An Analysis of my Best Of Albums Mural

This has to be one of the most pointless things I've written about in this blog, and this whole blog is essentially pointless.

As a way of starting: I enjoy staring at the album covers of my "best of year XXXX" albums. They tantalize me by insinuating what my tastes are and what the character of each decade was. And yet the answer always eludes me.

A little tangent:

I had no idea "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was self-released in 2001 and came out in retail for 2002. If we count 2001 as the official release - which aligns with the band's intentions - then, after careful review, it comes down to "Geogaddi" and "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots". This is the year of "Turn On the Bright Lights", "Source Tags & Codes", and "You Forgot It in People", and I like none of them. "Geogaddi" and "Yoshimi" have interesting aesthetic similarities; take the uncanny voice of the announcer who, in "Fight Test", says "The test is over - N-N-N-N-O-W", at which point there's something strange about how the pitch and echo of the track are distorted. Then there are the instrumental tracks "Sympathy 3000-21" and "Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" - there's a quality to "Yoshimi" where, no matter what Wayne sings, there are things to be felt and seen that can't be put into words. And, of course, both albums are plunges into alien worlds. I'm writing so much because it's a tight contest, but if you put a gun to my head I couldn't tell you the names of the tracks of "Geogaddi"; I tentatively give it to "Yoshimi", but people who like the long listen will prefer "Geogaddi".

It's a shame I'm kicking "Geogaddi" out though, as otherwise there would've been a fascinating "influenced by 9/11" triptych in the form of "The Argument" (2001), "Geogaddi" (2002) and "Hail to the Thief" (2003). "The Argument", of course, couldn't have actually been about 9/11 given the dates of production, and yet it would be difficult to believe the band wasn't thinking of the Gulf War. Then there's just, how do you look at "The Kill" and "Argument"?

And, another tangent:

It used to be "Donuts" (2006) was on the chopping block because I hardly listened to it, and yet after comparing and contrasting it with Tim Hecker's "Harmony In Ultraviolent" and My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" I realize it has three incredible qualities: 1. you may not think it, because of how funky the music is, but the texture and shape of the sound is extremely important, not unlike "Harmony In Ultraviolet"; 2. it has a historical purpose, that is, cataloguing these songs through their samples and sound quality, and so as it were creating a dynamic "museum" for them; 3. the individual tracks are less important than the brilliant way Dilla connects them together, and, incredibly, Dilla does not group them intellectually but rhythmically and aesthetically which is infinitely the harder task to do. "Donuts" is, indeed, one long continuous piece, a symphony of many, many sources, and Dilla uses literally every trick available to him to make his artists shine. I may not love "Donuts" in a deep, emotional way, but it's literally one of the most admirable pieces of music ever made. In fact, as I think about it, it has a poetic quality, something I would love to explore. That's why I love doing these lists: they sometimes confirm and harden my love for certain pieces of art.

I think it's pretty clear that in this iteration of this list I really shifted towards vocal-heavy, drama-heavy albums. That's the interesting part about compiling this list: I can see how momentary changes in taste control it. Let's see if this changes over time.

All of these albums deserve their own essay that can't, with my current creative powers, be written right now.

Now, onto the mural.

For example, the 1990s - 2000s had fantastical album art, as portrayed by "Pod" (1990), "Liquid Swords" (1995), and "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" (1998), leading to the surreal "The Argument" (2001), the stage drama of "The Woods" (2005), and then Neko Case's bizarre on-the-hood-of-a-car-with-a-katana (2009). And then, 2010s ... nothing. All slick, polished, "serious" images, as depicted by the very dramatic serial-drama-esque "Lemonade" (2016). "4:44" (2017) and "Yeezus" (2013) are blunt and bare. Fantasy returns with "folklore" (2020) with "hokey" art returning with "Crest" (2022).

