Yes, it’s part three of my countdown and the gems keep coming! Are you getting mad yet? Seeing some old faves show up? Don’t forget you can see Part II here and Part I here.

300. Pavement – Brighten The Corners (1997)

This aptly named record also tightens the focus after the sprawl of Wowie Zowie while embracing instrumental coloration like mellotron on the wonderful “Transport is Arranged.” The songwriting is sharp and Malkmus is at his lyrical best on bon mots like “Starlings in the Slipstream” and “Stereo” which namechecks Rush’s Geddy Lee.

299. The Jayhawks – Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)

Gary Louris and Mark Olsen were on the verge of splitting their partnership as The Jayhawks but they were able to release this, their best album before things took a turn for the worse. The songs are the best kind of classical, with the virtues of great craft married to stunning playing and soulful singing. It’s countrified but not country.

298. Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask (2005)
Commissioned by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block, this collaboration between MF Doom and Danger Mouse is way better than it’s commercial origins would suggest. Doom’s rapping is typically inventive and the production samples cleverly and liberally from such shows as Sealab 2021.

297. Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)

Buckley was the son of folky Tim Buckley, and like his dad would die tragically young. Unlike his father though, his songwriting and performing ran the gamut from big widescreen ballads to atonal guitar rave-ups to florid confessionals all driven by his astounding vocal instrument.

296. Archers of Loaf – Icky Mettle (1994)

This is AOL’s most viscerally aggressive record, but it’s tuneful as well – like Pavement and Superchunk were crossbred. The songs tumble out like rough little gems from a  plastic bag. Addictively good.

295. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything (1988)

After a few records of strummy c-86 style indie these brits took a deep dive into pioneering the shoegaze aesthetic, signified by gauzy hazy vocals, a sometimes overwhelming squalls of guitars both electric and acoustic, and windtunnel drumming.  It sounds qway better than my description and along with Cocteau Twins this is the record that helped to kick it all off. While MBV would go on to add a ferocity to their sound that was more akin to Sonic Youth, there’s a welcome sensuality here that makes this eminently listenable.

294. The Kinks - Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975)

After a string of increasingly self-indulgent concept albums topped by the career nadir of Soap Opera, The Kinks and more specifically the brothers Davies pumped up the songs and the volume, though again in service of a theme. Ray Davies seems to benefit from nostalgia and does so here, spicing up many of his arrangements with 1950s style keyboards and flourishes. This also rocks harder than anything they had done for years, presaging their next shift into heavy arena rockers. More to the point, it was fun, a great pisstake on the British school tradition.

293. The Wrens – The Meadowlands (2003)

The Wrens clearly went through a lot of shit between the 1996 release of Secaucus and this record, and the mood is pensive and melancholy when not downright bitter. This is one of those great records that somehow avoids fusing those emotions into a sour ball of self-pity and instead creates a cathartic release. This is helped along by thoughtful arrangements and honed songcraft. Unjustly overlooked.

292. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)

Indie rockers turned one hit wonders turned art -proggers, Flaming Lips seemed destined to travel up their own wazoos. Instead they created a delicately stunning collection of full-bodied melodic treasures capturing the exhilaration of scientific progress. Cleverly though all the Manhattan Project stuff is a veneer under which lies frontman Wayne Coyne’s most nakedly personal lyrics to date.

291. Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark (1974)

Mitchell continues to add more jazz and r & b shadings to her songwriting bag of tricks on a sometimes playful set of songs about love and relationships. “Free Man in Paris” is notoriously about David Geffen and “Raised on Robbery” has a touch of the Andrews Sisters in it’s intro, showing how expansiave her subject matter and arrangements were becoming.

290. Gary Wilson – You Think You Really Know Me (1977)

Beck before there was a Beck, a big chunk of Midnite Vultures owes a debt to the obscure and idiosyncratic electro-funk confessionals on this record. Recorded in his parents basement, this was a throwaway self-pressed release and even the artist himself saw it as a one shot deal, going back to the wedding/bar mitzvah band circit he still plays on to this day. The album is full of burbling synths and sexual frustration that meld together into an amazing tight-assed cry for help and/or nookie. Has to be heard.

289. Killing Joke – Killing Joke (1980)

This band was endlessly mis-labelled  – heavy metal, new wave, goth. What they did was to pioneer the kind of crunching mechanical throb that would later power most of Ministry, Big Black, and countless other imitators a decade later. The debut is their ultimate statement, a cold war inspired slice of darkness that beeps, boops, guitar chugs, and most importantly glides it’s way to the apocalypse.

288. The Jam – Sound Affects! (1980)

Paul Weller took his neo-mods down a decidedly more Beatles-y route here – quite literally on “Start!” which borrows it’s bass riff from “Taxman.” It’s a great set of songs from “Pretty Green” to the stellar “That’s Entertainment” the band struts their scope.

287. Husker Du – New Day Rising (1985)

Loud and trebly, this can be a challenge to listen to but the melodies are there just waiting to emerge. Grant Hart and Bob Mould are approaching their peaks as songwriters here and the great stuff keeps coming in sharp pummels of noise.

286. Pulp – We Love Life (2001)
Hooking up with reclusive legend Scott Walker to produce their last album was an idea that was so crazy it might just work, and work it did though most of the British music scene had moved on at this point. a shame as this is one of Pulp leader Jarvis Cocker’s best. The songs are lusher (listen to the killer strings on “Trees”) darker, funnier (the nature as pervert narrative of “Birds” and the hilarious “Bad Cover Version” and it’s video which lyrically tweaks Walker).

285. Big Audio Dynamite – No. 10, Upping St. (1986)

For a band that had such a rancorous split, the Clash reunion was so low-key as to be almost unheralded to this day. This record, the second by Mick Jones’ post-Clash band, was co-produced by Joe Strummer, who also co-wrote 5 of the tracks. Not surprising then that this is B.A.D.’s best record, extending The Clash’s forays into hip-hop with aplomb and adding sampling to the mix, along with their best melodies and sharpest lyrics.

284. Beck – Midnite Vultures (1999)

This contains some of Beck’s best work but it’s also his most divisive, a big cum stained ode to Prince, R & B both retro and modern, and the wonders of polymorphous perversity. “Sexx Laws” is a Stax song on Viagra, all horny horns and an insinuating Steve Cropper-ish guitar lick that becomes a full blown banjo solo. “Nicotene and Gravy” is a slinky groove that degenerates into a “Day in The Life” -style breakdown. Will take years to be fully appreciated.

283. Camper Van Beethoven – Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988)

CVB and lead songwriter/singer David Lowery continued to temporize their eclectic middle eastern and asian informed leanings with more pop and out-and-out rock songs on this, their first record for Virgin. It’s a damn good set of songs that still maintains the quirk factor as well as the occasional Balkan ballad. One of the most accessible tunes seems to be about an Eastern Bloc love affair, and “Tania” is one of the most brilliant songs ever about Patty Hearst.

282. Negativland – Helter Stupid (1989)

Negativland were pressured to go on tour after the surprise (relative) success of Escape From Noise but they knew they would lose money on the proposition. To get out of it they sent out a press release claiming that due to a (actual) local murder that had been tied to their music, they were not allowed to leave the vicinity. This was a complete goof yet suddenly they found the music press calling for comment and before long tjhey began to attract attention from news outlets. In fitting with their deconstructionist approach the first song on the record starts off jauntily urgent before it becomes clear that it is in fact the theme for a local news program whose lead story is a poorly researched and sourced version of their fabrication.  The rest of the record veers into a parody that samples liberally from local person on the street interviews and 70s AM radio staples as they explore pre-packaged nostalgia. The idea that anyone would want the detritus of the 70s still seemed comically unlikely in 1989 but post-Tarantino the put on actually turns out to have been prescient.

281. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)

Flamboyant singer songwriter Kevin Barnes and a cast of characters are Of Montreal, and he made several strong records before hitting a peak with this kaleidoscopic romp through his own failed marriage and the experience of living overseas in Norway unmoored from anything familiar. Where the impulse might be to go for dark dirges this  is full of bright shiny objects, glorious pop confections that recall Prince, Beck, New Order and even bubblegum like the productions of Max Martin. Barnes’ lyrical content is confessional to an unsettling extent however, which makes for a fascinating contrast.

280. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Pig Lib (2003)

Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has the unenviable task of always being compared to his former band as a solo artist. He does have a very distinctive style which is on full display here – from clever and sometimes nonsensical lyrics to blazing guitar chops. He also steps out a bit from the shadow of past glories with a consistent set of songs and an almost psychedelic bent on tracks like “Do Not Feed The Oyster.” While his solo debut was buttoned down this is expansive and jammy.

279. Harry Nilsson with John Lennon – Pussy Cats (1974)
Lennon was on the west coast in ’74, estranged from Yoko Ono and behaving very badly indeed, usually with Nilsson in tow. Not wanting to stop the party Nilsson asked him to produce a record and when he ruptured a vocal chord, gamely kept going. You can practically hear the cocaine and brandy that fueled these sessions in the tracks – a hodgepodge of covers and a few Nilsson originals. Lennon joins and plays on most everything and the spirit is almost too tangible of desperate partying to stave off the darkness. Remarkable if you go in for this sort of thing, and I do.

278. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Eminem pissed off a lot of people with his first record and on this follow-up he decides to push both the confessionals and satire even farther – more akin to Lenny Bruce or George Carlin than Nelly. Naturally Dre provides a stellar set of beats and musical settings to further this. “Criminal” is the key track, closing out the able by exploring the differences between fact and fiction and then hilariously exploiting them.

277. New Order – Low-Life (1985)

New Order thoroughly defined post-punk’s embrace of electronics and texture as the band fully sloughed off their Joy Division past. Still until now their most galvanizing statements were on non-album singles but this album finally brings together their popcraft and their atmospheric skills to make an indelible statement of purpose.

276. Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes (1995)

GBV’s breakthrough with Bee Thousand felt like a one-time event and indeed the low-fi aesthetic gets precious over the course of a career. Bob Pollard still doesn’t polish things up on this follow-up but he lets many of the best melodies shine while showing what would become a characteristic unwillingness to edit with this sprawling 28 track opus. To be fair some of the songs are no longer than a half minute. The great ones here rank with his very best though, “As We Go Up, We Go Down”, “Motor Away” and “Striped White Jets” are just a few of the top notch ones here.

