…in Flak Magazine.

…plus write-ups of “Daughter In The House Of Fools” by Enon, “Hey Ya!” by Outkast, “City Girl” by Kevin Shields.

…in Flak Magazine.

…plus write-ups of “Sold!” bt Enon, “Dollar and Cent Supplicants” by the Fire Show, “Promising Light” by Iron & Wine and “The Mess Inside” by the Mountain Goats.

Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas (Emperor Jones)
It’s not like I can be totally “critical” or “objective” about West Texas… I lived inside this disc for months as I got over the dissolution of my first long-term relationship and fumbled my way through the single life. You see, concept aside, it’s three-quarters a breakup record. This is simply the most human album to come out in… a long time. And it’s mostly yelped vocals, strummed acoustic, tape fuzz and machine noise. The man responsible would probably string me up for saying it, but here is proof positive why lo-fi still matters.

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Warner/Nonesuch)
Is this cheating? YHF also made my 2001 list in its MP3 form… Anyway, this record sounds less and less “weird” to me over time—the “experimental” angle is really unfortunate, because it confuses the issue regarding an album chock-full of great, diverse folk-rock songs dripping with pop dada and more often than not emnating a uniquely American dread. As for the backlash: like Chuck and Flava said, “Don’t believe the hype.”

Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle (Sub Pop)
Iron & Wine snuck up on me… I was content to write the project off before even hearing it in the “just another singer-songwriter” category. But there are just too many gorgeous moments on this disc for me to sustain cynicism. I’m convinced that all the old-timey country trappings here are a ruse. It’s all about the songs, the harmonies.

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