Best Albums of the Decade (00-09)

[brianjeremy]

My top 30-or-so

 

Arcade Fire - Funeral

Wilco - YHF

Paul Westerberg - Stereo/Mono

Bon Iver _ For Emma, Forever Ago

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker

Strokes - Is this It?

The Postal Service - Give Up

Shins - oh Inverted World

The Wrens - Meadowlands

Robert Pollard - From a Compound Eye

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

Beulah - Yoko

Broken Social Scene

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf

Lou Barlow - Emoh

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism

Hold Steady - Separation Sunday

Spoon - Kill the Moonlight

New Pornographers - Electric Version

Elliott Smith - From a Basement on a Hill

Radiohead - kid A

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

Deerhunter - Microcastle

Tegan and Sara - So Jealous

Iron and Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South

 

And four from this year that I like that could be in the top 30 in a few years:

Girls - Album

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

Antlers - Hospice

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - S/T

[Sir Stewart]

How could I forget The Strokes.

[Kevan]

How could I forget The Strokes.

 

I dont know

[CortezTheKiller]

My 50 favorite albums from the past 10 years in no particular order.

 

Decoration Day/DBT

Southern Rock Opera/DBT

The Dirty South/DBT

Brighter Than Creations Dark/DBT

Murdering Oscar/Patterson Hood

A Ghost Is Born/Wilco

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/Wilco

Sky Blue Sky/Wilco

American Central Dust/Son Volt

On Chant & Strum (The Search)/Son Volt

Okemah & the Melody of Riot/Son Volt

Terroir Blues/Jay Farrar

One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur/Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard

Greendale/Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Silver & Gold/Neil Young

Prairie Wind/Neil Young

Love You Just the Same/Centro-Matic

Vultures Await/Will Johnson

Rubber Factory/The Black Keys

Attack & Release/The Black Keys

Boys & Girls in America/The Hold Steady

Almost Killed Me/The Hold Steady

Boxer/The National

The National/The National

Alligator/The National

Magic/Bruce Springsteen

The Rising/Bruce Springsteen

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood/Neko Case

Magnolia Electric Co/Songs: Ohia

Sojourner/Magnolia Electric Co

Furr/Blitzen Trapper

Just Us Kids/James McMurtry

Live in Aught Three/James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards

Are Men/The Weight

If Shacking Up Is All You Want to Do.../The Roadside Graves

American Hearts/A.A. Bondy

Tonight at the Arizona/The Felice Brothers

Ghosts of the Great Highway/Sun Kil Moon

Heartbreaker/Ryan Adams

Cold Roses/Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Transcendental Blues/Steve Earle

The Wind/Warren Zevon

Essence/Lucinda Williams

The Stage Names/Okkervil River

Real Animal/Alejandro Escovedo

Young Criminals Starvation League/Bobby Bare Jr.

Mile Markers/Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

The Dark/Guy Clark

Before the Frost... Until the Freeze/The Black Crowes

Rainy Day Music/The Jayhawks

[augurus]

Some amalgamated list of best LPs & EPs from 2000-2009

 

100) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

099) Mos Def - The Ecstatic

098) Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust

097) Fiery Furnaces, The - Bitter Tea

096) Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul

095) Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond

094) Liars - Liars

093) White Rabbits - It's Frightening

092) Belle And Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

091) The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away

 

090) Santogold - Santogold

089) St. Vincent - Actor

088) Peter Bjorn And John - Writer's Block

087) Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English

086) West, Kanye - Late Registration

085) TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

084) Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

083) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

082) The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love

081) Antony And The Johnsons - The Crying Light

 

080) Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem

079) Björk - Medulla

078) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

077) Interpol - Antics

076) Menomena - I Am The Fun Blame Monster

075) Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

074) Animal Collective - Here Comes The Indian

073) Japandroids - Post-Nothing

072) Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

071) Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

 

070) Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet

069) Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming

068) The Boy Least Likely To - The Best Party Ever

067) Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

066) LCD Soundsystem - 45:33

065) Boris - Pink [southern Lord CD]

064) Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf

063) Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

062) Deerhunter - Cryptograms

061) Feist - The Reminder

 

060) TV On The Radio - Young Liars EP

059) Fiery Furnaces, The - Gallowsbird's Bark

058) Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt

057) White Strimes, The - White Blood Cells

056) Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

055) Postal Service, The - Give Up

054) Sleater-Kinney - The Woods

053) No Age - Nouns

052) Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair

051) New Pornographers, The - Twin Cinema

 