275. Helium – The Magic City (1997)

Mary Timony vastly expands the sound of her band, embracing proggy instruments like harpsichords and some distinctly new wave keyboard sounds including a synth on “Leon’s Space Song” that could be straight from a Cars record.
Her genius is that the song itself doesn’t feel like anyone else’s work, just a dramatic way to expand and deepen her sharp songwriting.

274. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime (2007)

This debut really did sound like nothing that had come before – minimalist tracks that almost sounded like a very smooth CD player skipping, little fragments that build and build until they are revealed to be micro-moments from other tracks – say “A Paw in My Face” which resolves unexpectedly into Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

273. Allen Toussaint – Southern Nights (1975)

Toussaint is a fixture in the New Orleans music world, producing, songwriting, arranging and playing on records for decades for other artists and to a lesser extent his own solo forays. He was on a purple patch in the mid-70s as this album shows, extending and expanding his New Orleans r & b and funk into slow languid reveries as on the title track (later amped up and turned into a big country crossover hit by Glen Campbell) and hot burning tracks like “Last Train.”

272. Stereolab – Transient-Random Noise Bursts, With Announcements (1993)

The early 90s was a great period of revival for interest in German “Krautrock”, experimental rock from the 60s and 70s that included bands like Can, Kraftwerk and Faust. This was due in part to the championing of folks like Julian Cope but also to the incorporation of many of those bands sounds into the bag of tricks of bands like Stereolab. Thus the flooring 18 minutes of “Jenny Ondiolene” here among other tracks. But there was also 60s pop, shoegaze, new wave, and post-punk mixed into their stew on this, their most experimentally catchy record.

271. Girls - Album (2009)

Beautifully detailed bedroom pop doesn’t get much better than this. What’s original about these guys (primarily Christopher Owen’s songs fleshed out by JR White’s arranging and production) are the songcraft and melodic giftedness and willingness to juxtapose the bright and sunny with dark and grimy.

270. The Auteurs – After Murder Park (1996)

One of the least likely bands to call in Chicago noise master Steve Albini to helm the boards, Luke Haines and band serve up appropriately feisty songs and performances while still sounding very much like themselves. The subject matter is genuinely drak, a loose song cycle about murder, loss, childhood, and small town Britain.

269. Faust – Faust IV (1973)

Faust rein in some of their more experimental impulses for this, their final album as a working unit (they would re-unite down the line). You can hear the influence they had on everyone from Animal Collective to Public Image Ltd. to Pixies with the standout being the sublime “Jennifer.”

268. Lambchop – Is a Woman (2002)

This can feel like a strange woozy trip through a small town, with Kurt Wagner limning  little character studies for each song. There is a definite flow to Lambchop’s music that is defiantly down-tempo without being somnambulistic – a “Hey city fella, what’s the rush?” sensibility.

267. Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom (1982)

Costello aimed for the bleachers on this one, bringing in Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick to class up the joint with big bold arrangements. In return, EC turns in an impressively varied set of songs from torchy to tetchy. As the title suggests these are baroque confections wrapped around a trademarked sneer.

266. Black Francis – Bluefinger (2007)
Pixies main man Black Francis practiced under the name Frank Black up until 2007 when, following that bands revival on tour he reverted to his original stage name. His first album as Black Francis is also his most inspired and energetic in years, reaching back to the aggressiveness of his early work while retaining the songcraft and embrace of tradition that he explored during his solo years. A concept record about Dutch rocker Herman Brood, you don’t need to know the troubled history of it’s inspiration to appreciate its greatness and the one Brood cover “You Can’t Break a Heart and Have It” is outstanding.

265. Spoon – A Series of Sneaks (1998)

These taut guitar driven tracks were seen rightly as a big advance over this band’s early work but has since been overshadowed by the disastrous major label relationship it represented and the band’s artistic rebirth on Merge Records after being dropped after this one album. What’s been lost is what a tight driving slice of awesome the record is, subtly pointing the way to the band’s latter-day minimalism more than their immediate follow-up did.

264. The Mekons - I Heart Mekons (1993)

This list is chock full of records that make the argument that major labels were lumbering tasteless beasts that only served to push product through pipelines but stifled great music. Today plenty of artists have taken advantage of digital technology to bypass this and have suffered little given the paucity of physical retail locations but in the 80s and 90s few bands had this choice. The Mekons had already bounced from a bad situation at A & M and were newly signed to Warners subsidiary Loud, which rejected this, their brightest and most accessible record, as not being commercial enough. This was their fourth killer disc in a row and this time the subject was romance, their cynical and wry pens turning to the many facets of human relations.   

263. The Cars – Candy -O(1979)

The Cars were another band destined to live down a stellar debut but by any standard this, their second record, was an artistic and commercial success even if not on par with the first. Ocasek proves to be a songwriter to be reckoned with – “Let’s Go” and “Dangerous Type” joined the list of Cars classics. The title track strips things down to a punky urgency and “Double Life” is a should have been hit.

262. Paul McCartney – Ram (1971)

In the wake of the traumatic Beatles split it was Paul (and Yoko) who came in for the most opprobrium but time has proven out how evenly matched the talents of at least John, Paul and George really were. Ringo’s talent of course was being in the right place at the right time. This was Paul’s second solo disc and a big improvement on his slap-dash debut but still received scathing reviews. Now it seems like a pretty great record, with a command of melodies and songwriting skill that most artists would kill for. Yes Paul could get awfully silly or just plain treacly but not here – the soft stuff like “Heart of The Country” is great and simple, the tricky stuff like “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is earworm heaven and the hard stuff like “Smile Away” rips.

261. Suicide - Suicide (Alan Vega/Martin Rev)  (1980)

Issued both under their band names and credited to both of the seperately, Vega and Rev built on their groundbreaking electronic debut by enlisting Ric Ocasek though this never approaches The Cars level of pop. There is a fuller, more pronounced hookcraft here that is often disarmingly hummable, clearly inspiring every synth duo to follow in the 80s.

260. ..And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Source Tags and Codes (2002)

This album caught them at the midpoint between Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma styled indie rock and prog expansiveness more along the lines of Pink Floyd. Reviews were ecstatic included a coveted 10.0 from Pitchfork.com but this has proved a very hard record to live up to, especially given its nature as a transition piece. It truly is their best though.

259. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

R.E.M. were disillusioned by the experience of making their third LP and were nothing if not a band always looking to build on their last record. As such they turned to much more direct songwriting for LP number four and recruited John Cougar Mellencamp’s producer Don Gehman to add sonic bite. Opener “Begin The Begin” ably blows out the cobwebs announcing this as their rocking-est record yet but then they follow up with the drop-dead gorgeous “Fall On Me” and suddenly these scrappy indie pioneers looked like contenders indeed. Stipe’s songs and singing were becoming clearer by the note, with more political content than they’d ever cared to include before, at a time when few others bothered.

258. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)

Dylan is completely steeped in the americana he essentially helped codify with The Basement Tapes, sounding more relaxed and in charge in the 00s than he had since the mid 70s. It’s his best set of songs since then two, spread out over the decade and including this gimlet eyed gem. The songs are chock full of references that cut towards the past and the future, as much about the venality of today as of everyday. It’s a thrill when he sings about thinking of Alicia Keys because we want Dylan to be in the here and now and also as he does here, to be completely timeless.

257. Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic (1975)

This is the touchstone Aerosmith album, the band at the peak of their songwriting and recording powers (if not physical condition). Toxix Twins Joe Perry and Steve Tyler would fade after this, only to come back in the late 80s assisted by a phalanx of song doctors, as well as rehab technicians. This is the real deal though, a band finding out that their blues-based repertoire could lead them away from simply being Jagger/Richards clones.

256. Wire – 154 (1979)

The culmination of a groundbreaking three album run, Wire’s third continued to shift the palette away from the ultra-short riff-bombs of their first album into a keyboard based experimental vein. The songs get stretched and icy, entering into Bowie in Berlin territory, but it always gets snapped back into sharp melodies and biting guitar work.

255. Rocket From the Crypt – Circa: Now! (1992)

A huge leap forward for an obscure bunch of punks, RFTC deploy a newly minted horn section and deeply detailed guitar textures to blow minds and open major label wallets in the post-Nirvana landscape. The songs are chugging roiling anthems that flirt with 50s and 60s party rock moves even as the guitars blaze.

254. Peter Gabriel – So (1986)

Gabriel’s most accessible and best known work still has time amidst the ersatz Stax groove of “Sledgehammer” and the tender Kate Bush duet “Don’t Give Up” to nod to his artier and worldier instincts, mixing in a collaboration with Laurie Anderson and Youssou N’ Dour. An integral part in the rise of “world music” craze in the 80s along with Paul Simon’s Graceland.

253. Parliament – Funketelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (1977)

Entire rap careers were made off of sampling this album, and the band Urge Overkill even took their name from one of the lyrics so – influential yes. Booty-shaking? Also, yes.

252. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (2010)

For their third album these semi-Canucks open up their dense wall of sound to let it breathe, imbuing their loose concept of a post-apocalyptic suburban scene with a clarity and lightness that their other records only hinted at. It rocks harder too on tracks like “Month of May.”

251. Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

Sample-happy Antipodeans tune their stations to ten groovy stations at once  it seems, making seamless grooves out of the raw material of existing pop. The endless dance party is interrupted only by the astounding “Frontier Psychiatrist” one of the great cut-up artifacts of the last century in which John Water’s Polyster kicks off a crazy quilt of free association samples.

250. Slint – Tweez (1989)

You could definitely call a band with songs named after the members parents, mumbling in place of lyrics, and sharp angular guitars and weird time signatures an acquired taste. Once you get a yen for it though, like salty ice cream it can become an itch you need to scratch.

249. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (1994)

The small scale love angst of their second album made Built to Spill an underground sensation, even as it marked the end of  their slightly twee-ish indie phase as they became a more classic rock focused guitar juggernaut. Packed with sweet harmonies, strings, and funny call-outs this is more in line with Big Star than Crazy Horse.

248. M.I.A. – Arular (2005)

M.I.A. at her best pulls like a scavenger from the best little bits pieces and styles and smooshes it into a funky, catchy, naggingly ass moving treat. This debut record was an eye-opening stew from the Sanford & Son sampling “URAQT” to the slow rolling synth explosions of “Bingo” it announced a new kind of world music and a new star.

