Top five LPs of 2001...

• Hochenkeit "Omu4h 4aholab/400 Boys"
• Super Furry Animals "Rings Around The World"
• Climax Golden Twins "s/t / red polka dot"
• Pinback "Blue Screen Life"
• Hawd Gankstuh Rappuhs MCs Wid Ghatz "2 Hype 2 Wype"

Strokes "Is this it" Seafood "When do we start fighting?" Tompaulin "The town and the city" Art of fighting "Wires" Life without buildings "Any other city"

The dukes of hang gliding album gets an honourable mention..

1. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
2. Philistines Jr - Analog vs. Digital
3. Sixth Great Lake - Up the Country
4. Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler
5. Beulah - The Coast is Never Clear.

Hon. Mentions... Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein; Bjork - Vespertine; Skitz - Countryman; Basement Jaxx - Rooty; The Beta Band - The Hot Shots II; Pulp - We Love Life; V/A: Andy Weatherall - Hypercity; Adam F Presents KAOS - The Anti-Acoustic Warfare; Missy Elliot - Miss E... So Addictive

I'm surprised by the similarities of mine and Ian's lists - The Avalanches was my favourite album of last year, and because of that and the fact that I've deliberately avoided it this last six months I'm not going to list it again. What an amazing year though - I counted around thirty-five albums that I've really enjoyed from this year, and at least another fifteen I'd want to get before I could make a list with any certainty (so if anyone wants to buy me Fennesz, Dub Taylor, Foxy Brown, De La Soul, Plaid, Kelis, Beanie Sigel, the Playhouse comp etc. feel free!)

4. Fabolous - Ghetto Fabolous.

3. Jewel - This Way.

2. Blu Cantrell - So Blu. My weird artsyfart brother always drives me to school, and when the "Neiman Marcus on a shopping spreeyah" verse on "Hit Em Up Style" comes on the radio, he always says, "I think Ms. Cantrell's vocal delivery in the first verse is a very clever nod to Mark E. Smith. Superb." Um, whatever!!!!

1. Matmos - A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure. I usually don't listen to this weird techno stuff, but the band that made this album got all their sounds from my best friend Bridget Brianne's nose job!

b) I too heard echoes of Mark E Smith in "Hit 'Em Up Style", also in the verse that goes braggin/draggin/baggin.

Strange too that someone mentioned 'After the Gold Rush' as this has been on my stereo (along with Harvest) for much of the year, along with usual suspects (fennesz, cannibal ox, Roots Manuva, Blueprint, Discovery etc.)

Singles of the year (while we're at it): would have to include Lapance, Get Ur Freak On, Girls, Girls, Girls (the remix, which reminds me of the Flaming Lips), Aerodynamic, Digital Love (which made me enjoy a G*P advert!), Burn, 21 Seconds (terrible rapping I know), Nite and Fog, Special Delivery, God is in the House, Hard To Explain, Fell in Love With a Girl, Pinky Ring...

But my absolute favourite recorded moment of the year is at the end of the video to Missy's One Minute Man (after the magnificent Trina moment) when the song and video segue thrillingly into Whatcha Gon' Do.

1- Felix Da Housecat - ^kittinz + thee glitz^ 2- The Dayglo Fishermen - ^comet nerdlinger^ 3- David Bowie -^all saints^ 4- Daft Punk - ^discovery^ [ beginning to grow on me at last Simon !] 5- Ol Skool Euphoria

liked the most - debut from *God Forbid*

1. Spring Heel Jack and Blue Series Continuum/ Masses/ Thirsty Ear 2. Aesop Rock/ Labor Days/ Def Jux 3. Robert Barry and Fred Anderson/ Duets 2001/ Thrill Jockey 4. Dismemberment Plan/ Change/ DeSoto 5. Sonic Liberation Front/ Water and Stone/ Eye Dog

Yes, but only at the end of the year!!! See you then :)

1. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (I'm working on this thread, Ned, honest!)

2. Avalanches - Since I Left You

3. Basement Jaxx - Rooty

4. Miss Kittin & the Hacker - First Album

5. Cannibal Ox - Cold Vein

Honourable mentions for reissues/not previously issued old stuff:

1. Brotherhood of Breath - Travelling Somewhere

2. John Coltrane - Olatunji Concert

3. Larry Young - Lawrence Of Newark

4. Acid Mothers Temple - New Geocentric World (if this counts, as was out on vinyl ages ago)

5. Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information

Singles:

