You're simply the best...

As we come crashing toward the end of another decade, I thought it fitting to list my favorite...oh I'll just say it...the best pop songs of the past decade. There were a lot of songs and this is a long list, and if your favorite does not appear, I am sorry...maybe you could comment on what I am missing. I feel it is important to get these lists out of the way and clear the way for the best of 09 lists, so here is the full horror below (in alpha order--it's just easier that way):

A-HA--Summer Moved On
ABC--The Very First Time
ADELE-Hometown Glory
AIR--Cherry Blossom Girl
AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT--Sometime Around Midnight
ALL SAINTS--Pure Shores
AMY WINEHOUSE--Back to Black/Rehab
ANNIE LENNOX--I've Got a Life (Eurythmics)/Into the West
ANNIE--Heartbeat/Chewing Gum/Songs Remind me of You/Anthonio/I Don't Like Your Band/I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS--Crazy in Love
APPLETON--Don't Worry
ARCADE FIRE--Neighbourhood #3/Intervention
ARCTIC MONKEYS--I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor/505/Flouerscent Adolescent
BANANARAMA--Love Comes/Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)
BASEMENT JAXX--Romeo/Where's Your Head At?/Plug it in/Oh My Gosh/Take Me Back to Your House/Raindrops
BAT FOR LASHES--What's a Girl to Do?/Moon & Moon/Daniel
BELLE & SEBASTIAN--Dear Catastrophe Waitress/Step Into My Office, Baby
BETH ORTON--Bobby Gentry
BEYONCE--Crazy in Love/Naughty Girl/Irreplaceable/Ring the Alarm/Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)/If I Were a Boy/Sweet Dreams/Halo
BIG PINK--Dominos
BIRD & THE BEE--My Fair Lady/Diamond Dave
BJORK--Pagan Poetry/Unison/Undo/Triumph of a Heart/Wanderlust
BLACK BOX RECORDER--Facts of Life/These Are the Things
BLACK KIDS--I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
BLAKE LEWIS--Heartbreak on Vinyl
BLOC PARTY--Banquet
BLUR--Out of Time
BPA--Toe Jam (w/David Byrne)
BRAVERY--An Honest Mistake
BRENDAN BENSON--Garbage Day
BRITISH SEA POWER--It Ended on an Oily Stage
BRITNEY SPEARS--Toxic/Gimme More/Piece of Me/Womanizer
BRITTA PHILLIPS/DEAN WAREHAM--Ginger Snaps
BWO--Sunshine in the Rain/Give me the Night/Destiny of Love
CALVIN HARRIS--Flashback
CAMERA OBSCURA--Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken/Careless Love
CAMILLE--Money Note
CARDIGANS--Song for the Leftovers (A Camp)/For What It's Worth/Love Has Left the Room (A Camp)
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG--The Songs That We Sing
CHEMICAL BROTHERS--Out of Control
CHRSTINA AGUILERA--Beautiful
CICADA--Love Don't Come Easy/Don't Stare at the Sun
CLIENT--Don't Call me Baby
COLDPLAY--Trouble/The Scientist/Clocks/Animals/White Shadows/Talk/Speed of Sound/Viva la Vida/Life in Technicolour ii/Lovers in Japan
CORINNE BAILEY RAE--Like a Star
CRAIG ARMSTRONG--Wake Up in New York (w/Evan Dando)
CURVE--Gift/My Tiled White Floor/Signals & Alibis
CUT COPY--Out There on the Ice/Lights & Music/Hearts on Fire/Far Away
CUT OFF YOUR HANDS--Happy as can be
CYNDI LAUPER--Into the Nightlife/Echo/Grab a Hold
DAFT PUNK--One More Time/Digital Love/Music Sounds Better With You (Stardust)
DANNII MINOGUE--Put the Needle on it/I Begin to Wonder
DARREN HAYES--Unlovable/Pop!ular/Who Would Have Thought/Step Into the Light/Casey
DAVID BOWIE--Slip Away/Never Get Old
DAVID SYLVIAN--Ride/Wonderful World (Nine Horses)
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE--Brothers on a Hotel Bed/Meet Me on the Equinox
DELAYS--Valentine/Love Made Visible
DEPECHE MODE--Freelove/Precious/Martyr/Wrong
DESTINY'S CHILD--Lose My Breath
DIDO--White Flag
DIVINE COMEDY--Absent Friends/Happy Goth/Lady of a Certain Age
DOVES--Pounding/Caught by the River/Black & White Town/Kingdom of Rust
DRAGONETTE--Take it Like a Man/Jesus Doesn't Love me Anymore/Pick up the Phone/We Rule the World
DUFFY--Rockferry/Warwick Avenue
DURAN DURAN--Sunrise/The Valley
ED HARCOURT--She Fell Into My Arms/You Only Call me When You're Drunk/Rain on the Pretty Ones
EDITORS--Munich/Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors/Papillon/No Sound But the Wind
ELBOW--Newborn/Fugitive Motel/Sounding Off/Leaders of the Free World
ELVIS COSTELLO--45/When I Was Cruel no. 2
EMILIANA TORRINI--Gollum's Song
EMMA BUNTON--Crickets Sing for Anamaria
EMPIRE OF THE SUN--Walking on a Dream
ENYA--May it Be
ERASURE--Breathe/Here I Go Impossible Again/I Could Fall in Love With You/Sunday Girl
FEIST--1234/My Moon My Man
FILTHY DUKES--Messages
FIONA APPLE--O'Sailor
FISCHERSPOONER--Emerge/Never Win/The Best Revenge
FLAMING LIPS--Do You Realize?/Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE--Rabbit Heart/Howl
FRANKMUSIK--Vacant Heart
FRANZ FERDINAND--Take Me Out/Michael/L. Wells/Ulysses
FROU FROU--Let Go
GARBAGE--Bleed Like Me/Tell Me Where it Hurts
GEORGE MICHAEL--Freeek!/Amazing
