The 2001 David Music Poll Results

The 2001 David Music Poll

Ryan Adams, Gold (13)
The Strokes, Is this it (12)
Weezer, The Green Album (9)
Bjork, Vespertine (8)
Lucinda Williams, Essence (8)
Soundtrack, Moulin Rouge (7)
The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (6)
Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou (6)
Gillian Welch, Time The Revelator (5)
Bob Dylan, Love and Theft (5)

Dolly Parton, Little Sparrow (4)
Ani DiFranco, Revelling/Reckoning (4)
Daft Punk – Discovery (4)
Nelly Furtado, Whoa Nelly (4)
Unofficial Soundtrack, Buffy: The Musical Episode(4)

Travis, The Invisible Band (3)
Rufus Wainwright, Poses (3)
Shea Seger, The May Street Project (3)
Radiohead, Amnesiac (3)
Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ease down the road (3)
Fugazi, The Argument (3)
Spiritualized, Let It All Come Down(3)
Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus (3)
Whiskeytown – Pneumonia (3)

Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs (2)
Maxwell, Now (2)
Le Tigre, Feminist Sweepstakes (2)
Missy Elliot, So Addictive (2)
Aphex Twin, Drunqks (2)
Ivy - Long Distance (2)
Chris Clark - Clarence Park (2)
Faithless, Outrospective (2)
Soundtrack, Songcatcher (2)
Lucy Kaplansky, Every Single Day (2)
Allison Krauss & Union Station, New Favorite (2)
Mary J. Blige, No More Drama (2)
Rainer Maria, A Better Version of Me (2)
Death Cab For Cutie, Photo Album (2)
REM, Reveal (2)
Chris Thile, Not All Who Wander Are Lost (2)
Suzanne Vega, Songs in Red and Gray (2)
Jay-Z: The Blueprint (2)
Guided by Voices, Isolation Drills (2)

Elbow, Asleep in the Back
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Time*Sex*Love
Various Artists, A Tribute to Heroes
Sigur Ros, Agaetus Bj
Soundtrack, Traffic
Craig David, Born To Do It
Madonna, GHV2
Usher, 8701
Angie Stone, Mahogany Soul
Ian Brown, Music of the Spheres
Super Furry Animals, Rings around the world
Ol' Dirty Bastard, Greatest Hits
New Order, Get Ready
Velvet Underground, Bootleg Series
Royskopp, Melody AM
Blonde Redhead, Melodic Citronique
Bouncing Souls, How I spent My Summer Vacation
Rival Schools, United by Fate
Preston School of Industry - All this sounds gas
Clinic - Internal Wrangler
Prefuse 73 - vocal studies & uprock narratives
Moldy Peaches - Moldy Peaches
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - introducing
Stereolab, Sound-Dust"
Various, Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt
Shawn Colvin, Whole New You
Manu Chao,: Esperanza
Baaba Maal, Nomad Soul
Krishna Das, Pilgrim Heart
Jill Scott, Experience
WAH!, Hidden in the Name
Ours, distorted lullabies
Flickerstick, Welcoming home the astronauts
creeper lagoon, take back the universe and give me yesterday
Tom McRae, Tom McRae
shuggie otis, inspiration information (reissue from '74)
Train, Drops of Jupiter
HIM, Shadow & Brilliant Highlights
Madrugada, The Nightly Desiese
Hope Sandavoll & the Warm Inventions,: bavarian fruit bread
Beachwood Sparks, Once We Were Trees
Built to Spill, Ancient Melodies of the Future
John Frusciante, To Record Only Water for Ten Days
The Von Bondies: lack of communication
Guns 'N Roses: It's Time for Democray
The Hives, Your New Favourite Band
Nickel Creek, Nickel Creek
Rhoda Vincent, The Storm Still Rages
Alana Davis, Fortune Cookie
The Drive-by Truckers, Southern Rock Opera
Jay Farrar, Sebastapol
The Star Room Boys, This World Just Won't Leave You Alone
Unwound, leaves turn inside youpinback, blue screen life
Sparklehorse, It’s a Wonderful Life
Tori Amos, Strange Little Girls
Badmarsh & Shri, Signs
Groove Armada, Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)
Stevie Nicks, Trouble in Shangri-la
A Camp, A Camp
Basement Jaxx, Rooty
Nitin Sawhney, Broken Skin
Fireballs of Freedom, Total Fucking Blowout
The Detroit Cobras, Love,Life,and Leaving
Infinite Love Songs, Maximilian Hecker
Cast Album, Urinetown
Cast Album, The Full Monty
Sean Watkins -- Let It Fall
Ron Sexsmith, Blue Boy
Gorillaz, Gorillaz
Soundtrack, The Devil's Backbone (Javier Navarrete)
Soundtrack, The Conversation (David Shire)
Soundtrack, Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
Soundtrack, Ghost World (various)
Soundtrack, Happy Accidents (various)
Soundtrack, Monster's Ball (Asche & Spencer)
Soundtrack, Session 9 (Climax Golden Twins)
Soundtrack, The Man Who Wasn't There (Carter Burwell)
Dar Williams- Out There Live
Alicia Keys- Songs in A Minor
Eve- Scorpion
Avalanches, Since I Left You Neil Finn, One Nil
Pete Yorn, Music for the Morning After
Jim O'Rourke, Insignificance
Kirsty MacColl, Tropical Brainstorm


