Favorite Music of the Decade

I’ve decided to forego my usual end of year music “favorites” post and instead focus on what has been a banner decade of great recordings.   There have been some wonderful end of years lists and it’s heartening that many of the artists I’ve adored over the past ten years are getting kudos.  I particularly like the NPR list on the most “important” music of the decade.  It’s interesting to contemplate Kelly Clarkson next to Bon Iver in a discussion of music that made a difference.  If you haven’t listened to the discussion of the music from All Songs Considered it is highly recommended.

As for this past year, even though I’m in love with several albums, I have to say it feels a little weak to me.   Neko Case is the obvious exception with her stellar album Middle Cyclone.  I also loved the Lily Allen record, Fanfarlo’s album, XX, and the latest from Eels (although I’m hopeful that the soon to be released End Times) is a more polished outing.

So without further ado here are my favorite recording of the decade in no particular order.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

This one is so obvious it hardly needs mentioning.   The best parts of the album are the subtle gems like Poor Places, Radio Cure, and Reservations.

Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise

There aren’t too many artists that I like to throw the term “genius” at but Sufjan is one of them.  This album is so full of melodic surprises it’s the gift that keeps on giving.  Not many albums can make you feel like you see a glimpse of heaven and then move you to tears but this is one of them.

XTC - Fuzzy Warbles

Technically this is called an Andy Partridge collection but that is really unfair since the full Fuzzy Warbles set is XTC material/demos from the beginning of the band to the end.  It seems that we may have heard the last of what was one of the greatest and most influential bands ever and if this is to be their swan song it’s not a bad way to go out.  XTC should have been household names but alas it was not to be....

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

I love Blacklisted and Fox Confessor but this is the album where everything came together for one of the great voices in modern music. 

PJ Harvery - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Harvey is a musical treasure and even though I’m partial to White Chalk and Rid of Me top to bottom this is her strongest collection.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

While Kid A and Amnesiac are likely more important (although it still bugs me that they didn’t have the balls to release them together as a double album) In Rainbows is visionary.   The best thing they’ve done since OK Computer and perhaps on par with that record).

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

Kevin Barnes crammed this album so full of pop hooks it makes me dizzy every time I put it on.  I’m not sure why Hissing Fauna is more lauded because Skeletal Lamping sounds like a masterwork every time I listen to it.

Eels - Souljacker or Blinking LIghts -

I had a hard time choosing between these two albums as a long time Eels fan.  Then I realized I didn’t have to.  Souljacker is more consistent as an album but Blinking Lights is a bigger artistic statement with its double album concept record from birth to old age.   Take your pick you can’t go wrong.

A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder

The album lives at the top of my iTunes by virture of A.C.’s alphabetical listing.  That’s a good thing because it reminds me of just how good Newmans pop song writing is.  I’m a big New Pornographers fan as well but something about this album feels like perfection with its 70s pop song touchstones.

Cat Power - The Greatest

Haunting and powerful I could listen to her sing the ingredients on a cereal box and be moved.

Goldfrapp - Supernature

Glam rock meets disco and I am hard pressed to think of a more fun collection of  songs from the past decade although a nod should go to...

Lily Allen - Alright, Still

As mentioned before I love Ms. Allen’s new record but the slick production loses some of the charm from this album.

Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

This is just a personal (not so ) guilty pleasure for me.  I’ve said before that it is the album that captures a certain zeitgeist of the college experience (both good and bad) better than any other album.

Beck - Sea Change

What a weird record from Beck!   Crooning Gordon Lightfootesque songs is not exactly where most people expected him to go but it’s a disarming collection of beautiful songs about heartbreak.

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

Musically and lyrically one of the most amazing song cycles of the decade.  I’m not generally a person who focuses on lyrics but they don’t come much more clever than this.

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better

I know they wear their influences on their sleeves but FF keep putting out wonderful, danceable pop songs, that just make you want to move.  This album felt like a leap beyond their first collection.  Seeing them play “Outsiders” live still gives me chills.

Tom Waits - Real Gone

Just when you think Mr. Waits is going to get redundant he puts out one of his best albums ever in a ouvre that is without peer.   I bow down before Trampled Rose and the guitar solo on Hoist That Rag may be one of the best ever recorded.

Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Insterstate Managers

It’s hard not to call this a concept album with its “Office Space” lyrics and paens to the white collar work world --- through the prism of its shiny Carsesque  pop.  After releasing a couple of quintessential pop records this album shines even brighter.

Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast

has been curiousy inconsistent after this album that started off the last decade.   But Bewilderbeast stands as one of the best song cycles of the decade.

Honorable mentions?  Too many to name....

