Friday, December 16, 2005

3. Louis XIV, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

Download: "Pledge Of Allegiance"
Yeah, they're cads who make bad first impressions - fall guys for crits who want to reaffirm their feminism after praising less retro pussybeaters (though only for their man-to-man boasts and Horatio Alger crack tales, obv) - but if you're a fan of "Rebel Rebel"/"Jeepster" you'll find a higher ratio of it here than in any other attept at Velvet Goldmine-hood. I wish they incorporated the amiability of Bowie's "Kooks," but the album details their sexual politics with such self-awareness and winking humor that I refuse to let some cheesy videos get in the way of my appreciation. So consistently sharp, it's my favorite glam album after Here Comes The Warm Jets.

4. Spoon, Gimme Fiction

Download: "They Never Got You"
Robert Christgau: "I wish this was still a world where the right guitar noise and a heaping helping of hooks were sustenance enough." I think he's just pissed he overrated Kill The Moonlight, but who knows? Spoon's placement on this list may reaffirm how privileged my ass is. Or maybe just how much I love Doolittle and Reckoning.

5. Robyn, Robyn

Download: "Should Have Known"
I'd feel ridiculous for having some European crit-circle ZIP-file obscure nonsense on my list (there ain't even an Allmusic pic!) if I wasn't sure that, with a major-label American promotion budget, she could sell at least as much as Donna "I Love You Always Forever" Lewis. With her sense of craft and un-euro, un-genteel lyrical projection, she deserves to.

No comments: