Washington
Fleet Foxes
All-Time Best Band: Nirvana
All-Time Best Solo Artist: Jimi Hendrix
Best New Band: Fleet Foxes
We offer this with apologies to the Sonics, Sleater-Kinney, and Calvin Johnson, all of whom managed to age gracefully. Kurt and Jimi, meanwhile, are honorary members of that “stupid club” — the one that buries drug-addled musical geniuses soon after their 27th birthdays. They shared a love/hate relationship with their Fenders, but not much else. NIRVANA seemed as shaped by their era and place as they in turn shaped it. | JIMI HENDRIX was out of time and mind from the get-go. | Having resolved never again to rely on loud guitars for its musical reputation, Seattle has coughed up baroque-folk phenoms FLEET FOXES, whose celestial multi-part harmonies rated an outrageous 9.0 on Pitchfork earlier this year.
Video: Nirvana
Video: Jimi Hendrix
Listen: Nirvana, "Drain You"
Listen: Jimi Hendrix, "Voodoo Child"
Listen: Fleet Foxes, "Ragged Wood"