Favorite Films of the Decade

I usually reserve my year end lists to music but being as it's the end of a decade I can't resist compiling a list of my favorite cinema.  It would be nice to suggest that these are truly the greatest films of the decade but there are so many films I didn't see in the theater it's impossible to be comprehensive so below is a list of some of my favorite film experiences of the last 10 years.  I don't know how critics decide what is a #3 vs. a #8 on a list like this so these are in no particular order.

Zodiac - David Fincher always creates something interesting but this film is a masterpiece of tense procedural serial killer mayhem.   Robert Downey Jr. has reestablished himself in the minds of most cinema goers over the last couple of years but this is my favorite performance of his and Jake Gyllenhaal holds his own surrounded by one the great supporting casts of all time.  Special kudos to the strong cinematography, a hallmark of any Fincher film.

In Bruges - Surprising comes to mind with this madcap gangster, buddy, thriller.  Especially with Colin Farell giving one of his best performances.

Layer Cake - Daniel Craig can be given credit for making James Bond relevant again (even if Quantum of Solace was a disappointment).  But it was Layer Cake that upped the ante for British Crime Dramas.   Michael Gambon gives one of the great villainous speeches at the end of the film. 

Bourne Identity - I'm settling on the first in this series even though I loved all of them.  These movies redefined modern action an somehow gave it a paranoid cerebral feel.  After Good Will Hunting the smart money was on Ben Affleck to become the next big movie star.  All these years later Matt Damon has turned out to be one of the best and savviest film actors working.  

Lord of the Rings - It's fashionable to bag on this sprawling film series now but there is no getting around how monumental of a task it was to translate the books into an enjoyable cinematic experience for readers and a modern film audience that had no knowledge of the books.  That it turned out to be a transcendent trip is all the more surprising.  I don't know that there has been a better job done of casting the principle actors in recent memory.  Particularly Viggo Mortenson and Sean Astin who seem to me to be the heart of this film.

Amelie/A Very Long Engagement - While Amelie is considered syrupy by some a little lightness about the random kindness of a strange girl from Paris was just what was needed in the early 2000s.  Engagement, also by Jeunet, is a complex tale of love and sacrifice set during the Great War.  It's also a great introduction to Marion Cotillard as a prostitute assassin to die for.

Michael Clayton - On paper this film shouldn’t have been as good as it was.  But with knockout performances from Tom Wilkinson, George Clooney, and Tilda Swinton, it was the corporate thriller of the decade.

Children of Men - The look of this film had me from the first frame.  it doesn’t hurt that the cast is great and the ending perfect.

Almost Famous - Ensemble acting at its finest in this piece about 70s rock and roll culture and coming of age.  There are great actors here (Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, and Philip Seymour Hoffman) and average actors who upped their game (Jimmy Fallon!) .   Everything Kate Hudson has done since this has been pretty much shit but she’ll always have a special place in my heart as Penny Lane. 

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
One of those films that you know is a masterpiece while watching it and spend the last half hoping it doesn’t blow it.  It doesn’t.  Great performances and gorgeous to look at.  Proves once again that Brad Pitt is underrated as an actor.  Also one of those great films that I can only watch every once in a while.

Lost in Translation - Middle-aged ennui meets youthful potential in a striking film from Sofia Coppola.  And it has one of the best endings ever.

Wonder Boys - A gem of a film about the tortured lives of writers that toys with the cliche and then shatters it.  It also made Michael Douglas watchable which is a great feat.  Great supporting actor work from Tobey Macguire, Frances McDormand, and Robert Downey Jr.

Wes Anderson...I’m torn.  Anderson belongs of the best of list for his singular cinematic vision.  But it’s hard to decide whether the flawed masterpiece, The Life Aquatic should be here or the earlier Royal Tannenbaums.  Or, should it be the Fantastic Mr. Fox?  I’m holding off on including any late 2009 film on a list of the best of the decade because it feels too soon to make that judgement.  So, Life Aquatic it is.  But I reserve the right to change my mind.

Honorable Mentions:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Unlike anything else I've seen 
The Incredibles - The best of the Pixar creations followed closely by Up
Brokeback Mountain - Heartbreaking
The 40 Year-Old Virgin - Man-Child raunchiness with a sweet spot

And because we are in the age of great cinema created for the small screen I feel it necessary to mention a few of my favorite television shows which were as good if not better than much of what was playing down at the cineplex:  Deadwood, State of Play, Bleak House, Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, 30 Rock, and The Office (both Brit and U.S. versions).

Happy Bicycle New Year!

I suppose it's a bit too late for a Christmas present but this calendar from the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art would make a great New Year's gift.  It features photos of prominent New York artists on their preferred mode of transportation:  The Bike of course!   The month of December features one of my favorite photographers (Cindy Sherman) and musical (etc.) artists (David Byrne).  For other images from the calendar click here.  Definitely worth a peek.

