Well, standing tall at the age of 22, this was the decade that music truly meant something to me. I caught on to 'Gangsta' rap in 1999 as I clawed my way into my first teenage year. I soon found myself "pumpin'" 'The Chocolate Starfish & Hot Dog Flavoured Water" by everyone's favourite band, Limp Bizkit. 'Nu-metal' was the hot ticket at the time, and I loved it (rap + rock = OHMYGOD!). After that? There was 'emo', which was nice, then there was 'screamo', which was horrible.
Wholly disheartened, I stopped listening to new music for a good few years, listening almost exclusively to The Smiths, Jeff Buckley and "'90s alternative". This stopped around....eight months ago (and I've been miserable ever since). Nowadays, I like a fair variety of records (it helped when I stopped reading Kerrang!), but having not grown up in a very musical family (I swear to Zod I only heard three or four songs for the first twelve years of my life), the music of this decade was completely essential to me. My hard-rockin' ways led to me joining bands, writing bad reviews and starting this label.
So, while the majority of albums below might be considered a little juvenile and silly compared to what you'll see in the bulk of better informed 'end of years' people are rushing out, they're records I have loved, do love and will love in 2010.
Records I Loved in a Decade I'll Miss, Despite it Not Being as Good as the 1990's:
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic): Hot damn! This isn't in any particular order, but, Modest Mouse are quite possibly number 1 all the same. This album is SO good, that adding Johnny Marr(velous) to the line-up couldn't even improve them. Buy it, Buy it, Buy it. Because I'm done done done with all the fuck fuck fucking around.
Gary Numan - Pure (Eagle): Written following his wife's miscarriage, an increasingly bitter and morbid Gary Numan returned with what I think is his best album ever (something of a surprise). This album is miserable and venomous beyond words. Avoid if you're of a nervous or sensitive disposition (it kills me every time).
(hed) P.E - Broke (Jive): Enjoy immaculate production, crazy hooks and hilariously ludicrous party anthems/death threats on this monster of a 'sophomore' effort. Sadly, subsequent releases showed they were were actually deadly serious about EVERYTHING they said, which meant it wasn't nearly as fun. Regardless, I think this is the last true classic of 'nu-metal'.
Bruce Springsteen - The Rising (Columbia): The Boss was back. My favourite since 'Darkness of the Edge of Town', and I don't think he's topped it since. "Lonesome Day" *purr*.
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (Witchita): Modern music makes me sad, but Los Campesinos! are a real treat, even for my cynical old ears. Giddy, jolly, miserable, self-reflexive, relevant and quirk-tacular - 2010 will definitely be a big year for them. Romance is Boring you say?
Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down (Peaceville): The last great Goth Rock album? A teenage favourite that I just can't deny.
Deftones - White Pony (Maverick): Deftones continue to make lovely records, but nothing will ever top the trilogy of Adrenaline-Around the Fur-White Pony. Probably the only survivors of the nu-metal hype machine.
Mogwai - Rock Action (Matador): Yowzer. More to Scotland than Biffy Clyro indeed. Immense acoustic noise.
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (Geffen): Sonic Youth arguably make the most focused and driven record of their career. Beautifully arranged, and Thurston & Lee's guitar playing was unmatched that year.
At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command (Grand Royal): Flawless. Noise, vitriol, beauty, passion and anger - this should have been the true shape of punk to come.
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope): Too obvious I know, but there's no denying it deserves to be here...It's nice to see Dave Grohl drumming on a really, really good record again too.
Cradle of Filth - Midian (Music for Nations): Black metal is very silly? Fact. 'Midian' is an astounding, orchestral, beautiful beast of a metal album? Well, I think it is.
Rollins Band - Nice (Sanctuary): Rollins finally was having a good time with his rock n roll, which is just as well, as it's no use being the world's most staggeringly awesome male if you don't enjoy it.
Tomahawk - Tomahawk (Ipecac): The first of three crazed, perverted, bitch-slappin' records. Finally someone puts the 'super' in supergroup. I vowed to only put one Mike Patton release on here, I hated neglecting Lovage and Fantomas...but "The cats in the bag and the bag's in the river!"
Tom Waits - Alice (Anti-): Ol' Tom Frost truly finds the balance between seedy blues and nightmare nursery rhymes. The storytelling on this record is really wonderful, and it's one of the most accessible entries to Mr Waits. Laugh/Cry/Change your life, etc.
Smashing Pumpkins - Machina/The Machines of God (Virgin): If people had known they had 'Zeitgeist' to follow, I think they would have just stopped whinging and enjoyed what was a great record. Beginning of the end for them, but a fine start to their oblivion. Come back to me Billy.
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Vol.2 (Viper): Probably the only rapper I will take with me into 2010. Pretty remarkable stuff.
Radiohead - Half to the Thief (Parlophone): The only question was, 'is it Hail to the Thief or Kid A?'. Radiohead were always going to get in here...tragically predictable as that may be. Actually, maybe it should be 'In Rainbows'? I don't know. They're all good.
William Shatner - Has Been (Shout! Factory): Sci-fi's whipping boy bites back! Is it just me, or is Bill Shatner one of the best vocalists in the world?!
Glassjaw - Worship & Tribute (Warner Bros.): The only 'screamo' band in the world that matters. Probably.
Meet Me in St. Louis - Variations on Swing (Big Scary Monsters): How I miss you, such a waste of a great band. However, their demise did lead to my discovery of Shield Your Eyes and Shoes & Socks Off, so it isn't all bad.
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (Dreamworks): I think most of us have forgotten this record now, but man, I think this was the time that I scratched my head and said 'so....all the songs on an album can be good? Not just the singles? But Oasis said...?". Lovely, all the way home.
The Owl Service - A Garland of Song (Southern): I usually struggle with folk music, I really do, but there's something so mesmirising and visual about The Owl Service's mix of traditional and '60s psychedelia. Through this Southern Record release, I discovered their new label, RIF Mountain, which is equally wonderful. If I ever *really* get folk music, I'll know who to thank.
Alkaline Trio - From Here to the Infirmary (Vagrant): Proof that pop-punk never needed to be silly, childish, stoner, horny rubbish. Sadly it was, but not when Alkaline Trio did it. Dark, funny and heartbroken. Matt Skiba rocked the set. The other one did too.
Trivia: at the first gig I ever played, the band I was in covered 'Private Eye'....and 'Fight for Your Right to Party' - we were really great.
Djevara - Third World War (Genin): My DIY heroes came back to beat the hell out of my stereo with my favourite punk record of the decade. "MUSIC FOR FASHION IS MUSIC WITHOUT PASSION".
Tindersticks - Can Our Love...(Beggars Banquet): I almost grew out of sitting in the dark listening to miserable albums, I can thank Tindersticks for dragging me back to hell. Cheers lads...
I've still got time to catch up on all the arty albums that came out while I was questioning 'who's the best band of all time, Lost Prophets, Raging Speedhorn or Lacuna Coil?' in this fresh, boring looking decade. 2000-2009 was a decade for ROCKIN' and I fulfilled this duty on every possible level.
Stop being cool. Love to Rock.
Gloriously unfashionable and killing Audio Antihero's reputation one blog at a time,
Jamie Volcano - Audio Antihero: Specalists in Commercial Suicide....and a New kind of Awesome
P.S Again, Nosferatu D2 & Benjamin Shaw should be in there, but it still seemed immodest.
