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By Christopher Witflee
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Radiohead's Thom Yorke
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Each year, CityBeat's music writers compile their favorite albums from the past 12 months. But who really cares what a music critic has to say? For 2000, we asked several local musicians and music biz folks to give us their year highlights. And we hacks at CityBeat couldn't help but throw our two cents in once again.
Ben Doepke, Homunculus
1) Radiohead - Kid A
Gets beyond the song format, beyond the concept album and introduces a remarkably cohesive sonic fabric both explosively dynamic and unforgivingly introspective.
2) Slum Village - Fantastic Volume 2
Can rhyme over-the-bar-line and through the goods to the old school house and mo'. Jay Dee produces the album with simple, hard-hitting grooves -- featuring cameos from Q-Tip and D'Angelo.
3) Stereolab - First of the Microbe Hunters
Takes boop-hop to the next level. These preened polyrhythmic purveyors of Pop minimalism hit new highs in deep-seated and evenly distributed patterns with stubborn hooks.
4) Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo
Is a dream on record. Effortless Portuguese from this ambitious Brazilian rolls out in odd-interval harmonies and sometimes-wild, sometimes-tranced Trip-Hop and Samba loops.
5) Esthero - Breath From Another
Is the most diverse group recording today. Swatches of old Sade and Portishead seamlessly mesh with the influence of their frequent teamsters and friends like hip-hoppers Blackeyed Peas.
6) Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
Proves mighty in this ample collection of acoustic/electric extrapolations. The might flows quite naturally from exposed vulnerabilities. This is a painfully honest record, and therefore a pleasurably powerful one.
7) Medeski, Martin and Wood - The Dropper
The best at Acid Jazz Organ Rock. This album proves it. Each musician exemplifies mastery over their respective instruments (bass, drums and keys) in Jazz, Hip Hop, Rock and ambience.
8) David Gray - White Ladder
Is a damned good songwriter and a candid singer. The mundane arrangement/performance of the instruments gives the songs more room for levity and profundity. A touching effort from a spirited artist.
9) Common - Like Water For Chocolate
Knows what's hot, and he hits it -- in his own time, of course. The delivery is patient and methodical, the messages urgent and the beats big enough to drive to work in comfort and style. Real Hip Hop reviving the old Tribe vibe.
10) Coldplay - Parachutes
A great band. They sound young and anxious -- which is actually cool for this genre of music. Dramatic, vulnerable and sweeping Power Folk with Jeff Buckley and Radiohead influences (not cameos, as much as one might think).
Bob Burns, Big In Iowa
1) The Beatles - 1
It blows my mind to see an entire CD of No. 1 hits. This disc has been remastered, too, if you're into that sort of thing.
2) The Byrds - Live At The Fillmore 1969
This is a previously unreleased concert from a later version of the Byrds, which featured their basic raw Country-edged style, and it was probably drug-induced at that.
3) High Fidelity original soundtrack
Great movie, and you've also got to love a soundtrack that starts with The Thirteenth Floor Elevators and ends with Stevie Wonder! This ain't no Pretty In Pink soundtrack!
4) Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues
I'm digging The Beatles influences on this record. This record will take you from crunching Rock songs to Bluegrass in a heartbeat. I admire that.
5) The Jayhawks - Smile
I really could have done without the drum machines, but The Jayhawks have done it again with another great Roots Pop album!
6) The Posies - The Best Of
Nineteen great tracks from a band that understands the word HOOK! One of these days I'll break my dashboard listening to the solo in "Solar Sister."
7) The Steam Kings - Marmalized
You probably haven't heard of this band yet, but if you're a fan of The Hollies, Small Faces, Posies etc., you need to keep an eye out for them.
8) 99 Tales - 99 Tales
I found this band on MP3.com. Imagine the Surf Punk guitar sounds of The Pixies mixed with X's vocals and you've got 99 Tales.
9) Hensley Sturgis - Open Lanes
You may remember Columbus, Ohio, native Barry Hensley from the Polydor Records band Big Back 40. He's teamed up with Jason Sturgis to form one hell of a Roots Pop band!
10) Full Circle - A Tribute To Gene Clark
When it comes to the Byrds, almost everyone knows who Roger McGuinn is, but it's great to see Gene Clark honored with a two-CD set featuring songs from his Byrd days and beyond. The disc contains 36 bands covering Gene's songs.
Chris Arduser, The Graveblankets
1) Pete Townshend - The Lifehouse Chronicles
The full six-CD set is only available through petetownshend.co.uk. Recommended mostly because of the 20 or so demos from 1970-71, which in my opinion was Pete's most feverish and forward-thinking time of writing.
