Best Albums of the Decade 2000’s

Originally, I set out to compile my list of the Top 20 Albums of the Decade. The 2000’s. Or the Aughts. Yea, I guess we never got around to naming this decade and now it’s already ending. I thought I was realistic by not even attempting a Top 10 Best Albums of the 2000’s, but it turns out even 20 proved difficult. And once I passed 20, the albums just kept flowing and then I thought “okay, Top 40 would be good, since “Top 40” is sort of a tried and true phrase in popular music. Then I hit 50. OK, I’ll do a Top 50, why not! Then I got to 52 and beyond and finally just gave up and let myself list all the great albums I loved this decade and not worry about cutting any out just to keep the list at 20, 40 or 50. So I ended up with 65. Seems a bit excessive, sure. But it’s still only about 6 or 7 per year. And I easily could have added a few more. Actually, I could just call this a Top 50 Best Albums of the Decade list because they’re not numbered, and if you actually read through it and count the exact number of albums, I’m just glad you’re on my blog.

Please add your Top 5, 10, or 65 favorite albums of the decade (or point out my glaring omissions) in the comments section. Now, on with the list…

Mos Def – Black on Both Sides (1999)
First album on the list and I’m already cheating. This one came out just a couple months before 2000, and is such a great album. One of the best hip-hop albums of all time, even if you don’t see it on such lists in the mainstream media. So why not kick off this list with the last great album of the previous century?

2000

Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R

OutKast – Stankonia

Aimee Mann – Bachelor No. 2, or the last remains of the dodo

Talib Kweli & Hi Tek – Reflection Eternal

Radiohead – Kid A

U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
It’s pretty easy to hate on these grandiose mega-stars, but this was and is a truly great U2 album made several years after most of us figured they’d never do it again.

D’Angelo – Voodoo

Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker

Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele

2001

Bob Dylan – Love and Theft

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
This one would probably make the list even there were only 5 albums on it. Songwriting, atmosphere, and using the studio as an instrument without getting too cute or overdoing it. It’s all here, a classic peak from a great band.

Tool – Lateralus

Jay Z – The Blueprint

Whiskeytown – Pneumonia

2002

Sonic Youth – Murray Street
This is how I love my Sonic Youth. This album and the three that have followed are all really good. I actually like this (and those other recent ones) more than their old classics. Blasphemy for hardcore SY fans and a nation of hipsters, I know.

Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel

Bright Eyes – Lifted, Or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

The Roots – Phrenology
A bit all over the place stylistically and a bit long, but still mostly brilliant. It’s like their White Album.

2003

Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day
The underrated gem in their stellar catalogue. I shoulda/coulda put all of their albums from this decade on the list.

Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium
Crazy intense mindfuck jams mixed with tribal rhythms and pure relentless rock fury.

The White Stripes – Elephant

The Jayhawks – Rainy Day Music

OutKast – Speakerbox/The Love Below
Split into two mostly solo discs, illustrating the two sides of the OutKast coin and allowing BigBoi and Dre to let each of their distinct musical personalities shine while still feeling like a(nother) brilliant OutKast record.

Songs: Ohia – Magnolia Electric Co.

2004

Masta Killa – No Said Date
A lost gem from an underrated member of the Wu-Tang Clan. The Wu family has put out so many albums over the years (and a few duds after the initial string of classic solo joints) that it was easy for this one to get lost in the shuffle. Do yourself a favor and track this one down, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell

PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her

Jello Biafra & the Melvins – Don’t Breathe What You Can’t See
Legends team up for some post-9/11 punk fury and rockin’ jams.

Green Day – American Idiot

Loretta Lynn – Van Lear Rose

Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
A classic mashup of The Beatles White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album. Somehow it works beyond just the novelty and is a truly great listen.

2005

DJ Muggs/GZA the Genius – Grandmasters

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Howl

Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

Damian “Jr Gong” Marley – Welcome to Jamrock
Title song is one of the hottest tracks of all time. The rest of the album is also very solid.

My Morning Jacket – Z

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – Cold Roses

Common – Be

The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

2006

Tom Petty – Highway Companion
A vastly underrated album from TP. Is it possible that this is his best album, so late in his career? It’s certainly great enough to be in that discussion. Check out this hidden gem if you missed it or ignored it a few years ago.

