The Axe Drops On Tunstall, Yo La Tengo Looking Good

One more album has been crossed from the list; KT Tunstall's Eye To The Telescope. This one hurt. When I first listened to Telescope, it hit me just the right way. It was simple, well-written soft-rock with just the right tinge of melancholy. But alas, there's just not enough room on the list for it, with such great competition.

Speaking of the competition, I'm still fuzzy on how the list will end up. A few albums have pretty clear cut spots, but others are just confusing the hell out of me, such as Ys and Taigi. Newsom and OOIOO clearly created great albums, but I'm unsure of exact;y how good, particularly of Ys. It's a great album, but a tiring one which I have a bit of hard time listening to the whole way through without thinking longingly of The Knife, Neko Case, and the like. While Taiga will eventually find it's home, I'm not so sure about Ys.

Finally, one more album is in the running for #1; I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. I've loved it since the moment I first heard it, and it presents serious competition for Silent Shout. Yo La Tengo's best album in years may just take the #1 spot.

Why Beck Was The First To Go

Well, I've started working on my top 20 albums of the year list. I'll be keeping you posted about how it works, and which albums are looking good. First, I'll explain how I'll make this list. First, I go though my iTunes library and make a list of all my my favorite albums of the year. Then, I listen to each of those albums, and weed out the list, crossing of some albums, and starring others. The starred albums are the ones I think might have a chance at the #1 spot. So, here's my progress so far:

The first album I crossed out was Beck's The Information. It's a fine album and all, but just not top twenty material. Beck is slowly slipping, and (gasp!) falling into a niche. Both Guero and The Information have sounded dangerously like Odelay. Despite Odelay being a classic, I want to see Beck do something new and daring, as daring as Midnite Vultures and Sea Change. Until then, Beck is just a diversion, not a serious artist.

And what albums have been starred, you ask? Only two so far, Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury and The Knife's Silent Shout. Despite hating to agree with Pitchfork, if it ended up coming down to those to albums, I think that Silent Shout would beat Hell Hath No Fury without blinking. That's all for now, expect more later.