Looking back, 2001 seems like one of the last years before pop music shattered into a million little niches. Despite the continuing fallout of Napster, there were still plenty of big, undeniable blockbusters: the Dave Matthews Band and Britney Spears sold 750,000 copies of their new albums within their first week of release, a situation that was the rule, not the exception. The teen-pop wave that Britney personified may have crested, but there were still plenty of great Top 40 singles that year, including two featuring Gwen Stefani in a supporting role remaking herself into a dance-pop diva. As it turned out, Gwen's makeover pointed the way toward much of the mainstream pop of the decade, where the lines between R&B, pop, rock, and hip-hop blurred indistinguishably, but even with all this pop, Jay-Z's
Blueprint and a bumper crop of electronica -- the latter highlighted by Daft Punk and Björk, along with Radiohead's continuing forays into the form -- rock & roll was the rallying cry of 2001, thanks to incendiary albums by the Strokes and the White Stripes, the two bands that spearheaded the garage-rock revival of the early 2000s. Joining the Strokes and Stripes was a reunited Weezer, the ascendancy of System of a Down and Drive-By Truckers and, on the somewhat softer side of things, the Shins, who offered a flashback to the golden age of jangle with their debut
Oh, Inverted World.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Strokes -
Is This It
The White Stripes -
White Blood Cells
Bob Dylan -
Love and Theft
Stephen Malkmus -
Stephen Malkmus
Gorillaz -
Gorillaz
Pulp -
We Love Life
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
Nick Lowe -
The Convincer
Spoon -
Girls Can Tell
P!nk -
M!ssundaztood
Björk -
Vespertine
Tenacious D -
Tenacious D
Super Furry Animals -
Rings Around the World
Weezer -
Weezer
Merle Haggard -
Roots, Vol. 1
Eve f/ Gwen Stefani - "Let Me Blow Ya Mind"
The Strokes - "Last Nite"
The White Stripes - "Hotel Yorba"
No Doubt - "Hey Baby"
Weezer - "Hash Pipe"
P!nk - "Get the Party Started"
Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood"
Blu Cantrell - "Hit Em Up Style"
Moby f/ Gwen Stefani - "Southside (Remix)"
Britney Spears - "I'm a Slave 4 U"
Daft Punk - "One More Time"
Jennifer Lopez f/ Ja Rule - "I'm Real"
The Shins - "New Slang"
The Strokes - "Hard to Explain"
John Bush
Jay-Z -
The Blueprint
Roots Manuva -
Run Come Save Me
Basement Jaxx -
Rooty
The Beta Band -
Hot Shots II
The Dismemberment Plan -
Change
Four Tet -
Pause
As One -
21st Century Soul
4hero -
Creating Patterns
7L & Esoteric -
The Soul Purpose
System of a Down -
Toxicity
Super Furry Animals -
Rings Around the World
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
Dead Meadow -
Dead Meadow
Destroyer -
Streethawk: A Seduction
The Pernice Brothers -
The World Won't End
Elbow -
Asleep in the Back
Ian Brown -
Music of the Spheres
Mouse on Mars -
Idiology
Ty -
Awkward
New Order -
Get Ready
Roots Manuva - "Witness (1 Hope)"
Jay-Z - "The Ruler's Back"
Jay-Z - "Takeover"
Basement Jaxx - "Jus 1 Kiss"
Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At"
Metro Area - "Caught Up"
Aphex Twin - "Jynweythek Ylow"
Super Furry Animals - "(Drawing) Rings Around the World"
Ty - "Hercules"
The Dismemberment Plan - "Sentimental Man"
Brad Paisley - "Two Feet of Top Soil"
Robbie Williams f/ Jon Lovitz - "Well, Did You Evah"
Bob Dylan - "Mississippi"
Ian Brown - "F.E.A.R."
