Also, it seems like people who have heard that Rival Schools record Dalen posted on page 1 either love or hate it. I'm in the former and am glad I was able to catch them live two years ago.

For the record, the debate over these albums' presence on CMJ's year-end 'best of' list is essentially what got me involved in the forums. Pete was my #2 that year (probably still top five), and the Jimmy Eat World album has aged pretty well for me.

Those were def. two biggies for me at the time.

Lemme guess, the "you don't understand I just like music more than you do" crowd didn't like them?

Yes, and choosing them over The Argument was pretty much sacrilege.

On first listen, this didn't really give me what I wanted from Nick. But, over the years, this has aged remarkably well; I guess that I have mellowed into the vibe, myself. Nobody can accuse Nick of being a lazy songwriter, each and every tune on here is beautifully crafted. And some of the songs on here have become personal classics: "She's Got Soul", "Has She Got a Friend?", "Let's Stay in and Make Love". And then the 2 cover songs on here are performed so tenderly that they may as well be originals: "Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart" is particularly affecting. Just a great album from an aging master, continuing to find his own voice, as the years roll on.

Uh oh. Are we pretentious douchebags if we didn't like/listen to/care about either of those artists/albums?

Not as such. It's when one shows genuine signs of outrage at their inclusion on a professional publication's list that pretense and douchebaggery come into play. Of course, CMJ/Obner wouldn't be the same without them.

edit: grammar

People show equal or greater outrage over stuff from the "other side" as well. But as you say...

Creeping Jesus, if you've never heard Handcuffed To A Fence In Mississippi or The Wound That Never Heals (just to pick 2), you are in for a good time with that album. Absolute genius from start to finish.

I remembered this driving home last night, but forgot to post this morning...thanks for having a more efficiently functioning brain than me, Sketchy C!

He still hasn't really come close to matching this, though every one of his subsequent albums has had its moments - some more than others.

Every track is fantastic, especially the aforementioned two. For good measure I'll throw in Ten Miles to Go on a Nine Mile Road. to complete the trifecta.

The Wound That Never Heals - fucking great Murder Ballad.

I LOVE that album, BUT Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You Find is JW's true masterwork. A solid, solid contender for album of THE DECADE.

That Beechwood Sparks, damn just listened to it for the first time in a long time a couple of weeks ago and it held up well. That album sparked me onto lots of great artists at the time.

I'd be hard-pressed to objectively pick one over the other myself, and still listen to both of them regularly, but if you put a gun to my head, other than shitting my pants, I'd go for No Such Place.

I feel like lots of people have probably heard this record but then again, it's not something that a lot of people here would really seek out.

Welch already had 2 albums of her Appalachian folk stylings under her belt when the "O Brother Where Art Thou" sound track exposed her to the world in 2000. I think it ended up being a double edged sword because it exposed her to so many people but that soundtrack was EVERYWHERE that year and I think by the time this came out a lot of people had fatigue from this type of music.

That said, I think this is her and David Rawlings finest hour. The title track is just sublime and clocks in at over 6 minutes and is maybe the best things she's ever done. It's firmly rooted in the past but the guitar work and harmonies still feel of the moment. Her and Rawlings are just made to make music together.

The final song "I Dreamed A Highway" is the shortest 14 minute song I've ever heard. I never want it to end.

What Bob said.

Big swing and a miss on my part. Great record.

Man, how I love both Music For the Morning After and The Argument.

This now defunct Detroit quartet weren't exactly straight outta the garage. Imagine what sort of records Brian Wilson would have made if he had been chasing the Stones and Syd Barrett instead of McCartney and The Beatles.



Pernice Brothers meets Brill Bldg with vibes and trumpet



Stonesy tex-mex melancholy. Love it. The one I reach for most.




Sadly underrated, unappreciated American songwriter. Check out White Winos




Kick ass alt-country record. Dan Baird and Eric "Roscoe" Ambel play da rock n roll



Not as good as later releases, but still has that spaghetti, surf, bluegrass, rock elements.




Former V-roys. Great songwriting



Pennsylvania dutch country alt-country bluegrass, but with GREAT songs. They'd make for a great double bill with The Gourds



Spaced out, laidback instrumental pedal steel music. Great to have on while drinking beer in the hot sun. John Neff is now in Drive by Truckers.



RIYL : Ron Sexsmith
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Guilty pleasure picks


Sam Phillips - Fan Dance



Webb Bros - Maroon



Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows



Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

Totally forgot about that Japancakes album...we used to zone out to that fucker a lot.

And Derris, I don't know if it's you or Loogs or both that turned me on to that Welch album but it's a long time favorite for sure.

This was my next one to post. The V-Roys never quite lived up to their potential, but they might have if they had this collection of songs to work with.

Off the top of my head:

Merzbow-Mazk: One of my favorite Merzbow sets that I have heard. A couple more dynamic shifts than usual from him which breaks up the noise assault nicely. Very cool digital noise from a time when using digital tools (hard to believe only ten years ago) to make this type of music was a big step out from the manipulation of circuit bending of analog gear.

Pan Sonic-Altopiirie: This is a far cry from Kesto, but still a nice collage of heavy low end (this thing fucking rumbles on vinyl with good speakers), minimal meldoy, and simple drum loops. Has made for a great sample source for me over the years.

Boredoms-Vision Creation Newsun: This is a monster of a drum record that. Still have never heard anything else like it and ten years later the thing blows my mind every time I put it on.

Autechre-Confield: Probably one of the best examples to date of how ridiculously weird "pop" music can become.

Labradford-Fixed;Content: I think this was my introduction to Kranky as I had just started ventruing away from downtempo/electronica into more experimental tones. Still a very pretty record.

Nurse With Wound-Funeral Music for Pereze Prado: I think NWW are one of the most underappreciated bands of the past few decades. This record, in my opinion, really laid the foundation for bands like Gang Gang Dance to expand "no-wave" into what it would later become.

Wolf Eyes-s/t: I think this is the first time Wolf Eyes actually popped up on a legitimate CD release. There was so much promise in this record (and honestly in their first six years or so), where the noise could be pinpointed. There was some subtle groove, the theatrics were fun, very much a giant fuck you to how music was supposed to be played. Not as harsh as later releases, for fans of Beaches and Canyons era Black Dice or OOIOO.

Also have to agree with the posting of Pelt, Unwound, NNCK, O'Rourke, and Fugazi for sure. All of those records are great and have stood up really well to time (though it hasn't been *that* long I guess)

This was a really great year now that I start to think about it.

YES, CHAMPALE! One of those albums that continues to improve with age. I like it more every time I listen to it.

Ron's finest BY FAR. Fantastic production by Steve Earle!

Webb Brothers would have made my list, but it's technically considered a 2000 release. Still, just a PHENOMENAL album.

fuck me, i thought Agaetis Byrjun was 1999

I have that Boredoms album listed as '99 in my RYM, but I guess the US release was '01? Great album. Rebore Vol. 0, the album where Eye remixes this whole thing came out in 2001 which I'm sure you know is great.

Love Confield, maybe not quite as much as I used to. Really cool record though in that I kind of hated it the first few times I heard it. Totally confounding and not what I was expecting from them. Over time I totally got into it, and what they were doing there totally started to click with. One of those records that changed how I hear music. Always a cool experience.

I've never heard that Wolf Eyes album, but your description makes it sound like I definitely need to. I have Dread and Slicer which also came out in 2001, and I like both of those records a lot. Pretty amazing that they could put out three records of such high quality that are so significantly different from each other in the same year.