The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Three: 60-41

Sorry for the delay. I've been a bit lazy the past few days. But there are blog entries on the way, and I will finish this damn thing.

60. Sonic Youth - Murray Street (2002):



NYC Ghosts & Flowers was a tremendous disappointment, for they had been on a wave of overly consistent (and some absolutely fantastic) material for a good 15 years. However, few bands have the longevity and creativity that Sonic Youth has, so they are allowed one or two missteps here and there. Murray Street certainly makes up for any mediocrity, and contains some of their most enduring material.
Key Tracks: "Rain on Tin," "Disconnection Notice," "The Empty Page."

59. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (2000):



Proof that metal can be good when it's slowed down to Melvins speed (particularly "Boris" or "Hag Me"). The thematic elements of this album are a bit silly, but who cares?
Key Tracks: "Vinum Sabbathi," "Weird Tales," "Barbarian"

58. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006):




A hip-hop album so good, the Wu-Tanger had to release another album of pretty good shit that didn't make it onto this album.
Key Tracks: "Whip You With a Strap," "The Champ," "Be Easy," "Back Like That"

57. Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came (2003):



I first heard this album at a friend's house while I was high, and it moved me in a way that few metal albums have. When I sobered up, I downloaded it at home and felt just as moved by it. It's one of those metal albums that I listened to a lot even as my interest in my genre as a whole was dwindling, and the more mainstream metal was getting more dumb.
Key Tracks: "Deadly Nightshade," "The Morning Never Came," "Hold This Woe"

56. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006):



Ridiculous album title aside, Yo La Tengo managed to create another excellent album 20+ into their career. Perhaps their most experimental album probably ever, the band focuses less on their traditional fuzzy shoegazing inspired minimalist music and add in piano ballads, and other genres of music.
Key Tracks: "Sometimes I Don't Get You," "Beanbag Chair," "The Race Is On Again"

55. Andrew Bird - Armchair Aprochrypa (2007):



A slight departure from the more acoustic The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird plugs in more on this record and puts down the violin a little bit on this record, and creates some of his most instantly enjoyable material, whereas his other albums took me a while to get into. Few albums have ending songs as beautiful as "Yawny and the Apocalypse"
Key Tracks: "Heretics," "Armchairs,” “Imitosis,” “Plasticities”

54. Feist - Let it Die (2004):



A flawless combination of indie rock, bossa nova and jazz, Feist made one of the most appealing albums of the decade. Half covers and half originals, even the songs that weren’t hers to begin with she makes her own.
Key Tracks: “Mushaboom,” “One Evening,” “When I Was a Young Girl”

53. Explosions in the Sky - All of the Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007):



I was in Boston at a friend's, and they had on a college radio station that played the Minutemen, Sigur Ros and Feist all in a row (among others). They also "premiered" "Welcome, Ghosts," by far one of the band's most intriguing songs. I wanted more. And I got more.
Key Tracks: "Welcome Ghosts," "What Do You Go Home To," "Catastrophe and the Cure"

52. Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009):



Few other bands that I know of can mix Krautrock, psychedelia, and electronic music as nonchalantly as Bear in Heaven. "Teenagers In Love" was probably the most hypnotic single of 2009.
Key Tracks: "Teenagers In Love," "You Do You," 'Casual Goodbye"

51. Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002):



Back during my Starbucks days, they played many of the tracks off this album in the store. During shitty days, Neko Case helps me get through it. Blacklisted may be the perfect soundtrack to the 9 AM Starbucks rush with people screaming at you for not making their quad-venti-skim-2 pump vanilla-latte 182 degrees instead of 183.
Key Tracks: "Deep Red Bells," "I Wish I Was the Moon," "Things That Scare Me"

50. Tom Waits - Real Gone (2004):



If you take a piano away from Tom Waits, except it to get ugly. Real Gone is, by far, Waits' ugliest album. Scratchier than an irritated cat, sludgier than a mudslide, Waits' voice has rarely been as hoarse and demonic as it is on this album. That's not to say that "Trampled Rose" and "Day After Tomorrow" are two of his most beautiful and poignant songs.
Key Tracks: "Hoist That Rag," "Trampled Rose," "Shake It," "Baby Gonna Leave Me"

49. The White Stripes - De Stijl (2000):



The White Stripes' second album, definitely one of their rawest (although all of their albums are pretty raw) and very moving in some parts. After this album, the Stripes expanded their sound a little and made maybe some better material, but their music never was as direct and real as De Stijl.
Key Tracks: "Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me?" "Sister Do You Know My Name," "Truth Doesn't Make a Noise"

48. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001):