2) Satch Plays Fats - A Tribute to the Immortal Fats Waller By Louis Armstrong
3) Jules Shear - Allow Me
Pop music that gives me the shivers.
4) Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues
Jail was a very good thing for this man.
5) Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
Joni sings standards from last century (including two of her own) in a beautiful, somber and romantic collection. And Wayne Shorter on sax!
Mike Breen, CityBeat
1) Enon -- Believo!
Former Dayton fellow John Schmersal (ex-Brainiac) comes into his own with this fantastic full-length debut. While it's blissfully odd and full of experimentation, just wait until after a couple listens when you realize there are actually some incredible songs beneath the eccentric surface.
2) The Glands -- The Glands
A weird, expansive indie version of Tom Petty? Sorta, but mostly just a great Pop band with an amazing understanding of classic Pop structures (and how to leave 'em behind at just the right time).
3) Superdrag -- In the Valley of Dying Stars
Combining the grittier rockin' of their earlier stuff with the more mature Pop songwriting of Head Trip In Every Key, the 'drag emerged from major label woes with their best yet. Nyah, nyah, Elektra Records.
4) Travis -- The Man Who
Great Pop songs delivered with an air of grace and otherworldliness. Radiohead should take note.
5) Outkast -- Stankonia
Prog Hop. Dazzling and warped Funk/Hip Hop from the outer limits.
6) Deftones -- White Pony
The only "heavy" band in the mainstream doing anything remotely creative or original. Kinda like Fugazi meets Jane's Addiction. But they really blew it when they "re-released" the album a few months ago with the buzz-killing, cheap-shot Rock/Rap bonus cut "Back to School." Pioneers not resting on their laurels.
7) Oranger -- The Quiet VibrationLand
Recording for an ex-Pavement member's Amazing Grease label in the states and Creation Records founder Alan McGee's Poptones label in England, this group meshes fuzzy, sunny psychelica with Who-like romps. Saw them in San Francisco earlier this year and for all those thinking Keith Moon is dead -- he's not. He's playing drums with Oranger. Note: Does not contain their staple "Mike Love Not War."
8) Creeper Lagoon -- Watering Ghost Garden EP.
A teaser to tide fans over until their Dreamworks debut, these six songs prove Creeper will be everywhere in 2001. And you'll love it. Great Pop music without the overt influences-on-the-sleeve syndrome.
9) D'Angelo -- Voodoo
Audio sex. Oozing.
10) Blur -- The Best Of ...
While I'm hesitant to put a singles collection on a year-end list, this album shows what a truly magnificent Pop band Blur was and is. A great singles band. The icing is the limited-edition live disc included in early copies. Yummy icing.
Swarthy, Singer/Songwriter
Five Greater, Greater Cincinnati area faves (in no special order)
1) Crosley - She Believes EP
And so do I, guys.
2) The Stapletons
Remember when Gram Parsons was still with us, and The Rolling Stones were indeed the world's greatest Rock & Roll band?
3) Rockets To Mars performing at Popopolis 2000
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By Christopher Witflee
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Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood
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Damn. DAMN.
4) Ass Ponys - Some Stupid With a Flare Gun
Chuck Cleaver is James Thurber with a guitar.
5) Pinnokios Hair Design
Just moved to Northside. Get your hair cut there. Again and again.
And nationals (again, in no special order)
1) Merle Haggard - If Only I Could Fly
The first single, "Wishin' All These Old Things Were New," alone is worth the price.
2) Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030
Del the Funky Homosapien. Dan the Automator. Kid Koala. Opa, as we Greeks say.
3) PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
If U2 doesn't play the live shows of its career on the upcoming tour, Polly Jane Harvey is going to blow those guys back to Ireland.
4) Superdrag - In the Valley of Dying Stars
Sing with me, readers: "If I can't make things right ..."
5) Guided By Voices - Suitcase
For nearly the last two decades, the best British music has come from Dayton, Ohio.
Steve Sauer, Promenade
Top 10 musical highlights of 2000 (in no particular order)
10) The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
I was glad the first album wasn't a fluke. Saw 'em at Bogarts where they played, let's just say, unenthusiastically. But I keep telling myself it was due to Bogart's heat being broken. Christ, it was cold in there! Memories of listening to this while on vacation in Knoxville. Sitting on the dock at 10 in the morning with a hangover, cigarette and a Corona.
