Best of the 00s

Between acts, at a show the other night, JNo and I were talking about how we didn’t get our Best-of-2009 lists done (it’s since been completed) this year… then he dropped the real bomb: he had done a “top ten of the aughts” list.  Sounded pretty daunting but it also sounded like a lot of fun — both sentiments turned out to be completely accurate and despite being positive that I’m forgetting someone obvious, I’m ready to (finally) pull the trigger on this thing.

The 00s pretty well coincided with my 20s – taking me from college graduation through to parenthood.  Lots of memories and big parts of friendships revolve around some of this music.  As a matter of fact, it is entirely likely dear reader that I associate one of these discs/songs with you.

So here’s how I’m going to try this. I’ve placed artists with their best albums in tiers. I’m only going to list the discs that I thought were in the “best of the decade” so not every artist will have all of their stuff with them — some will though: if you like a band you like em, right?

Alright, let’s get rollin.

Tier 1

This tier contains my favorite artists and discs of the decade. It is possible that my favorite artist and/or disc ever is in here.  or maybe not.  Pretty heavy either way.

…if I put an asterisk in front of the disc, it’s the reason that the band is up this high and is eligible for the title of “best of the decade”. I’ve tried to put them in order but for many of these it’s basically impossible – the tiers were hard enough!

The New Pornographers & AC Newman

I like everything they have ever put out there. I’m lumping in AC Newman’s solo stuff here because it’s worthy of the “best of the decade” list but it’s the TNP albums that are taking the high honors.

Carl Newman makes the band great with great song after great song and Dan Bejar sneaks in some of my favorites as well. Everytime I’ve seen them I’ve come away wondering why people don’t talk more about Kathryn Calder — and then, of course, there’s that voice on Neko Case.

* The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic (2000)
* The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema (2005)
* The New Pornographers – Challengers (2007)
* The New Pornographers – Electric Version (2003)
AC Newman – The Slow Wonder (2004)
AC Newman – Get Guilty (2009)

Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter has this style that makes you feel at home. The songs feel really genuine and when he’s on stage smiling ear-to-ear, so are you. I was just looking at the songs on these discs to try to order them and every disc has songs that could be my overall favorites — really strong stuff.

* The Animal Years (2006)
* The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (2007)
* Golden Age of Radio (2000)
* Hello Starling (2003)

Iron & Wine

Nobody makes better “quiet music” than Iron & Wine. The days are frequent where I need something in my ears but wouldn’t consider any alternative to these guys.

* Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)
* The Creek Drank The Cradle (2002)
The Shepherd’s Dog (2007)
Live at Lollapalooza (2006)

Coldplay

Were you at our wedding dinner? If so, you may have picked up on the fact that Monica and I are big Coldplay fans. They can fill a stadium and put on a great show.

* A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
* Parachutes (2000)
* X & Y (2005)
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)

Pedro the Lion, Damien Jurado

I am lumping these guys together only for the description. You should absolutely check them out individually – definitely don’t conclude that they have the same sound.

That said, I think of these guys in the same vein: covering religion and other social issues from a very personal standpoint. I don’t necessarily always agree 100% with the stances they take but (personally) that doesn’t detract from the very personal message coming through in a very personal sort of way.  P.S.  Personal.

* Pedro The Lion – Control (2002)

* Damien Jurado – Where Shall You Take Me? (2003)
* Damien Jurado – I Break Chairs (2002)

The Eels

Another very upfront and brutally honest feeling album. He takes you from past to present to future without seeming to hold a whole lot back out of the light. Sometimes optimistic or even funny – often calm and somber – always introspective.

Speaking of these discs bringing back specific memories. This is the page I read before making the purchase.

* Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)

Tier 2

This tier is only a half-step behind the first one. Really incredible bands and albums here. I’ll keep the asterisk denotation for the ones that really stick out.

White Stripes, Raconteurs

Jack White had a pretty ridiculous decade. All of these albums were excellent and came with some strong live performances as well.

* White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
* White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
* White Stripes – De Stijl (2000)
White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan (2005)
White Stripes – Icky Thump (2007)
Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers (2006)
Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely (2008)

David Gray

Everyone knows I’m a sucker for a piano on stage. David Gray not only has provided some of my favorite discs but also one of my favorite concertgoing experiences ever.