My picks

MOST ESSENTIAL: Ryan Adams, Gold

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001:

Soundtrack, Moulin Rouge
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Time*Sex*Love
Bjork, Vespertine
Travis, The Invisible Band
Rufus Wainwright, Poses
Elbow, Asleep in the Back
Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs
Various Artists, A Tribute to Heroes
Shea Seger, The May Street Project

VERY CLOSE TO ESSENTIAL: Weezer, The Green Album; Duncan Sheik, Phantom Moon; Suzanne Vega, Songs in Red and Grey; Thea Gilmore, Rules for Jokers; Leona Naess, I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll; Sigur Ros, Agaetis Byrjun; New Order, Get Ready; Tom McRae, Tom McRae

THE TWO ALBUMS FROM LAST YEAR THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON MY LIST BECAUSE THEY’VE BECOME QUITE ESSENTIAL: Coldplay, Parachutes; U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind

SONGS OF THE YEAR: Ryan Adams, “New York, New York” and “Harder Now That It’s Over”; Lemon Jelly, “The Staunton Lick”; Lucinda Williams, “Essence”; Suzanne Vega, “Soap and Water”


Patrick, Who Liked Radiohead Even Before He Resided in Oxford

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001 Radiohead - Amnesiac - simply the best. Fuck the naysayers. -- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001 Travis - The Invisible Band - catchy and happy and anyone who can slip Che Guevara into a song without making it political has got to be a genius... Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun (sp?) - bloody bloody brilliant. They're a close second for Most Essential Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong (Live Recordings) - way too short but god it's lovely Traffic Soundtrack (was that 2001?) - just good background music and there's a dearth of that around this year. -- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast Pulp - This is Hardcore - Even though Jarvis is trying to sound like Roger Waters - but who else can say, "I am not Jesus but I have the same initials."? Travis - Good Feeling Ian Bostridge - The English Songbook - if you don't know him he's the best tenor around - pure and clean and very intelligent renderings - also look for his Schubert and Schumann lieder. Glenn Gould - Goldberg Variations - I know, I know... but a classic's a classic. Aimee Mann - Bachelor #2



Michael, Born to Do It?

Most Essential:

MAXWELL / NOW

Essential:

Craig David / Born To Do It
Travis / Invisible Band
Madonna / GHV2 (don't laugh - it's So essential)
Usher / 8701 (best when purchased for $5 on the street)
Angie Stone / Mahogany Soul

Also Essential, but perhaps 2000, not 2001:

Jill Scott / Who is Jill Scott?
Toni Braxton / The Heat

Became Essential in 2001:

MAXWELL / EMBRYA
The Carpenters (some best of)


Iain, who was not impressed by the White Stripes

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001 (By a country mile, how predictable).

Ease down the road - Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001

Music of the Spheres - Ian Brown
Rings around the world - Super Furry Animals
Greatest Hits - Ol' Dirty Bastard
Love and Theft - Bob Dylan
Get Ready - New Order (for about a week)
Is this it - Strokes (for as long as it took to dig out Marquee Moon)
Bootleg Series - Velvet Underground
Melody AM - Royskopp

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS FROM OTHER YEARS

Neu 2 - Neu
Marquee Moon - Television (see above)
Metal Box/Second Edition - PiL
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan
Grotesque (After the Gramme) - the Fall
Til Shiloh - Buju Banton


Yes, Jeannie, it was last year, but we shall note your opinion

I do have a vote for most essential album: U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind. I guess technically it came out at the very end of 2000, but if the Grammys can count it as 2001, so can I.