The Roots – Game Theory

Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped

Built to Spill – You in Reverse

Bob Dylan – Modern Times

2007

Terence Blanchard – A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)
Haunting, moving, and uplifting sounds from one of the true jazz greats of this generation.

Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

Stephen Marley – Mind Control

Public Enemy – How You Sell Soul To a Soulless People Who Lost Their Soul?
Another one that slipped under the radar. It’s really hard to make a great hip-hop album these days (or maybe it’s just too easy to make bad ones that still sell a lot), and I think it’s really hard for a legendary group to do it almost 20 years after they made a couple of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Sure they’ve had a few duds in between, but this one hits the mark.

Robert Plant/Alison Krauss – Raising Sand

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Radiohead – In Rainbows

2008

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Real Emotional Trash

The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Beck – Modern Guilt

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis – Two Men with the Blues
Odd pairing, but terrific results. Really fun album… while the two main men don’t disappoint, Wynton’s solid backing band keeps it moving.

One Day as a Lion – One Day as a Lion

2009

John Wesley Harding – Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead

Polvo – In Prism

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You

Black Crowes – Before the Frost/Until the Freeze

Ryan Bingham – Roadhouse Sun

Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx 2

Jack White This Decade

I’m working on my "Best Albums of the 2000’s" to be posted soon. A Top 10 seemed too limiting, so I was gonna do 20. Looks like it’s gonna end up being a Top 50. It’s tough being a music nerd. In the meantime, here’s what Jack White has done this decade. What’s up with 2002? What a slacker!!

2000: The White Stripes, De Stijl
2001: The White Stripes, White Blood Cells; White founds Third Man Records
2003: The White Stripes, Elephant; White contributes to Cold Mountain soundtrack and appears in the film
2004: White produces and performs on Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose
2005: The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
2006: The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
2007: The White Stripes, Icky Thump
2008: The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely; White records “Another Way to Die” with Alicia Keys for Bond flick Quantum of Solace
2009: The Dead Weather, Horehound; White Stripes tour film Under the Great White Northern Lights premieres at Toronto Film Festival; White stars in guitar love-note doc It Might Get Loud with Jimmy Page and U2’s The Edge

Pearl Jam – Backspacer

This week, Pearl Jam’s new album Backspacer finally shows up in stores. Listening to it now and it’s a fine little rock record for sure. There’s a certain clarity to the mix as well as energy and diversity in the songs. The guitar work is crisp and tasteful throughout. I haven’t listened to it enough for it to really sink in yet, but I’m diggin it.

Also, much has been made about Pearl Jam releasing Backspacer independently, with out a record label. And of course a lot more has been made about the fact that they cut an "exclusive" deal with Target to promote/sell this album. But, to clarify: yes, Target will be the only "big box" retailer to carry it, so you wont find it at BestBuy, Walmart, or the big chain mall record stores. But in true Pearl Jam fashion, they insisted on an interesting clause in the deal that allows the album to also be sold at independent record stores. I love that move, and hopefully those of you planning to buy this will hit up your local record shop while it still exists.I think some indie stores might even have a special edition with different packaging. Two sites to help you find your closest indie store are: http://www.the-ird.com/store.html and http://www.cimsmusic.com/. So check the record store before Target.

Finally, here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at Pearl Jam making Backspacer. This short film was done by Danny Clinch. He’s a great photographer, and his artistic eye certainly lends a nice beauty to this little film. His shots just look great, and his edits can sometimes be choppy to coincide with the music, but never too fast or annoying. Interesting stuff, especially the part where Eddie Vedder says he approached his role on this album as "Participating as instrument, rather than as a storyteller. Writing’s great, but there’s too many words."

Technology Is Amazing

Apparently, I can send an email to my blog and it will appear as a new post. It’s like magic. It seems like not that long ago I was taping vinyl albums onto cassette tapes. Now I can buy an album (or copy it from a friend) with a few clicks of the mouse. A few more clicks and it’s put onto my MP3 player that holds 300 albums and is the size of, well, a cassette tape case. Truly amazing. Then again, I don’t even know how they make decaffeinated coffee beans, so maybe I’m just easily impressed.

