2001: The Year in Music
Yancey Strickler's Annotated Mix
Yancey's tracks:
1. "Furniture" | Fugazi
2. "Let Me Stand Next to Your Flower" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre
3. "Me and the Bean" | Spoon
4. "Timorous Me" | Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
5. "Off This Century" | Unwound
6. "New Slang" | The Shins
7. "Love of Ivah" | Calla
8. "I Was Young When I Left Home" | Bob Dylan
9. "Old Manatee" | The Beachwood Sparks
10. "Fell In Love With a Girl" | The White Stripes
11. "The Jam" | The Rapture
12. "Relative Ways" | And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
13. "This Is Coincidence" | Lot 6
14. "Falling From Cloud 9" | Lift to Experience
15. "A B-Boys Alpha" | Cannibal Ox
16. "Time Bomb" | The Dismemberment Plan
17. "In Metal" | Low
1. "Furniture" | Fugazi
The Furniture EP | (Dischord) | 3:35
Ian MacKaye turns 40 this April, yet he comes up with the year's best punk
single. Will kids start dying their mohawks gray in tribute?
2. "Let Me Stand Next to Your Flower"
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Bravery Repetition & Noise | (Bomp!) | 4:55
One of the worst pun-derived song titles ever, but it's no reflection on the
content. Mellow, but still pushing needles into the red.
3. "Me and the Bean" | Spoon
Girls Can Tell | (Merge) | 2:16
"I am your shadow in the dark/ I have your blood inside my heart" is the
couplet of the year.
4. "Timorous Me" | Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Tyranny of Distance | (Lookout) | 4:34
Ted Leo continues to blaze the amazing trail of Shudder to Think-esque power
pop that he started with Chisel.
5. "Off This Century" | Unwound
Leaves Turn Inside You | (Kill Rock Stars) | 5:29
When those chugging guitars and reverb-steeped keyboards kick the chorus into gear, picture singer Justin Trosper's head leaning back awaiting a cool rain from the Washington skies.
6. "New Slang" | The Shins
Oh, Inverted World | (Sub Pop) | 3:51
See the main list.
7. "Love of Ivah" | Calla
Scavengers | (Young God Records) | 5:15
Songs can't get much sadder or more beautiful than this. Two whispered
melodies linked together by a simple, slow guitar riff.
8. "I Was Young When I Left Home" | Bob Dylan
Love and Theft bonus disc | (Columbia) | 5:24
The first run of Dylan's latest album included a bonus disc containing a
live version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" from 1963 and this
traditional, recorded in 1961. Dylan's voice is in fine, earnest form
singing poignant words about an aimless young man with a finger-picked
acoustic accompaniment. Absolutely chilling.
9. "Old Manatee" | The Beachwood Sparks
Once We Were Trees | (Sub Pop) | 3:34
California hipsters make like they're Gram Parsons on Once We Were
Trees. But on this number they turn back the clock, paying tribute to
the banjo-plucked ballads of Bill Monroe.
10. "Fell In Love With a Girl" | The White Stripes
White Blood Cells | (Sympathy for the Record Industry) | 1:50
The infamous aside overheard in modern-art galleries ("My kid could do
that") applies to the White Stripes' third long-player, which is part of its
charm. See the main list.
11. "The Jam" | The Rapture
Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks EP | (Sub Pop) | 4:31
Any song whose hook is built off of a screeching guitar, a sluggish Gang of
Four beat and a primal scream-inspired vocal is A+.
12. "Relative Ways"
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Relative Ways EP | (Interscope) | 4:43
And you will also know them by loud, brash post-punk anthems like this one.
13. "This Is Coincidence" | Lot 6
The Code Mode | (Espo Records) | 4:48
This Boston band hasn't had its break yet (although they did get to
perform at a wrestling match
between rubber monsters Kung Fu Chicken Noodle and Uchu Chu the Space Bug),
but with post-punk songs as delightful and dynamic as this one, it won't be
too long.
14. "Falling From Cloud 9" | Lift to Experience
The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads | (Bella Union) | 4:33
Fans of Radiohead's The Bends and Jeff Buckley, who comprise 75 percent of Bust magazine's readership, would be wise to check out this Denton, Texas band. Lots of guitar, a
towering melody and mammoth muttonchops being key elements.
15. "A B-Boys Alpha" | Cannibal Ox
The Cold Vein | (Def Jux) | 4:27
See the main list.
16. "Time Bomb" | The Dismemberment Plan
Change | (deSoto) | 4:26
See the main list.
17. "In Metal" | Low
Things We Lost in the Fire | (Kranky) | 4:19
Best part of this somber tune — the squeak of a hand moving up the neck of a
guitar as Mimi Parker finishes the wonderfully oblique opening line,
"Filling holes with tiny sound." That accidental peep makes the song even
more precocious, as if its conception and recording were simultaneous.
You can e-mail Yancey Strickler at ystrickler@yahoo.com.
