Top 10 Albums of the Decade!

[Mr MidFi]

Whose idea was only 10 disks anyway?!

Oh, hush. If I'd made it 20, that would have made it even harder. Seriously... if I'm down to picking no. 20 on a list and deciding between (say) Band of Horses or Rogue Wave, that's pretty much a coin flip at that point. Just sayin'...

[ForeverAutumn]

Oh, hush. If I'd made it 20, that would have made it even harder. Seriously... if I'm down to picking no. 20 on a list and deciding between (say) Band of Horses or Rogue Wave, that's pretty much a coin flip at that point. Just sayin'...

Yeah, well, judging by the responses, it's not like anyone around here can count anyhow.

[Monkey Bones]

Here's a list....


Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
Spoon - Girls Can Tell
The Strokes - Is this It?
The Glands - self titled
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Streetcore
British Sea Power - The Decline of...
The New Year - Newness Ends
Grandaddy - Sumday
Radiohead - Kid A
Beulah - The Coast is Never Clear
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Wire - Read & Burn 1 & 2
The Wrens - Meadowlands
The Shins - Oh Inverted World
The Constantines - Shine a Light
The National Boxer
Low - Things we Lost in the Fire
Pinback - Summer in Abbadon
Built to Spill - You In Reverse
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Songs Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Nick Cave - Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
Mercury Rev - All is Dream
Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows
Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum
White Lies - To Lose My Life
The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage
Interpol - Antics
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimist (still early into this one - but it could make my final 10)

My top 10 will probably come from among the candidates above - I need more time.

Lazy cheat. Hey, I could easily pick a top ten that would make me happy from that list! Don't know White Lies or The Phantom Band, though. I wish Mercury Rev still had some of that magic, guess it just ran out after All Is Dream. Speaking of Pinback (yours) and Black Heart Procession (mine) I got to see the Three Mile Pilot show when they rolled through town last month. Blast. I might even pick Blue Screen Life above Abaddon these days, but 2 sides of the same. Good stuff. Should be somewhere on my list. And Low, great record, beautiful recording. That's one of the Albini records. Nice feel to that one, very subdued, yet the atmosphere almost sparkles. Trust is amazing too, though very different and missing the Albini touch, it's got some very good songs, and maybe Tchad Blake did help them shake it up a little? Regardless, I like them both a lot.

[Swish]

I'm not even gonna try to put them in any order right now.

SFA - Rings Around The World
Wilco - (The Album) . . . yeah, seriously
Enon - High Society
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Richard Davies - Barbarians
Grandaddy - Sumday
Calexico/Iron & Wine - In The Reins
Pinback - Summer In Abaddon
Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth
Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers - The Lonesome Sea

Arrg!! Ten isn't nearly enough.

Are you insane? Of course you are, but that still makes no sense to me. Zero point zero.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Lazy cheat.

Hey, it's the steroid era...if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'

I do intend to choose 10 in another post later in the year, after all, I still haven't spent any quality time with that Circulatory System album you been going on about. White Lies is really cool in that 80s Brit-alternative way a la Bunnymen or more so; The Sound. I'm having a very tough time finding reference points for The Phantom Band; they're Scottish, they're indie but with hard rock elements. Here's a vid to whet your appetite a little;


Crappy quality - but you'll get the idea.

[3LB]

I like The Phantom Band. That's a pretty good debut from them.

[newtrix1]

Hem - Rabbit Songs - One of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard.

Wow, nice pick.

[bobsticks]

The short list turned out not to be so short but it's easiest to live by the spirit of the theme by just going to the tops of the stacks. On this day at least the top ten would read somethin' like:

Paquito D'Rivera~Portraits of Cuba
Califone~Roots and Crowns
Ray LaMontagne~Trouble
HEM~Rabbit Songs
Michel Camilo~Triangulo
Calexico~Garden Ruin
Masaaki Suzuki & The Bach Collegium of Japan~28 Cantatas
Over The Rhine~Ohio
John Legend~Once Again

I'd hate to be accused of being a lazy cheater so i won't go that way with it...


