Avalanches, Since I Left You
Good record collections have been given a bad name by rare-groove
snobs and narrow-minded hip-hop classicists like D.J. Premier. But
like De La Soul and D.J. Shadow before them, the Avalanches capture
the sheer bliss of skipping through genres, searching for the perfect
beat. (London-Sire)
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it at Amazon
Basement Jaxx, Rooty
Impatient with boundaries in the best possible way, the
U.K. house-music duo Basement Jaxx mixes everything from Minneapolis
funk to two-step garage into its second album and creates some of
the most exuberant party music since Parliament's mother ship first
landed. (Astralwerks)
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it at Amazon
Björk, Vespertine
The Björk album for on-the-fence fans like me: All
the elfin joie de vivre and twinkling soundscapes without the overt
whimsy or irksome kitsch. (Elektra)
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it at Amazon
Blaze, Natural Blaze
Soulful house slipped into self-parody this year,
all precious solos and odes to "deepness." But the New Jersey house
duo Blaze maintains a multi-instrumental groove without falling
into fastidiousness. They're more Earth Wind and Fire than Body
& Soul. (Lifeline)
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it at Amazon
Bob Dylan, Love and Theft
Dylan can be cranky and conservative (he told the
Los Angeles Times he "wouldn't even think about playing music
if I were born in these times"), but Love and Theft has ease,
humor, and the pure country swing of The Basement Tapes.
(Columbia)
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it at Amazon
Missy Elliott, Miss E...So Addictive
The lyrics cover well-traveled hip-hop territory -- insufficient
lovers, excessive partying, outsize joints -- but the beats (mostly
from producer Timbaland) are so radical that even electronica's
fringe can't quite keep up. (Elektra)
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it at Amazon
Fischerspooner, #1
.Half D.J. duo and half art-school project, Fischerspooner
brings the eighties back to the future with dazzling sonics and
a sly, sexy sense of clubland decadence. (International Deejay Gigolos)
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it at the label
The Horrorist, Manic Panic
A grimly hilarious trip through rave culture's underbelly.
Imagine The Gangs of New York as written by the Prodigy.
(Things to Come)
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it at the label
Prince, The Rainbow Children
A glorious mess, Children features rambling
jazz fusion and indecipherable political commentary -- but also
flashes of genius not seen since Sign o' the Times. (NPG
)
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it at Amazon
The Strokes, Is This It
They're despised by indier-than-thou sourpusses
for their distinctly un-punk lineage. But the hooks are everywhere.
(RCA)
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it at Amazon
2001 New York
Award Winner
Photograph by Ines Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin
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