1. Cher - The Music's No Good Without You

2. Streets - Has It Come To This

3. So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds

4. Kylie - Can't Get You Out Of My Head

5. Daniel Beringfield - Gotta Get Thru' This

The thing with the Daft Punk album is that I only *really* love the first four songs, the rest is great but more oftem or not skipped. If I do listen to the whole thing, I've tended to zone out by then. If they can be LPs not released this year I'd say off the top of my head that Pinback and Daft Punk would certainly be up there. Another one is the Steve Malkmus album WHICH I HAVE BIG REASONS FOR! And perhaps The Lonely World of the Dudley Coporation could get an honourable mention. And Songs from Vib-Ribbon. I'll do a bettah list tonight.

albums:

1. The Avalanches - Since I Left You

2. Daft Punk - Discovery

3. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 4. Missy Elliott - Miss E ... So Addictive

5. Luke Haines - Christie Malry's Own Double Entry (OST)

(a Top 10 would be fairer: I did that somewhere else on here)

A singles poll would be somewhat more interesting and much more in the spirit of ILM -- but the focus group approximates the same thing, doesn't it?

I see no reason why predictability should be any barrier to doing an albums list, if someone wants to. It's the bottom that's interesting usually anyway.

Juno, 'A Future Lived In Past Tense' OR Dismemberment Plan, 'Change' - can't decide. The White Stripes, 'White Blood Cells' Radiohead, 'Amnesiac' / 'I Might Be Wrong' Super Furry Animals, 'Rings Around the World' Sparklehorse, 'It's A Wonderful Life'

Ted Leo - The Tyranny of Distance // Jenny Toomey - Antidote // Jay- Z - The Blueprint // Nina Nastasia - Dogs (released in 2000, yeah yeah) // Dismemberment Plan - Change

I always feel my lists are more an attempt to gain some vague sense of credibility or establish some position, when I really don't feel passionate enough to truly sit down and rank everything. But, whatever.

Ah yes, I did. I'm so predictable -- and so absent-minded!

"Hometown Traffic" The Pinefox

"True Love Waits" The Pinefox

"The Hard Shoulder" The Pinefox

"I Think You Dropped A Moonbeam" The Pinefox

Hmmmmmmmmmm, No. 5? will The Pines album be released befor Christmas?

1) 'Ease Down the Road' ~ Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.
2) 'White Blood Cells' ~ The White Stripes.
3) '10,000hz Legend' ~ Air.
4) 'Go Plastic' ~ Squarepusher.
5) 'Quiet is the New Loud' ~ King's of Convenience
6) 'Chiff-Chaffs and Willow Warblers' ~ Minotaur Shock.
7) 'Vespertine' ~ Bjork.
8) 'We Love Life' ~ Pulp.
9) 'Blueboy' ~ Ron Sexsmith.
10) 'Since I Left You' ~ The Avalanches.
11) 'Grinning Cat' ~ Susumo Yokota.
12) 'No More Shall We Part' ~ Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
13) 'Feminist Sweepstakes' ~ Le Tigre.
14) 'Amnesiac' ~ Radiohead.
15) 'Asleep at the Back ~ Elbow.
16) 'Can Our Love... ' ~ Tindersticks.
17) 'It's A Wonderful Life' ~ Sparklehorse.
18) 'Bavarian Fruit Bread' Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions.
19) 'Chemistry is What We Are' ~ Simian.
20) 'Melody AM' ~ Royksopp.

1. Björk – Vespertine
2. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
3. Saïan Supa Crew – X Raisons
4. Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein
5. Fugu – Fugu1

The rest of a potential Top20:
6. De La Soul – AOI : Bionix
7. Stereolab – Sound-Dust
8. Daft Punk - Discovery
9. Kelis - Wanderland
10. Tipsy – Uh-oh!
11. Fennesz – Endless Summer
12. Bubba Sparxxx – Dark Days, Bright Nights
13. Wu-Tang Clan – Iron Flag
14. Low & Dirty Three – In The Fishtank
15. Money Mark – Change Is Coming
16. Ladytron - 604
17. Le Tigre – Feminist Sweepstakes
18. Spiritualized – Let It Come Down
19. Marumari - Supermogadon
=20. Aphex Twin – Drukqs / Squarepusher – Go Plastic

Bubbling Under : Missy Elliot – ‘Miss E...So Addictive’ ; Low – ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ ; Miss Kittin & The Hacker – ‘First Album’ ; Playgroup – s/t ; Brigitte Fontaine – ‘Kékéland’.

1) Let It Come Down - Spiritualized 2) Is This It? - The Strokes 3) Rings round The World - Super Furry Animals 4) I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead 5) Reveal - REM

I'm in total Tool burnout.

(Honorable Mention)

A Camp - A Camp, Ken Stringfellow -Touched, Gonzales - Presidential Suite, Squarepusher - Go Plastic, ..Trail of Dead - Source, Tags, Codes, Deathcab for Cutie - Photo Album, Electralene -Rockit to the moon, Felix Da Housecat - Kittenz & Thee Glitz, Pinback - Blue Screen Life, Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life.