Harp's 50 Most Essential Albums Since 2001
Thanks Each Note Secure for pointing us to Harp Magazine's 50 Most Essential Albums 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 Version
12) The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
11) Sleater Kinney - The Woods
10) The Mars Volta - Frances the MuteNo Joanna Newsom? The magazine's called HARP!
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
Posted at 11:01 AM
Tags: Arcade Fire
I will just go ahead and be that guy, but no Radiohead on the list. Amnesiac is brilliant (well, at least in my mind). Also, no Sufjan? I figured they would have Illinoise on the list. Oh well.
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If you're going to have a Mars Volta record on there, it should be De-Loused in the Comatorium, which rocked without being pretentious and boring like FTM or Amputechture.
Other than that, not bad! Chutes Too Narrow should be top ten though.
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Agree with the first poster. No Radiohead? Did Kid A make the 2001 cut off? And no Sufjan either.... hmmm. This list is lacking. Though top whatever lists can never please everyone's opinions....
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Is "Electric Vision" your mistake or theirs?
And this list is so lame it doesn't even deserve comment. It looks like it was written for ageing hipsters who are trying desperately to like that newfangled loud noise, but who really want to listen to Hank Williams on repeat (nothing wrong with that, per se...).
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So Get Behind Me Satan is more "essential" than Elephant and White Blood Cells? For what possible reason and on what fucking planet is that true?
Also... anyone ever heard of Harp magazine?
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1) Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the weakest release in their catalog so they should have just left Outkast off the list.
2) The Raconteurs album should be on there way before Get Behind Me Satan makes the list.
3) I am happy to see some DBT on there.
4) They can expect to be flooded w/angry emails since they left off the greatest album of the past 20 years...
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Shane: Chutes to Narrow a top 10? Hell no. When are people going to wake up to the fact that The Shins are a one-trick pony. They're a good one-trick pony, but they aren't special or can't miss--unless you're Zach Braff and Natalie Portman.
I think it's safe to say that this list is about as safe and dull as they come. When are magazines going to start giving attention to bands that deserve it. I can think of plenty of albums that people should check out over most of that list.
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No Mastodon. For shame...
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Has the last 5 years been that bad??? What is Harp? This is a fucking terrible middle-of-the-road list.
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I wanted to refresh myself on what has come out in the last five years and went to this list:
http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/index.shtml
noteable omissions above:
madvillain - madvillainy
anything by spoon
since i left you - the avalanches
anything by sufjan
anything by tv on the radio
anything by the decembersits
and many more
I think this list just misses the mark for summarizing the past 5 years in music
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Shane: Chutes to Narrow a top 10? Hell no. When are people going to wake up to the fact that The Shins are a one-trick pony. They're a good one-trick pony, but they aren't special or can't miss--unless you're Zach Braff and Natalie Portman.
I think it's safe to say that this list is about as safe and dull as they come. When are magazines going to start giving attention to bands that deserve it. I can think of plenty of albums that people should check out over most of that list.
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yikes, that list sucks.
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ok - rather than gripe about that list (i think i have, like, 4 of those albums) - i thought i'd do my own.
Top 10 Most Essential Albums since July by me:
5) TV On The Radio "Return to Cookie Mountain"
4) Thom Yorke "The Eraser"
3) Basement Jaxx "Crazy Itch Radio"
2) Ellen Alien and Apparat "Orchestra Of Bubbles"
1) The Killer "The Best Album Of The Last 20 Years"
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I agree completely about the lack of Radiohead being on there. Sufjan's Illinois album was also a brilliant release that deserves recognition. Obviously though, as has been pointed out, these lists will never suit everyone. There are artists who many people will have never heard of who have produced better albums than some of those, but unless Harp magazine knows about them, they will miss out. No excuses for Radiohead though.
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no madvillain or sufjan? bullllshittttttt
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I'm in total agreement with Sars. Such overtreaded business on here. Arcade Fire's a cliche #1, Twin Cinema's NOT #2, nor better than Electric Vers.
Sometimes I hate what the generation(s) older than me thinks of the music we listen to....
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i agree with #1 at least
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I'm in total agreement with Sars. Such overtreaded business on here. Arcade Fire's a cliche #1, Twin Cinema's NOT #2, nor better than Electric Vers.
Sometimes I hate what the generation(s) older than me thinks of the music we listen to....
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I'm lovin' Twin Cinema at 2 and a Black Keys nod (so underrated).
But yeah, list pretty much sucks. I mean have they actually heard The Love Below, it's borderline unlistenable...
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Please...NO MORE LISTS.
Pop culture is dead-ish and journalists don't want to work at anything, therefore, they publish lists.
Apocalypse hooray!
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Fer the record, Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003). I'd still put those two on the list, but I'm one of /those/ people. Also, where the hell is Rabbit Fur Coat? And Sea Change isn't on there! Boo-urns!
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Coincidentally, this list ranked as #8 on the 30 Most Inessential Lists of All Time.
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Black keys should be huge, and rubber factory is probably their weakest record to date. But at least they are recognized. Listen to the shins album with earphones, it sounds like shit.