...BUT if I were I'd have to add that Richard Hawley's Lady's Bridge, Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, Dr. John's Creole Moon, Calexico's Carried To Dust, Earl Klugh's Spice of Life, Beasties' To The Five Burroughs, Mark Knopfler's Ragpicker's Dream, Boston Baroque's Handel's Water Music, Willie Nile's Streets of New York, Yo Yo Ma's Obrigado Brazil, Justin Townes Earle's The Good Life, A. Bird's Eggs, Buddy Guy's Bring 'Em In, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Nocturama, half of Davey's omissions and all of Sloshy's list would make the just-missed-the-cut, top-of-the-pile list.

Pretty damn good decade I'd say...

[ForeverAutumn]

It's nice to see some great artists appearing on people lists but with different albums. Ray Lamonagne has had Trouble, Til the Sun Turns Black, and Gossip in the Grain mentioned. And Andrew Bird has had The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Armchair Apocrypha, and Noble Beast mentioned. Without going back and rereading everything, I think that Spoon also had a couple of different CDs mentioned.

To me, that shows the sign of a true talent with staying power.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hem - Rabbit Songs. Wow, nice pick.

Thanks. I've loved that album from the first time I heard it. It's definately on my desert island list.

[Swish]

I would prolly go with some of these, in no particular order, off the top:

Wilco - Y.F.H.
Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities (pure perfection and could be my top pick of the decade)
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
Pinback - Summer in Abaddon
Spoon - Gimme Fiction (I prefer A Series of Sneaks but it's from 1998)
Over the Rhine - Ohio
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
The National - Alligator (could have used Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers)

Yes, some repeats, but I prolly listened to these more than any others over the last 10 years. I may feel differently in a few months as the new Wilco and Circulatory System become more familiar, but I just can't justify them yet.

Swish - the debate is over

[Monkey Bones]

Swish - the debate is over

No argument from me, nice list.

I may feel differently in a few months as the new Wilco and Circulatory System become more familiar, but I just can't justify them yet.

Was just reading the NPR review of Signal Morning. Pretty nice words, and they have all the tracks up there for a listen too. "Obliterated guitars", love it

Opening para...

It took nearly eight years to make, but Circulatory System's breathtakingly inventive new album, Signal Morning, justifies the wait. The 17 new tracks, culled from hours of recorded material and meticulously pieced together in more than half a dozen different studios, are sonic wonders. Obliterated guitars rumble over strange, fluttering textures. Vintage synth lines and quirky found sounds tumble together amid psychedelic melodies and harmonies. It's a mysterious and mesmerizing world of orchestrated chaos that offers new discoveries with each listen.

[Swish]

No argument from me, nice list.

Oh, I thought it was bobsticks. Nevermind.

[bobsticks]

Oh, I thought it was bobsticks. Nevermind.

I was gonna make a comment about "geezer rock"...then i took a look at my own list and rethought the situation...

[Swish]

I was gonna make a comment about "geezer rock"...then i took a look at my own list and rethought the situation...

...listening to Paquito D'Rivera and Masaaki Suzuki & The Bach Collegium.

[bobsticks]

Lol, yeah, but the thread is about albums...I could put together a collection of Rap singles that would make you rip out yer own spleen...

[dean_martin]

This was a nice exercise that made me peruse my collection and realize just how spotty it is. It wasn't too long ago that I beefed up my 90s stuff to a respectable level. So here goes nothin':

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
The Strokes - Is This It?
The National - Boxer
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
The Shins - Chutes too Narrow
Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (double checked release date - 2000)
Wilco - YHFT
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Black Keys - Attack & Release (took me back to high school with its fresh take on southern rock)

Hon. Mentions - Death Cab for Cutie for Transatlanticism and Plans; Built to Spill for You in Reverse; Wilco for Sky Blue Sky.

I'll probably find something I missed over the holiday weekend, but these are the albums I remember listening to the most.

[noddin0ff]

I don't think I can do top 10 for the decade. But, I can do top per year for a decade with only a little waffling per year. I can never decide I like something until long after the fact. These are the albums that seem to be standing the test of time, not necessarily those I thought were most terrific at the time. Hope the dates are correct...

