The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Two: 80-61

Here we are at Part Two of my list of the best 100 albums to have been released during the last decade (2000-2009). Enjoy




80. No Age - Nouns (2008):



No Age is another band that has only two people, no bassist, and a cavalcade of sound, brought on by loops and effects. A pretty short album, but full of energy and ultimately a satisfying album.
Key Tracks: "Sleeper Hold," "Eraser," "Impossible Bouquet," "Things I Did When I Was Dead"

79. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000):



Easily one of her most straightforward releases, PJ Harvey proves she can be just as resonant without being pissed off, weird or downright bleak in attitude (see her previous 3 records). And what better person to do a duet with than Thom Yorke?
Key Tracks: "The Mess We're In," "Beautiful Feeling," "Good Fortune"

78. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000):



Ghostface Killah is perhaps the member of the Wu-Tang Clan with the most consistent solo career (even if GZA's Liquid Swords is in my top 3 rap/hip-hop records ever). He really comes into his own with Supreme Clientele. Fuck Kanye West. Fuck Jay-Z. Fuck all of these soulless bling-pushing MTV douchebags.
Key Tracks: "Stroke of Death," "We Made It," "Ghost Deini," "One."

77. Wilco - A Ghost is Born (2004):



Any band trying to follow up a perfect album like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is going to have a really difficult time. I think Jeff Tweedy was too stoned to really care, and while this album took me a few listens to get into or even enjoy, A Ghost is Born has some of the band's finest moments. Tweedy entered rehab around the time of this album's release for his abuse of painkillers.
Highlights: "Wishful Thinking," "Hell is Chrome," "Muzzle of Bees," "Less than You Think"

76. Caribou - Andorra (2007):



I liked him when he was called Manitoba too! More organized than The Milk of Human Kindness, Dan Snaith's second record under the Caribou moniker rules. Enough said. Very trippy.
Key Tracks: "Melody Day," "Irene," "After Hours."

75. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (2009):



I liked Natasha Khan's debut, Fur & Gold, but she only hinted at her true potential. She sure realized it on this record, truly letting her excellent voice serve as a powerful force, and she proved herself capable of coming up with some of the most ethereal music of the last decade.
Highlights: "Daniel," "Glass," "Siren Song."

74. The Decemberists - Picaresque (2005):



The Decemberists were one of this decade's most amazing bands. Picaresque is one of their best albums, although you can't really go wrong with their first four albums (wasn't too impressed with their latest one).
Key Tracks: "The Engine Driver," "The Infanta," "The Bagman's Gambit"

73. El-P - Fantastic Damage (2002):



Very few rap records blow me away when I first hear them. El-P managed to do that with Fantastic Damage. Very unconventional, and some of the sounds mustered up on this record are absolutely awesome.
Key Tracks: "Stepfather Factory," "Accidents Don't Happen," "Deep Space 9mm"

72. Aesop Rock - Labor Days (2001):



Aesop Rock... well, rocks. This guy has a way with words and a flow that very few rappers these days have.
Key Tracks: "Labor," "Bent Life," "9-5ers Anthem."

71. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up the Hill (2008):



Ethereal, full of reverb and.... acoustic (mostly)! Grouper (the alias of one Liz Harris of Portland) does a tremendous job in creating atmosphere that is arty yet organic, like being in the woods on a cold day near an almost-frozen lake.
Key Tracks: "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping," "When We Fall," "Fishing Bird"

70. Life Without Buildings - Any Other City (2001):



Only together for 3 years and releasing one album, Glasgow's Life Without Buildings created a sound that was simple (I don't think the guitarist used any effects) and augmented by singer Sue Tompkin's childlike sing-speak vocals Energetic, and at times cathartic, it's a shame these guys couldn't make another album.
Key Tracks: "Juno," "New Town," "Philip."

