THE BEST OF:
2001

Tim Frommer

1. Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Global a Go-Go
Nothing short of a globalization celebration, and no, not of the a16 variety. Tuning in frequencies from all 80 corners of the globe, Strummer and his merry mates have released the hip-shakingest guitar album of the year (plus about 20 other instruments). The first four tracks are absolute burners, culminating in the album’s raison d’etre, "Bhindi Bhagee" in which Strummer gives his best Ringo Starr imitation trying to explain what style his band plays. Yeah, Global a Go-Go sags in the middle owing to the frontloading of the best tracks, but nothing was perfect this year.

2. Fugazi: The Argument
Acoustic guitars and female back-up singers? No, this isn’t your older sibling’s Repeater. Simultaneously prescient and reflective, Fugazi’s latest still adds to the band’s reputation. Thought-provoking lyrically and risk-taking sonically, though not terribly "punk rock." Can we just call it music?

3. Kristin Hersh: Sunny Border Blue
The songs, like the cover art, are a blue wash of wistfulness on Hersh’s best solo release to date. There’s a lot to listen to from the harmony with her own lead vocals, curiosity shop keyboards and a healthy dose of her, of late, underused electric guitar. And then there are the stories in the songs. The album’s closer, "Listerine," asks an oh-so-painful question: "How did I trust a band who’d leave me one by one?"

4. Ted Leo/Pharmacists: The Tyranny of Distance
The New Yorker recently compared Leo favorably to Billy Bragg. That’s some serious praise for this Jersey native. In fact, Leo has much more in spirit with the Jam and ‘80s-era Elvis Costello, than William Bloke, and his judiciously-used falsetto is better. Plus, the man can play guitar. Lead track "Biomusicology" reminds me of EC’s "America Without Tears." Brendan Canty’s production reins in the strength of sound from the Pharmacists and their frequent mid-song tempo changes. The album’s best cut, "St. John the Divine," touches all these bases and more. (Full disclosure: Theo Leo was a couple of years behind me in college and did much to improve the school’s radio station that I semi-lamely oversaw as a senior; to say nothing of improving what I was listening to at the time.)

5. Spoon: Girls Can Tell
A straight ahead power pop trio, Spoon are led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Britt Daniel whose has a voice on the good side of thin, not in the annoying Jeff Tweedy kind of way. He also has a sack full of boy-and-girl songs in his repertoire that cut right to the chase. The album’s strongest track is " the Fitted Shirt," in which the narrator laments things ain’t how they used to be and offers the quality craftsmanship of his father’s dress shirts as exhibit A.

6. Juno: a future lived in past tense
An outsized effort from start to finish. Too long by two or three songs, which for Juno is about 20 minutes, a future…bursts at the seams with sounds and passions and the lyrics to match. Not merely content with a notion like "the eyes are the window to the soul," singer/songwriter Arlie Carstens describes a certain personal history in "Help Is on the Way" as: "A geography under your skin: an invisible map of all the places you’ve ever left, of all the enemies you’ve ever had, of all the people you’ve ever been." Like much released this year, an editor was needed and I mean that in the nicest way.

7. Superchunk: Here’s to Shutting Up
If "mature" and "indie rock" can be used in the same sentence and be meant as a compliment, such is the epithet for Superchunk’s latest. This is a long way from "Slack Motherfucker" y’all. Horns, strings, lap steel all accompany the super-tight ‘Chunk quartet on many of the songs here. Extra bonus, as always, are Mac’s words, from complex relationship metaphors (that often seem to involve geographic locations or airplanes or both) to more direct smile inducers. Sample from "Art Class": "Welcome to art class./And yes it does involve shaking your ass./Why so serious?"

8. Micahel Franti & Spearhead: Stay Human
A stridently pro-life disc -- and I don’t mean that in terms of the abortion debate -- incorporating an incredibly funky groove with direct lyrics. The album’s title is a plea that works on several levels and the songs back that up: anti-violence, anti-racism, anti-death penalty, pro-medicinal marijuana and pro-environment. The muscular flexibility of Spearhead keeps the music on par with the vocalist’s magnetism. It’s music that moves your hips and your brain at the same time. My favorite kind.

9. Radiohead: Amnesiac
I can sum up the Radiohead mystique in five words: I still don’t get it. After releasing an album of non-songs I can barely tolerate all the way through, Oxford’s philosopher-kings tidy up the rest of the Kid A sessions in a great disc. You’ve heard it and about them ad nauseam so I have little to add save one request: please quit with the hip-hop spelling.

10. Gigi: Gigi
The most startling new voice since, perhaps, Sinéad. Gigi is an Ethiopian who sings in her native Amharic and whose lyrics exult the Nile, loves lost and found, the current debate about the diluting of her culture and Ethiopian history. The music is as current as the big river as inspiration is ancient: the mixture of jazz stylings with traditional instrumentation and, at times, a dance floor beat.

Rob Brookman

1. Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft"
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and he feels fine.

2. The Coup: Party Music
Channeling Prince, George Clinton and Karl Marx, they outdo themselves. Again.

3. Old 97s: Satellite Rides
A nervous guy fronts a band that loves pop for pop’s sake, but isn’t so sure about romance.

4. Tricky: Blowback
He can make Anthony Kiedis, Alanis Morisette and Cyndi Lauper sound good. Maybe he’s a genius after all.

5. Orlando Cachaito Lopez: Cachaito
The Buena Vista bassman steps to the front and raises the bar for the whole franchise.

6. Brian Anderson: Work We Do Sounds We Hear
Life’s vicissitudes, dissected with a sharp eye and a good piano.

7. Baaba Maal: Missing You... Mi Yeewnii
Ditching the Westernisms for a sound I can only describe as ambient folk, another of Senegal’s prodigal sons brings it all back home.

8. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
Giving the old rock and roll verities a swift kick in the ass.

9. Rachid Taha: Made in Medina
"Guaranteed to change all perceptions of Rai music in the 21st century," crows the press release. Not a bad place to start for those with no perceptions to begin with.

10. Black Box Recorder: The Facts of Life
Girl meets boy, girl and boy go for a drive, girl and boy drive each other crazy. The facts of life, indeed.

Peter Gorman

10. Stephen Malkmus: Stephen Malkmus
He's done better, he'll do worse.

9. Leonard Cohen: Ten New Songs
I decided one sexagenarian on my list wasn't enough.

8. Gigi: Gigi
Ethopian singer finds inspiration and support in American jazz musicians.

7. The Old 97's: Satellite Rides
No suprises, just the basics done very well.

6. Spoon: Girls Can Tell
Guitar, bass and drums.

5. The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
New Mexico discovers 60s pop bands. What sounds a bit lame at first sounds quite convincing in the end.

4. Tricky: Blowback
Tricky getting happy, at least some of the time.

3. Black Box Recorder: The Facts of Life
Driving songs meant to be played late at night, when you're already home.

2. Snow Patrol: When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up
Finally, Brian Wilson joins Sebadoh.

1. Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft"
Life continues at 60. Does it ever.

Burton Glass

1. The Strokes: Is This It?

2. Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft"

3. Whiskeytown: Pneumonia

4. Gorillaz: Gorillaz

5. The Old 97s: Satellite Rides

6. Basement Jaxx: Rooty

7. Guided By Voices: Isolation Drills

8. Pernice Brothers: The World Won’t End

9. Spiritualized: Let It Come Down

10. Rufus Wainwright: Poses

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