Best album on NME Albums of 2004 List (Peak Landfill Era?)

That Futureheads albums probably still sounds good. The Streets was my favorite at the time but I'm afraid to go back and listen to it now.

Want to vote Secret Machines but tt made me listen to From A Basement On A Hill earlier today and it was great and it's like her favourite album so

The Radio Dept

So many of these albums can be found in multiple quantities in every charity shop in the UK.

Last hurrah of CD sales before the ipod era?

that amplifier album is brilliant ..
not landfill at all.
heavy shoegaze.
and certainly not a charity shop regular !
if it were i would buy it everytime and pass onto friends.

Yeah half of these CD's always turn up in Dealz

What is Dealz? Like our Poundland and Poundworld?

lol

U2 – Ho To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

I could not live without From a Basement On the Hill.

The Nick Cave and Go! Team albums are also decent. Might have to give that Amplifier album a try. 2004 was sadly the year we got Freeview and thus two music video channels, so there was really no choice but to become acquainted with all of this.

1. Blimey, selfish cunt made an album? And got votes?
2. I know, but writers are people too.
3. 50p in the jukebox, which album to hear again? The Grey Album, plz.

there's jukeboxes that allow you to choose a song for only 50p still?

Less than that.

I think it's 3 for a £1 in my local. Good selection too.

reading the words 'the ordinary boys' and 'goldie lookin' chain' has caused a powerful rush of relief that i'll never have to live in 2004 again

it's like the polar opposite of nostalgia

Preston from The Ordinary Boys was on the celebrity version of that First Dates show the other week. Imagine going on a blind date and finding out that your date was Preston from The Ordinary Boys

Kanye West or The Shins. The Kelis and Gwen Stefani albums are good too.

Kelis
Dizzee
Futureheads

I cant really imagine listening to most of the albums on this list now

Tbh I suspect this list is one of the best NME lists of the decade. The new Mercury noms reminded me that Klaxons won the award back in 07. I imagine the NME list from that year is worse by far.

Last hurrah of CD sales before the ipod era?

― Cosmic Slop, Monday, August 8, 2016 7:12 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The last hurrah of CD sales in the iPod era, more like.

The Bees.

Tbh I suspect this list is one of the best NME lists of the decade. The new Mercury noms reminded me that Klaxons won the award back in 07. I imagine the NME list from that year is worse by far.

― Frederik B,

Any list with Biffy Clyro in it is automatically the worst

NME Albums Of 2007

1. Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
2. Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
3. Radiohead – In Rainbows
4. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
5. Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
6. Kings Of Leon – Because Of The Times
7. MIA – Kala
8. Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
9. The Cribs – Men’s Needs, Woman’s Needs, Whatever
10. Battles – Mirrored
11. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
12. The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
13. Pj Harvey – White Chalk
14. Babyshambles – Shotters Nation
15. The White Stripes – Icky Thump
16. The Coral – Roots & Echoes
17. Future Of The Left – Curses
18. The Good The Bad & The Queen – The Good The Bad & The Queen
19. Richard Hawley – Lady’s Bridge
20. Block Party – A Weekend In The City
21. The Enemy – We’ll Live And Die In These Towns
22. Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
23. Maps – We Can Create
24. The Maccabees – Colour It In
25. The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America
26. Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks
27. The Horrors – Strange House
28. Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
29. Lethal Bizzie – Back In Bizznizz
30. Queens Of The Stoneage – Era Vulgaris
31. The Pigeon Detectives – Wait For Me
32. Grinderman – Grinderman
33. Simian Mobile Disco – Attack Decay Sustain Release
34. New Young Pony Club – Fantastic Playroom
35. Super Furry Animals – Hey Venus
36. Holy Fuck – Holy Fuck
37. Jamie T – Panic Prevention
38. Justice -
39. Jeffery Lewis – 12 Crass Songs
40. El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
41. Menomena – Friend And Foe
42. Patric Wolf – The Magic Position
43. Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace
44. Gruff Rhys – Candy Lion
45. !!! – Myth Takes
46. Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob
47. Enter Shikari – Take To The Skies
48. The View – Hats Off To The Buskers
49. Interpol – Our Love To Admire
50. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

guys, guys, they're all worthless

especially franz ferdinand, right NV?

El-P album from 2007 stands like a colossus above everything else on that list

Mmm, my 50p could go "A weekend in the city" for nostalgia reasons, but otherwise... Grinderman, maybe.

nme is garbage but i really liked milk eyed mender and ghost is born in 2004

xxpost I'm going to play The Shins as revenge

wincing the night away indeed

this is like that scene in garden state except the opposite

re: the OP, without a doubt: sMiLe

milk-eyed mender is my choice too. somewhat surprising that nme weren't all-in on kasabian from the get-go, stuck behind wimps like the concretes is no place for those bold lads to be

Surprised to see anyone mentioning From a Basement on the Hill. ES doesn't seem very popular on ILM. I had to cut off a kick of his music recently because it was making me too depressed. Like someone on here said years ago, I feel like there's no way out of his music. What an incredible guitar player, though. "Southern Belle" is a song I discovered on this most recent kick. "King's Crossing," too - probably the most soaring thing he ever did. FABOTH has a lot of his best songs, he was in peak form - "Twilight," "Let's Get Lost," "A Fond Farewell," "King's Crossing," "Little One," "Memory Lane," "Strung Out Again"... really the whole record. It's the only one by him that I can sit all the way through. All the others blend together and could lose a handful of songs. I don't know, listening to The Cure or Nirvana or The Smashing Pumpkins when I'm sad makes me happy. If you're basically happy at a particular point in your life, listening to ES is a bad idea.

Conversely, if you are basically unhappy, it can be the most restorative and sympathetic cave! I agree that every track on FaBOtH is more obviously distinct than on previous records and would definitely add Coast to Coast, Don't Go Down and A Distorted Reality to your appraisal. There are these little pockets of stillness seeded amongst such heavy, hazy weltschmerz...it is so perfectly cohesive. It is amazing that such confessional songwriting can never come across as trite or laboured.

secret machines

What a seriously piss-poor list. That Gwen Stefani album (Hey, everyone-she discovered Harajuku nightlife!), U2, The Shins and the Beastie Boys' nadir (of course, Rolling Stone loved To the 5 Burroughs as well, making it their It's Hard)

xps Absolutely. Was in a different place a couple years ago. But his musicianship is stunning & fascinating always. Trying to learn "Southern Belle" is humbling.

Would vote Smile but it seems kinda out of place here. I guess it's Gwen, though I think the Go! Team record would hold up if I went back to it.

SMiLE. Not even a second thought.

this is a good list with plenty of good music on it

but i do like how cosmic slop keeps randomly popping back in to agree with himself

I would have thought the landfill era was at its worst when Strokes and Coldplay were influencing more bands (2001-2003)

but this is the DREGS

this is a good list with plenty of good music on it

i'm biased because i was 15/16 and music was unfolding for me at the time

but you sound like you have your biases too to get so riled up about this list with plenty of good music on it

How you can bear to drag your rapidly ageing and decaying bodies through this discussion for what feels like the fiftieth time in the last decade is beyond me. I also don't get how Cosmic Slop still doesn't appear to understand what peak landfill was after all that time (a lot of this stuff is clearly John the Baptist to the Pigeon Detectives' Jesus although that Razorlight album is lurking menacingly).

Anyway, Showtime.

a grand don't come for free

I probably haven't read an NME since 1993, have I missed anything?

This thread answers that question.

CS I know you meant no harm at all but please keep jokes about my personal relationships off ILX, I know I've been open about stuff in the past but a lot of things have happened since 2004. Not being pissy, just asking.

Re 2007, no list with Holy Fuck on is the worst list.

xp to calzino, the mid-90s dance section featured intriguingly futuristic and alien-sounding descriptions of 12"s I would never, ever hear - I suppose I could now via the power of youtube, if I could remember what they were - but then so did the dance mags of the era which I probably should have been reading instead (and was, whenever enticed by free CDs etc) so, eh, I suppose you haven't missed anything, no.

For my money it did go off a cliff noticeably circa '96-'98 but then probably everyone who ever read it would claim that about the years they were 16-18 too, and that's another conversation we've surely had fifty times in the last decade.

holy shit American Idiot is 12 years old, god I fuckin hated that album

green day are repulsive

there's lots of good stuff on this list imo, in the end I went for Kelis over Regina Spektor.

https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61bh2fLgvRL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

thinking about stuff from 2004 that was vaguely in the NME's wheelhouse, does anyone else remember the Ella Guru album? they were from Liverpool, sounded a bit like Lambchop, got a lot of positive reviews but then seemed to disappear of the face of the earth. the main guy is on twitter an apparently released some new music last year: https://twitter.com/johncyates

I really liked that Hope of the States album back then, I listened to it on a whim recently and I think it still just about holds up today... Or it might not, probably my nostalgia talking

Weren't the Dears good? I haven't listened to them in a long time, but my memory is that that's a pretty decent album.

Horrible, horrible list, hurts my ears to look at it. With the exception of maybe two or three albums I'd be perfectly fine if they all disappeared from time.

I was 17/18 at the time, so looking at that list I also instinctively go "yuck" feeling under an attack of ugly nostalgia (that's the best name I've got for the feeling) but really there's lots of good/okay stuff here. As we often say in other similar threads, it's just a boring list in an order that suggests bad or just dull taste. I don't look back on this music magazine/tv coverage era with any fondness.

The Dears album was pretty good, never heard anything else by them.
Radio Dept album was decent.
Interpol album was decent.
Morrissey album is really poor, maybe 2 good songs on it but I deluded myself into thinking it was a good album.
Tv On The Radio album is really good.
Nick Cave album is good but I think it has one of his best songs on it.
Elliott Smith seems to have dropped off in being a popular cult guy, but I liked some of his stuff.
Brian Wilson album is amazing but now that the Beach Boys version is officially available, this Brian/Wondermints version is just a nice alternate.
The Bees were pretty good, at best they had this sort of haunted carnival feeling, some of it was quite beautiful but one of their tracks got really annoying on a tv advert.
I definitely heard the 22-20’s album but it wasn't very good and I barely remember it.

I'd still like to hear Secret Machines and Joanna Newsom.

6 bands I've never heard, the rest ranges dislike to mild appreciation.

"love is hell" has really knocked me out recently...

"Anybody Wanna Take Me Home" was amazing but I never heard anything else.

besides that there is "this house is not for sale" which totally breaks my heart. the other songs are not as good but still quite decent.

i think 2000-2005 did irreparable damage to how i connect to contemporary music, trying to tell myself "house of jealous lovers" was a good song stole away a part of my soul

A bunch of names on here remind me very distinctly of my early experiences with ILM and just kind of scratching my head at a lot of the stuff that was championed.

When "mash-ups" were the rage. Danger Mouse, oh god.

hah, ILM in general did have a thing for "mash-ups" which I didn't like much

Also for Scissor Sisters, The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, TVOTR, iirc. Actually TVOTR is really not bad at all, just never especially grabbed me.

During that era I used to feel like I would see either Tunde from TVOTR or Brian Chase from Yeah Yeah Yeahs at every single Brooklyn show I went to.

i love mash ups and house of jealous lovers and hating landfill and all the other enjoyable aspects of 2004 absent from but nonetheless recalled by this list. surprised that killers album isn't higher, the stench of mr brightside lingered in every sticky-floored venue I visited that year. idk when the nme changed their line on animal collective but imo it only represents a lack of confidence on their part, they should have stuck to their guns and let the internet media kill them off with dignity. seeing banhart above newsom still good for a wry smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea-3sqOVsgI

Found the ILM Albums of 2004 list that I remember voting in.

