Actually, it's positive. About the universal language: music.
The 2000s (oughts, zeros, whatever) were filled with some great music, most of it pretty underground. So, I've decided to compile the best 100 albums of this decade, and since there was so much good stuff, I'm adding 20 onto that as kind of an extra bonus. I must note that I am not a music critic, and I'm not omniscient when it comes to music. This list may not even be all that definitive, for I haven't heard all of the great music of this past decade, and keeping up with all of the "cool" bands (or good ones, really) is pretty exhausting.
I'm sure I'm missing albums, but.... coming up with this list was enough, thank you very much.
100. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards (2006):
Even this guy's leftovers are incredible! Waits described this sprawling 3-disc set as songs that "fell behind the stove while making dinner." Glad he brushed the dust off of them and served them.
Key Tracks: You really want me to pick 3 or 4 songs out of 60?
99. Jeffrey Lewis - It's The Ones Who Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003):
Anti-folk wordsmith Jeffrey Lewis is honest as all hell, and is also a really good storyteller. Quirky as he is poetic, he's definitely one of the most resonant voices to emerge from NYC's anti-folk scene.
Key Tracks: "Back When I was 4," "Texas," "Don't Let the Record Label Take You Out to Lunch"
98. Fugazi - The Argument (2001):
The legendary band's last album before going on indefinite hiatus (8 years later, and we're still waiting!), the band still delivers tracks that pull as much pun ches as something off of 13 Songs ("Epic Problem," "Cashout"), yet also delve further in more experimental territory ("The Kill," "Strangelight," "The Argument").
Key tracks: "Epic Problem," "The Kill," "Life and Limb"
97. St. Vincent - Actor (2009):
Bizarre and accessible (Yes, not a very original description; shoot me!). With Actor, St. Vincents proves herself to be one of the most original female artists of the 21st century, thus far, and rises above the competition.
Key Tracks: "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood," "Save Me From What I Want"
96. Roosevelt Franklin - Something's Gotta Give (2003):
Really underground hip-hop, like so underground I don't think Pitchfork Media has recognized them (update: they have). However, any rap group that samples Chappelle's Show and Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" automatically deserves my respect.
Key Tracks: "Lately," "A Meditation on Why Love Sucks," "Kurt Loder"
95. The National - Boxer (2007):
I wrote these guys off when I first heard them because I thought they sounded like Interpol. But I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Key Tracks: "Mistaken for Strangers," "Gospel," "Start a War"
94. Okkervil River - Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See (2002):
A guest spot by Daniel Johnston ("Happy Hearts"), some country-influenced goodness (good country, not that Garth Brooks/Shania Twain nonsense) and some of the most heartfelt songs ever = one great debut album. Plus, they're from Austin!
Key Tracks: "Red," "Kansas City," "Listening to Otis Redding At home During Christmas"
93. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003):
Jack & Meg White take their brand of minimal two-person blues rock and tweak it with a speck of sophistication that would be more evident on their later albums. Deserved the Grammy of the Year award that year (no offense, OutKast).
Key Tracks: "Black Math," "Girl, You have No Faith In Medicine," "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
92. PJ Harvey & John Parrish - A Man A Woman Walked By (2009):
PJ Harvey's second collaboration with John Parrish was incredible. PJ Harvey was able to express her weirder side without sounding forced or out of place, and the two seem to have a chemistry with each other. I especially enjoyed Polly Jean exploring her inner Beefheart on "Pig Will Not."
Key Tracks: "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen," "Pig Will Not," "Black Hearted Love"
91. Isis - Wavering Radiant (2009):
After In The Absence of Truth, I wondered if a new Isis record could top that. Wavering Radiant may not be as good as their previous albums, but it's certainly not lackluster. And judging by my most recent listen to this album, I can see myself perhaps reconsidering my position.
Key Tracks: "Hand of the Host," "Threshold of Transformation."
90. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (2002):
I have to admit that if it weren't for Dave Grohl drumming on this album, I never would have given Queens of the Stone Age a chance, basically due to their stupid name. However, never judge a book by its cover because this was one of the best mainstream hard rock records this decade. And you can't go wrong with Dave Grohl's drumming.
Key tracks: "The Sky is Falling," "No One Knows," "Do it Again," "First It Giveth."
89. Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem (2009):
Phil Elverum's output had been dodgy since he ceased using the name the Microphones and changed it to Mount Eerie, although some of it was very good. I'm guessing in between albums, he discovered Xasthur, as this album boasts a huge influence from black metal. Keep looking to Telepathic with the Deceased for inspiration there, Phil, because it's working!
Highlights: "Lost Wisdom pt 2," Wind's Dark Poem," "Between Two Mysteries."
88. M83- Dead Cities, red Seas and Lost Ghosts (2003):
Definitely more lo-fi than their later releases, and more resonant, M83 (when they were still a duo) created some of the best soundscapes of their career on this record.
Highlights: "Unrecorded," "America," "Cyborg."
