2008 : 02 "Psychotic Girl" by the Black Keys

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Musically, 2008 was a bit of a depressing year for me. Musicians that I thought could do no wrong (Conor Oberst and Hold Steady I am talking about you) put out mediocre albums that left me feeling blah. Nostalgia for the past moved in and I pined for days when the music was good. Cue the Black Keys, who with their 5th album, Attack & Release are sounding as good as ever. They have taken a history of southern rock, blues, gospel, minimalist stomp, psychedelia, and a touch of hip-hop and combined it to perfection. Polish is not something I usually enjoy on my music, but producer Danger Mouse seems to have taken grit and turned it to gold. There are many Black Keys fans who believe this Danger Mouse collaboration ruined the pure raw energy that made previous albums so refreshing, but I enjoy the variety here. Although the guitar and drums groove is still central to their songs, the addition of a choir, tribal drums, flutes, banjos, organ, and xylophone give each song a hidden gem hiding within the boom and gloom. This is a nostalgic album in every sense from its sound to its lyrics, which means, unfortunately that the album could sound like it was made deep in the past. Luckily this is not the case, and the largest exception to this is "Psychotic Girl," which, after its banjo intro, proceeds into a very Gnarls-Barkley-sounding funk. I am a bit surprised by my love of this song. I have always been a vocals and lyrics kind of girl, and although Dan Auerbach does have a great pair of pipes, vocals are kind of subdued on this one. Hearing the synth and banjo coexist so perfectly more than makes up for it. —E. P. Johnson Listen: The Black Keys >> "Psychotic Girl"

2001 : 37 Scout Niblett

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It only took one song to suck me in and make me a life-long Scout Niblett fan. Her voice warbles and waves, backed up by strong direct stripped-down guitar and (sometimes) drums. Contradictions abound: she sounds childlike and innocent on one song, yet ancient and wise on another; her bluesy tales sound like they surfaced from the depths of a Louisiana Bayou, yet she hails from Britain. Add to this the fact that Scout (nee Emma Louise) has a penchant for wigs, costumes, and astrology and we end up with an enigmatic character indeed. On "Miss My Lion," the first song of hers I ever heard, Scout seduces her listener with a hot tale of passion. A one-person band of voice and guitar has never sounded so lush and earthy as it does here. She sings, "when you drive, there's no fooling me, those roads invited me" and the song does feel like late a night trip down a windy road. (And a hot make-out session in the back seat.) Fully deserving of comparisons to Cat Power, PJ Harvey, and Kurt Cobain, Scout is an absolute force to be reckoned with. —E.P. Johnson Listen: Scout Niblett >> "Miss My Lion"

2001 : 12 "Revelator" by Gillian Welch

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I have always had some interest in traditional folk songs and Americana, but have just been too damn lazy to do the necessary research to discover those lost gems. Thankfully, I have Gillian Welch to do the work and deliver me a similar feeling in maybe a prettier package. This, unfortunately, has not always been easy on Gillian, who often comes across as a woman lost in time trying to revive the past. She addresses this problem (and the complaints of her critics) on her 3rd album with "Revelator." What seems at first like a love song—"Darling, remember, when you come to me"—is most likely a message to her listeners. Though warning us that she may be a fake and an imitator, she also shows that she has done her homework. After all, how many people know what a "katy" is or that there was an old folk song "John the Revelator?" Despite all these apologies, the song is fucking gorgeous. Gillian's voice is like velvet, but perhaps the most beautiful thing about this song is the intricate and meticulous fingerpicking on the guitar. David Rawling and Gillian work together as a flawless pair and it is impossible to tell where one begins and the other ends. (For further proof of how "Appalachian" Gillian really is, see the video:) —E. P. Johnson Listen: Gillian Welch >> "Revelator"

2000 : 31 "2-15" by The Marquis de Tren and Bonny Billy

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This is the first song from the album Get on Jolly in which all song titles are just numbers. This song sounds as if it is sneaking up on you, quietly following you, testing the waters before it shows itself to you. Something is playing backwards, but it's hard to identify. It is dissonant and yet melodic at the same time and its tenderness is so beautiful. Will wanders though with his delicate shaky voice and sings: When you ask me to sing, it feels like my heart will burst with pride, and I look at your face, and tears come to my eyes. All that's harsh and wrong, in my life melts into one sweet song, and my love spreads wings, like a glad bird flying over the road. I know you take pleasure in my singing, I know that only when I sing do you hear me, cause then I touch things I can't touch, I touch parts of you that I can't really touch. And drunk with the joy of singing, I forget myself and call you my friend. I'm here to sing you songs, in your room I have a corner seat, in your world I have no work to do, my life can only break out in songs that have no purpose. —E. P. Johnson Listen: The Marquis de Tren and Bonny Billy >> "2-15"

2000 : 09 "Strayed" by ((smog))

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Despite its silly tittle, (smog)'s 2000's release Dongs of Sevotion is a haunting collection of deeply intimate and disturbing songs. (Perhaps he was trying to say that despite attempting devotion, he is just too deeply mixed up to pull it off.) Focusing on the topics of sex and death, the album gives me the feeling of listening to a confession at a death bed. My heart aches and pangs along with the sparse pumping rhythms that propel us along. Unfortunately, the sheer magnetism of this album is the journey (my double-feature set would package this with Lou Reed's magnificent Berlin), making it nearly impossible for me to choose a representative song. Yet, I have decided to take it easy on any listener who has not heard this album and offer up the slow, Velvet-Underground-inspired groove of "Strayed". Perhaps the most beautiful and least heavy song included, this is the closest we will ever get to an apology. The man that many have referred to as a misogynist and a creep is not without his faults here, but I am almost ready to forgive him. "I have been an alley cat and a bumble bee to your panther and your wasp," he states, accepting his faults, but not leaving her without the responsibility of being a predator herself. He has recognized his mistakes and the path that he has strayed down, the one that has led him to becoming one of "those men", the lonely desperate kind with pin-ups on their wall. Don't worry Bill, if I can't forgive you, at least I understand. —E. P. Johnson Listen: ((smog)) >> "Strayed"