The whole shebang:

492 Wylde Bunch Wylde Times at Washington High 1 1
491 The Wowz Long Grain Rights 1 1
490 The Prefects Amateur Wankers 1 1
489 The Orb Bicycles and Tricycles 1 1
488 Rachel Goswell Waves are Universal 1 1
487 Q-Unique Vengeance is Mine 1 1
486 Pantha du Prince Diamond Daze 1 1
485 Mos Def The New Danger 1 1
484 Lydia Lunch Smoke in the Shadows 1 1
483 Les Savy Fav Inches 1 1
482 Language of Flowers Songs About You 1 1
481 Icarus I Tweet the Bird Electric 1 1
480 Hot Chip Coming on Strong 1 1
479 Fabienne Delsol No Time for Sorrows 1 1
478 Dogs Die in Hot Cars Please Describe Yourself 1 1
477 DJ Green Lantern New York State of Mind 1 1
476 Dawn Upshaw Voices of Light 1 1
475 Yoshida/Fugii Erans 2 1
474 Xzibit Weapons of Mass Destruction 2 1
473 TV on the Radio Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes 2 1
472 Tony Touch The Peacemaker II 2 1
471 The Paybacks Harder and Harder 2 1
470 The Knife The Knife 2 1
469 The Earlies Those Were the Earlies 2 1
468 Sunn0))) White2 2 1
467 Snow Patrol Final Straw 2 1
466 Samara Lubelski In the Valley 2 1
465 Remote Viewer You're Gonna Love Our Defeatist Attitude 2 1
464 Philip Jeck 7 2 1
463 Jamelia Thank You 2 1
462 Estelle The 18th Day 2 1
461 Doctor Mix and the Remix Wall of Noise 2 1
460 Diplomats Diplomatic Immunity 2 2 1
459 Deerhoof Milk Man 2 1
458 Decibully City of Festivals 2 1
457 Chromeo She's in Control 2 1
456 Chris Liebing Stigmata Vol. 1 2 1
455 Call and Response Winds Take No Shape 2 1
454 Blonde Redhead Misery is a Butterfly 2 1
453 Urlich Schnauss A Strangely Isolated Place 3 1
452 Revolutionary Ensemble And Now… 3 1
451 Prince Musicology 3 1
450 Memphis I Dreamed We Fell Apart 3 1
449 Mekons Punk Rock 3 1
448 Matthew Shipp The Trio Plays Ware 3 1
447 Massive Attack Danny the Dog OST 3 1
446 Malmo FF Galerie Ganz Oben 3 1
445 Joy Zipper American Whip 3 1
444 JC Chasez Schizophrenia 3 1
443 Francis Albert Machine Re-Unmelt My Heart 3 1
442 Felix Kubin Matki Wandalki 3 1
441 Diplo Favela on Blast 3 1
440 Daby Toure Diam 3 1
439 Carolyn Mark and the New Best Friends The Pros and Cons of Collaboration 3 1
438 Various Artists Mad Guitar [Greensleves Rhythm Album #86] 4 1
437 Trashcan Sinatras Weightlifting 4 1
436 Total Science Audioworks 4 1
435 The Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South 4 1
434 Slum Village Detroit Deli 4 1
433 Shystie Diamond in the Dirt 4 1
432 Rapoon / Birds of Tin Monomyth par Avion 4 1
431 Manual and Syntaks The Golden Sun 4 1
430 Liars They Were Wrong, So We Drowned 4 1
429 KD Lang Hymns of the 49th Parallel 4 1
428 Jans Friebe Vorher Nachler Bilder 4 1
427 Elf Power Walking with the Beggar Boys 4 1
426 DILL WYHIWYG 4 1
425 Ddamage Radio Ape 4 1
424 Various Artists Parkspliced 5 1
423 Two Lone Sowrdsmen The Double Gone Chapel 5 1
422 The Thermals Fuckin' A 5 1
421 The Legends Up Against the Legends 5 1
420 Ratatat Ratatat 5 1
419 R. Stevie Moore Conscientious Objector 5 1
418 Omara Portuondo Flor de Amor 5 1
417 Necks Drive By 5 1
416 Michell McAdorey and Eric Chenaux Love Don’t Change 5 1
415 Mastodon Leviathan 5 1
414 Little Tempo Fire Blender 5 1
413 Hiromi Brain 5 1
413 Jack Rose Raag Manifestos 5 1
411 Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers 5 1
410 Gabriel Anada Tai Nasha No Karosha 5 1
409 Freeform Five Strangest Thigns 5 2
408 Eagles of Death Metal Peace Love Death Metal 5 1
407 DJ Dangermouse The Grey Album 5 1
406 David Murray and the Gwo-Ka Masters Gwotet 5 1
405 Cooper-Moore 5x7 Box 5 1
404 Blockhead Music by Cavelight 5 1
403 Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra Who is This America? 5 1
402 Van Hunt Van Hunt 6 1
401 Trembling Blue Stars The Seven Autumn Flowers 6 1
400 Tower Recordings The Galaxies' Incredible Sexual Transmission Field Of… 6 1
399 The Cure The Cure 6 1
398 The Boredoms Seadrum / House of Sun 6 2
397 The Black Keys Rubber Factory 6 1
396 Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca 6 1
395 Skygreen Leopards One Thousand Bird Ceremony 6 1
394 Radio Dept. Pulling Our Weight 6 1
393 Northern State All City 6 1
392 Les Georges Leningrad Sur Les Traces de Black Eskimo 6 1
391 Greensleeves Riddim Album Red Alert 6 1
390 Eminem Eminem is Back 6 1
389 Death From Above 1979 You're a Woman and I'm a Machine 6 1
388 Cowboy Junkies One Soul Now 6 1
387 Avril Lavigne Under My Skin 6 1
386 Ash Meltdown 6 1
385 Arthur Russell World of Echo 6 1
384 Various Artists Life Styles: Compiled By Coldcut 7 1
383 Up-Tight Five Psychedelic Pieces 7 1
382 Theodore Unit 718 7 1
381 The Good Life Album of the Year 7 1
380 The Eightes Matchbox B-Line Disaster The Royal Society 7 1
379 Teddybears Sthlm Fresh! 7 1
378 Oxia 24 Heures 7 1
377 Mei Lwun Presents Uno Records 7 1
376 Keren Ann Not Going Anywhere 7 1
375 Incredible String Band Nebulous Nearnesses 7 1
374 Fonda 500 The Spectrumatronicalogical Sound of… 7 1
373 Fancey Fancey 7 1
372 Elliot Smith From a Basement on the Hill 7 2
371 Charlie Robinson Good Times 7 1
370 Bertine Zetlitz Rollerskating 7 1
