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Bob McCarthy's Chugchanga-L Poll 2001 Entry


Favorite Record of the Year:

Moldy Peaches, The Moldy Peaches (Sanctuary)

No, really.

19 other good ones:

Ass Ponys, Lohio (Checkered Past)
Basement Jaxx, Rooty (Astralwerks)
Belle and Sebastian, Sing Jonathan David (Matador)
Clem Snide, The Ghost of Fashion (spinArt)
Danielson Famile, Fetch the Compass Kids (Secretly Canadian)
Donnas, The Donnas Turn 21 (Lookout)
Bob Dylan, Love and Theft (Columbia)
Holly Golightly, Singles Round-Up (Damaged Goods)
Guided By Voices, Isolation Drills (TVT)
Handsome Family, Twilight (Carrot Top)
The Langley Schools Music Project, Innocence and Despair (Bar/None)
Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus (Matador)
New Order, Get Ready (Warner Brothers)
Old 97's, Satellite Rides (Elektra/Asylum)
Rainer Maria, A Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl)
Various Artists, The Source Presents Hip Hop Hits Vol. 5 (Uptown/Universal)
Loudon Wainwright III, Last Man on Earth (Red House)
White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Lucinda Williams, Essence (Lost Highway)

Honorable Mention:
Clientele - Suburban Light
Belle and Sebastian - I'm Waking Up to Us
Rufus Wainwright - Poses
Bonny Billy - More Revery
The Strokes - Is This It (UK Pressing with "New York City Cops")
Tricky - Blowback
Pernice Brothers - The World Won't End

Masterpieces from last year I didn't hear til this year (same old story):
White Stripes - De Stilj
New Pornographers - Mass Romantic (the best album I heard in 2001, but 6
people voted for it in 2000, so I guess it's ineligible)

Comments:

Moldy Peaches, The Moldy Peaches (Sanctuary)
Childish, vulgar, incompetent, etc . Also, sweet, hilarious, and catchy. An
emotional direct hit for me. Full of surprises.

Ass Ponys, Lohio (Checkered Past)
More Cincinnati gothic. Powdered sugar trees, babies in jars, Donald
Sutherland in The Day of The Locusts. Best song is "Kung Fu Reference" which
taps their talent for writing really funny, really sad songs.

Basement Jaxx, Rooty (Astralwerks)
Take 80's dance-pop, mix with 90's dance-pop. Add a little Prince. = Best
dance-pop record of the 00's so far.

Belle and Sebastian, Sing Jonathan David (Matador)
I was disappointed by their full length in 2000, but here's one of two very
nice EP's which could be a return to form. Best song: "Take Your Carriage
Clock and Shove It". Way to go all Johnny Paycheck on us, twee kids.

Clem Snide, The Ghost of Fashion (spinArt)
Despite the occasional bad jokes and feelings of smarminess, this record,
like their previous outings, is full of sadness, anger, and warmth. The TV
show "ED" uses "Moment in the Sun", but they cut it before Eef goes into his
REALLY annoying country whine.

Danielson Famile, Fetch the Compass Kids (Secretly Canadian)
They're still keeping the faith. Their records haven't been as immediately
appealing of late, but sit down with this one and let their weird
spirituality crawl over you. It's creepy and rewarding.

Donnas, The Donnas Turn 21 (Lookout)
Uh-oh, they're old enough to drink! Same basic needs: food, sex, Judas
Priest. They're getting kind of annoyed with the creepy guys "three times"
their age, but luckily I'm not even two times!

Bob Dylan, Love and Theft (Columbia)
The old master at play. This is a sly and charming record where he channels
everyone from 40's crooners to himself circa '65.

Holly Golightly, Singles Round-Up (Damaged Goods)
I'm not sure if her normal full-lengths hold together but she sure can belt
out catchy guitar-pop ("Virtually Happy") and has excellent taste in covers
(Pavement, Lee Hazelwood and a scary Ike Turner tune).

Guided By Voices, Isolation Drills (TVT)
Let's face it, they'll probably never make a record like Bee Thousand
again. And yes, I'd like to see Bob Pollard take a year off and see what he
could come up with instead of putting out records every few hours. But this
one has "Glad Girls" (holy shit that's catchy) and "Fair Touching" which
approaches classic GBV in tone and "The Brides Have Hit Glass" and "How's My
Drinking?" which actually make Bob sound (gulp) grown up.

Handsome Family, Twilight (Carrot Top)
I think Rennie Sparks is one of the best lyricists around. Her world is
filled with birds, especially dead ones. A scary place indeed, until hubby
Brett deeply intones the hymn "I Know You Are There" (although I'm not sure
if it that's God he's praising) and the animals take back their world on
"Peace In The Valley Once Again".

The Langley Schools Music Project, Innocence and Despair (Bar/None)
Hey, this band can't play either! Ok, they have an excuse. Man, I was in
elementary school when this was recorded and I never had a cool teacher like
Hans Fenger. I'm sure it was his idea to have all the Beach Boys songs,
which perfectly suit the odd but mesmerizing arrangements. It was probably
the kids' idea to have "Mandy" and "Wildfire", which are pretty good too.

Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus (Matador)
Most of it sounds like Pavement which is OK by me. However, "Jo-Jo's Jacket"
really indulges his odd lyrical bent and "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" showcases
both his snarky humor and his sweet side which I haven't heard too much
before. Nice.

New Order, Get Ready (Warner Brothers)
Still kinda cold, now kinda old. Guitars! Ends with an acoustic (!) ballad.
A pleasant surprise.

Old 97's, Satellite Rides (Elektra/Asylum)
This is pretty commercial. It's not country, it's not even alt-country. It's
pop, and Rhett Miller is a very good pop songwriter.

Rainer Maria, A Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl)
Pretentious, overwrought, "college-rock", fer chrissake. They're getting
better, and it gets me every time in spite of myself.

Various Artists, The Source Presents Hip Hop Hits Vol. 5
(Uptown/Universal)
I bought it because my wife likes "Let Me Blow Your Mind". I've listened to
it many times over the last few weeks because it's the most consistent rap
album I've ever heard. It's a singles game, folks.

Loudon Wainwright III, Last Man on Earth (Red House)
Old, cranky, still doubting himself. Much of it is about his Mom, and the
one where he reminisces about getting drunk with her really cuts deep.

White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Consider this also a belated vote for 2000's De Stilj a slightly better
record. This one is more ambitious, but it only occasionally leads to dead
spots. "Hotel Yorba" is a lot of fun and who would've thought that Jack
would write the best Paul McCartney imitation of the year ("We Are Gonna Be
Friends")?

Lucinda Williams, Essence (Lost Highway)
Not as good as some of her previous efforts, but I cannot resist that lazy,
shaky, heartbroken drawl.

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