Continuing with my look back at a decade that for the most part we all would rather forget ever happened I will now spend my time on the subject that touches me most dearly: music. Over the next few days I will reveal my top 15 albums of the decade (because I just can’t bring myself to narrow the list down to ten.) To start however I will focus on a few that did not make the cut for one reason or another but deserve a special mention.
Chris Mills “Kiss It Goodbye” (2000): I guess if we have to call this the decade of anything we will have to call it the decade of emo, which is rather sad mainly for fashion purposes. Someone needs to tell teenage boys that having uneven bangs that fall into your face and wearing makeup doesn’t look nearly as cool a decade later as all of my friends who were really into the Cure had to discover. But the idea of emo, that style of emotionally raw songwriting, isn’t bad at all. It is just a bit too much teenage angst. Chris Mills isn’t emo but I never saw anyone perform lyrics that were so raw. No one wrote about screwing up relationships and being a complete fuck up quite like Chris Mills and outside of Chicago no one ever heard of him, which is an utter shame.
Neko Case “Blacklisted” (2003): If I had to name a female artist of the decade it would be Neko Case. She would probably be my artist of the decade as well because I can’t think of anyone else who was so consistently brilliant and who grew as an artist over that time. But for some reason none of her solo stuff made my top 15 though they would probably be 16-20. Her discs always seem a little incomplete though I love them and listen to them constantly. It’s also nice to know that Neko has gained popularity without selling out who she is. Here is one of my favorites of her.
The Ditty Bops “The Ditty Bops” (2004): This is still the most unlikely duo I came across in music this decade. Not only is this the only band I have ever seen that features a former fashion model but their musical style can only be described as part country, part girl group, part vaudeville and part circus sideshow. I’ve seen them perform dressed as characters from the Wizard of Oz, in clothing made from plastic bags from Target and with a guy on stilts behind them. Listening to their music forces you to smile. Oh, and perform a cross country tour by going from city to city on bicycle. Abby and Amanda are the coolest people ever.
Fleet Foxes “Fleet Foxes” (2008): This is my choice for video of the decade. Bar none. Forget the dancing on treadmills. This is pure brilliance. Also, Fleet Foxes epitomize the nice trend of bands trying to do everything possible to sound as though they are not in the 21st century. They sound like they are from 17th century England and that is a great thing. Dark, mysterious and totally awesome.
Tift Merritt “Another Country” (2008): Sometimes music just hits you at the right time. 2008 started with me in the emergency room and quitting my job, two events that were not really unrelated. I was pretty much lost in life when I picked up Tift’s latest which was entirely about her being lost in life and having to go to Paris to find herself. I had to go to Delaware but I can’t complain about where that took me. This album, and this song in particular, pulled me through a hell of a lot that year.
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