Read Me Elsewhere On The Innerwebs

Sorry I haven’t been updating this blog much lately. Not sure who I’m apologizing to, or why. Anyway, I’m doing album reviews now for Music Emissions, which is a pretty cool site you should check out. That link takes you to my profile where you can see all my reviews.

I’m also writing occasional football columns for RealFootball365.

So check me out and pass my links along to all your e-friends and post links on Facebook and where ever else you share/recommend relatively pointless digital entertainment.

Can The Drummer Get Some

Well,  YOU can get some.

Here’s some free music for you. A recording i did with Steve Rubin (who many of you know i worked with in The Circle Six and Eight Track Mind). i play drums/percussion on tracks 1,2,4, and 6, but this is essentially “his” album. hope you dig:

Jackie and the Treehorns: The Future of Adult Entertainment

note: the drumbeat for track 2 is something i constructed playing 2 different takes on a keyboard. so it sounds programmed/electronic, but i actually played it thru on a Triton keyboard twice and we mixed them together to build this beat.

track 4 was written/recorded live on the spot as we jammed in the studio. a riff, a beat… soon it was done. i over dubbed a hand-drum part on this little drum i bought in greece.

track 6 is the oldest recording…. something we wrote/recorded a couple years ago for Josh Bolton’s surfing DVD soundtrack Drawing Lines. it didn’t make that soundtrack but we always loved it cuz it was different than anything we’d ever done together and then it happen to fit in with this set of songs.

SC Rep. Joe Wilson Should STFU and Love His Country

Really Congressman? You fucking yelled out during a speech by the President of the United States while he was addressing Congress on national TV?

“You lie!” is what you screamed? You inconsiderate, disrespectful piece of shit. Why do you hate America? Here was President Barack Obama, trying to debunk all the bullshit lies and myths being spread by your side (all the garbage about death panels and insuring illegal aliens, etc.) and you disturb the proceedings by screaming? How old are you? How unprofessional are you? You should be ashamed of yourself. And you should shut the fuck up and love your country and respect the President (as the rest of us were repeatedly told to do during the previous 8 years).

Don’t have a nice day.

Video clip HERE.

09/09/09: Beatles Remasters Arrive

Well, I cant add much that hasn’t already been said about The Beatles. But here’s a few links to some articles about the release of all their albums remastered.

Beatles Remasters, Game Drag Band Into Digital Age
By Mike Collett-White and Douglas MacLaurin

A Splendid Time is Guaranteed For All by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com

Here, There, and Everywhere but iTunes, by Ed Christman

Paul Sexton on Repaving Abbey Road

Refusing to Let It Be: The Beatles in Stereo by Matt Hurwitz in the Washington Post

And here is a cool animation video that is at the beginning of the new Beatles Rockband video game.

Perhaps the most damning thing I’ve read in all the coverage of the Beatles stuff this week is the fact that in the SoundScan era (since May 1991) the Beatles have sold nearly 58 million albums/units. But they are SECOND. Who’s first? Garth Freakin Brooks with 69.3 million. Really? That’s reason enough for all of us to head out on 09/09/09 and buy two copies of all these new remasters. For the record, my wishlist priority is: Revolver, White Album, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, and Sgt.Pepper. Thanks.

Hide Your Kids! It’s the American President!

I’m having a hard time understanding why President Barack Obama (he’s the President of the United States, the American President) shouldn’t be allowed to give a speech to school children all about the importance of education and staying in school.

Amazingly, I am not making up these quotes: “Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me,” a suburban Colorado mother, Shanneen Barron, told KMGH-TV in Denver. Sounds like they were going to be forced to listen some evil satanic rock music or some lewd, profanity-laced comedy routine.

Then she added: “I’m an American. They are Americans, and I don’t feel that’s OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.”

Memo to Mrs. Barron: Barack Obama is also an American. He’s the President, as I mentioned there at the top. We had 8 years of George W. Bush: asleep at the wheel while 9/11 was planned and carried out; still napping in the aftermath of Katrina; knowingly lying us into a war of choice that didn’t keep us safer and wasted trillions of dollars; approving and carrying out TORTURE and suspending Habeus Corpus (Google it Mrs. Barron); and illegally spying on innocent Americans through warrant-less wiretapping. But NOW you’re “very scared to be in this country with our leadership”??

