Pitchfork Top 20 Albums of 2001 Poll

beta band or prefuse

CanOx duh

at the time, I would have voted Is This It? but with hindsight I'm going for Confield.

unwound

cann ox is pretty bad tho i like vast aire now

Dear Lord, what a list...

cann ox is pretty bad

They're no Beta Band

lol at Jess's favorite Sting album (I like the single but shit gets snooozy).

Fugazi all the way but honorable mentions for D-Plan and Strokes.

avalanches by far

voting for Circulatory System cuz it still gets some burn in my car, which is more than I can say for most of these albums. next up would be Change, which has some career highlights on it but is kind of a weak album on the whole.

I was totally into The Glow, Pt. 2 for about a year, but I can't remember the last time I listened to even a single track from it. ditto Leaves Turn Inside You, although I don't think I would mind hearing it again.

It's either The Cold Vein, Confield or Amnesiac for me, but probably one of the first two. I really don't listen to any of the three very often, and I wouldn't listen to the rest of that shit on a dare.

i forgot about confield i like that cd

& avalanches tho its pretty grating now

<I>Mass Romantic</i>!

That's a pretty bad year for music. Much better for film though.

not been on ilm long have u

the ilx truth is that 2001 was a year of towering achievement in popular music

They're no Beta Band

-- Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, August 4, 2007 6:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

weirdo hall & oates lite rock with fake timbaland beats >>> wannabe nerd-rap version of group home with cat-walking-on-a-keyboard beats

Avalanches FTW

& avalanches tho its pretty grating now

-- and what, Saturday, August 4, 2007 3:53 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Say what now?!

FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU FLIGHT TWO TWO IS OFF TO HONOLULU!!!!!

no killer bassline can excuse that

was hall & oates ever as sleepy as the beta band?

avalanches was always grating.

Avalanches.....in a landslide.

ethan is crazy, and its not like 'flight 2-2' is playing thru the whole song, its just an intro!

Strokes in a landslide. Rock album of the decade so far.

avalanches reminds me of that old dk post where he says kanye sounds like hes rapping an emoticon after every line- first nigga with a benz and a backpack ;-) and a white man get paid off all of that :`(

Avalanches makes me wonder what ever happened to the invisible scratch picklez

or stereo mcs

2001 was a music year to be ranked alongside 1979, 1988, 1994 as one of the finest in the past 30 years.

2001 albums
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/djmartian/2001_albums

2001
http://members.aol.com/MelCaramel/2001.html

Stop it.

invisble scratch piklz had songs?

Hip-hop isn't real hip-hop unless it has "Sc-sc-sc-scratch perverts" at the start of the MP3 rip

I love the wheat Chex in party mixes!

I think White Blood Cells is the only one (that I've heard, which is about 2/3) that I wouldn't just dismiss off-hand, so I guess it wins by default.

kinda strange that the early '00s seem more dated and irrelevant than any section of the '90s

It's really kind of crazy how underrated "Leaves Turn Inside You" often seems to be, presence on this list notwhithstanding. Best Who album ever recorded by a bunch of Fugazi/Sonic Youth lovers, and not a month goes by that I don't regret the timing of Unwound's breakup.

Only quibble is that the last song on Side 1 is too good, and should have ended Side 2 instead. I suspect this CD missed a large part of its target audience because it was a sharp break w/what came before.

These were the days when PFM didn't much like black music.

Is This It? and Fugazi my favorites.

I've only even heard 3 of the options and haven't listened to any of them in at least a couple years. Dismemberment Plan would be the sentimental favorite that get my vote, though. The funny thing is that once when I tried to figure out my favorite albums of this decade I think more albums were from '01 than any other year, but this was also the year after I wrote for Pitchfork and I do remember being especially confused by their shitty taste then more than most other years. It was also the year I first came to ILM and was confused by the shitty taste that continues to be evidenced in this thread.

dismemberment plan fan throwing stones

not saying it's anywhere near my favorite record of that year, just that it beats the played out Strokes and Radiohead albums I did hear, and I've really never been down with all that Beta Band/Avalanches/Fennesz/Prefuse 73/Cannibal Ox type shit that was supposed to sound 'futuristic' or capture some corny indie zeitgeist 6 years ago.

if anything, the d-plan are way more played out than the strokes.

