Easy Come Easy Gaughin

School’s out, and already I am about to crawl out of my skin, because I don’t know what to do with myself.

So I set up a multi-loss (ten, actually) tournament within my CD collection, and then used the results, after running them through a recursive pairwise ranking scheme, to rank my “favorite” CDs. This list is completely off the cuff, and springs out of thousands of snap decisions on my part (along the lines of “Which would I rather hear, Ozric Tentacle’s Strangeitude, or Elton John’s Peachtree Road?” Which is an odd example, because frankly, I don’t care to hear either of those ever again, but maybe you get the idea.)

There are a number of rules; my idea was to generate a list of actual studio albums, so there was a hierarchy of comparisons that were essentially pre-determined; a studio album always beat a live album (unless the live album featured almost exclusively previously unreleased songs, like Neil Young’s Not Fade Away,) which almost always beat an anthology/greatest hits disk by a single artist, which almost always beat a collection by various artists, which almost always beat a Christmas album (inexplicably, we have dozens.)

So, I am thinking about this first shot at ranking as a trial, and might go back later and be more precise in my record-keeping, but I do feel the list is pretty representative of the types of music I most love, which is mainly geeky proggy-rock and the type of music that I sometimes tag as being in the “Beatles tradition.”

As the summer passes, I may try to undertake choosing my favorite 100 recordings of all time (which would be very different, as I don’t have CD copies of many of my favorites.)

Here’s the list

1 The Beatles, Rubber Soul
2 The Beatles, Revolver
3 Bob Dylan, Blood On the Tracks
4 The Beatles, Sgt Peppers
5 The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour
6 The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street
7 Kate Bush, The Dreaming
8 Fleetwood Mac, Tusk
9 Jules Shear, The Great Puzzle
10 King Crimson. Red
11 Cheap Trick, Heaven Tonight
12 Radiohead, OK Computer
13 World Party, Goodbye Jumbo
14 Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory
15 Neil Young, Zuma
16 Ben Folds, Rockin the Suburbs
17 Todd Rundgren, Something/Anything Disc
18 Aimee Mann, (Mostly) Music From the Motion Picture Magnolia
19 Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
20 Kate Bush, Aerial
21 Jellyfish, Bellybutton
22 Camper Van Beethoven, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
23 Neil Young, Freedom
24 XTC, Skylarking
25 Richard Thompson, Rumor and Sigh
26 The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
27 Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
28 The Rolling Stones, Beggers Banquet
29 David Baerwald, Bedtime Stories
30 Everything But the Girl, Walking Wounded
31 Kate Bush, Hounds Of Love
32 XTC, Oranges & Lemons
33 Jethro Tull, Thick as a Brick
34 Lindsay Buckingham, Out of the Cradle
35 Yes, Relayer
36 Elvis Costello, King of America
37 David Bowie, Station to Station
38 The Beatles, Abbey Road
39 Electric Light Orchestra, New World Record
40 Jellyfish, Spilt Milk
41 The Beatles, White Album
42 Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells
43 Yes, Tales From Topographic Oceans
44 Frank Zappa, Apostrophe
45 Todd Rundgren, A Wizard A True Star
46 John Hiatt, Stolen Moments
47 Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers
48 Yes, Big Generator
49 Ben Folds, Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
50 Rheostatics, Introducing Happiness
51 Dixie Dregs, What If
52 John McLaughlin, Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist
53 Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
54 My Morning Jacket, It Still Moves
55 John Hiatt, Bring the Family
56 John Eddie, Who the Hell Is John Eddie
57 King Crimson, VROOM
58 Bob Dylan, Modern Times
59 Ben Folds, Whatever and Ever Amen
60 Laura Veirs, Year of Meteors
61 Frank Zappa, One Size Fits All
62 Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
63 Genesis, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
64 Elton John, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
65 Alice Cooper, Killer
66 Neil Young, Sleeps with Angels
67 Crowded House, Woodface
68 John Hiatt, Slow Turning
69 The Beatles, Let It Be
70 Peter Gabriel, Us
71 U2, Achtung Baby
72 Sting, The Soul Cages
73 Bob Dylan, Time Out Of Mind
74 Porcupine Tree, In Absentia
75 Weather Report, Heavy Weather
76 Eric Johnson, Venus Isle
77 Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
78 Frank Zappa, Hot Rats
79 King Crimson, Happy with What You Have to be Happy With
80 King Crimson, THRAK
81 King Crimson, Three of a Perfect Pair
82 King’s X, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska
83 Kate Bush, The Sensual World
84 Rush, Roll the Bones
85 U2, The Joshua Tree
86 The Travelin Wilbury’s, Volume 1
87 Built To Spill, You In Reverse
88 New Radicals, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
89 Tom Petty, Into the Great Wide Open
90 The Anniversary, Your Majesty
91 Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
92 Wondermints, Bali
93 Jason Falkner, Can You Still Feel
94 Chris Thile, Not All Who Wander Are Lost
95 Tim Finn, Tim Finn
96 King’s X, Faith Hope Love
97 Wilco, Being There
98 Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys
99 Tim Finn, Before & After
100 Jen Trynin, Cockamamie

Apologies for any formatting problems.