369 Various Artists Channel 3: A Collection of Output Recordings 8 1
368 The Emperor Machine Aimee Tallulah is Hypnotized 8 1
367 Sahara Hotnights Kiss and Tell 8 1
366 Owsley The Hard Way 8 1
365 Matthew Dear Backstroke 8 1
364 Le Futur Pompiste Your Stories and Your Thoughts 8 1
363 Lal Warm Belly High Power 8 1
362 Hank & the Hank Collective How to Prosper in the Coming Bad Years 8 1
361 Dominik Eulberg Flora and Fauna 8 1
360 Cobra Killer 76/77 8 1
359 Bumblebeez 81 Printz 8 1
358 Arovane Lillies 8 1
357 Antena Camino del Sol 8 1
356 Aluminum Group MoreHappyness 8 1
355 Vector Lovers Vector Lovers 9 1
354 The Roots The Tipping Point 9 1
353 The Hacker Reves Mecaniques 9 1
352 The Eternals Rawr Machine 9 1
351 The Earlies Here Come the Earlies 9 1
350 Taylor Deupree January 9 1
349 Stahls Bla Schlactplatte 9 1
348 Saturday Looks Good to Me Every Night 9 1
347 Ryan Adams Love is Hell 9 1
346 Petey Pablo Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry 9 1
345 Ivan Smagghe Suck My Deck 9 1
344 Diplo Florida 9 1
343 Craig Taborn Junk Magic 9 1
342 Closer Musik After Love 9 1
341 Cesaria Evora Voz d'Amour 9 1
340 Candi Staton Candi Staton 9 1
339 Brandy Afrodisiac 9 2
338 Blomefontain The Longer Now 9 1
337 Arve Henriksen Chiaroscuro 9 1
336 Various Artists Ragga! Ragga! Ragga! 2004 10 1
335 Various Artists For Jumpers Only 10 1
334 U2 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 10 1
333 Tussle King Klang 10 1
332 The Soft Pink Truth Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Soft Pink Truth? 10 1
331 The Revolutionary Ensemble And Now… 10 1
330 The Beautiful South Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Singers 10 1
329 Sons and Daughters Love the Cup 10 1
328 Sixtoo Chewing on Glass & Other Miracle Cures 10 2
327 Ratatat Remixes Mixtape Vol. 1 10 1
326 Mission of Burma OnOffOn 10 1
325 Linkin Park vs. Jay-Z Collision Course 10 1
324 Lambchop Aw C'mon / No You C'mon 10 1
323 Korekyojinn Arabesque 10 1
322 Klee Jelängerjelieber 10 1
321 July Skies The English Cold 10 1
320 Gypsy Kings Roots 10 1
319 Ely Guerra Hot & Sour, Sweet y Spicy 10 1
318 Dom & Roland Chronology 10 1
317 DJ Clever Troubled Waters 10 1
316 Badly Drawn Boy One Plus One is One 10 1
315 Azita Life on the Fly 10 1
314 Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori Phantom Orchard 11 1
313 Various Artists Modern Wild Dub 11 1
312 Triola Im Funftonarum 11 1
311 Thomas Fehlmann Lowflow 11 1
310 The Ike Reilley Assassination Sparkle in the Finish 11 1
309 The Bees Free The Bees 11 2
308 Tatsuya Nakatani Green Report 12 11 1
307 Royce da 5'9" Death is Certain 11 1
306 Raphael Saadiq As Ray Ray 11 1
305 Radio Dept. Lesser Matters 11 1
304 Popium Camp 11 1
303 Organum Vacant Lights / Rara Avis 11 1
302 Nels Cline Singers The Giant Pin 11 1
301 Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sinatra 11 2
300 Lucien-n-Luciano Blind Behaviour 11 2
299 Le Dust Sucker Le Dust Sucker 11 1
298 Juliana Hatfield In Exile Deo 11 1
297 Drive-By Truckers Dirty South 11 1
296 Cristina Doll in the Box 11 1
295 Corduroy Utd Our Eira 11 1
294 Califone Heroin King Blues 11 1
293 Wadada Leo Smith Kabell Years 1971-1979 12 1
292 Various Artists Run the Road 12 1
291 Tinariwen Amassakoul 12 1
290 Sagan Unseen Fortune 12 1
289 Razorlight Up All Night 12 1
288 Noxagt The Iron Point 12 1
287 Non-Phixion The Green CD 12 1
286 Miss Kittin I Com 12 2
285 Marillion Marbles 12 1
284 Kylie Minogue Body Language 12 1
283 John Vanderslice Cellar Door 12 1
282 Der Zyklus Biometry 12 1
281 Dave Godin Deep Soul Treasures, Vol. 4 12 1
280 Auburn Lull Cast from the Fountain 12 1
279 Atreyu The Curse 12 1
278 Aroah The Last Laugh 12 1
277 50 Foot Wave 50 Foot Wave 12 1
276 Wasteland October 13 1
275 Usher Confessions 13 1
274 The Libertines The Libertines 13 1
273 The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls 13 1
272 The Boats Songs By the Sea 13 1
271 Stern Leaving the Frantic 13 2
270 Sightings Arrived in Gold 13 1
269 R. Kelly Happy People 13 1
268 Magma K.A. 13 1
267 M83 Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts 13 1
266 Les Mouches You're Worth More to Me than 1000 Christians 13 1
265 Jake Fairley Touch Not the Cat 13 1
264 Islaja Meritie 13 1
263 Get Physical Second Anniversary Edition 13 1
262 Dead Texan Dead Texan 13 1
261 Chungking The Hungry Years 13 1
260 Christina Milian It's About Time 13 2
259 Alter Ego Transphormer 13 1
258 Various Artists Kistune Midnight 14 1
257 Toby Goodshank Safe Harbor 14 1
256 To Rocco Rot Hotel Morgen 14 1
255 The Organ Grab That Gun 14 1
254 The Intelligence Boredom and Terror 14 1
253 Plus/Minus You are Here 14 1
252 Mitch Akiyama If Night is a Weed and Day Grows Less 14 1
251 Matt Valentine + Erika Elder Ragas and Blues 14 1
250 LSD-March Kanashimino Bishouen 14 1
249 Kleptones A Night at the Hip-Hopera 14 1
248 Janet Jackson Damita Jo 14 1
247 Harper Lee All Things Can Be Mended 14 1
246 Giant Sand Is All Over the Map 14 1
245 DJ / Rupture vs. Mutamassik Shotgun Sessions 14 1
244 Broken Social Scene Beehives 14 2