9) Popopolis 2000
A fantastic night for the local scene. How you can build for next year is beyond me. Maybe they can get the Olsen Twins!
8) U2 -- All That You Can't Leave Behind
Any new U2 album is an event for me. Some people fell off when they released Achtung Baby. But that's when I fell in love. The Rolling Stones should take lessons on how to grow old but still sound new.
7) Wilco concerts
One of the two most underrated bands in the world.
6) Superdrag -- In the Valley of Dying Stars
The other most underrated band in the world. This album shows how out of touch some record companies can be. Dropping a band with an album like this should be a crime. Is there hope for any of us?
5) Travis -- The Man Who
I must thank Jason (DeBruer, Promenade drummer) for dragging me to the concert and pounding the songs in my head. "Writing To Reach You" is one of the best songs I've heard in years.
4) Spice Girls new album debuts at No. 39
The next week it drops to No. 78. Let's all hope this is a sign of fabricated plastic Pop music losing the appeal of 12-year-olds. Twelve-year-old girls grow up to be 18-year-old women who want to hear music that means something. Or at least that's what Britney told me.
3) The Beatles -- Anthology (book)
Finally a book explaining all about The Beatles from the only four people in the world who know it all. I read it in 10 days.
2) Filter -- "Take My Picture"
I'm not a fan of any other Filter songs. But I can't get enough of this one.
1) 97X Message Boards (www.woxy.com)
A place for all local bands to talk, compliment and rip on each other behind the anonymous sign-on names. Just a joke. Don't start that thread!
Chris Sherman, Freekbass
1) Outkast - Stankonia
The future of the Funk has arrived!
2) D'Angelo - Voodoo
Great songs and production on the minimal-tip while still sounding huge. Has the same magic as Marvin Gaye or early Prince records.
3) Fatboy Slim - On the Floor at the Boutique
Great live-mix CD which keeps the party strong.
4) Madonna - Music
Has the day finally arrived where we can call her a "talented artist" instead of just a "talented business-woman"? Sweet, sweet production and tones on this CD.
5) Buckethead - Monsters and Robots
With all of the new "heavy" guitar bands out there now, Buckethead takes the guitar in a whole new, fresh and tripped out direction.
6) Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
Although the lyrics and the vibe of this CD can be a bit disturbing, this CD is bound to be considered one of the classic Hip Hop records.
7) Macy Gray - On How Life Is
Same feeling hearing this CD when I first heard Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone. Also, another funky-Ohio-native which makes sense to her sound.
8) Aimee Mann - Magnolia soundtrack
Nothing to say except great, solid songwriting.
9) Beck -- Midnite Vultures
Actually came out in late '99, but still hittin' hard in the new millennium.
10) Dr. Dre -- 2001
Never to be underestimated.
Matt Sledge, 97X
10) Popopolis 2000
OK, I may be biased since I hosted this event, but I know that everyone who was there will agree with me on this: Great music, great vibe and a great time. All that was missing were the Pop Tarts.
9) 97Xposure 2000 Semifinals at The Mad Frog and Finals at Bogart's
Again, I'm biased. These two events (and Popopolis) convinced me that the local music scene in Cincinnati is in good shape.
8) Fairmount Girls -- Eleven Minutes to Anywhere
Technically a December 1999 release, but 2000 was the year of Fairmount with this long-awaited CD. Memorable songs, a borrowed Rodney King quote and insane hooks make me keep this in my rotation.
7) Simpletons -- Simpletons
If you want intelligent songwriting, tight musicianship and some great pop in your music, then look no further with this great CD. Their live show isn't too shabby, either.
6) Ryan Adcock and The Ryan Adcock Band -- i hope ... and Like Orville Stared at Air
Ryan released i hope ... in October of 1999, and this one became an immediate favorite. Followed with Like Orville, The Ryan Adcock Band continued with "smart acoustic Rock." CityBeat couldn't have said it any better.
5) Ass Ponys -- Some Stupid With a Flare Gun
The Ponys' finest album to date, complete with the quirky songwriting of Chuck Cleaver.
4) Promenade -- Save the Radio
Admittedly, this CD has spent the longest time in my CD changer all year and is one of my all-time faves. You want Pop? "Nervous Energy" will do. Rock? "34" will do the job.
3) More local clubs supporting local music
Velocity (for a bit), Overflow, Barrelhouse, The Mad Frog and other clubs stepped up to the plate after Sudsy Malone's stopped with the live music. Sudsy's has since started booking live bands again.