Only quibble is that the last song on Side 1 is too good, and should have ended Side 2 instead. I suspect this CD missed a large part of its target audience because it was a sharp break w/what came before.

Side 1 and 2? It's a 2xLP, so do you mean the last song on the first record? I'm trying to remember what song that is...but yeah, Leaves Turn Inside You is somehow STILL underrated. My favorite Unwound album.

I'm still going to vote for The Glow Pt. 2, because the Microphones tend to be hated on so much by ILM.

"The Moon" has a cool saxophone hook, can't remember anything else on The Glow having anything.

I will never understand anyone who hates on the Dismemberment Plan

I'm not really into the vocals.

I used to like d-plan, they're basically unlistenable now.

Mass Romantic is my vote.

it never really occurred to me that the Plan's vocals might be annoying or bad or whatever. then again, I was totally shocked when I learned that people have trouble getting into XTC because of the vocals, so maybe I'm just totally lacking some crucial part of my brain.

In hindsight, it is amazing how often Travis goes "yeah yeah yeeeaaaah"

basement jaxx

oh right.

aaliyah s/t.

Live At Dominoes is still one of the best things ever

I kind of want to hear all 20 of these albums now. And rank them.

LIVEBLOG LIVEBLOG LIVEBLOG LIVEBLOG

I voted for 'Mass Romantic', but 'Hot Shots II', 'White Blood Cells', 'Is This It' were good albums too.

endless summer > since i left you >>>> white blood cells > is this it > amnesiac > vocal studies

tough between Cann Ox, Fennesz, Strokes, with Avalanches a little behind.

i never want to hear Leaves Turn Inside You again.

Good year. I love that O'Rourke record. It was a toss-up between Prefuse and Fugazi, but I picked Prefuse.

harping on this i know but i don't know whats so 'futuristic' 'zeitgeist'-ish about the avalanches

voted for "moss romantic". always had a thing for bryophytes.

I thought "The Moon" was one of the most gorgeous songs from '01.

Endless Summer and Since I Left You are the only albums from that list that I still listen to.

...but i don't know whats so 'futuristic' 'zeitgeist'-ish about the avalanches

I don't see it, either. The only "corny indie zeitgeist" that I've noticed in the '00s that I can tell would be a Shins/Decemberists style, as far as corny indie goes (and for my harp-- why don't they spell it "Decembrists"?)

endless summer, obviously

This list kind of divided me between "hey, 2001 was ace" and "fucking hell Pitchfork you were really trying to fulfil your remit to be as boring as physically possible weren't you?" Those awful glitchy undie rap albums are probably the worst thing here.

I voted for Since I Left You in the end because I still remember the level of excitement I felt when I first heard it but I'm pretty sure I've listened to Hot Shots II or White Blood Cells more over the years.

I'm still unexpectedly running into stuff sampled on Since I Left You, which somehow keeps it fresh for me. Even a few weeks ago, I was listening to the tail end of some John Cale album and recognized a little chunk from SILYou (can't remember which track).

This list reminds me what it was like to be in college and to live in a house full of frustrated nerds who sublimated into music. I think in a way the fact that I haven't lived in that situation for about four years helps explain why I haven't gotten as excited about new music since then.

The Moon is great (on The Glow Pt. 2) but it's only one of many highlights on that record. It has the most cohesive, consistent sound out of the 20 listed, which is no small feat when that list includes the Avalanches, Autechre and Fennesz albums. It wins for the Twin Peaks tugboat that sounds off about every 20 seconds, starting about 10 minutes into the album.

Confeld and Amnesiac clearly my faves on here.

why so much cann ox hate???