I wrote a blog post last year about my attempt to classify the 100 greatest artists of the 21st century. You can review the criteria here

http://gaughin.edublogs.org/2006/12/09/reading-the-musical-zeitgeist/

I am going to try to update that list every year in December. Here’s the updated list from 1 through 100, along with each artist’s position on the chart from last year.

Apologies in advance to “The Kid.”

1-Tom Waits-1

2-Iron and Wine-7

3-Spoon-9

4-The White Stripes-5

5-David Holmes-2

6-Super Furry Animals-3

7-Low-14

8-Radiohead-40

9-Lambchop-4

10-Sleater-Kinney-6

11-LCD Soundsystem-new

12-Ghostface Killah-49

13-Sufjan Stevens-8

14-Outkast-10

15-Basement Jaxx-11

16-The New Pornographers-13

17-Dizzee Rascal-26

18-Of Montreal-37

19-Wilco-16

20-Elliott Smith-61

21-Bob Dylan-15

22-The Streets-17

23-PJ Harvey-82

24-Mogwai-18

25-Ron Sexsmith-19

26-Arab Strap-20

27-Sigur Ros-29

28-Drive-By Truckers-22

29-My Morning Jacket-21

30-Kanye West-41

31-Missy Elliott-24

32-Four Tet-25

33-Bruce Springsteen-23

34-Blur-27

35-Boards of Canada-28

36-Bjork-47

37-The Decemberists-32

38-The Hold Steady-30

39-Bonnie Prince Billy-33

40-The Arcade Fire-new

41-Talking Heads-35

42-Blood Brothers-36

43-Devandra Banhart-31

44-MIA-new

45-Animal Collective-81

46-Neko Case-39

47-Les Savy Fav-new

48-J Dilla-12

49-The National-new

50-Nas-99

51-Elbow-45

52-The Flaming Lips-42

53-The Go-Betweens-44

54-Wire-43

55-Broadcast-46

56-Nick Cave-48

57-Bill Frisell-50

58-Cat Power-53

59-NERD-51

60-Oneida-52

61-The Clash-54

62-Jay-Z-new

63-OOIOO-55

64-The Pernice Brothers-57

65-Queens Of the Stone Age-84

66-The Roots-56

67-The Mendoza Line-new

68-Smog-58

69-System of a Down-59

70-Books-62

71-Franz Ferdinand-60

72-Built To Spill-65

73-Hayden-64

74-M Ward-63

75-David Kilgour-66

76-Lightning Bolt-68

77-Los Lobos-69

78-Candi Staton-70

79-TV On the Radio-67

80-The Clientele-new

81-Ted Leo-new

82-Stephen Malkmus-71

83-Richard Thompson-new

84-Xiu Xiu-72

85-Lucinda Williams-38

86-Led Zeppelin-74

87-Loretta Lynn-73

88-Vince Gill-75

89-Junior Boys-76

90-Nick Lowe-new

91-Okkervil River-new

92-Solomon Burke-77

93-Damien Jurado-78

94-Steve Earle-88

95-Dungen-new

96-Richard Hawley-79

97-Hood-83

98-The Magnetic Fields-80

99-The Shins-new

100-Broken Social Scene-86

Of course, with so many new adds to the list, the same number of bands/artists must have fallen out. Those are Akron/Family (fallen to 112), Joseph Arthur (130), The Bad Plus (123), Beulah (104), Califone (109), The Constantines (106), Destroyer (107), Matmos (101), Mission of Burma (120), Mr Lif (108), Josh Rouse (103), Saint Etienne (114), The Strokes (111), and Ali Farka Toure (115).

Better luck in 2008, artists struggling to be significant!!!

The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) has published a list they describe as “The Definitive 200 is a list of 200 ranked albums that every music lover should own, celebrating classic recordings by favorite iconic and contemporary artists.”

