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!"

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part One: 100-81

What better way to celebrate the new decade's start than to revisit the crap-tastic decade that was the last one?!?!?! Woo-hoo!!!!

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."

The End of the 2000s

Today is the last day of 2009, and the first decade of the 21st century. Ten years ago, I was 14 years old and for some reason I was very apprehensive about the new millennium, and not because of that Y2K bullshit either. I didn't build a lair underground equipped with shotguns and canned beef and bottled water or anything. I just remember I was at the store and on my way home just looking at the sunset and thinking "things are not gonna be the same after this..." It was a very real feeling that was deeper beyond the rather empty words of what I was thinking. It was sad to say goodbye to the 1990s.

The clock struck midnight ushering the year 2000, and alas the world did not blow up!!! (Though I knew that wasn't going to happen) The first day of the new millennium was just like any other. Yet I couldn't shake this feeling of nervousness towards the year 2000 and what was to come. It could have been the aspect that my teenage years were in full swing by this point, where the crap my older sister spoke of, such as problems with the opposite sex, friends, alienation, REALLY fucked with you on a more severe level than when they first crept up on you when you're a little younger. It could have been the looming events that would unfold over the next couple of years; in the year 2000, we would have a new president, a terrorist plot was being planned against our country, and while the economy was pretty good during that time, it was all a lie that would blow up in everyone's face in a matter of years (except no one really knew it at that time). Of course, I didn't think in those terms, me being 14 and relatively ignorant of current world events, but I still had intuition I guess.

Without this being an overwrought entry reviewing all the shit that happened year by year, we had to deal with a lot this decade.... not all of it bad. The major elephants in the room being 9/11, the Bush presidency, and the economic collapse around 2008. I'm not going to write what pretty much everyone else has written about those events already. I will say that my sister had overslept the morning of 9/11 and was supposed to be at the Twin Towers when they were attacked by hijacked airplanes. And every day that passes, I'm really really thankful that she wasn't killed or injured or even THERE at Ground Zero. I only wish that countless other families who did lose someone in that attack were blessed the same way I was. Or that BOTH the Clinton and the Bush administrations had paid more attention to Bin Laden's threats and had taken action to perhaps thwart the plot against the US. The lives that could have been saved that day... (and the wars that came after it, most certainly)

As a society, we have been given some very valuable lessons on how to live this past decade. Whether people choose to take them to heart is up to every individual, but nonetheless there were lessons to be learned. After 9/11, the lesson (and this is all my personal take on everything, btw) should have been caring for your fellow man, and not taking every second for granted and we could lose something very dear to us at any time. Who knew that on a beautiful sunny day such as that fateful Tuesday that the world would be changed forever? Sadly, however, a lot of people didn't share that sentiment. A new era of jingoism and xenophobia was ushered in, as well as an era of war in the same vein as that of Vietnam. Our enemy was a word (terrorism), and war on a word is never good.

Yet we lost sight of our #1 enemy, which was Osama Bin Laden, and the genius in the White House decided that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks, even if it's a fact that he didn't, and Iraq was holding nuclear weapon, even if both Iraq and the weapons inspectors said that there were none. Our country, already divided as it was, became even more divided, and George W. Bush certainly didn't help that when he said that "you were either with us or against us." Those who opposed the war were basically told that their opposition to the war, either for reasons regarding pacifism or seeing through the bullshit they were being fed, meant that they might as well be siding with Saddam Hussein and Communism, even if the 2 didn't have anything to do with each other. Those who supported the war were seen as ignorant redneck warmongers, and I know that that wasn't 100% true either, even if having stickers that said "GOD BLESS AMERICA" or "THESE COLORS DON'T RUN" on the back of a Tahoe didn't help their case any, not that I'm taking sides.

Fast forward to the present day. We now have a new president, who ran on a campaign that was nothing short of electrifying. However, his first year of his administration was overall pretty dismal, though that's not entirely his fault either. He inherited two wars and an economy that's in the crapper, never mind a scared and paranoid public and many right-wingers vowing to stop at nothing to bring him down (even if right-wingers had been driving this nation to the ground for decades now, and left-wingers had their part in it too). For me, the jury is still out with President Obama (I have a rule of thumb; one year before I start criticizing a president... however since things are so bad and so beyond his control, I'm giving him a bit longer), but I ultimately believe that after all of this, we'll emerge as a better nation.

On a personal level, this decade was one big lesson. I learned a lot, regardless of many false starts and fuck-ups on my part, and I will take the wisdom and lessons of this decade to make the upcoming one way better than this one. Trite, yes I know, but ultimately true (see above for the feelings deeper than empty words). I've come to realize that I'm not a bad person, I'm not stupid, how much money you have is not everything (even if it helps make life easier and more enjoyable), and I have many things to conquer and many roads to travel. And if no one else likes it, then fuck them.

I'm not one for New Years' resolutions. I also don't think that bringing in a new decade will smooth everything over (the unrealistic clean slate bullshit); there's still work to be done. Yet, what better opportunity than to start off a new decade the right way?