The Onion’s A.V.Club is always an interesting read, though with such a high-brow and snobbist tendancy that you certainly would not take anything they say without a pinch of salt. That said, they do revel in talking about bad things. After last years list of the Least Essential Albums of the 90’s (the MC Skat Cat album winning hands down) they have reprised this project for albums of 2000. Winner is the A*Teen’s album of ABBA covers – though the journey takes us through two S Club 7 albums (harsh) and a Pearl Jam live set (not harsh enough). The S Club 7 piece actually appears to show a grudging like to the material – could it be the Onion are going pop?
Ah, well no quite obviously they are not – if you look at their staff’s individual albums of 2000. I say the word individual but they have obviously been given a few ground rules. They must perm Sleater-Kinney, Eminem, Radiohead, Lambchop and PJ Harvey (making sure that Harvey generally does the best). The rest they can pick freely, but must include at least one Undie act and something on the Mercury Music Prize shortlist. Oddly the preamble for the lists suggests the very opposite of what the Freaky Trigger feeling has been (at least mine and Tom’s) that this year has been much more interesting in film than in music. That may well be due to release schedules over here staggering the good 1999 in the States into a very good March over here. I find the idea of Clint Mansell doing a musique-concrete soundtrack to Requiem For A Dream most intriguing anyhow – which nicely crosses over the two disciplines.
That said – anyone who says that “Whatever you do you must seek out Yellow by Coldplay” is not cutting my critical mustard. Interesting lists nevertheless – and well worth doing a reverse “Am I Cool Or Not” to – what does a fella who likes Aimee Mann and Black Eyed Peas look like? Anyway, the original question is worth asking over in I Love Music. What do you think is the most inessential album of the year?