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Jodi Shapiro's Chugchanga-L Poll 2001 Entry
I can't put Clinic on my list because it made my list last year,
ditto for Sigur Ros. Instead, enjoy the wierdness that is my 2001
list.
I sort of OD'ed on the electronic stuff this year, both beat-oriented
and non-beat oriented. Since I spent about 5 months out of this
year not working for real money but raher in the darkroom making
"art", having music around that shortened the hours was essential,
hence the heavy presence of experimental electronic stuff (I refuse
to call it IDM, dammit.)
No particular order because I can't think of a good way to order them
this year:
Albums
Low -- THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE (Kranky)
What a beautiful record. It's sparse in places, violent in others.
Bjork -- VESPERTINE (Elektra)
I was telling someone recently that if someone like Bjork can be
popular, get played on the radio, and still make records as
unconventional as this, then there's hope for mankind's musical
tastes after all.
Hazard -- WIND (Touch UK)
Yeah, it's based on field recordings of wind. Your point?
Gescom -- GESCOM (Warp UK)
On minidisc only, engineered for random shuffle play. I am guilty of
putting "Yo! DMX Crew" on repeat for hours at a time whilst in the
darkroom.
Autechre -- CONFIELD (Warp)
The other side of Gescom, as it were. These guys just get better and
better. I can't wait to hear the next one.
Hellfish -- MEAT MACHINE BROADCAST SYSTEM (Planet Mu UK)
Reminds me a whole lot of the shows I used to go to at The Fever as a
teen. Not so much in sound, but in feel. This whole disc sounds
like it was recorded in a club, with a boomin' bass and a feeling of
space. I can almost feel the bodies dancing next to me.
Radiohead -- AMNESIAC (Capitol)
See last year's comments about KID A.
The Avalanches -- SINCE I LEFT YOU (XL UK)
I have a friend named Steve who is always looking for a Summer Disc;
basically the album he will play to death in the summertime on the
way to work, at work, in the car. If I were given to such
tendencies, SINCE I LEFT YOU would be my Summer Disc. It's like
going to a loft party where five different DJ's are playing in
separate parts of the space. As you saunter through the place
looking for the pals you're supposed to meet there, you hear each DJ
doing his/her thing. You pick out snippets of what they're playing
and get these little "Aha!" moments, like "Hey, that's DEBBIE
REYNOLDS!" or "Oh man, I haven't heard this song in years." It's
kinda like nostalgia in a bottle. That's what listening to this
record is like. Someone gave me the demo version of this and it's a
little different, with more "Aha!" moments.
Sparklehorse -- IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Capitol)
Mark Linkous has a gentle soul, and he writes tender songs. Tender
like a skinned knee. Tender like a furtive first kiss. Both at the
same time. A rare feat, that.
Dumb Type -- MEMORANDUM (CCI Japan)
I probably played this record more than any other on this list. It
was a staple at work (when I actually had a job) and I copied it to
minidisc so I could listen to it in the darkroom. Dumb Type are a
Japanese (surprise!) artist collective. Memorandum is about memory
and recall, and it was an oddly fitting record for September.
The New Year -- NEWNESSENDS (Touch and Go)
Probably the most overtly rock record on my list, next to Lightning Bolt.
Edith Frost -- WONDER WONDER (Drag City)
She gets better with every album, songwriting-wise. This one sounds
so incredible, it only takes about two songs for me to get
misty-eyed. It's hard to be a tough bitch when Edith sings.
Spiritualized -- LET IT COME DOWN (Arista)
Is Jason clean now? Or has Jesus replaced heroin? Spiritualized's
gospel album, a record that I liked immediately but it took a few
weeks for it to blossom into a record I ended up thinking was better
than LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...which I had feared would be their
creative apex. Glad I was wrong.
Deltron 3030 -- DELTRON 3030 (75 Ark)
Gorillaz -- GORILLAZ (Virgin)
Made by the same people, sort of. Two different sides of the
12-sided die, as it were. I love Del, and if the Automator has
something to do with it, I'm there.
