The album’s centerpiece, the swaying 12-minute jam “Naki Kyoku,” actually begins in a reflective mood not far from Drake’s melancholia. Born of an unlikely convergence of time, place, and circumstance, has lost none of its overwhelming beauty in the intervening years. By the end of the decade, they were on the hellish taxi ride home. But at the time, it didn’t feel like it. It was really distasteful when it got called ‘Britpop’ because that was like somebody trying to appropriate some kind of alternative culture, stick a Union Jack on it, and take the credit for it.”: Everything. We’re really good at it. Arranged by Nico Muhly, who is quickly becoming indie rock’s unofficial house composer, they signal the album’s feeling of grave finality, implied by the title and reinforced everywhere on the album, from the contented sigh of Will Oldham’s singing to the far-away backing vocals of Dawn McCarthy, who drifts in and out of the album seemingly at her own will. The album was almost too smart for its own good, and served proof that Britpop bands could—and arguably should—defy the retrogazing that was suddenly so trendy.was released via Gut Records, renowned for bold, unpredictable chart hits like Right Said Fred’s “I'm Too Sexy.” Employing the production clout of Nick Coler, who was integral to the KLF's style, these tracks are madcap narratives born from lyricist Tommy Scott's obsession with films, and the hilarious images have more in common with horror B-movies than anything that happened in Britain in 1996. Simple and elegant, remains the jewel of the nebulous moment it led. The songs that follow are guileless and spirited, as equally dependent on wry winks (“This Beard Is for Siobhan”) as uncloaked sentiments (“Autumn’s Child”). He cuts the Holden Caulfield figure perfectly, moping around Sheffield and observing the Chav life.

Everything's like, “Ping!” Here’s the song. Like most of Lawrence’s projects, it relies on his slightly nasal, flat-affect voice, which can be a hard taste to acquire. is the greatest statement to leak out of that world onto a record. Voters in this list come from the U.S., the UK, and Canada, and in the process of assembling it, we discovered that each location had a slightly different idea of what Britpop entailed; the final result represents the aggregate sensibility of its contributors. AllMusic's Highest Rated Albums of 2020. The credo opens Devendra Banhart’s first proper and only essential album and immediately delivers attitude and confidence, declaring Banhart’s prerogatives as an individual (beards, sharing, nostalgia, nature) and his aspirations for overcoming the mundane and mute. We’re not looking so much to progenitors (i.e. Between 2001 and 2003, Andrew Bird doused his Bowl of Fire, moved to a farm, and fell through the stylistic looking glass into a weird world entirely his own. The Monkeys initially won freakishly enthusiastic acclaim for their clenched-fist stomp, raucous guitar attack, and sodden attitude on songs like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.” But what endures are the weary ballads. He wrote about temp labor, old vinyl, amino acids, and, oh yeah, girls. It’s that same story. is notable for its confidence and its discipline—neither of which is a particularly flashy trait. Like , Art Brut’s hugely fun debut projected frontman Eddie Argos’ Pulp-like wit onto ironically serious songs about art, girls, and endearingly personal neuroses—I still don’t get all the Italian references. An important figure in European post-punk, Collins never set out to be a pop star.

Irvine sent me a link the other day saying what’s-his-name, Captain Kirk, had recorded “Common People.” William Shatner. For those about to form a band, they salute you. So the sounds, hypnotic and magnificently textured in their own right, were literally falling apart and vanishing into the air as the pieces progressed, resulting in music that feels heavy with sadness and loss even as it feels spectral and weightless. It’s just as important as the dialogue. Four years after Art Brut (went for) broke, way too many bands are still doing it wrong.

Kind of a downer.

–Eve Barlow In the preparation for That’s an amazing song. But it was weird—everything we did seemed to work then. From those results, Rolling Stone created this new list of the greatest albums …