Jason G. – Don’t Hate Him Because He Saw Bjork in an Intimate Venue

Top 15 Albums of 2001 (as of 1/8/02, changes daily)

1. Bjork - Vespertine Her voice is from heaven, but she must have made a deal with Lucifer to have created the music. Brilliant
2. Fugazi - The Argument To label them as a hardcore band is an insult. An important, powerful masterpiece.
3. Weezer - The Green Album Less than 30 minutes long, but has rocked me for the last year.
4. The Strokes - Is This It Less than 30 minutes long, but has rocked me for the last year also. 5. Radiohead - Amnesiac
6. Spiritualized - Let It All Come Down Jason Pierce's creates symphonies that make you believe you can talk to jesus on heroin.
7. Le Tigre - Feminist Sweepstakes Political Disco Punk Rock Karoake rules!
8. Missy Elliot - So Addictive Her beats are so dope and "Get Ur Freak On" is the best song of the year.
9. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus I have a soft spot for Pavement.
10. Aphex Twin - Drunqks A modern age John Cale.
11. Outkast - Stankonia One of the only hip-hop acts that I wouldn't compare to an 80's hair metal act.
12. Blonde Redhead - Melodic Citronique Who knew they could sound even better in French and Italian.
13. White Stripes - White Blood Cells "Hotel Yorba" makes me go crazy.
14. Bouncing Souls - How I spent My Summer Vacation A personal favorite for days I want to regress. i love 80s obsessed punks.
15. Rival Schools - United by Fate Third great band from Walter, who fronted two bands I loved growing up (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand)

The Rediscovering The Magic Award for old albums I became obessed with this year goes to:
(tie)
Iggy Pop & The Stooges - Raw Power
Television - Marquee Moon

Concert of the Year:
Bjork
May 22nd / First Show
Riverside Church, Harlem, NY
Setlist
01. Unravel02. Undo03. All is Full of Love04. Pagan Poetry05. Cocoon06. Aurora07. Generous Palmstroke08. It's Not Up to You


Matt, who has access to every record released this year (or at least a list containing them)

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001 The Strokes - Is this it

-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001
Preston School of Industry - All this sounds gas
Stephen Malkmus - the arrogant bastard's self titled album
Clinic - Internal Wrangler
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Daft Punk - Discovery
Prefuse 73 - vocal studies & uprock narratives
Aphex Twin - Drukqs
Ivy - Long Distance

-- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001
Gang of Four - Brief History of the 20th Century
Blur - 13
Blur - Leisure
Mission of Burma - Vs.
Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches


The Gospel According to Stieg (I’m not quite sure what kind of rap star he’ll make)

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001

for me
Mr Bungle - California
but that is 1999 or so
...
from 2001
Chris Clark - Clarence Park

-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001

Moldy Peaches - Moldy Peaches
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - introducing


-- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001

Bogdan Raczynski - Boku Mo Wakoran
Mr Bungle - California
another welsh punk band
Bluegrass Cardinals - some tape i picked up at a junk store that i have
listened to for unsaid amounts of time

-- ESSENTIAL 'AMATEUR' MUSICIANS OF 2001

*Ian Jarvis AKA Velvet Johnson : co-worker at MOTOPHOTO who aspired to be a
rap star

*Nullsleep : gameboys akimbo , NYC comrad
http://www.nullsleep.com/

*Goldenshower : Brazilian sample saturation with maimi vice synth
orientation
http://goldenshower.gs/

*Rolemodel : gameboy tracker _developer_ , amiga programmer extrodinair
http://rolemodel.spoiledbrat.net/

*Micromusic.net : still the best source for bedroom musicians making video
game music
http://www.micromusic.net/


Scott, Keeping it Short and Sweet

Most Essential Album of 2001

Faithless "Outrospective"

Other Essential Albums of 2001

Ivy "Long Distance"
Stereolab "Sound-Dust"

Essential Albums Determined to be Essential in 2001

Low "Secret Name"
Love Spirals Downwards "Ardor"


Steve A., the Songcatching Revelator

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001--

(Sorry!) 1. TIE: Gillian Welch, "Time The Revelator" and Various, "Songcatcher"

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001--

3. Various, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou"
4. Dolly Parton, "Little Sparrow"
5. Lucy Kaplansky, "Every Single Day"
6. Ryan Adams, "Gold"
7. Lucinda Williams, "Essence"
8. Allison Krauss, "New Favorite"
9. Various, "Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt"
10. Shawn Colvin, "Whole New You"

ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001--

1. Patty Griffin, "Flaming Red" AND "Living With Ghosts"
3. Sarah Harmer, "You Were Here"
4. Cry Cry Cry, "Cry Cry Cry"
5. Various, "Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60s"
6. Melissa Ferrick, "Skinnier, Faster, Live At The BPC"
7. Nick Drake, "Pink Moon"

Nancy – She’s Got Nomad Soul

MOST ESSENTIAL:
Manu Chao: Esperanza---everyone who walked into my office and heard this
album loved it...except ellen mccrum. Not sure if this came out in 2001 but
dammit this album makes me happier than any other!

OTHER ESSENTIAL ALBUMS
Baaba Maal: Nomad Soul---great great world music.
Krishna Das: Pilgrim Heart--i think this guy is from long island but he sings devotional songs in Sanskrit and they are amazing.
PJ Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea---every song on this album is a gem. (ed. Note: this came out last year)
Best of Elvis Costello--made me realize how much i love him. great great songwriter!
Mary J. Blige: No More Drama---mary just speaks to me.
Ani DiFranco: Revelling/Reckoning---ani's best album yet. soft and introspective and contains no single song that you just have to skip!
Jill Scott: Experience 826+---just bought this the other day but it makes the list cuz jill scott is just divine...and this album brings me one step closer to seeing her live.
WAH! Hidden in the Name----Another devotional singer in Sanskrit. this cd is hard to find but this woman's ethereal voice makes it all worth it. http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx


Suzanne, who is not a musical doofus

I am feeling a bit like a music doofus at the moment....I find myself listening to our local NPR or 80's station all the time. Recent CD favorites in our household are: "High Fidelity" soundtrack and the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" other than that I am always a Bruce Springsteen girl (The Bruce Springsteen Live Box Set is in both of our cars)..though I'm not from New Jersey, he has always hit a chord for me.

Jason B, who parses the Essential and the Indisputable

my essential albums: Rainer Maria - "A Better Version of Me" & The White Stripes - "white blood cells" (though isn't The Strokes the indisputable record of the year?)

also:
ours - distorted lullabies
ryan adams - gold
Flickerstick - Welcoming home the astronauts (guilty pleasure much? why yes..)
creeper lagoon - take back the universe and give me yesterday
Tom McRae - Tom McRae
shuggie otis - inspiration information (reissue from '74)

and of 2000's stuff, Jill Scott became an essential record in 2001.

and for the record, if i could do it all again, i'd spend even more time with: avalanches, rufus wainwright, gorillaz, idlewild, lucinda williams, sigur ros, whiskeytown, kings of convenience, starsailor, and the shins.


Duryan, who knows what she likes

1) O Brother Where Art Thou - the best collection of the year. (Most Essential)
2) Blue Skies - the Ella Fitzgerald greatest hits album - rereleased by Verve. (Album that became Essential)
3) Drops of Jupiter - Train - proving they were not a one hit/album wonder. (Essential)
4) Mad Season - Matchbox 20 - need I say more? (Essential or became Essential - just know I bought it this year)


We’re ready for this, Brian

Alright, you ready for this....

MOST ESSENTIAL:
The White Stripes: White Blood Cells

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001:
The Strokes: Is this It (import version- NYC Cops is worth it.)
HIM: Shadow & Brilliant Highlights (import only- Finland)
Madrugada: The Nightly Desiese (import only-Norway)
Fugazi: The Argument (their best yet)
Hope Sandavoll & the Warm Inventions: bavarian fruit bread (long, long overdue Mazzy Star)
Beachwood Sparks: Once We Were Trees
Ryan Adams: Gold
Spiritualized
Built to Spill: Ancient Melodies of the Future
John Frusciante: To Record Only Water for Ten Days (hey, he got new teeth!)
Bonie Prince Billy: ease on down the road
The Von Bondies: lack of communication
Guns 'N Roses: It's Time for Democray (bootleg of the New Years concert includes the future Top 10 hit "Chinese Democracy")
The Hives: your new favourite band (HOLY SHIT! the HIVES!)