Mouse on Mars - "Actionist Respoke"
Squarepusher - "My Red Hot Car"
System of a Down - "Prison Song"
The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"
7L & Esoteric - "Verbal Assault"
4hero f/ Ursula Rucker - "Time"
Heather Phares
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
Angelo Badalamenti -
Mulholland Drive
Basement Jaxx -
Rooty
Björk -
Vespertine
Frank Black and the Catholics -
Dog in the Sand
Daft Punk -
Discovery
Erase Errata -
Other Animals
KaitO -
You've Seen Us... You Must Have Seen Us...
Ladytron -
604
Liars -
They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top
Low -
Things We Lost in the Fire
Stephen Malkmus -
Stephen Malkmus
Matmos -
A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure
The Microphones -
The Glow, Pt. 2
Mouse on Mars -
Idiology
Jim O'Rourke -
Insignificance
Solex -
Low Kick and Hard Bop
Spoon -
Girls Can Tell
The Strokes -
Is This It (UK)
The White Stripes -
White Blood Cells
Aaliyah - "Rock the Boat"
Andrew W.K. - "Party Hard"
Basement Jaxx - "Romeo"
Crazy Town - "Butterfly"
Daft Punk - "Digital Love"
Rebekah Del Rio - "Llorando (Crying)" (
YouTube)
Destiny's Child - "Bootylicious"
Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood"
Stephen Malkmus - "Discretion Grove" (
YouTube)
Mouse on Mars - "Actionist Respoke"
OutKast - "The Whole World"
Britney Spears - "I'm a Slave 4 U"
Spoon - "Everything Hits at Once" (
YouTube)
The Strokes - "Last Nite"
The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"
Tim Sendra
AM/FM -
Getting into Sinking
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
Beachwood Sparks -
Once We Were Trees
Birdie -
Triple Echo
Call and Response -
Call and Response (Kindercore)
The Chamber Strings -
Month of Sundays
Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow -
Product Placement
Daft Punk -
Discovery
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci -
How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart
Hefner -
Dead Media
Hood -
Cold House
Jimmy Eat World -
Bleed American
Ted Leo/Pharmacists -
The Tyranny of Distance
Pernice Brothers -
The World Won't End
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
Spoon -
Girls Can Tell
The Strokes -
Is This It (UK)
The Telepathic Butterflies -
Nine Songs
Tipsy -
Uh-Oh!
Walker Kong -
There Goes the Sun
Aaliyah - "More Than a Woman"
The American Analog Set - "Punk as Fuck"
Belle & Sebastian - "I'm Waking Up to Us"
The Bigger Lovers - "Forever Is Not So Long"
Champale - "Hard to Be Easy"
Daft Punk - "Digital Love"
Daft Punk - "One More Time"
Dungen - "Stadsvandringar"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
The Lilac Time - "Jeans + Summer"
The Lucksmiths - "The Great Dividing Range"
No Doubt - "Underneath It All"
Puffy AmiYumi - "Love So Pure"
Radio 4 - "Dance to the Underground"
The Sunshine Fix - "Age of the Sun"
Sean Westergaard
Tim Berne's Hard Cell -
The Shell Game
Frank Black and the Catholics -
Dog in the Sand
Burnt Sugar -
That Depends on What You Know: The Sirens Return/K
Chitlin' Fooks -
Chitlin' Fooks
Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow -
Product Placement
Gonervill -
Gonervill
Granfaloon Bus -
Exploded View
ICP Orchestra -
Oh, My Dog
Ori Kaplan Percussion Ensemble -
Gongol
Mike Keneally -
Wooden Smoke/Wooden Smoke Asleep
Gary Lucas -
The Edge of Heaven
Miriodor -
Mekano
Mushroom -
Foxy Music
Negativland -
These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit
Nicky Skopelitis & Raoul Björkenheim -
Revelator
Tortoise -
Standards
Kazutoki Umezu Kiki Band -
