ZIA Records Staff Top Albums of the Past Decade ~ 2000-2009

We asked our staff from all 8 ZIA Record Exchange locations what their favorite Top 10 Albums of the past decade were (2000-2009). Needless to say, it was hard for each of us to pick only 10! It's been an incredible decade full of new amazing talent, classic albums and music that will define a time for all of us.

Here are 35 of the Top Albums from the past ten years as according to your friendly, music-addicted staff at ZIA Records!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell (2003)
Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (2001)
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
Postal Service – Give Up (2003)
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robot (2002)
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (2007)
At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command (2000)
Tool – Lateralus (2001)
Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)
Elliot Smith – Figure 8 (2000)
Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005)
Death Cab For Cutie – Transaltlanticism (2003)
Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antartica (2000)
The Shins – Oh Inverted World (2001)
Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
Muse – Absolution (2004)
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Sigur Ros () (2002)
Black Keys – Thickfreakness (2003)
Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker (2000)
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
My Morning Jacket – It Still Moves (2003)
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)
Outkast - Stankonia (2000)
The Strokes - Is This It? (2001)
MF Doom - MM Food? (2004)
Kanye West - College Dropout (2004)
Johnny Cash – American IV : The Man Comes Around (2002)
Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope (2006)
Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (2002)
Deftones – White Pony (2000)
A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms (2000)

Daptone Records : Git It In Your Soul! By Ed at ZIA Thunderbird!

Daptone Records: Git it in Your Soul ~ Written by Ed from ZIA RECORDS Thunderbird
“Until you know that life is interesting - and find it so - you haven't found your soul." ~ Geoffrey Fisher

Most people I know don’t listen to modern music, and I can’t say that I necessarily blame them. I suppose it’s easy to be cynical about today’s music scene given the constant rotation of dismal crap played on mainstream radio. Hell, I’ll be the first to admit that I expect less from Top Ten Radio all the time. Granted, not all of it is bad, but by and large it’s easy to see why most people look to the jams of the past to get their rocks off. Me myself, I’ve always looked to soul music for redemption in radio America—and will almost go so far as to say that the pulse of America’s music industry can be judged on the quality of soul music that emerges out of it. After all, what does the best music do if not set the mood for some multiple-orifice penetration?

I mean, one can make an argument that the glorious howls of Stax and Motown is the best prelude to hanky-panky in recent memory. I guess I’m straying from my point which is simply to ask the following question: what happened to soul music? Seemed like those great crooners of the past were either dropping like flies (Otis, Marvin, etc.) or got completely written off as irrelevant and obsolete by a public that seemed increasingly hungrier for other noise. For few fleeting exceptions, the great soul tradition was hemorrhaging bad by the 80’s, reduced to little more than a chasm of gutless ballads that promised everything, including everlasting love, but failed to deliver those truly raw soul-driven vibes that carried this music to heights that deeply connected the human experience in ways that the printed word and moving pictures rarely did—and by the 90’s, the great soul tradition was a veritable corpse, relegated to the whimpering status of your parents’ music, a stamp that translates to everything mundane, dead-endish, and square in a medium that draws all of its strength from the vitality of the youth culture. In a nutshell, soul music in its current form became the last thing you’d ever want to associate with. Now, when you add those details to the fact that a two decade drought of any musical style—even one as inherently true as soul music—the painfully obvious reality was simply that this music was smack dab in some sort of postmortem limbo.

This brings us to the present day, and to a little independent label based out of Brooklyn, NY. The label I speak of is Daptone Records, formerly known as Desco Records. It should probably be noted that the story of Daptone ain’t any more spectacular than say the story of Rudy of Notre Dame football (underdog prevails against impossibly hopeless odds to capture a sliver of everlasting glory). Nope, Daptone Records ain’t no Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. In fact, I’d say Daptone is the furthest thing from because this label has all the makings of an emerging franchise. Despite being a fledgling independent label, as far as sheer musical talent goes, Daptone has more juice in its roster than most of the major labels combined. And it’s no secret that, like jazz music, that great soul sound is only as good and true as the caliber and chops of its musicians. Motown had the swingin’ sounds of the Funk Brothers, Stax had the Memphis Horns (Booker T & the MGs) as its house rhythm section, and Daptone has the Dap-Kings.