243 Brainpool Junk - A Rock Opera 14 1
242 Beauty Pill The Unsustainable Lifestyle 14 1
241 Beastie Boys To the 5 Burroughs 14 1
240 Various Artists Italo Disco - A Secret History 15 1
239 Trembling Blue Stars Southern Skies Appear Brighter 15 1
238 Travis Morrison Travistan 15 1
237 Susie Ibarra Strange Liberaiton 15 1
236 Richard Bartz Midnight Man 15 2
235 Pan Sonic Kesto 15 2
234 Oneida Nice: Splitting Peaches 15 1
233 My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge 15 1
232 Misc Crunch Time 15 1
231 Luomo The Present Lover 15 1
230 Klashenkoff The Sagas Of… 15 1
229 King Cobb Steelie Destroy All Codes 15 1
228 Kevin Drumm Impish Tyrant 15 1
227 Jan-Mark Kaiser Bis Neunzhen 15 1
226 James Yorkston Just Beyond the River 15 1
225 Greg Davis Curling Pond Woods 15 1
224 Graham Coxon Happiness in Magazines 15 1
223 Death in Vegas Satan's Circus 15 1
222 Daniela Mercury Carnaval Electronico 15 1
221 Comets on Fire Blue Cathedral 15 2
220 Clouddead Ten 15 1
219 Camera Obscura Underachievers Please Try Harder 15 2
218 Weird War If You Can't Beat 'em, Bite 'em 16 1
217 Tilly and the Wall Wild Like Children 16 2
216 The Troggs 20th Century Masters 16 1
215 The Electric Tomato The Electric Tomato 16 1
214 The Decemberists The Tain 16 1
213 Spektrum Enter the Spektrum 16 1
212 R.E.M. Around the Sun 16 2
211 N.E.R.D. Fly or Die 16 2
210 Midwest Product World Series of Love 16 1
209 Kerrier District Kerrier District 16 1
208 Keane Hopes and Fears 16 1
207 Iron & Wine Our Endless Numbered Days 16 1
206 Gift of Gab Fourth Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up 16 1
205 George Michael Patience 16 1
204 DJ / Rupture Special Gunpowder 16 1
203 Devandra Banhart Nino Rojo 16 1
202 Dead Prez RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta 16 1
201 Chingo Bling The Tamale Kingpin 16 1
200 Bonnie Prince Billy Pebbles and Ripples Tour EP 16 1
199 Bettye Swan Bettye Swan 16 1
198 Alicia Keys Diary of Alicia Keys 16 1
197 Albert Ayler Holy Ghost 16 1
196 Youssou n'Dor Egypt 17 1
195 Various Artists Dreamweaver 17 1
194 The Polyphonic Spree Together We're Heavy 17 2
193 The Faint Wet from Birth 17 1
192 Steve Earle The Revolution Starts Now 17 1
191 Sondre Lerche Two-Way Monologue 17 1
190 Paulina Rubio Pau-latina 17 2
189 Mum Summer Make Good 17 1
188 Mephista Entomological Reflections 17 1
187 Mates of State All Day 17 1
186 Maria Schnieder Orchestra Concert in the Garden 17 1
185 Jon Brion I Heart Huckabees OST 17 1
184 DPM Presents Street Grime Vocal Mix 17 1
183 Beef Terminal The Isolationist 17 1
182 Arthur Russell The World of Arthur Russell 17 1
181 Apostle of Hustle Folkloric Feel 17 1
180 Allison Moorer The Duel 17 1
179 Tortoise It's All Around You 18 1
178 The Alchemist 1st Infantry 18 1
177 Talking Heads The Name of the Band is Talking Heads 18 1
176 T.I. Urban Legend 18 2
175 Sebastian Teller Politics 18 1
174 Scorn List of Takers 18 1
173 Matt Pond PA Emblems 18 1
172 LMP Century of Song 18 1
171 Jens Lenkman When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog 18 1
170 Fred Anderson / Hamid Drake Back Together Again 18 1
169 Finn Brothers Everyone is Here 18 1
168 Cristina Sleep it Off 18 1
167 The Divine Comedy Absent Friends 19 3
166 RJD2 Since We Last Spoke 19 3
165 Ricardo Villalobos The Au Harem d'Archimede 19 2
164 Interpol Antics 19 4
163 Yolanda Perez Aqua Me Tienes 20 1
162 Whitey The Light at the End of the Tunnel is a Train 20 1
161 TTC Batards Sensibles 20 1
160 Tiger Baby Lost in You 20 1
159 The Shins Chutes Too Narrow 20 1
158 The Projects Let's Get Static 20 1
157 Spymob Sitting Around Keeping Score 20 1
156 Lloyd Banks The Hunger for More 20 1
155 Laura Veirs Carbon Glacier 20 2
154 Julian Bezten Waffy Town 20 1
153 Holly Golightly Slowly But Surely 20 1
152 Gravenhurst Flashlight Seasons 20 1
151 Feist Let it Die 20 2
150 Excepter KA 20 2
149 Eminem Encore 20 2
148 Destroyer Your Blues 20 2
147 Bonnie Prince Billy Greatest Palace Music 20 1
146 Black Heart Procession and Solbakken In the Fishtank 20 1
145 All I See is Red Terrorists Have Cut the Power 20 1
144 Alice Coltrane Translinear Light 20 1
143 Trillville & Lil' Scrappy Kings of Crunk 21 2
142 The Hives Tyrannosaurus Hives 21 2
141 The Concretes The Concretes 21 2
140 John Langford All the Fame of Lofty Deeds 21 2
139 Infinite Lives Bush Meat 21 2
138 Hot Snakes Audit in Progress 21 2
137 Dani Siciliano Likes 21 2
136 Charalambides Joy Shapes 21 2
135 Lil' Jon & The Eastside Boys Crunk Juice 22 3
134 Jim Guthrie Now More Than Ever 22 2
133 Yellow Swans Bring the Neon War Home 23 2
132 Various Artists Kompakt 100 23 4
131 Tanya Stephens Gangsta Blues 23 2
130 Utada Exodus 24 2
129 The Walkmen Bows and Arrows 24 3
128 The Secret Machines Now Here is Nowhere 24 2
127 Surferrosa Shanghai My Heart 24 2
126 Richard X Back to Mine 24 2
125 Neko Case The Tigers Have Spoken 24 2
124 Todd Edwards New Trend Sounds 2004 25 1 1
123 The Brunettes Mars Loves Venus 25 1 1
122 The Beta Band Heroes to Zeroes 25 1 1