050) Menomena - Friend And Foe

049) Battles - Mirrored

048) Animal Collective - Sung Tongs

047) Man Man - Six Demon Bag

046) Arcade Fire - Funeral

045) Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

044) Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

043) Dan Deacon - Bromst

042) Walkmen, The - Bows And Arrows

041) Deerhoof - The Runners Four

 

040) Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll

039) Flaming Lips, The - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

038) Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun

037) Wilson, Brian - Smile

036) Panda Bear - Person Pitch

035) Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind

034) David Byrne And Brian Eno - Everything That Happens

033) Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary

032) Animal Collective - Feels

031) Fiery Furnaces, The - EP

 

030) xx, The - xx

029) Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

028) Spoon - Kill The Moonlight

027) Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

026) Flaming Lips, The - Embryonic

025) A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder

024) Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World

023) Caribou - Andorra

022) Wrens, The - Meadowlands

021) Radiohead - Amnesiac

 

020) TV On The Radio - Dear Science

019) Deerhunter - Microcastles

018) Radiohead - In Rainbows

017) Liars - Drum's Not Dead

016) LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

015) Go! Team, The - Thunder, Lightning, Strike

014) Dirty Projectors, The - Bitte Orca

013) M.I.A. - Kala

012) Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People

011) Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights

 

010) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

009) Portishead - Third

008) Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica

007) M.I.A. - Arular

006) TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain

005) LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver

004) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

003) Fiery Furnaces, The - Blueberry Boat

002) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

001) Radiohead - Kid A

[cryptique]

I still haven't found time to make a list, and probably won't at this point, but I will say that I'm not sure I heard an album this decade that I enjoyed (and played) as much as Centro-matic's Fort Recovery.

[squarewave]

I see a lot of great lists, and I am not going to regurgitate the titles already presented, but rather put up some titles that I believe are notably missing from the lists so far.

 

 

 

Mission of Burma -- Obliterati

 

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Mission of Burma -- The Sound, The Speed, The Light

 

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Mission of Burma -- ONoffON (this one is also in SACD)

 

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Killing Joke (S/T 2003)

 

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Shellac -- 1,000 Hurts (aka 1KHz)

 

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Warren Zevon -- Life'll Kill Ya.

(someone mentioned "The Wind", which is also on my list)

 

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Vic Chesnutt -- North Star Deserter

(although there are numerous other quality choices from Vic's '00s output)

[LouieB]

Interesting...not a single mention of Gnarls Barkley.

 

LouieB

[Sir Stewart]

Interesting...not a single mention of Gnarls Barkley.

 

LouieB

 

Thanks for reading my list.

[augurus]

Interesting...not a single mention of Gnarls Barkley.

 

LouieB

Gnarls Barkley makes superb singles and good albums, but unfortunately not superb albums.

[LouieB]

Thanks for reading my list.

 

I scanned so I must admit I didn't see everything I guess.

Gnarls Barkley makes superb singles and good albums, but unfortunately not superb albums.

Actually both GB albums were quite good. I guess having one of the best singles of the decade and a whole bunch of great supporting songs really doesn't count for much anymore.

 

LouieB

[hardwood floor]

Mendoza Line - Lost in Revelry

 

great unknown band

[Jay]

Agree on the Mendoza Line. "Lost In Revelry" will appear high on my list, whenever I finish it (and maybe even "Fortune" and "Full Of Light And Full Of Fire").

[Sir Stewart]

Actually both GB albums were quite good. I guess having one of the best singles of the decade and a whole bunch of great supporting songs really doesn't count for much anymore.

 

I like the second one okay, but St. Elsewhere is just brilliant as a whole. Full of fear and bombast and release. Love the fuckin' thing!

You might have a point - that perfect single may have led to unfair criticism of the bulk of work.

[LouieB]

I like the second one okay, but St. Elsewhere is just brilliant as a whole. Full of fear and bombast and release. Love the fuckin' thing!

You might have a point - that perfect single may have led to unfair criticism of the bulk of work.

Agreed. I would not call the second one nearly as strong as the first, but St. Elsewhere doesn't have a weak cut on it. No other group of the past 10 years has had a hit single that has been as ubiquitous as crazy. I never get tired of hearing it and it was (and still is) played all over the radio. I don't kinow if it is simply that Crazy received backlash because of its popularity, but I think the backlash occurs for anything that is populur.

