Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 11

11 - Fantómas: The Director's Cut (Ipecac, 2001)
I was and still am a huge fan of Faith No More. In fact they are possibly the best band ever. Fact. So of course I followed Mike Patton's post-FNM career. The last Mr Bungle was surf-metal fun and when I heard he was putting together a 'super-group' with Dave Lomabardo, Buzz Osbourne and Trevor Dunn I was excited. To say the first Fantómas album was strange and alienating (possibly disappointing) would be an understatement. No-one knew what to make of this band. Gigs were crazy and Patton, as usual, goaded and wound-up the audience, but also treated us to a Slayer medley. But then, the redeemer: The Director's Cut. Pure genius. A metal 'supergroup' covering theme tunes to their favourite movies. What could be more fun? So we get Patton's warped interpretations of 'The Godfather', 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Omen' to name a few..plus the pure evil of 'The Devil Rides Out' and 'Der Golem'. Fantómas have spectacularly failed to match this record and Patton has only equaled it by reforming Faith No More this year.
'What have they done to it's eyes!!!!'
http://www.myspace.com/fantomasband
Jimmy

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 10

10 - The Nightwatchman: One Man Revolution (Song, 2007)
We all remember Tom Morello from the legendary Rage Against The Machine and the not quite so legendary Audioslave and the now pretty crappy Street Sweeper Social Club right? Well, inbetween all this rap-rock shenanigans he put out a couple of solo albums under The Nightwatchman name of which this is the first.
Expectations weren't high, I'll be honest, but against all odds Morello pulls it off. Channelling Dylan and Springsteen, Morello lets all the anger and politics pour out that he possibly coudln't get out in Audioslave and it's surprsingly singalongable! 'one man revolution' and 'the road i must travel' prove greatly rousing. Check out Morello now as the self-styled 'black Robin Hood of 21st Century music'!
http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/
jimbo

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 9

9 - Pelican: The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw (Hydra Head, 2005)
After the might of their debut ep and the disappointment of the full length follow-up Australasia, Pelican had a lot of making up to do. Luckily they pulled out all the aces with TFIOTWBTT. The record explodes to life with Last Day of Summer and plows onwards with it's 'nature' theme but the stand out track has to be March to the Sea, or even it's extend ep version March Into The Sea. Blinding. Their last record was ok but now they're moved to Southern Lord maybe we'll see an even heavier side! Maybe.
http://hydrahead.tortugarecordings.com/pelican/
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 8

8 - Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra La La Band: 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (Constellation, 2008)
What's left to say about Thee Sliver Mt. Zion that hasn't already been said? Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor they threw out 4 full lengths of post-rock vs classical genius with a dash of punk-rock attitude for good measure. But is wasn't until Horses in the Sky that they really caught my attention, in particular with the track Teddy Roosevelt's Guns.
But then they dropped this H bomb on us?! Immense, sweeping, political, hypnotic etc etc! This is a unique band in times of mediocrity and blandness that wash away all pretense of what a band should be! The album consists of an instrumental intro, split into twelve extremely short tracks, and four full songs, and it's track 13, the first real song, 1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound, that TSMZMOATLLB grab you and drag you away in a way that perhaps only Canadians can! I can't recommend this record enough!
http://www.tra-la-la-band.com/
Semaj