247. Lou Reed – New York (1989)

Reed sounds more vital and engaged than he had in years chronicling his city in the late 80s. Stripped down and to the point there is a warmth in the grooves and the lyrics of this fine set of songs. This is no more so on the heartbreaking “Halloween Parade” an elegy for the Village institution that was ravaged by AIDS over the preceding 10 years. His most human and humane record.\

246. Brian Eno & David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981)

During the recording of three Talking Heads albums Eno and Byrne were becoming joined at the hip to the extent that the other members of the band were beginning to feel uncomfortable. Finally the two men were able to be alone, and what they made together melded the global sounds they had followed with Talking Heads with the literal global sounds of various peoples recorded from radio and television, a Tower of Babel accompaniment.

245. Digital Underground – Sex Packets (1990)

Before gangstas hijacked George Clinton’s p-funk grooves at gunpoint, Digital Underground plundered the master of funk for this funny ribald romp. They also, crucially, updated Clinton’s taste for surreal humor (Humpty Hump has a pickle nose for crissakes!) and sex fixation (said pickle nose is said to “tickle your rear” in a 69). This is much more than just an excersize in plundering, it’s a party record par excellence with an intelligence behind the goofing.

244. Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Airplane Over The Sea (1998)
A huge inspiration to all sorts of acts from Arcade Fire to Bon Iver – a touchstone for how indie rock would sound in the decade that followed. Only few of Jeff Mangum’s followers could equal his songwriting skill or facility with different tempos and textures. The mystique around the record is only magnified by his continued disinterest in a follow-up record.

243. Pulp – Different Class (1995)

Jarvis Cocker and Pulp were unlikely exponents of Britain’s britpop revival having toiled in the indie underground since the mid 80s with little success. What no-one counted on was for Cocker to suddenly develop a sharp incisively sexy songwriting voice, finding it’s full flower here on the “Common People” single. There was plenty more though, like the seedy “Pencil Skirt” and the festival baiting of “Sorted for E’s and Whizz.”

242. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
The Wu stormed into hip-hop consciousness with what is still one of the genre’s most impressive debuts, a fully formed collective of incredibly talented rappers all folded into the spare hard-hitting production by RZA. This is a real album despite the varied lyrical approach taken by each member, each track is tied together with samples from cheesy kung-fu flicks and builds on each other to create a masterpiece.

241. Sonic Youth – EVOL (1986)

Sonic Youth swapped out drummer Bob Bert three albums in for Steve Shelley and suddenly snapped into focus, their weird alternate tunings and experimental leanings buttressed by structure and an emerging fascination with pop culture embodied by standout ‘Expressway to Yr. Skull” also know as “Madonna, Sean and Me”. Everything they would do after would be informed by this first signpost.

240. Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)

This is one of those utterly unique albums that could have been made yesterday as easily and credibly as 1980 when it was released. Spare mantra like songs that build tension that coils and coils, it’s a revelation of simple arrangements trumping all. Alison Statton’s semi-detached singing and wry lyrics were hugely influential but their sound has never been imitated as it’s impossible to get quite right without being a clear rip-off. Essential.

239. Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)

A talented and troubled guy’s high-water mark in every way. Richard Perry does his best to rein the man in but for every “Without You” (meant here with tongue firmly on cheek, covered cluelessly ever since by the likes of Celine Dion) there is the blazing rock of “Jump Into The Fire” or the novelty of “Coconut.” Like an immersion into the best AM radio station of the early 70s.

238. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

There were still a  surprising number of people who believed in the real possibility that Steve Malkmus could become the next Kurt Cobain at this point, another voice of a generation. And why not? Lyrics like the tennis drama “Stop Breathing” or the wanderlust ode “Range Life” were not as in love with wordplay for it’s own sake as later material would be. The band itself winked at comparisons between R.E.M.’s first and second records and their debut and this follow-up – leaving unspoken the career arc to stardom this implied. It wouldn’t work out that way though, as subsequent records increasingly focused on the existing cult without building a bigger audience. In retrospect it seems absurd that the literate to a fault lyrics, wonderfully ramshackle arrangements and bursts of noise and in-jokes were ever considered the stuff that mainstream success might have been made of.

237. Metallica – Master of Puppets (1986)
In tenth grade my friend Bob McCormick would play this while we hung out in his room listening to music. Bob had admirably eclectic taste that I was way too “cool” to appreciate at the time. I was punk rock man! So I was pretty dismissive of this, Devo, and the Aerosmith stuff he’d play me only to come back to it later and realize it was actually pretty good. In this case, more than good – amazing. With zero mainstream support Metallica sold millions of copies of this album, defining thrash metal’s distinct fusion of heavy Sabbath with fast and hard Black Flag pummel. While the “dark” lyrics of a Judas Priest or Iron Maiden seemed like the stuff that only a guy with a mullet and a jean jacket would take seriously, Hetfield’s bleak worldview makes this genuinely chilling and surprisingly impassioned.

236. The Amps – Pacer (1995)

Originally intended as material for the Breeders much awaited third album, the follow-up to their surprise million selling Last Splash, those plans were derailed by Kelley Deal’s drug bust and Kim Deal’s decision to scrap the original big budget recording sessions. Inspired by fellow Dayton resident Bob Pollard’s aggressively low-fi Guided By Voices, she re-recorded the tracks with an almost totally new band, renaming them after she and Kelley’s original pre-Pixies duo. The irony is that this is would be one of her strongest sets of material, far better than any subsequent Breeders album but the offhand nature of the recording and release plus the unfamiliar band name led it to be utterly buried and still underrated.

235. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (2007)

James Murphy gets (mostly) sincere on his second album as LCD Soundsystem, taking his song-heavy electronica to a level rarely achieved by his peers. There are at least three classic anthems here, “Someone Great”, the pulsing “All My Friends” and the NYC goes Disney of “New York I Love You.”

234. Bob Dylan – Love & Theft (2001)
At this late stage in Dylan’s career he could be excused for endlessly touring behind his considerable catalog but the man has longevity in mind. This was his best album in two decades, a tour de force through the history of American song as refracted through Dylan’s utterly timeless originals.

233. Bob Marley - Exodus (1977)
This is Marley at his slickest, a pop music machine cranking out indelible melodies. This has some of his biggest hits but even the lesser known tracks glide along on the liquidy groove even as he becomes a bit more focused on his own mortality in the wake of an attempt on his life.

232. The National – Alligator (2005)
The National finally perfect their melancholy sound on their third album but it still has a rockingness that would be mostly ironed out on future releases. Less perfectionist than they would become, they leave the door open for outright ravers like “Abel” but the songs are just as top-notch.

231. The Replacements – Hootenanny (1983)

Rolling Stone magazine released a new edition of their Record Guide the same year this came out and their entry on the band was typically dismissive, basically “another hardcore band, and who will care in a few years.” While the ‘Mats may never have crossed over to stardom their influence was huge and they were never really a hardcore band at their heart. Here is where they really start to branch out in their own ramshackle booze addled style, from mock cocktail jobs (with the personals read over them) to a Beatles filleting to some of Paul Westerberg’s best songs. “Within Your Reach”, “Color Me Impressed” and “Run It” all showed the glimmerings of the band’s future direction.

230. Talking Heads  – The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (1982)

The temptation is to put Stop Making Sense here as it too is an incredible life album but it has a film to accompany it (it’s technically a soundtrack) and the full experience is to watch the thing. This is just as revelatory and says more about the band and its material during a transition between their Eno years and their more outward facing commercial period. The first LP is the stripped down core band at various live dates playing their early material raw and urgent. This is what a hungry band sounds like and it’s transporting. Disc two than neatly slides the top of your head off, presenting the fully expanded version of the band with three backup singers, two percussionists, Busta Cherry Jones augmenting bass, P-Funk’s Bernie Worrell adding keyboard flavor, and the amazing Adrian Belew throwing in guitar leads. The power of this line-up is stunning and transforms some of the more insular material on albums like Fear Of Music into downright stompers. Sure this doesn’t have the stadium whomp of that other live album (compare “Once In A Lifetime” to see) but this pulls you in with intricate rhythms and grooves that no-one else was doing in quite the same way.

229. Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy (1974)

This was Eno’s second solo album and hinted at some of the more ambient sounds he would become consumed with in the near future. There still was a clear rock underpinning to these tracks though even as he moved away from the glammier aspects of his debut and his work with Roxy Music. “Third Uncle” is like someone taking Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” and beating the piss out of it in an alley, while “The True Wheel” prefigures some of what future collaborators in Talking Heads would be doing a few years later.

228. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975)

The album that made Springsteen what he is, and the one that he has to embrace or reject with every subsequent release. For those who find his affinity with Lou Reed and Patti Smith odd, it helps to remember that prog rock excess and fey singer/songwriter treacle were dominant in 1975 and Bruce’s embrace of early 60s notions like the Wall of Sound and populist anthems that drew from both Motown and the likes of Del Shannon were the kind of back to basics moves that led to punk. Though indie rockers read the big arrangements and committed performances as a bit corny a new generation such as Arcade Fire and The Hold Steady would look to this for inspiration.

227. The Slits - Cut (1979)

Though the three women in The Slits came out of the London punk scene their debut clearly incorporated their fascination with reggae, only skewed by their choppy angular playing and infectious group vocals. The songs are idiosyncratic and feminist, a point of view rarely heard in rock music up until then. They are also great fun, sharp and witty on originals like “Typical Girls” and their killer cover of “I Heard it Through The Grapevine.” Though they influenced everyone from Hole to Bikini Kill this still sounds completely unique.

226. Suicide – Suicide (1977)

Two guys and a synthesizer was not anyone’s idea of a band line-up in 1977 – 1982 maybe. But there was Alan Vega and Marty Rev at CBGB’s alienating audiences with a kind of automated take on rockabilly, punk and even ballads. Hugely influential and not just on other electronic artists (witness R.E.M.’s cover of “Ghost Rider”). Spare and thrilling.

225. Supergrass – In It For The Money (1997)

These Brit-poppers had an exuberantly energetic and fizzy debut but it’s in this follow-up that they deepened and broadened their musical approach with an incredibly varied set of material. This is even more true on the Limited Edition which appends an extra disc of even more great tracks. “Richard III” careens like Smashing Pumpkins with a groove transplant, “You Can See Me” has a killer riff and a lyric that comes on like crazy, and the title track soars.

224. X – Los Angeles (1980)

X came out of L.A.’s underground hardcore scene sure, but their choice of ex-Door’s keyboardist Ray Manzarek as producer was a tip-off that their ambitions were broader than many of their compatriots. Their literate hard-hitting songs put this debut album on the map, as did the sweet/sour guy/gal vocals of John Doe and his wife Exene Cervenka. As punk as they were, there were already clear hints of rockabilly and classic rock structure in the flashy guitar playing of Billy Zoom.