2) The Raisins and psychodots reunion shows
Thanks for showing us how it's done -- again!
1) You, the local music nut, for supporting the scene and making this all possible
Keep attending the shows. Tell a buddy and bring a friend!
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Photo By Craig Weiglein
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Bruce Springsteen at the Firstar Center
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Brian Baker, CityBeat
1) Pedro the Lion -- Winners Never Quit
An unforgettable little morality play/cautionary tale/concept album as quietly confessional as it is loudly intense presented by quasi-one-man-band Dave Bazan.
2) Dandy Warhols -- Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
On Urban Bohemia, The Dandys have shamelessly and artfully borrowed from Pop history to make their own.
3) Julie Doiron & Wooden Stars -- Julie Doiron & Wooden Stars
Doiron and the Stars' minor masterpiece, filled with broodingly joyous melancholy, finds the link between Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake.
4) Elliott Smith -- Figure 8
Coloring outside of the Folk/Punk lines he established early in his solo career, Smith gene splices the Beatles' White Album to Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding with stunning results.
5) The Suicide Machines -- The Suicide Machines
For all the style shifts that occur here, from Pop/Punk to groove Metal to chugging Ska, the Suicide Machines has an incredible grasp of every single one that it pulls out of its hat.
6) Steve Earle -- Transcendental Blues
From trippy Beatlesque/Byrdsy psychedelia to his recent Bluegrass fascination to whispers of the rootsy Country, Earle's latest is subversive nose-thumbing at the Country establishment that has long divorced itself from his eclecticism.
7) Emmylou Harris -- Red Dirt Girl
Harris has created a triumphant album that trades in themes custom made for her Country past but propelled by her deconstructionist Pop future.
8) Michael Penn -- Days Since a Lost Time Incident
Penn has further cemented his reputation as a post-modern Pop genius and in doing so made a whole lot of people look foolish for having ignored his previous brilliant contributions.
9) Caviar -- Caviar
Never has pounding hard Pop/Rock sounded so absolutely right jammed square up against some of the coolest Electronica on the block.
10) Nina Gordon -- Tonight and the Rest of My Life
If this minor chord hookfest is the direction that Gordon will retain as her post-Veruca Salt path, she has set the bar impossibly high for a follow-up. Odds are she'll clear it.
Jim Reynolds, Chalk
1) Saw Theater -- Account Me Puppet
Tony Luensman uses traditional instruments along with ones of his own invention to create striking aural environments for Saw Theater's performances.
2) Radiolaria -- The Last Matinee
They made beautiful music. Cincinnati will miss them.
3) Enon -- Believo!
Great songwriting and inventive sonics. Lots of fun.
4) U.S. Maple at The Safari Club, Dayton, Ohio
The Stooges meet John Coltrane. Amazing musicianship and the most intense live act you'll ever see.
5) Atari Teenage Riot -- 60 Second Wipe Out
No other electronic performance could hit you this hard.
6) Mouse on Mars, Twine Sound and Chicago Underground Duo at The Fire Exit, Columbus, Ohio
Three great electronic bands and challenging visual art ranging from installation pieces to photographs and paintings.
7) Renolds (all the way from South America), Cult of the Dead Wizard and Luther the Geek at The Southgate House
A night of noisy, deconstructed Rock & Roll.
8) Roessing Ape and friends at Sanctum Sanctorum on Halloween night
A frightening performance involving white noise, spoken word and dance.
9) Atom Bomb Pocket Knife at The Fiesta Room, Dayton, Ohio
Buzzing, atonal Punk. Their CD is great, their live show is amazing.
10) Various Artists -- OHM: Early Gurus of Electric Music
A collection of pioneering works. Selections range from Pierre Schaeffer's "Etude aux Chemins de Fer" a musique concrète piece, to Brian Eno's Ambient piece "Unfamiliar Wind," to Karlheinz Stockhausen's Classical piece "Kontakte."
Dave Purcell, Pike 27/The Riverside online Roots 'zine
1) Ass Ponys -- Some Stupid With a Flare Gun
The most underrated band in all of Rock releases -- the record of the year. Knowing them doesn't play a part in this decision, it just makes it even sweeter.
2) Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Firstar Center, 4/30/00
Before the show, I was a fan of only Nebraska. I was converted. One of the top five shows I've ever seen.
3) Chuck Prophet -- The Hurting Business
Hear the ex-Green on Red guitar slinger and rootsy solo artist discover drum loops and dreamy keyboards. Hear brilliance.