And it’s not just some ignorant uninformed citizen making these ridiculous statements. The Chairman of the Florida Republican Party actually accused Obama of using taxpayer money to indoctrinate children. “As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology,” Greer said. Really Mr. Greer? As a human being, I am absolutely appalled that you are the chairman of anything semi-official. And the S-word again?

“The idea that schoolchildren across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans … is not only infuriating but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”

First of all, no one is being forced. Second, last I checked the majority of Americans voted for Barack Obama to be our President. Third… abuse of power? Again, does everyone have amnesia from the previous 8 years, or just the Obama haters? And finally, it is not a speech for the president to “justify his plans,” it is a freakin’ pep talk to our nations youth about education. From an official White House statement:

“The goal of the speech and the lesson plans is to challenge students to work hard, stay in school and dramatically reduce the dropout rate,” an administration spokesman said. “This isn’t a policy speech. It’s a speech designed to encourage kids to stay in school.”

Oh the horror! He’s gonna, he’s gonna…. Tell… kids… smart… stuff.

Got Flip-Flops?

Okay, I have a new pet peeve. (My ultimate pet peeve was one of my earliest blog posts.) Obviously I spend too much time in my car, cuz much of what bothers with me with people is what they have on the back of their cars. I’ve mentioned some of the annoying tendencies of rednecks and rightwingers in previous posts, and I’ll get to some more political bumper stickers in the future. But this is about flip-flops and families.

First, you have these people, usually women, who will have one pair of flip-flops… like a generic outlined flip-flop logo window sticker in their back windshield. What is that? Like, “I’m a chick, and I’m such a beach bum! I just LOVE flip-flops! Some people like Obama or the Local Sports Team or the Outer Banks (OBX)… well I like flip flops!!”

Then, you have the minivans or other vehicles with little depictions of their family demographic. Like big guy (dad), slightly smaller female (mom), and then two or three little kid logos. Like I really care how many kids you have and/or that their names are Madison, Brandon, and Logan. Or that you have pets.

Okay, finally, it gets exponentially worse when these two strange phenomena are combined. That’s right, the flip-flop family. Seriously… WHY?

Ricky’s Got Some Splainin to Do

So now after all the hype, talented Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio is not coming to the NBA for 2 more years.

“Going to Minnesota would have just complicated my life a lot. It was a risk and I didn’t see it so clearly,” Rubio said. “My priority was the NBA and it was impossible for the Minnesota Timberwolves to pay my buyout clause, so I wanted to stay home.”

Really? The idea that getting drafted by a not-so-great NBA team, perhaps in a small market, would be a “risk” that would “complicate life” (along with the fact that teams can only contribute $500,000 to the multi-million dollar buyout clause to free Rubio from his current contract) was ALL well known months before the draft. So why enter the draft?

I don’t really have a problem with him staying in Europe; it will probably end up helping his game and his maturity. It just seems odd that he just kinda woke up at the end of the Summer and suddenly realized all this stuff that was pretty obvious at the beginning of the Spring.

Biting off more than he can chew: trying to eat a basketball is a risk that would complicate Ricky Rubio's life.

They Must Have Run Out Of People To Roast

Last night we stumble on Comedy Central’s Roast of Larry the Cable Guy. Yea, i guess they’ve roasted all the real celebrities already.

so as usual everyone rips on the other guests/roasters too. and Toby Keith was there (sitting there with freakin military dog tags around his neck, what a cheese).

A few of the gems dropped on Toby:

“Toby, you put the BIG in biggot.”

“ah, there’s toby keith… sitting there…. waiting for another terrorist attack…. so he can write another song about it…”

“toby keith! i share your love of the 2nd Ammendment. cuz your music makes me want to shoot myself in the face.”

there were lots of other good ones i cant remember. solid stuff.

Them Crooked Vultures

Wow.

As you likely have heard by now, there is an actually super supergroup on the horizon.

Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) on drums, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on guitar, and the legendary John Paul Jones (from a little band you might know by the name of Led Zeppelin) on bass. Yea, I really cant envision a scenario where this album could possibly suck.

More from Antiquiet and Pitchfork can be found here.

Homme’s wife, Brody Dalle of Spinnerette, is already sorta not really on record with her opinion: “I’m not at liberty to talk about it… but I think [the project] is pretty fucking amazing. Just beats and sounds like you’ve never heard before.”

