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2001:
The Year in Music
Our Shoe's
Music and Lyrical
Lounge sections unite! Shoe's Music, ever the product
of Shawn Delaney, covers alternative rock and beyond. The
Lounge, brought to you "J-Ice" Jonathan Birdsong
and "The Queen" Oseye Boyd, among others, represent on hip-hop
and related genres.
For
2002, Shawn plans to play out frequently with his new band,
The
Shivers, Birdsong plans to add more bitches to his stable,
and Oseye plans to continue thinking that we all have problems.
Shoe's
Music 2001 Year in Review
2001 was
a year of highs and lows in music. The good was very very
good, but bad was the norm. As always you had to know where
to look. The dissolving of the majority of most US indie labels
over the past couple of years has left many worthy groups
without any US representation/distribution. This is a Bad
Thing, as we're having to wait months or even years for many
international releases, if we get them at all. Sigh… And,
for the first time in a long time, electronica seemed stagnant
to me. Maybe I'm getting too old or something. On to the countdown…
Top
Albums of 2001
Five albums kicked serious butt, and were head and shoulders
above the rest…
1. Idlewild
- "100 Broken Windows" -This is the drop-dead best album
to come along in eons. Every single track is sing-along super
catchy, without being sugary sweet. It doesn't get any closer
to perfect than this.
2. My
Vitriol - "Finelines" -Not yet released in the US (it hits
our shores in early '02), My Vitriol are the new kings of
poppy neo-shoegaze rock. Packed with terrific singles, "Finelines"
was a breath of fresh air this year.
3. The
Strokes - "Is This It" -This New York 5-piece overcame the
hype to deliver the goods with a low-fi masterpiece. Learn
it, live it, love it.
4. Remy
Zero - "The Golden Hum" -The third album from displaced Alabama-ites
Remy Zero is a soaring set of glossy Britpop-esque hits that
you don't want to miss.
5. Curve
- "Gift" -The seminal shoegazers return with a tour-de-force
of their brand of dancy noisepop.
But these were also very good…
6. The
Shins - "Oh, Inverted World"
7. Elbow - "Asleep in the Back"
8. Pernice Brothers - "The World Won't End"
9. Matthew Jay - "Draw"
10. Pulp - "We Love Life"
And the
Honorable Mentions:
Placebo - "Black Market Music" -Despite its US 2001 release,
I got this as an import well before the end of 2000, so I
have a hard time looking at it as a 2001 release.
The Faint - "Danse Macabre" -Retro 80's New Wave masters
Basement Jaxx - "Rooty" -This didn't quite stack up to their
first album (not much could), but it was the only electronica
release this year that held my attention.
Special
props go out for the release of the Ride box set, 3 disks
of the most glorious shoegaze rock ever recorded.
Top
Singles of 2001
1. "Always
Your Way" - My Vitriol
2. "Actually It's Darkness" - Idlewild
3. "Let Me Move On" - Gene
4. "Roseability" - Idlewild
5. "Juxtaposed With U" - Super Furry Animals
6. "Have a Nice Day" - Stereophonics
7. "Trouble" - Coldplay
8. "Letter From an Occupant" - New Pornographers
9. "Last Nite" - The Strokes
10. "Over the Rails and Hollywood High" - Remy Zero
Honorable
Mentions: "New Slang" - The Shins, "Romeo" - Basement Jaxx,
"Trees" - Pulp.
Really, you could pick almost any song on The Strokes album
and make a convincing argument for Best Single.
Band
of the Year: The Strokes
The Strokes came out of nowhere on a tidal wave of hype that
would have demolished a lesser group. When you've got the
tunes, look, and attitude that these guys do, it's a no brainer.
Best
Album Title: The Music "You Might As Well Try to Fuck
Me" EP. And he sings it "fook", making it that much cooler.
The Music also wins the coveted Least Creative Band Name
award.
Best
New Band Name: "Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia".
What can you say to that…
Most
Disappointing Albums: New Order - "Get Ready". The first
album in 8 years from England's venerable musical institution
was a mess of asinine lyrics and dull instrumentation. Obviously
many others have disagreed with me on this, but they're so
wrong.
Radiohead - "Amnesiac". I still don't know what they were
thinking when they made this steaming pile of poo. At least
the tour was good.
Most
Annoying Band: Brassy. Led by Jon Spencer's little sister,
Muffin, this is undoubtedly the worst and most annoying band
I've ever had the misfortune to see. Combine very poor musicianship
with white Brit hiphop fronted by a retarded cheerleader and
you've pretty much got it.
Best
Video: "Where's Your Head At" - Basement Jaxx. Also wins
Best Breakthrough with Monkeys. You have to see it
to believe it.
Lyrical
Lounge 2001 Year in Review
Top-Ten
Hip-Hop/Rap Albums Of 2001
1. Jay-Z
--- "Blueprint"
Album Of The Year!
2. Snoop
Dogg --- "The Last Meal"
Snoop back on top of his game!
3. Missy
"Misdemeanor" Elliot --- "Miss E...So Addictive"
A little R&B heavy, but enough hip-hop to get any party started
properly!