Three albums that are essential because of the artist:
* Langley School's Music Project: Songs of Innocence and Despair ('70s Candian gradeschoolers singing poprock covers of Bowie, Eagles, Beach Boys and more. Incredibly off-key and beautiful)

* Tangerine Awkestra: The Aliens Stole My Mother (concept jazz album written, composed, and recorded by kids ages 2-9 from Brooklyn. Includes the prophetic The Aliens Blow Up the Empire State Building).

* Bob Dylan: Love and Theft- if it was anyone else, would anyone care. Yeah it's great, but let's admit it folks, it's forgetable stacked up to the rest.)

ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL

Jetro Tull: Aqualung (not sure how I ever lived without it)
Hanoi Rocks: Kill City Kills (original L.A. rock via Finland)
Marty Frye: Dreaming of ALice (soft folk pyschedlia circa 1967)
Pattie Smith: Horses
Nagisa Ne Ti: On the Love Beach (Japense rockers ala Ghost)
'Igginbottom: Igginbottom's Wrench- ('60s working class Brits record the only listenable jazz/pyschedic fusion album and it's amazing.)
Grace Slick & the Great Society


William Art Here

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001 “O Brother Where Art Thou”

Websters dictionary states that in strict usage, the word “essential” is “…applicable to that which constitutes the absolute essence or the fundamental nature of a thing and therefore must be present for the thing to exist.” I’m not too sure what any of that means, but I could vote for nothing other than “O Brother…” It is not necessarily my “favorite” album of the year, but I do think that it is the most “important” or “essential.”


-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001
“Little Sparrow” Dolly Parton
“Time (the Revelator)” Gillian Welch (tied for my favorite album of the year)

“Nickel Creek” Nickel Creek (too many instrumental tracks, but the best debut album of the year regardless)
“Gold” Ryan Adams (makes me wanna go drink whiskey…in a good way, that is)
“The Storm Still Rages” Rhonda Vincent (she sings the hell outta some boot-stompin’ bluegrass tunes)
“Essence” Lucinda Williams (whereas “Car Wheels” burned, this one smolders)
“Every Single Day” Lucy Kaplansky (I like her live better, but this is still another step up for her in album production)
“Discovery” Daft Punk (big fun--sans repetition--on the dancefloor)
“Fortune Cookie” Alana Davis (possibly a one-note effort, but consistently solid and beautifully sung)
“Whoa, Nelly” Nelly Furtado (easily the best of the teen queens!)


-- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001
“Stuff” Holly McNarland (kick ass!!!)
“Haunted” Poe (tortured but never a downer)
“You Were Here” Sarah Harmer (why did I not find her sooner?!?!)
“Stories from the City…” PJ Harvey (always a fan of PJ, but this one rivals her “To Bring You My Love”)
“Lovers Rock” Sade (the soundtrack to a rainy, lazy Sunday)

Jim Throws Down the Gauntlet

MOST ESSENTIAL
Bob Dylan, Love & Theft

OTHER 2001 ALBUMS OF NOTE:
Ryan Adams - Gold
The Drive-by Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
Jay Farrar - Sebastapol
REM - Reveal
The Star Room Boys - This World Just Won't Leave You Alone
Weezer - (Green Album)
Gillian Welch - Time (the Revelator)
Whiskeytown - Pneumonia
Lucinda Williams - Essence

ALBUMS FROM 2001 I STILL HOPE TO FIND ESSENTIAL BUT HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO
Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus
Clem Snide- - Ghosts of Fashion

OLDER ALBUMS I LEARNED ARE ESSENTIAL IN 2001
Tom Petty - Damn the Torpedoes
White Stripes - De Stijl
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

FUCK THESE ALBUMS (AND ALL YOU CHUMPS THAT LOVE 'EM)
The Strokes - Is This It?
Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack


Death Cab for Brendan

Most Essential Album of 2001Death Cab For Cutie -- Photo Album
essential albums of 2001
unwound -- leaves turn inside youpinback -- blue screen lifefugazi -- the argumentstephen malkmus -- stephen malkmus

albums from previous years that became essential to me in 2001
q and not u -- no kill no beep beep (2000)versus -- the stars are insane (1994)johnny cash -- American III: Solitary Man (2000)

Elizabeth’s Gift is Her Song

Most Essential Album: Moulin Rouge soundtrack - just for the sheer amount of times I've listened to it!
Other Essential Albums: Weezer; Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs; Ryan Adams, Gold; Best of Blur


Tanuja’s Strange Little Girls and Strange Big Guys

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001
Sparklehorse/It's a Wonderful Life--hands down my number one!!!! any
sparklehorse, in fact--but this one has some wonderful collabs with pj
harvey, nina persson, tom waits.