GHOSTS--The World is Outside
GIRL CALLED EDDY--Heartache/Girls Can Really Tear You Up Inside/Golden/People Who Used to Dream About the Future
GIRLS ALOUD--Biology/No Good Advice/The Show/Sexy! No No No/Call the Shots/Girl Overboard/The Promise/The Loving Kind
GLASVEGAS--Flowers & Football Tops/Daddy's Gone
GNARLS BARKLEY--Crazy
GOLDFRAPP--Lovely Head/Pilots/Utopia/Black Cherry/Strict Machine/Twist/Ooh La La/Ride a White Horse/Fly Me Away/Number 1/A & E/Caravan Girl
GORILLAZ--Feel Good, Inc./Clint Eastwood
GOSSIP--Heavy Cross/Men in Love
GRACE JONES--William's Blood/Corporate Cannibal
GUILLEMOTS--If the World Ends/Annie, Let's Not Wait
GWEN STEFANI--What You Waiting For?/Hollaback Girl/Hey Baby (No Doubt)/Hella Good (No Doubt)/Underneath it All (No Doubt)/Cool/Early Winter/Wonderful Life/The Real Thing
HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR--Blind
HOOSIERS--Goodbye Mr. A
HOT CHIP--Ready for the Floor
HUMAN LEAGUE--All I Ever Wanted/Love me Madly
I AM X--President
IAN BROWN--For the Glory
IMOGEN HEAP--Hide & Seek
INTERPOL--NYC
JACK PENATE--So Near
JARVIS COCKER--Cunts are Still Running the World
JENS LEKMAN--Sipping on the Sweet Nectar/Into Eternity
JOSEPH ARTHUR--In the Sun/Honey & the Moon
JULIET--Avalon
JUNIOR SENIOR--Move Your Feet/Shake Your Coconuts/Take My Time/Can I Get Get Get
JUSTICE--D.A.N.C.E./DVNO/Phantom 1/2
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE--Cry me a River
KAISER CHIEFS--I Predict a Riot/Everything's Average Nowadays/Addicted to Drugs
KANYE WEST--Love Lockdown
KATE BUSH--King of the Mountain
KEANE--Everybody's Changing/Bend & Break/Bedshaped/Spiralling
KELIS--Finest Dreams (w/Richard X)/Milkshake
KELLY CLARKSON--Since You Been Gone
KILLERS--Mr. Brightside/Somebody Told Me/All These Things That I've Done/When You Were Young/Read My Mind/Human
KIM WILDE--Perfect Girl
KIRSTY MACCOLL--Mambo de la Luna/In These Shoes?/Treachery
KLEERUP--Longing for Lullabies (w/Titiyo)
KNIFE--Heartbeats/Silent Shout
KYLIE MINOGUE--On a Night Like This/Disco Down/Light Years/Your Disco Needs You/Can't Get You Out of my Head/Love at First Sight/In Your Eyes/Slow/Secret (Take You Home)/I Believe in You/In My Arms/The One/Wow/Carried Away/White Diamond
LA ROUX--Bulletproof/Quicksand/Tigerlily/Cover My Eyes
LADY GAGA--Pokerface/Lovegame/Paparazzi/Bad Romance
LADYHAWKE--Magic/My Delerium/Paris is Burning
LADYTRON--Runaway/Destroy Everything you Touch
LAST SHADOW PUPPETS--Age of the Understatement/My Mistakes Were Made For You
LES RYTHMES DIGITALES--(Hey You) What's That Sound?/Sometimes
LIGHTNING SEEDS--Don't Walk On By
LILY ALLEN--Smile/LDN/Nan, You're a Window Shopper/The Fear/I Could Say/Fuck You
LITTLE BOOTS--New in Town/Stuck on Repeat/Remedy/Symmetry
LUCKY SOUL--Add Your Light to Mine/Lips Are Unhappy
LUKE HAINES--Going Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop
M.I.A.--Galang/10 Dollar/URAQT/Bird Flu/Boyz/Jimmy/Paper Planes
M83--Kim & Jessie/Graveyard Girl
MADNESS--NW5/Liberty of Norton Fulgate
MADONNA--Music/Don't Tell Me/Impressive Instant/Runaway Lover/Die Another Day/American Life/Hung Up/Get Together/Sorry/Jump
MAPS--I Dream of Crystal
MARC ALMOND--Glorious/Under Your Wing/Lights/When It's Your Time/Love in a Time of Science/Monoculture (Soft Cell)/The Night (Soft Cell)/Last Chance (Soft Cell)/Divided Soul (Soft Cell)/So Long the Path/The Storks/Redeem Me/I Have Lived/Way You Walk/Suicide Saloon/Kill Me or Make me Beautiful/Weakness for Roses/Boulevards of Magadan
MARK RONSON--Valerie (w/Amy Winehouse)
MARSHEAUX--Destroy Me/Summer
MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD--Need One
MARY ONETTES--Slow/Void/Puzzles
MASSIVE ATTACK--What Your Soul Sings (w/Sinead O'Connor)/Prayer for England (w/Sinead O'Connor)/Live With Me (w/Terry Callier)
MATINEE CLUB--Jane Falls Down
MAXIMO PARK--Apply Some Pressure
MCALMONT (DAVID)--Falling (McAlmont/Butler)/Bring it Back (McAlmont/Butler)/Back 4 Good (McAlmont/Butler)/Snow (w/Craig Armstrong)
MELANIE C--I Turn To You/Northern Star
MELODY CLUB--Baby
MELODY GARDOT--Who Will Comfort Me?/Your Heart is as Black as Night
METRIC--Sick Muse
MGMT--Kids/Electric Feel
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS--Into the Galaxy
MIIKE SNOW--Silvia
MISSY ELLIOTT-Get Ur Freak On/Work It/One Minute Man/4 My People (Basement Jaxx Mix)
MOBY--We Are All Made of Stars
MOLOKO--Familiar Feeling/Forever More
MONACO--I've Got a Feeling
MORRISSEY--Irish Blood, English Heart/I Have Forgiven Jesus/First of the Gang to Die/You Have Killed Me/Dear God, Please Help Me/I'm Throwing my Arms Around Paris
MUMMERS--Lorca and the Orange Tree
MUSE--Butterflies & Hurricanes/Supernatural Black Hole
N.E.R.D.--Truth or Dare (w/Kelis)
NENEH CHERRY--Twisted Mess (w/Craig Armstrong)
NEON NEON--Raquel/I Told Her on Alderaan
NEW ORDER--Here to Stay/Crystal/Krafty