Recorded on analog tape, the first thing you’ll notice about Daptone boogaloo is the sheer authenticity of its sound. Musically, Daptone serves up a dazzling flurry of imagination and music (I’m talkin’ real muzik here) without the pointless, pretentious saturation of ego and chest thumping that has ruined one too many a potentially great album. I mean, Daptone really cuts loose and gets back to the roots of it all, to the effervescent essence, really, of what it’s all truly about: quality records with quality music. In fact, I’d say there ain’t another record label, independent or otherwise, that has consistently rattled off such a dependable series of elemental whoop-ass of soul, funk, gospel, and afrobeat like this label has in its eight year lifespan. And word of this label’s dynamic talent is spreading along the grapevine like a brushfire. In addition to what’s nearly unanimous critical adoration, Sharon Jones, the diva of the label, has already graced Coachella with her golden pipes, which means others are catching on quickly. I’m guessing it won’t be long until we see Sharon (or Ms. Jones if you’re nasty) hawking Pepsi bottles on NBC—which, I suppose, is better than the slow death of nigh obscurity and poverty that was the fate of far too many a talented soul crooner.


Rarely in the music industry do talent, entitlement, and payola sufficiently meet, but perhaps things will be different when the artists run the ship (as is the case with Daptone). Ultimately, however, I put my hopes in this record label because it saved soul music from oblivion. To quote Persian philosopher Jalal ad-Din Rumi, “When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy. When action comes from another section, the feeling disappears.” That’s exactly the feeling I get, irrepressible joy, when I hear the Dapsound—and exactly why I believe their records are among the precious few out there that deserves the time, money, and glory that only we can give.

Groups to check out: The Budos Band, the Daktaris, Menahan Street Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and Sugarman 3.

Written soulfully by Ed at ZIA Records Thunderbird!

FELT 3: Tribute to Rosie Perez Album Review by Zak!

New music project featuring MURS, SLUG and AESOP ROCK!


Holy shit! Felt 3! This record was highly anticipated and was well worth the wait! Murs says it best on the first track "Protagonists” - “The Felt boys are back. The boys of summer and this time your boy Aes Rock is the drummer!”


Felt is collaboration between MC’s Murs and Slug. They have released 3 records each a tribute to a particular actress. The first album was a tribute to Christina Ricci and the second was a tribute to Lisa Bonnet and the third is a tribute to Rosie Perez. Rosie must be some kind of muse because this is the best Felt record yet!

What makes all Felt records great especially the new one is the lyrical dynamic between Murs and Slug. The two flows complement one another without losing their own identities while doing so. In mainstream Hip Hop most collaborations and even group tracks seem contrived and artificial. Felt always seems purely organic. Where Slug leaves off on a bar Murs picks right back up flawlessly. Two smart MC’s who have not forgotten the importance of the flow and lyrics.

I could not write a review without mentioning Aesop Rocks incredible beats! I have to admit my initial thought on hearing that Aesop was the producer was excitement and then skepticism. Aesop has to be one of my favorite MCs but producing …I don’t know. I was hooked by the first track! I was then convinced by the 5th track “Like You”. Classic beats and incredible catchiness. Aesop Rock has defiantly established his own identity from his contemporaries like Blockhead and El-P. When you here an El-P track you know who it is right away. Now I can say the same for Aes. Having Big Whiz Scratch over the record doesn’t hurt either.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this record! …At Zia

P.S. Write your congressman and demand Felt perform at Coachella. It is up to you!

Slayer, Between The Buried & Me and Hypocrisy! Triple Metal Review Feature by Ryan at Speedway!

