Ben Folds is one of the most gifted musicians in the world. His piano playing is outstanding and his vocals are pure and beautiful. The lyrics contain perfect humor and he truly knows how to write hit songs. Still Fighting It, Fred Jones pt. 2 and The Luckiest are the best of the best on this album. Folds is also an excellent performer live. He's got funny jokes and his playing is phenomenal. An example of his outstanding sense of humor is his cover version of Dr. Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit. It's not on this album though. It feels wrong to place an album this good on the tenth place, but the list is just too amazing this year! Rockin' the Suburbs is a perfect album with beauty, skill, humor and excellent songwriting. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Björk is undoubtedly the most well-known Icelandic artist. Her beautiful and personal voice sores ominously above alternative sounding melodies and sounds. There's something dream-like and otherworldly in her songs. Vespertine is in my opinion her best album. The whole atmosphere is beautiful and sounds like nothing else. The album cover is beautiful featuring artist herself and a swan. i guess this inspired her to wear the much criticised swan dress, which I actually quite like. It says a lot about this artist. There are a lot of electronic sounds, but still the album sounds organic in a way. This is excellent music for cold and dark winter nights. Just light up the candles and put this on. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Turin Brakes is one of the best dream folk acts in the world. Harmonic singing and beautiful melodies give me the shivers in a good way every time. Their first album sounds organic with a little more than acoustic guitars, some strings and absolutely fantastic vocals. This album does not have any dull moments, but the first two tracks are in my opinion the highlights of the album. On their later albums the duo went for a more produced sound with a lot more instruments. That was in my opinion a mistake. Even though those albums are fairly good as well, they don't have the same beautiful atmosphere. The guitar solo in Underdog (Save Me) and contra bass in By the TV Light are absolutely beautiful. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Whenever I talk to anyone about Air, they say that their favorite album is Moon Safari. To me Air's most electronic album 10,000Hz Legend is their greatest piece of work. It features an innovative band which combines personal sounds to deranged pop melodies. The lyrics are weird and humorous in places. The album doesn't have a single track that wouldn't be nostalgic to me. Also a thing I like about this album is its more melancholic sound compared to other more pop-filled albums. For those of you, who have just heard other Air albums, I must say that this album sounds a lot different from the rest. This is excellent music to be listened to alone in the dark or in the rain. Absolutely brilliant album! Listen to the album on Spotify.
Ryan Adams has made a great number of brilliant albums, but in my opinion, Gold is the best of the lot. It's got beautiful ballads featuring Adams' outstanding vocals, it's got up-beat country songs that make you nod your head along and most of all, it's got brilliant compositions from one of the best songwriters in the 2000's. New York, New York, Firecracker, La Cienega Just Smiled, Goodnight Hollywood Blvd and just about every song on the album is a classic. Adams is not the nicest person out there. He's arrogant and despises people who confuse him with Brian Adams. but his songs are just absolutely brilliant and for that reason I can't really say anything bad about this guy. Alt-country at its best! Listen to the album on Spotify.
I've said it before and I say it again: the Swedes know how to make music! The Soundtrack of Our Lives plays energetic rock with psychedelic spices. This third album of theirs is by far the greatest piece they've conjured. It's got excellent hit songs, to name a few: Infra Riot, Sister Surround, Nevermore and The Flood. In Your Veins is a beautiful ballad. Ebbot Lundberg's fatty-Jesus appearance and rough sound in his voice make this band rock harder than many others. I've seen them live about six times and every time they've been bloody brilliant! Their other albums have terrific songs in them, but this outstands them all. The faces in the cover give the final nice touch to this great album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Strokes was probably the most celebrated album of the year by most critics. And with a good reason. The Strokes really started something new and thousands of bands followed. They took lo-fi indie rock with post-punk influences to the mainstream. They also caused a scene with their album cover, which was banned on the US market. They made an alternative cover which wasn't as provocative. The hippocrites in the US didn't like the song New York City Cops either and it was excluded from the US version. The Strokes know how to rock and the sounds are truly credible with great rough vocals, up-beat guitars and lo-fi sounds. They also started a new fashion. Or at least you might say that, because just few years after the release of this debut album, just about every hipster looked like them. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I've shocked many true Radiohead fans by telling them that in my opinion Amnesiac is their best album. I'm not sure whether it beats OK Computer, but to me Amnesiac has been the most listened to album and a true inspiration. Electronic and originally inventive sounds, excellent songwriting and melancholic mood make this an absolutely brilliant album. This album actually just gets better with every song you listen to. Like Spinning Plates and Life In a Glass House in the very end are in my opinion the best songs in there. Some people don't like Radiohead, because they say it's too whiny. That is excactly why I like this band. The best music comes from melancholy and this album has plenty of it. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I used to love The White Stripes more than any other band at some point. They defined the cool for me. In fact I only bought new clothes in red, white and black for a while. This duo defined again what garage rock is all about. Fuzzy guitars and heavy drumming give a fantastic backgroud to Jack White's outstanding singing voice which was just rough enough at the time of this album which is undeniably their best. Every single song is a masterpiece. It's spectacular that you can produce a sound like this by just playing guitar, drums and singing. It's a shame that The White Stripes started to produce their sound into more studio-like sound, 'cause this music just rocks the best in this way! Listen to the album on Spotify.
The number one of this year was a surprise to me, but when I listened to these albums after a long time I had to confess to myself that this is the dearest album to me from 2001. Super Furry Animals have excellent songs on their other albums, but on this one, everything just falls into place. There are influences from numerous genres, but the main sound is just this endearing brit-pop spiced up with psychedelic sounds and hilarious lyrics. The endings of Receptacle for the Respectable and No Sympathy are purely weird, but they work. The album cover art is phenomenal! I can't deny it, This album is pure brilliance! Super Furry Animals must be the best thing that Wales has given to the world. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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