18 for 18?

Gents, my goodness all is somnambule on the Beats of Meta. So,I've been flipping through the "allmusic 20's" in recent days, in some cases admiring, in others, questioning and criticizing the best 20 picks from some of their writers. Given that we have been a Meta group for (roughly?) 18 years, which is a stunning fact in its own right, I thought it might be worthwhile for each of us to list our favourite 18 albums, or just pieces of music, from the last 18 years. I'll give mine some thought, particularly with an eye to avoiding the old familiar choices. As a P.S., I was amused and then (post-listening)very pleased to see and hear that Beachwood Sparks have released a new record this week after a 10-year haiatus!? Their ears must have been burning.

Incidentally have any of you lads listened to the new Charlotte Gainsbourg record?  I "spun" it quite obsessively on the fiight to HK and really love some o fit. Not to show my hand for the upcoming CD nght, but (what the hell) check ot White Telephone, a brilliant mood piece and my new favourite song.  A number if similarly appealing tracks - All the Rain, for one.

Reporting from Hong Kong Park
Brian

thanks Kyle, far and away the most succinct and all encompassing article I have ever read on this much debated topic....Very spock like in its unarguable logic....I plan to email this to all my neices and nephews who are decidedly of Emilys point of view...I suggest you all do the same.....but the real question is........we all take a number of discs from free places and burn them, but I think most of you are like me and still spend a lot of money on music (for me 97% of my music)....do any of you now not buy much and if so will this article change your habits?
s

A frank admission of file-sharing by a young twenty-something at NPR and a thoughtful response by D. Lowery.

Free Wilco ipad book. Content doesn't seem all that riveting but certainly priced right for some leisurely reading and scrolling.

@ Brian re First Aid Kit; apologies, i was not aware that they had come out with a new album; if you like it you should check out The Big Black and the Blue, the first album (track of note I Met Up With a King), the one i brought to cd night, and @ Stuart, The Lion's Roar is a might fine follow up .

yes Brian just the 1 album Spirit Stereo frequency

I just came across an album by R Stevie Moore released in 1976, fascinating crap that some of you might want to take a listen to.. I had originally clicked on it on as i opened a new Rdio session not knowing what it was and thought i would give it a spin.  Not having read the liner notes, at first i thought it was a current work.  I don't love it, i just think it's worth a once over spin if you can stomach it. (damning praise if i ever gave some)  "

One of the most unique albums of the 1970s, R. Stevie Moore's debut long-player is an uncategorizable mess that somehow keeps from falling apart completely, kind of like a one-man band version of the Beatles' White Album cross-pollinated with late-1960s Frank Zappa at his most antic. Yet just as the album seems hopelessly self-indulgent and bizarre, Moore suddenly veers into some of the sweetest and catchiest pop songs of the pre-punk '70s. That dichotomy is what makes Phonography special. Recorded in bits and pieces over the course of two years of living room sessions, with Moore playing and singing every part, barring the tambourine on the Soft Machine-like opening instrumental "Melbourne," the album shares much with such one-man band predecessors as McCartney, Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything?, and Roy Wood's Boulders. However, having been made on a cheap four-track with one microphone, a borrowed guitar, and no mixing deck, Phonography also has a funky lo-fi charm that anticipates post-grunge D.I.Y. savants like Guided By Voices and Pavement."

Hey Stu, thanks  for the post, I've checked out a couple of the bands you mention, still lots to look at though.  I'm not sure how I missed out on All Night Radio, given that they're apparently a follow-on from Beechwood Sparks, one of my very favourite retro bands from around the year 2000.  Looks like ANR made only one record - is that right?  Are you listening to the '04 release?