Top 100 Oklahoma Albums of the 00s: 20-11
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!
20. St. Vincent - Actor (2009)
“Tour-de-force arrangements encompass Euro-chanteuserie, rackety synth-pop beats and big, swooning ballads, often in the same song. It’s gorgeous and arresting — and, always, sneaky.” - Jody Rosen (Rolling Stone)
“This is some of St. Vincent’s most complicated music, but its fearless creativity rewards repeated listening, as Clark has few rivals when it comes to seducing ears and challenging minds at the same time.” - Heather Phares (All Music Guide)
19. Dead Sea Choir - Thin One the Red One (2009)
“A really beautifully crafted album. Definitely a record that seems like I’m hearing a little something new every time. The first 3 minutes of ” On the Up and Up” are really incredible.” - Clay Welch (Callupsie, The Panda Resistance)
18. Ghost Of Monkshood - Spider Through The Fog (2005)
“The sweet and the sinister get equal time on Spider Through the Fog, often becoming so blurred as to be indistinguishable, and its to Ghost of Monkshood’s credit that the album still comes off as an affable, pleasant surprise, not an endurance test.” - Brian Howe (Pitchfork)
17. Forty Minutes of Hell - Gimme Some Delay (2007)
DOWNLOAD: “Manchild”
DOWNLOAD: “Rocketship”
“They’re more of a loud alternative rock band (the Stooges, MC5, and Jesus Lizard come to mind) than they are a traditional stoner rock band. No worries, just drink up, turn up the volume, and enjoy.” - StonerRock.com
“Their music is not for the faint of heart. You have to be prepared for a full on assault of loud in your face music.” - Salad Days Music
16. Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers - Songs in the Night (2009)
“I will give in to the dark clouds/I will sing with the fog in my throat,” begins Samantha Crain on her debut LP. The line seems half-true. Her voice is gorgeously odd — all fulsome, shape-shifting vowels that do indeed billow like fog. But while her moody country rock is full of dark themes, she rarely gives in to them: Her band plays with jaunty sweetness, shuffling and bouncing through sorghum-sticky melodies. So a song about impending disaster feels like a lovers’ waltz, and the title track saunters into the honky-tonk with an Advent candle and a pocket full of hope, bad vibes be damned.” - Rolling Stone
“Let’s just cut to the chase: Songs in The Night by Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers is a delightful album. Even those who crinkle their noses at the mere mention of any kind of Americana could very well find this to be the gateway drug into the genre.” - I Am The Crime
“Songs In the Night plays out to wander confidently in the badlands where abrasive, jangly indie rock and smooth, whispery folk meet.” - CJAM
15. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (2009)
“The Flaming Lips made their most ballsy, slap-in-the-face, rocking album to date.” - T.J. Clark (Scurds)
“Ten years after their last masterpiece, The Flaming Lips have finally produced another one.” - NME
“Embryonic may not sell as many copies or win as many converts as Bulletin or Yoshimi, but it’s another wonderful album – a veritable trove of speaker-pummelling delights – from the most consistently inventive and thrilling American band, R.E.M. included, of the last 25 years.” - BBC
14. El Paso Hot Button - Turtle Wars (2005)
“…a deranged hallucinatory tale complete with news clips and radio propaganda from the turtles…fucking unhinged - Jose Fritz (Stranded in Stereo)“
“This one-man-band bad ass has great sensibilities when it comes to album production. The vocals don’t overpower the music itself while he keeps the drums as dirty at the guitar. Obviously, it’s not high production but nor is it lo-fi. The sound is expansive while being right up front with the noise.” - Fotophonic
“Mickey is easily one of the most prolific and versatile musicians OKC has ever seen.” - Barb Hendrickson
13. Callupsie - Callupsie (2008)
“This melodic indie quartet throws reverb-soaked guitar into strutting, calculated punk-jazz blends.” - Matt Elliott (SPIN)
“…a swaggering piece of indie pop-punk that’s aggressive, emotive and catchy as hell.” - Josh Kline (Urban Tulsa Weekly)
12. The Neighborhood - Our Voices Choked with Fireworks (2007)
Purchase: iTunes
DOWNLOAD: “Your Longest Day”
DOWNLOAD: “Hot Water”
“It’s a total and complete album in every sense of the word – energetic performances of memorable and exciting songs that fit within a distinct and unique sound while still maintaining a wide variety of moods and tempos.” - Stephen Carradini (Independent Clauses)
11. Student Film - Sleeping Giant (2007)
“…a delightfully skatterbrained look at modern pop.” - You Ain’t No Picasso
“…there’s this sorta pounding, slow, tribal kinda beat behind most of the songs and Justin Rice’s lyrics have a certain paranoia that I can identify with.” - Josh Jones (Evangelicals)
“Crows In Action! Sums up my memories of all that is/was good about local Oklahoma music.” - Beau Jennings (Cheyenne)
10-1 │ 20-11 │ 30-21 │ 40-31 │ 50-41 │ 60-51 │ 70-61 │ 80-71 │ 90-81 │ 100-91
January 14th, 2010 at 11:16 am
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Tribal kinda beat! Hahahahaha!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:49 am
I thought Annie Clark was from Texas?
January 14th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Kev, Annie Clark was born in Tulsa.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
NICE.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Hell fucking yeah on the Callupsie record. So so so so so so so good.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Shit, no seriously, if any of you have never heard the Callupsie record, go ahead and use that little box up there, and give “The Murderous Type”, “Bad Psychiatrist” and “Poltergeist Lights” a listen. Clay and Aaron’s guitar work, oh my goodness.
This is such a good and diverse portion of the list. The forthcoming top 10 is making me antsy.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
God, there were so many delicious albums over the last ten years. I’d also forgotten how good Callupsie’s album was too. I need to dig that thing back out of my CD pile.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
In my mind “When I Needed Sympathy” and “Generator, Operator, Destroyer” should have been on this list as opposed to “Turtle Wars” and “Sleeping Giant” but I’m also just happy to have made it this high.