Oklahoma Rock Newsblog

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be counting down the Top 100 Oklahoma Albums of the 2000s. Every weekday, we will unveil another ten Oklahoma albums that helped shape the way Oklahoma music is heard by the outside world.

We asked three dozen musicians, fans and journalists for their opinions on the top albums of the past decade. With their guidance and our own opinions, we compiled what we hope is a decent and fair list.

Hopefully, there’s a good bit of reflection, discovery and enjoyment when listening to these albums through Lala (when available). Enjoy!

10. Colourmusic - f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13 (2008)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“A, grins, fists, cheer, jump, shout, electric, electricity, electrifying, elbow, hugs, karate, 100 or 200, Yes, YES, YES!, this, shit, is, rad, !” - T.J. Clark (Scurds)

“The melodic harmonies and driving rhythms contribute to it being a consistently effective album. They’re great guys, skilled musicians and one of the most innovative bands ever to represent Oklahoma.” - Barb Hendrickson

9. Cheyenne - I Am Haunted, I Am Alive (2005)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala │ The Record Machine │ Insound

“As a confident introduction to his style, I Am Haunted, I Am Alive is a well-versed artisan of mellow down-home jingles and experimentally based sprawls of wind-swept instrumentation, all of which meshes in handsomely crisp intimacy.” - Urban Pollution

8. Traindodge - The Truth (2004)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“…a palate of dramatic rock, much like the hurricane-like presence of a runaway train pummeling down the tracks of musical glory.” - Copper Press

“Traindodge dabbles in acoustics, synth, strings and sound bytes in this double album — something previous albums and EPs may have not allowed for. Sure, there’s still the usual layering of guitars, power riffs, big bass, hard hitting drums and shouted lyrics. The album is still very Discordian at its base. It’s just more evolved than previous Traindodge releases.” - Ryan LaCroix (OklahomaRock.com)

7. Kunek - Flight Of The Flynns (2006)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“I think it is safe to say that all of us involved in the Oklahoma music community were surprised by how breathtaking Flight of the Flynns was. It is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time, and not just Oklahoma albums. There is something about this album that completely immerses you and makes you lose track of time.” - Graham Lee Brewer

…one of the most sonically sophisticated albums to come out of Oklahoma in the 00’s. Flight of the Flynns could have easily been recorded by Radiohead if they’d ever gone through a “folk” phase.” - Charles Martin (Oklahoma Gazette contributing writer and author of “The Dominant Hand”)

6. Ryan Lindsey - White Paper Beds (2006)

Purchase: iTunes │ Lala

“The best of Brian Wilson’s songs wrote the book for music like this, and the fact that Ryan Lindsey’s sound is able to evoke Wilson’s name is a good omen that we’ll be hearing much more from Lindsey.” - Bill Bentley (The Sherman Oaks Sun)

5. Ester Drang - Goldenwest (2001)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“I feel like this record had a huge influence on lots of other Oklahoma bands who followed in their footsteps like Cecada, Student Film, Dead Sea Choir, and even Cheyenne.” - Beau Jennings (Cheyenne)

“It’s haunting, timeless, beautiful and well executed. For Oklahomans, it’s the technocrat’s utopian daydream, the shoegazer’s space-bible and the daydreamer’s utter fucking nightmare.” - Costa Stasinopoulos (Dead Sea Choir)

4. Aqueduct - I Sold Gold (2005)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon

DOWNLOAD: “Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights”

“…few can duplicate Aqueduct’s fetching melodies and keenly genuine lyrics. Walking a fine line between zaniness and frankness, the realness in Terry’s lyrics is what makes I Sold Gold so charming.” - Jeff Harris (OklahomaRock.com)

“…personal, cerebral pop worth coming back to.” - Johnny Loftus (Pitchfork)

3. Evangelicals - The Evening Descends (2008)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“With a damaged falsetto, an obsessive’s love of music and buckets of stage charisma, The Evangelicals delivered a masterpiece about suicidal novelists, jaded skeletons and a B movie horror flick.” - Charles Martin (Oklahoma Gazette contributing writer and author of “The Dominant Hand”)

“I remember when Josh used to come up to me after Cheyenne shows asking if he could open for us. He has shot miles ahead of everyone else and it’s been a blast to watch.” - Beau Jennings (Cheyenne)

“Transition upon transition and genre atop genre make The Evening Descends a veritable kaleidoscope of sounds that somehow manage to get your mind’s eye involved, creating an array of imagery that attempts to embody every new sound that pops from Jones’ mind like confetti from a cannon.” - Graham Lee Brewer

2. Starlight Mints - The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of (2000)

Purchase: Amazon

DOWNLOAD: “The Bandit”

DOWNLOAD: “Sir Prize”

“…embracing everything from rapturously Bowie-esque melodrama to odd Middle Eastern textures to pure noise cacophony, the Starlight Mints’ debut maintains the element of surprise from track to track, as each song’s journey from point A to point B proves as interesting for its ultimate destination as for the sonic detours it takes along the way.” - Jason Ankeny (Allmusic)

1. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“The long-reigning kings of big-sky psychedelia emerge from their Oklahoma City bunker to ask this musical question: If the Powerpuff Girls took on Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” who would win? The answer, in this case, is the listener.” - Greg Kot (Rolling Stone)

“Funny, beautiful, and moving, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots finds the Flaming Lips continuing to grow and challenge themselves in not-so-obvious ways after delivering their obvious masterpiece.” - Heather Phares (Allmusic)

“It’s hard to imagine a list of Oklahoma’s top albums of the 2000’s without this record at the top of the list.” - Eric Ardnt (Vandevander, The Refund Division)

“Even though The Flaming Lips had made it abundantly clear that they thrive on pushing the envelope, they really took some risks on Yoshimi. It is, without a doubt, their most ambitious work to date.” - Graham Lee Brewer

10-1 │ 20-11 │ 30-21 │ 40-31 │ 50-41 │ 60-51 │ 70-61 │ 80-71 │ 90-81 │ 100-91

This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 11:28 am and is filed under Traindodge, Evangelicals, Kunek, Colourmusic, Flaming Lips, free mp3s, Ryan Lindsey, Starlight Mints, Aqueduct, Cheyenne, Ester Drang, Top 100 Oklahoma Albums of the 2000s. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.