223. Wipers – is This Real? (1980)

One of the great lesser-known American punk albums, Greg Sage’s first album as The Wipers shows off his fiery guitar style and sharp grasp of melody and structure on a set of songs that capture the anomie and distance of adolescence as well as any album before or since.

222. Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

Seriously, there really was a time when Rod Stewart was cool. Stop sniggering, for real. As the lead singer for the Faces he lead a down and dirty band that gave the Stones a run for their money and helped inspire bands like The Black Crowes, Georgia Sattelites, Supergrass, Primal Scream, Oasis and countless others. His early solo work was mostly an extension of his Faces records, with the band backing him up. He betrayed a curate’s eye for good songs to cover and matched them with originals like “Maggie May” that became classics in their own right. Think of him as that leering old perv turned showtune warbler? Check out how he and The Faces tear it up on “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

221. Santigold – Santogold (2008)

Pegged rather unfairly as an M.I.A. clone, Santi White and her compatriots in Santogold do share some characteristics and the use of producers Diplo and Switch on various tracks. In general these tracks are far more open and lighthearted, gliding where M.I.A. pounds. There is a real gift for catchy tunes here in addition to solid beats on songs like “L.E.S. Artistes” and “I’m a Lady”, all put over with Santi’s winning vocals. Let’s hope that follow up is on it’s way.

220. PJ Harvey – Dry (1992)

PJ Harvey (which was a band name at this point) debuted with this album, which felt like a punch to the solar plexus. Emotional resonant, even brutal songs stripped down to bare riffs and hard motifs. It was striking, original and necessary back in ’92 and still so today. Polly Jean Harvey was undisputed at the center of her namesake band playing tough direct guitar, singing with a knowing detached sneer and writing with a surgeon-like efficiency.

219. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Not even an album anymore but a fact of life.

218. The Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray (1992)

It’s easy to hate Evan Dando, with his heart-throbby good looks and himbo affect. There was more depth to him than that as was displayed on several of his bands early songs and a blazing cover of Suzanne Vega’s “Luka”, and the Gram Parson’s meets Johny Thunder’s eclecticism of his previous record Lovey. With an almost totally new band including supposed GF Juliana Hatfield on bass and backing vocals (and record cover) he found a distinct sound, 2 parts New Zealandy jangle pop to one part power punk with the acoustic guitars turned way up. It’s a terrific set of songs played with great verve but also point to his Achilles heel in the standout track “My Drug Buddy”, a poignant song about the joys of getting high with a pal.  Sadly the good reviews and sales this album garnered led Dando to have many, many more drug buddies and the effect was less than salutary for his career.

217. Can – Ege Bamyasi (1972)

Though Can would go on to make more good to great music over the following decade plus, this is their highwater mark as a band with the classic line-up (I am a diehard believer that Damo Suzuki is way way better than Malcolm Mooney as a vocalist) firing on all cylinders. First of all there is that crack rhythm section pounding out molten grooves that twist and turn. Then there are the songs like “Vitamin C” and the guitar driven “I’m So Green.” So much of art-rock and post-punk that would come later on in the decade starts here.

216. Superchunk – Here’s Where The Strings Comes In (1995)

Not all of their diehards appreciated it but the ‘Chunk tried to add some more complexity to their straightforward guitar driven punk rock with some trickier arrangements and varied tempos. Lyrically the disintegration of  Mac and Laura’s marriage can be felt here just as it was on the preceding record but this is very much the aftermath – a walk through a still-tender wasteland of easily bruised feelings and confusion. Powerful stuff.

215. Fountains of Wayne – Utopia Parkway (1999)

A concept album of sorts that brings to life the feeling of being a young adult in the bridge and tunnel environs of New York City, with characters flitting around Long Island and New Jersey and naturally into the city itself looking for lost loves or even catching a laser show at the long-defunct Hayden Planetarium. It can be surprisingly poignant, a nostalgic drive through the old neighborhood with a long lingering pass past the houses of ex-girlfriends.

214. The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)

Mark E. Smith really hit his stride in the mid 80s with this album representing the high-water mark of what feels like hundreds of releases since 1978. Is it a coincidence that this occurred during his improbable marriage to the delectable and  talented Brix Smith who plays her guitar like a freaking goddess sprung from the wrist of Hank Marvin. Her twang complements Mark’s nasal rants perfectly and the band even stretches into spacy synthy territory with the wonderful “L.A.” Get the reissue for an excellent disc of contemporaneous singles and other tracks.

213. Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill (1991)

It’s easy to take these guys for granted now in the age of Snoop Dogg but when this debut came out their sheer allegiance  to weed was unusual, as was their hispanic and proud background. Their heavy beats, distorted samples and relaxed tempos all pioneered the West Coast blunted sound that Dr. Dre would take to the bank, and the in your face rapping of B. Real and crew also set the template for more unique voices and rhyme styles to emerge.

212. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)

A great capstone to an astounding decade of work in which Bowie could lay claim to an artistic transformation equal to that of the Beatles in scope if not in stature. This sums up everything the guy could do in a very accessible way with “Ashes To Ashes” as the bridge back to the Bowie of “Space Oddity” by acting as its sequel. Robert Fripp’s guitar skitters and burns on tracks like the crushing “Fashion” and the cover of Tom Verlaine’s “Kingdom Come” is superlative. His last truly great record before slipping into a bad glossy patch.

211. Cheap Trick – In Color (1977)

Cheap Trick quickly followed up their debut with another terrific set of songs drawing on their years on the bar-band circuit in Illinois. This is power pop with the emphasis on power, a sound that put them at odds with most of what was getting radio and critical attention at the time. Now of course it sounds like everyone from Weezer to Fountains of Wayne to Foo Fighters but it took a long time indeed for this band to get it’s due. It’s hard to pick a single gem out of the batch but if I must, check out “Southern Girls” or the sublime “Oh Caroline” to hear how it’s done.

210. McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas (2002)

The debt to the Pixies is clear in the raving vocals and hook happy unhinged guitar riffing (not to mention the presence of Steve Albini behind the boards)  but these Scottish lads bring a unique lyric sensibility that can be gleaned from song titles like “The World Loves Us and is Our Bitch.” “Fuck This Band’ is especially funny in it’s offhanded dismissal of themselves – “they curse too much..” There is also tremendous joy and verve in the playing and arranging of each killer song – witness “Alan is a Cowboy Killer” and it’s nagging backing vocals. Brilliant.

209. Green Day – American Idiot (2004)

Really Green Day had no business making this record. On the decline commercially and artistically the Bay Area pop punkers repaired to the studio to make their new record only to have the hard drive stolen with their new batch of songs. Instead of re-recording songwriter and singer Billie Joe and the band worked up a much more personal and ambitious batch of songs that reflected their bewilderment and anger over the Bush administration’s response to 9/11 and invasion of Iraq. What came out was a complex concept record with the band’s best songs, and one of the greatest protest records of the era. Veering from intimate character sketches to polemical barnburners plus a set of interlinked suites, following an actual narrative is secondary to the emotional pull of the band’s anger and sadness embodied in teh title track and the incendiary “Holiday.” I was prepared to hate this thing when it came out but I appreciate it more with every year.

208. Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full (1987)

A stone classic, Rakim’s rhyming became the turning point from Run D.M.C’s call and response to more complex intricate one-man structures pioneering what every great MC would do subsequently. The production is spare in the best sense, suporting and pushing the rhymes and the flow. You MUST get the deluxe edition which appends essential remixes including the classic Coldcut 12″ version of the title track.

207. The Breeders – Last Splash (1993)

In the wake of the acrimonious split of the Pixies Black Francis (nee Frank Black) seemed well-positioned to leverage his songwriting and bandleading status in a solo career but for a variety of reason Kim Deal received most of the good will from fans. While Black struggled to stay relevant she was embraced by the indie world and with this, had a bigger hit than anything her band had done. With her twin sister Kelley in tow and a big single in the infectious “Cannonball” Deal was on top of the world, that is until drugs sent she and Kelley into a tailspin that took years to work through. Still this moment when they were America’s twin indie sweethearts with their guileless breathy vocals and grinding guitars was a damn sweet one.

206. Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (1977)

Costello’s debut is where he sounds most like his mentor Nick Lowe, with sturdy pub rock songs amped up to the point of being able to pass for punk. In these pre-Attractions days he’s backed by Clover which is in fact Huey Lewis’ News, and they are nothing if not pros. What makes it come alive is Elvis the C’s extraordinary songwriting – It’s an amazing set of songs from “Alison” to reggae-fied closer “Watching The Detectives.”

205. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

With this record George Clinton made clear his intention that Funkadelic be much more than just a funk outfit – they were a rock band too with Eddie Hazel’s Hendrix influence as important as Bootsy’s bass playing. This is the best set of songs of any Clinton unit’s album, hands down and the playing is stellar. “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock” spells it out pretty clearly but it’s all hot stuff.

204. Propellerheads – Decksnaddrumsandrockandroll (1998)
Unfairly compared to Chemical Brothers, this duo from Bath have but this single album to their name but what a record. Influenced as much by hip-hop and lounge as by John Barry (they even bring Shirley Bassey in to sing one track) this is big beat electronica at its best.

203. Mos Def – Black on Both Sides (1999)

A return to the sounds and styles of Native Tongue rap from the late 80s/ early 90s, but with a modern twist. Mos has his own style and flow, thoughtful, deconstructive and disarmingly casual. He’s not afraid to be smart and politically insightful, and the lush inventive music supports his cerebral intentions.

202. The Replacements – Tim (1985)

The ‘Mats sign to a major label and turn to Tommy (Ramone) Erdelyi to helm their first album on Sire. Erdelyi ends up drying out the production a tad too much but Westerberg delivers with a great set of songs. “Lay it Down Clown” and “Dose of Thunder” are clearly there to give Bob Stinson a chance to unleash his firehose guitar but “Swingin’ Party”, “Left of The Dial” and “Little Mascara” display a new maturity. Then there’s the pure pop sweetness of “On The Bus”, a shoulda been hit.

201. De La Soul – De La Soul is Dead (1991)

De La Soul’s debut was a breakthrough but aside form a handful of other hip-hop acts it would prove to have fleeting short-term influence, subsumed by the bigger sales of proto-gangstas like N.W.A. Well De La could play rough too, purposely ditching the “daisy age” talk of their debut and playing up the criticism of them being soft in their album title. That doesn’t mean they dropped what was so inventive – crazy quilt samples, mind-blowing rapping and intricate subject matter way beyond most other rap or rock groups. Unjustly overlooked.