2000
(smog): Dongs of Sevotion

2001
Manu Chao: Proxima Estacion: Esperanza

2002
Beck: Sea Change

2003
Cat Power: You Are Free
The White Stripes: Elephant

2004
Robyn Hitchcock: Spooked

2005
Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

2006
Cat Power: The Greatest
Tom Waits: Orphans, Brawlers, & Bawlers

2007
Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
The National: Boxer

2008
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Sun Kil Moon: April

2009
Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3: Goodnight Oslo
The Cosmos: Jar of Jam Ton of Bricks
Heartless Bastards: The Mountain

[Stone]

2000
(smog): Dongs of Sevotion

How does this compare to A River Ain't Too Much To Love? I really like that album a lot.

[noddin0ff]

How does this compare to A River Ain't Too Much To Love? I really like that album a lot.

Well... I don't know. We'll have to compare notes. I don't have that one.

Most of the time I listen to Dongs, I listen to half the album. 4 of the first 5 tracks are excellent and I find myself going back to them over and over. The others I have a hard time even remembering. Actually, I take that back, the last track Permanent Smile is one I really like too. I have a play list in iTunes that takes half of Knock Knock and half of Dongs of Sevotion and that's what I listen to.

I think it's hard to top 3 of the Dongs songs, Dress Sexy at My Funeral, Strayed, and Easily Led. Those essentially make the whole album special.

If I did this right, you can click on the album art and see what you think.

[Stone]

Well... I don't know. We'll have to compare notes. I don't have that one.

Most of the time I listen to Dongs, I listen to half the album. 4 of the first 5 tracks are excellent and I find myself going back to them over and over. The others I have a hard time even remembering. Actually, I take that back, the last track Permanent Smile is one I really like too. I have a play list in iTunes that takes half of Knock Knock and half of Dongs of Sevotion and that's what I listen to.

I think it's hard to top 3 of the Dongs songs, Dress Sexy at My Funeral, Strayed, and Easily Led. Those essentially make the whole album special.

If I did this right, you can click on the album art and see what you think.

Thanks. Back atcha.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Okay, let's see...

Green Day--American Idiot
Amy Winehouse--Back To Black
Rosalia Souza--Garota Moderna
White Stripes--Get Behind Me Satan
Bob Dylan--Love And Theft
New York Dolls--One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This
Bebel Gilberto--Tanto Tempo
Joe Strummer--Streetcore
Madeleine Peyroux--Careless Love
The Wondermints--Mind If We Make Love To You

R. Kelly--Trapped In The Closet (requires the video) deserves to be on the list, but doesn't make the cut since the music is so dependent on the visual.

Honorable mention to the Hives for Veni Vidi Vici & Black And White Album, the Libertines, the Ditty Bops, Beck for Guero & Sea Change, Nick Cave for his last 2, the Little Killers, the Raconteurs for Consolers, Nicole Atkins for Neptune City, Neil Young for -Greendale, Al Anderson (once of NRBQ) for After Hours, Nick Curran & the Nightlifes for Player!, Jet for Get Born, Ray LaMontagne for Trouble, Johnny Cash for American V, Nick Lowe for At My Age, Wilco for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Luka Bloom for Before Sleep Comes, Neil Diamond for 12 Songs, Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out.

Eminem for Curtain Call, though that gets an asterisk since it's the greatest hits.

Then there's stuff that was either recorded long ago or re-imagined, possibly with a release in a modified form. Like the soundtrack to flicks like The Aviator & Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woman On Top also, stuff like Tom Waits' Orphans, the Miles Davis Seven Steps box, Brian Wilson's Wondermint' version of SMiLE, the jump blues collection assembled by a fan in like Belgium (Dr. Boogie) from the collection of the guy from Canned Heat (Bob Hite?), the Beatles' Capitol Records albums versions--both boxes, the remasters of the Ramones & Replacements albums which sold jack sh*t, the recent Big Star box, and John Coltrane's recently discovered double live CD from late 1965, One Up One Down (much better than the solid but way-overly-hyped Thelonious Monk issue from Carnegie Hall in 1957, featuring Coltrane in between stints with Miles Davis), and...

