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gij^sic Best music of the year by Kevin Langston News Editor On the surface, you’d Uiink il would be a tough chore picking the best of a pathetic year in music. With acts like The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Barenaked Ladies, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit and N’Sync tormenting our radio stations and numb ing us with awful music, you’d like to foigel about this year as a whole. But underneath this horrible surface lies the realm of college and indie music. That is where I find most, if not all, of my favorite albums of this decade. You should do yourself a fa vor and pick these albums up. No, they didn’t get much airplay aside from our beloved WUSC, but these albums are a definitive collection of the last year of this century. 10) Counting Crows, This Desert Life Following a long break from their sophomore effort Recovering The Satellites, The Counting Crows made up for lost time with this incredible effort. Not only has lyricist and singer Adam Du ritz picked up where he left off content-wise, but the band has successfully made another album that does not step on the toes of the previous two. The lyrics are some of Durilz’s strongest and among the best of the year. The opening track “Hanging Around,” might be the most radio-friendly, but it is the weakest song altogether. Duritz and com pany escort you through the tales of a narrator who feels trapped in his town and his life. It’s the same old depressing stuff that you’d expect from a guy who loves the color gray. 9) Ben Folds Five, The Unau thorized Biography of Reinhold Messner Reinhold Messner was the man who first scaled Mount Everest, and he was the name used by Ben Folds, D.irren Jesse anu Kooeri ^leuge on uieir laxe ius. 11 mis uoes n’t give you an idea of how personal this album is, the songs will. Each song is a testimonial to youthful experiences with love. The album is an autobiography of sorts chronicaling Ben Folds as a shiftless young adult. With the possible exception of “Race For The Prize” on The Flaming Lips’ 77ie SoR Bulletin, no other song is a better introduc tion to an album than “Narcolepsy,” and “Army” just might be their most poppy radio song to dale. “Magic,” however, is the album’s hidden gem. 8) Elf Power, A Dream In Sound Pure pop bliss. This release from one of the Elephant Six Collective bands is one of the catchi est albums to be released this year. With lofty lyrics and incredible supporting music, this album is one that perks you up. Andrew Reiger’s soft voice gently lifts you through this fuzz pop wonder. It seems to be the popular trend, but this album is an allusion to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. Rather than copying the power-pop band.of the ‘60s, Elf Pow er and several other E6 bands simply pick up where they left off. TlMacha, See It Another Way Leave it to another Alliens, Ga. quartet to foige together two typically unique sounds into one of the most driving albums of the year. The guys from Macha blend pulsating rock with East Asian mu sic. But this isn’t any Ravi Shankar stuff. This sopho more effort to their breakthrough self-titled release is no slouch. It builds on the solid foundation of the first album, and it enjoyed a spot on Rolling Stone’s Top Ten College Albums list for several weeks. You couldn’t im;igine that a dulcimer, a vibraphone, an organ, a set of drums, a Fun Machine and an arsenal of other instruments collaborating could make such.an incredible album. 6) Beck, Midnite Vultures Beck returns from his outstanding album Mu tations (Titling title) to do his follow-up effort to Odelay. In what I call the kinkiest album of the year, Beck throws in elements of funk, soul, rock and hip-hop. He is silly enough to address Norman Schwarzkoph, and he is serious enough to belt out the loving lines of “Deborah.” It is a staple in your party mix. While he calls on the inspiration from modem day hip-hop, he also blatantly pokes fun at it with his chant “driving my Mercedes, probably have my baby, shop at Old Navy, he thinks he was a lady....” Beck will leave agood taste in your mouth as a bright-eyed end to a somewhat pes simistic vear. 5) Tom Waits, Mule Variations Mule Variations introduced me to the world of Tom Waits. From there, I bought four other al bums of his. The albums all span his glorious ca reer, from the piano ballad “I Hope That 1 Don’t Fall In Love With You,” to the epic “Tom Trauberl’s Blues” to die Springsteen-famed “Jersey Girl,” Tom Waits is as good a lyricist and music mind as they come. In Mule Variations, Waits pulls some old skeletons from his closet, polishes them off, dances with them, and delicately places them back. His sound travels from his piano ballads to a more eclec tic madness. Tom Waits is a brilliant musician, and I wish more people knew about him. But, 1 am also proud to know I’m one of the few to have tliis wonderful album. His voice is as rugged as his sub ject matter, but the shoe fits. No other voice could belt out these incredible words. No other voice would do them justice. 4) Olivia Tremor Control, Black Foliage Another component of the Elephant Six Col lective, Olivia Tremor Control, pay homage to The Beatles in Black Foliage Animation Music Vol ume Two. Again, rather than copy the brilliance oi i ne Deanes, u 1 l, picks up wnere me iao lour left off. This recording makes you envious that such beauty can come from simple eight and four-track recording devices. This album layers jubilant psy chedelic and pop music with wacky vocal or chestrations and sound devices. You can almost imagine the engineers of this album sitting in a liv ing-room studio pressing buttons and saying, “Let’s see what this one does.” But there is an obvious method to this madness, a madness we can never fully understand, but can appreciate and love. 3) Nine Inch Nails, The Fragile Thank God for Trent Reznor. In a year that was tarnished by meaningless rage and yelling by such acts (use of the term loosely) as Korn, Kid Rock Music 1999 SEE PAGE 3