The car industry is back! Yay America! Yes it’s all good news and yet the premier American auto show, Detroit, felt distinctly anti-climatic. Where were the exuberant show cars of yesteryear? Um, Porsche had one. The exciting production cars? Chevy‘s new Sonic and Chrysler’s 300 were already well-previewed in  advance while Hyundai’s nifty Veloster was a genuine production highlight. As always, these are my opinions only, especially in respect to current and former clients mentioned here. On to the cars:

Hyundai Veloster

Hyundai and sister company Kia have been on a design (and sales) roll lately and the Veloster continues the hot streak, despite the extra door on one side that practically screams 1998. Hyundai’s trick is that unlike Saturn’s extra-doored coupe, all the doors open in the same direction – not exactly a breakthrough. I am a fan of symmetry though and they’ve embraced a different greenhouse design on each side in light of the single appended opening. The other aspects of  the design are well deployed with a great sculpted hatch that drops into a fairly large mail-slot style rear window more associated with Honda. Some designers found the hood scoops to be fussy but I think it works. Overall a neat chunky little thing that looks like it’s ready to be tossed around.

Volkswagen Passat

Walter Da Silva, VW‘s chief designer, has given the brand a nifty and handsome front end that they are busy propagating throughout the lineup. Sadly he hasn’t done much for the rest of their cars particularly in the United States where the company is on an ambitious expansion plan that includes models designed specifically for the U.S. market. That seems to mean, bigger, blander, and less content than their European counterparts – a sad commentary on how our consumer tastes are viewed overseas. At one time Passat helped to establish a new design benchmark for family sedans, especially in interior materials and the overall clean elegance of the shape and detailing. Now it looks like a previous generation Volvo S80. Sad.

Porsche 918 RSR Concept

Porsche already showed a convertible version of this that is tipped for production so this nod to the great Le Mans cars of the 60s isn’t quite the kick in the ass that it could have been. Nevertheless it’s gorgeous, finally pulling Porsche design out of a long funk in which they were more associated with the kind of sunglasses worn by hairy-chested lotharios than any great vehicle work. Visceral.

Chrysler 300

The last generation reinvented the traditional rwd American sedan but now the 300 is the last car standing after the demise of Pontiac and their G8 and Ford’s discontinuing of the venerable Crown Victoria. On first glance the 300 seems to cotinue the theme of the last car but closer inspection reveals significant changes from a lower beltline to Chrysler’s new corporate shield-style grille. The effect is less-cartoon gangster car, more elegant touring sedan. The side glass has a touch of Cadillac CTS about it and the overall stance has some of the same aggression. As with a number of new Chryslers, the detailing is quantum leaps beyond the predecessor. Still, has the sand run out on V8 powered sedans that dive the rear wheels? Only the price at the pump will tell.

Ford Vertrek Concept

This lightly disguised concept is a look at Ford’s global replacement for the Escape in the U.S. and the horribly-named Kuga in Europe. It’s very different from the trucky Escape but consistent with their current design language which makes it pleasant but unsurprising. A close look though reveals some terrific design touches such as the smooth sweep of the front and rear fender lines well into the door areas, complemented by the character slash below the beltline and the complicated but successful interplay of shapes between the wheels. The pillars and rear view mirrors will thicken and the wheels will shrink for production but this will be a fine addition to their lineup.

Chevrolet Sonic

Chevy is truly a global brand now and the Sonic is a Korean sourced and designed competitor to the likes of Ford’s Fiesta. The hatch has a neat design enlivened by the big round headlamps and rear fender arches. I’m not a big fan of the door-handles in the c-pillars look, something Alfa Romeo and Nissan have also tried. The front end is also a bit heavy – how will that grille look in states which require a front-mounted license plate? The detailing seems a bit rough in places such as the plasticky nacelles in the front bumpers. The sedan, like many hatches that have a trunk added later, seems awkwardly balanced in comparison with the excellent stance of the hatch.

Kia KV-7 Concept

Kia’s minivan concept has some nice touches but is a bit of a letdown compared to their slick new production vehicles. The flush greenhouse makes for an interesting and arresting take on what is usually a boxy type of car, as do the slightly smaller rear quarter windows which echo the company’s recent design language.

Jaguar's C-X75

After the industry bloodbath that was 2009, 2010 saw rebuilding and in some cases re-energizing across the industry as sales stabilized. From a design perspective the standouts were the emergence of both Hyundai and Kia (full disclosure – both former clients of mine) as leaders, Ford’s continuing solid work (with a few missteps), and Jaguar’s revival. Lowlights? Japan inc. continued to slip with Honda in particular losing much luster from a design perspective, Nissan being wildly inconsistent, Toyota eclipsed by quality issues, and Mazda in product and design language transition. Volkswagen continues to have some of teh best interiors in the business but has lost a great deal of design spark, including at their Audi division. BMW continues to backpedal from the controversy of the Bangle years but in doing so have lodged themselves in boredom-ville, and Mercedes seems to be at sea. That being said, here are the production and concept cars that were notable in 2010.

Best Concepts:

Jaguar C-X75

A stunning concept that pushes Jaguar’s already standard-setting design even further forward. It’s beautiful but also a marker that the British brand sees themselves as competition for the likes of Porsche in the future. The sinuous sculpting of the fender arches give the design a leaping character that’s in keeping with their mascot and heritage. Tell a rich friend to beg them to build it.

Renault DeZir

A bit derivative perhaps of both Audi’s R8 in the side-inserts and Mazda’s now abandoned “furai” design ethos in some of the natural-looking detail sculpting, this Renault concept brings it’s own unique twist to the treatment of materials. The textured metallic inserts look great and the shape and theme are clean and strong enough to handle the adornment without seeming overwhelmed.

Citroen Lacoste

Citroen has a history of innovation and quirkiness which has been mostly absent from their production cars since the 1980s so it’s always welcome to see them try to do something different. This is indeed different, a car with removable plastic roof panels that hang from a central spine. It’s got a strong modular look that suggests a beach buggy feel. The front and rear are similarly blunt leading to a bit of visual confusion over which way is forward but it works in the context of the fun, free design.

Audi e-Tron Coupe and Spyder

Audi has been a bit conflicted lately as to how conservative they want their design language to be but they are still capable of a stunning statement. Tipped for production the e-Tron was shown in both coupe and Spyder form but it’s the latter that really zings, showing off the starkly defined surfacing of the fenders and sides. The detailing, as always, is perfect and in this case, quite sensuous with the wheel openings defined by both hard and soft radii corona-ing outwards. The radical greenhouse is unlikely to make production but is lovely to contemplate.

Ford Start

A terrific attempt to recapture the ultra-small car standard Ford set many years ago with the now quite conventional Ka. There is no extraneous ornament, just a perfectly executed theme. The greenhouse is one of the many great touches, a glass ribbon intersected by arches on each side, perfectly set off by tasteful chrome accents. They must build this.

Pininfarina Duettottanta

The vaunted Italian design firm imagines a simple small Alfa convertible and it’s a lovely slip of a car. The beltline defines everything else giving it a speedboat like appeal.

Bertone Pandion

Bertone’s take on what alfa should be is one of their best design’s in years, bringing to mind their late 70s glory days. The swath cut by the side glass is the most obvious detail but there are amusing and impressive fillips throughout.

Porsche 918 Spyder

A knockout that suggests that there is indeed life inside Porsche design beyond expanding the brand to sunglasses and vacuum cleaners after more than a decade of flailing about. Beautiful to contemplate with just the right amount of exposed mechanicals, finely wrought body panels and stark sex appeal. A triumph.

Production Cars:

Ford Focus

Martin Snith’s design studios at Ford of Europe have made the brand exciting again, and that magic will thankfully be coming here relatively intact. The Focus is dynamic and clever, a breath of fresh air in the often uptight hatchback segment. The roofline nods to the brilliant original Focus but unlike that car nothing here is meant to purposefully jar – it’s all of a piece. Those complex taillights alone are art.

Kia Optima

Kia’s first set of products fully designed under Peter Schreyer‘s leadership show a company that is remarkably mature from a design standpoint, frankly leaping past the same competitors they lagged merely three short years ago. The Optima is a great looking car, worthy of far-more upmarket brands. The sharp creases and distinctive face ensure a great deal of differentiation from Hyundai Sonata which shares most of the same underpinnings.

Hyundai Sonata

As with Kia, Hyundai has truly come into its own as a global design force. Surprisingly for a more mainstream brand they have chosen a somewhat more radical approach with a heavy character line running from the rear up to the front wheel arches and sharp chrome defined character line that defines the hood opening but continues back through the base of the A pillar. The grille may be a bit heavy but the overall effect is of innovation and attention to detail.

Hyundai Elantra

The recently announced Elantra takes much of the design language introduced on the Sonata and simplifies it, to perhaps even better effect. The side crease is echoed by the sculpting around the rear wheel and side glass at the rear quarters. The deceptively complex detailing around the headlamps  serve top reinforce how seriously the Korean industry has been about elevating design.

Jaguar XJ

Quibble if you will about teh glossy black C pillar, this is a drop-dead gorgeous sedan that makes the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class look like frumps. Long, low and elegant it’s a great step beyond the awkward XF. The interior has to be experienced.

Toyota Sienna

Minivans are typically the porta-potties of automotive design, which is unfair considering the cleverness of much of the interior packaging and features. Nevertheless the last minivan to shake up the design world was Chrysler’s mid-90s refresh of their category creating originals. Since then Chrysler has lost the plot in many ways, and only Honda has bothered to inject any visual interest into their minivan contender. Now Toyota has launched their newest Sienna and the design is fresh and surprisingly desirable, allowing them to market to folks who would usually shun these vehicles. It’s a clever design with sharp details and a strong theme.

Lamborghini Reventon

The decade started with such excitement. As the century turned it seemed that automotive design was on the cusp as well, looking backwards with retro designs like Volkswagen’s New Beetle, Chrysler’s PT Cruiser and Ford’s GT as well as forwards with Audi’s original TT and Ford’s original Focus series.

The 00s ended with excitement too – only it was the bad kind that leads to acid reflux and no jobs. Noted Italian design firms such as Bertone and ItalDesign were hanging on by a thread, if at all. Some of the most storied brands in the automotive world were similarly imperiled or had disappeared entirely: Saab, Pontiac, Saturn, Chrysler, Dodge.