121 Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans 25 3
120 Shannon Wright Over the Sun 25 1 1
119 Raiders of the Lost Arp 4 25 1 1
118 Pinback Summer in Abandon 25 2
117 Patrick Wolf Lycanthropy 25 1 1
116 Oneida Secret Wars 25 1 1
115 Luna Rendezvous 25 1 1
114 Leak Bros Waterworld 25 1 1
113 High Contrast High Society 25 2
112 Graham Smith Final Battle 25 1 1
111 Explosions in the Sky The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place 25 1 1
110 Cam'Ron Purple Haze 25 3
109 Blood Brothers Crimes 25 1 1
108 Birchville Cat Motel Beautiful Spark Triumph 25 1 1
107 Bill Frisell Unspeakable 25 1 1
106 Bersuit Vergabarat La Argentinidad al Palo 25 1 1
105 Tiefeschwartz Misch Masch 26 2
104 Saint Etienne Presents Mario's Café 26 2
103 Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose 26 2
102 Ghost Hypnotic Underworld 26 2
101 CocoRosie La Maison de Mon Reve 26 2
100 Akufen Fabric 17 26 2
99 William Shatner Has Been 27 1 1
98 PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her 27 4
97 Optimo How to Kill the DJ Pt. 2 27 3
96 Devandra Banhart Rejoicing in the Hands 27 3
95 Rilo Kiley More Adventurous 28 2
94 Max Richter The Blue Notebook 28 3
93 Orbital The Blue Album 29 4
92 New Buffalo The Last Beautiful Day 29 2
91 The Blood Brothers Crimes 30 2
90 Various Artists Volga Select Presents - So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-1983 31 3
89 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus 31 4
88 Mouse on Mars Radical Connector 31 2
87 American Music Club Love Songs for Patriots 31 2
86 Masta Ace A Long Hot Summer 32 2
85 Lali Puna Faking the Books 32 2
84 Ciara Goodies 32 2
83 RTX Transmaniacon 33 3
82 Dungen Ta Det Lungt 33 3
81 David Caretta Kill Your Radio 33 2
80 Superpitcher Here Comes Love 34 3
79 Marz Wir Sind Hier 38 3
79 Scarlet's Well Dream Spider of the Laughing Horse 34 2
78 Oren Ambarchi Grapes from the Estates 34 4
77 !!! Louden Up Now 34 3
76 Various Artists Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats 36 4
75 Adem Homesongs 36 2 1
74 Hidden Cameras Mississauga Goddam 37 3 1
73 Green Day American Idiot 37 2 1
72 Electrelane The Power Out 37 3
71 A Girl Called Eddy A Girl Called Eddy 37 2 1
69 Saint Etienne The Trip 40 3
68 De La Soul The Grind Date 41 3
67 Tim Hecker Mirage 42 3
66 Espers Espers 42 3
65 Cee-Lo Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine 42 2 1
64 A.C. Newman The Slow Wonder 42 3
63 Wilco A Ghost is Born 43 5
62 Panda Bear Yong Prayer 45 3
61 Arthur Russell Calling Out of Context 45 3 1
60 Emma Bunton Free Me 46 4
59 Courtney Love America's Sweetheart 47 4
58 The Knife Deep Cuts 48 5
57 Michael Mayer Touch 49 5
56 Joanna Newsom The Milk-Eyed Mender 51 4
55 Gwen Stefani Love, Angel, Music, Baby 51 5
54 Of Montreal Satanic Panic in the Attic 52 3
53 The Magnetic Fields "I" 53 5
52 Stina Nordenstorm The World is Saved 56 4
51 Morgan Geist Unclassics 56 4
50 Nas Street's Disciple 56 5
49 Bjork Medulla 59 5
48 Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News 60 5
47 Tom Waits Real Gone 60 4
46 Mountain Goats We Shall All Be Healed 61 7
45 Wolf Eyes Burned Mind 63 5
44 The Killers Hot Fuss 65 6
43 The Futureheads The Futureheads 66 6
42 Trick Daddy Thug Matrimony 66 4 1
41 United State of Electronica United State of Electronica 68 6 1
40 Stereolab Margarine Eclipse 69 6 1
39 Teedra Moses Complex Simplicity 69 7
38 Nellie McKay Get Away from Me 70 6
37 Ada Blondie 71 6
36 Stars Set Yourself on Fire 71 4 2
35 Morrissey You Are the Quarry 73 7
34 The Delgadoes Universal Audio 74 5 1
33 Bark Psychosis Codename: Dustsucker 78 6
32 The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me 79 5 1
31 Mylo Destroy Rock n' Roll 81 7
30 Wiley Treading on Thin Ice 81 7 1
29 Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse 83 7
28 Gretchen Wilson Here for the Party 88 6
27 Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters 95 10
26 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Shake the Sheets 96 7
25 Big & Rich Horse of a Different Color 97 7
24 Devin the Dude To tha X-Treme 98 7
23 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand 99 12
22 Fennesz Venice 106 8 1
21 Xiu Xiu Fabulous Muscles 111 8 1
20 Felix da Housecat Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever 114 10
19 Animal Collective Sung Tongs 116 10
18 Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat 118 9 2
17 Erlend Oye DJ Kicks 121 8
16 The Go! Team Thunder Lightning Strike 122 10
15 Girls Aloud What Will the Neighbours Say? 132 8 2
14 Cut Copy Bright Like Neon Love 136 10 3
13 Air Talkie Walkie 138 13 1
12 Phoenix Alphabetical 141 12
11 Madvillain Madvillainy 145 11
10 The Arcade Fire Funeral 146 13 1
9 Various Artists DFA Compilation #2 162 15
8 M.I.A. vs. Diplo Piracy Funds Terrorism 182 16
7 Ghostface Killah The Pretty Toney Album 188 15 1
6 Dizzee Rascal Showtime 230 18 1
5 Brian Wilson SMiLE 251 17 5
4 Junior Boys Last Exit 301 23 4
3 Annie Anniemal 312 21 2
2 The Streets A Grand Don't Come for Free 321 22 3
1 Kanye West College Dropout 342 23 5

