<![CDATA[RobertHilburnOnline.com - Blog]]>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:53:24 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[The Latest Reviews]]>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:30:40 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/09/the-latest-reviews.htmlMOVIES:

THE SWITCH

  Chemistry is everything.

  This is a pretty slight romantic comedy—except for the chemistry between two of the characters. I’m not talking about the always winning Jason Bateman and the rarely more than serviceable Jennifer Aniston. What keeps the film’s head above water is the touching relationship between Bateman and 6-year-old Thomas Robinson.  It’s their film from start to finish and that’s enough to make The Switch worth seeing, at least on an airplane or Netflix.

 

INCEPTION

√ Bob Certified

   Christopher Nolan, whose past triumphs include “The Dark Knight” and “Memento,” adds to his reputation as one of our most valuable and original filmmakers in years. Just as you can find new delights in the opening bank sequence of “The Dark Knight” even if you’re seen it two dozen times, there are moments in this frequently brilliant science-fiction tale that will remain forever fascinating. The knock is that it is sometimes baffling, but many of the greatest movies, including several of the Fellini masterpieces, were at times baffling.  What works is the way Nolan, drawing yet another marvelous performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, takes your imagination on a magic carpet ride, dazzling you with the screen wonders, while slowly making you wonder about the underlying issue involved—mind control. The film is a frightening reminder of what may be ahead.

 

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

√ Bob Certified

   Edgar Wright knows how to make witty, entertaining movies that also tell us more about ourselves than you’d think from the lighthearted way he approaches his subjects. Following up the gems “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” the director gives us a film that is very much for the young at heart. The imagery comes from comic books, rock ‘n’ roll, video games and cult movies. Not a bad combination. It’s a simple tale: nerdy guy wants a girl who is clearly out of his league, but he doesn’t let that stop him. He even assumes superhero skills in fighting to win her affection. It’s a witty, sweet, smart and entertaining fun zone ride. None of it really makes sense, but when does young love ever make sense?

 

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED

   Things start off great, but….

   The opening scenes in this film debut by British director J. Blakeson match the documentary-style set-up of an ambitious criminal plot that made Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing” such a winning work. We see a couple of guys on a shopping spree and gradually realize they are blue collar criminals (former jailbirds in fact) buying equipment needed to turn an apartment bedroom into a cell for a female hostage. But once the scene is set, the psychological drama embarks on such a series of twists and turns that it quickly loses its grip on you. Some of the surprises do add to the tension, but the real lesson here is a simple one: not every plot twist is guaranteed to work.

 

 

ALBUMS:

ARCADE FIRE’S “THE SUBURBS”
√ Bob Certified

     This is the third Arcade Fire album and it’s the third time the Montreal band has shown us that it is still possible to make rock ‘n’ roll music that is bold, heartfelt, illuminating and inspirational even in an age when the commercial pulse of pop music has been kidnapped by spectacle and American Idol. At a time when thousands of young rock bands seem to have given up on trying to dominate the cultural landscape the way groups from the Beatles to U2 once did, the Fire continues to burn with ambition and purpose, making music that is both thrilling sonically and smart lyrically. Where suburban life is a topic that invites cliché and ham-fisted declarations, Win Butler (and cohorts) not only sidesteps the dangers, but challenges the usual rock assumptions about suburban life. In these songs, there is a sense of times wasted, but also lessons learned from the past and even a hint of sweet affection for the memories of home. This is a brilliant album that challenges your notions about where you’ve been and where you are headed.]]><![CDATA[Bob’s Tivo List—updated Sept, 7, 2010]]>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:28:48 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/09/bobs-tivo-listupdated-sept-7-2010.html

   Here are the weekly (or less frequently) TV series that I currently have  on my TiVo. To keep the list manageable, I’ve excluded daily shows whose timeliness makes them less suitable to TiVo—except the irresistibly clever “The Colbert Report.” The list of shows is alphabetical. Some programs are currently on hiatus. The best of the shows are recommended to everyone and identified as Bob Certified.

AMERICAN PICKERS (History)
   This is a companion show (of sorts) to “Pawn Kings.” Here, Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe, two guys from Iowa, drive around the country hoping to find “gold” in the junk that is stored in the barns and backyards of rural America. They come across everything from old gas station pumps to motor oil signs—which they resell to collectors at a nice profit.  The journey isn’t as consistently interesting as “Pawn Kings,” but it is fun to walk into a weather-beaten barn with the guys and share their excitement as they see something so valuable that their hearts skip a beat.