Recorded during the same sessions as Kid A, but this album was not Kid B. This kid was an Amnesiac. Slightly more straightforward and less cold and clinical than Kid A, Amnesiac was just as barren as its predecessor, like feeling as if you're in an emotional wasteland.
Key Tracks: "Pyramid Song," "Knives Out," "Like Spinning Plates," "I Might Be Wrong"

47. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (2006):




Rejecting their loud, abrasive, No-Wave influenced beginnings, Yeah Yeah Yeahs may have turned it down a bit on Show Your Bones by incorporating (*gasps*) acoustic guitar and more vulnerability than on "Maps," which lead to a derision of this album. Screw those who didn't get it though. Karen O. can be just as primal and just as much of a rock goddess by wearing her emotions on her sleeve.
Key Tracks: "Way Out," "Warrior," "Cheated Hearts"

46. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (2007):



By far her most beautiful album, White Chalk retreads the rather stark territory she visited on Is This Desire? but on a different level. Her vocals have never been better, and on some songs, she never sounded so broken and vulnerable.
Key Tracks: "When Under Ether," "The Piano," "White Chalk"

45. The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (2002):



The first Mountain Goats albums to be 100% non-lo-fi, the transition from a cassette recorder to more developed arrangements and higher-quality recordings seemed to serve John Darnielle's often-brilliant storytelling very well.
Key Tracks: "First few Desperate Hours," "See America Right," "No Children"

44. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan, The Great Lakes State (2003):



Sufjan Stevens first installment of the now-aborted 50 States Project, and about a state now ravaged in unemployment, Michigan is full of intricate yet sublime arrangements, and it makes me want to go to Michigan.
Key Tracks: "All Good Naysayers Sepak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" "Romulus,"
"Vito's Ordination Song," "

43. Isis - Panopticon (2004):



Another brilliant record by Isis, and often at times overlooked in favor of Oceanic, some of the band's most capitvating moments are on this album.
Key Tracks: "So Did We," "Wills Dissolve," "Grinning Mouths"

42. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (2004):



Elliott Smith's untimely death was one of the decade's biggest tragedies in music. Released two days before the first anniversary of his death, From a Basement on the Hill contains some pretty harrowing lyrics that probably was a sign of events to come, but is also done so beautifully that it's like he was saying goodbye.
Key Tracks: "Let's Get Lost," "Twilight," "The Last Hour," "A Fond Farewell"

41. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (2005):



Fiona Apple's lone album of the decade, finally released six years after her last one and amid struggles with her label, Extraordinary Machine shows a slightly less somber Apple and a lot more mature. Then again, some of the stuff in this album is pretty bizarre.
Key Tracks: "Not About Love," "O Sailor," "Get Him Back"

And now for 5 more just outside of the Top 100

110. At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command (2000):



It had been swirling around in the media around the time of this album's release that these guys would be the next Nirvana. I'm not sure if I feel the same way, but "One-Armed Scissor" was one of the freshest and visceral songs to have a hit on modern rock radio. Considering that the Mars Volta, for the ost part, is an overindulgent, turgid mess, and Sparta's just mediocre... Supposedly these guys may reunite soon.
Key Tracks: "Invalid Litter Dept." "One-Armed Scissor," "Arcarsenal," "Quarantined"

109. Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk (2002):



Before she spent the rest of the decade churning out pure turgidity (I really like that word!), Myra Ellen Amos could still write some very compelling material. An 18-song snapshot of traveling through America, and defining it post-9/11, Scarlet's Walk contains some of Tori's best stuff. "Messiahs needs people dying in their names" should be posted in philosophy books everywhere.
Key Tracks: "Pancake," "Carbon," "Sweet Sangria," "I Can't See New York"

108. Foo Fighters - One By One (2002):



I don't care if the band hates this album, because I think, after their debut, it's their best one! After this album, I kind of stepped off the Foomobile. They recorded this album quickly, and some of their most aggressive moments are on this record.
Key Tracks: "Low," "Come Back," "All My Life," "Disenchanted Lullaby"

107. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007):




I kind of expected Win Butler & Friends to hit the classic sophmore slump with Neon Bible. While it is not as immediately captivating as Funeral, repeated listens warmed me up to this album, and is just as resonant as Funeral, but on a different level.
Key Tracks: "Ocean of Noise," "My Body is a Cage," "No Cars Go"

106. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat (2002):



Their first album post-September 11, the riot-grrl trio is at their most political on this record, critical of the Bush administration and draped in personal angst. Tracks like "Hollywood Ending" also take on preconceived notions of beauty in modern day America. One Beat may be even more powerful than Dig Me Out.
Key Tracks: "Light Rail Coyote ," "Combat Rock," "Oh!"