the rollout was a top 50 back in those days

that list makes 2004 look quite a bit less shit

omg i bought that nellie mckay

I think my #1 that year was Ghost - Hypnotic Underworld.

Or Isis - Oceanic.

agree that list is substantially less terrible. Although lol @ the Streets @ #2 and at MIA/Diplo.

El-P album from 2007 stands like a colossus above everything else on that list

I remember being really disappointed by this after loving Fantastic Damage. Mind you, I'm lukewarm on Run the Jewels too.

Pleasantly surprised to see The Shins in the '07 list as well, never knew the NME ever cared about them.

Was El-P derided as "backpacker" or "corny underground fuxor" or whatever they called it on ILM? I think it holds up way better than The Streets or Dizzee Rascal

What ever happened to 'Shroomadelica?

El-p was in Company Flow who are like the Beatles of "corny backpacker" or w/e so yeah

I think my #1 that year was Ghost - Hypnotic Underworld.

This album rules

ilm 2004 list obviously v respectable, but odd to see a bunch of stuff i loved then and which seems well within the ilm wheelhouse deep down in single vote territory.

ILM changed a bit since then. It wasn't as big then, or at least it didn't seem to be plus the polls didn't have a lot of people taking part iirc. It became a much more popular thing later, which led to metal poll starting in whatever year it was (2008 I think?)

The Ryan Adams album was just a re-release of the 2 ep's, wasn't it?

I think so.

I liked those ep's

That NME list is really weird, a LOT of really classic indie mainstays on the ILX list that don't even dent the NME one. I mean, no Funeral, no, Madvillainy, no Sung Tongs, no Blueberry Boat, no Anniemal...but we totally can find room for 'Antics'

i think funeral was technically a 2005 release in the uk (i guess that kind of release disparity still mattered then...)

Very weak list, some absolute garbage in there. Sad!

I have to say, while most Trumpisms as jokes are not that funny, I still really enjoy "Sad!"

shit, i meant this poll to finish today.

it's all ruined

I can still find "A Grand Don't Come For Free" moving.

Upper reaches were a tumbleweed strewn wasteland (I do still play Smile from time to time) but then a small nugget of albums I loved and still enjoy:
44. Wilco – A Ghost Is Born
...
46. Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans
47. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow

I listened to Destroy Rock 'n' Roll recently and enjoyed it as much as ever, so I'll be voting for that.

That NME list is really weird, a LOT of really classic indie mainstays on the ILX list that don't even dent the NME one. I mean, no Funeral, no, Madvillainy, no Sung Tongs, no Blueberry Boat, no Anniemal...but we totally can find room for 'Antics'

This was before Pitchfork's complete domination of the indie-crit landscape though (although Funeral was probably the beginning of that, it wasn't released here until 2005). A lot of the records you mention had and still have no cultural context or impact over here at all. If you referred to Blueberry Boat as a "classic indie mainstay" to a British person you'd get a look of blank incomprehension at best. Whereas Interpol actually sold records here and would be played in indie clubs across the country - that karaoke Curtis routine actually made sense against the backdrop of British music.

It's easy to forget now how far apart the UK and US used to be musically - you go back four years to 2000 or so and they were MILES apart in almost every way.

The ILM list is notably full of sounds and artists who were dismissed as irrelevant ILM hobbyhorses and then went on to become massive. (Not Kanye obviously, he was always massive, and not Big & Rich or the United States of Electronica, who really WERE irrelevant ILM hobbyhorses).

tbf no one in america actually remembers blueberry boat

Struggled for days in choosing between voting for College Dropout or BWPS. Ultimately went for Kanye.

is the Futureheads album the one with their dreadful cover of "Hounds of Love" on it? more than a decade later I'm still annoyed about that, and how unaccountably successful it was

The single peaked at #8 on the UK charts in its first week[10] and was named Best Single of 2005 by NME.[citation needed] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 89 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[11]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/The_Futureheads_Hounds_of_Love_single_cover.jpg

89 Hounds Of Love
Mixing barbershop harmonies with short, sharp snaps of post-punk guitar riffing in post-industrial Northern Britain was pretty darn special, but it was this, the Futureheads’ re-imagining of Kate Bush’s 1985 smasher that would prove their most widely loved track. Caught between Ross Millard’s dewy lead vocal, the break-neck drum track and the very real mutt-ish backing harmonies, this track felt like you were taking off with the world beneath your feet. The first flushes of love coming at you as buildings collapse, mountains crash in the background but you walk along, zombie-like oblivious to it all. In fact, it felt like the hounds of love really were coming for you. (PE)

Read more at http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648#Cyzloc8SaMMLx5js.99

there is so much that it weird about this - is mixing barbershop harmonies with short, sharp of post-punk guitar riffing in post-industrial Northern Britain any more "pretty darn special" than mixing barbershop harmonies with short, sharp of post-punk guitar riffing in any other part of the world? I have no idea what they mean by "the very real mutt-ish backing harmonies" either

Lesson re. Futureheads, System of a Down, Deftones; always beware of whatever the media like to sell as the 'good part' of chosen genre/era/scene

I like System of a Down and Deftones ok, though I'm not really a metal fan - I'm still confused as to what marked the Futureheads out from their peers to the extent that they were touted by some as the acceptable face of '00s indie. but I think I always resented them as XTC were/are one of my favourite bands, and everyone at the time seemed to go on about how the Futureheads sounded like XTC, and they... did not live up to that comparison imo

I still have a hell of a lot of time for that first Futureheads LP. The 'Hounds of Love' cover was always my least favourite track on there, but if it's still irking the purists over a decade later I can only see that as a good thing.

the original is such an amazing track and the cover just sounds so drab and cloddish in comparison - I feel like every decent sized UK provincial town in the early 2000s probably had around half a dozen indie bands who could have bashed out a version of Hounds Of Love that sounded exactly as good as the Futureheads rendition - but you're right, it *is* a silly thing to be irked about.