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS--Nature Boy/There She Goes, My Beautiful World
NINE INCH NAILS--The Hand That Feeds/Capital G/Discipline
NOISETTES--Never Forget You/Don't Upset the Rhythm
N-SYNC--Bye Bye Bye/Pop
PALOMA FAITH--New York/Stargazer
PASSION PIT--The Reeling
PATRICK WOLF--Accident & Emergency/Magpie/The Sun is Often Out
PET SHOP BOYS--Home & Dry/Birthday Boy/Miracles/Flamboyant/Integral/Minimal/The Sodom & Gomorrah Show/Casanova in Hell/Fugitive/Love, Etc./Pandemonium/All Around the World/Did You See Me Coming?
PETER GABRIEL--Growing Up/Sky Blue/More Than This
PHOENIX--Lisztomania/1901
PINK--Just Like a Pill/18 Wheeler/Family Portrait/Who Knew/U + Ur Hand/Please Don't Leave Me/I Don't Believe You/It's All Your Fault
PIPETTES--Pull Shapes/Winter's Sky/Judy
PORTISHEAD--The Rip/Threads
POSTMARKS--No One Said This Would Be Easy/My Lucky Charm
PREFAB SPROUT--Ride/Angel of Love
PRESETS--This Boy's in Love/If I Know You
PRIMAL SCREAM--Swastika Eyes/Miss Lucifer/Deep Hit of Morning Sun/Glory of Love
PULP--Bad Cover Version
R.E.M.--Imitation of Life/I'll Take the Rain/Living Well is the Best Revenge
RACHEL STEVENS--Some Girls/Crazy Boys/Negotiate With Love/I Said Never Again (But here we are)/Nothing Good About This Goodbye
RADIOHEAD--Everything In It's Right Place/Idioteque/Pyramid/Knives Out/Life in a Glass House/Weird Fishes/House of Cards
RAVEONETTES--Love in a Trashcan/That Great Love Sound/Last Dance/Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)
REX THE DOG--Bubblicious
RICHARD HAWLEY--Open Up Your Door
RIHANNA--Umbrella/SOS/Don't Stop the Music/Shut Up & Drive
ROBBIE WILLIAMS--Rock DJ/Lovelight/She's Madonna/Feel
ROBYN--Be Mine!/Handle Me/Who's That Girl/Konichiwa Bitches/With Every Heartbeat (w/Kleerup)
ROISIN MURPHY--If We're In Love/Sow Into You/Ramalama (Bang Bang)/Overpowered/You Know Me Better/Let Me Know/Movie Star/Primitive
ROYKSOPP--Only This Moment/You Don't Have a Clue/What Else is There?
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT--Oh What a World/I Don't Know What it is/One You Love/Memphis Skyline
SADE--By Your Side/King of Sorrow
SAINT ETIENNE--Action/Stars Above Us/Good Thing/Lightning Strikes Twice/Side Streets/Teenage Winter/Milk Bottle Symphony/Method of Modern Love/This is Tomorrow
SALLY SHAPIRO--I Know/Anorak Christmas/Love in July/Miracle
SAM SPARRO--Black & Gold
SANTOGOLD (SANTIGOLD)--L.E.S. Artistes/Lights Out/I'm a Lady
SARAH NIXEY--The Collector/Strangelove
SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS--My Cabal
SCISSOR SISTERS--Take Your Mama/I Don't Feel Like Dancin'/Mary/Laura/Filthy Gorgeous/It Can't Come Quickly Enough
SCRITTI POLITTI--The Boom Boom Bap
SEAL--Amazing/My Vision
SHOUT OUT LOUDS--Tonight I Have to Leave It/Impossible
SHRIEKBACK--Hooray for Everything
SIA--Breathe Me
SIGUR ROS--Svefn-g-englar/Gobbledigook
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO--I Believe/It's the Beat/Cruel Intentions
SIOBAHN DONAGHY--Don't Give It Up/So You Say/Medevac/Goldfish
SIOUXSIE--Into a Swan/If It Doesn't Kill You/Here Comes That Day
SKYE--Tell Me About Your Day
SNEAKER PIMPS--Lightning Field/Curl
SOLANGE--Sandcastle Disco/I Decided
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR--Murder on the Dance Floor/Music Gets the Best of Me/Catch You/Me & My Imagination/China Heart/Supersonic/Heartbreak Make Me a Dancer
SPARKS--Suburban Homeboy/Good Morning/Dick Around/Perfume
STEVEN LINDSAY--Skywriter/Let it be Love (w/Craig Armstrong)
STROKES--Last Nite
SUGABABES--Freak Like Me/Caught in a Moment/Ugly/Hole in the Head/Push the Button/About You Now/Every Heart Broken
TEARS--Refugees/Lovers/Love as Strong as Death/The Asylum
TEARS FOR FEARS--Closest Thing to Heaven
TEDDYBEARS--Yours to Keep (w/Neneh Cherry)/Punkrocker (w/Iggy Pop)
TEMPOSHARK--It's Better to Have Loved
TEXAS--Can't Resist/Getaway
THOM YORKE--Analyse/And It Rained All Night/Harrowdown Hill
TING TINGS--That's Not My Name/Shut Up & Let Me Go
TOM WAITS--Flower's Grave/Lost in the Harbour/Table Top Joe/Coney Island Baby/Day After Tomorrow
TORI AMOS--A Sorta Fairytale/Gold Dust
TRACEY THORN--It's All True/Raise the Roof/Hands Up to the Ceiling
TRAVIS--Closer/Re-Offender
U2--Beautiful Day/Elevation/Vertigo/Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
VAMPIRE WEEKEND--A-Punk/Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa/Bryn/Horchata
VEILS--Under the Folding Branches/Pan/Calliope!/Sit Down By the Fire
VENUS HUM--Hummingbirds/Montana
WENDY & LISA--Invisible
WHIP--Dubsex/Sister Siam
WHITE LIES--To Lose My Life/Death
YEAH YEAH YEAHS--Maps/Zero/Heads Will Roll/Soft Shock/Hysteric
YELLE--Ce Jeu/Je Veux te Voir
YELLO--Planet Dada/You Better Hide
YUKSEK--Tonight/So Far Away From the Sea
ZERO 7--Destiny/In the Waiting Line
ZOOT WOMAN--Lonely By Your Side/Living in a Magazine/We Won't Break

