream's consciousness, I don't know what will. "Indie" is quickly pervading the mainstream, further blurring lines that were already fuzzier than a caterpillar.


Either way, it really doesn't matter, I guess. Even though I dislike a good chunk of the songs on Zoots' list, I am going to go in with an open mind and enjoy it as a departure from what I usually listen to, which is always nice to experience now and then.

 

[LemonMelon]

Honestly, I try to treat all people the same: if they like bands I consider terrible, that's absolutely fine, and I won't rag on them...unless they refuse to challenge their own tastes by trying other genres and digging for music they would not have discovered otherwise. It's the people that either aren't aware of the deeper layers the music world has to offer, or, worse yet, refuse to explore them that I can't take seriously. It may seem offensive to categorize someone in any way based on their music listening habits, but I don't consider it elitist at all if they don't even try.

By the above definition, Zoots is cool with me. I know countless others, however, who I would never accept a musical recommendation from for those reasons.