Arcade fire shouldn't be #1 on any list.
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I thought jerking off over Arcade Fire officially became uncool a year ago?
That list looks like some guy just went to Pitchfork, read the album reviews, and decided to put them in the order in which they were most overzealously written about. Srsly, I think PFM's the only website that gave Twin Cinema a better rating than Electric Version.
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WHAT NO SUFJAN! Really? That list is wrong. I saw Sufjan last night here in Seattle, amazing. NO SUFJAN! Also no Radiohead. Crime.
Whatever. That list is missing a few good ones for sure.
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Coco, your comment is #1 on all posts after 12:30.
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Point made: Not a single truly essential album has been released in the last 5 years.
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Yea... De-Loused in the Comatorium should be on this list. NOT Frances the Mute.... that must have been a typo.
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I got excited for a second there because I thought "Drive By Truckers" said "Diesel Truckers." But then I looked again and no, it said "Drive By Truckers."
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so not only is get behind me satan higher than any other white stripes album, it's substantially higher. if i have to hear the beginning of 'white moon' before i do a track skip a few more times, i'll slit my own throat.
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Arcade Fire is not the number one "essential" album.
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The fact that A Ghost is Born made the list is fact that Jeff Tweedy can do anything, except for (maybe) an album of his bowel movements, and people will love it.
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lol my eyes caught 'Mars Volta' and then i stopped reading...
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haha, frances the mute #10...hahaha
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frances the mute was a huge mistake. for some reason it pisses me off to see franz f ing ferdinand between the black keys and wolf parade
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I hate to be negative, but this list really is pretty bad. I'm not that familiar with Harp magazine, but based on their choices (and based much more on their omissions), I'd guess their editors are on the same plane as the home schoolers who run Maxim or Stuff.
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What? No Broken Social Scene???
I declare bullshit.
Frances the Mute is an awful choice for the top 10.
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Serious lack of Of Montreal on there, too.
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The list is bullshit...who's Harp again? They should stick to brewing...
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Nothing by Mars Volta or the White Stripes is essential by any means. That said, not a bad list, just boring.
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from a basement on the hill.
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perhaps Arcade Fire is a "cliche" #1 b/c so many people think it is a great album rather than a few elitists. therefore it has a right to be number one. i hate hipsters.
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I don't hate Funeral; I just think it's vastly overrated. I listen to it time and time again to figure out what the sploogegasms are all about, and time and time again I'm thinking, "...oh, okay, this is indie music..."
It's almost like everyone loves it because it's the very first album with indie cred that newcomers love, therefore they have a special sentimental place for it in their heart.
*shrug*
All I know is that I just realized Dismemberment Plan's Change isn't up there, which makes this list all the more retarded.
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Didn't the last (as in "most recent" not as in "final") Fugazi album come out in 2001? "The Argument" is my favorite of their albums, and surely that belongs somewhere in there.
I love the Arcade Fire more than is healthy, but, dude, #1? Sure, if you're listing only albums put out in 2004. But in the last 5 years? #1?
Ditto regarding the lack of radiohead
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And wait, the year-end 'best-of' lists are right around the corner! What gems will lurk in them thar lists?
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IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA???!!???!!!?????
anyone?
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eh... . just kidding...
the end of that should have said "was a great album that came out in 1998."
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eh... . just kidding...
the end of that should have said "was a great album that came out in 1998."
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yeah, i agree the list is terrible but i wanna give harp major props for no. 50. gillian is amazing and usally doesnt get the credit she deserves.
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Why leave out so many good artists and albums to have 3 fucking albums by the white stripes on the list. I mean Missy Elliott is that supposed to be a fucking joke? How about from a basement on the hill by eliott smith instead.
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A bunch of oversights:
Dismemberment Plan - Change
Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
Fugazi - The Argument
Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt
Ted Leo - Tyranny of Distance, Hearts of Oak, Shake the Sheets
Jay Z - The Blueprint
Mclusky - Do Dallas
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice
Mastodon - Leviathan
Ghostface Killah - Pretty Toney, Fishscale
Modest Mouse - Good News
Mission of Burma - onOffon
Spoon - Kill The Moonlight
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
You get the point...it's a dumbass list to even attempt.
That being said, if my parents had wrote it, I'd think it was pretty cool.
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I agree with D.D.D.Dave. The lack of any Broken Social Scene is lamanetable.
Also missing:
Stars-Heart, or Set Yourself on Fire
Feist-Let It Die
Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Show Your Bones, not Fever to Tell
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"Point made: Not a single truly essential album has been released in the last 5 years."
With the exception of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which I think is absolutely essential, I agree with that sentiment.
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It's a good thing no one really read harp. Arcade Fire #1? New Pornographers #2? Frances the mute, on the list? Wow. What about bands that actually matter such as Deerhoof or Liars?
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Most notable misses in my book: Turn on the Bright Lights and You Forgot It In People.
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Gold is possibly Adams' worst album. Silly Harp.
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Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
I mean, come on.
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enon, "high society," that's what they forgot.