* White Ladder (2000 – yes, I’m counting the US release date.  It’s my list, I can rig it if I want to!)
Life In Slow Motion (2005)
A New Day At Midnight (2002)
Draw The Line (2009)

Apples In Stereo

Enough of this serious business! Let’s get some candy! Just plain great n’ playful pop songs.

* Discovery of a World Inside The Moone (2000)
* New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
Velocity of a Sound (2002)

Beck

People are always surprised when Beck puts out a “slow” disc. It’s kind of a strange phenomena — I get that you only had heard “Loser” so Mutations caught you a bit off guard. What I don’t get is how you had managed to forget about Mutations so quickly that Sea Change shocked you… and while we’re on the subject: if Mutations were from this decade it would definitely be on this list and Beck would definitely be in Tier #1.

* Sea Change (2002)
Modern Guilt (2008)

Ben Folds

Had “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” come out 6 months later, he would be Tier #1 as well, but as it is: he’s always been one of my favorites for singing along in the car and these albums fall perfectly into that category (with a couple skips).

* Rockin The Suburbs (2001)
Songs For Silverman (2005)

Wilco

I got into them a bit late in the game – didn’t give them a real try until Yankee Foxtrot Hotel – and then moved backwards to catchup.

I remember sitting in my dorm room in 1996 with my BMG order form and choosing between Wilco (Being There) and Superdrag (Regretfully Yours). I went with Superdrag. It’s actually a happy story though – I did/do like that Superdrag album and clearly I got caught up on Wilco eventually, so it all works out in the end.

* Yankee Foxtrot Hotel (2002)
* A Ghost Is Born (2004)
Sky Blue Sky (2007)

Jens Lekman

Personal lyrics and low budget production – He really makes you feel connected to his life and stories. Seeing him at Music Hall had to be just about the perfect venue.

* Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007)
When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog (2004)

Belle & Sebastian

One of my earliest stabs at music that few of my friends were listening to at the time – I’ve remained a very big fan of these guys – it’ll be great to see a new disc from them this year.

* Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
* The Life Pursuit (2006)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant (2000)

My Morning Jacket

“It Still Moves” is one of my favorites ever – crazy how many albums are on this list that I just could not do without. Really the whole disc is awesome but Dancefloors, Golden, and Run Thru remain in my favorite songs list (no, I will not be spending the next 6 weeks actually making that list exist).

* It Still Moves (2003)
Z (2005)

Travis

There are a lot more great Scottish bands than you might think.  I was really disappointed to be out of town when they played The Majestic last year.

* The Man Who (2000 – another spot where I’m admitting the US release date)
* The Invisible Band (2001)
12 Memories (2003)

Elliott Smith

Ok, I know I’ve blathered about artists making “personal connections” through the music with several of these artists but nobody did it better than Elliott Smith. Unfortunately, some of the problems that surely had a direct tie to his incredible art led to his suicide in 2003. My favorite disc of his (“From A Basement on the Hill”) was actually released posthumously.

* From A Basement on the Hill (2004)
Figure 8 (2000)

Green Day

I would not have predicted that my favorite band in high school would still be relevant (to both myself and to current highschoolers) in 2004. Hard to compare American Idiot in 2004 to the discs that I was loving from them back in 1995, but it really is a great (and topical) disc.

* American Idiot (2004)
Warning (2000)

The Shins

I don’t know. How to you describe The Shins.  understated?

These discs (especially the first two) are firmly on my best of the decade list and should definitely be heard.

* Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
* Oh, Inverted World (2001)
Wincing The Night Away (2007)

Ben Gibbard & Andrew Kenny, Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service

Ben Gibbard is amazing – Both of his bands here have discs on this list and the Home Volume V EP is top rate. In fact, I had both Death Cab and Postal Service discs listed individually in lower tiers before realizing that that EP qualified.

* Ben Gibbard & Andrew Kenny – Home Volume V (2004)
Death Cab For Cutie – Plans (2005)
Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism (2003)
The Postal Service – Give Up  (2003)

Tier 3

This is the tier where we take another half-step down but still: awesome, awesome discs.

Rage Against The Machine

Another candidate for my #1 live experience, despite being ever so slightly different than David Gray.