You can see that list here. The list is not as bad as I would have feared (given the group that produced it, I am amazed that there’s no Black-Eyed Peas disc in the top 10,) although it does have its crazy moments. For me, the worst picks are the ones that are clearly there solely because they sold a kazillion copies. I don’t think anything by Shania Twain, Alanis Morrissette, Whitney Houston, 50 Cent, Jewel, Linkin Park, Nelly, Creed, Celine Dion, Kenny G, Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, Shakira, Live, or even my beloved-in-middle-school Grand Funk Railroad are going to be fondly remembered 40 years from now.

You have to expect those overly commercial indulgences, though, from a list put together by a trade association whose stated purpose is to increase revenues. They are going to push what’s popular to the extent that they can. And what’s junk to me is gold to my neighbor; she’s probably mortified that Bob Dylan or Neil Young made the list at all.

Lists get me going, so I thought I would put together my own, along the same lines. Here’s a quick list I threw together; 200 artists I like, along with my gut reaction to the question “Which of this artist’s discs is your favorite?” You’ll notice a strong leaning towards prog-rock. I am unapologetic about it. They are in goofy alphabetical order that will drive any librarians who happen to be reading crazy. (I also refuse to alphabetize McLaughlin before Mandel.) I almost can’t stop myself from wasting 2 hours looking them all up for release date so I can relist them chronologically by order of release. It’s a sickness. It’s probably inevitable, like an itch that must be scratched. And scratched. And scratched again. And then must be washed 50 times, with all the bubbles washed from the soap and it lying perfectly aligned in that soap tray next to the sink. Ooh, what’s that ick in that tray? Now it must be washed. What were we talking about?

ABC-Lexicon of Love

Adrian Belew-Young Lions

Aerosmith-Rocks

Air -Talkie Walkie

Allman Brothers Band-At Fillmore West

Average White Band-Soul Searching

Ayreon-Universal Migrator

B-52’s-B-52’s

Badly Drawn Boy-Hour Of the Bewilderbeast

Band-Stage Fright

Beach Boys-Surf’s Up

Beatles-Revolver

Beck-Midnite Vultures

Belle and Sebastian-Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Ben Folds-Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

Billy Joel-Nylon Curtain

Bjork-Debut

Black Sabbath-Master of Reality

Blue Oyster Cult-Agents of Fortune

Blur-Think Tank

Bob Dylan-Blood On the Tracks

Brian Eno and David Byrne-My Life In the Bush of Ghosts

Broken Social Scene -You Forgot It In People

Bruce Cockburn-Humans

Bruce Springsteen-Darkness On the Edge of Town

Buddy Miles-Them Changes

Call-Let the Day Begin

Can-Future Days

Charles Mingus-Changes One

Cheap Trick-Heaven Tonight

Clash-London Calling

Coldplay-Rush Of Blood To the Head

Creedence Clearwater Revival-Cosmo’s Factory

Crowded House-Together Alone

Damien Rice-O

Dave Matthews-Drive

David Bowie-Station To Station

Deep Purple-Burn

Devo-Q: Are We Not Men?

Dire Straits-Making Movies

Doves-Last Broadcast

Dream Theater-Awake

Drive By Truckers-Pizza Deliverance

Elbow-Cast of Thousands

Elton John-Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elvis Costello-King of America

