erasing clouds
 

Our favorite albums of 2000

For our look at our favorite films of last year (found here), I wrote something about year-end lists having a faux sense of authority to them. That applies here as well. Yet a few other problems exist when it comes to the inevitable year-end wrap-ups. One: They happen too early. How in the world can anyone confidently say what the best movie or album of the year was right at the start of January? It takes some time to digest these things--with many writers, I get the sense that they spend the whole year formulating a list, just they can print it on January 1 and take pride in the fact that people now know their stance on the year. Come on. Our opinions don't matter that much, really. By next year no one will care what album so-and-so from Entertainment Weekly said was the best of the year. Secondly, most year-end wrap-ups are too limited in scope, because critics tend to look around and see what albums have the "buzz" about them before deciding. It's ridiculous to me how many critics say virtually the same things at the end of the year, considering how many musical recordings are released each year. So, anyway, for a minute please disregard every pretentious, know-it-at-all "best-of" list you've read this year and just check out what our favorite albums were. These are just a few lists, written by people who love music and would like to tell you about some of the works of music that we love, specifically those released during the period of time known as the year 2000.

Sharon Marsh

Top 5 albums of 2000

  1. Teenage Fanclub: Howdy (Columbia)
  2. The Delgados: The Great Eastern (Beggar's Banquet/Chemikal Underground)
  3. Geneva: Weather Underground (Sony)
  4. Unbelievable Truth: sorrythankyou (Shifty Disco)
  5. Doves: Lost Souls (Astralwerks)

Jeffrey Ruggles

Top 10 Albums of 2000 (in no particular order)

Yo La Tengo--And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador)
D'Angelo--Voodoo (MCA)
Godspeed You Black Emperor--Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (Kranky)
Radiohead--Kid A (Captiol)
Steve Reich--NY Counterpoint, Eight Lines
Andrew Hill--Dusk (Palmetto)

Chicago Underground Duo--Synthesia (Thrill Jockey)
Microstoria--Model 3, Step 2 (Thrill Jockey)
John Adams--Harmonia
The Pilot Ships--The Limits of Painting and Poetry (Blue Sanct)

Best Reissues

John Coltrane--Ascension (UNI/Impulse)
John Coltrane--Kulu Se Mama (UNI/Impulse)
Miles Davis--Big Fun (Sony/Columbia)
Rudy Van Gelder Series courtesy of Blue Note Records

Best Boxed Sets

Miles Davis & John Coltrane--The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
OHM--Early Gurus of Electronic Music (Ellipsis Arts)

Dave Heaton

My favorite 25 albums of 2000:

  1. Sigur Ròs, Àgaetis Byrjun (FatCat/Bubblecore)
  2. Busta Rhymes, Anarchy (Elektra)
  3. Belle and Sebastian, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (Matador)
  4. Busytoby, It's Good to Be Alive (Parasol)
  5. Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek/Reflection Eternal, Train of Thought (Rawkus)
  6. Sonic Youth, NYC Ghosts and Flowers (Geffen)
  7. Godspeed You Black Emperor, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (Kranky)
  8. The Mountain Goats, The Coroner's Gambit (Absolutely Kosher)
  9. Radiohead, Kid A (Capitol)
  10. Bright Eyes, Fevers and Mirrors (Saddle Creek)
  11. Mirah, You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This (K)
  12. Incontinentals, Beg Your Pardon (Red Boots)
  13. Looper, The Geometrid (Sub Pop)
  14. Wu-Tang Clan, The W (Loud)
  15. Yo La Tengo, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador)
  16. Versus, Hurrah (Merge)
  17. Neil Young, Silver and Gold (Elektra)
  18. Common, Like Water for Chocolate (MCA)
  19. Isobella, Akasha (Clairecords)
  20. The Clientele, Suburban Light (Pointy)
  21. Vancouver Nights (Endearing)
  22. M.O.P., Warriorz (Loud)
  23. Phish, Farmhouse (Elektra)
  24. Bad Religion, The New America (Atlantic)
  25. Damon and Naomi, With Ghost (Sub Pop)

Erin Hucke

favorite CDs of 2000 in alphabetical order...

Air - Virgin Suicides [OST] (Astralwerks)
Richard Ashcroft - Alone With Everybody (Hut/Virgin)
Belle & Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child, You Look Like a Peasant (Jeepster/Matador)
Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors (Saddle Creek)
Coldplay - Parachutes (EMD/Capitol)
The Delgados - The Great Eastern (Beggar's Banquet/Chemikal Underground)
Doughty - Skittish (self-released)
Elf Power - The Winter is Coming (Sugar Free/Elephant 6)
Gomez - Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline (Hut/Virgin)
Robyn Hitchcock - A Star for Bram (self-released)
Looper - The Geometrid (Jeepster/SubPop)
Radiohead - Kid A (Capitol)
Sigur Ròs - Àgaetis Byrjun (Fat Cat/Bubblecore)
Elliot Smith - Figure 8 (Dreamworks)
Unbelievable Truth - sorrythankyou (Shifty Disco)
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (Matador)

Issue 5, April 2001 | next article


this month's issue
archive
about erasing clouds
links
contact
     

Copyright (c) 2005 erasing clouds