BIG LOVE (HBO)—√Bob Certified
   I couldn’t warm up to this tale of polygamy and gave up on it after two episodes during the show’s initial year. But Los Angeles Times TV critic Mary McNamara convinced me to give it a second try when she wrote at the start of the series’ third season: “If there’s a better written, better acted, more originally conceived show on television, I defy you to name it.”  I soon became so caught up in the show that I went out and bought to first two seasons on DVD just so I could catch up. It’s a remarkably affecting look at family, faith and fanaticism. 

BREAKING BAD (AMC)—√Bob Certified 
   As unlikely as the concept seems (a high school chemistry teacher starts a meth lab to help finance his cancer treatment), “Breaking Bad,” created by Vince Gilligan, has proven to be a consistently engaging series. The emotional terrain is wide—giving us moments both manic and touching. Fine cast led by Bryan Cranston. It’s back on the air and I can’t wait to find out where it’s going to take us this season. The initial episodes are terrific.

 THE COLBERT REPORT (Comedy Central)—√Bob Certified

    The best (almost) daily show on television by far. If you watch it night after night, you’ll be amazed by how consistently smart, original, insightful, topical, surprising and marvelously funny it is. Colbert, as the right wing, megamanical host, is superb whether he’s simply going one on one with a guest author or tackling something as inspired as entertaining the troops in Iraq. Simply inspired television.

 

ENTOURAGE (HBO)—√Bob Certified 

   One reason I keep checking out this wickedly funny tale of Hollywood ambition and vanity is that I hope the brain trust behind the show will really go for broke one week and introduce us to Ari’s brother in the White House. 

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (NBC)—√Bob Certified

   This is a bit of a roller coaster ride; with good stretches sometimes giving way to unconvincing plot twists and it’s easy to get impatient with the recurring choices of some of the large cast of characters. But the coach and his wife deal with the problems of family, the workplace and the everyday rites and rituals of small town Dillon, Tex., with a steadiness and edgy wisdom that gives the show its heart.

 

JUSTIFIED (FX)—√Bob Certified
   I was hooked on this show from the opening 3 minutes where Timothy Olyphant (as US Marshal Raylan Givens) dishes out his own brand of justice by confronting a vicious criminal in a swank Miami eatery. It’s the best opening for a series since the first few minutes of “The Wire.” The show, based on an Elmore Leonard short story, is gritty, wry, entertaining, and constantly tense. Plus Olyphant, from his starring role in “Deadwood,” is ideal for the marshal who has to return to his stereotypical hillbilly Kentucky home town.

MAD MEN (AMC)—√Bob Certified 
   This series was on the screen before the nation’s financial meltdown, but there’s something about the unprincipled nature of these New York ad executives from the 1960s that speaks to the ruthless and greedy businessmen whose actions cased the bailout. From Jon Hamm to Robert Morse, the cast is outstanding.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC) 
   This was “can’t miss” TV when the late Tim Russert was the host because he was able to draw something interesting out of even the most stodgy politician. David Gregory continues to improve as the new host. Still, my interest rises and falls depending on the guest.

THE MENTALIST (CBS)—√Bob Certified 
   It’s not fair to say Simon Baker, the charismatic star of this light hearted mystery/state police series, is the whole reason to watch because he’s got a likeable cast supporting him, but he lights up the screen as much as anyone has done on network TV in years. A supremely entertaining show.


THE OFFICE (NBC)—√Bob Certified 
   After loving the original British edition of “The Office,” I didn’t think this U.S. spin-off had a chance, even though you should never bet against anything with Steve Carell in it. But the show has been consistently entertaining, sometimes spectacularly so. Super supporting cast.

 
PAWN KINGS (History)

   This show isn’t for everyone (including my wife), but I enjoy the parade of characters who walk into a Las Vegas pawn shop and try to get the best possible price for something that has been sitting around the house for months or years: from motorcycles to NBA championship rings to antique rifles. The owners—three generations of the Harrison family—are a hoot as they try to figure out what the stuff is worth and they talk the seller into parting with it for much less.


30 ROCK (NBC)—√Bob Certified

   Fey is one of those TV stars that you just can’t help liking and rooting for, and she’s got a terrific cast to back her up in this spoof of network TV life. Especially winning: Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer.

