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!

40. Matthew Alvin Brown - Rainbow Around the Sun (2006)

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DOWNLOAD: “New York City Girls”

“Regardless of what one thinks of concept albums, Brown’s first solo outing, “Rainbow Around the Sun,” is not pretentious. It is track after track of engaging and colorful pop songs that guide the listener through a story, rather than dragging them.” - Charles Martin (Oklahoma Gazette contributing writer and author of “The Dominant Hand”)

39. The Hero Factor - Battling Chimaera EP (2006)

Purchase: iTunes │ CD Baby │ Lala

“Battling Chimaera certainly suggests that The Hero Factor is winning any battle with any would-be or mythological demons. It finds the band drawing on everything from the hard-driving, avant pop of Muse to the passion-soaked vocals of Adam Duritz in songs touching on everything from heartbreak to the value of self-empowerment and self-lovesongs tastefully informed by everything from Sigur Ros to Southern gospel.” - The Fine Line

38. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Walking With Giants (2004)

Purchase: iTunes │ JFJO │ Hyena Records │ Amazon │ Lala

“Walking With Giants is a class act. It’s a gold leaf leather-bound beauty any fan of jazz should have in their collection. It announces the maturation of one of the most promising acts going today” - Dennis Cook (JamBase)

“JFJO offer three increasingly inspired composers as well as instrumentalists of grace, empathy and scary imagination.” - All About Jazz

37. Dorian Small - Contradictions (2006)

Purchase: CD Baby

DOWNLOAD: “Ragged Armageddon”

“The headphone masterpiece is made up of layers and layers of loving production polish, hiding a darker undercurrent. Small seems to be channeling John Lennon in the latter days of The Beatles through much of the album with his playful peachiness that is easy to digest because of how damn good the music sounds.” - Charles Martin (Oklahoma Gazette contributing writer and author of “The Dominant Hand”)

36. The Rounders - Wish I Had You (2007)

Purchase: iTunes │ Blind Pig │ Amazon │ Lala

“Wish I Had You shows the promise of a creative and talented band not content to color within the established guidelines of blues or rock.” - Hal Horowitz (All Music Guide)

35. Watermelon Slim and the Workers - No Paid Holidays (2008)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Northern Blues │ Lala

“No Paid Holidays proves once again that Watermelon Slim can sing a song in such a way that nearly anybody can identify with it. He and the Workers can rock the house and break your heart, and do it in a way that we can all understand.” - Richard Marcus (Blog Critics)

34. Kings of Leon - Youth And Young Manhood (2003)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“Clinging to their retro influences with a toddler’s tenacity, their debut is a Kerouac-styled, lust-propelled journey into emergent adulthood.” - The Guardian

“…the Kings are also a Southern rhythm section to their core: They know when to lay back and let things simmer, and when to jump up and testify with tambourines banging.” - Greg Kot (Rolling Stone)

33. The Non - Paper City (2007)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ Lala

“The Non’s lush, cinematic soundscapes effortlessly flow from sounding like a hundred miles of open road into streets and alleys dimmed by city skyline shadows. If you can imagine that time before a storm - that eerie, tense silence - this is the perfect time to hit play on the band’s new CD, ‘Paper City.’” - Oklahoma Gazette

“Paper City is an excellent album to augment your standard rack of post rock selections. The moods span the melancholic, to the melodic, to the frantic.” - Greg Norte (The Silent Ballet)

32. The Stock Market Crash - Geology (2006)

Purchase: iTunes │ Amazon │ CD Baby

“…a carefully considered whole that rewards repeat listens and invites introspection, it’s stark, compelling music” - Oklahoma Gazette

“Geology is a strong product…a emotional and entrancing collection of songs that are alternately vulnerable, bitter and even playful.” - Edmond Sun

31. The Uglysuit - The Uglysuit (2008)

Purchase: Amazon │ InSound

DOWNLOAD: “Chicago”

“…The Uglysuit have stumbled across something truly unique here. Alternately blissed-out and ragingly psychedelic, luminous and dreamlike, melody-based and unabashedly instrumental, this debut is one of 2008’s most promising records.” - AllMusic

“This is an album that feels like love, like infatuation and like a breezily beautiful autumn day.” - Adult Contemporary Essentials

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 Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 10:52 am and is filed under Watermelon Slim, free mp3s, Rounders, The, Stock Market Crash, The, Hero Factor, The, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Non, The, Uglysuit, The, Dorian Small, Kings of Leon, Matthew Alvin Brown, 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.