4) Richard Thompson, Kentucky Theater (Lexington), 8/24/00
Two hours of sheer excellence, encompassing blazing Rock, Coltrane-esque guitar work, plaintive Folk and one perfect song after another.
5) Fairmount Girls -- Eleven Minutes to Anywhere
Ominous guitars and keyboard drive sweet, singalong melodies. This is a band that sounds like no other, and that's a good thing.
6) Billy Bragg & Wilco -- Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2
Somewhere Woody Guthrie is smiling.
7) Slobberbone -- Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today
With Jason & the Scorchers in semi-retirement, the 'Bone is the best Roots Rawk band around.
8) Various Artists -- Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
Worth it just for Dar Williams' (who I don't like) haunting take on "Highway Patrolman."
9) Popopolis, Southgate House, 10/6/00
Two stages of local Pop greats and Superdrag. Hands down the best local show of the year.
10) Matthew Ryan -- East Autumn Grin
Ryan's voice and lyrical sensibilities echo Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, respectively, while the production calls to mind mid-'80s U2. Good stuff.
Kathy Y. Wilson, CityBeat
1) Jill Scott -- Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1
Much like the small yet significant collection of recordings comprising Me'Shell Ndegeocello's career thus far, Scott's Who Is Jill Scott? should be at the cornerstone of every woman's CD collection. Why? It is an honest, funky, peripheral, skewed and refreshing keyhole peek at real-life relationships from a poetess who blithely eschews the whole beeper/cellphone/platinum/what-have-you-done-for-me-lately affectation of so much of the over-played, ghettoized Rhythm and Blues/Soul music scene these days. Scott's are lyrics a sista can relate to, like: "Slowly surely I walk away from that ole desperate and dazed love caught up in the maze of love/The crazy craze of love/Thought it was good/Thought it was real thought it was but it wasn't love/I just don't know where to go." Scott is a graduate of the Philly School of Music, in the same class as The Roots and King Britt, and has snugly made a name for herself among the Erykahs, Kinas and Macys. But just because her shit is as or perhaps more accessible than those other nappy-headed divas doesn't dilute her message or make it any more predictable. From the second I broke the shrink wrap to only moments ago, this joint has been the soundtrack to my life, fitting every mood of everyday. Timely and timeless.
2) Kina -- Kina
Lucky for us, Brownstone, those one-and-a-half-hit wonders and sufferers of Supremitis, kicked Kina Cosper out of the group. Talented and nappy-headed, she didn't really fit, anyway. With a few exceptions I think this disc went largely overlooked, perhaps because too many "urban" radio programmers were either too busy waiting for Erykah Badu's much-anticipated, much-delayed and very disappointing second studio effort or they were pressing the repeat button on anything by Destiny's Child. Well, they slept on this release. Kina is a postmodern Tina Turner without the baggage of an ass-kickin' ex-husband. All her songs begin as one thing and somehow pretzel in on themselves, ending as something else. Yet, they're all poignant and wise. Hopefully Kina won't be another Dionne Farris -- a talent too good to be true who somehow disappears into the ether of Popular music only to become a Where Are They Now? Trivia question on VH-1.
3) Bahamadia -- bb Queen
This is only a seven-cut EP but it has as much or more Funk, Soul and schmooved-out lyrical terrorism in its brevity than most Hip Hop opuses released in 2000. No skits, no bitch-bashing, no instrumental interludes and no "recorded" conversations from cell phones or answering machines, this is the real-deal Holifield from a woman fast becoming the Grande Dame of all Hip Hop MCs. Check out her love for the sistas without ends who make ends meet on "Commonwealth (Cheap Tricks)" and you will understand why Hip Hop is a means to the unending. She made us wait for this one but it was well worth it.
4) Various Artists -- Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Work
Bookended between Langston Hughes and Carl Hancock Rux are some of the world's most gifted and moving poets of this or any time and kudos to the heads at Rhino Records for jumping on the spoken word bandwagon and getting this one out. Before and since there were Beats, 144k, The Last Poets, slams or the Nuyorican Café there was LeRoi Jones, Nikki Giovanni, Gil Scott-Heron, Audre Lorde, Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan, Ishmael Reed and all the others that time, technology and New Negores have forgotten. Put these two discs in, light some incense and prepare to feel like a fleck of dust floating in the hemisphere.
5) Slum Village -- Fantastic, vol. 2
"I Don't Know," with its refrain of "I don't know why the fuck I'm fucking with you," is perfectly arrogant and sarcastic. I chant it in my head on the daily. These dudes from the Motor City have injected Hip Hop with a disco-ball/roller-rink lush funkiness other MC's have been afraid to touch. Plus, the breaks and scratches are def and deft.
