Put yer records on

Harp Magazine turned 5 years old recently, and in honor of this they have published a list of what they believe are the top 50 albums of the last 5 years. Now this decade/century is still relatively young, but one must admit that since 1999 onwards, it has been an interesting time for music. Somehow Limp Bizkit/Kid Rock/Rage [artists who all have cd's in my cd booklet] and the like have dissapeared, and everyone thought that the Strokes and the White Stripes and others like them would "save" rock and roll. It ain't all been great, but I can say I am pleased for the most part with many of the albums that have been released since 2001. So here it is, Harp Magazine's Top 50 Most Essential CDs since 2001:

50) Gillian Welch - (Time) The Revelator
49) The Roots - Phrenology
48) Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
47) Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
46) Guided by Voices - Isolation Drills
45) Neko Case - Blacklisted
44) Solomon Burke - Dont Give Up On Me
43) Kathleen Edwards - Failer
42) Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum
41) Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore
40) Lucinda Williams - World without tears
39) Missy Elliot - Miss E…So Addictive
38) Sparklehorse - Its a wonderful life
37) The Libertines - Up the Bracket
36) The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
35) Franz Ferdinand - S/T
34) Wolf Parade - Apologies to Queen Mary
33) Bob Dylan - Love and Theft
32) The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
31) Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day
30) Ryan Adams - Gold
29) Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now
28) Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man
27) The Strokes - Is This It?
26) The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
25) The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
24) The White Stripes - Elephant
23) Cat Power - You Are Free
22) Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
21) Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
20) My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
19) Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
18) Steve Earle - Jerusalem
17) Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
16) Wilco - A Ghost is Born
15) PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
14) Kanye West - Late Registration
13) The New Pornographers - Electric Vision
12) The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
11) Sleater Kinney - The Woods
10) The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
9) MIA - Arular
8) Anthony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
7) Tom Waits - Real Gone
6) My Morning Jacket - Z
5) Tom Waits - Alice
4) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3) Brian Wilson - Smile
2) The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
1) The Arcade Fire - Funeral

Not too shabby. Not surprised that Funeral, one of the most hyped [and best] albums of the last five years tops the list.

Now on to the fun part. Off the top of my head, I wonder...what's missing?

-Spoon [Come on now. One of the best bands working today. Kill the Moonlight? Girls Can Tell? Gimme Fiction? All stellar in their own right.]
-Le Tigre [Doing what it is they do before it became the norm. If Sleater Kinney can garner a spot...]
-Interpol [That first album rocked everyone's world and sparked a leigon of followers.]
-Sufjan Stevens [Not a huge fan, but I finally gave in to Illionise this summer and it's sheer artistry and majestic scope can not and should not be discounted.]
-The Postal Service [See Interpol]
-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah![An album and a band that actually deserved a large bulk of it's hype.]
-LCD Soundsystem [If M.I.A. can get a spot for bringing the block rocking beats, then what about LCD who help usher good old fashioned dance and disco back into the limelight. And anyone who can get hipsters to shake their asses again gets points in my book.]
-Broken Social Scene [You Forgot it in People. Indie rock/pop and artistry at its finest. A lot of times indie or unsigned bands are over hyped and those not in the know can't get it. Not the case with this album. The kids can rock it and the parents can respect it.]
-Hip-Hop and R&B [Has music in this genre been that bad since 2001?]
-Rufus Wainwright [This list misses your creative, tortured soul.]
-Rooty [Basement Jaxx. A long player that grabs you by the hips and never lets you go.]
-Rabbit Furcoat [Jenny Lewis. She melts my heart. And she nailed the white soul of Dusty Springfield and co. Add the Watson Twins and you got a sprawling batch of tunes sure to be one of the best albums of 2006.]
-Sea Change [Classic Beck record. Hands down. Sad. Melodic. Simple. Emotional. Beautiful. ]
-Fiona Apple [See Rufus Wainwright]

And now, because I'm cool like that, I gotta list all of the records I own that made it on Harp's list.

Hmm, let's see here:

-The Roots-Phrenology
-Queens of the Stone Age-Songs for the Deaf
-Missy-Miss E...So Addictive
-The Libertines-Up the Bracket
-The Black Keys-Rubber Factory
-Franz Ferdinand-s/t
-Wolf Parade-Apologies to Queen Mary
-The Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
-Ryan Adams-Gold
-The Strokes-Is this it?
-The White Stripes-White Blood Cells and Elephant
-Loretta Lynn-Van Lear Rose
-Devendra Banhart-Cripple Crow
-Outkast-Speakerboxx/The Love Below
-Wilco-A Ghost is Born/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
-PJ Harvey-Uh Huh Her
-Kanye West-Late Registration
-M.I.A.-Arular
-Tom Waits-Real Gone
-My Morning Jacket-Z
-Arcade Fire-Funeral

Good times.