Beatles remasters in a few days.

[Swish]

Okay, let's see...

Green Day--American Idiot
Amy Winehouse--Back To Black
Rosalia Souza--Garota Moderna
White Stripes--Get Behind Me Satan
Bob Dylan--Love And Theft
New York Dolls--One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This
Bebel Gilberto--Tanto Tempo
Joe Strummer--Streetcore
Madeleine Peyroux--Careless Love
The Wondermints--Mind If We Make Love To You

R. Kelly--Trapped In The Closet (requires the video) deserves to be on the list, but doesn't make the cut since the music is so dependent on the visual.

Honorable mention to the Hives for Veni Vidi Vici & Black And White Album, the Libertines, the Ditty Bops, Beck for Guero & Sea Change, Nick Cave for his last 2, the Little Killers, the Raconteurs for Consolers, Nicole Atkins for Neptune City, Neil Young for -Greendale, Al Anderson (once of NRBQ) for After Hours, Nick Curran & the Nightlifes for Player!, Jet for Get Born, Ray LaMontagne for Trouble, Johnny Cash for American V, Nick Lowe for At My Age, Wilco for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Luka Bloom for Before Sleep Comes, Neil Diamond for 12 Songs, Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out.

Eminem for Curtain Call, though that gets an asterisk since it's the greatest hits.

Then there's stuff that was either recorded long ago or re-imagined, possibly with a release in a modified form. Like the soundtrack to flicks like The Aviator & Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woman On Top also, stuff like Tom Waits' Orphans, the Miles Davis Seven Steps box, Brian Wilson's Wondermint' version of SMiLE, the jump blues collection assembled by a fan in like Belgium (Dr. Boogie) from the collection of the guy from Canned Heat (Bob Hite?), the Beatles' Capitol Records albums versions--both boxes, the remasters of the Ramones & Replacements albums which sold jack sh*t, the recent Big Star box, and John Coltrane's recently discovered double live CD from late 1965, One Up One Down (much better than the solid but way-overly-hyped Thelonious Monk issue from Carnegie Hall in 1957, featuring Coltrane in between stints with Miles Davis), and...

Beatles remasters in a few days.

I also failed to list The Thrills - So Much for the City, a cd that few on here, if any, ever mentioned, but I think they caught lightning in a bottle.

[Jim Clark]

l. The National - pick one, love them all
2. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
3. Iron&Wine/Calexico-In The Reins
4. Postal Service - Give Up
5. Moonbabies - June and Novas
6. Snow Patrol - Final Straw
7. The Legends - Up Against The Legends
8. Joe Strummer -Streetcore
9. Massive Attack - 100'th Window
10.Gary Numan - Pure

'course that leaves out electric President, Radio 4, Greenday, Arcade Fire, BSP, Shout Out Louds, Stars, Wheat, BSS, Doves, Shins, Notwist, The Stills, De/vision, Woven Hand, Lali Puna, and even The Dodos (you're right Davey - that's an awesome album), not to mention We Were Promised Jetpacks!

jc

[Monkey Bones]

I would prolly go with some of these, in no particular order, off the top:

Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities (pure perfection and could be my top pick of the decade)

Just got the new Richmond Fontaine, some pretty nice stuff, and as usual, gonna take a lot of time, but as usual, probably well worth it. Willy has something special in him that needs to get out.

http://killrockmusic.com/wp-content/...ontaine-43.mp3

Also just pre-ordered the new Califone All My Friends Are Funeral Singers double vinyl and got the free download. Not sure if I should do it or not. Been loving the pseudo title track for awhile, but think I might wait on this one to get the full package. Not many artists that do that something special for me anymore, but these guys are one. Bound to be a favorite for a long time, and some very nice advance press hinting at that too. Cool cover to boot. Part of it just might be my new avatar.

http://www.prefixmag.com/site_media/...al-singers.mp3