I still listen to that Circulatory System album.

cold vein, then white blood cells, then the argument, then change, then insignifigance

The ten I like, for reference, are;

Fugazi - The Argument
Beta Band - Hot Shots Pt 2
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Jim O'Rourke - Insignificance
The Strokes - Is This It?
The Dismemberment Plan - Change
Mouse on Mars - Idiology
Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Múm - Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK
Avalanches - Since I Left You
Fennesz - Endless Summer

Actually that's 11. I don't mind the White Stripes record. Ones in bold I really like.

I can't count. 12. I also don't mind the Mouse On Mars, though it's far from their best.

"avalanches reminds me of that old dk post where he says kanye sounds like hes rapping an emoticon after every line- first nigga with a benz and a backpack ;-) and a white man get paid off all of that :`("

This is so great.

Out of these I have to say Cannibal Ox, though I haven't heard any of the rock albums. Idiology is okay I guess, but nevertheless it was a disappointment at the time compared to previous MoM LPs, and I haven't really tried to listen to it again ever since.

The only problem I have to say about that Cannibal Ox LP is that beneath the (admittedly gripping) style it doesn't really have that much to say, but other than that it's as good as undie rap gets.

Whoops, a couple of extra words in that post.

I would've voted for The Coup's Party Music had it been on the list though. One of the best rap LPs of this decade.

better albums than anything on this list:

Also: Vespertine and I Get Wet, the latter of which would have been my number one (and was ridiculously maligned by Pitchfork in an almost unreadably off-base review). From this list, Glow Pt. 2. I'm with bernard snowy in that "I was totally into The Glow, Pt. 2 for about a year, but I can't remember the last time I listened to even a single track from it." - but whatever, it was really good. I reach for It Was Hot, We Stayed In The Water more immediately because it's tighter/only one LP but they were both really excellent records, great headphone shit but also great living-room shit, sitting around with friends and painting walruses on pieces of cardboard or whatever else we used to do in college.

Here's that PFM review of Andrew WK for anyone who missed it at the time - it's even worse than I remember, the guy is willing to out himself as the absolute worst kind of music snob possible if it gives him a solid platform from which to hate on Andrew WK.

can someone please define 'self-parody' for dom?

Haha, and "the guy" is Ryan Schreiber.

clearly the answer is Fugazi.

"Now, Brent and I like to hook up and get cynical from time to time-- we'll even bash the bands we're into just for shits-- "

Jesus. Fuck.

this list is rather uninspiring. I guess I'd go with either the White Stripes or New Pornagraphers, even though I don't think either one is a good listen all the way through.

and I would TOTALLY take Vespertine, Party Music, or especially I Get Wet over almost all of that list

"It's fun" is about the only legitimate excuse a guy could come up with-- and that's the one thing I'll give it to warrant the .6 in the rating-- but this world of music which history has graced us with is loaded with fun music. Even fun music with substance, fun music that doesn't talk to you like you're some kinda total dipshit that wouldn't know Boredoms from buzzworthy. And you don't even have to look that hard! So then, what is the excuse for a typically elitist music nerd to bow to Andrew WK's blistering tard-rock? That's right, folks: there isn't one.

kill. kill. kill.

"like you're some kinda total dipshit that wouldn't know Boredoms from buzzworthy" might be the most revealing part of the thing.

So then, what is the excuse for a typically elitist music nerd to bow to Andrew WK's blistering tard-rock?

to irritate Ryan Schreiber

(altho it is a totally fun album and fun needs no excuses)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The people have spoken

http://www.haxed.co.uk/cms/uploads/pics/giant_rolleyes.gif

"people" means "lurkers". i hope. people really listened to the strokes huh?

Cold Vein was easily my favorite record of that year, but I haven't listened to it in a few years. Of those albums, The Glow is definitely the one I trot out the most these days.

Is this it

pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft

snrub OTM.

I'm surprised no one voted for the Dntel album. I still throw it on every once and awhile and it has aged much better than the Postal Service album.