B's TOP 25 INDIE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

Perhaps in response to last week's challenge by Passion of the Weiss and his partner in crime in their invitation to music bloggers everywhere to offer up their top 25 favorite hip hop albums, we now come to another.
Berkeley Place has offered to compile a list of the TOP 25 INDIE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME. Could be a beginning of a string of lists by music bloggers everywhere.
I submitted my list as I love lists as most bloggers do. And of course, I always throw out this disclaimer that any list on our site is incomplete.
Berk's laid down some ground rules- as the term "Indie" follows some strict guidelines- thus clearly defining the genre? The whole term "indie music" could be a fierce debate in itself, but for the sake of fun and to set some parameters, we'll just play along with Berks ideas. The restrictions made it quite a challenge, as alot of really great albums "considered" indie or "categorized" as indie were deemed ineligible as they didn't meet the requirements.

So here it is, my incomplete list of the top 25 indie albums of all time- either love it or hate it, agree or disagree with it- but these are my faves, under Berk's rules.
Enjoy.

++UPDATE++ I had mistakenly repeated Broken Social Scene twice, and totally forgotten to add Elliott Smith's album "Either/Or". So that album has been added, thus the discrepancies in number. My bad.

TIE 25.

Cat Power
The Greatest
Matador
2007

Latyrx
Album
2002
Quannum Projects

24.

Interpol
Turn On the Bright Lights
2002
Matador Records


23.

Elliott Smith
Either/Or
Kill Rock Stars
1997

22.

Sufjan Stevens
Illinois
Asthmatic Kitty
2005

21.

Pavement
Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe
2002
Matador Records

20.

The White Stripes
White Blood Cells
2002
V2

19.

16 Horsepower
Folklore
2002
Jet Set Records

18.

Belle & Sebastian
The Boy with the Arab Strap
1998
Matador Records

17.

The Decemberists
Castaways and Cutouts
2003
Kill Rock Stars

16.

Broadcast
Haha Sound
2003
Warp Records

15.

Deerhoof
Reveille
2002
Kill Rock Stars


14.

Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Merge
1988


13.

The Jesus and Mary Chain
Munki
SubPop
1998

12.

TV on the Radio
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
2004
Touch & Go Records

11.

Broken Social Scene
2005
Arts & Crafts

10.

Paavoharju
Yha Hamaraa
2005
Fonal

9.

Carissa's Wierd
I Before E
2004
Sad Robot Records

8.

Arcade Fire
“Funeral”
Merge
2004

7.

The National
Alligator
2006
Beggars UK – Ada

6.

Mojave 3
Ask Me Tomorrow
1999
4ad / Ada

5.

Chapterhouse
Whirlpool
Dedicated
1991

4.

Gary Numan
The Pleasure Principle
1979
Beggars UK – Ada

3.

Ride
Nowhere
Reprise/ Wea
1990

2.

Pixies
Surfer Rosa
2003
4ad / Ada

1.

Warsaw
1977
Mpg [Movieplay Gold]
* Warsaw- the early incarnation of Joy Division
My previous entry about Warsaw ovah here.

Today's Brew | iLiKETRAiNS

A band from Leeds, UK with either the most annoying name, because the way it chooses to use all caps except for the three letter I's, which are lowercase- and then squish it in one word. Or they are just plain pretentious with this whole gimmick with the names and their look. But if you were to look pass all that, their music has much more of a substance than what they play themselves as being.
Their sound is ethereal and a bit dark and gloomy (must be the English air?)- Almost in the same vein as Sigur Ros and Explosions in the Sky with a little tinge of Godspeed You Black Emperor!.


video: iLikeTrains- "Terra Nova"
mp3: iLikeTrains- "Terra Nova"(not complete song)

YouTube: iLiKETRAiNS - 'Spencer Perceval'
a spectacular nine and half minute release, reciting the story of the only successful assassination of a British Prime Minister, 'Spencer Perceval', in 1812. The song is written from the perspective of murderer John Bellingham whilst the accompanying track, 'I am Murdered', is sung from that of Spencer himself. (excerpt taken from beggars)


My Space: iLiKETRAiNS
official site: iLiKETRAiNS

Second Cup | The Jesus & The Mary Chain

If you're lucky to catch these guys tonight at the Glasshouse at Pomona (which isn't that far from LA)...LUCKY BASTARDS!