 

LouieB

[D-Dogg]

Agreed. I would not call the second one nearly as strong as the first, but St. Elsewhere doesn't have a weak cut on it. No other group of the past 10 years has had a hit single that has been as ubiquitous as crazy. I never get tired of hearing it and it was (and still is) played all over the radio. I don't kinow if it is simply that Crazy received backlash because of its popularity, but I think the backlash occurs for anything that is populur.

 

LouieB

 

I really enjoy Gnarls Barkley however I think Cee Lo Green's (GB singer) first solo album is superior to both those albums.

[D-Dogg]

No Order:

 

Black Crowes - Before the Frost/Until the Freeze

Lovage - Music To Make Love to Your Old Lady By

Cee Lo Green - And His Perfect Imperfections

Herbert - Bodily Functions

Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica

White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

Kings Of Leon - Young and Young Manhood

LTJ Bukem - Journey Inwards

Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Wilco - SBS

Radiohead - Kid A

Wilco - YHF

Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak

The Whigs - Mission Control

The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Agreed. I would not call the second one nearly as strong as the first, but St. Elsewhere doesn't have a weak cut on it. No other group of the past 10 years has had a hit single that has been as ubiquitous as crazy. I never get tired of hearing it and it was (and still is) played all over the radio. I don't kinow if it is simply that Crazy received backlash because of its popularity, but I think the backlash occurs for anything that is populur.

 

LouieB

 

"First the made me king, then they made me pope...and then they brought the rope"

[Synthesizer Patel]

i think that Ys by Joanna Newsom is both the most ambitious and perfect album of the decade; then my other picks would be (in no order):

 

feels - animal collective

strawberry jam - animal collective

merriweather post pavillion - animal collective

rings around the world - super furry animals

phantom power - super furry animals

stephen malkmus - stephen malkmus

soul journey - gillian welch

person pitch - panda bear

nixon - lamchop

is a woman - lambchop

the software slump - grandaddy

sumday - grandaddy

return to cookie mountain - tv on the radio

bitte orca - the dirty projectors

insignificance - jim o'rourke

can our love - the tindersticks

love and theft - bob dylan

daisies of the galaxy - eels

don't give up on me - solomon burke

the trials of van occupanther - midlake

blueberry boat - the fiery furnaces

rehearsing my choir - the fiery furnaces

z - my morning jacket

loose fur - loose fur

a ghost is born - wilco

yankee hotel foxtrot - wilco

 

as usual, forgetting loads i am sure

 

 

 

 

[Wild Frank]

i think that Ys by Joanna Newsom is both the most ambitious and perfect album of the decade; then my other picks would be (in no order):

 

feels - animal collective

strawberry jam - animal collective

merriweather post pavillion - animal collective

rings around the world - super furry animals

phantom power - super furry animals

stephen malkmus - stephen malkmus

soul journey - gillian welch

person pitch - panda bear

nixon - lamchop

is a woman - lambchop

the software slump - grandaddy

sumday - grandaddy

return to cookie mountain - tv on the radio

bitte orca - the dirty projectors

insignificance - jim o'rourke

can our love - the tindersticks

love and theft - bob dylan

daisies of the galaxy - eels

don't give up on me - solomon burke

the trials of van occupanther - midlake

blueberry boat - the fiery furnaces

rehearsing my choir - the fiery furnaces

z - my morning jacket

loose fur - loose fur

a ghost is born - wilco

yankee hotel foxtrot - wilco

 

as usual, forgetting loads i am sure

I'm liking this list. Reflects my own thoughts in many instances. Big shout for 'Lambchop' who put out many wonderful records throughout the decade, including the finest: Nixon. If anyones interested there was an amazing live Lambchop record (Live at Merge XX) released, via the Merge website, towards the end of last year. I would seriously recommended it. You get a free video download with the disk which is a stunning piece of work.

[D-Dogg]

 

 

can our love - the tindersticks

 

 

Add this to my list. Great album - spooky good.

[Artifice]

I am terrible at lists, but after much deliberation, I am absolutely certain that Funeral is the best record of the decade.

 

After that, I'd just be listing that chunk of my CD collection in order of whatever mood I was in that day.

 

But Funeral is absolutely superb. There's no such thing as a flawless record, but the mixture of audacity, songwriting, performance, and the timing of the record and how it reinvigorated music was absolute lightning in a bottle magic. 6 years after its release, and it holds up immensely well.

 

I really cannot think of another record that compares. Yes, even a certain record with a picture of a pair of chicago buildings as its cover art...

