There's a big thread over on the Steve Hoffman site with a lot of somewhat predictable choices, like Dylan's Love and Theft, and Radiohead's Kid A, and Wilco's YHF, and Green Day's American Idiot and Brian Wilson's Smile, and all the rest of the big name artists. But one that went mostly unnoticed at the time by me has been getting all of my attention lately, Low's Trust from 2002. Wow, what a nice record. Seems to combine all of their talents and techniques in one place. Some Cowboy Junkies, and Byrds and VU and Wilco and Joy Division and Galaxie 500 and Radiohead and CSN&Y and all the rest. Great stuff. Thought I already had enough albums by Low so skipped the last 2, but I was wrong. Still think Lost in the Fire might be their best, mainly because it just flows so perfectly and has the Steve Albini touch, but this one seems to be their most diverse and is my favorite at the moment. Surprisingly only gets 3.5 stars from AMG, but works much better than that for me. I'd initially been scared away by the Tchad Blake production since he sometimes gets a little overdramatic for my taste, which is fine for power pop type music, but this still has the sound I like of Low, just a little more eclectic and bold at times. And the liner notes only give him mixing credit so maybe his input wasn't that much overall. Opening with a luscious and mournful reinterpretation of the traditional spiritual with "[That's How You Sing] Amazing Grace" (I knew this girl when I was young, She took her spikes from everyone, One night she swallowed up the lake, That's how we sing amazing grace), followed by one of their best rockers yet in "Canada" ('cuz you can't take that stuff to Canada). Unknown Pleasures Deux? Maybe not, but it does hold a lot of magic.

So what's your pick?