The Best of the ’00s Part 1: #100-91

Now that I’ve gotten the Best of 2009 out of the way, it is time to start the best of the decade. Well, that is to say, my favorite albums of the 2000s. Lets begin!

100 Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications (2009) (left) - Yes, nothing like starting the list with an album from this year. Jarvis has had a successful career since going solo from Pulp, but Further Complications was a significant step for his former band – mostly thanks to Steve Albani’s raw production. Of course, having a song that talks about paleontology doesn’t hurt either.

99 The Walkmen – Bows + Arrows (2004) – Sometimes I feel bad that my feelings about an album is almost entirely based on a single great song. Bows & Arrows is a great album, but it is so weighted towards the absolute magnificence of “The Rat”.

98 Bon Savants – Post Rock Defends the Nation (2006) – I’ve recently heard that the Bon Savants are no longer fronting the same lineup. This is too bad considering how great their debut 2006 album was – a real power pop gem.

97 Maximo Park – A Certain Trigger (2006) – A lost piece of brit rock that didn’t get the attention it deserved – a logical evolution from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Gang of Four. You would have though that all those people falling for Bloc Party would have loved Maximo Park as well.

96 The Shins – Oh, Inverted World (2001) – I would imagine this is the first entry that might cause people to gasp. “How could he rate the Shins so low?” Well, it happens. I bought the album because everyone was, and sure, I enjoyed it, but rarely do I find myself returning to it. Fun alternative pop, but not much to stick to you bones.

95 The Knife – Deep Cuts (2006) (left) - Scandinavian synth monsters! Deep Cuts was much cheerier compared to their more well-known follow-up Silent Shout, but it made it all that more accessible. Just think Abba if they loved their Joy Division.

94 Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) – Again with the gasps. I like Coldplay, just like I like U2. There is nothing wrong with that – they right catchy pop songs, that really, that is a skill in itself. I don’t need to have my ears barraged by songs in odd meters layering 26 different vocals in a sandwich – sometimes I just like a good piano line.

93 Papas Fritas – Buildings & Grounds (2000) – Now, here is a real missed gem of the decade. The swan song of one of the best power pop bands from Boston, Buildings and Grounds was the most cohesive of the band’s offerings – like Fleetwood Mac for the new century.

92 Gogol Bordello – Gypsy Punks (2005) – Maybe I just have a soft spot for this kind of odd eastern European punk – its both sinister and fun-loving at the same time. Case in point, “Start Wearing Purple” is equal parts pop hit and disturbing back-alley threat.

91 Tiger Saw – Sing! (2005) (left) – Another one of those Boston bands with a short lifespan that’s still kickin’ around after a decade (see comments below), but Sing! was the closest that the Hub has come to having a Built to Spill in its midst.

Here is the iTunes iMix for albums 100-91.

Scooting into Boston

Alright, so it looks like the Red Sox did, in fact, decide to sign Marco Scutaro. The deal appears to be 2 years with a mutual third year option, and no dollar details are available yet. I’ve been down on the concept of Scutaro to the Sox for a while for fear they would overpay him and he would regress. I’ve guessing both will still happen, but I’m guessing that (a) he won’t be that overpaid, and the Sox have tons of money anyway and (b) regression can be OK. Based on what I know about the Sox front office, you can guarantee that they release that the 2009 Scutaro is a wisp that will never return. Lets examine Scoot for a moment:

wOBA

• 2009: .354
• 2006-2008 average: .319

BB%

• 2009: 13.6%
• 2006-08 average: 10.4%

K%

• 2009: 13.1%
• 2006-08 average: 14.1%

OK, so he walk % went up, his strikeout % went down, both could be fluky, but both what you might expect from an older player, especially one like Scoot who spent much of his early career as a part-timer. Really, he’s only had two seasons with >500 AB (2008-09). So, where will Scutaro stand in 2010? My guess is a wOBA of ~.330 and slash stats of .285/.360/.385. Compare that to, oh, I don’t know, Orlando Hudson (the best best if Pedroia had moved to SS), the Bill James projection for Hudson is ~.280/.353/.409. Now, before you say Hudson is a better fielder, Hudson UZR/150 for 2009 was -3.7 and Scoot’s was 1.0, albeit at different positions. (And for anyone who believes such nonsense, Scutaro has “proved he can play in the AL East” and might be the clutchiest of the 2009-10 free agents).