 

]]><![CDATA[The Dead Weather's "Sea of Cowards"]]>Thu, 20 May 2010 11:27:35 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/05/the-dead-weathers-sea-of-cowards.htmlAlbums:

 The Dead Weather’s “Sea of Cowards”
√ Bob Certified

    Depending on your perspective, “Sea of Cowards” is either the second Dead Weather album or the 10th Jack White studio album. Either way, the collection is a sonic blast in the truest sense of the term. When the foursome unleashed a tenacious blues-rock rush the first time out, it was exhilarating but, in retrospect, a bit tentative—more like an experimental step than a committed one. Here, there is no holding back. There is confidence and authority in every note.

     From the start years ago in Detroit, one of the primary themes in White’s work has been finding emotional balance (and truth) in a fragmented world. One aspect of that balance has dealt with one of rock’s most enduring subjects: sex. In the Stripes, White showed he could be as macho and aggressive as Zeppelin yet also tender enough to display a vulnerable, even feminine side.

        Part of the strength in Dead Weather is that White has found a singer in Alison Mosshart who has an intensity and range so close to his own that their voices are almost interchangeable in several songs, thus enabling him to bring together his masculine and feminine sides in forceful, illuminating ways. It feels all the more urgent because of the torrent of siren-esque blues and rock strains that frame the vocals. Guitarist Dean Fertita and bassist Jack Lawrence serve White’s aims as expertly as the raw, passionate Mosshart.

        It almost doesn’t matter who is singing the line “I love you the most, I do/ When you’re so close to me/ I can smell the gasoline,” because the lines capture the way men and women can both be consumed with incendiary passion. Similarly, there is no separation between the male or female role in “The Difference Between Us,” the most reflective song on the album: “I’m not the way you found me/ I’m neither here nor there/ One day I’m happy and healthy/ Next day I ain’t doing so well.”

     There’s no song here like “Seven Nation Army” to seduce a mass rock audience, but that audience is so splintered these days that it may be impossible, given the current state of the record industry, for anyone to bring it together the way the great musicians once did. What White and his mates in Dead Weather are doing is reminding us that rock at its most powerful is neither conventional nor safe. It is the voice of extremism, fueled with an optimism and faith that music can still touch the heart and stir the imagination—and that albums, not just individual tracks, do matter.

     At times, you get the sense in “Sea of Cowards” that White is intent keeping the flame alive in hopes that the mass rock audience awakens from its slumber. If that audience does resurface, White—with Dead Weather, the Stripes or whatever other reincarnation—will be ready to once again reach out and lead it.]]><![CDATA[Bob's Movie Report for 2009]]>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:55:16 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/02/bobs-movie-report-for-20091.html—THE BEST (in order of preference)

The Hurt Locker—Rather than take sides on the Iraq issue, Kathryn Bigelow’s great film simply puts you in the place of an American demolition expert who is charged with defusing bombs, whether they are hidden in a car or strapped to a suicide martyr. The result is a look at the tension of battle and the effect of that tension takes us places we’ve never been in a movie. Oscar choice for best picture and best director.

Up in the Air—In this timely, mini-masterpiece Jason Reitman gives us a look at the issues of loneliness versus community in the era of corporate downsizing. The film is witty, sophisticated, thoughtful and deeply poignant. George Clooney’s performance is virtually perfect.

Inglourious Basterds—There is plenty of the quirky Tarantino shock-ism at work here, but the best parts of the film grow out of his gifts as a director (the tension in the farm house interrogation and in the basement café meeting are superbly framed and spectacularly tense). Oscar choice: Christoph Waltz, male supporting actor.

A Single Man—Colin Firth is brilliant as a college professor  who thinks his world has ended when his lover and their two dogs are killed in a car crash  and he slowly, methodically plans to end it all himself. In his debut as a film director, Tom Ford shows a remarkable feel for creating his own cinematic universe—a dream-like adventure that moves at a deliberate pace in which nothing is rushed. Stylish in every way. Oscar choice: Colin Firth, best actor.

An Education-- This is a deceptively complex film about youthful awakening that changes directions frequently but never at the risk of mood or believability.  Oscar choice: Carey Mulligan, best actress.

 

THE NEXT BEST:

A Woman in Berlin—The film is set in Berlin in 1945 just after Soviet Union troops arrive and the soldiers’ treatment of women is so savage that you may wince even though you know the women believed in a Nazi regime that killed millions at home and abroad. The story is filled with conflicting questions of honor, surrender, duty, expedience and sacrifice. 