Battle of Los Angeles (2001)

Spoon

The hits just keep on comin. All of these discs are favorites.

Girls Can Tell (2001)
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007)
Gimme Fiction  (2005)
Kill The Moonlight (2002)

Andrew Bird

I’m in the minority who prefer Armchair Apocrypha to the other disc here. Both are excellent.

Armchair Apocrypha (2007)
Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs (2005)

Eminem

Undoubtedly the first (and maybe only) discs in the list that I wouldn’t actually make it all the way through today, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t all about them when they came out.

The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
The Eminem Show (2002)

Sufjan Stevens

Kind of feel bad about putting him behind Eminem. Rest assured that if I weren’t taking “how much I used to play Eminem” into consideration, he’d be up higher.

Illinois (2005)
Michigan (2003)

Weezer

Their popularity in the 90s certainly carried over for me and I played the hell out of these discs. Maladroit still holds up though and the Green Album ain’t so bad either.  Their other discs in the 00s are near misses for inclusion.

Maladroit (2002)
Weezer aka. Green Album (2001)

Arcade Fire

It took me a little while to warm up to these guys actually (and surprisingly).

Funeral (2004)
Neon Bible (2007)

Muse

I remember being absolutely blown away when I first heard these guys. Just an incredible large-venue band. “What Radiohead should have been?”. You be the judge.

Absolution (2003)
Black Holes and Revelations (2006)

Radiohead

Speak of the devils… did you think I had forgotten them?

When I started this list I put them on top. They got shifted down and down and honestly, I think I could still drop them a couple spot and not feel bad about it here. Great band, great disc, but not as great to me as it may be to the rest of yous.

Kid A (2000)
In Rainbows (2007)

The Hold Steady

I merely liked The Hold Steady — then I saw them live — and now I know what it’s all about.

One of those bands that is so good live that listening to the recordings is never after the same after the experience.

Stay Positive (2008)
Boys And Girls In America (2006)
Separation Sunday (2005)
Almost Killed Me (2004)

Of Montreal

Did someone say “live show”? To say these guys put on the most memorable concert I have ever seen would be an incredible understatement. Absolutely. Crazy. Awesome.

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)
Satanic Panic in the Attic (2004)
Skeletal Lamping (2008)

The National

The band is great but it’s Matt Berninger’s voice and delivery that keeps me coming back.

Boxer (2007)
Alligator (2005)

Fountains Of Wayne

The songs play around and have fun and a lot of the time, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)
Traffic and Weather (2007)

Keane

I will forever have this band directly linked to Travis (up above) in my head. Very similar style but they’re piano driven instead of guitar. Great stuff.

Hopes and Fears (2004)
Under the Iron Sea (2006)

Dave Matthews & Dave Matthews Band

If combined with his 90s stuff, he would be much higher.  The guy may get a lot more credit than he deserves from the general public but he also gets a lot more flack than he deserves from the music-critic audience.

Busted Stuff (2002)
Some Devil (2003)
Everyday (2001)

Runners Up

It’s too bad to exclude these guys – they’re still some of the best discs I’ve heard, but I think we’ve done pretty well for ourselves… I’ll just list em for you.

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)

Bob Dylan – Love and Theft (2001)
Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)

Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (2002)

Gorillaz – Demon Days (2005)
Gorillaz – Gorillaz (2001)

Modest Mouse – The Moon And Antarctica (2000)
Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (2007)

Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (2000)

Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004)

The Black Keys – Rubber Factory (2004)
The Black Keys – Thickfreakness (2003)
The Black Kyes – The Big Come Up (2002)
The Black Keys – Attack & Release (2008)

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (2007)

Kings Of Leon – Because of the Times (2007)
Kings Of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
Kings Of Leon – Only by the Night (2008)

LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (2007)

The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics (2006)
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (2009)

Band of Horses – Everything All The Time (2006)
Band of Horses –  Cease To Begin (2007)

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)

Blitzen Trapper – Furr (2008)

Beastie Boys – To The 5 Boroughs (2004)

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (2009)

Gnarles Barkley – St.Elsewhere (2006)

Girl Talk – Feed The Animals (2008)

Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope (2006)

Tenacious D – Tenacious D (2001)

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