So, if Scutaro can not collapse (i.e., regress, but not into, lets say, Julio Lugo) and keep SS warm for Jose Iglesias, I am all for it. Scutaro also offers the option that if a better SS were to fall into the Sox lap, he could easily move back into a super utility role (well, he might not like it). The Red Sox can afford to take chances like that and after all my bemoaning of this potentiality, I’m actually pretty comfortable with it … now, the Sox just need to sign/acquire a left fielder.

Best Albums of 2009 iTunes iMix

I’ve posted an iTunes iMix for my Best Albums of 2009 … You can sample the songs and buy the whole thing if you like. The only song missing is from the Tiki album considering it was only released in New Zealand. On that note, I did find an YouTube clip of Tiki, so enjoy that on me … nothing like Maori hip-hop/electroclash.

Best Albums of 2009

I’ve been struggling with this for a few days – with all the work I’ve done (well, its not like its work as such, but you get the idea) on the Best Albums of the ’00s. Should I post my “Best of 2009″ when its only December 2? It seems so early, but really, how much will my list change (or does it matter … probably not). I have to admit, with the move to Ohio, first-year facultying, volcano blogging, house buying and everything else, I didn’t pay as much attention to music as I have in the last few years. I suppose my boredom with music in 2008 didn’t help either.

Anyway, considering the Best of the ’00s is somewhat contingent on the albums of 2009, I might as well go ahead and post my list now. Again, bear in mind that this represents albums I (a) actually heard and (b) liked – by no means am I trying to assess the “best”(tm) music of the year. You may like my list, you may hate it. Enjoy.

Best of 2009

Honorable Mention: N.A.S.A.: Spirit of Apollo; Balky Mule: The Length of Rail; Rainbow Arabia: Kabukimono; Rakes: Klang!

20. Volcano Choir – Unmap
19. Various – Score! 20 Years of Merge Records
18. Metric – Fantasies
17. Decemberists – Hazards of Love
16. Nosaj Thing – Drift
15. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
14. Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor
13. Beirut – March of the Zapotec
12. Tiki – Past, Present, Future
11. Built to Spill – There is No Enemy

10. Morrissey – Years of Refusal If anything, Moz still knows how to make a good album cover.
9. Mos Def – The Ecstatic Mos Def’s last outing was pretty mediocre, but with the help of a lot more interesting production, The Ecstatic is up there with Black on Both Sides.
8. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm You have to love the second wind of Dino Jr. … Its almost as satisfying as the Mission of Burma comeback years.
7. Busdriver – Jhelli Beam The ups are very up and the downs are, well, down, but if you take the average, it is quite a ride.
6. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight They actually sounded like they had fun with Tonight, unlike their last album that was weighed down under the pressure of following up their gem of a debut.
5. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest You know, I couldn’t get into some of the early Grizzly Bear albums, but this one really clicked with me.
4. Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications Jarvis all rough and rowdy … good times!
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Its Blitz And on the flipside, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs go all synthpop on us … much like Franz Ferdinand, the third album far outweighs the second.
2. Passion Pit – Manners I really didn’t think I would like this album as much as I did, but sure enough its like the Pet Shop Boys for the 21st century.
1. Horrors – Primary Colours (left) OK, if I picked a band that I would have thought would be the least likely to end up on top based on their prior work, the Horrors might have been near the top. Yet, here we are. They ditched the goth/garage persona and instead decided to channel Joy Division, with the help of the likes of Chris Cunningham. It is a perfect blend of melody, darkness and depth – they might be a latter day Radiohead.

2009-2010 MLB offseason

Is it just me, or is this the most boring offseason ever.

Dallas McPherson signing a minor league contract with the A’s is a highlight? Jeez.

Top 100 of ’00s: An Introduction

As we close out the oughts (2000-2009), we find ourselves reflecting. As with any decade, it is always fun/time-killing/inane to make lists of the so-called “best” of that ten-year period. Mostly, these lists are meaningless drivel with no basis in fact or reality – and this is definitely one of those lists. This is by no means the best music of the decade – although you will read many lists that purport to be so. Remember, anyone who tries to tell you they can determine what “art” was “best” is full of high-grade s^&t, so at least we’re straight on that. This is, instead, is a list of albums I enjoyed the most over the last 10 years – half of which I was in graduate school in Oregon, a portion I was in Seattle, one-third I was in Davis, CA and the reminder (and currently) I am in lovely Granville, OH, happily spending my time as a professor in geosciences. I’ve listened to a lot of music thanks to my time at KBVR and writing for Three Imaginary Girls (under my pen name, Erik Gonzalez) – along with all the time I’ve spent talking about music with all of my friends. Its great fun and I’ll likely be making these lists for ages (I hope).