'The City Is Here For You To Use' was always their best song.

The single peaked at #8 on the UK charts in its first week[10] and was named Best Single of 2005 by NME.[I find that very hard to believe] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 89 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[11]

fixed, a bit

The first Futureheads album is still pretty amazing. Carnival Kids is the best track.

Actually, the best track is probably pretty clearly Decent Days and Nights. That's still a pretty dizzying mix of riffs, harmonies and switching meters.

tbf no one in america actually remembers blueberry boat

― qual, Sunday, August 14, 2016 10:15 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah how tf did blueberry boat get forgotten :( i hadn't listened to it in years until recently. it's amazing. why didn't it have legs? seems like if you weren't around in 2004/2005, the fiery furnaces may as well not have existed.

I have no idea what they mean by "the very real mutt-ish backing harmonies" either

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cLrPnhOwwso/UBQJ8jAld5I/AAAAAAAAIqY/RZUtLW_4aLU/s1600/R+Mutt.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Lol @ self-selecting voter base.

bloody hell at the amount of votes. I thought there would be 15-20 at most

Peak landfill was surely 2006-2007?

The Fratellis, The Pigeon Detectives, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The View, Reverend and the Makers, Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong etc.

I mean at least The Futureheads, Bloc Party, Maximo Park, Franz Ferdinand et. al. had one good album in 'em, the above artists didn't even have one.

Oh god, and the absolute horror that was Scouting For Girls... I mean, fucks sake...

I take it they realized nobody gave a shit about no-name British indie bands and stopped hyping them around 2010 or so?

Peak landfill was surely 2006-2007?

The Fratellis, The Pigeon Detectives, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The View, Reverend and the Makers, Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong etc.

― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Friday, 19 August 2016 16:45 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yup
I'd count Ordinary Boys too but they're in this poll
Poor the Dears, they were ok iirc

I think you meant to say: poor dears

I take it they realized nobody gave a shit about no-name British indie bands and stopped hyping them around 2010 or so?

― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, August 20, 2016 12:40 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Basically, a synthpop revival happened.

But I'm not surprised at all that alternative rock/"guitar music" or whatever you want to call it basically died in the UK circa 2007-2008, because by that point record companies were just signing shit bands in large quantities. If the bands were all putting out records of the calibre of Silent Alarm or Franz Ferdinand or A Certain Trigger, then it wouldn't be a problem, but they just weren't. They weren't good enough. It was just an oversaturation of drivel and people naturally got fed up. It seemed like most of the bands involved in that wave of 2002-2005 were struggling to follow-up their debut records, CD's were out on their arse, and record companies got desperate.

There's a whole arc to that last era of UK alternative rock/"guitar music" which begins with The Libertines' Up The Bracket in 2002, peaks around 2004-2005, and ends dying on its arse with Scouting For Girls, The Pigeon Detectives and the fucking Hoosiers.

Wasn't the synthpop revival already there in the early 00s?

It was a bit of a slow-build throughout the decade. I guess at the very beginning of the decade there was Ladytron and Mesh, later joined by Client and The Knife by '03 (as well as Goldfrapp in their Black Cherry-era) ... but by '09 synthpop was back in a way it hadn't been for long, long time.

seem to recall the ordinary boys (and the killers too) were somewhat derided by srs ~guitar music~ types for being a bit too pop, a critical tendency which had signficantly diminished by the landfill era, so i guess that makes the ordinary boys proto-landfill

and the guy from the ordinary boys went on big brother or some other shitty tv show like that.

he was on the celebrity version of that channel 4 First Dates show the other week! apparently he now writes songs for Cher and Olly Murs

Gavin & Stacey seemed to help the career of landfill indie bands. They were always being played on it

Yeah, Preston was on Celebrity Big Brother. The thing was, at the time that he was on Celebrity Big Brother I had not heard one single note of The Ordinary Boys' music. I don't recall any Ordinary Boys tracks being played on nights out, and I don't remember their videos really getting any airplay on MTV2 or whatever. I don't remember much about them, apart from seeing their CD in a rack in a record shop while I was buying something else. I always assumed that Preston having to go on Celebrity Big Brother meant he'd either do anything for five minutes of fame or his band was wank, therefore I needn't bother. When I finally heard an Ordinary Boys track many, many years later, it turned out I was right on both counts. I hadn't missed anything. If Preston hadn't gone on Celebrity Big Brother, his band would have been so incredibly easy to ignore.

The Ordinary Boys had some airplay & hits before CBB . They supported Paul Weller before CBB.

Yeah, but they were being 'shown the door' pretty much, but "Boys will be boys" got back in the chart while he was in, and they got a bit longer to live.

was that a cover of the hit by 'A Bunch Of Wally's' ? ;)

I since found out that The Ordinary Boys were one of those bands that deliberately changed their name/sound/image in order to jump on the bandwagon. They were a hardcore band called Next In Line beforehand.

See also: The Bravery.
See also also: Kaiser Chiefs (formerly Parva)

Also "Modern Romance", three style changes at least.

See also also: Kill The Arcade/Wolf Am I/Brother/Viva Brother/Lovelife

I think a lot of britpop bands had started off in another life too. Like Travis and that Scottish band who did that terrible "smile" song that was a huge hit but started off as a grunge band.

Morrissey was a supporter of The Ordinary Boys for a while (they were named after one of his songs), put them on a compilation he made but after Big Brother he seemed to change his mind.

Gavin & Stacey seemed to help the career of landfill indie bands. They were always being played on it

Benchmark set in very first episode

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007j8w4/segments

Landfill comedy with landfill actors