Squarepusher -- GO PLASTIC (Warp)
Every record Tom Jenkinson makes is different. This one is, I guess,
his ADD record. I really loved listening to this on the subway, for
which it is a fitting companion piece.
Toby Dammit -- TOP DOLLAR (Omplatten)
I have a confession to make: I want to play in Toby Dammit's band so
much it hurts. I see him at shows quite often (he's hard to miss, I
think) and am still too chicken to tell him personally. Instead, I
sort of stare at him and try to will him to look my way and say "Hey!
I need another drummer..." TOP DOLLAR is the beat record of the
year, I think. While Squarepusher has the electronic beats down to a
skittery science, Toby Dammit makes a record that humans (albeit 16
of them) could play live on actual percussion rather than computers.
Points for the Poe reference. Note to Mr. Dammit: I can play
guitar, singing saw, and several flavors of handheld drums.
Lightning Bolt -- RIDE THE SKIES (Load)
I have this habit of wearing sandals to rock shows in the summer. I
can't break myself of it because if there's one thing I can't fucking
stand it's sweaty socks. You'd think, after four consecutive summers
of broken pinky toes, that I would wear more protective footwear to a
show where the crowd tends to be active.
Learn from my mistakes: Lighting Bolt shows are the very worst place
to wear a pair of Birkenstocks. Their show at the Right Bank in
Williamsburg was one of the most violent shows I've ever been to. A
roiling sea of 24 year olds trying to mimic the salad days of CBGB.
Number of times I got smacked in the face: 4
Number of times I was targeted by another girl for abuse: 10+
Number of times a guy felt he had to protect me: 3
Number of times a guy tried to pick a fight with me: 1
Despite the violence in others, I ended up taking my aggressions out
on people as well, which in the end was very healthy for my psyche,
but not my poor little toes. I think if all the depressed people in
New York went to see Lightning Bolt, 85% of the shrinks here would be
out of business the next day.
Leafcutter John -- MICROCONTACT (Planet Mu UK)
Most of you have never heard of Leafcutter John. It's OK, really,
because then there's more of him for me. He's classified as IDM, but
really, he's wholly other. Tweaked field recordings, use of
"non-musician" musicians, stuff like that. Clearly the work of
someone who a) doesn't give a fuck what I (or you, or anyone) think
of his musical output and b) is very in touch with his surroundings,
MICROCONTACT is a record you really can't go wrong with if you're
into experimental electronics.
Aphex Twin -- DRUQKS (Warp/Sire)
Half RDJ doing the stuff he does best, and half these piano
instrumentals that I, for one, would like to hear more of.
Interesting stuff, not consistent at all (probably would have made a
killer single album) but a pretty lucid window into how his mind has
been working the past few years. Plus, you get to hear his mom
calling him for dinner and wishing him happy birthday.
Compilations/Reissues/other stuff
Doormouse -- THE ALBUM? (Massive)
V/A -- THE COSMIC FORCES OF MU (Planet Mu UK)
LiLiPUT 2XCD (Kill Rock Stars)
V/A -- RINGTONES (Touch UK)
YOUR FAVOURITE LONDON SOUNDS (LMC)
Seeing Kid 606 at 93 Feet East, London, on September 13th
Playing as burun in someone's loft in London on September 12th, and
getting a huge positive reaction (possibly because I was from New
York, but I hope it was because they liked my stuff.)
(Actually, playing *any* gig in 2001 was good. I finally got off my
ass and started playing regularly, breaking my tradition of "one gig
a year or die" to little tiny pieces. Now I play once a week and it's
incredibly fun and liberating.)
Singles
Missy Elliott -- "Get Ur Freak On"
bit_meddler -- "Shitmix 2000" (Planet Mu)
Nelly -- "Country Grammar"
Britney Spears -- "I'm A Slave For You" (Jive)
Rufus Wainwright -- "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" (Dreamworks)
Basement Jaxx -- "Where is Your Head At?" or whatever it's called,
the one with the manfaced monkeys in the video
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