-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001
Tori Amos/Strange Little Girls
The Strokes/Is This It
Nelly Furtado/Whoa Nelly
U2/All That You Can't Leave Behind
Badmarsh & Shri/Signs
Shea Seger/The May Street Project
Bjork/Vespertine
Groove Armada/Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)
Stevie Nicks/Trouble in Shangri-la
A Camp/A Camp (nina persson--the cardigans singer--solo venture, produced by
mark linkhaus, aka sparklehorse)
Basement Jaxx/Rooty
Daft Punk/One More Time (?)
Nitin Sawhney/Broken Skin
Ani DiFranco/Reckoning/Reveling


ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001
Sparklehorse/Birds of Pain
Madonna/Music
Beth Orton/Central Reservation
The Rough Guide to Bhangra
The The/Naked Self
No Doubt/Return of Saturn
The Cardigans/First Band on the Moon
PJ Harvey/Songs from the City...
Henri Salvador/(the last one)
Serge Gainsbourg (anything)


David R, who wants to tip the scales toward country/folk

-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001

LITTLE SPARROW--Dolly Parton


-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001

ESSENSE--Lucinda Williams

RED DIRT GIRL--Emmylou Harris (Not a thoroughly perfect album, but there are
enough goodies on it to make it essential. Emmylou's song, "Red Dirt Girl"
will go down as one of the few greats she's written.)

-- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001

NICKEL CREEK--Nickel Creek
THE ESSENTIAL STEVE EARLE-- Steve Earle
THE GRASS IS BLUE -- Dolly


Kevin, giving a Tuscaloosa musical perspective that is in no way biased

Most Essential album of 2001: The Demo Tape by Hathcock. That's the band I'm in. Okay, so we're not set on the name Hathcock. And there's no demo tape yet. But we rock the hell out of Weezer's "Surf Wax America," The Outfield's "Your Love" and Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away." And we were formed in 2001, so that has to count for something.

Essential Albums of 2001
1) Weezer -- Weezer. Essential for anyone who hit the ground with a brand new sound lookin' for romance.
2) Is This It -- The Strokes.
3) Stankonia -- Outkast. Technically a 2000 release, but essential in 2001 for anyone, anywhere who likes to bounce.
4) Total Fucking Blowout -- Fireballs of Freedom. Handle with caution. Essential, though, for anyone who wants to piss off the person who lives below them.
5) Love, Life and Leaving -- The Detroit Cobras.
6) Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits (as seen on tv) -- Hey, it WAS released in 2001, and having "Takin' it to the Streets" and "What a Fool Believes" is absolutely essential for those days when you're just not sure you can make it to tomorrow (which is pretty much every day for most people I know). Michael McDonald is a god, an absolute god.

Albums from previous years that became essential in 2001:
1) Song For My Father (1964) -- Horace Silver. A truly perfect work of jazz.
2) Mink, Rat or Rabbit (1999) -- The Detroit Cobras. Imagine Chrissy Hynde singing lead for The Clash in a seedy bar doing all old soul covers.


Andrew, whose daughter has damn fine taste

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001: Lucinda Williams, Essence

ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Musical (Okay, not really an album, but you can download it off the net, and it is an amazing piece for a first try at a musical. I already know two couples playing "Under Your Spell" at their weddings.)

ALBUM FROM PREVIOUS YEAR THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001: Mary Chapin Carpenter: Come on, Come on (One of my essential albums of the 90s, it gained deeper essentialness this year when I realized that my baby daughter will listen to it quietly and enthusiastically for long periods of time. Wohoo! The kid's got taste.)


Diff’rent Strokes to Rule Brant’s World

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001
The Strokes' Is This It

OTHER ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001
Weezer's Weezer
Ryan Adams' Gold
Bob Dylan's Love and Theft
R.E.M.'s Reveal
Lucinda Williams' Essence
The White Stripes' White Blood Cells

