Flak Magazine: Eric Wittmershaus' 2001 Annotated Mix CD, 01-10-02

Picking a first track was a toss-up between this song and "We Invent You," the lead-off track from Unwound's Leaves Turn Inside You. There's really only room for one post-My Bloody Valentine, breathy-guy-vocals tune topping five minutes. And "Drop and Roll" gets the nod for the way it leads in, sounding for all the world like something by aging folkies nodding away in their rocking chairs. Then the bottom drops out. Gorgeous.

2. "A B-Boys Alpha" | Cannibal Ox
The Cold Vein | (Def Jux) | 4:28

The first minute-and-a-half of "A B-Boys Alpha" belongs to Vast Aire, whose rapping on this track stands among the genre's best. For 20 seconds, Aire dispenses with a beat and keeps time with his cadence, hip-hop's equivalent of working without a net. The result is dazzling. See the main list.

3. "Strangers on a Train" | Lovage
Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By
(75 Ark) | 4:37

One of several movie-inspired titles on the Dan the Automator-produced Music, "Strangers..." stands out for its swirling, headtrip-inducing vocal samples and a slick piano loop. Jennifer Charles' wannabe Marilyn Monroe shtick grows old on this album, but it's almost tolerable here.

4. "Look ...no Fingerprints!" | Solex
Low Kick and Hard Bop | (Matador) | 2:21

The best song from the year's best pop album. See the main list.

5. "Hard to Explain" | The Strokes
Is This It | (BMG) | 3:48

Is This It did well enough from a hype standpoint, but failed to deliver on the promise of the Strokes' two pre-album singles. All five songs from those singles would later show up on the pre-Sept. 11 version of Is This It (one song, "New York City Cops," was swapped out of U.S. copies of the album). What's more, the three demos from The Modern Age EP sound far more authentic than the versions that appear on the album. The slickly produced garage-rock formula only worked on about three tracks, and "Hard to Explain," the band's second pre-album single, is one of them.

6. "My Perfect Girlfriend" | Tompaulin
"It's a Girl's World" 7"
(Track and Field Organisation) | 1:28

Somebody sure likes Debbie Harry because the Blondie lead singer's name, repeated more times than I care to count, are the only words to this song, a fun, garage-rocking B-side from an actual 7" single.

7. "Between Delta and Delaware" | Airport Girl
Honey, I'm an Artist | (Matinee) | 3:49

The Lemonheads may be no more, but you can still get your fix of early '90s sensitive guy guitar pop courtesy of the most American-sounding English band to put out a record this year.

8. "Communist Love Song" | Soltero
Science Will Figure You Out | (Kentuckyland) | 3:24

Bedroom rock is alive and well. This is a really hard album to find (I have this song only on a tape I got from Lavina), but the album is available here for $8. I'm buying my copy soon. See the main list.

9. "Go Your Own Way" | Dougal Reed
Rumours | (The Kitty Kitty Corporation) | 4:20

My twin loves of cover tunes and Quickspace are represented by this song from Tom Cullinan's side project. See the main list.

10. "Lure and Cast" | Rebecca Gates
Ruby Series EP | (Badman) | 4:34

Ex-Spinane Gates' breathy love song coos and purrs, spinning recollections of Sunday mornings, lazed away under the sheets with a lover. See the main list.

11. "Breezewood, PA" | Jenny Toomey
Antidote | (Misra) | 4:23

It's hard to pick a song from the former Tsunami/Liquorice singer's double-album solo debut because Antidote is one of those albums that's more of a sum of its parts than a collection of great songs. Nevertheless, Toomey's razor-sharp lyricism is in top form on this plea for elopement.

12. "New Slang" | The Shins
Oh, Inverted World | (Sub Pop) | 3:51

I really cannot stop singing the praises of this, the best song of the year. If you don't believe me, download this Quicktime video from Sub Pop's website and take a listen for yourself. See the main list.

13. "Deado" | Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus | (Matador) | 3:36

The last 50 seconds or so of this song are a lame, plodding instrumental ditty, but the rest of it is Malkmus' winsome goofball pop at its best.

14. "Little Room" | The White Stripes
White Blood Cells | (Sympathy for the Record Industry) | :50

The only negative thing I can say about this song is that it might have the unfortunate side effect of spawning a league of yelling-guy-with-drums imitators. Let's hope not. See the main list.

15. "Gold Day" | Sparklehorse
It's a Wonderful Life | (Capitol) | 4:15

Sometimes, I swear this song is about Bubo, the clockwork owl from Clash of the Titans. With lines like, "You've got diamonds for eyes," Mark Linkous' song hasn't yet convinced me otherwise. See the main list.

16. "Come On Home" | Lali Puna
Scary World Theory | (Morr Music) | 3:35

Lali Puna has supplanted Mouse on Mars as Germany's leading producer of simultaneously warm-yet-cold, Krautrock-tinged techno.

17. "Daylight" | Aesop Rock
Labor Days | (Def Jux) | 4:26

I've never been a fan of the Beastie Boys, but Ace Rock's sampling of Ad Rock and Co. is golden, as is the hip-hop metaphor of the year: "Life's not a bitch/ life is a beautiful woman/ you only call her a bitch 'cause she wouldn't let you get that pussy."

18. "Turbulence" | Arab Strap
from The Red Thread (Matador/Chemikal Underground) 8:55

Arab Strap's sprawling, languid album closer is chill-out music for alcoholics, with the band's standard guitar and drum machine beat slowly, beautifully easing its way through layers of incidental electronic percussion before ending in a drunken answering machine rant.

You can e-mail Eric Wittmershaus at eric@flakmag.com.