Enough 4 ya? And these were just the best...

It's the end of a decade, in another ten years' time...

I guess it was inevitable that another ten years would pass, but I still can't believe it. Now that I have officially reached an age group where I am one of the few still interested in recorded popular music (especially music in a physical format), I feel it is my duty to anthologize and rhapsodize a bit on what has transpired. Ten years ago, the western world was in the midst of a pop-culture blitz where the almighty $ reigned supreme. There had been big pop eras before, but we really reached a peak in commercialism in 1999 with Britney Spears, N'Sync, and Backstreet Boys dominating the world of pop music, joined by Eminem and Jay-Z in rap, and Limp Bizkit and Dave Matthews in rock. Oh, and Radiohead had just morphed into the best band in the world. Now ten years later, some of those names are still relevant while others have thankfully long since faded into the ether. What originally began as sharing of song files through facilitators like Napster has begun to move into the world of paying for digital downloads, and Apple (not the Beatles' company) is more powerful than ever because of it.

Speaking as a music fan, I remember buying 45s in the early 80's, and felt like I had something to show for it. Now I get a file to call my own. I graduated to LPs not long thereafter, moving quickly from the remnants of 70's corporate rock to my newfound obsessions like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Thompson Twins, the Cure, and Prince. I still have some of those records, refusing to jettison everything when they looked to be "things of the past". I enjoyed my LPs a lot, even though they were really heavy, and didn't always have the greatest sound (certain ones I memorized with the minor scratches), but they had a tactile warmth about them, which is much of their appeal, I suppose. Now I have more CDs than LPs, and yet I still enjoy having CDs around. I cannot imagine a house so cold that it lacks a single CD or LP. Why would you want that? I guess it makes mobility easier in a dangerous world where you don't know if your house will be blown up tomorrow or not, but I appreciate them. Some albums I even own on CD AND LP. Now THAT's dedication.

In an era where CDs are on the decline and everybody talks online, I get the sense that we are in the process of losing something that was once quite special. Music stores, now few and far between, were also places where people could get together and discuss their latest finds in a very personal, face-to-face situation. Now, you have to get on a computer and find a group somewhere that supports similar tastes to yours, making it difficult to get exposed to other types of music. As music styles seem to be blending more and more to try and capture more listeners, music audiences are becoming more fragmented due to their self-isolation. Sure, you can congregate at Starbucks, but how many people stand around talking about their favorite new band there? I remember hearing Madonna for the first time, thinking she was black. Her music had a hot beat, her voice had a soulful quality, and there was no music video for "Holiday", so until the LP was released with her picture on the cover, we fantasized about what she could possibly look like, hence her eventual influence on 80's fashion. Similarly, Prince was somebody who set rock music on it's ear, incorporating many different styles, yet his background was not one typically connected to rock music (this probably goes back to Jimi Hendrix, but that was a little before my time).

The radical changes in the way music is made and (hopefully) sold in the past ten years are a direct influence on the selections on this list. I will spare your precious time by not going into extended detail as to why these are the best albums of the past decade...they just are. If you don't agree with me, it's OK...this is not your list. Most of these albums are known in many circles, while some are very little known. Their sales figures do not necessarily equate with their excellence. What are the parameters? Really it all comes down to their musicality and production, cultural significance, and how much I liked them. A list such as this was very difficult to compile, as I have listened to literally thousands of albums over the past ten years. If I recommend it here, it HAS to be good. And so, in alphabetical order (I found this much easier than trying to select them numerically):


AIR--Talkie Walkie (2004)
AMY WINEHOUSE--Back to Black (2007)
ANJA GARBAREK--Smiling & Waving (2001)
ANJA GARBAREK--Briefly Shaking (2006)
ANNIE--Anniemal (2005)
ANNIE--Don't Stop (2009)
APPLETON--Everything Eventual (2003)
ARCTIC MONKEYS--Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)
ARCTIC MONKEYS--Humbug (2009)
ARCTIC MONKEYS--Whatever People Say That's What I'm Not (2006)
ARCADE FIRE--Funeral (2004)
ARCADE FIRE--Neon Bible (2007)
BASEMENT JAXX--Kish Kash (2003)
BASEMENT JAXX--Rooty (2001)
BAT FOR LASHES--Two Suns (2009)
BELLE & SEBASTIAN--Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
BJORK--Vespertine (2001)
BLACK BOX RECORDER--Facts of Life (2001)
BLACK BOX RECORDER--Passionoia (2003)
BWO--Prototype (2005)
CAMERA OBSCURA--My Maudlin Career (2009)
CICADA--Roulette (2009)
COLDPLAY--Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
COLDPLAY-Viva La Vida (2008)
COLDPLAY--X & Y (2005)
CURVE-Gift (2001)
CUT COPY--In Ghost Colours (2008)
CYNDI LAUPER--Bring Ya to the Brink (2008)
DAFT PUNK--Discovery (2001)
DARREN HAYES--Tension & the Spark (2004)
DARREN HAYES--This Delicate Thing We've Made (2007)
DAVID SYLVIAN--Manafon (2009)
DIVINE COMEDY--Absent Friends (2004)
DIVINE COMEDY--Victory for the Comic Muse (2006)
DOVES--Last Broadcast (2002)
DRAGONETTE--Fixin to Thrill (2009)
DRAGONETTE--Galore (2007)
ED HARCOURT--Beautiful Lie (2006)
EDITORS--Back Room (2005)
EDITORS--In This Light & On This Evening (2009)
ELBOW--Cast of Thousands (2004)
ERASURE--Nightbird (2005)
ERASURE--Light at the End of the World (2007)
FLAMING LIPS--Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots (2002)
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE--Lungs (2009)
FRANZ FERDINAND--Franz Ferdinand (2004)
FRANZ FERDINAND--You Could Have it So Much Better (2005)
FROU FROU--Details (2002)
GIRL CALLED EDDY--Girl Called Eddy (2004)
GIRLS ALOUD--Out of Control (2008)
GIRLS ALOUD--Tangled Up (2007)
GLASVEGAS--Glasvegas (2008)
GOLDFRAPP--Black Cherry (2003)
GOLDFRAPP--Felt Mountain (2000)
GOLDFRAPP--Seventh Tree (2008)
GOLDFRAPP--Supernature (2006)
GOOD, THE BAD, & THE QUEEN--Good, the Bad, & the Queen (2007)
GOSSIP--Music for Men (2009)
GRACE JONES--Hurricane (2008)
GUILLEMOTS--Through the Window Pane (2006)
GWEN STEFANI--Love.Angel.Music.Baby. (2004)
HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR--Hercules & Love Affair (2008)
HUMAN LEAGUE--Secrets (2002)
IAN BROWN--My Way (2009)
IMOGEN HEAP--Speak for Yourself (2005)
INTERPOL--Turn Off the Bright Lights (2002)
JENS LEKMAN--Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007)
JOSEPH ARTHUR--Come to Where I'm From (2000)
JUNIOR SENIOR--Hey Hey My My Yo Yo (2006)
JUSTICE--Cross (2007)
KAISER CHIEFS--Employment (2005)
KATE BUSH--Aerial (2005)
KEANE--Hopes & Fears (2004)
KILLERS--Hot Fuss (2005)
KIRSTY MACCOLL--Tropical Brainstorm (2000)
KNIFE--Deep Cuts (2005)
KNIFE--Silent Shout (2006)
KYLIE MINOGUE--Fever (2002)
KYLIE MINOGUE--Light Years (2000)
KYLIE MINOGUE--X (2007)
LA ROUX--La Roux (2009)
LADYHAWKE--Ladyhawke (2008)
LAST SHADOW PUPPETS--Age of the Understatement (2008)
LILY ALLEN--Alright, Still (2006)
LILY ALLEN--It's Not Me, It's You (2009)
LUCKY SOUL--Great Unwanted (2007)
LITTLE BOOTS--Hands (2009)
M83--Saturdays = Youth (2008)
M.I.A.--Arular (2005)
M.I.A.--Kala (2007)
MADONNA--Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)
MADONNA--Music (2000)
MARC ALMOND--Stranger Things (2002)
MARY ONETTES--Islands (2009)
MARY ONETTES--Mary Onettes (2007)
MOLOKO--Statues (2003)
MORRISSEY--You Are the Quarry (2004)
MUMMERS--Tale to Tell (2009)
MUSE--Absolution (2004)
NICK CAVE & BAD SEEDS--Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
NINE HORSES--Snow Borne Sorrow (2005)
NINE INCH NAILS--Year Zero (2007)
NO DOUBT--Rock Steady (2001)
PALOMA FAITH--Do You Want to Know the Truth or Something Beautiful? (2009)
PATRICK WOLF--Magic Position (2007)
PET SHOP BOYS--Fundamental (2006)
PET SHOP BOYS--Yes (2009)
PIPETTES--We are the Pipettes (2006)
PORTISHEAD--Third (2008)
POSTMARKS--Memoirs at the End of the World (2009)
PREFAB SPROUT--Let's Change the World With Music (2009)
PRESETS--Apocalypso (2008)
PRIMAL SCREAM--Evil Heat (2002)
PRIMAL SCREAM--Xtrmntr (2000)
PULP--We Love Life (2000)
R.E.M.--Reveal (2001)
RACHEL STEVENS--Come & Get it (2005)
RADIOHEAD--Amnesiac (2001)
RADIOHEAD--In Rainbows (2007)
RADIOHEAD--Kid A (2000)
RICHARD X--Richard X Presents His X-Factor (2003)
ROBBIE WILLIAMS--Sing When You're Winning (2000)
ROBYN--Robyn (2006)
ROISIN MURPHY--Overpowered (2007)
ROISIN MURPHY--Ruby Blue (2005)
ROYKSOPP--Junior (2009)
ROYKSOPP--Understanding (2005)
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT--Want One (2003)
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT--Want Two (2004)
SADE--Lovers Rock (2000)
SAINT ETIENNE--Finisterre (2002)
SAINT ETIENNE--Tales From Turnpike House (2005)
SANTOGOLD(SANTIGOLD)--Santogold(Santigold) (2008)
SARAH NIXEY--Sing, Memory (2007)
SCISSOR SISTERS--Scissor Sisters (2004)
SCOTT WALKER--The Drift (2006)
SCRITTI POLITTI--White Bread Black Beer (2006)
SHOUT OUT LOUDS--Our Ill Wills (2007)
SIGUR ROS--Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (2008)
SIOBHAN DONAGHY--Ghosts (2008)
SIOUXSIE--Mantaray (2007)
SNEAKER PIMPS--Splinter (2001)
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR--Trip the Light Fantastic (2007)
STROKES--Is This It? (2001)
TEARS--Here Come the Tears (2005)
THOM YORKE--Eraser (2006)
TRACEY THORN--Out of the Woods (2007)
VAMPIRE WEEKEND--Vampire Weekend (2008)
VEILS--Nux Vomica (2007)
YEAH YEAH YEAH'S--It's Blitz! (2009)
YUKSEK--Away from the Sea (2009)
ZERO 7--Simple Things (2001)
ZOOT WOMAN--Things Are What They Used to Be (2009)

That was tough. We'll see if I can even compile a list like this in another ten years...Hopefully albums will still be around. Stay tuned...

Up next...be on the lookout for the best songs of the past decade...

Q3: "Don't be tardy for the party"...

Yes, the Real Housewives of Atlanta inspired the title of this post, and yes, that song would be much hotter without Kim on it. I don't really understand why Kandi felt she needed to give the song away. I mean...it's kinda corny, but it had a few fun riffs, and if she's trying to get her recording career back on track...too much information already. So I missed the deadline for the Q3 titles--too much going on while working my fingers to the bone, so now that I have a few minutes, I would like to "briefly" review my favorite albums of the end of summer, and prepare for the final fall edition to be followed by the year 2009 (seriously, does anybody really care to read this crap beside me?--it's not like my opinion is the Bible). To be quite honest, 2009 has been one of my favorite years for music in a long time, so while the globe sinks into a recession, the music just keeps getting better while fewer people support it. I don't know how many more times I can stress the importance of supporting the music that you love without simply raping it for your pleasure (wow, that sounds like a harsh relationship). Trouble is, many of the digital outlets do not support the ability to purchase everything that you would like to support due to territorial restrictions. Therefore, the albums that I have chosen here represent records that were either released in the US during this quarter, or I bought as import CDs. Sorry, I don't really count downloads, unless they are purchased downloads, of which this list does not contain any anyhow (they are all on good old-fashioned official hard copy CDs). So without further ado...

1) GOSSIP--Music for Men

I will say more about some of these albums in the year end post (I did not do a first quarter roundup this year either), so let me just say that anybody who knows me will know that I went out on a limb with this one, especially a #1 choice. No real heavy synth/keyboard textures and an overweight lesbian lead singer with a voice like a punk Dolly Parton do not really add up to "me", but there is just something undeniably powerful about this record and Beth Ditto's performance. It is subtle when it needs to be, it's super danceable without being electro, and who needs lots of instruments when Ditto is in the room? Her voice more than makes up for the absence of sound, and that is one thing I find myself liking alot about this record--the silences. There is "space". I also tap my foot a lot when it comes on. They deserve superstardom in the US, but will America take a chance on them? An antidote to the bland, for sure.

2) LA ROUX--La Roux

This will also get a bigger post at year end, but I love La Roux. At first, I thought it was a bit screechy, and I could not understand why people liked this over Little Boots. Now I do. Don't get me wrong...I still love LB also, but this has depth and a kick of brattiness LB lacks. Maybe Boots is too professional, or just doesn't let her hair down enough. Whatever the case, this album is solid for me from beginning to end, with "Bulletproof" a frontrunner for single of the year. How THAT song has not been a hit in the US is also a mystery to me. I love Elly's style and hair as well, and know that, if I were a teenager growing up now, I would totally idolize her. So what if "I'm Not Your Toy" hasn't set the charts on fire in the UK--the song is damn infectious, and the video, as all of their videos have been, is quite clever and unique. A pleasant surprise.