Bobby Kielty sporting the “look of the oughts”.

So, like I said, I am approaching being done with compiling my list of the top 100 albums of the ’00s. I’ll likely start posting them in batches of ten in the next few weeks – and I’ll even try to make some iTunes mixes with choice cuts from the albums I can find on the music store. Remember, this list is not meant to be (a) all inclusive – I’m sure I’ve missed something, and thats life; (b) appeal to everyone – there are definitely certain bands that some people think are good (ahem*fieryfurnacesbrokensocialsceneanimalcollective*) that I dislike greatly – don’t expect to see them here; (c) even represent my favorite music of the decade – there are many songs from less appealing albums that aren’t represented here … I would try to make a Top 100 songs, but I think my head might explode at that; (d) a permanent list of the best of the decade – my opinions/tastes change, and so will my opinion of albums. I wrote a best of the 1990s back in 1999 and I wish I could find that file, but alas, it is lost to the ages. I do remember that my #1 was DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing…, so I think I still feel pretty good about that. Here’s to hoping my #1 of the 2000s weathered as well.

Anyway, as a bit of a preview, here is a breakdown of the percentages of albums on my list from each year of the decade. Note that the percentages imply that my Top 100 has more than 100 albums. It does. Deal. The distribution implies that 2006 was the “year for music” while 2000, 2008 and 2009 were not so hot. I think this distribution reflects my general detachment from music in 2000 and the relatively recentness of 2008/2009 – it is hard to judge/rank the bestness of albums that have come out recently against the ruler of giants from the middle of the decade.

The oughts

• 2000: 7.8%
• 2001: 10.7%
• 2002: 12.7%
• 2003: 9.8%
• 2004: 10.7%
• 2005: 12.7%
• 2006: 14.7%
• 2007: 9.8%
• 2008: 6.9%
• 2009: 3.9%

Look for No. 91-100 coming to this space in the near future.

A vision for the 2010 Red Sox (a.k.a. wild fantasies that will not come true)

The 2009 Red Sox were pretty good. They weren’t great, but they did make the playoffs only to flame out in ALDS versus the Los Angeles Angels (which, incidentally, translates to The Angels Angels, right?) Since 2004 and 2007, the blow of such events has been greatly lessened for me. Sure, I was not pleased with their performance and the eventual crowning of the hated Yankees as champs, but by no means was I heartbroken/crushed/unable to eat or sleep for days as it was before the Sox return to glory. The Sox didn’t win, but hey, you can’t win every year (and I still can’t imagine what 2003 me would think if he knew that 2009 me would be writing that calmly, lucidly and soberly.)

Anyway, this is not to say that I don’t want the Sox to succeed. Of course I do, that is why I’m a fan. I love my Red Sox no less than I did in 2004 and I still can’t stand to listen (yes, I tend to listen to the Sox) them lose any game. So, with the Yankees not getting any weaker and the Rays likely to bounce back, what can the Red Sox do to keep pace in 2010? Let’s see …

The roster (as of 11/23/2009) – starters in italics when there is an appropriate starter

• C: Victor Martinez; Jason Varitek
• 1B: Kevin Youkilis*/Mike Lowell*; Casey Kotchman
• 2B: Dustin Pedroia
• 3B: Kevin Youkilis*/Mike Lowell*
• SS: Jed Lowrie
• RF: J.D. Drew; Jeremy Hermida
• CF: Jacoby Ellsbury; Brian Anderson
• LF: Jeremy Hermida
• DH: David Ortiz
• SP: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield
• CL: Jonathan Papelbon
• SU: Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima
• MR: Ramon Ramirez, Dustin Richardson, Manny Delcarmen
• LOOGY: (none)
• MU: (none)

* According to some things I’ve read, Youkilis might play third and Lowell might move to first, which could make sense in terms of defense. I’ll list them at both of the hot corners.

So, what is needed? A shortstop, a left fielder, a starter and some relievers. Sounds about right, and mostly in that order. What to do?

Shortstop: Am I the only one who thinks signing a 34-year-old after a fluke year is a bad idea? That idea’s name is Marco Scutaro. Now, trading for either Stephen Drew or Brandon Phillips is a good idea. Drew will cost more and Phillips costs more money, but either at short would be just fine. Additionally, I’d sign Khalil Greene to a minor league deal.