Kiki
Steve Wynn -
Here Come the Miracles
John Zorn -
The Gift
Masada -
Masada: Live at Tonic, 2001
Andrew Leahey
Ryan Adams -
Gold
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers -
Real to Reel
Rufus Wainwright -
Poses
Sparklehorse -
It's a Wonderful Life
Old 97's -
Satellite Rides
The Langley Schools Music Project -
Innocence & Despair
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
Jimmy Eat World -
Bleed American
Air -
10,000 Hz Legend
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
Whiskeytown -
Pneumonia
Ben Folds -
Rockin' the Suburbs
The White Stripes -
White Blood Cells
Tenacious D -
Tenacious D
Matt Collar
Astrobrite -
Crush
Beachwood Sparks -
Once We Were Trees
Björk -
Vespertine
Nick Curran and the Nitelifes -
Nitelife Boogie
Daft Punk -
Discovery
Dungen -
Dungen
Gorillaz -
Gorillaz
Ed Harcourt -
Here Be Monsters
Richard Hawley -
Late Night Final
Carly Hennessy -
Ultimate High
Ted Leo/Pharmacists -
The Tyranny of Distance
Kylie Minogue -
Fever
New Order -
Get Ready
Pernice Brothers -
The World Won't End
Pulp -
We Love Life
Ron Sexsmith -
Blue Boy
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
Spiritualized -
Let It Come Down
Spoon -
Girls Can Tell
The White Stripes -
White Blood Cells
Greg Heaney
Isis -
Celestial
Explosions in the Sky -
Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die
The Von Bondies -
Lack of Communication
Fugazi -
The Argument
Beulah -
The Coast Is Never Clear
Neurosis -
A Sun That Never Sets
Stephen Malkmus -
Stephen Malkmus
The Strokes -
Is This It
Tenacious D -
Tenacious D
Godflesh -
Hymns
They Might Be Giants -
Mink Car
The White Stripes -
White Blood Cells
Firewater -
Psychopharmacology
Mogwai -
Rock Action
Slayer -
God Hates Us All
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
Muse -
Origin of Symmetry
The Dirtbombs -
Ultraglide in Black
Lovage -
Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By
Coverge -
Jane Doe
Andrew W.K. - "It's Time to Party"
Burning Airlines - "The Deluxe War Baby"
Sigh - "Dreamsphere (Return to the Chaos)"
Harkonen - "Grizz"
The Dirtbombs - "Ode to a Black Man"
Pig Destroyer - "Preacher Crawling"
Firewater - "Car Crash Collaborator"
Tool - "The Grudge"
Frodus - "Year of the Hex"
Sloan - "If It Feels Good Do It"
Stephen Malkmus - "Jo Jo's Jacket"
Emperor - "The Tongue of Fire"
Clutch - "Careful with That Mic"
Of Montreal - "Peacock Parasols"
Silver Jews - "I Remember Me"
Godflesh - "Anthem" (
YouTube audio)
Brian Jonestown Massacre - "Nevertheless"
Apes - "Mountain of Steel"
Isis - "Glisten" (
YouTube audio)
Muse - "New Born"
David Jeffries
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
The Anubian Lights -
Naz Bar
Basement Jaxx -
Rooty
Cannibal Ox -
The Cold Vein
Detroit Grand Pubahs -
Funk All Y'all
Dilated Peoples -
Expansion Team
Beres Hammond -
Music Is Life
Hood -
Cold House
Jay Dee -
Welcome 2 Detroit
Jay-Z -
The Blueprint
Khanate -
Khanate
Killah Priest -
Priesthood
Kirsty MacColl -
Tropical Brainstorm
Damian "Junior Gong" Marley -
Halfway Tree
Nortec Collective -
The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1
Prince Jazzbo -
Mr. Funny
Reynols/No Reynols -
Reynols/No Reynols
Ulrich Schnauss -
Far Away Trains Passing By
U-Roy -
Now
Andrew Weatherall -
Hypercity
Jason Lymangrover
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
Air -
10,000 Hz Legend
Daft Punk -
Discovery
Detroit Grand Pubahs -
Funk All Y'all
The Dismemberment Plan -
Change
Explosions in the Sky -
Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die