Nevertheless it was a fascinating and sometimes frustrating ten years of automotive design. Here are my favorites in no particular order. Note that I’ve included both production models and concepts in the mix.

1. 2009 Chevrolet Camaro

The protracted build-up to the actual launch of Chevy’s newest Camaro (which included an appearance in Transformers almost a year before availability) blunted some of the freshness of this neuvo-retro-musclecar. With a clear eye though it’s evident that this is the most successful bridging of past and present in the segment. The design takes copious cues from the first generation late 60s Camaro but renders them in fresh and dynamic ways that could only be achieved with current design and manufacturing technology.

2. 2007 Audi R8

Audi has been at the forefront of raising the bar for interiors for almost two decades now and the R8′s interior is as lovely as ever. The real innovation though is striking exterior which finds a fresh take on the mid-engined supercar cliche. Aside from the perfect surfacing and detail work and Audi’s trademark use of advanced headlight design, there are the distinct contrast colored side blades which help to break up the side surfaces.  As it should, the design flair of the R8 is making it’s way back through the rest of Audi’s lineup.

3. 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C

Alfa Romeo spent much of the 90s floundering, as did parent company Fiat. Like the French, Italian companies have increasingly mistaken outre design for good design but Alfa beagn to bring things back on track in the latter part of the decade, primarily with the lovely (if overpriced) 8C.  As a design the 8C is nearly perfect in every way, a monument to the importance of proportions.

4. 2005 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Any Aston Martin made over the last ten years looks great but the V8 is the cleanest, clearest expression of the design ethos.  Lithe, muscular and unencumbered by extraneous detail.

5. 2008 Chevrolet Malibu

After a long, long spell in the doldrums GM design finally began to wake up and reassert it’s primacy within the product development process (though it may have come too late to rescue the company as a whole.) The latest generation Chevy Malibu is a prime example. It’s simply the best resolved design in the family car segment with the kind of detailing and strongly defined theme that is more usually seen on luxury vehicles by brands like Audi and Acura. The roofline is key to the design, especially as it relates to the flowing hood line and shoulder indent.

6. 2007 Maserati GranTurismo

Maserati shook off a string of mediocre designs with the Quattroporte and especially the GranTurismo. A more expressive design than competitors like Aston Martin and Porsche and rightly so – the curve of the front fenders over the wheels are themselves worthy of celebration.

7. 2007 Audi A5

The fantastic R8 notwithstanding, Audi seemed to concentrate over the last decade more on interiors and headlights than on the whole of their designs – a far cry from their great run in the 90s and 80s. Yet at the end of the decade signs of a reintegration were apparent with the graceful A5 coupe as a prime exponent.  The undulating shoulder line is contrasted perfectly by the hard swath at the lower door skins and the wraparound of the front and rear fascias. It adds up to a lovely modern take on the traditional coupe.

8. 2009 Ford Flex

The decade was peppered with so-called crossovers, neither fish-nor-fowl mashups of cars and SUVs that all to often resembled genetic experiments gone horribly wrong. A happy exception was Ford’s Flex which, much like Chrysler’s iconic minivan in the 80s, recast the venerable station wagon. This time it’s as an aspirational vehicle, less Mom’s taxi than family luxobarge. This is reinforced by the Range Rover-like contrast roof, strategic chrome and brushed aluminum highlights, and an imaginative interior.

9. 2008 Lamborghini Reventon

Lamborghini’s stock in trade has always been low-slung drama but ownership by the German’s at Volkswagen seemed to mellow their design sense. On the one hand it was a relief to not be confronted by the tacky wings and scoops that adored some of their late 80s creations but what followed was very nicely rendered but a bit cold.  Not so the threatening Reventon. Like Cadillac’s recent design language, the Reventon’s brutally sharp edges are inspired by the Stealth bomber but Lamborghini takes it all a step further with a killer matte paintjob. A great example of how subtly tweaking the details of an existing design language can substantially alter the feel of the result.

10. 2008 Dodge Challenger

The Challenger would appear to be the most slavishly retro of the big 3′s musclecars, following Ford’s Mustang and Chevy’s more futurist Camaro. Yet a closer look reveals that the Challenger is more faithful to the idea of its early 70s predecessor. If anything the stance of the newer car is tougher, the look is bluffer, and the feel is kind of an amalgam of 70s cues with a contemporary application. Unusually the production model is better looking than the concept on which it’s based primarily due to the ditching of Dodge’s trademark crosshair grille design.

11. 2009 Ford Fiesta

Ford of Europe has continued to explore design possibilities even as the North American arm has sometimes fallen back into blandness. Thankfully CEO Alan Mullaly has decreed that all designs msut be shared between markets which means the dynamic and appealing little Fiesta will soon be sold here (though sadly not in 3-door from shown.)

12. 2002 Ford Thunderbird

The new T-Bird came at the tail-end of the retro craze and was one of the sales flops that led to Ford radically restructuring their business and leadership team. This had little to do with the slick design of the car which ably updated the themes of the 1955 original  with it’s own particular flavor. The unusual declining shoulder line and lovely headlight placements are echoed by the circular taillights and the trim beltline cut.

13. 2000 Mini Cooper

On one level the new Mini is the apogee of fake retro – like the VW New Beetle it’s a theme that belies much of what was original about the car that it’s meant to evoke. In the Mini’s case that means that the car is more maxi-sized than truly Mini, and Alec Issigoni’s groundbreaking hydragas suspension and innovative packaging are largely abandoned. And yet the design has proved to be arguably a bigger hit than the original (though not in total sales), becoming a must-have automotive accessory for elites in markets like the United Sates where the original barely made a dent. It’s also a canny updating of the original Mini theme with far better materials and execution befitting a product pitched at the style market rather than the original people’s car orientation of the classic version.

14. 2003 Land Rover Range Rover

How do you update an icon? Land Rover redid the Range Rover once before this model, with a blandly rote refresh that took all the thematic elements and re-rendered them unimaginatively. This third generation model also hews close to the original formula set forth in 1970 by William Town’s original design.  However it extracts a new purity and refinement, highlighting iconic elements like the roof and blacked out D pillars and the upright fender vents and tying it together perfectly. In addition the new interior was an industry-leading luxury cocoon.

15. 2005 Pontiac Solstice

When GM’s now dead “performance” brand decided to get into the Miata fighting business it did so with a tough, sporty little design that was one of the best the brand had produced. Alas, though, it wasn’t enough to stave off the reaper.

16. 2003 Infiniti FX45

Infiniti was early to the crossover party with this crossbreeed between an SUV and a sports sedan and stylistically they nailed it. All curves and bulges with big wheels and a characteristically 00′s turret-like greenhouse The FX chooses sides rather than compromising and the side it chooses is sporty, thank you.

17. 2005 Chrysler 300

Chrysler’s decade was simply awful and yet the 300 was decided bright spot, a successful relaunch of the big American sedan for a new millennium. The high shouldered styling set the trend for the rest of the decade and the muscularly purposeful design led to a slew of concepts (but sadly no production) responses from rival firms.

18. 2004 Toyota Prius

The Prius ubiquitous nature has rendered it bland but at launch it was a breakthrough. A truly futuristic looking car to match it’s future-facing powerplant. The design has become shorthand for caring about the environment, as well as being environmentally compatible in subtler ways such wind resistance that add to efficiency.

19. 2008 Bentley Brooklands

Bentley’s VW owners haven’t seemed to figure out quite what to do with teh brand stylistically but oh the big bold Brooklands! The kicked up beltline, huge wheels, imposing grille all say move out of our way, plebian. Elegant, purposeful luxury.

20. 2006 Ford F-250 Super Chief

This concept set forth a number of stylistic elements that have since wended their way through Ford’s car and truck line-up but as a pure expression of truckness in the new millennium the Super Chief sets the standard.

21. 2006 Nissan Urge

Nissan’s Urge concept took a cue from ultra-modern furniture design, reducing the elements to major shapes like the silver side swaths and the dark fenderettes over the wheels.  A cool added element was the inset open door panels, designed to give driver and passenger a motorcycle-like sensation of openness with the full-body protection of a car.

22. 2006 Saab Aero-X

Saab’s Aero-X looked like a leftover Star Wars prop and in a perfect world would have helped define the companies new direction. Instead it defined the road not taken as GM starved the company of investment.

23. 2006 Renault Altica

Renault’s appealing chunky Altica concept was riddled with neat surface elements like the broad shoulder lines that extend from the front fenders to define flares over the rear wheels. Also cool were the rear quarter panels with random geometric shapes in place of a full window. Practical? Non. Pleasing to the eye? Oui.

24. 2006 Citroen C-Metisse

Citroen’s C-Metisse concept signaled a new willingness for the storied French company to once again explore groundbreaking design. The van-like hatch is most striking for the way the rear wheels are framed by the broad flares which intersect the descending swath of greenhouse. The side glass echoes the circular wheel openings enhancing the relationship, as do the chrome strips at the extreme rear corners.

25. 2007 Ford Interceptor

Ford’s Interceptor concept was a vision of what the blue oval’s Chrysler 300 fighter might have been before budgets constraints and runaway gas prices put the kibosh on production. The low roofline and gunslit windows all bespeak the influence of Chrysler’s big sedan but Ford also finds it’s own way to express the brand with the wide stacked grille and headlight design and sweeping wheel openings.

26. 2007 BMW Concept CS

BMW’s concepts during teh decade were sometimes as polarizing as their production cars but were often more successful as designs. The big CS previewed themes that are starting to creep into BMW’s that are in dealerships but is also an extremely well-resolved take on the  sedan-as-coupe trend that has spread through the ranks of German companies since Mercedes-Benz introduced the CLS.  The body surfacing is particularly nice here as is the overall form which is well-proportioned given its size.

27. 2002 BMW GINA

The GINA was tucked away inside BMW’s design center for most of the decade before finally being revealed post the launch of the disappointing Z4 which it obviously influenced. This is what ground-breaking conceptual car design is all about – literally stretching the boundaries with a fabric wrapped frame which stretches to accomodate everything from active aerodynamic aids to door openings.

28. 2007 Toyota iQ Concept

Toyota’s production iQ is notable as well, a sort of smarter Smart car but the concept takes the great packaging a step further with surface elements that seem to transform from concave to convex depending on where the viewer stands.

29. 2007 Mazda Taiki

Mazda trotted out their new design ethos on a number of concepts towards decades end. The look is meant to be inspired by the elements interacting with nature, such as water on rock or wind on sand. The best of these was the Taiki with its nifty sculpted rear-wheel nacelles and flowing headlight elements.

