The ugly truth is that economics is a science in the way that medicine was a profession while it still used leeches to balance a person’s vapours. Yes, some are always better than others, and certainly more entertaining, but they all tended to kill their patients.

The most intractable part of the current financial crisis, and the ongoing problem of the US economy is the huge tax which is levied on the American public by its corporations, primarily in the financial and health care sectors, and a political system based on lobbyists and their campaign contributions.

There are hidden taxes and impediments to ‘free trade’ at every turn. The ugly truth is that capitalism-in-practice hates free markets, always seeking to overturn the rules and impose oligopoly if not outright monopoly through barriers to entry, manipulation of the political process, distortion of regulation, predatory pricing, brute force, and the usual slate of anti-trust practices. – Zero Hedge.

Feist – Lovertits (with Gonzales)
Open Season (Arts & Crafts, 2001)

Few songs make a great B-side gems, where it can illicit so many quirks from the 00′s . This seemingly innocent hip-hop remix with Feist and Gonzales is actually a cover of Peaches’ ultra kinky electro punk piece. Not only the song is a decadal self referential, it also captures certain small room gentleness that blossom in the 00′s. I thought a great time capsule list for 00′s rock song should open with this one.

Interpol – NYC
Turn On The Bright Lights (Matador Records, 2002)

A debut album by Interpol with classic matador/Pixie sound. The attempt to glued back NYC after the terror attack is memorable. It also mark the beginning of retro pop punk that swept the entire blog which was the official party sound.

Asobi Seksu – Thursday
Citrus (Friendly Fire, 2006)

Since Moka was so serious about shoegazer, around this album release I actually put meek effort to listen to more shoegazer. Well, if you need a shoegazer album with dream pop slant, and typical fuzzy buzz of the 00′s. This album is a fun one. A legit indie too.

The Go! Team – Feelgood By Numbers
Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Memphis Industries, 2004)

Party Time. I still am not sure what mix the Go Team consist of, but if you want to know what J-PoP made in Southern England would sound like.

Jens Lekman – A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill
Oh You’re So Silent Jens (Secretly Canadian, 2005)

There was a brief, mini Swedish invasion around this album release. There must be at least 4 swedish pop track that MdM post, and I can’t remember any of them. Go to swedesplease.net to sort it all out.

Camera Obscura – Teenager
Underachievers Please Try Harder (Merge Records, 2003)

Underachievers Please Try Harder! lol. A fun little retro rock album. Very sweet sounding and Camera Obscura was all the rage in mid 00′s. Camera Obscura and Belle Sebastian for some reason were always come in pair. It’s all in attitude and execution. New idea is overated.

My Morning Jacket – Off the Record
Z (Ato Records, 2005)

Hard to believe this group is from Kentucky. And their wiki entry reads lke hardworking, climb the ladder indie band. They deserves it too. Hope they keep rocking. I particularly like this song trippy end. see wiki.

Bloc Party – Helicopter
Silent Alarm (Vice Records, 2005)

Bloc Party is so representive of retro pop punk of the 00′s. The block party and Arctic Monkey. They are too sleek and cool for regular knuckle dragging blues punk, but not too shiny that Spin magazine can destroy them. I should also mention Franz Ferdinand.

Arctic Monkeys – Riot Van
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Domino, 2006)

The band that breaks the recording industry sign up rule and do promo themselves and crash the chart. Everybody on the net we elated, the new age has arrived! Nobody knows for sure what age, but these lads rock hard and nobody cares.

M. Ward – Fuel For Fire
Transistor Radio (Merge Records, 2005)

M. Ward has that heart breaking quality in all his song. Way too serious for an age where everything was accelerated to stratosphere before anybody can understand how an event work. But check his album anyway. Here is amazon teaser “a collection of songs “about childhood memories of a utopian radio power”, dedicated to “the last of the remaining independent radio stations.” With songs normally associated with the front porches of Louisiana, back when families gathered around the radio instead of the TV, “Transistor Radio” fits somewhere between your great-grandfather’s collection of 78 rpm records and current and timeless artists such as Iron & Wine, Gram Parsons, and Tom Waits. Guests include Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley), Howe Gelb (Giant Sand), and Jordan Hudson (The Thermals).”

So that’s my little B-side short party list. The 00′s time capsule. second companion list of 00′s best of.

see also: I Remember 00′
image: [Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia July 2007], [The Sun and Doves]