District 9-- Yes, yes, there are lots of socio-political messages at work here (from corporate madness to human intolerance) and there may be a few times in the nearly 2-hour film when things seem a touch sluggish, but there’s no denying this is a sci-fi classic that will be a favorite of revival house audiences for years to come.

Baader Meinhof Complex” --“The Baader Meinhof Complex” deals with a complex subject—politically-minded terrorism—without forcing a particular point of view on the audience.

 

--ALSO RECOMMENDED

(500) Days of Summer

It Might Get Loud

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Two Lovers

Duplicity

Everlasting Memories

The Maid

The Damned United

Summer Hours

The Hangover

The Informant

Up

Away We Go

(Untitled)

A Serious Man

Crazy Heart (excellent performance by Jeff Bridges)

 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS (no particular order)

Youth Revolt

Avatar

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Public Enemies

The Headless Woman

Whatever Works

The Girl from Monaco

Extract

Funny People

Broken Embraces

Sherlock Holmes

 

CAUTION FLAG

Bright Star

Lorna’s Silence

State of Play

Julie & Julia

Star Trek

The Proposal

Everybody’s Fine

The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3

The International

Invictus

Taken

 

AVOID

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Drag Me to Hell

Surrogates

Bruno

Hotel for Dogs

The Invention of Lying]]><![CDATA[Bob's Favorite Albums of 2009*]]>Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:56:44 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/01/bobs-favorite-albums-of-2009.html  (I put an asterisk by the title because I probably only heard 10% as many albums this year as I did the years I was a pop critic at the Los Angeles Times.
   (One thing I’ve learned during the last three years is how hard it is to keep in touch with what is going on in the pop world. I used to make fun of friends who had lost touch of rock ‘n’ roll as they aged, but I realize the reason I was able to keep in touch was because I had 24 hours a day to monitor the scene.
   (Without that luxury, I focused mainly this year on old favorites and then tried to use reviews and the advice of friends to find new favorites. In reading reviews, I wasn’t just looking for glowing words, but for artists who seemed to be sharing the qualities I respect most about pop and rock musicians.)


         The year’s best album

   U2, “No Line on the Horizon” (Interscope) 2009 – Much of the strength of U2 is that it doesn’t look back musically. Where so many bands lean on signature sounds and themes, U2 is determined to open new doors. The music and themes in “No Line” continue to move forward, combining overwhelming seriousness and joy. The music is as personal as a prayer and as majestic as midnight mass as U2 explores complexities of the heart and soul in ways that are increasingly revealing.


         Returnees (Artists who were on Top 10 lists from previous years. The list is alphabetical.)

   Amadou & Mariam, “Welcome to Mali” (Because/Nonesuch) – This couple from Mali continues to make music that feels as pure and cleansing as an ocean breeze. It’s pretty much irresistible.

   Roseanne Cash, “The List” (Manhattan) – With husband-producer/arranger John Leventhal, Rosanne gives us intimate, wonderfully tailored renditions of  country tunes recommended to her years ago by her celebrated dad—songs by such varied artists as Bob Dylan (“Girl From the North Country”) to Jimmie Rodgers (“Miss the Mississippi and You”).  Enchanting.

   The Dead Weather, “Horehound” (Third Man) --I was already a fan of Alison Mosshart from her work with the Kills, a much underappreciated British duo, and it was easy to see why Jack White would want to work with her. She and the band combine here raw desire and torment in ways that cast a spell that feels equal parts Howlin’ Wolf and P.J. Harvey. White may step from guitar to drums (his first musical love), but his vision remains front and center.

   Bob Dylan, “Together Through Life” (Columbia) – This tuneful delight continues the winning streak that Dylan has been on since his dramatic return to form with “Time Out of Mind.”  One of the reasons these albums have been so rewarding is they carry the sound of a man having fun with music.

   Kris Kristofferson, “Closer to the Bone” (New West) – Even if you didn’t know anything about “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help It Make It through the Night” and the other great songs Kristofferson has written over the years, this new album would convince you that you were in the hands of a wonderful songwriter—someone able to capture intimate emotions with remarkable openness and truth.

   Monsters of Folk, “Monsters of Folk” (Shangri-La) – Here Conor Oberst teams with some talented pals (Jim Jarvis, M. Ward and Mike Mogis) in a series of  inspired tunes about searching for love, faith or, maybe, just some sanity in a time when society’s values are in transition.