YouTube: The Jesus and The Mary Chain - Never Understand


YouTube: The Jesus and The Mary Chain - Sometimes Always (featuring Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star)


ALSO- Tonight:
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) at Amoeba- 6:30 PM (for an in-store)

Today's Brew | Grinderman

Yea, I know, I'm late on this one as well, but I'm intrigued by this whole album and its been in my rotation of late.
The side project of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

"The name Grinderman seemed to suit the band. It sums up the sort of music we are making. We grind."
As Memphis Slim put it back in 1941, "While everything is quiet and easy/ Mr. Grinder can have his way..."
(Jim Sclavunos, Grinderman and Bad Seeds member)

mp3: Grinderman- "Electric Alice"
mp3: Grinderman- "Honey Bee (Let's Fly To Mars"
(YouSend: for a limited time only)

My Space: Grinderman
Anti: Grinderman
official site: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Late Night Brew | Earlimart + Sea Wolf

Tomorrow Night at the Echoplex Kickoff (in LA) with bands from LA.
Visit their My Space to sample their music.

From their forthcoming album "Mentor Tormentor":
mp3:Earlimart- "Don't Think About Me"
(YouSend: for a limited time only)
My Space: Earlimart


mp3: Sea Wolf- "You Are Wolf"
My Space: Sea Wolf

with:

The Watson Twins
My Space: The Watson Twins

The Parson Red Heads
My Space: The Parson Redheads

B's 12 Favorite Hip Hop Albums

Passion of Weiss has called to arms for bloggers to name their favorite 25 favorite Hip Hop Albums of all time.
I do love the old skool, and only reflects how much of an old fart I am. I've also included two "best of" albums, but i've included them since I thought they deserved to be mentioned as my favorites. I'll let the album speak for itself without any comments, and you can either agree or disagree- but these are my favorites.
Unfortunately I can't put together 25 due to my limited sense within this genre, so I'm going to go with 12, so without further ramblings, here is my list...

12.

11.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Today's Brew | Minus Story

I'll keep this short, as I'm gettin over a nasty bug I caught. So for today's brew, the boys from Lawrence Kansas are back.


from "My Ion Truss" (release date: June 19):
Minus Story- "Stitch Me Up"

official site: Minus Story
My Space: Minus Story

Today's Brew | Bjork on SNL

Another reason to appreciate YouTube.

YouTube: Bjork- "Earth Intruders" (SNL performance)
Watch it before these get taken out.

Also:
Passion of Weiss has compiled a list of his favorite Hip Hop albums ovah here.

La Biscotte | Jay Jay Johanson

B. m’a dit que les Américains ne connaissent pas Jay Jay Johanson. Et cela
m’a semblé complètement fou car il est beaucoup plus connu en Europe que
nombre d’artistes européens qu’on peut retrouver de temps à autres sur des
blogs américains. Je me devais donc aujourd’hui de remettre les choses à
leur place. L’homme est suédois, mélancolique et maître en electro-pop.

------

B. told me Americans don’t know Jay Jay Johanson . And it seems to me
completely crazy since he’s very more well-known in Europe than many European
groups about who I can often read posts on American blogs. That’s why I must
put things back in their proper place today. Jay Jay Johanson is Swedish,
melancholic and master es electro-pop.

mp3: Jay Jay Johanson- "Colder (I Want You No More)"
(YouSend: for a limited time only)

official site: Jay Jay Johanson
My Space: Jay Jay Johanson

Today's Brew | Charlotte

5:55 gets a domestic release here in the US on April 24th, but it's been available as an import since last October.
Her notable track from this album, "The Songs That We Sing" was on my Top 20 song list from last year. Check it out ovah here.


mp3:Charlotte Gainsbourg- "The Songs That We Sing"
(YouSend: for a limited time only)
video: Charlotte Gainsbourg- "The Songs That We Sing"

official site: Charlotte Gainsbourg
My Space: Charlotte Gainsbourg

Today's Brew | Grand Archives

We're going to keep a close eye on these guys. "Sleepdriving" is definitely one of favorite songs this year so far...more downloadable tracks on their My Space...so get em while they have em up.

mp3: Grand Archives- "Southern Glass Home"
(YouSend: for a limited time only)

My previous entry about these guys ovah here.

My Space: Grand Archives