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i know it makes me a total hipster poser to read and like Pitchfork, but i do, and i tend to agree with their opinions. this week's weekly feature is a list they compiled of the top 100 albums of 2000-2004, celebrating our reaching the half-way point of the aughts. (last week they counted down the top 100 singles of 2000-2004)

anyway, early on in this list, they gave a little critique that i'd been looking for for years, the reason why i liked Eminem so much in 1999 and 2000 and have had absolutely no interest in everything he's done since:


093: Eminem
The Marshall Mathers LP
[Interscope; 2000]

There's Marshall Mathers, and there's Slim Shady. There's the multi-millionaire from Detroit writing lengthy letters to fans, and there's the multi-millionaire calling his fans "fucking retards." There's the man wondering why parents are allowing their children to listen to his music ("Now because of this blonde mop that's on top/ And this fucked up head that I've got, I've gone pop?"), and there's the shifty thug screaming "I don't owe you a motherfucking thing." There's the single father from a broken home inexplicably finding himself the idol of millions, and there's the obnoxious class clown reveling in the rewards and money he's received for acting like a fuck-up.

There are the thoughtful and considered stories of Em's life, and there's the skit where Em pretending to be both some guy getting his dick sucked by the Insane Clown Posse and the Insane Clown Posse sucking some guy's dick. There's a brilliant and nuanced track tackling fan worship and artistic responsibility like "Stan", and there's an interminable and nearly unlistenable wife-murdering scree like "Kim". There's a happy-go-lucky shiny pop hit like "The Real Slim Shady", and there's a hard-knock-life dirge like "Amityville". There's the doubt and reflection in "The Way I Am", and there's the irredeemably ignorant fag-bashing in "Criminal".

This is where Em played Marshall against Slim like a chess master playing both sides of the board to a draw. Marshall redeems Slim; Slim validates Marshall; Eminem tries to stay true to both, and succeeds by simply acknowledging that both Slim and Marshall need to co-exist in order for Eminem to survive. This is where Eminem rose to the top. This is where Eminem began to fall. --David Raposa



in case you're wondering, the #1 album in their opinion is Radiohead's Kid A, which i have absolutely no qualms with as i find that album to be as close to perfection as i've ever found in one disc.
other interesting picks that i enjoy:
99 - The Unicorns' Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
96 - The Decemberists' Castaways & Cutouts
94 - The Strokes' Room On Fire
81 - Les Savy Fav's Rome (Written Upside Down)
79 - The Go! Team's Thunder Lightning Strike
59 - M.I.A./Diplo's Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1
57 - Ted Leo/Pharmacists' Hearts of Oak
56 - The Postal Service's Give Up
54 - Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender
50 - Kanye West's The College Dropout
47 - The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow
46 - TV On The Radio's Young Liars
45 - The Arcade Fire's Funeral
41 - Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
34 - Sufjan Stevens' Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State
27 - Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People
23 - The Notwist's Neon Golden
11 - Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
7 - Modest Mouse's The Moon & Antarctica
3 - Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights

there are obviously a lot more albums on the list, with a greater range of music, sorta (i have little respect for Jay-Z, sorry) and there are others on the list that i have and chose not to mention because i don't think they're all that noteworthy right now, but these are the ones that i found of particular interest.

uh-huh