[Magnetized]

Resurrecting an older thread to post this article from Crawdaddy, naming YHF as the best album of the "aughts" or 00s (or whatever):

 

http://www.crawdaddy...-hotel-foxtrot/

 

{Hmm, I guess this shouldn't have been in the Someone Else's Song thread, but that's where it showed up. . . )

 

Here's the article:

 

Just under a year ago, the editors asked me to pick my favorite album of the ’00s. Without much hesitation, my certainty only edified by how easily it sprung to mind, I chose Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. A lot of critics (but no one at Crawdaddy!) picked Kid A to receive top honors, but aside from not being one of those folks with a permanent boner for Radiohead, I’ve not connected with that album in the same way that I have YHF. Frankly, there’s no record from the early noughties that I listen to as frequently, or with such a continual sense of glee, heartbreak, and wonder. Like all great albums, there’s an element of history to it, but the bulk of my adoration for YHF lies neither in cryptically prophetic imagery nor in its role in the epic saga of sticking it to record company dinosaurs. True, we spooked fans perversely revel in the iconic depiction of Marina City, at “Ashes of American Flags” and every time we hear Jeff Tweedy croak “Tall buildings shake / Voices escape / Singing sad sad songs…”; even if the the associations were unintended, history ascribes them poignancy. There’s more to this album than its context.

 

Although it’s an understatement to merely assert that Wilco transcended their alt country roots with YHF, it’s to the album’s credit that those roots aren’t wholly abandoned, at least not in spirit. There’s no heap of twang to indicate that past, but through listening, one gets the sense that its realm is out in America, the flat part that doesn’t touch an ocean, where radio waves cross invisibly on an unbroken horizon of wheat and sky. Where Diet Coke and unlit smokes still cost $3.63. You can hear the ghosts of transmissions intersecting as if you were driving through their boundary limits. “I’m the Man Who Loves You” teases the end of “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” Elsewhere, shuddering atmospheres converge on songs in shrieks and roars: “Poor Places”, a tipsy ballad that ends in an air raid. I relish this ambiance like I grew up there. Listening, I can nearly imagine that I did.

 

Perhaps Jeff Tweedy’s greatest triumph is that he and Wilco dreamed up and executed something so complex and flawless, yet so direct and personal. One can’t escape the joy of “I’m the Man Who Loves You”, nor the nostalgia of “Heavy Metal Drummer”, nor the deep and hopeless love of “Reservations.” One shares in the emotion of the song, whether it’s happiness or sorrow.

 

Interestingly, these familiar feelings are often flanked by some kind of subtle production or a song-specific instrumentation that reflects it just so. The bass and slide guitar combo that dually kick in a few seconds into “Kamera” bring relief to the tension from the clinking, aquarium drunkard staggering of the “I Am Trying…”. “Jesus, etc.” ascends on its strings and its Rhodes. The dry acoustic guitar on “Radio Cure” only enables its crackling half-light of silvery stars. This all adds warmth to the album’s cool, creeping arc (there’s not a song out of place) as it builds towards its climax, resolution, and denouement. If you don’t believe me, put on some headphones, close your eyes, and listen.

 

I haven’t stopped listening to YHF, in part or as a whole, since I bought it. Recently, I’ve taken to throwing it on the stereo during long drives. I guess it kind of goes with out saying that my favorite album of any decade ought to make for good car music. But in that state of casual enjoyment, I’ve reawakened my appreciation for singing aloud with it, coasting through the waves of unseen static in the middle of nowhere, where its spirit is. My girlfriend likes to sing harmony with me, when she’s along for the ride. We’re probably out of key, but it’s still the best thing ever, and it only makes me feel more secure about my choice.

 

by: Andres Jauregui

 

published: September 1, 2010

Edited September 5, 2010 by Wilco Me

[TCP]

I don't think I made a list!! Thank goodness for Wilco Me resurrecting this thread.

 

1. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (duh)

2. Beck – Sea Change

3. Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank The Cradle

4. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cold Roses

5. Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co.

6. Magnolia Electric Co. – Nashville Moon

7. Wilco – A Ghost Is Born

8. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

9. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

10. Radiohead – Kid A

 

Honorable mentions:

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Jacksonville City Nights

Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha

Frank Black & The Catholics – Show Me Your Tears

Jason Molina – Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go (Ok, how about anything Jason Molina did?)

Radiohead – In Rainbows

Elliott Smith – From A Basement On The Hill

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

M. Ward – Post-war