Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Nu-Metal didn't go down without a fight, and when the Strokes rolled around with Is This It nu-metal sent out its biggest and boldest to fight the good fight, and Slipknot's Iowa beat the Strokes to the top of the album chart. In hindsight it seems like absolute madness but at the time it was just a mark of the times, Nu-Metal was big Indie Rock not so. While we may look back and scratch our heads it should be remembered that Slipknot beat the Strokes in the charts with a damn good album. A dark, agressive, and in many ways uncomprimising album but you could already see the seeds of world domination being shown. Iowa was loaded with smash hits (well the metal equivalent of) Heretic Anthem, Disaster Piece, Left Behind and People = Shit firmly established Slipknot as Metal's new hit makers. While this was the last of the near inaccessible Slipknot albums it was also the first spark of what was to come. Iowa showed the world that while Slipknot were still perfecting the formula that they could and would over come rap metal wankery and become a genuine phemoninon in there own right.

Sometimes a lady comes along with a voice so tremendous and powerful everyone has to take notice, in 2001 Norah Jones was that lady. However she was packing a one two punch not just a gorgeous voice but a great song writting talent. Come Away With Me is a wonderfully crafted album supplying us with some of the greatest ballads in recent years including the title track and the stand out single I Don't Know Why I Didn't Come. Norah's greatest gift is her minimalism, the arrangements a subtly, she never over sings, this is cool cold relaxed soul, the way it should be. There's no horrible warblings, it's a straight up album with real soul, unlike then soulite pop filling the charts, unlike Duffy this is a lady who actually has something to say. Was their a better line written this decade than "My Soul Is Drenched In Wine", I think not. One Dimensional, yes, brilliant, you better believe it.

Once in a while a special talent comes along who is outside the tradition boundaries of the mainstream but whose work is so undeniable, so strong and ultimately so special that it cannot be denied. I Am A Bird Now nearly escaped the public eye despite raving five star reviews but thankfully the Mercury panel proved that once in a while they get it right. Before the show many were scratching there heads wondering who and why Antony Hegarty was sitting aside Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party but when the lights dimmed, Antony cut an uncomfortable and brooding sitting at his piano and he delivered one of the most spectacular performances in BBC history. By the time Hope There's Someone last note had sounded with his piercing ghostly falsetto had silenced any critics, all the doubters were silenced. The album consists of ten tender ballads, each more powerful than the last, and with those ten tracks he proved that on his day even the most unlikely underdogs can win it big and become a mainstream star.

Biffy Clyro had had a long and moderately successful career, carving there way through the Hard Rock ranks with some big tunes, cool riffs, thundering drums and some classic rock vocals, however they never quite managed to put it all together. They always fell slightly short, a snipet of a great riff here, and big chorus there, but they never quite came together and it seemed that Biffy had plateaued. This was until Puzzle when it all fell into place (argh bloody puns), the guitars thrashed, the drums crashed and Simon laid down some of his biggest and best vocals, everything just clicked as if by magic. Biffy rewrote their entire back catalogue they had their new Epic (Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies), the chart smash sing alongs (Whose Got A Match, Semi Mental) and a huge power ballads (Machines). This wasn't just a collection of big singles this was a fantastic fully formed hard rock album brimming with stonking great tunes, finally hard rock was making it presence felt in the decade.

Dave Sitek is a genius right? I don't think'll I'll get many arguments with that asserstion, song writer and producer extrodianare as well as general arty type (he's a photographer and painter as well). So we all knew what to expect from TV on the Radio's latest album nothing short of brilliance, and they absolutely delivered. A tremendous album that stretches it artistic wings in many dirrections but never feels overstretched or unnatural, this is an album that hangs together well, with an overidding theme of frustration and melocholy. The production is superb but that's a given what really impresses here is the accessiblity of the record. Dear Science is not an art piece to listen to once, be amazed by and then put away in favour of the latest (yawn) Kasabian record, no this is an album you can listen to again and again and again. It has some fun stomping tracks (Dancing Choose, Red Dress, Lovers Day), an epic centre peice (Golden Age) and some beautiful haunting ballads (Stork and Owl, Family Tree). An album that strikes the perfect balance between arty excellence and accesible awesomeness.