New album reviews of Slayer, Between the Buried & Me and Hypocrisy

Slayer-World Painted Blood



You pretty much know what you are going to get each time Slayer puts out a new record, and this newest album is par for the course in the current epoch of the group. All of the essential elements of the band’s sound are there: the twin guitar attack of Hanneman and King, Araya’s pissed off vocals, and the frenzied, fast tempo nature of the songwriting. The only thing that could be said to be missing in the performance is inspiration. There are some very good Slayer tunes on this album (“Hate Worldwide”, “Public Display of Dismemberment”), but there are a couple that fall flat on their face, such as “Americon”. Some of the songs simply feel tired, rushed, and pointless. I know, I’ve just committed blasphemy by calling a Slayer song tired, but I call them as I hear them. I mean, some tracks just don’t have the go-for-the-throat intensity that I normally hear from this band. The middle section of the album almost gets there, but then it just chugs along to a decent finish. The two members who probably save this recording are Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo. Tom’s vocals are even and on point, even if they lack the intensity of yesteryear. Dave proves yet again that he can lay down some amazing fills, accents, and footwork to keep some of the lifeless material afloat. Aside from the performances, probably the most glaring problem with this album is Greg Fidelman’s production (he also worked on Metallica “Death Magnetic”). The overall mix of the album is very flat and the thing that suffers the most is the guitars, they sound very thin and lack tone. Certain guitar solos on the album jump in volume way above the rest of the song, and it’s just plain annoying. At times during listening to this album, it seemed distorted on my speakers, and I checked to make sure they weren’t blown, and sure enough, it’s the recording itself. Please get someone else to mix your record next time Slayer! A Slayer record with guitars sounding like this ruins the experience. I am very much interested to see some of these songs live, and see how they differ from the shoddy album mix. Overall, it’s still nice to have Slayer making records, even if this one and the few before it don’t bring the intensity of the early albums, there are always some good songs in there to add to the already impressive legacy of these titans.


Between The Buried & Me “The Great Misdirect”


This record is a great achievement for this band. They have been moving in the “progressive” direction over the course of several albums, and it really came out on their last record “Colors”. This new record is superior to the last in many ways; it is very focused and intense. The album does start much like their last album, with a quiet, meandering song, but then it lurches forward to a glorious musical melee, and hardly any musical genre is left out of the mix. Grindcore, death metal, jazz, thrash, hardcore, a tad bit of indie/folk rock, it’s included on this record. The standout track for me would be “Swim to the Moon”, a nearly eighteen minute whirlwind. It sounds as if it is taking a lot of elements heard elsewhere on the album and rolling them all into one, climactic piece of music to sink your teeth into. I was impressed by the arrangement and layering of the many parts within this song, they all fit together and make sense, and I don’t get the feeling that it’s wankery and showmanship. If you like three minute songs, than maybe you might want to steer clear of this record; it’s a more challenging listen than your local alternative rock station. Hopefully a few more people will hear this music and get interested, it just doesn’t help the band that they are in a record deal with Victory Records (they have the nickname “The Last Good Band On Victory”), which has a bad rap with a lot of metal fans, I mean, this label is responsible for the propagation of the terrible, cookie cutter emo/metalcore scene, and it used to be a label that put out good records by bands like Earth Crisis, so their credibility is smashed. Some folks will pick up this new record and see the label it’s on and put it back on the shelf. So spread the word! I think it would be nice to see this band get some more recognition outside the following they already have; they obviously work hard on their material and put it ahead of image or rock star controversy that some bands use to get paid because they can’t play or write music very well. This album, not to mention some of their other output, is evidence enough for me that they are a force to be reckoned with in heavy music. Finally, if you check out the special edition of this album, there is a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album on a DVD and also a feature where each band member walks you through the gear they use to record, which is pretty cool if you are into instruments, pedals, amps, and the like, but I wouldn’t recommend it to those who could care less what amp a guy in the band has, just stick with the album itself and enjoy the musical assault that is “The Great Misdirect”.