3) ARCTIC MONKEYS--Humbug

This is probably more typical a choice of mine, but I think Alex and the Monkeys are pure genius, and working with Josh Homme gave a dimension to their sound which they didn't really have before. There may not be as many singalongs this time, but there are some smashing songs and some of the tightest playing I've heard in a while--that drummer is on fire! Totally rifftastic, and three albums in, still on top of their game.

4) PREFAB SPROUT--Let's Change the World With Music

A protracted masterpiece this, and I must thank http://xolondon.blogspot.com/ for his recommendation of many titles this year such as this, the Gossip, and the upcoming two. I was a very casual listener of PS in their heyday, and it has only been in the last five years or so that I have really plunged in and become much more aware of the genius of Paddy's work. This album, shelved by Sony in 1993, goes to the heart of what was wrong with the music industry at that time (see George Michael vs. Sony), and while there is some religious reference in the lyrics, that is quite a limiting label. And then there are the melodies and the arrangements. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Paddy's melodic sensibility is old school in the Cole Porter sense, and there is such charm and grace in his dulcet lilt and turns of phrase. The instruments remind me of the early 90's, but are generally updated with a fuller, more organic sound than they would have had then. Every time I hear this album, I think it is just fantastic in its unique and fearless way.

5) FLORENCE & THE MACHINE--Lungs

How many more fantastic debuts can 2009 take? Again, I don't know if the US will get Florence--she is a bit highbrow for most, but they may be willing to accept her in a Kate Bush "on the fringe" sort of way. A powerhouse vocalist reminiscent of Sinead O'Connor, I love how the arrangements on this album are generally rather lush with strings, piano, and harp, and have tribal drums in the background. Florence's vocals remain front and center, and most of the songs are rather sharp. If it had not been for the inclusion of "Kiss With a Fist", which seems sorely out of place as some earlier track with a different feel than the rest, and the relegation of "Swimming" to a bonus disc, this album would have ended up closer to #1. However, I was not in charge of picking the running order. Hello playlist...

6) CALVIN HARRIS--Ready for the Weekend

This was a pleasant surprise, and I knew Calvin had it in him after doing Kylie's "In My Arms". I thought his first album was a bit of a let down, and rather mindnumbing in its repetition, but this album is very charming, fun, has a lot of melody that is not one-note, and uses some guests without losing the focus of who is the star at the center. Maybe more talented than Mark Ronson (well, he does do many of his own vocals), I may have been to quick to write Calvin off in the past, but I am changing my tune. A great summer record.

7) MUSE--The Resistance

Some of you may think I have lost my mind when choosing this. Yes, it is the cheese. Yes, it is overblown. But boy, is Matt Bellamy a genius or what? The first few songs snap with an immediacy I think Muse were afraid to embrace before. They were so overcome with being the next big thing, that they were forgetting to have some fun, and I think "Supermassive Black Hole" was a signpost of things that were to come. That being said, there is some very high quality musicianship on this album, and Matt is definitely a master of guitar and piano--his interpretations of composers such as Chopin are stunning--Lady Gaga might be the only other current performer I can think of who would include entire passages of classical pieces in her pop songs. Muse do it with more grace and subtlety, and this is the definition of what a concept album is all about. Stunning.

8) MARC ALMOND--Orpheus in Exile

Vladimir Kozin is not a household name in the west (nor is Marc Almond really), but the man named Marc who almost died a few years back has once again done it with a spectacular album of cover songs by the great Russian, Kozin. How thoughtful of Marc to bring the work of someone who suffered under communist rule to the modern world of the west with such lovely sung renditions. The arrangements transport me to another place and time every time I hear them, and I stop to think how much time and care went into creating the perfect balance of instrument and voice, and the correct poetic translations. While I remain optimistic that Marc will soon release more original material, hearing his interpretations of music like this is pure magic. This is more than commercial music, this is art.

9) YUKSEK--Away from the Sea

Yuksek is not a very well known artist to be sure, so let me drop a few names. If you like Daft Punk or Justice, and you imagine them with more melodies, you would get closer to what Yuksek is all about. There is even a song called "So Far Away from the Sea" that features vocals from a band called The Bewitched Hands on the Top of Our Heads, which sounds quite similar at times to the Blur song, "Girls & Boys". Yuksek has a cut-n-paste way of putting certain elements together, yet they all seem to work for the most part, and they retain a certain warmth other electronic artists don't achieve. This is modern disco of the highest order. And I haven't the foggiest what "Eat My Bear" means.

10) A-HA--Foot of the Mountain

I know, people will say "sellout", but what a great album this was. It really brought some of the special electronic elements of A-ha to the fore while retaining their undeniable sound. There isn't really a bad song to be found at a just-right ten tracks, where their last three albums, although great, usually had at least one duff track ("Halfway Through the Tour", a seven minute mis-step being the entry from their last effort, Analogue). While the title track moves close to Keane territory (or is it vice-versa? Didn't A-ha come first?), "Riding the Crest" bubbles with an early-80's electro-pop bop, "What There Is" is nothing short of elegant, and "Start the Simulator" is their "Light Years", albeit less kitsch-y. Granted, lyrics like "Mother Nature Goes to Heaven" won't win them the pulitzer in English-speaking countries, but the sentiment is definitely there, with that song edging close to classic Depeche Mode terrain (if anything, the album bests Depeche's recent effort). This album was a winner in many ways, and it would be too much of a shame if they really are breaking up as they said they are in a recent press statement, as I feel they are just beginning to hit a new stride. Their solo albums sure haven't been much to write home about, and I feel they are much stronger together. Time will tell, but here's hoping for a hiatus.

There were so many albums I enjoyed in this quarter alone, and here are many of the others. You never know if one will all of a sudden click with me and end up on top of the year end list...

BASEMENT JAXX--Scars--what they do best, with more variety this time, which works mostly

BRENDAN BENSON--Brendan Benson--Jack White's friend and Robbie Williams should-be

DAVID SYLVIAN--Manafon--difficult listening yet utterly beautiful

ENGINEERS--Three Fact Fader--welcome return to shoegaze gorgeousness

ISLANDS--Vapours--welcome return to poppier shores and better songs

LEAVES--We are Shadows--Coldplay-who?

