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November 17th, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Hey, NME: Is That It?
Here’s the weird thing about the British: In general, they have much better taste in music than Americans. While we waste our time on interchangeable pop stars, they’re singing the praises of Gossip’s Beth Ditto. But their likes and dislikes are very particular — and, in general, they seem to love the kinds of semi-mainstream/semi-indie bands that become one-hit wonders or just never make a huge splash in the U.S. and then fairly quickly fall out of favor with the music-geek set. For example: NME has just named its #1 album of the ’00s… and it’s The Strokes‘ This Is It.
I find this pretty underwhelming for a number of reasons. First of all, the record dates back to 2001. And in a decade that has seen nearly unparalleled diversity and innovation, reaching back to a turn-of-the-millennium garage-rock revival relic seems depressingly conservative. The rest of the top five — minus the refreshing, but also essentially British, inclusion of Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR at #3 — is equally shrug-worthy: The Libertines, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arctic Monkeys. Only slightly farther down, we find Radiohead (and In Rainbows above Kid A, no less), Arcade Fire and Interpol. It’s also worth noting that most of these artists show up a second time a bit farther down. Were there only, like, 20 artists making great music this decade?
Still, there are a few inspired picks here: At the Drive In’s Relationship of Command makes a strong showing at #11; it’s nice to revisit Grandaddy’s all-but-forgotten The Sophtware Slump (#34). And who doesn’t love Avalanches‘ sublimely eclectic Since I Left You (#45.)
Check out the full list, under the cut. What do you think they left out?
1. The Strokes – ‘Is This It’
2. The Libertines – ‘Up The Bracket’
3. Primal Scream – ‘Xtrmntr’
4. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Fever To Tell’
6. PJ Harvey – ‘Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea’
7. Arcade Fire – ‘Funeral’
8. Interpol – ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’
9. The Streets – ‘Original Pirate Material’
10. Radiohead – ‘In Rainbows’
11. At The Drive In – ‘Relationship Of Command’
12. LCD Soundsystem – ‘The Sound Of Silver’
13. The Shins – ‘Wincing The Night Away’
14. Radiohead – ‘Kid A’
15. Queens Of The Stone Age – ‘Songs For The Deaf’
16. The Streets – ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’
17. Sufjan Stevens – ‘Illinoise’
18. The White Stripes – ‘Elephant’
19. The White Stripes – ‘White Blood Cells’
20. Blur – ‘Think Tank’
21. The Coral – ‘The Coral’
22. Jay-Z – ‘The Blueprint’
23. Klaxons – ‘Myths Of The Near Future’
24. The Libertines – ‘The Libertines’
25. The Rapture – ‘Echoes’
26. Dizzee Rascal – ‘Boy in Da Corner’
27. Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’
28. Johnny Cash – ‘Man Comes Around’
29. Super Furry Animals – ‘Rings Around The World’
30. Elbow – ‘Asleep In The Back’
31. Bright Eyes – ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Show Your Bones’
33. Arcade Fire – ‘Neon Bible’
34. Grandaddy – ‘The Sophtware Slump’
35. Babyshambles – ‘Down In Albion’
36. Spirtualized – ‘Let it Come Down’
37. The Knife – ‘Silent Shout’
38. Bloc Party – ‘Silent Alarm’
39. Crystal Castles – ‘Crystal Castles’
40. Ryan Adams – ‘Gold’
41. Wild Beasts – ‘Two Dancers’
42. Vampire Weekend – ‘Vampire Weekend’
43. Wilco – ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’
44. Outkast – ‘Loveboxxx/The Love Below’
45. Avalanches – ‘Since I Left You’
46. The Delgados – ‘The Great Eastern’
47. Brendan Benson – ‘Lapalco’
48. The Walkmen – ‘Bows and Arrows’
49. Muse – ‘Absolution’
50. MIA – ‘Arular’
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