Emerson Lake and Palmer-Brain Salad Surgery

Faces-Nod is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse

Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Fleetwood Mac-Tusk

Flower Kings-Rainmaker

Frank Zappa-Overnite Sensation

French Frith Kaiser Thompson-Invisible Means

Genesis-Selling England By the Pound

Gentle Giant-Free Hand

George Harrison-All Things Must Pass

Gillian Welch-Time the Revelator

Graham Parker-Squeezing Out Sparks

Gran Torino-Two

Grateful Dead-American Beauty

Herbie Hancock-Maiden Voyage

Jackson Browne-Pretender

Jeff Beck-Wired

Jellyfish-Spilt Milk

Jethro Tull-Minstrel In the Gallary

Jimi Hendrix-Band of Gypsies

Joe Jackson-Night and Day

Joe Satriani-Surfing With the Alien

John Hiatt-Slow Turning

John McLaughlin-Electric Guitarist

Johnny Cash-American III: Solitary Man

Joni Mitchell-Hejira

Jules Shear-Great Puzzle

Julian Cope-Peggy Suicide

Kate Bush-Hounds Of Love

Kate Campbell-Moonpie Dreams

Keith Jarrett-Koln Concert

King Crimson-Red

King’s X-Gretchen Goes to Nebraska

Lambchop-…is a Woman

La’s-La’s

Laura Nyro-New York Tendaberry

Laurie Anderson-Big Science

Led Zeppelin-Physical Graffiti

Lenny Kravitz-Let Love Rule

Liquid Tension Experiment-Liquid Tension Experiment

Little Feat-Time Loves a Hero

Living Colour-Vivid

Loreena McKennitt-Mask and Mirror

Los Lobos-How Will the Wolf Survive

Lou Reed-New York

Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

Lyle Lovett-Joshua Judges Ruth

Lynyrd Skynyrd-Pronounced

Magnetic Fields-69 Love Songs

Mahavishnu Orchestra-Birds of Fire

Mars Volta-De-Loused In the Comatorium

Massive Attack-Mezzanine

Matthew Sweet-Girlfriend

Midnight Oil-Diesel and Dust

Mike Oldfield-Tubular Bells

Miles Davis-Bitches Brew

Mott the Hoople-Mott

My Morning Jacket-It Still Moves

Neil Young-Freedom

Nick Cave-Nocturama

Nick Drake-Bryter Layter

Nilsson-Nilsson Schmilsson

Nine Inch Nails-Fragile (The)

Nobukazu Takemura-10th

Notwist-Neon Golden

Odds-Good Weird Feeling

Oho-Ecce Oho

Orbital-In Sides

Ozric Tentacles-Arborescence

Pat Metheny-As Falls Wichita So Falls Wichita Falls

Patti Smith-Horses

Paul McCartney-Wild Life

Paul Simon-Hearts and Bones

Peter Gabriel-Peter Gabriel (the one with Games Without Frontiers)

Phil Collins-Face Value

Phish-Rift

Pink Floyd-Animals

Pixies-Bossanova

PJ Harvey-Stories Of the City, Stories Of the Sea

Police-Synchronicity

Polyphonic Spree-Beginning Stages of

Porcupine Tree-In Absentia

Prefab Sprout-From Langely Park To Memphis

Pretenders-Pretenders

Prince-Sign Of the Times

Pulp-This Is Hardcore

Queens Of the Stone Age-Songs for the Deaf

Queen-Sheer Heart Attack

Radiohead-OK Computer

Randy Newman-Good Old Boys

Ray Charles-Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

Ray LaMontagne-Trouble

REM-Automatic For the People

Return To Forever-Romantic Warrior

Rheostatics-Whale Music

Richard Thompson-Hand of Kindness

Rick Wakeman-Six Wives of Henry the Eighth

Rickie Lee Jones-Magazine

Robbie Robertson-Storyville

Robert Fripp-God Save the Queen

Robert Wyatt-Dondestan

Robyn Hitchcock-Globe of Frogs

Rod Stewart-Every Picture Tells a Story

Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers

Roxy Music-Avalon

Rush-Moving Pictures

Ry Cooder-Bop Til You Drop

Ryan Adams-Gold

Santana-Caravanserai

Sarah McLachlan-Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

Scott Walker-Drift

Shawn Colvin-Fat City

Sigur Ros-Tak

Skinny Puppy-Too Dark Park

Sly and the Family Stone-There’s a Riot Going On

Soft Machine-Third

Sonic Youth-Daydream Nation

Spock’s Beard-V

Steely Dan-Katy Lied

Stereolab-Dots and Loops

Steve Earle-Transcendental Blues

Steve Tibbetts-Yr

Stevie Wonder-Songs In the Key Of Life

Sting-Soul Cages

Strawbs-Hero and Heroine

Sufjan Stevens-Illinoise

T Rex-Slider

Talking Heads-Remain in Light

Tears For Fears-Songs From the Big Chair

Thelonius Monk-5 by Monk by 5

Todd Rundgren-Wizard, a True Star

Tom Petty-Hard Promises

Tom Waits-Frank’s Wild Years

Tony Levin-Pieces Of the Sun

Tori Amos-Under the Pink

Traffic-Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

Transatlantic-Bridge Across Forever

U2-Unforgettable Fire

Van Morrison-Common One

Velvet Underground-Velvet Underground and Nico

Vince Gill-These Days

Warren Zevon-Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

Was Not Was-What Up Dog

Weather Report-Heavy Weather

Weezer-(Green Album)

Whiskeytown-Faithless Street

White Stripes-Elephant

Who-Who’s Next

Wilco-Being There

World Party-Goodbye Jumbo

XTC-Oranges and Lemons

Yanni-Port of Mystery

Yes-Close To the Edge

ZZ Topp-Tres Hombres

A part of me thought about taking Yanni off of the list, but hey, I took my Mom to see him once for Mother’s Day, and I enjoyed it. Sue me.