Hypocrisy “A Taste of Extreme Divinity”


Hypocrisy is a band that has been around and been through its own ups and downs, but never seems to go away. The legendary Peter Tagtgren keeps the fires burning, even at eleven albums in. While I think their previous album, “Virus”, is slightly stronger than this release, there is a lot to like with the new record, as it incorporates a lot of the sounds heard on previous Hypocrisy releases. There are fast, almost black metal passages and slow, doomy sections as well, but at the core remains the key of the band’s sound: melodic death metal. The chorus on most songs makes you want to put the devil horns up in the air. This is something best about the Swedish metal sound when it is done right, melodies that are catchy, yet not cheesy. Vocally, Peter Tagtgren has probably been at his best on the last three Hypocrisy albums (including this one) and stands out a little more in his range. By the way, if you have not heard his vocals on the Bloodbath album “Nightmares Made Flesh”, I recommend you check that one out if you are a Hypocrisy fan; it’s one of my favorite death metal vocal performances in recent memory. With these much improved vocal performances, the steadiness of longtime bassist Mikael Hedlund, and the immense drum skills of Horgh (Immortal anybody?), the band is definitely putting up the goods consistently. No gimmicks, no fancy packaging, just some good old melodic death metal. What more can you want from a Hypocrisy album?

All I Want For Christmas....by Jenna at ZIA RECORDS Sahara

All I Want For Christmas - by Jenna at ZIA RECORDS Sahara in Las Vegas!
Fear not, my friends, another Mariah Carey Christmas CD is not on my wish list this year. As the countdown begins and that magical day grows nearer, I don't find myself wanting a festive stocking full of candy and trinkets, or enough snow to turn Sin City into a Winter Wonderland, or even a little blue box from Tiffany & Co. under my tree (although that last one comes in at a close second). No no, this year I want something much more special, something only one man can make possible; if I could have anything in the world this Christmas, it would be...

A "King Of The Hill" complete series box set! That's right, I would give up candy canes, snowmen -god dangit, I would even give up the blue box- if only i could have 13 seasons of Arlen's favorite family, commercial-free, wrapped up with my name on it. A little piece of me died the day I found out that I would never see Bobby graduate from high school, or learn any more Spanish from Senorita Peggy. I even recorded the series finale, only to delete it without watching it because I couldn't bear to acknowledge the end of an era. I might be able to sit through that episode without crying, however, if only I had those 12 years of Hank Hill in all his glory captured forever on DVD. I can just see it now: the entire series would come in a box resembling an Alamo beer can, or a propane tank, and each season cover would feature a different character from the show (1.Hank 2.Peggy 3.Bobby 4.Luanne 5.Boomhauer 6.Bill 7.Dale 8.Nancy 9.Joseph 10.Khan 11.John Redcorn 12.Cotton 13.Lucky). In addition to the 255 episodes that already aired, my dream-come-true present would include the secret episodes that FOX decided to cut short when they broke my heart and cancelled the show, and maybe a bonus future episode that would tie up any uncertainties I had about the Hills & Co. Would Bobby eventually come out of the closet? Would Boomhauer ever settle down? And what became of Hank's brothers, Junichiro and Good Hank? This special episode would answer all that and more. Oh, and of course no ultimate series collection would be complete without a behind-the-scenes look at the actors who voice all the characters! *when i saw that one episode on Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" where Duff and Geoff made a cake for KOTH and got to be voices on the show, I just about creamed my pants! Yes, I am that fan, and I want guest star interviews, animated blooper reels, alternate endings, and a sneak-peek at the souphanousinphone spin-off I wish were to follow.


So bring it on, Mike Judge! I dare you to top my fantasy deluxe/collector's edition/digital download included/limited time only King Of The Hill complete series box set. You have 24 days left!