         The First Timers (on one of my “best of” lists):

   Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavillion” (Domino) and Dirty Projectors, “Bitte Orga” (Domino) – In the broadest of terms, these two bands,  along with Arcade Fire and others, are trying to rethink the sonic boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll in the smart, passionate way Talking Heads did in the 1970s and 1980s. The Collective, the more aggressive of the two groups, deals most impressively with the instrumental textures, bouncing off influences ranging from psychedelic to punk in the process. Dave Longstreth, the visionary behind the Projectors, finds the most stimulation in the human voice, which give the Projectors’ sound a more ethereal edge.

   Avett Brothers, “I and Love and You” (American) – The best parts in
this Rick Rubin-produced album remind you of the richness and depth of the Band’s softest moments.  The title song’s opening lines invite you on a journey that touches on the kind of youthful awakening that has been at the heart of best bands, from the Band to Bright Eyes: “Load the car and write your note / Grab your bag and grab your coat / tell the ones that need to know/ We are headed north.
 
     The xx’s “The xx” (Young Turks) . There’s something quite magical in this dreamy, but penetrating and sharp debut album from a London group that has spent time listening to lots of marvelous influences, from the Velvet Underground to New Order to Radiohead (to cite the most obvious), and then gone on to give us a sound that doesn’t owe allegiance to any one of them. This is a group whose whispery mix of male and female vocals and icy, yet seductive instrumental touches demand that you pay attention or it can all slip by. But they not only reward your interest, but make you look eagerly for more.  My favorite song is “VCR,” which makes more convincing and original use of the Velvets’ sound than anything the Strokes ever gave us: “When I go out on the pier, gonna die and have no fear / Because you, you just know, you just do.”

]]><![CDATA[Bob's Favorite Albums of the Decade]]>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:08:22 -0800http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/1/post/2010/01/bobs-favorite-albums-of-the-decade.html(Note: Only one album per artist in the top 12 and listed chronologically.)

Eminem, “The Marshall Mathers LP” (Aftermath/Interscope) 2000 – Filled with both self-loathing and self-affirmation, this album doesn’t inspire in the uplifting way much of the best music does, but it is a remarkable portrait of the dark, troubling influences and attitudes that many young people seemed to wrestle with at the turn of the century.

Bob Dylan, “Love and Theft” (Columbia) 2001 – This is the first time since “Highway 61 Revisited” that the music in a Dylan album is likely to catch your attention before the words. The arrangements are filled with various pre-rock strains, including country, blues, folk and even supper-club pop. Not that Dylan has ignored the words. The lyrics serve as a wondrous, deceptively casual jigsaw puzzle of wit and wisdom that sometimes teases, but more often jabs.

Beck, “Sea Change” (DGC) 2002 – The folk-flavored singer-songwriter  gives us an album about the break-up of a relationship that is so poignant and naked that it ranks with such haunting emotional exorcisms as Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” and Neil Young’s “Tonight’s the Night.”

OutKast, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” (Arista) 2003 – Big Boi’s half of this double album is an exuberant, funk-driven work in the grand, eccentric tradition of James Brown, George Clinton and Prince. Andre 3000’s half mixes OutKast daring with R&B, jazz and rock influences in a set of loosely autobiographical songs about having trouble finding, or believing in, a lasting relationship. 

Kanye West, “The College Dropout” (Roc-A-Fella) 2004 – In this explosive debut, West establishes himself as the new creative leader in rap. Fusing hip-hop and pop influences in a bold and exciting way, he looks at life’s temptations and consequences in ways that provoke as well as entertain.

Arcade Fire, “Funeral” (Merge) 2004 – When I first heard this debut, the Canadian band’s artful, richly imaginative music reminded me of Talking Heads, but I soon began to see that it reached into a deeper emotional territory that is haunting and original. There is a spirit to the band that is as joyous in places as U2. The songs are about longing and loss, but they also address finding (and holding onto) values in an anxious age.

Loretta Lynn, “Van Lear Rose” (Interscope) 2004 – In producing this album for the veteran country star, Jack White aimed for the classic country sensibility that would enable it to fit on a honky-tonk jukebox alongside records by Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell—and it ended up exactly that. The best country album of the decade.

Bright Eyes, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” (Saddle Creek) 2005 – It’s not Conor Oberst’s intention necessarily, but it’s hard for followers of Bob Dylan not to see a parallel between what Oberst is doing in albums like “Lifted…” and “I’m Wide Awake” and what was laid down in Dylan’s landmark 1960s albums: examining the political and cultural landscape with unusual insight and eloquence. This is Oberst at his most commanding.