I would be interested in seeing other similar massive lists for any of you individuals inclined to share one.  I think that seeing the breadth of what gives people pleasure tells you a lot about a person. Now I have to go brush my teeth a few times.

If you look at any list of the “greatest musical artists of all time”, it’s understandably dominated by familiar names; The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, etc..

That’s all well and good, and those artists are deserving of the praise they receive, but it’s a shame that there’s no room in that rarefied company for current musical artists to push past these giants and establish themselves as “new classics”. The turn of the new century seems to provide just such an opportunity, so I have attempted to establish a list of the greatest recording artists of the 21st century.

I read and collect music reviews from a variety of sources. This gives me an average rating for each of the albums I have assessed. Years ago I developed a technique (it’s a simple enough method that it’s certainly not original to me, but I did develop it independently) to rank artists according to collections of reviews.

That’s essentially the foundation for the list that follows. I have assigned a master rating for artists who have released records since the year 2000. This is based strictly on the quality of recordings, and is not an attempt to classify “best musicians” on the basis of “most talented”. I am absolutely unqualified to judge skill-level for all instruments with the possible exception of guitar and bass, and probably for those too. It’s simply an attempt to rank recording artists on the strengths of their released recordings.

Straight re-releases are not included in this calculation, but expanded re-releases are, which explains the presence of Talking Heads and The Clash, even though those artists are not likely to produce any more new music later in the 21st century. Likewise, discs made up exclusively of previously unreleased material do get treated like “new” discs, which is how Led Zeppelin snuck in (on the strength of the absolutely perfect How the West Was Won live set, which almost universally scored the highest rating possible from multiple reviewers.)

This list is limited to musicians that work within a “pop” framework. Classical and most jazz artists are excluded, not because they deserve less consideration, but mainly because reviewers of those branches of music are generally disdainful of the music I find more personally enjoyable, and jazz artists rarely (and classical artists never) appear in the sites and magazines I frequent. I am not trying to save the world, just reporting on my part of it.

104 The Handsome Family 103 Comets On Fire 102 The Fall 101 Ted
Leo

100 Mission of Burma 99 Nas 98 Saint Etienne 97 Ali Farka Toure
96 Califone 95 The Strokes 94 Mr Lif 93 Destroyer 92 Beulah
91 Constantines

90 The Bad Plus 89 Josh Rouse 88 Steve Earle 87 Matmos 86
Broken Social Scene 85 Akron/Family 84 Queens Of the Stone Age
83 Hood 82 PJ Harvey 81 Animal Collective

80 Magnetic Fields 79 Richard Hawley 78 Damien Jurado 77
Solomon Burke 76 Junior Boys 75 Vince Gill 74 Led Zeppelin 73
Loretta Lynn 72 Xiu Xiu 71 Stephen Malkmus

70 Candi Staton 69 Los Lobos 68 Lightning Bolt 67 TV On the
Radio 66 David Kilgour 65 Built To Spill 64 Hayden 63 M Ward
62 Books 61 Elliott Smith

60 Franz Ferdinand 59 System of a Down 58 Smog 57 The Pernice
Brothers 56 The Roots 55 OOIOO 54 The Clash 53 Cat Power 52
Oneida 51 NERD

50 Bill Frisell 49 Ghostface Killah 48 Nick Cave 47 Bjork 46
Broadcast 45 Elbow 44 The Go-Betweens 43 Wire 42 The Flaming
Lips 41 Kanye West

40 Radiohead 39 Neko Case 38 Lucinda Williams 37 Of Montreal
36 Blood Brothers 35 Talking Heads 34 Joseph Arthur 33 Bonnie
Prince Billy 32 The Decemberists 31 Devandra Banhart

30 The Hold Steady 29 Sigur Ros 28 Boards of Canada 27 Blur
26 Dizzee Rascal 25 Four Tet 24 Missy Elliott 23 Bruce
Springsteen 22 Drive-By Truckers 21 My Morning Jacket

20 Arab Strap 19 Ron Sexsmith 18 Mogwai 17 The Streets 16
Wilco 15 Bob Dylan 14 Low 13 The New Pornographers 12 J Dilla
11 Basement Jaxx

10 Outkast 9 Spoon 8 Sufjan Stevens 7 Iron and Wine 6
Sleater-Kinney 5 The White Stripes 4 Lambchop 3 Super Furry
Animals 2 David Holmes 1 Tom Waits