Fugazi -
The Argument
Gorillaz -
Gorillaz
Ladytron -
604
Lovage -
Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By
Pinback -
Blue Screen Life
Radiohead -
Amnesiac
Stephen Malkmus -
Stephen Malkmus
System of a Down -
Toxicity
Tenacious D -
Tenacious D
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
The Strokes -
Is this It
Tomahawk -
Tomahawk
Unwound -
Leaves Turn Inside You
Weezer -
Weezer
Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At?" (
YouTube)
Britney Spears - "I'm a Slave 4 U"
Elbow - "Any Day Now"
Guided by Voices - "Glad Girls"
Mogwai - "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong"
Prefuse 73 - "Life/Death"
R. Kelly - "Feelin' on Yo Booty"
Spiritualized - "Don't Just Do Something"
Stereolab - "Captain Easychord"
Tricky - "Diss Never (Dig Up We History)"
James Christopher Monger
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros -
Global a Go-Go
Kaizers Orchestra -
Ompa Til du Dør
Luke Haines -
The Oliver Twist Manifesto
Original Soundtrack -
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Opeth -
Blackwater Park
Guided by Voices -
Isolation Drills
Baby Dee -
Little Window
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire -
The Swimming Hour
Spoon -
Girls Can Tell
Brian Dewan -
The Operating Theater
Gillian Welch -
Time (The Revelator)
Original Soundtrack -
Amélie
Therion -
Secret of the Runes
Röyksopp -
Melody A.M.
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci -
How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart
Andrew W.K. -
I Get Wet
The Danielson Famile -
Fetch the Compass Kids
Gorillaz -
Gorillaz
The Shins -
Oh, Inverted World
The Langley Schools Music Project -
Innocence & Despair
Isan - "Cathart"
Adam West - "C'mon and Bludgeon Me"
Nicolai Dunger - "Dr. Zhivago's Train"
Tenacious D - "Explosivo"
Björk - "Hidden Place"
Hollenthon - "Y Draig Goch"
Hem - "Half Acre"
Air - "Radio #1"
Mercury Rev - "The Dark Is Rising"
Faun Fables - "Sleepwalker"
Rufus Wainwright - "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"
Ken Stringfellow - "Down Like Me"
Maggi, Pierce and E.J. - "Space"
Ron Sexsmith - "This Song"
Rodney Crowell - "Telephone Road"
The White Stripes - "We're Going to Be Friends"
Radiohead - "I Might Be Wrong"
Destroyer - "Streethawk I"
Muse - "Bliss"
Super Furry Animals - "(Drawing) Rings Around the World"
Andy Kellman
Basement Jaxx -
Rooty
Andrew Weatherall -
Hypercity
Zip -
Superlongevity 2
Herbert -
Bodily Functions
Life Without Buildings -
Any Other City
Jay-Z -
The Blueprint
N.E.R.D. -
In Search Of...
Dabrye -
One/Three
Spacek -
Curvatia
Bows -
Cassidy
Aaliyah -
Aaliyah
The Detroit Escalator Co. -
Black Buildings
As One -
21st Century Soul
4hero -
Creating Patterns
Bilal -
1st Born Second
Stars of the Lid -
The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
Rhythm & Sound -
Rhythm & Sound
Cannibal Ox -
The Cold Vein
Res -
How I Do
Transllusion -
The Opening of the Cerebral Gate
Afronaught - "Transcend Me"
Aaliyah - "Rock the Boat"
Basement Jaxx - "Romeo"
Metro Area - "Miura"
Jadakiss - "We Gonna Make It"
Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
Blaze - "How Deep Is Your Love"
Jazzanova - "That Night"
Michael Jackson - "Butterflies"
4hero - "Les Fleur"
Herbert - "Leave Me Now"
As One - "Problems"
Playgroup - "Number One [Black Strobe Remix]"
Green Velvet - "La La Land"
Moodymann - "J.A.N."
Stephane A. - "Distant Planet"
Phantom Ghost - "Perfect Lovers [Unperfect Love Mix]"
Sticky - "Booo!"
Goldfrapp - "Pilots (On a Star)"
Usher - "U Don't Have to Call"