One year, 1,298 albums, 212 interviews and a few benders with Ol' Dirty Bastard (aka Big Baby Jesus) into her career as Recess music editor, Kelly McVicker selects the five standout albums of the year:
- Bjork, Vespertine
While it may not be her best album (1997's Homogenic still defends that belt with a Bjs
- Aesop Rock, Labor Days
This is the part where I would normally say something about the album's tight production, intricate beats and maybe even quote a lyric or two. But the fact is, I'm just now getting started on this incredibly dense and unbelievably brilliant album from one of hip-hop's most unsung heroes, and I can tell you it's gonna be a long time before I come out on the other side. If I figure if I start now, by this time next year, I might just understand it all, at least enough to make an intelligent comment or two. I'll let you know how it goes.
- The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
A year ago, to everybody outside the Detroit indie scene, the White Stripes might have well been a tooth cleaning product. Now, everybody's up in their shit--even Gap wanted them for an ad. And it's all because of this album. The production sounds as if they held the recording sessions in a tin can, and the duo of scratchy guitar and clattering drums is raw and imperfect. But in a modern musicscape riddled with overproduced junk and underdeveloped talent, Meg and Jack White's gritty brand of garage rock filled with endless lyrical interpretations is somehow one of the few things that seems real, without really trying.
- The Strokes, Is This It?
As many times as I try, I can never pinpoint exactly what it is that makes me want to listen to this album over and over again. All I know is that when my friend Bobby put it on as we drove with the windows down in the freezing Kansas wind, I would have been happy to die right there. Maybe that will help you understand how damn good it is. Harsh, frantic and steeped in the smoke of the New York City club scene, the album's 12 tracks harbor no throwaways, skip-overs or filler. They may not be "the best rock band since the Rolling Stones," but they've come closer than anyone else in a long, long time.
- Rufus Wainwright, Poses
Take the son of a Canuck folk singer, give him the sleepy-sad voice of a jaded Broadway star and a penchant for Judy Garland, put him up in the Chelsea for a few months and see what happens. The result of this recipe for a heroin addiction is a brilliant recording equally populated with melancholy introspection and gorgeous outbursts of emotion. On the title track, Wainwright laments, "I did go from wanting to be someone/Now I'm drunk and wearing flip-flops on 5th Avenue." But instead of getting caught up in the muck, barbershop quartet background vocals come to his rescue and make his troubles melt like lemon drops, leaving behind a gorgeous combination of lyrics and melodies. Just like in the musicals.
Honorable Mention: N.E.R.D., In Search Of..., Death Cab for Cutie, The Photo Album, Atmosphere, Lucy Ford, Norah Jones, Come Away With Me, Clinic, Walking With Thee.
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