MOST ESSENTIAL UNSANCTIONED CATEGORIES OF 2001
Most Essential Bonus Disc of 2001: Ryan Adams' Side 4
Most Essential Supergroup of 2001: Gorillaz
Most Essential Album of 2001 Not Technically Released Until 2002: Star Room
Boys' The World Just Won't Leave You Alone
Most Essential Icelandic Releases of 2001: Bjork's Vespertine, Damon Albarn
and Einar Orn's 101Reykjavik Soundtrack, and Sigur Ros' Agaetis Byrjun
Most Essential Multiple Artists Cover Albums of 2001: Good Rockin' Tonight:
A Tribute to Sun Records and Timeless: A Tribute to Hank Williams
Most Essential Single Artist Cover Album of 2001: Tori Amos' Strange Little
Girls
Most Essential Soundtrack of 2001: The Royal Tenenbaums
Most Essential Reissue of 2001: Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information
Most Essential Blues Album of 2001: Buddy Guy's Sweet Tea
Most Essential Album of 2001 sold only on the artist's website and that I
haven't ordered yet: Drive-by Truckers' Southern Rock Opera

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001 NOT TECHNICALLY RELEASED UNTIL 2002
Star Room Boys' The World Just Won't Leave You Alone

ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001
Johnny Cash at San Quentin
Ray Charles' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Curtis Mayfield's Superfly
Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves
Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes
Every early Rolling Stones album
Linda Ronstadt's Heart Like a Wheel
Roxy Music's Siren
Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town
The White Stripes' DeStijl

TWO MORE CATEGORIES OF 2001
Album of 2001 most like the album that everyone seemed to think was the most
essential album of 2000: Radiohead's Amnesiac
Best failed album of 2001: Ian Brown's Music of the Spheres. This guy has
got the ambition; if he could get three extremely talented musicians to hone
it, he'd have a pretty good band.

APOLOGIES TO ALL THE 2001 ALBUMS I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO, OR
HAVEN'T GOTTEN INTO YET BUT ONE DAY WILL


Some Inspiration, Some Information from Matt

Most essential record of the year:
'Inspiration Information' - Shuggie Otis (it's the
first time it's on cd, so I'm guessing that counts?)

Other essential records of the year:
'Infinite Love Songs' - Maximilian Hecker
'Discovery' - Daft Punk
'Innocence & Despair' - The Langley Schools Music
Project (another first time on cd)
'Vespertine' - Bjork
'Pneumonia' – Whiskeytown

Annie, Under a Spell

Most Essential Album:
the "Buffy" musical soundtrack :)

Other Essential Albums (that mostly came out before 2001, I think):
U2 "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
Madonna "Music"
the Eels "Daisies of the Galaxy"
"Moulin Rouge" soundtrack
"High Fidelity" soundtrack
"Full Monty" cast album
"Urinetown" cast album
"As Seen on TV" compilation
Sarah Harmer "You Were Here"
Ryan Adams "Gold"
Kirsty MacColl, “Tropical Brainstorm”
Nelly Furtado, “Whoa Nelly!”


And now for something completely different, a word from Julia

I'm sorry to say that I was beyond lame this year and didn't buy anything new.....just stocked up on my classical (gasp!) music....Debussy is really great to listen to when you just want to relax.......and of course the odd selections by Omar Faruk Tekbelek (say that 10 times fast....) who if you ever get a chance to catch live is mind blowing....he's a master of every middle eastern instrument known to man and has this raw spine tingling voice....totally amazing.....(but i guess that's the belly dancer in me talking....)....that's all i got!..... j.

In interest of full disclosure, it must be said that Alistair is in love with Chris Thile
>-- MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001

Chris Thile -- Not All Who Wander Are Lost

>-- ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings -- Time (The Revelator)

Alison Krauss -- New Favorite

Sean Watkins -- Let It Fall

Various Artists -- Down From the Mountain (actually, it's the film that's essential, not the soundtrack)

>-- ALBUMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT BECAME ESSENTIAL TO ME IN 2001

Hot Rize -- Untold Stories

John Hartford -- Aereoplane and Morning Bugle

Bela Fleck -- Tales from the Acoustic Planet: The Bluegrass Sessions


Whoa, Jenny!

Most Essential Album of 2001: Weezer. (2001)

Essential Albums of 2001: Ron Sexsmith: Blue Boy, Le Tigre: Feminist Sweepstakes, Madonna: Music, The Strokes: Is This it?, Gorillaz: Gorillaz, Suzanne Vega: Songs in Red and Gray, and Fatboy Slim: Halfway between the Gutter and the Stars.

Previous Years: Red House Painters: Retrospective AND Songs for a Blue Guitar, Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel road, Weezer: pinkerton

New Category: Artist that I like that I also feel embarrassed about for liking: Nelly Furtado. (That bird song is so catchy as is her other song about "turning out the light.")