87. Isis - Oceanic (2002):
Isis albums are hard to review... All I'm going to say about Isis is that after Tool released Lateralus, if there's any band that can top them in metal, it's Isis. In fact, when Tool released their bloated 10,000 Days, the supposed "leaks" online before the album's release that I downloaded were tracks from Oceanic. And they were awesome!!!! Starting with Oceanic, they released some of the best metal this decade. Intellectual and arty as it is intense and heavier than Black Label Society ever released.
Highlights: "Hym," "Weight," "The Other"
86. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003):
My introduction to this band. Some beautiful shit. Like an American Sigur Ros, but heavier in terms of volume and less precious than some Sigur Ros stuff.
Highlights: I'm really not a big fan of picking two or three songs that have only five or six songs on them. It doesn't seem quite fair.
85. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (2005):
Their swan song, and perhaps their rawest. Sad to see them go, but they left us wanting more and the fire they had on records such as Dig Me Out got gasoline poured on it with this album.
Highlights: "Jumpers," "Entertain," "Wilderness"
84. Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites (2005):
A "multimedia" project (sounds pretentious but hear me out), in which one disc was songs (more like slow post-metal epics) and the other was ambience. And someone online (not sure if it was the band or some fan with a lot of time to kill) combined the two discs together so the tracks from both discs were combined with each other. You can listen to them separately, sure, because either way you can't go wrong, but when the tracks are mixed with each other, it's awesome. Whenever I'm mad, I crank "Departe/Deneb" and feel 100 times better.
Highlights: All of it... again, this album, when condensed into one, has 5 songs on it, so I can't choose.
83. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005):
Two states down, 48 to go! Actually, earlier last year, Mr. Stevens said that the idea of making an album for ALL 50 states was kind of silly. And it is. Why would we want an album about Wyoming? Anyway, his second and last installment of the 50 States Project about the Land of Lincoln, I must say, deserved the critical firestorm of excellent reviews it received.
Key Tracks: "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," "The Seer's Tower," "Chicago."
82. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (2001):
Unwound's last album before breaking up... and it sure was challenging. One part experimental, one part heavy, always melodic, and always schizophrenic. It's hard to pin down their sound, especially on this album, but it's some of the best post-hardcore ever. I miss these guys, and I didn't even hear of them until this year.
Highlights: "Scarlette," "Terminus," "Look a Ghost."
81. Tom Waits - Blood Money (2002):
This album and Alice were released on the same day (sometime in May 2002; look the date up yerselves!!!!!!!!!!!). However, whereas Alice was more beautiful and romantic (in ways that can only be described as Waits-esque), Blood Money was dark and cynical, weighing in on corruption ("Who were the ones that we kept in charge/Killers, thieves and lawyers"), heartbreak ("A red rose blooming on another man's vine") and the dismal state of the human condition ("If there's one thing you can say about mankind/There's nothing kind about man").
Key Tracks: "God's Away on Business," "Another Man's Vine," "Everything Goes to Hell," "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
And here's 5 more that didn't make the final 100, but deserve recognition anyway.... or to satisfy my self-indulgence.
120. Opeth - Deliverance/Damnation (2002/3):
Yes, they are two different albums, but recorded at the same time, and kind of impossible to conceive as different works. Deliverance adds more to their canon of progressive metal, while Damnation takes a 180, and delves into their "softer" side.
Key Tracks: Deliverance: "Deliverance," "A Fair Judgment." Damnation: "Windowpane," "Hope Leaves"
119. Okkervil River - The Stage Names/The Stand Ins (2007/8):
Again, two different records, but very much alike. Okkervil River again proves to be one of the decade's best bands with these two records.
Key Tracks: The Stage Names: "A Girl In Port," "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Savannah Smiles." The Stand-Ins: "Blue Tulip," "Starry Stairs."
118. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (2006):
It was hard to pick one Hold Steady album, but this one I think was the most enjoyable out of all of them.... if only I had more room. It's their most accessible, and I think their most enjoyable.
Key Tracks: :Citrus," "Massive Nights," "Stuck Between Stations"
117. People Under the Stairs - Stepfather (2006):
Their sound is definitely a throwback to old school rap, especially since they tend to sample more old school R&B and funk jams than most rappers I can think of. However, People Under the Stairs add their own modern twist to the genre, and Stepfather in particular is one of the freshest rap/hip-hop records this decade.
Key Tracks: "Step In," "You," "Reflections."
116. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (2002):
Once upon a time, MTV2 played videos. Underground videos. In 2002 or so, MTV2 found its way onto basic cable. It was here I discovered bands like the White Stripes, and ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, amongst many others (plus they always played classic Nirvana videos, and other great bands MTV1 threw under the bus long ago in favor of Britney Spears and reality TV abortions, such as Newlyweds and Jersey Shore). Now, they are showing 2-hour clips of Wildboyz. Back to where I was... By far, one of the most energetic records of the decade. Ferocious, like early Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma, yet complex like Television. Too bad they couldn't keep their momentum.
Key Tracks: "Another Morning Stoner," "How Near, How Far," "It Was There That I Saw You."
1 comment:
Great list so far! Was hoping you'd do one of these. I'm putting together a top 20 and finding it difficult.
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