69. Beck - The Information (2006):



I suppose this was a cross-pollenization of the somber Sea Change and the danceable Guero. Mr. Hansen creates tracks that are just as funky as "Where It's At" ("Cellphone's Dead," "We Dance Alone"), and as stark as anything on Sea Change ("Movie Theme") and leaves plenty of room in between.
Key Tracks: "Movie Theme," "Nausea," "Think I'm In Love," Elevator Music"

68. The Antlers - Hospice (2009):



Heartbreaking story about a man who meets a bone cancer patient, falls in love, and dies by her side. Emotionally obliterating, and I hope that this is what dying sounds like.
Key Tracks: "Sylvia," "Thirteen," "Wake"

67. White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001):



Their breakthrough album, Jack and Meg White subtract many of the blues influences that permeated their first two albums, and Jack really blossoms as a songwriter on this album.
Key Tracks: "The Union Forever," "Fell in Love With a Girl," "I Can Learn"

66. The Vivian Girls (2008):



Ten songs, 22 minutes, 3 girls from Brooklyn, loads of reverb. The Vivian Girls' debut album was probably recorded on a nothing budget using probably terrible equipment. Still, this doesn't stop them from creating surf rock/grunge influenced mayhem.
Key Tracks: "All the Time," "Wild Eyes," "Tell the World," "I Believe In Nothing"

65. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003):



Radiohead, by the time 2003 rolled around, were already seen as rock legends for the new generation. They also proved themselves to be outspoken critics on the Bush Administration (and their own Tony Blair's involvement with the bullshit war in the Middle East). Still wanting to experiment with samples and Moogs, the band did "return" to rock on many songs, and Thom Yorke wrote lyrics worthy of a pat on the back by Joe Strummer while continuing to be in his own world.
Key Tracks: "There, There," "Sail to the Moon," "2+2=5," "Where I End and You Begin"

64. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001):



In 2001, I had gotten out of metal (save for a few bands) but then I heard "The Drapery Falls." Mikael Akerfelt can both sing well and growl well (a rarity). Blackwater Park will most likely be the best album they will ever release.
Key Tracks: "The Drapery Falls," "Harvest," "The Leper Affinity"

63. Mission of Burma - ONoffON (2004):



After 22 long years, Mission of Burma released another album. Since initially disbanding in 1983, the Boston trio's small discography influenced everyone from REM to Nirvana. ONoffON sounds like a band that seemingly never spent two decades apart; they were always ahead of their time anyway.
Key Tracks: "Into the Fire," "Hunt Again," "Falling," "What We Really Were"

62. The Roots - Phrenology (2002):




Just may be the most challenging hip hop album ever made, but what did you expect from an album named after a psychological theory that personality traits are influended by the shape of one's skull?
Key Tracks: "Seed 2.0," "Rock You," "Water"

61. The Wrens - The Meadowlands (2003):



In a perfect world, emo would not exist, and if it did, it would sound like this. Taking four years to complete, mainly due to problems with their label, this New Jersey quartet created one of the best break-up albums ever. Emotion on a record is rarely this palpable.
Key Tracks: "Thirteen Grand," "Happy," "Boys You Won't Remember," "13 Months in 6 Minutes"

And 5 more that didn't quite make it...

115. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone (2009):



I was pretty shocked and amazed when this album debuted at #3 of the charts. Those spots are usually reserved for the Britneys and the Lady Gagas of the world, and no records that really have any emotional substance, such as this one.
Key Tracks: "Polar Nettles," "This Tornado Loves You," "The Pharoahs"

114. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (2006):



I suppose you can't have one of these lists without adding an album from Mr. Robert Zimmerman. The late 90s/early 00s had been a time of creative renaissance for Dylan, and Modern Times was just a great blues-rock record. "Someday Baby" was his best single in at least 30 years.
Key Tracks: "Someday Baby," "Nettie Moore," "Thunder on the Mountain."

113. Franz Ferdinand (2004):



When I first heard these guys, I thought the Talking Heads had regrouped and made a new album. Like David Byrne, these lads are from Scotland and definitely took a few cues from the early Heads records, but added their own edge to it; still danceable, but more punk and less funk.
Key Tracks: "Take Me Out," "Jacqueline," "This Fire," "Auf Asche"

112. The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas (2002):



John Darnielle's last "lo-fi" record before using fancy-schmancy things such as multi-track studios, drums, and other non-acoustic instruments, All Hail West Texas is still one of his finest albums.
Key Tracks: "The Mess Inside," "Distant Stations," "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton"

111. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (2006):



Continuing with their tradition of complex wordplays and intricate often-acoustic arrangements, the Decemberists took their style and added more elements of prog. "The Landlord's Daughter" section of the 12-minute "The Island" epic plays like a lost Peter Gabriel-era Genesis track. Did I mention that this was a concept album?
Key Tracks: "Yankee Bayonet," "When the War Came," "The Island," "O Valencia!"