A word of warning: This is not a top songs of the year list for us. Rather, these are five good songs from 2000 that are worth your time. And yes, we plan on doing this with every year of the decade over the next few months. Agree with these choices? Disagree? Debate here.
1. Elliott Smith’s later period is one highly debated by fans. He went big around the time of “XO” and went even bigger around the time of 2000’s “Figure 8.” For some fans, this made the album a bit of a wash, but the single, “Son of Sam,” still holds strong nearly a decade later. 2. It’s easy to forget, but The Mars Volta started from the split of the At the Drive-In, a band which did more to justify Thursday’s existence than it did The Mars Volta. A precursor to screamo, “One-Armed Scissor” is far less embarrassing than that descripiton sounds. 3. What a shame. Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump” is a great album best known as the answer to a trivia question. The question: “What album was Jason Lee’s son, Pilot Inspektor, named for?” A damn shame for a great album. “Jed the Humanoid” is a definite highlight for sure. 4. Yo La Tengo will likely never break out of its cult audience, but they make great musical arguments why they should. “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” is one of the band’s peaks, and “You Can Have it All” is a quiet triumph. 5. For us, hearing Radiohead’s “Nude” on 2007’s “In Rainbows” gave “Motion Picture Soundtrack” context. Many superfans were spoiled by a spare acoustic version of the song that made the “Kid A” version seem overly grand. But in the context of “Nude,” you see exactly what the band was going for. Worth revisiting for sure.source
The bands so far: Some of the bands already on board for the July 17-19 fest – which has only been partly announced – are killer. The first night is full of classic indie rockers like Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo. Day two boasts more recent indie faves like our current musical crush The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And day three already boasts The Walkmen and Grizzly Bear. Sounds amazing. source
The bands so far: Some of the bands already on board for the July 17-19 fest – which has only been partly announced – are killer. The first night is full of classic indie rockers like Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo. Day two boasts more recent indie faves like our current musical crush The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And day three already boasts The Walkmen and Grizzly Bear. Sounds amazing.
A cool new idea: The last few years of the fest have featured All Tomorrow’s Parties-sponsored shows featuring such luminaries as Public Enemy playing their greatest albums in full. But this year, they’ll allow fans to vote for what the bands play in their setlists. Want to hear Yo La Tengo play nothing but stuff from “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One”? Or more recent stuff? Your vote counts! source