meatee.com

meatee.songs: The ’00s

meatee — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:32:43 +0000

Okay, so a couple of days ago I posted my “Songs That Rock” of the past decade, and I may not have been too clear on the meaning of the list. I believe, just from what I have in my personal collection, that those were the strongest true ‘rock’ songs from each year. This list, however, is much more broad, and is my list of favorites from the decade–regardless of genre.

Again, this list comes from my personal music collection, so there are probably some amazing songs I completely missed. Let me know in the comments!

2000 - Nothing As It Seems
from the Pearl Jam album “Binaural”
2001 - Comptine d’un autre été : l’après-midi
from the Yann Tiersen soundtrack album for the movie “Amélie”
2002 - My Tornado
from the Raveonettes album “Whip It On” *Debut Album Pick*
2003 - Anesthesia
from the Type O Negative album “Life Is Killing Me”
2004 - Sugarless
from the Autolux album “Future Perfect” *Debut Album Pick*
2005 - Every Day Is Exactly The Same
from the Nine Inch Nails album “With Teeth”
2006 - Vicarious
from the TOOL album “10,000 Days”
2007 - The Dress
from the Blonde Redhead album “23″
2008 - Kim & Jessie
from the M83 album “Saturdays=Youth”
2009 - Omen
from the Prodigy album “Invaders Must Die”

Special Jury Prize – Aireline – local band of the decade
I really wish things would have went differently for these guys. Other (and in my opinion, lesser) bands from the same Murfreesboro scene went on to sign record contracts (with varying levels of success), but for whatever reason that never quite panned out for Aireline. Every now and then I’ll put on Ocean Songs, or the Winter Song EP, and wonder about what could have been. They were, without question, my favorite local band ever. It’s a damn shame, I tell ya’s!

Songs That Rock: The ’00s

meatee — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:35:23 +0000

I decided to take a look at what albums I have that were released during the last decade, and I discovered something: there aren’t that many that really just ‘rocked.’ The decade was pretty dominated by a more subdued ‘indie’ sound (if the ’90s was the ‘alternative’ decade, the ’00s was certainly the ‘indie’ decade).

Looking at what I have, here are 10 songs–one from each year–that I thought really kept rock alive. It’s sad to say that most of these bands didn’t actually get started in the ’00s (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have the honor of being my only pick from a debut album), but in the end we had to leave it to the elder statesmen to really keep things rocking properly.

We start the list off with a last gasp of the ’90s (and one of my all-time favorite Pumpkins songs), and end the list with one of the very few bands that have kept rock alive for the past 3 decades (it’s hard to listen to “Anti-Orgasm” and then remember that Kim Gordon is older than both of my parents.)

2000 - Stand Inside Your Love
from the Smashing Pumpkins album “MACHINA/The Machines of God”
2001 - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
from the White Stripes album “White Blood Cells”
2002 - First It Giveth
from the Queens of the Stone Age album “Songs for the Deaf”
2003 - Man
from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album “Fever to Tell”
2004 - Unlucky
from the StarFlyer 59 album “I Am the Portuguese Blues”
2005 - The Fox
from the Sleater-Kinney album “The Woods”
2006 - Comatose
from the Pearl Jam album “Pearl Jam”
2007 - Erase/Replace
from the Foo Fighters album “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace”
2008 - Living Well Is the Best Revenge
from the R.E.M. album “Accelerate”
2009 - Anti-Orgasm
from the Sonic Youth album “The Eternal”

Special Jury Prize – Them Crooked Vultures – entire debut album
This album alone is evidence enough that rock will never die, and there is hope for the decade ahead. But once again, it’s up to the elder statesmen to show the kids how it’s done.

I’m sure you think I’m totally wrong about the past decade, and maybe I am, but I’m getting older and I’m perpetually stuck in the ’90s musically. (“Back in my day, rock music was blah blah blah…”)

Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments!

Most-Listened-To: Starflyer 59′s “Old”

meatee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:39:45 +0000

In my opinion, Starflyer 59 is the most under-appreciated band in the history of music. And with 11 full-length albums plus a plethora of EPs and singles released since 1993, they’re also one of the hardest-working. I really don’t understand why they aren’t selling out arenas to millions of adoring fans; it just doesn’t make good sense.

Released in 2003, “Old” represented a return-to-form for the band, containing some of their strongest guitar work since 1997′s “Americana.”

Although I thoroughly enjoy everything Starflyer 59 has put out during their career, “Old” has consistently been my album of choice since its release. It expertly combines the shoegaze sound of their first 3 albums with the more indie-rock influenced sound of the second 3. For my money, this is Starflyer’s most enjoyable record, and that’s saying a lot from someone who loves everything they’ve ever done.

So, if you have an equal fascination for shoegaze and indie-rock, you simply cannot go wrong with this album, and that’s why it is one of my most-listened-to.

Highlights include: “Underneath,” “A Kissing Song,” “Unbelievers,” “First Heart Attack”

Starflyer 59 - Underneath

Most-Listened-To Albums

meatee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:08:30 +0000

Every so often, music magazines, rock historians and random websites like to put out their list of the “greatest albums of all-time.” Many times, these lists end up with mostly the same results, with the only real variation being the ranking order. While I do enjoy a lot of the albums that make these kinds of lists, many times I think some of the choices are there simply because they are “supposed” to be there because of their historical significance, not because the writer actually enjoys and listens to them on a regular basis.

So, instead of wasting time talking about how “significant” an album is and creating the same old list everyone else makes, I decided to create my personal list of Most-Listened-To albums. Some of the albums on my list undoubtedly do make the “greatest albums” lists, because they truly are great to listen to, but some of them have never seen the light of day on a rock historian’s list. They aren’t ground-breaking and they aren’t particularly significant; they’re just worth listening to. And in the end, that’s all that really matters.

From time to time, I will present to you one of my most-listened-to albums, and I’ll try my best to convince you as to why it would be worth your while to give it a shot.