Sunday Morning Music - The Strokes

A blistering version of You Only Live Once.  If you look closely you'll see the Flaming Lips in a few shots of this performance from the Strokes.

Christmas Satire Just For You!

Ah, nothing like a good laugh on Christmas morning.  I love that many of the commenters on YouTube don't get the joke.




Or, if you prefer, an "old" favorite's thoughts on how an atheist can survive Xmas.

Merry Xmas

Wednesday Night Pick Me Up - XX

I love the musical references in their music.  So deceptively simple and catchy.

A Lazy Sunday at the Nevada Museum of Art

The mormon crickets are even larger than the ones I ran into on my bike tour this summer.

Self-Portrait...you ever feel like someone is watching you?

Sunday Morning Music - The Snowman

I heard this song at my school's holiday concert and immediately had a sense of deja vous.  I'd forgotten about the film The Snowman from back in the 80s and this beautiful and melancholy song.   Gorgeous!

Stir Crazy, or...Getting Back on the Bike!

Jeff over at OutYourBackDoor has been scanning old copies of a comic book called Cat. 3 that I had never even heard of before.  While it is not exactly Watchmen it is definitely worth taking a look at if you have any interest or background in cycling.  The above image pretty much captures how I'm feeling right now with all the snow on the ground.  Except change the word "Training" to Riding.

Wednesday Night Pick Me Up - Katy Perry

Generally I'm of the opinion that modern pop artists (modern as in post-Beatles) should give up on the idea of covering other songs and focus on writing their own material.  There are of course notable exceptions.  But we are so far beyond the early to mid 20th century when pop music was dominated by singers who kept reinterpreting other artists songs.  American Idol has done nothing to convince me that covering is a good thing.  Just when you think we should have a rule against covers someone does a first-class take on a different artist's song.  This is a new, and surprising, example.  It doesn't hurt that Fountains of Wayne are top notch songwriters.

Copenhagen, Climate, Fashion, and Bicycles!

It seems that with the Copenhagen climate talks going on it is a good time to revisit one of the best sites on the web:  Copenhagen Cycle Chic.   Too bad the talks aren't going as well as one of my favorite websites.  The stakes couldn't really be more important since recent reports suggest that this is the warmest decade on record.  Here's hoping that all parties get their heads out of their a***s!

Sunday Morning Music - The Clash

Love this bass line.

Dead Boy Riding

This series of 1950s bicycle safety cartoons are cool and creepy at the same time.  Funny that you don't see this kind of in your face bike safety propaganda being published by generally respected institutions anymore.   These images were produced by a police department.  For more go here.

Wednesday Night Pick Me Up - Pet Shop Boys

It took me a long time to warm up to the PSBs but this song is pretty brilliant.

A Reno Bike Station?

With plans in the works to create a light rail in Reno perhaps it is time to start looking at developing something similar to Washington DC's new bike station.  Certainly it would not be an eyesore as some of the bike parking often claimed to be around stations in Amsterdam.  The DC station:

houses over 100 bicycles in 1,600 sq. ft. of free-standing ultra-modern glass and steel design, is part of a growing network of Bikestations and related transit centers springing up in cities across the U.S. that are planned, implemented and often operated by Mobis Transportation/Bikestation. As a completely secure facility available by membership, Bikestation Washington, D.C. represents this new approach to alternative transportation. The facility will be staffed 66 hours per week and available to members 24/7. In addition to secure bike parking, the facility also provides a changing room, lockers, bike rental, bike repair and retail sales. The Bikestation location at Union Station allows commuters to take public transportation to the station, pick up their bicycles and go to work, shopping or entertainment.

Sunday Morning Music - Cheap Trick

I pretty much hate masturbatory guitar solos.  What could be more boring?  Well, maybe masturbatory drum solos.  However, this is still on the short list of greatest power pop songs ever.  It's a lesson on how many pop hooks you can cram into 3 minutes.

Happy Birthday to Dennis Christopher

Breaking Away is considered the "Citizen Kane" of bicycling movies.  But don't let that fool you.  It's a GREAT film period!  Today is the star, Dennis Christopher's bday, and it seems a bit strange because even though he continues to work as an actor (he had a great supporting part in Deadwood) it is the actors who played his best friends that are are more likely to be considered household names.  Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley (who recently had a great performance as Rorschach in Watchmen) are more well-known.  Anyway, do yourself a favor and watch this gem of a film.  Below is an excerpt from Roger Ebert's original review of the film and it is spot on.

 "In a summer of big-budget movies that are insults to the intelligence, here's a little film about coming of age in Bloomington, Ind. It's about four local kids, just out of high school, who mess around for one final summer before facing the inexorable choices of jobs or college or the Army. One of the kids, Dave (Dennis Christopher), has it in his head that he wants to be a champion Italian bicycle racer, and he drive. his father crazy with opera records and ersatz Italian....

