Yesterday, Paste released its list of the 50 Best Albums Of The 2000s, and the list was topped by none other than Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise, which honestly seems like it was released way longer ago, so established has he become in the indie-rock firmament. Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the Arcade Fire’s Funeral, Radiohead’s Kid A, and Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning rounded out the top five. Full rundown after the jump, but first, a few reactions.
THE GOOD: Hey, look, Stankonia! At No. 8! Three places beneath… Bright Eyes. Sigh.
THE BAD: Instead of noting the male-white–breadiness of the list—because that is, after all, the way of Paste, and you can’t expect them to change their stripes just for the sake of a mid-autumn pageview-generation ploy—I’m going to zero in on one totally questionable choice. Namely, the selection of M.I.A. albums on the list. Arular (No. 10) and not Kala? Really? I mean, Arular is fine, but Kala is kinda next-level. Is it because of the (admittedly unfortunate) Timbaland track?
THE WHAAAA? Dear Paste fact-checkers: Not for nothing, but Radiohead’s In Rainbows was not entirely “self-released,” as you claim. I know that would screw up the “it changed everything with its revolutionary pricing methods” that serves as the angle for your gushing write-up of the record. Pity that you muffed the opportunity to write about something so (yawn) groundbreaking by regurgitating a tired, half-true spiel. More »
Two icons of the ’90s, Alicia Silverstone and Alanis Morrissette, have teamed up for a cause that affects all of us (especially knowledge-worker types who have extra time on their hands to read blogs): Movies with no discernible purpose other than throwing a bunch of highly bloggable artists on the soundtrack and using those songs to score long stretches of dialogue-free “pondering” about “life.” (Oh, and their cutesy credit sequences give work to animators, I guess.) They teamed up to make a trailer for a movie called MY Mother’s Red Hat (you can already figure out the “plot,” right?), complete with soundtrack almost as long as its script—and Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk” soundtracking the commercial’s requisite “music crazily stopping to portray a crazy scene in the movie” bit. Clip after the jump. More »
Yesterday Wilco’s new album was made available for purchase, and the double-whammy of it being titled Wilco (The Album) and having its first single be called “Wilco (The Song)” proved to be too much for some writers out there to resist. After the jump, a selection of Wilco (The Parenthetically Assisted Reactions) that have appeared over the past few days, rated on a scale of zero to two camel humps in honor of the album’s cover: More »
Former Wilco member Jay Bennett’s death last month was the result of an accidental overdose of painkillers, according to the Champaign (Ill.) County coroner’s office. Bennett apparently overdosed on fentanyl, which is used to treat moderate to severe chronic pain. The coroner’s office is now treating Bennett’s death as an accident. [Chicago Tribune] More »
The people behind the one-day indie-music-retail blowout Record Store Day are hoping so; they’ve declared the third Saturday of every month Vinyl Saturday, on which limited-edition vinyl releases will be available at participating indie shops. The first installment is Saturday, June 20, and there will be four special releases on shelves that day: More »
Jay Bennett, a multi-instrumentalist and producer, passed away in his sleep Saturday night, according to a statement from his management company. Bennett was perhaps best known for his time with Wilco, with whom he played from 1994 through 2001; he also played in the ’90s powerpop act Titanic Love Affair and had an extensive list of musical credits. Last year, he put out the solo album Whatever Happened I Apologize, which he distributed for free under a Creative Commons license, and there’s currently a project underway to collect funds from fans for a vinyl release of the album. After the cut, a few tracks from his wide-ranging body of work. More »
As a card-carrying music blogger, it’s my duty to let you know that Wilco is streaming the camel-coated Wilco (The Album) from its Web site right now. Apparently it leaked last night, leading to the stream being hastily put up on a “beta” section of the band’s site and a bunch of people making “Wilco (The Leak)” jokes. (That’s one somewhat disheartening thing about the Internet: You get to see just how many people have the same sense of humor as you. No more special snowflakes allowed, despite parental protestations!) [Wilco World] More »
In today’s lunchtime headlines: Christina Aguilera goes go-go, Jeff Tweedy gets served, and Rihanna cancels a gig in the Middle East. More »
Looking for another summer festival to hit, but not wanting to go much farther than say…Jackson Hole, Wyoming? More »