NOISETTES--Wild Young Hearts--close contender for the big list, they may still slip in...

ZOOT WOMAN--Things Are What They Used to Be--best ZW album yet

FRANKMUSIK--Frankmusik--he deserves better--a great little pop album

THE MUMMERS--Tale to Tell--another sleeper for the big list...incredible singing & playing

JACK PENATE--Everything is New--who knew he had this in him? Paolo who?

JUAN MACLEAN--The Future Will Come--best recordings yet--Human League for a new gen

KLEERUP--Kleerup--cleanup on aisle 2008...

LIGHTNING SEEDS--Four Winds--haunting little return exorcising ghosts of the past-- welcome back Ian

METRIC--Fantasies--girl-pop of the highest order

MEW--No More Stories--beneath the concepts and hype, great musicians

NORTHERN KIND--Wired--melodic electro-pop meets DIY

PHOENIX--Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix--certainly you have heard this by now

POSTMARKS--Memoirs at the End of the World--Divine Comedy wants their orchestra back :)

RICHARD HAWLEY--Truelove's Gutter--or Richard Hawley discovers the glass harmonica...

RUMBLE STRIPS--Welcome to the Walk Alone--what a great Mark Ronson produced album-- Now if more than ten people hear it...

SALLY SHAPIRO--My Guilty Pleasure--my guilty pleasure

BANANARAMA--Viva!--my other guilty pleasure

See what I mean?!? A few albums I "heard" but will end up on a later list: Dragonette, Raveonettes, Cribs, Maps, Paloma Faith.

Good albums from artists I respect and admire, but don't listen to much (maybe because there was too much other music already): Manic Street Preachers, Imogen Heap, Zero 7, Miike Snow, Datarock, Big Pink, Sea Wolf.

I honestly feel that this quarter has produced a generally high quality of new albums from good artists, without too many mis-steps or duds.

Summer shows...Veils and Depeche Mode...

Thought I'd digress a little to mention a couple summer shows I went to this weekend. On Friday night, I had the pleasure of finally seeing the Veils playing a small bar to a crowd of about 100. Finn Andrews (son of Barry of the legendary Shriekback) and his backing band put on an incendiary short set, sandwiched in between some folkies and alterna rockers I really wasn't much interested in. For about 40 minutes, the Veils hit many of the highlights from their most recent two albums, Sun Gangs and Nux Vomica, both great in content and style. I was surprised at how Finn's raspy vocals are quite similar to the way they appear on record, and how tightly wound his performances were. "Jesus for the Jugular" and "Larkspur" in particular were given ample time to breathe and surge, and although the band kept asking for more volume, the mix was pretty good for a tiny bar show, and at $10 a ticket, one really couldn't go wrong. The band played with the ferocity and passion of a young group that hungers for greater success, and there really is no reason why they couldn't approach the levels Kings of Leon are currently experiencing. Only the guy in front of me, who was about 6'2", was a distraction due to the rather inappropriate ass-wiggling he would resort to during the catchier songs. Finn did ask the audience at one point to please buy a CD at the merch table if they liked what they heard, as they would need to pay for their transport back to the UK. Then his female bass player went to run the merch table after their set--now that's putting your people to work. Still, a great show from a band who deserves more attention.

Saturday night was spent at a Depeche Mode concert in Atlantic City, and while I have always been a big fan of this band, things are beginning to feel a bit stale. As I expected, many of the songs from the latest album, Sounds of the Universe, seemed at once lackluster and all too familiar, with only "Wrong" rising above the average. That being said, the mix on these songs was pretty bad, especially on "Come Back", where the band seemed to be making up for a lack of depth in material with a din not befitting one of the best electronic bands in the world. "Hole to Feed" was even more dire, as the jittery rhythm did not translate in such a large room, sounding somewhat like a cat that was being beaten in a burlap bag with a stick. Unfortunately, that rattling continued during "Walking in My Shoes", one of my favorites, and not wanting of the banging-a-stick treatment. That being said, Martin turned in a truly amazing tear-jerk of a performance on an acoustic "Question of Lust" that was absolutely note-perfect and free of Mariah Carey-isms. Unfortunately, it had to follow "Jezebel", a good enough song on the new album, yet which the audience found totally superfluous, and began filing out for a break while Dave was offstage. The other hits were familiar performances of songs they have done several times, with only "Fly on the Windscreen" being a somewhat left-field choice of cult classic. Other than that, the outfits were the same, the stage presence the same (what does Andy Fletcher really DO?), and the times at which Dave removes articles of clothing while interjecting "woah!" the same (why does he feel it necessary to sing so much more nasal on stage than on album? It causes him to slide off pitch a lot--though it's not as bad as Tori Amos' vowel massaging, but still...)

While it was nice to see Dave healthy again after the cancer operation, I have to register my complaints with the venue. The Borgata was HOT. I don't know if the band wanted it this way, but I saw a woman collapse from heat after a mere 10 minutes. It is one thing to keep a venue warm (hello Madonna) and another to turn off all ventilation so the air stagnates. My wife was absolutely drenched by evening's end, and the B.O. in the room was simply intense. At least TURN ON A DAMN FAN. All the cooler air seemed to be drifting in from the casino, which is surely where they wanted you to go afterwards, but my wife, who was ready with her cash, changed her mind and decided to leave early because the heat made her so miserable that she didn't want to hang around. The other issue was the standing room only, which is understandable for a $10 ticket in a bar, but when you are paying $125 each ticket for a room nearing 90 degrees, it makes the band look bad and the venue worse. I would not have called it a "fun night at the Borgata" by any stretch, and will not be going back any time soon. That being said, there were some crazy dance moves and hand gestures being perpetrated by the audience, but some were getting out of control, as I witnessed one guy nearly trample a 7-year old with his flailing aerobics.

All in all, it was quite a weekend mix of music, and now I just need some sleep. I will let you decide which show, the $10 one or the $125 one, I enjoyed more, and who I will be more inclined to see again.

Gone too soon...

First of all, let me say that I do not usually post this soon after such a lengthy and difficult to compose entry as the previous one regarding a half-year assessment of the music of 2009. Only the death of somebody as big as Michael Jackson could force me to share some of my thoughts on the subject, and this is the first typed statement I have regarding it. I would like to add that one of my favorite bloggers at http://xolondon.blogspot.com/
has already said some wonderful things rather eloquently, and celebrities as John Taylor of Duran Duran did a very good job putting it all into context. The following is a purely personal statement.