"The whole movie, indeed, is a delicate balancing act of its various tones: This movie could have been impossible to direct, but Yates has us on his side almost immediately. Some scenes edge into fantasy, others are straightforward character development, some (like the high school quarterback's monolog about his probable future) are heartbreakingly true But the movie always returns to light comedy, to romance; to a wonderfully evocative instant nostalgia.

"Breaking Away" is a movie to embrace. It's about people who are complicated but decent, who are optimists but see things realistically, who are fundamentally comic characters but have three full dimensions. It's about a Middle America we rarely see in the movies, yes, but it's not corny and it doesn't condescend. Movies like this are hardly ever made at all; when they're made this well, they're precious cinematic miracles."

Guitar or Percussion...I don't know which one I'm more impressed with

All I Want for Christmas is More Time to Ride!

As if I need a reminder that I don't have as much time as I would like to ride.   This giant clock could help motivate the rider in your life.  Think of it as the perfect Christmas gift for the time strapped cyclist.  Or perhaps for a budding time-trialist.

Description from the website:

This clock was made from a recycled aluminum bike wheel. The wheel mounts directly to the wall through the hub using a hollow wall anchor and gives the illusion that it is floating off the wall. The clock movement is a high torque German quartz movement and is attached to a set of rear cassette gears to conceal the movement. The movement is attached to the wheel by hanging it off of a screw coming out of the hub, and runs on 1 AA battery, included. This wheel measures roughly 22.5 inches in diameter and is fairly clean. Since these clocks are made from actual recycled bike wheels, condition and model may vary slightly, and their will be minor imperfections such as scuffing scratches etc. They did live another life before they were discarded. Handmade in the USA. It will make a great conversation piece on your wall or a special gift for that bike nut you know who is so hard to shop for. 

sunday Morning Music - XTC - Statue of Liberty

I don't know that I've ever seen Andy Partridge looking so young.

Thank You World

I know this isn't quite fair but...

This is scary even if I know that some of Obama's supporters can be just as inarticulate.

Bike Photo of the Day

I'd be this happy if I had that bike and hat!

Sunday Morning Music - Go Gos

I was going to post something serious and somber for a Sunday a.m. but this is just more fun.  The Go Gos sound great in this video from April of 2009.  The only thing wrong with it is that you don't see enough of Jane Wiedlin, the heart and soul of the group.  But I'm biased since I've had a crush on her since (gasp) 1983?

Fanfarlo in town tomorrow night

Maybe I'm the only person who was surprised to hear that Fanfarlo was playing Reno tomorrow night but I  only just saw it in the RNR today.  I'm calling it an early birthday present for me!  Tomorrow night, Great Basin Brewery, 10 pm, and apparently free(?).

Bicycle Tweedledee and Where to Park That Car

NPR did a couple of stories this week that caught my ear.  One was the Washington D.C. "Tweed Ride."  A British export, (there have been versions in LA and SF if I recall correctly) apparently the tweeds came out for a ride around our nation's capitol.

The other story was about the history of the parking garage and I couldn't help but be struck by how much effort has been put in over the years to make them less ugly or hide them under the ground.  About the only thing that parking garages are actually good for are practicing uphill sprints on your bicycle when the weather outside is bad and filming car chase scenes.  Has there been a more ugly piece of architecture invented?

Wednesday Night Pick Me Up - Outkast

Apparently Paste magazine picked this as the best single of the decade. I don't know about that but it is certainly bad ass!

Harry Reid is a Butt?

No doubt you've been seeing more and more of these signs around Reno.  I first noticed them this past summer while on a bike tour across Nevada when I was in Ely.   Perhaps someone can explain to me why this is funny?   It's not clever or witty.  It seems right out of a Beavis and Butthead episode...."huh huh huh...it says butt...huh huh."  I don't expect right-wing wackos to be sophisticates but this is submental. 

Sunday Morning Music - Peter Wolf

No idea why this song popped into my head but I always loved the video. I'm wondering how many takes this took and just how sore Wolf's legs must have been the day after. Ah, the 80s!

How to Look Good on a Bike...

From the NY Times

Bike Sharing in Paris Hits Speed Bump?

A couple of articles on the Vélib’, Paris’s bicycle rental system, and the problems they've had with vandalism are worth checking out. One from the NY Times and the other from Treehugger. Apparently, there are some critiques of this report so it's good to have a BS detector when reading (as always). It's not enough to make cheap bikes available, you need a more holistic approach to solving transportation issues (or any issue for that matter). Still, I'd rather ride, walk, or use the Metro in Paris, than virtually any other city in the world. Cars are unnecessary.

Wednesday Night Pick Me Up - Blur