30. 2008 Land Rover LRX

Land Rover’s LRX concept was a clear production ready glimpse of how they could (and will) move towards a smaller, friendlier SUV. Though others (notably Subaru’s Forester) have tried to scale down the segment this is the most successful attempt yet, aided by great detail work like the  dropped edge of the hood over the front wheel arch and the reverse wedge of the greenhouse.

31. 2009  Cadillac CTS Coupe

Cadillac started to revamp their design language in the late 90s but the refinement of their hard-edged “Art & Science” theme at the end of this decade was far more aesthetically successful than initial forays. The CTS sedan is quite handsome but it’s this Coupe concept (due to go into production soon) that really moves things forward with it’s radically sloped backlight and V shaped C-pillar.

32. 2009 Fisker Karma

Designer Henrik Fisker started his own company in the middle of the decade and began re-bodying BMW’s and others. His true plan emerged with the reveal of the Karma prototype – to build luxury gas/electric hybrids. Luckily the Karma is drop dead gorgeous with sinuously bulging fenders and a tapering greenhouse. Production is expected to commence late in 2010.

33. 2008 GMC Denali XT

The car-like pickup truck has had a mixed history since the glory days of Chevy’s El Camino and Ford’s Ranchero (roughly the 60s and 70s) and lesser 80s entries like Dodge’s compact Rampage, Subaru’s delightful Brat and Volkswagen’s odd Rabbit/Golf based model. The idea was revived by Honda this past decade for the Ridgeline  but GMC showed this very attractive concept that suggested how the attributes of both vehicle types could be melded harmoniously.

34. 2009 Audi Sportback

Audi gave some clues to their emerging next-gen design language with the Sportback concept, while also throwing their hat in the crowded and often ugly German luxury hatch field dominated by BMW.  Strong defined character lines give the flanks a sculpted look while their signature stylized headlamp elements echo the palm-like shape.

35. 2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

Another brilliant BMW concept, the Vision is all intersecting planes and overlapping elements while exhibiting a light, glassy greenhouse that allows the elements to float together.

36. 2000 Jaguar F-Type

Jag’s F-Type concept was almost too good. It’s safety-reg unfriendly low glass height and lack of even a pretense of a roof made the design impossible to translate well to production despite repeated tries. Pity, as it’s purity is exquisite.

37. 2001 Buick Bengal

Look past the oh-so-00s vestigial rear doors that never became a trend and the Bengal concept offers a clean, uncluttered reboot of Buick’s antiquated design cues. The front end is especially nice with it’s canted headlamp strips and broad dollar-grin style grille.

38. 2001  Ford Forty-Nine

Chrysler kicked off the the trend of incorporated classic custom car cues into production and concept vehicles with the Plymouth Prowler in the mid 90s but Ford’s delicious Forty-Nine is a touchstone in post-modern retro-futurism. While cues nod to Ford’s iconic 1949 coupe, the whole is an homage to chopped and channeled “sleds” with modern headlight and interior technology that places the design in a contemporary context. If only Ford’s production models were as interesting in North America.

39. 2001 Dodge Super8 Hemi

Like the Ford Forty-Nine, Trevor Creed designed the Super 8 Hemi to be an amalgam of 50s cues and modern touches. The result was far more polarizing but with the benefit of hindsight can be seen to have it’s own virtues. Creed was reported to have been shocked by the extent of negative reaction, having considered this as a testing ground for ideas that would be used on a production basis. The wraparound windshield and roof shape are the clearest nods to 50s elements but the side strakes and brutally short overhangs could only be from the present time.

40.2002  Dodge Razor

Ah the road not taken. Though Pontiac’s Solstice got much of the contemporary attention, Dodge’s concept for a small, raw sports coupe was arguably even more compelling. A simple design that incorporates a strong stance, upright a-pillars and suggestive upkicks around the rear wheels it’s a pity  Chrysler’s German masters couldn’t see their way to producing this gem.

41. 2003 Cadillac Sixteen

Cadillac’s superb Sixteen cast a long shadow over the brand in that none of their production vehicles has yet to look as wonderfully impressive and clear of purpose. The central spine and stylized grille have made their way throughout the lineup though but it’s that elegantly formal roof and pillar-less sidelight that stick in the retina.  The double side-hinged hood adds a touch of retro whimsy.

42. 2003 Chevrolet SS

Chevy’s response to Chrysler’s impending big sedans and Ford’s big sedan concepts was the overtly sporty SS, a softer and sleeker take on the segment. The small rounded greenhouse is nestled atop bulging fenders and aggressive wheels giving a sense of power but also a sense of tidy maneuverability unusual in the class.

43. 2003 Ford 427

Ford kicked off the decade with the brilliant 427 concept for a full-sized American sedan, lacked the stones to actually produce it, and then watched Chrysler steal their thunder with the 300.  The 427 is traditional sedan in stance but in detail and execution its completely contemporary from the neat interlocked squares within the headlight elements to the chrome strip on the lower bodysides that echoes the single strip below the window line. The front end treatment did wind up, in watered down form, on the first-generation Focus.

44. 2004 Jeep Rescue

From a design standpoint this was a tough decade for Jeep but the Rescue was a terrific concept that pointed to what might have been. Emphasizing the core values of the brand but on a bigger canvas it’s immediately identifiable as a Jeep despite being a big four-door SUV, a full size and a half beyond anything the brand had marketed. The only positive that came from this concept was the idea of a 4-door Wrangler. When Jeep did attempt to size up they did so with the atrocious Commander which lacked entirely the grace and elemental rightness of this design.

45. 2008 Morgan LifeCar

Morgan has been known for 45 years essentially for their resistance to modernism. Even their most advanced car harbors a wooden frame that harks back to pre-war sports car construction. So the LifeCar, a fuel-cell powered electric sports car concept, came as something of a shock. Even more so was it’s machine age meets iPod body design which is of a piece with Morgan’s traditional theme but augmented by a novel hinged passenger canopy that mimics the scissoring of the front-hinged hood-and-fender tops unit.

46. 2001 Honda Unibox

While automotive design is often about hinting at or even obscuring the mechanics underneath the body panels, Honda’s Unibox concept is like a translucent watchback boldly exposing and flaunting the pure engineering below.

47. 2002 Mercedes-Benz F400 Carving

There have been a few tilting concepts before but they tended to be more like slightly evolved cycles. Here Mercedes gets the tilt jones on entirely with the suspension but the lack of roof (and windshield!)  and open front wheels still give a motorcycle feel but within a conventional layout.

48. 2006 Volvo C30

Volvo’s decade long design language which mimicked the idea of a sectioned violin found it’s best expression in the little C30, which also incorporated the glass hatch that distinguished the P1800 sports  coupe of the late 60s. In addition the floating center section of the dash connected the brand to classic Swedish furniture design.

49. 2004 Ferrari F430

The last two decades were hardly the best for Ferrari from a design standpoint as longtime stylist Pininfarina struggled to respect the brand’s and reflect modern forms. By keeping things simple the F430 managed the job ably. Front air intakes and exposed circular headlamps all look back to past Ferraris as does the overall mid-engind layout and theme but the execution is admirably smooth.

50. 2007 Nissan Pivo 2

There are certain design quirks that Japanese manufacturers go for but which can seem downright eccentric to others. Things like a dashboard mounted robot head that comments on your driving with helpful tips and glowing LED eyes.  The body of the vehicle also rests on a turntable that allows for full 360 degree rotation and the wheels and fenders can pivot to allow for four way steering.

Bryan Nesbitt

In a sign of how important design has been to the revival of GM‘s Cadillac division, the company has named Vice President of North American Design Bryan Nesbitt to run one of the most storied brands in cardom. Nesbitt was plucked from Chrysler by GM’s former Chrysler guy Bob Lutz several years ago and he has been instrumental since then in the design revival at America’s biggest carmaker, which just emerged from bankruptcy last week.

Nesbitt is best known for the controversial PT Cruiser, a Chrysler design that grafted retro 1930s cues to a compact trucklet. It was a hot seller initially though it is currently slated to be shelved within the next year or two. He also masterminded the brilliant CCV concept, a Chrysler idea for a cheap people’s car for the Chinese market which took inspiration from Citroen’s classic 2CV. Ironically the Chinese had been recently tapped for an on-again off-again project to revive Chrysler’s small fortunes of late which declined precipitously in the post-Nesbitt years.

It’s very unusual to have a designer in a lead role at a brand or company – it will be interesting to see if this is the start of a trend in the industry or merely a product of the specific situation GM is in as it tries to shake up it’s old ways.

Chrysler CCV

At GM he has been known for the Chevy HHR, a knockoff of his own PT Cruiser design, and the stewardship of some fine Opel and Saab concepts at GM Europe as well as the very handsome new Opel Insignia sedan. He also oversaw design of the outstanding current Chevy Malibu and the striking Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept which is expected to hit the market in 2012.

Opel Insignia

Cadillac CTS Coupe

The recession claimed another victim this week as GM announced the shutdown of the storied Pontiac brand. Pontiac represented both the best and the worst of car design at GM over the years, evolving from a staid image in the 1950s to the so-called “excitement” brand by the early 1980s. Along the way it boosted the careers of automotive luminaries like John DeLorean who rose to stardom within GM by adding much-needed flavor to the brand with nameplates like GTO, Tempest, Firebird and LeMans. Here are some of the best designs to come out of a brand that will be missed not just by the many people who worked in it’s factories, dealerships and offices but by enthusiasts of American design:

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Concept

1956 Pontiac Club De Mer

1961 Pontiac Ventura

1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype

1964 Pontiac GTO

1966 Pontiac GTO

1968 Pontiac GTO

1969 Pontiac Grand Prix

1977 Pontiac Trans Am

1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

1984 Pontiac Fiero

2006 Pontiac Solstice

Fisker Sunset

After all is said and done the New York car show, or at least its preview days, gave a good sense of where the industry and its players are at as well as allowing me a close up look at some of this season’s most interesting designs.

Ford Taurus halved

The overall mood was glum but tempered by some bright spots. GM and Chrysler had drastically reduced floor space and bare bones presentations and displays. Ford on the other hand engaged with the press and with showgoers with a slot car track, a new Taurus that coheres around the driver as they sit in the seats before splitting apart again, and a display featuring submissions from their innovative Fiesta Movement social media campaign.

The newly roomy main hall was able to welcome Volkswagen – upstairs for the first time I remember, as well as Fisker automotive and a Mini display that featured astroturf and the artificial smell of fresh grass which I suspect is toxic.