White Stripes, “Get Behind Me Satan” (Third Man/V2) 2005 – Jack White was the rock ‘n’ roll newcomer of the decade and each of his White Stripes albums was a marvel, but “Satan” is the duo’s boldest work. Not only did White add layers of imagination and depth to what was already a thrilling sound, but he also gave us more personal subject matter: anxious, even desperate looks at conflicts between innocence and morality on one side and compromise and betrayal on the other.

Bruce Springsteen, “Devils & Dust” (Columbia) 2005 – This is the Alternative Bruce of “Nebraska” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad”—the singer-songwriter who steps away from the superhero “Boss” persona of the E Street Band spectacle to examine the gritty, dimly lit world of characters who have been pushed to society’s extremes. The tales here range from the Iraq battlefield—where fear can “take your God-filled soul and fill it with devils and dust” to migrant workers in the Southwest, where devils and dust of a different kind can be equally threatening.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand” (Rounder) 2007 – The idea of the voice of Zeppelin meeting the queen of bluegrass/country seemed an unlikely mix, but it turned out to be a spectacular combination of beauty and brawn, exotic blues and pristine country. It’s a bold, brave, passionate work in which Plant and Krauss put their talent and faith into the hands of producer T Bone Burnett and he rewarded the trust with a mini-masterpiece. As with OutKast, the Grammy voters got it right when they named it the album of the year.

U2, “No Line on the Horizon” (Interscope) 2009 – Much of the strength of U2 is that it doesn’t look back musically. Where so many bands lean on signature sounds and themes, U2 seems determined to open new doors. This has filled each of the band’s albums this year with both overwhelming seriousness and joy. The music is as personal as a prayer and as majestic as midnight mass as they explore complexities of the heart and soul in ways that are increasingly trailblazing in popular music.

Honorable Mentions:
(Note:  Alphabetical by year.)

2000
D’Angelo, “Voodoo” (Virgin)
PJ Harvey, “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” (Island)
Shelby Lynne, “I Am Shelby Lynne” (Island)
U2, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” (Island)
 
2001
Alicia Keys, “Songs in A Minor” (J)
Angie Stone, “Mahogany Soul” (J)
White Stripes, “White Blood Cells” (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Lucinda Williams, “Essence” (Lost Highway)

2002
Ryan Adams, “Demolition” (Lost Highway)
Bright Eyes, “Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to  the Ground” (Saddle Creek)
Eminem, “The Eminem Show” (Interscope/Aftermath/Shady)
Norah Jones, “Come Away with Me” (Blue Note)
The Roots, “Phrenology” (MCA)
Bruce Springsteen, “The Rising” (Columbia)
Wilco, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” (Nonesuch)

2003
Alicia Keys, “The Diary of Alicia Keys” (J)
Rufus Wainwright, “Want One” (DreamWorks)
White Stripes, “Elephant” (Third Man/V2)
Lucinda Williams, “World Without Tears” (Lost Highway)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Greendale” (Reprise)

2004:
Franz Ferdinand, “Franz Ferdinand” (Domino/Epic)
PJ Harvey, “Uh Huh Her” (Island)
U2, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” (Interscope)
Rufus Wainwright, “Want Two” (Geffen)
Wilco, “A Ghost Is Born” (Nonesuch

2005
Anthony and the Johnsons, “I Am a Bird” (Secretly Canadian)
The Kills, "No Wow" Rough Trade/RCA
LCD Soundsystem, "LCD Soundsystem" DFA/Capitol
M.I.A., “Arular” (XL)
Kanye West, “Late Registration” (Roc-A-Fella)

2006
Artic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (Domino)
Bob Dylan, “Modern Times” (Columbia)
Gnarls Barkley, “St. Elsewhere” (Downtown/Atlantic)
The Hold Steady, “Boys and Girls in America” (Vagrant)

2007
Arcade Fire, “Neon Bible” (Merge)
M.I.A., “Kala” (XL/Interscope)
Radiohead, “In Rainbows” (Radiohead)

2008
Bob Dylan, “The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs” (Columbia)
Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes” (Sub Pop)
Conor Oberst, “Conor Oberst” (Merge)

2009
Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavillion” (Domino)
Avett  Brothers, “I and Love and You” (American)
The Dead Weather, “Horehound” (Third Man)
Bob Dylan, “Together Through Life” (Columbia)
Monsters of Folk, “Monsters of Folk” (Shangri-La)]]>