6) livehuman -- elefish jellyphant
This is some weird shit, not for the faint-footed but right in sync with the other typically progressive releases from the Matador label. This music falls somewhere between Timbaland/Missy Elliot, DJ Shadow, Reprazent and Kid Capri. It is an aural lap dance, getting' your ears off eclectically.
7) Outkast -- Stankonia
"Ms. Jackson" is the current radio-friendly ear candy but the whole of this joint is far funkier than its individual parts. This Atlanta, Ga.,-based duo has done it again, turning what would otherwise be novelty cuts ("So Fresh, So Clean," the Prince-ly tale of "Toilet Tisha," "I'll Call Before I Come" and "Slum Beautiful") into anthems, cautionary tales and Ecstasy-laced, head-bangin' Rock jams for whatever you're driving. Stankonia puts tha stank on ya' and proves Andre 2000 and Big Boi are genuinely talented, forward-thinking brothas who take the Hip Hop mantle far more serious than most of their bling blingin' counterparts. But not too serious; this is still the wittiest release this year.
8) Femi Kuti -- shoki shoki and shoki remixed
Fela's boy done good with this, his version of the free-your-mind-and-your-ass-will-follow brand of Afrobeat originated by his late father, Fela. "Blackman Know Yourself" is an admonishment for the ages and after your consciousness has been aptly raised, shoki remixed makes you dance and forget about the world's injustices.
9) Rene Marie -- How Can I Keep from Singing?
In an otherwise lackluster Jazz Age, Rene Marie was The Little Jazz Singer Who Could with her surprisingly refreshing, cliché-free release which turned out to be personally emancipatory and true to its title. Even though she had some big-name assistance (pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Ugonna Okegwo), here's hoping all her subsequent releases are as honest, mature and crisp as this one.
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Radiolaria
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10) Three-way tie: Mike Wade - Reality; Rickie Lee Jones - It's Like This; Rachelle Ferrell - Individuality (Can I Be Me?)
Big ups to that other music critic at the big daily who dissed my contribution to Mike Wade's Funk/Hip Hop beach blanket party. It just lets me know I'm on his mind. Crosstown shoot-outs aside, Wade's slight deviance from his Be-Bop roots is a well-polished gem in a hard place and ranks as a genuine contribution to a genre first blown open by Tom Browne and Roy Ayers. How can you ever ignore a release by Rickie Lee Jones? You can't. This collection of cover songs with help from Joe Jackson, Taj Mahal and Ben Folds, among others, could easily have been Jones' own songs -- her trademark lazy enunciation and winding, Jazzbo arrangements are as startling and familiar here as on her landmark eponymous debut release. Forget the first three cuts on Rachelle Ferrell's latest and start with "I Forgive You," an introspective Hail Mary turn-the-other-cheek confessional. From there the disc builds and is built upon the singer's three-octave range and scattershot piano-playing. Despite the inclination to play this as Quiet Storm background music, this disc deserves close listening. It is a perfect musical ending to a frenetic year plagued by threats of computer meltdowns.
Darren Blase, Shake It Records
10) CityBeat writer Kathy Wilson actually picking up her hold-stack at Shake It!
Will it happen again in 2001? Place yer bets.
9) Radiohead -- Kid A
I'm not really even a big Radiohead fan, but this is one of the year's most enjoyable albums. Is it as experimental as the critics at People magazine think? Nah, they just borrowed tastefully from early electric Miles, a little Can, My Bloody Valentine and Aphex Twin, among others, to create a pleasant surprise which I was completely ready to slam due to all of the hype.
8) Phillip Lehman's new 45-only Soul Fire label
Formerly one half of Desco Empire, Lehman has issued a series of unstoppable Soul, Funk and Boogaloo 7-inches from the likes of Lee Fields, Calypso King and more. He's up to around eight releases now. You'll swear it's 1971 all over again.
7) Food Network poster child Bobby Flay's ass-whooping at the hands of the Iron Chef last summer in their NYC Iron Chef Battle
6) Finally, more Sun Ra issues
Including the two lost Impulse albums, Cymbals and Crystal Spears. More prime Saturn-era Ra at an affordable price with improved sound. Are they Ra's finest moments? Probably not, but the releases are filled with great moments from bassist Ronnie Boykins, as well as saxophonists John Gilmore, Marshall Allen and Danny Davis and trumpeter Akh Tal Ebah, who rise to the occasion repeatedly.