Leftfield: Everyone seems to think this should be a question of Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both fine players, but I just feel a lot of enthusiasm towards signing either to the big, long term deals they will want. Sure, if you can get either for 3 years, do it, but thats not happening. So, if the Sox don’t sign either? Well, how about a platoon of Marlon Byrd/Rick Ankiel and Jeremy Hermida? I’d also be tempted to sign Rocco Baldelli or Austin Kearns to minor league deals if possible. Or lets think waaay outside the box: Miguel Tejada in left? Maybe Conor Jackson?

Starters: The Sox have 5 guys who should be good to serviceable (when averaged over all 5). If you look at the top three, the rotation should be quite good, and if Daisuke can get his act back together, they should have a decent top 4. However, as last year showed, you can never, ever, ever have too much pitching. So the Sox really need to go out and sign some reclamation projects to shore up the rotation. Ben Sheets? Rich Harden? Eric Bedard? Justin Duchscherer? Kelvim Escobar? Brett Myers? Chien-ming Wang? There are a lot of options. This all being said, 2010 is a year of decision for the Sox – can they compete for a championship, so should they wait until it all comes off the books (well, Beckett, Lowell and Papi) in 2011? If they think they can win, they should go all in for any of the aces that could be dealt: Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, Roy Oswalt, someone like that. It will be pricy, but that would definitely shore things up.

Relievers: OK, way too many to go through for potential relief help through free agency or trades, but … how about kicking the tires on guys like Joaquin Benoit, Kiko Calero, JJ Putz, Takashi Saito (again), Ron Mahay (as a LOOGY) or Chan Ho Park. Potential nontenders worth examining might be Jeremy Accardo, Taylor Bucholz, Matt Lindstrom or Seth McClung.

Wild card ideas: What if the Sox bring in a big 1B and just cut/trade Lowell or Papi – maybe acquire Lance Berkman for a bevy of prospects to the rebuilding Astros? Or what about signing Garrett Atkins as a free agent if he is nontendered? Or even get Tejada to play 1B?

My ideal 2010 Red Sox roster

Batting

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
2. Brandon Phillips SS
3. Dustin Pedroia 2B
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Miguel Tejada 1B
7. J.D. Drew RF
8. David Ortiz/Mike Lowell DH
9. Hermida/Ankiel LF

Starters

1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. Clay Buccholz
4. Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. Justin Duchscherer

Relievers

• CL: Jonathan Papelbon
• SU: Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima
• MR: Ramon Ramirez, Kiko Calero, Ron Mahay
• MU: Tim Wakefield

Bench

1. Jason Varitek C
2. Casey Kotchman 1B
3. Khalil Greene SS

Enjoy!

The actual NL and AL Rookies of the Year

The BBWAA announced the voting for the NL and AL ROYs yesterday, and well, it was interesting.

AL winner: Andrew Bailey RP (Oakland) – He was definitely impressive, was he really that much better than Brett Anderson? Speaking of Brett Anderson, how did he did up with only 1 2nd and 1 3rd place vote? As Rob Neyer points out, Brett Anderson was better (in a fielding-independent world) than either Neimann or Porcello, both of which scored a lot more votes.

NL winner: We can all be a little saddened by the fact that Chris Coghlan OF (Florida) somehow conned the voters to get the win. I mean, are that many BBWAA writers still impressed with a pretty batting average? Apparently so. I would like to be the first to congratulation our 2009 version of the immortal Todd Hollandsworth. Now, how J.A. Happ got more votes than Tommy Hanson will baffle me for quite a while too (and poor ol’ Andrew McCutchen came in 4th! Fourth, people!)

Shane Mack, OBP machine!

It has been a while since I looked at the back of my baseball cards. Today’s card is from the 1991 Score set and it features the Twins OF Shane Mack. You know what? They don’t have OBP or BBs on the cards? Meaningless stats I say! Apparently Shane Mack was a Rule V pick for the Twins – I can understand why they might have liked him, being one year from a .347 AVE year at AAA with decent power (10 HR). Mack went on to play another 7 years and heck, posted a .364 career OBP! Probably his best season was 1992, when had 16 HR and posted .314/.394/.467. Not too shabby.

 

Loma Prieta in card form

I recently got two boxes of baseball cards that I’ve kept at my parents’ house for the last almost 20 years. I’ve been sifting through the cards and thought I’d post a few.

The first one is more interesting than it is amusing, but it does a nice job of combining two of my favorite subjects: geology (the Loma Prieta earthquake) and baseball (The Bay Bridge Series).

Enjoy!