Associated Content Publishing Me

Just wanted to give you a heads up that Associated Content has published my “T0p 10 Country Albums” originally posted here on the blog. I could eventually get paid for page views, so please click on over and check it out and pass the link on to others.

Top 10 Best Country Albums Ever

Thanks!

Flying V Over Hilton Head Island

Freedom IS Free

Well it’s July 4^th weekend. Independence Day. Not really my favorite holiday. Of course, I’m an anti-American commie liberal hippie blogger so whattaya expect. Not really. I’m not actually anti-American. I guess I’m just kinda anti-YAYAMERICA!! Just not gung ho about wearing a stars’n’stripes shirt, sayin “happy fourth” like I mean it, and settin off fireworks. I don’t mind hanging out and watching professional fireworks if they’re good. Never quite understood the draw of spending a bunch of money at those fireworks stands that pop up in every parking lot come June.

I guess it’s fitting that America celebrates itself by blowing shit up. I mean really, what are the mainstays of this holiday? Not working, gorging on grilled meat and beer, and setting stuff on fire that makes loud noises and flashy lights. Aint that America.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my freedom and I appreciate my freedom and all that… but I guess I just don’t fully buy into the rah-rah holiday about it.

I see these bumper stickers that say “FREEDOM ISN’T FREE.” Really? It isn’t? I mean, I know that people have made great sacrifices for me to be here and other people have fought and died in wars that allegedly preserved our freedom. But I think freedom is free. Essentially shouldn’t we all be born free? Like that 70’s TV show with the theme song “born free….. as free as the wind blows.” Of course, the people who made the sacrifices to ensure that I would not only be born free, but be born at all… they were Russian and European. And the 50k + who died in Vietnam…. Did they really protect our freedom? Ditto for pretty much all the wars in my lifetime right up to and including Operation Iraqi Freedom. Damn, there’s that word again. What kind of freedom are we “spreading” in Iraq? Freedom to have Burger Kings and Best Buys and “democratic elections?” like that one we had in 2000? That was a nice little slice of democracy wasn’t it? Of course, I don’t remember any of us taking to the streets and risking our lives over it like the people are doing in Iran.

Ah, but I’m dwelling on the past. Bitching about a stolen election that altered the course of America and human history. I need to just get over it. I need to just Shut The Fuck Up and Love My Country. As do all the freedom lovin flag waving real Americans who think that Barack Obama is some secret Muslim socialist.

Okay I’m babbling. And obviously I hate The Troops (I’m kidding!).

Actually the 4^th of July, to me, will always be my dad’s birthday. That’s right, falls out on the holiday every year. So, here’s to my dad. And here’s to your freedom, and my freedom, and to the idea that freedom IS free. So maybe we do need a little reminder to appreciate abstract concepts we take for granted like “independence” and “freedom.” So feel free to eat a bunch of burgers, drink some beer, and blow shit up. Just make sure you use sun screen. And Happy My Dad’s Birthday.

The Death of Michael Jackson

So there was Johnny Carson doing his nightly show up in heaven. He was particularly giddy to have been recently reunited with longtime sidekick Ed McMahon. Then they were joined by the incomparable Farrah Fawcett. She was the hottest woman on the planet back when that title was only held by one person. Back before the internet and Maxim magazine plastered half-naked chicks all over the walls of society to the point that we stopped noticing. No, back then, it was just Farrah and that over-the-top white-tooth smile shining down from the infamous poster of her in that now-modest one-piece bathing suit.

Johnny was cracking jokes about yet another disgraced and disgraceful politician who’d cheated on his wife. This time another Republican who’d previously railed against gay marriage and how it would allegedly “destroy the sanctity of marriage.” Ha. Well that South Carolina Governor was soon the happiest man in the world: he was quickly pushed off the front pages. They say things come in 3’s, and sure enough right after Farrah and Ed had joined Johnny…the surprise musical guest showed up: Michael Jackson was dead at the age of 50.

I’ll never forget watching that Motown 25th Anniversary TV show when MJ and the Jacksons rocked the house and Michael in particular was off the hook, performing “Billie Jean” with that moonwalk and the other dance sequences. It was amazing.