Christopher C Strikes a Pose

Most Essential Album: Rufus Wainwright, "Poses" I have never quite
listened to one musician so successfully capable of adopting so many
different musical styles and "voices" in one album before, and continue
to be genuinely stunned by "Poses." At once joyous, melancholy,
hopeful and wistful, this album has been close to hand since its
release. I love the fact that he wears his heart and his sexuality on
his sleeve, and I have yet to find a contemporary artist who moves me
as much and as deeply as Rufus does.

Other Essential Albums: "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack Who in their right
mind would not feel a thrill when listening to Ewan McGregor's
rendition of "Your Song?" Despite my obvious and hopeless crush on Mr.
McGregor, his ability to make old love songs sound new and full of
sincerity is one of the main reasons to purchase this disc. It's as
frenetically eclectic as the film, has a Rufus Wainwright single, and
is a cut above the typical movie soundtrack...

Dusty Springfield, "Simply Dusty" I came across this 4 disc boxed set
when I was in London last year and snatched it up on the spot. I have
yet to see it in any US store, but if you are a Dusty devotee and ever
come across it, don't hesitate. Camp associations aside, Dusty had one
of those voices that positively spilled over with emotions - from
belting out 60s pop standards to her later, edgier work, she remains
Britain's geratest, and most complicated, female singers. I've been a
fan since childhood, when my mom introduced me to her music, and all
that husky-voiced longing swept over me and I just though, oh yes, this
lady GETS what it's all about...

Ronnie, Soundtrack Goddess (Come What May)

Okay, so here are my top ten soundtracks from 2001, in a particular order actually. Everyone should keep in mind that the "space" between my number "one" and number "two" is far more vast than can be shown.

Moulin Rouge (Craig Armstrong et. al., with a special mention for Ewan McGregor and the goosebumps-raising moment when he starts to sing "Your Song.")

"Once More With Feeling": the Buffy musical episode (Joss Whedon)
The Devil's Backbone (Javier Navarrete)
The Conversation--although this movie is from 1974, the soundtrack was only released for the first time this year (David Shire)
Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
Ghost World (various)
Happy Accidents (various)
Monster's Ball (Asche & Spencer)
Session 9 (Climax Golden Twins)
The Man Who Wasn't There (Carter Burwell)

Dawn-C

>MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2001
A TIE: (I couldn't decide)
Jay-Z: The Blueprint
Ani DiFranco- Revelling/Reckoning

>ESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF 2001
Bjork- Vespertine
Dar Williams- Out There Live
Mary J. Blige- No More Drama
Missy Elliot- So Addictive
Rufus Wainwright- Poses
Suzanne Vega- Songs in Red and Gray
Ryan Adams- Gold
Alicia Keys- Songs in A Minor (I think that's the title right?)
Eve- Scorpion


Kristin, who is (incidentally) a good woman to have along on a long road trip

Most Essential The Strokes, Is This It A good album to start a long road trip -- makes you giddy from the get-go.

Other Essential Albums Disclaimer: I didn't have time for an intimate dissection of many of this year's releases. There's no doubting I'm slow. What I offer here is not an endorsement of whole albums, but of songs. I know it's a big difference.
With apologies, kje

Ryan Adams, Gold Avalanches, Since I Left You Bjork, Vespertine Bob Dylan, Love and Theft Neil Finn, One Nil Spiritualized, Let it come down Weezer, Weezer
Lucinda Williams, Essence


Earlier albums for which I developed an intensified appreciation in 2001 (or had not heard previously) Fred Astaire, Starring Fred Astaire ( A Columbia Years Series Release) Balanescu Quartet, Possessed Bill Evans, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Portrait in Jazz, Everybody Digs Bill Evans (I joined the club) Curtis Mayfield, Superfly
Steve Reich, City Life

Amy, Last But Never Least

Ok, I'm probably out of it by now due to my late submission, but I'm
also out of it music-wise this year, so I guess it fits.

Here goes anyway; it's a short list because I didn't buy much that I
really, really liked this year:

Most essential: Guided by Voices, Isolation Drills

Other Essentials:
Ryan Adams, New York, New York
Pete Yorn, Music for the Morning After
Bjork, Vespertine
Whiskeytown, (can't recall the name...you know the one) (ed. Note – Pneumonia)
Jim O'Rourke, Insignificance (sort of...it's too short, more of an ep
really)


Previous Essential:
The Sea and Cake, Oui