Speaking of which, notice how every row in the mural has "big head" art except the 2010s? Sure, Misty's face is center in "God's Favorite Customer" (2018), but it's inherently in a self-deprecating gesture; his hand is of more emotional importance than his face. "Live Through This" (1994) does not depict Courtney Love, but you could argue the model is a stand-in; we get Dilla, DOOM and Ghostface on "Donuts" (2006), "Madvillainy" (2004) and "Supreme Clientele" specifically; and then "big head" art returns finally with oklou's "choke enough" (2026). For whatever reason, the 2010s are accompanied with ego death, THOUGH we are excluding the big 2018 hitters of Robyn's "Honey" and Mitski's "Be The Cowboy". What an omission, and by the fault of my taste.

By the way, I love the juxtaposition of "Live Through This" and "Diva" (1992) together, with "Very" (1993) wedged between them. They make a poignant trio. The aforementioned Dilla-DOOM-Ghostface combo demonstrates the absurd and ultimate conquest of hip-hop in the 2000s; 2013 - 2015, with "Cupid's Head", "Ruins" and "Grind", are all covers with black backgrounds, right in the center of that decade as if the source of an infection.

By the way, post 9/11? Lots of spacey and yet claustrophobic art, starting with Fugazi's "The Argument", then "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" (2002), "Hail to the Thief" (2003) and finally "The Woods". If "Geogaddi" (2002) were here, it would be another cover of haunted, distant, personless spaces. This is art completely devoid of people; this is art too shocked to even process it all.

In contrast, "Pinkerton" (1996) and "Laughing Stock" (1991) are sparse, true, but, in comparison to the aforementioned albums, are lush and full of detail; they do not deconstruct.

It's funny, color palette-wise, the '90s were the lushest, with oranges and reds and greens. The 2010s brought the onslaught of white and black and blue; the 2010s had high contrast, and the 2020s are bringing color back, baby; even if I were to replace "Cartwheel" with "Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (World War)" this would still be the case, interestingly.

It should be noted that while the 1990s and the 2000s share a cartoony, hallucinatory aesthetic, it's really the 2000s which began to exaggerate the cartoony style of the cover art. Sure, the cover of "Liquid Swords" is dramatic, but "Yoshimi", "Hail to the Thief" and "808s" hit you over the head with the album's themes, with "Hail to the Thief" being particularly postmodern and blunt. If only "The Black Parade" were in here.

As for similarities: it's funny Elliott Smith and Annie Lennox are both looking in the same direction, that Beyoncé and Father John Misty are both ashamed and looking down (and Beyoncé, by coincidence, is also looking down at Dilla looking down), and that "Crest" and "GLOW ON" have this weird cloud aesthetic. Speaking of "GLOW ON", it is interesting how it and "folklore" both incorporate an "elevating" or "ascending" concept. Back to "Crest": it shares a circular / wheel concept with "Cartwheel".

When you look at columns, it's damn interesting Taylor went for a similar look for "folklore" as Deerhunter did for "Halcyon Digest", and that both "Crest" and "Idler Wheel" have a circular object of interest incorporating red as a prominent color in the design. KA's "Jesus" is levitating over Grouper's "Ruin". One of my favorite columns to look at is the 3s: 1993, 2003, 2013 and 2023, which all use color in very powerful ways, with the sharp orange of "Very" contrasting the gold of "Cartwheel" contrasting the sheer darkness of "Cupid's Head", and then "Hail to the Thief" is a vomit of color.

Diagonals, Beyoncé and oklou share similar color tones and Elliott Smith and Dilla are both very fond of baseball caps.

A funny detail: regardless if I put "DS2" or "Niggas on the Moon" at the 2015 spot, the Christ of "The Thief Next to Jesus" will be glaring down at it, as well as KA's judgment of that style of rap. He probably would've been happier if I put Sweatshirt or Staples there.

I have an idea of what my album of 2026 is - 2026, however, has been hot and furious, with hit album after album coming out, so who knows? "Cartwheel" is an October / November baby - and this album does further the theme of the 2020s, so that'll be very interesting to look at.

Well, anyway. That's all.