Here were some of the sights of the show:

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Chrysler’s in dire straits but if they can hang around for a year they should be able to launch a successor to what was once a best-seller. The current Grand Cherokee has some nice lines that fight with awkward detailing and lackluster quality of materials. The new version is nothing revolutionary but feels like a more substantial quality vehicle.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The front end is particularly well resolved with a sweeping hood bulge that meets the a-pillars, a handsome grille and headlamp treatment and very German lower body cladding. Even more impressive was the interior:

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The wood was high quality fake, the dashboard trim satisfyingly seamless, but most impressive were the rich leather seating materials and the expensive looking piping around the seats themselves. This is easily the best looking interior of any Chrysler product I’ve ever seen. Now they just have to survive.

Fisker Karma

Fisker Karma and Sunset

Fisker Automotive is a startup dedicated to plug-in hybrid electric luxury vehicles. The Karma is far more stunning in person than in photos – low, wide and sleek with incredible presence. The same goes for the two-door Sunset convertible which at this stage is billed as a concept.

Fisker Sunset

I still don’t know whether designer Henrik Fisker, ex of Aston Martin among others, is for real or whether this is the second coming of Vector – a giant scheme designed to liberate people from deposits with exciting concepts that keep getting pushed back from actual production. What I do know is that with their voluptuous fenders and outrageously large wheels Fisker knows his proportions.

Fisker Sunset

Fisker Karma

From the back you can see the diamond shaped exhaust tips and how low both cars are.

Fisker Karma

You can see the huge bulging fender lines of the Karma with the back door open – the door itself is flared and contains the trailing edge of the bulge.

Fisker Karma

The front wheel cutout on the Karma shows the sure hand of a master designer – the radius of the fender flare is cambered to create a flate surface that houses the side reflector. Check out the low profile tires too.

Fisker Karma

Similarly the care taken to line up the bumper seam with the headlight washer unit with the whole outer edge of the light housing framed with LED lights. The projector-style main lighting units are staggered in both height, size, and protuberance.

Acura ZDX Prototype

Acura ZDX Prototype

Acura bills the ZDX, which made it’s debut in New York, as a prototype but it’s a thinly disguised version of a crossover that’s due to hit dealerships this fall. The fastback roof and rear glass have some overtones of sister company Honda’s products like the FCX fuell cell vehicle but overall this is one of Acura’s best looking recent vehicles and considerable more easy on the eye than competitors like BMW’s X6.  The wavelike plane over the rear wheels is especially nicely done, skirting a heavy look that can ruin this sort of neither-fish-nor-fowl layout.

Acura ZDX Prototype

The front is the least-pleasing aspect of the ZDX. The headlights are the least likely part to make production though their housing shape is probably accurate. Unfortunately Acura’s can-opener grille seems here to stay. While this is its least offensive application yet I hope that this begins to be phased out sooner rather than later.

GMC Terrain

GMC Terrain

GMC’s Terrain sharply divided viewers with some admiring it’s sharp angular theme and strong differentiation from Chevy’s platform-mate the Equinox. Others found the detailing to be too heavy. To be sure this is a truck that is very color and wheel combo sensitive. I found the fender bulges to be a bit cartoonish and the lower body cladding to be the wrong side of brutalist though I like the striking face with its strong grille form.

GMC Terrain

This shot of the rear of the Terrain shows how a darker color and flashier wheels can alter the looks from techno cool to something more, well downmarket looking. The shape of the rear glass is neat but the black plastic panel over the pillar looks cheap rather than classy.

Chevrolet Equinox

Chevy’s new Equinox is built on the same platform and mechanicals as GMC’s Terrian, but in a  far more attractive and less polarizing wrapper.

Nissan 370Z Convertible

Nissan 370Z Convertible

New York also saw the premier of Nissan’s droptop version of the latest Z. The previous incarnation was one of the rare convertibles that turned a handsome coupe ugly. Though the back end is still too bustle-like, the curved fenders soften the impact of losing the distinctive roof far better than on the previous model.

Nissan 370Z

The 370Z in general is full of intriguing curves and fillips that stay just this side of busy, like the comma-shaped front and rear lights and the buckle style doorhandles.

Nissan 370Z

Hyundai Nuvis

Hyundai Nuvis Concept

Hyundai’s design team is in the midst of transition with the Nuvis representing the last of Joel Piaskowsk’s supervised designs. Under him Hyundai has gone from an also ran to a real design contender and the Nuvis has some very interesting forms indeed.

In some ways the overall shape is reminiscent of Mazda’s concepts though the detailing is very different. The intersection of forms between the taillights, rear fender, roof, and sidelight is the most interesting area of the concept. The fender creeps up almost to the trailing edge of the roof, covering the pillar but not actually making it all the way to the top.

Hyundai Nuvis

The clean line that sweeps from the lower bumper vents up and over the headlamps, the bottom edge of the A-pillar and opens like an eye to create the side window opening before pinching over the rear fender is brilliant. Less brilliant is the heavy crushed grille treatment which seems constricted, especially in light of the airiness of the rest of the design.

The Porsche Museum

Wallpaper takes users inside the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany on their website. The coolest feature? The interactive floorplan which takes you to a pic of the place you click.  If you think the cars are cool (and they are) check out the building by clicking on the outside of the floorplan.

Ford Iosis Max

Ford Iosis Max

Ford of Europe previewed their upcoming new Focus (which is finally coming the the United States) with the Iosis Max. The radical detailing and funky shape are in keeping with Ford of Europe’s forward thinking design ethos. It’s highly unlikely that the glass-bubble hatch, pillarless side glass, and t-shaped integrated roof spoiler will make production but the basic look and shape are likely to.

Ford Iosis Max

The arc of the A-pillars stretch clear to the front of the wheelarches giving vanlike space inside a car roughly the size of a Volkswagen Golf. The face is an evolution of Ford’s current continental look with an even more aggressive grille and stylized headlamps.

Aston Martin Lagonda

Aston Martin Lagonda Concept

There was strong interest in Geneva when word got out that Aston Martin would be testing the waters for a revival of their luxury Lagonda nameplate. The assumption was that they would go for a Rolls-Royce challenging luxury sedan as past Lagondas have been along those lines.

The double-takes as a Lamborghini LM002 like crossover SUV-esque sedan with a trunk rolled out were conspicuous. The contrast with Astons drop-dead gorgeous coupes didn’t help. Still, the heavy, slabby design is better looking than BMW’s fevered attempts to locate a niche between sports sedans and trucks.

Aston Martin Lagonda Concept

The gunslit backlight and strong shoulderlines make for an arresting simple design, even if beauty is the last thing you could describe it as. In it’s brutal simplicity it is in some ways similar to Rolls-Royces flagship Phantom sedan.

BMW 5 Series GT

BMW 5 Series GT

Did I say ugly BMW? Here’s another attempt for them to find daylight between models where none exists, exhibit A of which is the hideous turtle-like BMW X6 which is available as we speak at BMW dealers who would love to put you in one (please). The 5 Series GT, billed as a concept, is a better-looking but still awkward stab at the same target.

There are some nice touches – the bone structure running through the upper beltline with scoops for the door handles and the sculpting around the wheel openings is subtle but the roofline is still a grafted on hatchback. When it goes into production will nayone want one?

Edag Open Source

Edag Open Source

One of the coolest concepts at Geneva came from parts-supplier Edag, who envision an “open-source” car that allows users to configure and customize apps like an iPhone. The glossy black look and tactile surfacing makes the connection with Apple’s design language explicit. The rear end functions as a graphic display for the driver’s around it, warning of road work and conditions ahead.

Giugiaro Fraser Nash Namir

Giugiaro Fraser Nash Namir

Legendary Italian design firm Giugiaro showed a new interpretation of a brand that hardly anyone remembers, Fraser Nash. Even more unbelievable this mish-mash is meant to go into limited production. Diamond shapes are deployed across the vents and window openings to disguise the tiredness of the excersize. A mid-engined sportscar to revive a luxo brand? How cliche. How the mighty have fallen.

Infiniti Essence Concept

The Geneva Motor show, stuck as it is in the mountainous middle of Europe, seemed like an oasis of exuberance in the midst of the worst year for the auto industry since the great depression.

You might not know it from the concepts and production models on display – some of the worlds most prestigious high end brands and design houses had an wide array of new designs to show off. Here are some of the most notable.

(more after the jump)

Infiniti Essence Concept

Infiniti Essence Concept

Nissan’s luxury Infiniti division is just beginning a push into Europe after being established in the United States since the early 90s. Their nearly baroque Essence Concept is designed to make a splash and it succeeded.

While BMW’s Chris Bangle is set to leave the car world, some of his radical design ideas seem to have taken hold at Nissan. While the Essence doesn’t please from every angle and at times can seem a bit over-detailed, its pinched and flowing forms are unusual and fascinating.

Infiniti Essence Concept - rear

Every surface is folded and formed into gentle waves and curves, most notable the indents pressed into the rear buttresses. The look is alternately beautiful and aggressive – a welcome bit of originality in the coupe segment.

Nissan Qazana

Nissan Qazana Concept

The Qazana is a crossover vehicle that, like the Infiniti Essence, pushes design to a polarizing degree. Unlike the Essence, Qazana crosses the line a bit, particularly with it’s unorthodox front face. The rally style rounded lights flanking the grille are actually fog lights and the main lighting source is from the stylized lamps situated high up on the fenders. There are shades of Chris Bangle’s Rolls-Royce Phantom in that arrangement though overall the feel is quite different. An interesting design, if not wholly pleasing.

Rolls-Royce 200ex

Rolls-Royce 200ex

Speaking of Rolls-Royce, the company signals their downmarket move with the 200ex, officially labeled a concept but for all intents their new, slightly smaller price leader.

Silly paint job notwithstanding, this is a sportier, cleaner design than the brutalist Phantom, with a  faster roof and tail-line. The front-end is simpler, devoid of the overtly geometric look of it’s big brother.

Koeniggsegg Quant

Koeniggsegg Quant

Boutique carmaker Koeniggsegg dips into environmental friendliness with the Quant. While the technology is the key here – the Quant is in theory powered by solar electric energy. The clear lack of an interior (and running gear) allows us to address what we like best – the design. Though there is nothing revolutionary here what I find most interesting are the Corvette like front fenders, rear fenders, and pontoon roofline – not to mention the radial wheels which are reminiscent of the ’82 Vette.

Koeniggsegg Quant