Watching it now, he’s obviously lip synching. I can’t remember if I knew that then or even cared. His stage presence, the buzz from the crowd, the fact that he was basically just dancing and pretending to sing along with a pre-recorded track, and yet he connected with both the live audience and the TV viewers. That just doesn’t seem to happen like that anymore. People are spoiled. They DVR it or wait to catch it on youtube or they read on the internet ahead of time what songs will be performed. But that night we were all glued to the TV “live,” and the actual live audience was on their feet, clapping along, screaming at the very beginning like “holy shit we’re about to watch a dude who does what he does better than anyone does anything!” like Michael Jordan was about to hit the game winning shot or Joe Montana was gonna drive the 49ers down the field to win the Super Bowl.

And then, toward the end, he goes into some dance moves and all of a sudden he’s just inexplicably gliding backwards in that moonwalk. At the time it was like “WHAT? I didn’t know humans could do that!” It was like someone had just levitated on the street before our eyes. He even hit the moonwalk again a minute later. As if to confirm, yea, you saw that right…. I’m magically gliding backwards. And then eventually the track starts fading and he’s still sorta lip-synching along. Like they didn’t even need to try to pretend that it wasn’t a lip synch. Why bother. It didn’t matter. He’d nailed it.

I was never a big MJ fan per se…. certainly appreciated the hits from Off The Wall and Thriller (and of course the timeless Jackson 5 hits) as an impressionable young music fan at the time. So I’m not terribly sad or shocked today. I’ve made plenty of Jacko jokes in the past and perhaps will again in the future… but this isn’t really the time for that. It’s nice to reflect a bit on the talent that made him such a big deal before all the weirdness happened and the Thriller went from Bad to worse…

I recently saw the bust of O.J. Simpson at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was an amazing football player, but then he became O.J. from the movies and Hertz commercials, then the O.J. we all know and loathe now. Like different people. Similar type thing with Michael Jackson.

The Michael Jackson that everyone is remembering and celebrating today has actually already been gone for a long time.

Hello world!

Moving the 23/7 site from blogspot over to here.

Welcome.

Wow, Has It Been That Long?

My little unplanned break from active blogging has suddenly turned into close to two months of no posts at all. I’d apologize, but I doubt anyone’s really checking this site daily or weekly looking for stuff to read.

And really, if I don’t have much worthwhile to write about or share with you (assuming “you” even exist), then why fill the space with posts regurgitating the news of the day followed by my snarky comments and criticisms?

So I just wanted to drop a quick note as a place holder to show I’m still here and the blog is still going. Not sure where or when…. but it’s going.

With that, I’ll leave you with a Top Ten list of stuff I’ve really enjoyed listening to recently:

1. John Wesley Harding – Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead
2. Prince – Lotusflow3r and MPLSound
3. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
4. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
5. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
6. Otis Taylor – Recapturing the Banjo
7. Allen Toussaint – The Bright Mississippi
8. Jerry Garcia Band – Kean College 1980
9. Tom Petty – Highway Companion
10. My 17-month-old son talking more and more every day

Incredible Photo Art That Makes You Think

I highly recommend checking out Running The Numbers: An American Self-Portrait by Chris Jordan.

His statement about it:

Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2008

Among his fine work you’ll see:

• 410,000 paper cups, equal to the number of disposable hot-beverage paper cups used in the US every fifteen minutes.
• 28,000 42-gallon barrels, the amount of of oil consumed in the United States every two minutes (equal to the flow of a medium-sized river).
• 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.
• 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq.
• One hundred million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees cut in the U.S. yearly to make the paper for junk mail.

One of his incredible pieces shows 200,000 cigarette packs to symbolize the number of Americans who die from smoking every six months. So 400,000 Americans DIE every year from cigarette smoking. In the name of national security and keeping us safe….. why are cigarettes still legal? I mean, approximately 3,000 were killed on that Tuesday morning in September and we waged war on terror. Where’s the war on tobacco?

Another piece depicts 65,000 cigarettes, equal to the number of American teenagers under age eighteen who become addicted to cigarettes every month.

Man, we are really not keeping Americans safe!!

Anyway, be sure to also poke around the rest of his website to check out his portraits from the wake of Katrina, a global version of Running The Numbers, and other fine stuff.