Michael Jackson was never my favorite artist, my favorite singer, or my favorite performer. He was not my favorite songwriter either. However, Michael Jackson was a cultural phenomenon who blossomed during my teenage years, and his music was inescapeable. While it may sound that I was somewhat trapped by his presence, his music and image did do a great deal to pave the way for other artists such as Prince and Madonna to break into the pop mainstream, and even though his music was generally appealing to me, I was not a devotee. As millions of others, I owned Off the Wall and Thriller, only to be shocked at how he permanently transformed his appearance for Bad, and continued on that path until his demise. Only Pete Burns and Cher have come as close as musicians in physically altering who they once were. But I will try to stick to the music...

Growing up as a teenager in the center of the US in the early 80's, I was very saturated with the late-70's corporate rock and singer-songwriters who were faceless voices on the radio. While some of this music had its merits, much of it was produced and promoted by a system of suits running ever-growing corporate conglomerates. Disco was declared dead--a genre which produced some great music but few great artists with lasting success (Donna Summer comes to mind, while the Bee Gees managed to come from 60's pop and push past into MOR pop to a much smaller degree). Michael was still riding a bit of disco with Off the Wall, but Thriller was something really different, and the music videos from that album, along with early cinematic masterpieces by David Bowie and Duran Duran, helped make MTV a driving force for promoting new pop music to a young population and wake music sales from the doldrums (of course, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Eurythmics, Prince, and many others would feed the frenzy). Suddenly, you could not have a hit record unless your videos were being played on MTV. Without Michael Jackson and his music mini-movies, MTV might never have happened, and popular music would not have developed such a visual aspect.

I remember the night the Thriller video premiered on MTV, and they played it over and over in case you missed anything and wanted to catch it again. I must have watched it at least four times that night, entranced by the makeup and the dialog. The presence of Vincent Price's voice on a pop record only added to the drama. Then there was the dancing. Amazing. I remember trying to figure out what he was doing with the choreography, and it would have an enormous impact on my later love for his sister Janet's music, videos, and dancing as well. As far as dancing in music videos, nobody else came close until the 90's and Madonna's Vogue (Prince had some great moves, but seemed more moved by the music and less choreographed). Even a song like Bad, one that I did not like, had a video with great dance moves.

My first job in a music shop came when Dangerous was released. I remember it sitting on the shelves a bit, with backstocked copies wanting to find homes (actually, U2's Achtung Baby had a similar gestation). Over the course of a year, Dangerous did well, but was no Thriller or even Bad. A song like Jam seemed oddly aggressive for a guy who appeared ever more delicate.

A few years later in 1995, History seemed an even tougher sell. My wife and I went to a promotional laser-Michael Jackson show at the planetarium in center city Philadelphia, and while Michael was nowhere to be found (after all, who ever REALLY got close to him?), the music was better than expected. History remains, for me, his oddly forgotten masterpiece, as his record company, Epic, did the odd thing of bundling it as a 2cd set with a disc of greatest hits. This may have been shrewd at the time as a ploy to get people to buy the new album (after all, there had not been any Michael Jackson hits collection released up to that point). It is my belief that Epic knew they had a tough sell on their hands, especially after one allegation of pedophaelia had already been dismissed by the courts, but the songs had also become more obscure and isolationist. It seemed as though while Michael continued reaching out for other production talents like Dallas Austin and David Foster, his music became increasingly arch.

Scream featured sister Janet on vocals, and produced the most expensive video ever made, and while it was a great song and clip, all these excesses only added to the eccentricity of their creator. Songs like Childhood, Little Susie, Stranger in Moscow, and Earth Song showed a vulnerability and depth we hadn't really experienced since Human Nature from 1983's Thriller (possibly excepting Dangerous' Gone Too Soon--Man in the Mirror always seemed a bit phony to me coming from him). Other than Scream and You Are Not Alone--songs more propelled by radio play than sales--Michael struggled to have hits and remain relevant. Earth Song may have been a sign for the future, but it was rather out of step in 1995, and They Don't Care About Us got him criticism for using racial slurs about Jews to illustrate his points on hatred and racial intolerance, eventually caving to self-censorship to get it on the radio, which didn't really happen anyway. Songs like Money and Tabloid Junkie seemed increasingly self-referential (almost like Morrissey on You Are the Quarry!), and a creepy element colored Childhood's seemingly innocent tone. Blood on the Dancefloor, a remix album that was issued in 1997, seemed like a desperate attempt to get more sales out of a project that was relatively dismissed by the public (History), and failed. Invisible did even worse, with a been there-done that video for You Rock My World, featuring a near-catatonic Marlon Brando in one of his final roles, and a rather nice song, Butterflies, which tellingly had no video and no real backing from the record label.

Michael's last televised interview was with Billy Bush of Access Hollywood in October of 2006(!), and featured Michael in the studio in Ireland with Will.i.am working on his latest masterpiece. Hopefully that will now come sooner than later. This seems to have been the problem with Michael's music for me. It always seemed so micromanaged to the point that all the life began being sucked away from it. His music has always had a rather rigid and brittle nature to it, containing very little of the spontaneous nature of Prince's music or joyous abandon of Madonna's. Here is where Michael never really succeeded, as he was such a perfectionist. His music started to seem dated before it even got released due to the length of time spent perfecting certain sounds, and it became more about judging his music for what it did not contain than what it did.

Setting the persona and personal dramas aside, Michael Jackson was a great entertainer and a cultural icon whose music seemed to have lost much of its relevance. In effect, he did this to himself. He knew he was incapable of playing and producing everything like Prince, and in that sense, he did do himself a great service by allowing other producers a crack at helping create more modern material for him, even if it was dated by the time it was released. (Maybe Prince could take note and open his palette a bit). That being said, eveything Michael did left one with a feeling that the persona was bigger than the music, and no matter how much you liked a song of his, there was no separating the song from the singer.

For as many years as I have been listening to Michael, I feel like I don't know him any better than the first day I heard him. His music does very little to open the doors to the real him, or maybe that IS the real him, all cold and brittle beats with a bit of schmaltz thrown in once in a while to melt our hearts. Infuriatingly, we may never know more about the real man than we do now through the songs which obviously mean so much to millions (don't get me started on how his records sold out across the world on the announcement of his death--if you ever liked Michael, you would have had those records all along. It seems like a very disingenous thing to do.) If his songs really do represent the man he was, he was rarely happy, frequently sad, lonely, angry, scared, pathetic, and misunderstood. It makes for a compelling story, but not a life anybody would aspire to lead. Michael has become nostalgia for me, and while I will always respect what he created, it is not a place I wish to inhabit for very long.