When any genre goes supernova as Indy did in 2001 you get alot of new bands riding the wave into the mainstream, sometimes allowing for brilliant creativity, great

albums, and big stars but most of the time alot of bland uninteresting copycats get an undeserved audience. Bloc Party certianly fall into the former catagory, a multi-cultural band of highly intelligent dare I say nerds (well the king of the Bone Heads Liam Gallagher does) they burst onto the scene in 2004 with the amazing lead of single Helicopter and it was a sign of what was to come. Sharp jerky guitars, huge primal chantable choruses and a thundering rhythm section. Silent Alarm was loaded from top to bottom with anthems, still to this very day you could play any track of this album in a rock club and fill the dance floor in a second. Honestly how do you pick the singles on this album it's all killer. However rock stompers aside this is an album of subtly and grace, behind the bluster of Helicopter, Banquet, Positive Tension and the rest, lay tracks of true beauty and brilliance. The superb Price Of Gas a track that for some bizzare reason they never play live and their first hit single the wonderful So Here We Are showed that Kele and co were not just hit makers but superb musicians and songsmiths in there own right. They may have ended up a band of diminishing returns but in 2005 Bloc Party were the perfect band.

When people look back at music in twenty years they will likely remember the Libertines far more for their style and infulence than the music they made, I mean we all probably overated them a little at the time, desperate for our own British Strokes, and who could blame us. The self titled second album is the bands farewell peice (reunion pending), and across the album you could see the divide between the destructive tension of the band, displayed on lead of single Can't Stand Me Now and the semi romantic songwriting comeradery that held the band together, best seen on final single What Became of the Likely Lads. In hindsight its amazing that in the height of George Bush and Gordon Brown era the country fell for the Libertines romanticised views of old Albion, in many ways they seem so silly now, compared to the bleak reality presented on Whatever People Say I Am That Is What I'm Not. Dated or not, the Libertines had a great songwritting chemistry and had the knack for the great three minute pop song, and their final album was filled to the brim with great sing along tunes, it almost feels like reminiscing on fond memories of long ago when listening to the superb Last Post On The Bugle. Ah the good old days, so maybe they weren't so good, but memories were always better than reality anyway.

It was so hard to pick which Basement Jaxx album would make the top 100 I really couldn't justify two, so it was either Rooty or Kish Kash. I plonked for Rooty, ironically not because it's the better album, Kish Kash hangs together better and has less of the clunkers that inevitably come along with dance albums but simply put Rooty had more BIG tunes. Ultimately that is what a dance record is all about, they are rarely listened through in their entirity, people pick out the big tracks, they mix them into sets, and sample them. Now this isn't universally true, I'm sure Justice and Daft Punk are enraged by the thought that their albums are not listen to in full, but for Basement Jaxx it is. The Jaxx are wonderfully creative, they never follow trends even to this day rather than making a lame Euro dance track or a Van Helden stomper in the style of Bonkers or Wearing My Rolex they bring out the wonderfully ecletic Raindrops. The same was true back in 2003 Basement Jaxx weren't ahead of the game they were playing a completely different game all together, don't believe me go back to Romeo, Just 1 Kiss or the barn storming Where's Your Head At and then try and tell me the Jaxx are on the same planet as (shudders) FreeMasons.

I always doubted Jay Z's claim to be the greatest of all time, but I'm quite clearly in the minority. While I still think Jay is very much overated after seeing his live shows and his triumphant performance at Glastonbury, I turned around on him somewhat. I'd already turned around and become a fan when he dropped The Black Album it was Jay Z's mainstream masterpeice, sure he had had hits before but he'd never been the centre peice of the industry when it came to number one slots and dancefloor fillers but that all changed with this album. He had a string of aces hiding up his sleeve 99 Problems, Encore and best of all Dirt Off Your Shoulder these were tracks that stomp and rocked and were danceable but most importantly they were lyrically and musically sharp as a tack, he proved that the dancefloor and intellengence go together. Had this been his last album it'd of been a master stroke, but he couldn't resist, and that taints this album a little, but not much, it remains his mainstream masterpeice.

Well I've already written about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Dave Sitek but for many reasons this remains their career defining work, the moment that both could say they were apart of the coolest record on earth, because back in 2003 Fever To Tell was the absolute zenith. I remember when I first heard Y Control I couldn't believe it the guitar line was hypnotic and Karen O's voice was so amazing, powerful and cool, I thought she had to be the sexiest woman on the face of the earth. Unfortunately I was bitterly dissapointed, but she does have a sexy cool voice, and incredible cool factor. As I alluded to earlier there are two cornerstones of this band Karen's voice/primal energy and Nick Zimmer's guitar. Seriously whenever this man touches the guitar (or keyboard as we'd find out later) great riffs and sexy guitar lines ring out endlessly. But let us not forget for all the animalistic punk and sexy riffs of Tick, Man and Date With The Night it was Maps that stopped the music world dead in its tracks. A ballad so perfect, it has yet to be topped by the latest wave of indy popsters. Maps looks destined to take its place alongside Love Will Tear Us Apart as one of the greatests alternate love songs. A tremdous highlight to a stunning album.