After years of hinting at the idea of doing my own personal list, I said screw it and decided to actually do it. This is based on a list I'm working on at rateyourmusic, working up on a top 200 but since that will probably take me forever as most of my projects do, I figure I should go ahead and post what's in my top 101. In the MB tradition it's only one album per artist.
Don't expect me to enlighten you with a lot of obscure stuff, granted there's some in here, but my taste is predominately mainstream and if my choices strike you as being incredibly predictable and conformist, well there's nothing I can do about that. I yam what I yam.
101. My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
No I'm not a big Costello fan, I personally lost interest after this album when he expressed greater punk rock leanings. This is a tremendous debut however, with Elvis sticking to what I feel he does best, his roots in rock n roll, r&B, doo wop and Beatles-esque melodies. He certainly has a gift for storytelling too, and goddamn is this guy mean.
Favorite tracks: Blame it on Cain, Alison, Less than Zero, Waiting for the End of the World.
100. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
What better way to start things off than to first set things straight? I DON'T hate all Indie, you'll find a suprising amount of it here. This is a band I
didn't want to like, with all the ridiculous hype around this album, I was expecting to be disappointed like always and use this as an excuse to further rant about the hopelessness of the modern Indie scene. Turns out I was wrong, about this album anyway. Usually when I think indie folk, I think unlistenable Syd Barrett-lite crap. Instead, I found a masterpiece of an album, that takes after the explorative side of folk. The music has both an ethereal yet familiar quality to it that I really love, I really love all the weird instruments they've managed to cram in there (horns, bagpipes, musical saws), the music compliments Magnums surreal lyrical imagery in ways Dylan only wish he could.
Favorite tracks: King of Carrot Flowers, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Two Headed Boy.
99. Grace - Jeff Buckley
So many great love songs on this album, and you know, it's very cliche to say Jeff Buckley had a voice of an angel, but I'm very much convinced that it's true, I don't mean that in just a "he's a very good singer" sense, I'm normally not the biggest fan of "technical" vocalists. But I can't think of another vocalist that can sing so beautifully and passionately, and sound completely inorganic at the same time. The music here is so insanely majestic, I don't know how anyone could not like it. If I had to choose, this would be my makeout album. So purty.
Favorite tracks: Mojo Pin, Grace, So Real, Hallelujah.
98. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
My Morning Jacket are my favorite modern Indie band, but when it comes to consistency I gotta give it to Wilco. It's one thing to be one of the remaining talented Indie bands of our time, it's another to put out one remarkable album after another. I could have easly gone with the psychedelic Summerteeth or the refined pop of a Ghost is Born. But I had to go with YHF. While most so called Indie pop groups continue to suck on the decaying tits of post punk, Wilco have found an amazing way to combine country, pop and psychedelia with Tweedy's imagery of love and war. Truly one of the great modern American bands. Points deducted however for influencing that godawful excuse of a band The National.
Favorite tracks: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kamera, Radio Cure, War on War.