DiS is 6! Our 66, part 2

So here we are, fellow travellers through the last six years of DiS’s favourite sounds: part two of Our 66. This section – which collects together the albums we’ve placed at numbers 44 to 21 – was no easier to assemble than the preceding chapter (click here if you’re yet to look over our selections from 66 to 45). In fact, we’ve suffered more headaches over the last few weeks, because of this undertaking alone, than at any other time in our lives. Perhaps, anyway: we do enjoy the odd pint.

DiS is, as we’re sure you’re perfectly aware of by now, six years old this very month; to celebrate we’ve already thrown one hell of a party at Camden’s Barfly – the gig was headlined by one of the acts appearing below, no less – and there are further fun and frolics to be had at an assortment of shows about this land and overseas. Yep, next week DiS is off to Reykjavik for the Iceland Airwaves Festival. Oooh, get us. DiS has a stage and everything, which will have its boards trampled by Metric and Love Is All, as well as a slew of excellent local talent. Perhaps we’ll see you there.

If not, do please click here to see what shows we have coming up. The Emmy And Friends event, at London’s Luminaire on October 30, is just one of many gigs where magic is sure to be sprinkled liberally into the air. If you’ve a ticket for that particular show, prepare to be wowed. DiS is also relocating its DiScover Club to Notting Hill Arts Club this month, for a free afternoon show featuring the So Incredible Right Now Blood Red Shoes. They played our Barfly show, too, and were amazing. The bomb drops on October 21 – click here for more details.

Right, enough advertising and on with this particular show. As with the last instalment, you can click on wherever it says ‘DiS review here’ or ‘DiS listing here’ to submit your own user review of the album in question, and you can also add the record to your online collection – click here to see what we’re on about.

And do, please, DiScuss the below until your fingers are all but worn down to the knuckles.

44
Rival Schools
United By Fate (DiS review here)
(Mercury – released 2001)
I was 15 when this album initially emerged in a cloud of underground hype. Filled with emotionally-charged choruses, massive hooks and an underlying tone of all-out ROCK, it reflected my teenage angst perfectly and at the same time was a musical journey in itself. Perhaps the most surprising thing about United By Fate is the fact that it stands up today as a genuinely superb record and one that I still play at least once a month. CR

43
The Postal Service
Give Up (DiS review here)
(Sub Pop – released 2003)
Not obsessing over this record during the last few years would've been like not having the internet. Even Seth Cohen was down with its bleeps and heartstring-tugging lyrics about freckles in a paramour’s eyes being perfectly aligned. It’s one-fourth of Death Cab For Cutie and that dntel fella: they sent tapes to each other (in the post!), words were put to music and music to words. This record is as culturally important to our generation as anything in this list. SA

42
Boards Of Canada
Geogaddi (DiS review here)
(Warp – released 2002)
Warp have released so much innovative music that it's difficult to single out specific albums for praise. Boards Of Canada's second outing is an obvious choice, though. Building on the ambient beauty of their debut, Geogaddi is a claustrophobic, and at times twisted, journey thorough music that gently introduces melodies into its soundscapes and gently pushes the listener through an instrumental narrative before reaching the end of the tunnel. Essential. CR

41
The Unicorns / Islands
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone /
Return To The Sea (DiS review, listing)
(Rough Trade (both) – released 2004, 2006)
Pop is not a dirty word. The genius of The Unicorns' sole album was how its pop was executed: layers of oblique synthesis, great hooks and an underlying darkness guaranteed it a place in cult indie history. Following their disbanding, two members formed Islands. Return To The Sea was the resulting album, and a greater attention to instrumental detail ensured another triumph. CR

40
Sonic Youth
Nurse (DiS review here)
(Geffen – released 2004)
Nurse is the closest to creating a landmark on a parallel with Daydream Nation that Sonic Youth have come since that particular record's release, and in its dense textures it maybe signals the extinction of the antediluvian No Wave idyll; a Robert Zimmerman trip that somehow got mixed up with Joni Mitchell, Black Flag and a conceptualist oddball… it’s ART in the way that Rimbaud, Andre Breton, Jim Morrison, Dada and all that screamed in boundless ecstasy intended. MG

39
Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia
My Elixir: My Poison (DiS review here)
(Truck – released 2003)
Whilst Emily Gray's posh-voiced Arab Strap-esque sordid monologues separated this John Peel-loved and Oxford-spawned band from those languishing in the post-rock ghetto, the Warp-inspired beats took everything to another level. The album rises up to where the clouds are stained with nicotine and sprinkles of spilt wine - red wine, obviously. My Elixir: My Poison is a pretty-much-perfect art-rock record, and a favourite to this day. SA