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Get Behind Me Satan, a dissapointment in comparison to other, better White Stripes albums placed higher than the only Cat Power album on the list. Bullshit. Otherwise, most of whats up there is pretty right on.
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Get Behind Me Satan, a dissapointment in comparison to other, better White Stripes albums placed higher than the only Cat Power album on the list. Bullshit.
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It's evident these guys are missing a lot on their list: Sufjan, Mastodon, De-Loused In The Comatorium (fuck FTM), Underoath's latest, Stars' Set Yourself On Fire, Full Collapse, Dredg, The Microphones, among a bunch of others. And all they have to show for it is them sucking off the cocks of Arcade Fire. I think even Jay-Z (hate all you want) or all other post-Kid A Radiohead deserves to be higher than Arcade Fire.
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That's a pretty lame list, even when considering what music Harp leans towards. Arcade Fire isn't even the best album of '04 let alone the last 5 years. The Hip-Hop choices are suspect (Blueprint!). I'd take Original Pirate Material over Arular. And the the Jack White worship is out of hand (White Blood Cells should be the only one on the list). AND there's no ? at the end of Is This It!!
Oh yeah, and Return to Cookie Mountain is the best album of the last 5 years.
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That's a pretty lame list, even when considering what music Harp leans towards. Arcade Fire isn't even the best album of '04 let alone the last 5 years. The Hip-Hop choices are suspect (Blueprint!). I'd take Original Pirate Material over Arular. And the the Jack White worship is out of hand (White Blood Cells should be the only one on the list). AND there's no ? at the end of Is This It!!
Oh yeah, and Return to Cookie Mountain is the best album of the last 5 years.
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I'm not a big fan of that list but I'm not a big fan of the substitute choices offered up here either. When I go to hell I'll probably get stuck in the elevator with nothing to listen to but the 50 state project. Noooooooo! Anyway the problem with these kind of lists by committee is you end up with safe choices because the non-safe ones cancel out and then everyone gets all up in arms about how it's all safe choices.
OK, off to listen to Scarlett and stare at sweet, sweet hiney.
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No Bloc Party?
Im happy Guided By Voices made it in though
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the lack of scissor sisters surprises me, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it belongs on the list
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A few things come to mind- The New Pornographers album, the last Spoon album... Was "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" included? This is a very erratic list. There's Kanye and Outkast, but no U2, no Coldplay,... I'm not griping with their inclusion, just remarking on their presence on the list as big-time mainstream artists and the absence of other big artists. This is appears to be a list of hipster music and music by artists whom hipsters enjoy, and artists who made albums with ones hipsters enjoy, in the case of Loretta.
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Arcade Fire are the most overrated pile of garbage ever. No Elbow? This list is like a list of what everyone thinks is cool, but no one actually listens to.
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Arcade Fire are the most overrated pile of garbage ever. No Elbow? This list is like a list of what everyone thinks is cool, but no one actually listens to.
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No Radiohead and 3 White Stripes' records? Also, the 3rd-best QOTSA album? Stupid list.
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I'd say its a decent list but lacking-you guys have already pointed out most of the oversights- Coldplay, Sufjan, radiohead, U2, Bloc Party, etc. I've been a big fan of MIA's Arular. It's got some good songs and it's creative, but I think #9 might be a bit high for that album. I gotta say that Get Behind Me Satan is the best White Stripes album also. And why all the Arcade Fire hate? It's not a bunch of hipster hype - it's easily near the top of that list.
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I didn't know Seinfeld was a stereogum reader!
Who talks about the New Pornographers these days anyway? No one. Two Tom Waits in top 10? Nobody actually listens to him except critics and musicians. I respect the guy, but his music is hard to take for a non-musician/critic like me.
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These are the same people who say "Death Cab is so over..." and the same people who say "Coldplay is so mainstream" and the same people who will say "the Arcade Fire isn't that great" in about three months. Yea, you're too cool for school. Get out of my house.
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I am the only one here who can't stand Arcade Fire. For whatever reason, I do not see what is so special about them. They don't even belong on the top 100, let alone be at number 1.
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I like this list I say HELL YES good taste good taste mmm mmm! These are all my favorites!
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Arcade Fire deserve that spot. The Shins should be higher. Real Gone by Tom Waits. Yes. Alice. No. Amnesiac? Had nothing on Hail to the Thief just everybody liked Amnesiac because it was cool to. "Oh I am cool and intraspective and deep and I can appreciate the amazing-ness of Amnesiac and you can't because I'm a twat" Bah, too much sounds of whales humping and not enough sounds of Thom Yorke singing!
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Hey guys, this is a link to the Ian MacKaye TV interview he did for Vice:
This is part 1-
http://www.vbs.tv/player.php?bctid=494769642
and these are parts 2-4
http://www.vbs.tv/shows/index.php?show=Soft%20Focus
Enjoy.
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Hey guys, this is a link to the Ian MacKaye TV interview he did for Vice:
This is part 1-
www.vbs.tv/player.php?bctid=494769642
and these are parts 2-4
www.vbs.tv/shows/index.php?show=Soft%20Focus
Enjoy.
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