5) Watching Best Buy's stock drop from a yearly high of $88 to the current $22 as they continue to undercut Mom and Pop stores
4) The Ass Ponys -- Some Stupid With a Flare Gun
No one can write a line like Chuck Cleaver, and it was great to see their return to the recorded format after the A&M stint. In a just world they should be able to quit their day jobs and live comfortably from music.
3) That big ol' chunk of Fela Kuti's catalog that got reissued in the spring, including the classics Expensive Shit, Original Suffer Head, Coffin for the Head of State and Sorrow Tears & Blood, among others
2) The White Stripes -- De Stijl
Well on their way to becoming critics' darlings, the Stripes mix early Zep, T. Rex, Piedmont Blues, a little Revolver-era Beatles and some Punk Rock backbone for the best album of the year.
1) Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham -- Moments from This Theater
Was actually released in late moments of '99 but took a little while to circulate since it was (and still is) available only as an import. Penn, arguably Soul music's greatest writer, hooks up with fellow traveler Spooner Oldham for a set of Penn originals including "Do Right Man," "Cry Like a Baby," "I'm Your Puppet," "You Left the Water Running," and perhaps his greatest, "Dark End of the Street." The treat is hearing the pair sing their own songs instead of those who've had hits with them. Raw Country-Soul that cuts to the bone.
Bart Foster, Holy Crap
1) Fairmount Girls -- Eleven Minutes to Anywhere
I love these guys, er, girls. One of the few bands in town that consistently reminds me that Cincinnati does have it goin' on and this record proves it.
2) Queens of the Stone Age -- R
I absolutely love this album! If you don't have it, buy it. The perfect blend of great songwriting, great musicianship, balls to the wall Rock & Roll, and shameless cheese.
3) Joey Baron -- Killer Joey
Maybe best known for drumming for John Zorn, this guy is just plain cool. This album is a completely groovy, understated, instrumental jam.
4) Black Magic Rhythm All Stars -- The Lost Art of the Rhythm Daredevil
Probably my favorite band in Cincinnati right now. How can I describe them? Let's see, they rock they rock and, um, oh yeah, they rock!
5) Radiohead -- Kid A
I'd love to make a record like this. They're not even really a Rock band anymore, they're more like composers. Headphones all the way on this one.
Jason Arbenz, CityBeat/Singer-Songwriter
1) Elliott Smith at the Southgate House
Putting on a show has not been made to look this easy since Spanky and Alfalfa brought their Talent Revue to the old clubhouse. Props to (Southgate bookers) Dan and Chris, but the star was my guy, the filthy Elliott himself. Playing highlights from nearly a decade-long run of wonderfully straightforward songwriting, he and his boys wowed the crowd and, in just over an hour, resuscitated my dying belief in the future of good music.
2) Popopolis at the Southgate House
Simply, a display of local talent and enthusiasm that everyone involved should be very proud of.
3 and 4) Beck at Taft Theater and Travis at Bogart's (tie)
A pair of live performances we were lucky to get by rising stars who made two of '99's strongest records.
4) Enon -- Believo!
A startling array of snappy, crackly, Pop hooks on John Schmersal's band's debut. He's a perculator full of ideas and I can't wait to hear what's next.
6 and 7) Guided by Voices at Southgate House and Bonnie Prince Billy at Southgate House (tie)
A pair of outstanding shows from notoriously unpredictable band leaders. Pollard held his set-list aloft to a roar from the crowd, because the thing looked like a list of school closings.
8) High Fidlelity -- original soundtrack and the film
Hollywood actually did a passable job of bringing Nick Hornby's loveable novel to life. The CD, as anticipated as the film iteself, is a music junkie's feast, featuring the Beta Band, Love, The Kinks and Velvet Underground, among many others. Just nice to see exactly my kind of loser on the big screen.
9) Mojo magazine
Mojo illuminates the dark corners of Rock history from an English perspective. A treasure trove for anyone who's schedule permits reading 8,000 words about Hawkwind or the Hermit of Mink Hollow recording sessions.
10) MTV's Jackass
Utterly pointless parade of painful stunts and gross misdeeds aimed squarely at the rube in me. Who ya call retarded now!