38
Pretty Girls Make Graves
The New Romance (DiS review here)
(Matador – released 2003)
Pretty Girls Make Graves’ second album, following their debut Good Health, was an instant hit with rockers wanting a little pop alongside their abrasive guitar workouts. With backgrounds in the punk scene proper, the members of PGMG were well positioned to appeal to a pair of key audiences: fresh-on-the-block newcomers and those whose wearing of obscure band tees puzzled all but a select few. The New Romance sated these appetites and more. MD

37
Arcade Fire
Funeral (DiS review here)
(Rough Trade – released 2005 (UK; 2004 US))
Little could be said here that would accurately summarise the impact Funeral had on the indie world upon its release in 2004/05 (depending on which island you lived on at the time). Still sounding like an incredible achievement when revisited today, and the catalyst for the still-continuing Canadian cult invasion, Funeral is a luscious festival of music played out by a cast of off-kilter performers and laid down with grace and finesse. CR

36
Sleater-Kinney
The Woods (DiS review here)
(Sub Pop – released 2005)
We could've chosen another Sleater-Kinney record, one that better exhibits the now-defunct trio’s MO of playing fiery but accomplished melodic punk with lyrical honesty and soulful sincerity, delivered at breakneck velocity. All Hands... is maybe a more complete album, but The Woods is their parting shot of seriously loud and seriously good fuzz-rock. Dave Fridmann’s booming production is a bonus, too. Seriously fantastic. MD

35
Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies
Hurrah! Another year, surely this one will be better that the last; the inexorable march of progress will lead us all to happiness (DiS review here)
(Fierce Panda – released 2004)
Significantly more than just a well-titled performance, Hurrah! catapulted Youthmovies into DrownedinSound's collective conscience and registered them as one of our favourite bands. From the noise-upon-noise of 'The Pitch and Yaw of Satellites' to the near-perfect convulsions of '...Spooks the Horse', this is a math-jazz-punk-post-rock work of significant magnitude. CR

34
Liars
Drum’s Not Dead (DiS review here)
(Mute – released 2006)
Liars have never trodden the straight and narrow. Although their debut album arrived at a time when all things NYC were So Hot Right Now, this third long-player – recorded in Berlin – was a bizarre mutant beast of mesmerising polyrhythms and bombastic percussion, fused to some truly out-there vocals. It’s a rare band indeed that can reinvent itself from one release to the next, but this trio’s ability to morph and evolve outstrips the abilities of any ‘peers’. MD

33
Sparklehorse
It’s A Wonderful Life (DiS review here)
(Capitol – released 2001)
You could put a thousand of the world’s greatest scientists into a room, lock them in there for decades and ask them to create a sound that reminded you of Spring. They wouldn’t get anywhere near as close as this record does. It’s full of rising joy and spinning tops. It’s also chock-full of indie icons doing guest vocals: Polly Jean Harvey, Tom Waits and that angel from The Cardigans all appear. Did I mention it’s one of the most beautiful albums of the past six years? SA

32
Deerhoof
Milkman (DiS listing here)
(Kill Rock Stars/ATP – released 2005)
Don’t think this wasn’t a tough decision: we argued over which album was better, Apple O’ or this, the San Franciscan (then) four-piece’s surreal adventure through twisted children’s bedtime stories and Tim Burton’s oddest fruit-based fantasies. Milkman is so weird, from start to finish, that it’s easy to overlook the great pop contained within its eleven tracks, songs that twitch and glitch their way into the listener’s heart. Brilliant, bizarrely so. MD

31
Isolée
Wearemonster (DiS listing here)
(Playhouse – released 2005)
The evolution of microhouse from Isolée's pioneering Rest LP in 1999 made underground stars of names like Ricardo Villalobos and Michael Mayer. With electronica courting a growing audience of plaudits, 2005 saw Isolée unleash his masterpiece: Wearemonster . Strangely danceable whilst also being incredibly listenable, this is the defining album of its genre. Sufficiently asphyxiating, yet notably relaxing, Wearemonster is a standout piece of musical genius. CR

30
This Aint Vegas
The Night Don Benito Saved My Life (DiS review here)
(Jealous – released 2005)
While an assortment of their geographical peers have attracted considerably more mainstream acclaim over the past few years, This Aint Vegas, in these ears, remain the north east’s finest indie-rockers. Taking cues from their Dischord record collections and tipping the resulting angles and jagged edges into a melting pot with the finest dance floor-friendly beats around, the four-piece’s second album - this - became an instant DiS favourite. MD