4. Tha
Liks --- "X.O. Experience"
Have you ever been experienced?
5. Outkast
--- "Stankonia"
Die-hard fans thought this one could've been better, but overall
it's an excellent record, which featured favorites like "Ms.
Jackson" & "So Fresh, So Clean."
6. Redman
--- "Malpractice"
Take a wild ride on the yet another solid album from Reggie
Noble.
7. Ghostface
Killah --- "Bulletproof Wallets"
While Nas & Jay-Z, battle it out for the King Of New York
title, The Wally Champ dropped another gem that mirrored the
success of "Supreme Clientele." If Ghost keeps delivering
hot sh*t like this, people will be saying who's the King Of
New York again?
8. Jay-Z
--- "The Dynasty: Roc La Familia"
The first of two excellent albums from the Jiggaman. The Dynasty
is a hot-one-4sho, but its more of a compilation featuring
Jay, Sigiel and Bleek. A lot of club/radio joints on this
one, mixed with some "indastreet" sh*t for the thugs!
9. Tupac
--- "Until The End Of Time"
Jadakiss once said that, "dead rappers get better promotion."
But, this one would've had a greater impact if Pac was still
alive. It's been over 4 years and hip-hop is still missing
his presence. Though most of the songs on "Until The End Of
Time" are cuts that Pac didn't see fit to release in the first
place, the success of this record, also beggars the question,
"Was Tupac the greatest rapper of all time?"
10. Jadakiss
--- "Kiss Tha Game Goodbye"
With the bangin' singles, "We Gonna Make It" & "Knock Yourself
Out," Jada proved any doubters wrong that he couldn't hold
it down on a solo creep. He also found time to trade verbal
jabs & dis's against The R.O.C.
Artist Of The Year: Snoop Dogg
Nobody had a bigger year than Snoop Dogg! "The Last Meal"
featured some of his best work since "Doggystyle." Snoop also
managed to spearhead yet another successful Snoop & Tha Eastsidaz
project as well as executive producing solid efforts from
Doggy's Angels & Bad Azz. He made appearances on the sitcoms
"Just Shoot Me, "King Of The Hill" and an unforgettably funny
Q&A with Craig Kilborn on the "Late Late Show." If that's
not enough to be considered Artist Of the Year, he also had
minor rolls in the movies "Baby Boy," "Training Day," costarred
with Dr. Dre in "The Wash" & even played a Candyman like ghoul
in "Bones." Snoop shouldn't stop rappin' just yet...Tom Hanks
or Denzell Washington he is not. However, as an overall entertainer
Snoop Dogg has a universal appeal.
Best
New Artist: Fabolous
This highly talented & touted MC picked-up where Mase left
off. He doesn't athletically rhyme as slow as the former Bad
Boy, but there style & lyrical content mirror one another.
Fabolous gets the BNA nod, primarily due to his "born-to-do-it"
attitude. Fab's a natural. Many rappers have talent, but some
of them aren't naturally gifted, where words just spill out
of there mouth. Now, if we could only get him to spell his
name correctly?
Break
Through Artist: Nate Dogg
The "king-of-hooks" made quite a name for himself in 2001
making himself more accessible by working with a variety of
artist. He kept it gangsta with his regular patna's in rhyme
(Warren G, Snoop, Kurupt, Tha Eastsidaz..etc) but he also
collabed with the likes of Mos Def & Pharoah Monch on "Oh
No," with Ludacris on "Area Codes" and probably his biggest
hit "Can't Deny It" with Fabolous. He also found time to drop
his sophomore album, "Music & Me," which features a few noteworthy
bangers. Bottom line....if Nate wasn't singing the hook on
your record....then you didn't have a hit!!
Comeback
Artist Of The Year: Puffy...Puffy Daddy....P. Diddy
Give it up to Puff, when he says, "We ain't goin' nowhere...we
can't be stopped" he really means it. For most of the year
Puff battled back from breaking up with J-Lo, evading jail
time & lawsuits from the shooting incident with Shyne and
even a name crisis. Do you call him Puff? Puffy? Puff Daddy?
Or Poppa Diddy Pop as Ben Stiller exclaimed! Some even call
him Shiny Suit Man!! Regardless of what you call him---he
is successful and he made a worthy comeback this year. Losing
the lovely Jennifer Lopez is enough to make a man stop dead
in his tracks. But, not the driven Sean Combs. In the face
of adversity he flooded the airwaves with his signature versions
of hip-hop, R&B and pop muisc.
Producer
Of The Year: The Neptunes
The Neptunes ruled the airwaves in 2001, lacing tracks for
(seemingly) every artist on the planet. EVERY ARTIST ON THE
PLANET! From Britney, Tha Liks, No Doubt, Ice Cube, Busta
Rhymes, Fabolous, N'Sync, Usher, Jay-Z, Royce Da 5'9", Mary
J. Blige, Philly's Most Wanted, Ray J, Mystikal, T.I., The
Clipse, Jadakiss..etc. 2002 looks even bigger for Tunes as
they are primed to release there own album, "N.E.R.D...In
Search Of" which is promised to be a blend of psychedelic
rock & hip-hop.
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