And the best of the rest:
Radiohead Kid A
Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Howlin' Maggie/Scrawl/Sistern at the Southgate House
The Band and Music from Big Pink reissues
The Ass Ponys "Your Amazing Life"
Coldplay Parachutes
Pretty Things Parachute (reissue)
Delta 72 000
David Enright's last show with extended Middle Fingers lineup at the Southgate House
Catherine Wheel Wishville and Lambchop Nixon
Doug Trapp, CityBeat
1) Guided By Voices with Fairmount Girls at Southgate House
A friend of mine hated this show, calling it a frat party. I disagree. Like some frat parties, the show was sweaty, crowded, beer-soaked, loud and raucous. But unadulterated love for Guided By Voices fueled this gathering, not testosterone or some elitist version of brotherhood. It was so crowded, people bought beer by the six-pack, but it was almost easier to catch a free can of Budweiser from Bob Pollard's bottomless on-stage cooler. GBV played more than three hours and a couple of encores. And when Pollard ran out of GBV songs, they launched into ZZ Top, Cars, and other covers, usually finishing half the song, then immediately launching into another. But the truly special moment came at the show's end. With the house lights already on, Pollard backed away from the microphone as the band headed down the home stretch on a typical GBV rocker -- I'm not sure which one. Then one audience member jumped onstage and began dancing. Then two. Then six. Then a flood of humanity took over the stage, dancing around the band for a couple of minutes until the song ran out. It ended at nearly 2:30 a.m.
2) Neal Young, the Pretenders, Tegan and Sara at Riverbend
Chrissie Hynde can sing as good as ever, but the second best moment in music this year was when Young performed "Harvest Moon" in front of a realistic blue-white moon projected on dark blue panels hanging behind him. Couples scooched closer, friends became friendlier, and for a moment everyone forgot about all evil and stupidity in the world and let out a big, deep sigh.
3) Dancer in the Dark, the movie, and Selmasongs, its soundtrack
Good news -- you can see the third best musical moment when this hits video, and you can buy the songs now. Just make sure you're ready to handle the film. Like many, I casually approached this film thinking how cool the dance numbers and music would be. They were, but I didn't realize they were part of a heart-wrenching story of a Polish immigrant slowly going blind in 1960s Seattle. I'm not a Disney kind of person -- I like gritty movies -- but this movie should have a warning label for Björk fans. Something like, "Warning: Unsuspecting Björk fans may suffer emotional trauma. Watch with caution." That said, it still can't be missed.
4) Stereolab with Chicago Underground Duo at Southgate House
Lights, lights and more lights. I've never seen so many at the Southgate House, and probably never will. But through all the spinning reds and blues, the voices of lead singers Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen soothed the capacity crowd into a trance. Thankfully, Stereolab cut short some of their longer, more repetitive songs and actually rocked out a bit.
5) Radiolaria, the Wolvertons Brothers, Chalk at the 20th Century Theatre
This was my first and last Radiolaria show. If only I had been paying attention earlier. As Radiolaria finished their final songs, a small crowd of their die-hard friends and fans gathered at the stage and pleaded for more, a few even tearfully. Good thing it was also a CD release show, so their long, triumphant songs still fill my car and apartment regularly.
6) Sleater-Kinney with the White Stripes at Southgate House
Every once in a while I get sideswiped by a band I've never heard of. The White Stripes, the Jack and Meg White brother/sister, guitar/drums only combo, blew me away. Jack made one guitar sound like two and sang with more soul than any other white boy I've seen. The Whites are the guts of Rock & Roll.
7) Johnny Cash and Glam rock tribute shows at Southgate House
Good material carried out fairly well, especially the high participation in the Glam Rock fashion contest. Wham-Bam-Thank-Ya!
8) Pepsi Jammin' on Main, downtown
Was there a better concert value this year? Ever? The Ass Ponys, BR5-49, the reunited Raisins, the Indigo Girls and many, many others lit up three stages for two days, with something for fans of every kind of music. The question is, how many more years can the police resist pepper spraying the crowd?
9) Beck with Hank Williams III at the Taft Theater
"Step into my Hyundai," screamed Beck Hanson in a soulful falsetto as a red velvet-lined bed lowered from the rafters during "Debra," a tribute to baby-I'm-on-my-knees love songs. That, combined with the freaked-out ending (don't ask, it was beyond verbal description), made this one to remember.
10) Over the Rhine, Ron Sexsmith, Sixpence None the Richer at Taft Theater
If you left before Over the Rhine and guests performed John Lennon's "Merry Christmas," you screwed up. Really bad. If you haven't been to one of Over the Rhine's annual Christmas shows, think back to Dec. 9, and ask yourself, "Was I doing something more important than this show?" Well, were you? ©