29
The Radio Dept
Lesser Matters (DiS review here)
(XL – released 2004)
Some records become an addiction and hijack your headphones for longer than could be considered sane. I spent almost an entire summer listening repeatedly to Lesser Matters; little else budged it from the stereo. The Swedes adapt the daydream-scapes of My Bloody Valentine, adding uptempo party-in-your-bedroom beats replete with plenty of speaker fuzz. If you missed this but openly heart The Postal Service, you know what to do. SA

28
Les Savy Fav
Go Forth (DiS listing here)
(Southern – released 2001)
Do you know how ace Les Savy Fav are? Were you at ATP when vocalist-cum-circus ringmaster Tim Harrington dressed as the friskiest feline that ever tipped a bottle of merlot down its front? Were you in Islington when he rocked his way around the crowd before sticking an attendee’s open palm into his leotard? Anyone that’s ever seen this Brooklyn four-piece in the (often unclothed) flesh knows they’re the absolute knees. And this album is hot. Own it or suck. MD

27
65daysofstatic
One Time For All Time (DiS review here)
(Monotreme – released 2005)
After the promise shown in 2004's The Fall Of Math, this release from the Sheffield post-rockers was met with baited breath as it promised to be the antithesis to easy listening. There was elated satisfaction from all fans of the glitch-core quartet as they were presented with expansive swathes of intense Technicolor glory. With the piano-led majesty of ‘Radio Protector’ closing the record, it leaves you feeling absolutely exhausted every time. RR

26
The Blood Brothers
Burn, Piano Island, Burn (DiS review here)
(ArtistDirect – released 2003)
Blessed with the Midas production touch of Ross Robinson, the Seattle quintet toured this record across the UK and wowed all and sundry with their duelling vocals, ultra-spazz jazz and spitting hardcore take on boredom alleviation. This is a masterpiece, filled with gorgeously graphic lyrics and funk 'n' punk in abundance. It's a beautifully chaotic masterpiece that assured us that there was punk-rock life after the death of At The Drive-In. We still love it so. RR

25
TV On The Radio
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (DiS review here)
(4AD – released 2004)
Those in the know were aware that TV On The Radio were to deliver something exceptional with this 2004 album, but even fans of their self-released OK Calculator debut couldn't have predicted something this magnificent. TVotR's approach to recording and melody paid off magnificently, landing them a celebrity fanbase. Impossible to easily define, Desperate Youth… is avant-garde indie-rock that dips its toes in jazz, trip-hop, electro and a cappella delights. CR

24
PJ Harvey
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
(DiS review here)
(Island – released 2000)
If the world that didn’t have ‘C’mon Billy’ ringing in its ears ever needed fortified proof that Polly Jean Harvey was more than some girl on the gig circuit going through the motions of her record collection, then this was a smack around the chops. It featured smart pop songs that howled and begged even the most unsuspecting passive listener to want more from music. It rightfully scooped the Mercury. SA

23
The Knife
Silent Shout (DiS review here)
(Brille – released 2006)
As much as the public perception of electronic music was swinging into the positive and open-minded, the genre still needed an album that crossed over while maintaining an experimental edge to appeal to the hardcore. Silent Shout is that record and significantly more. Oozing rhythmic intensity and doused in squelches and bleeps, the outfit's stony heart was cast aside to reveal an emotional interior contrasting a cold, vocoder-led exterior. An album to savour and share. CR

22
Muse
Black Holes And Revelations (DiS review here)
(WEA – released 2006)
It took until their fourth album for them to successfully do so, but Muse have finally stepped out from the shadow of Radiohead. Previously considered by many to be treading a very similar path to the Oxford quintet, Black Holes… marked them out as real mavericks. It’s a superb sci-fi rock-opera with Western overtones – try synchronising it up to Flash Gordon, seriously. Plus, it contains the ridiculously epic ‘Knights Of Cydonia’, the video for which is here. MD

21
Broken Social Scene
You Forgot It In People (DiS listing here)
(Mercury – released 2003)
It’s slow-motion waterfalls, whirlpools and log fires. It’s adventurous and lush of brass, strings and guitars coasting the Milky Way. It’s transcendental; collectivism at its best. It’s Metric’s Emily Haines stealing your heart from under your shirt and placing it beside you. It’s Kevin Drew drinking bourbon stirred with lovers spit from an ornate goblet. It’s Feist lounging with Do Make Say Think. It’s blog-rock. We like it so much we wanna impregnate it. SA

Expect the third part of this countdown at the end of next week, when we’ll run from number 20 right down to 11; the week after we’ll be dissecting the top ten in no little detail. If you miss it, you miss out, and frankly that’d be stupid. ‘Til next time, enjoy and DiScuss…

Words: Sean Adams (SA), Mike Diver (MD), Matthew Gregory (MG), Raziq Rauf (RR), Colin Roberts (CR)