41. Cex - Being Ridden
(Temporary Residence, 2003)
About 9-10 years ago, when I was a Baltimore teenager going to Dismemberment Plan shows all the time, I became intrigued by this other Baltimore teenager who was opening Dismemerment Plan shows and remixing them and making his own records and kind of forging a career out of being an oversharing IDM weirdo. For a while, Rjyan Kidwell’s personality and ideas came out a lot more in his live show than on his mostly instrumental records, but he started to outline his philosophy more explicity on the 2002 indie rap album Tall, Dark & Handcuffed, and a few months later followed it up with what I consider to be his defining statement and most ambitious album, still working the rapper schtick somewhat like a schtick but packing a huge amount of real talk into every song and getting Craig Wedren to flesh out the melodic parts. One of my more surreal concert memories of the past few years was seeing him open for the Postal Service, right after this and their record had just came out, and he performed the amazing “Wayback Machine” in the middle of the crowd, probably scaring the hell out of all the Gibbard fans.

42. Electrik Red - How To Be A Lady: Vol. 1
(Radio Killa/Def Jam Records, 2009)
The-Dream is a talented guy and all, but I just can’t handle that squeak toy voice most of the time, and would much rather hear him write for another singer, preferably female. And the irony of his ‘anonymous’ girl group full of no names that couldn’t move units with the biggest songwriter in R&B in their corner is that these girls have more personality than most of the superstars Terius writes for. They also got better beats.



43. Demi Lovato - Don’t Forget
(Hollywood Records, 2008)
The-Dream Nick Jonas is a talented guy and all, but I just can’t handle that squeak toy voice most of the time, and would much rather hear him write for another singer, preferably female. But seriously, this is just a killer power pop record, and I can’t wait to see what this chick does in the future.

44. Two Dollar Guitar - Weak Beats And Lame-Ass Rhymes
(Smells Like Records, 2000)
Two Dollar Guitar was a band that I blindly checked out on the basis of their being in the Sonic Youth file in the record store, which is something I did a lot as a teenager, but Tim Foljahn’s songs ended up resonating with me way beyond just the curiousity of wanting to hear who else Steve Shelly was playing drums for. Although Foljahn released another more low key TDG solo record a couple years ago, this album kind of stands as the band’s last big hurrah to date, although it’s about as low key as a big hurrah can get, and the biggest name guests on it are Nels Cline and Smokey Hormel. And even though it’s not quite the personal touchstone that 1996’s Burned And Buried is, it definitely has a lot of Foljahn’s best songs, from the tuneful “Kilroy” to the cathartic “T-Shirt” and the sarcastic “Everybody’s In A Band.”

45. Young Dro - Best Thang Smokin’
(Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records, 2006)
It’s pretty much standard for every major star in hip hop to get to underwrite a whole slew of albums by their posse or their brother or their hypeman, and for those coattail riders were happy to play mini-mi to their beneficiary’s style, or were simply blank slates with no style whatsoever. So credit goes to T.I. that at the peak of his powers, he went back and found a guy who had underground records out back at the same time he did with actual skills and let him do his thing. Dro’s commercial profile doesn’t quite defy the stereotype -- his debut didn’t go gold, and his biggest single had Tip on the hook. But the fact that he’s still considered something of a force 3 years later, with no sophomore LP yet and his boss locked up, is proof enough that he’s got something going with his dense color-oriented wordplay and infectiously slurry delivery. And to be honest this album isn’t hindered by its instant C-lister status in the slightest, and token introspective joints “We Lied” and “Hear Me Cry” are better than any punchline rapper’s token introspective joints have a right to be.

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