end of decade lists: albums
Top 10 Albums of the Decade: Aughts Edition
The albums that made my decade. They're not necessarily the best, but they're the ones that influenced me the most over the past ten years, the ones that I will think of when I'm looking back on this decade, in terms of music.
10.
What: Back To Black
Who: Amy Winehouse
When: 2006
Why: What happened Amy?! This album refreshed pop music by taking cues from 60s girl-pop and soul. It takes a lot for me to love a female vocalist, especially a singer-songwriter, but Amy brought enough gritty heart and fucked up honesty to this album that I fell in love and never fell out. My first introduction to Mark Ronson's producing as well. I still hold out hope that she'll get it together and make another album half as terrific as this one.
Two sample tracks: Back To Black & Tears Dry On Their Own
Rolling Stone ranking: #20
9.
What: Return To Cookie Mountain
Who: TV On The Radio
When: 2006
Why: I could listen to nothing but "Wolf Like Me" for an entire month after I'd heard it. This album whines and roars into your ears, Radiohead by way of Bloc Party, post-grunge in the best way. You'll see a recurring theme on this list of music that's a little dirty, that stings a little. I've been an angry person this decade. It's wailing vocals and stomping beats, music you don't dance to in public.
Two sample tracks: Wolf Like Me & Blues From Down Here
Rolling Stone ranking: #98
8.
What: We Have Sound
Who: Tom Vek
When: 2004
Why: The album no one has heard but me! Tom Vek recorded this entire album on in his garage, on Garage Band, playing each instrument himself. Garage rock in the truest sense of the word. The vocals seem so lazy at first that it's hard to relate to emotionally, but just wait. It sneaks up on you, until he sounds like your college roommate you were in love with, but you never did anything about it and you see him in the supermarket years later and think GODDAMMIT... or something, I mean whatever, just listen to the tracks, okay?
Two sample tracks: That Can Be Arranged & Cover
Rolling Stone ranking: NO ONE CARES BUT ME :((((
7.
What: FutureSex/LoveSounds
Who: Justin Timberlake
When: 2006
Why: I was never a big fan of *nsync or however you spell it (always more of a BSB girl haha) but: Oh Justin. This list isn't about "best," it's about "favourite," but this is easily the best pop album of the decade and my favourite since Thriller. Yes, THAT Thriller. Every hip-hop/R&B flavoured pop song that is successful today is as a result of this album-- multi-layered, sexy, swaggering pop nirvana. Justin defies genre and does so fantastically.
Two sample tracks: Sexyback & What Comes Around, Goes Around
Rolling Stone ranking: #46
6.
What: Infinity on High
Who: Fall Out Boy
When: 2007
Why: "Hum Hallelujah" seduced me and when I stepped out from under my hipster pretensions and just LOVED, this album opened up a beautiful fandom to me. This is pop rock perfection by a band of dudes I love to death-- and for more sentimental reasons, it also revived a broken friendship with one of my oldest friends. From Under The Cork Tree is too immature and poppy, Folie A Deux is too self-concious and happy, but IOH manages to be comforting and challenging at the same time.
Two sample tracks: Hum Hallelujah & I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers
Rolling Stone ranking: BITCHES DON'T KNOW SHIT
5.
What: College Dropout
Who: Kanye West
When: 2004
Why: "Jesus Walks" was a revelation to me. I had very little exposure to hiphop of any substance prior to this album and dismissed it all as mysoginistic crap. But with Kanye, I was forced to reevaluate and the bizarre hiphop finatic you know and I love today was born. 2004 was a real turning point for me, when I began to take music more seriously and this album, the smoothness of it while managing to be eclectic is one of the major reasons.
Two sample tracks: We Don't Care & Jesus Walks
Rolling Stone ranking: #10
4.
What: In Rainbows
Who: Radiohead
When: 2007/2008
Why: Released online for whatever price the downloader set, and then a few months later, January 2008, in hard copy, Radiohead kind of, sort of started a music revolution with this album. Imagine Radiohead making a pop album full of love songs? Gorgeous, melodic, and haunting-- this is the kind of music you sit and listen to. It's an activity, not a background noise.
Two sample tracks: Jigsaw Falling Into Place & Nude
Rolling Stone ranking: #30
3.
What: So Jealous
Who: Tegan and Sara
When: 2004
Why: I bought this album on a whim when I was in the city-- god knows they wouldn't have this album in the music store in the town where I grew up. Listening to it on the drive home, it unfolded something in me. Plaintive and raw, this is music for a teenage girl whose reach extends her grasp. Hearing "Put your hands inside my pocket/ keep them warm while I'm still here" was my introduction to that wonderful genre of music, Canadian Indie. And I never looked back.
Two sample tracks: You Wouldn't Like Me & I Know I Know I Know
Rolling Stone ranking: WATEVA IMMA DO WHAT I WANT
2.
What: Gimme Fiction
Who: Spoon
When: 2005
Why: I first heard Spoon when it was all over Veronica Mars and bought the album unheard. There isn't a false step on it-- no song that I skip or have to force myself to listen to. Spoon has been added to the limited roster of piano heavy music I love and Britt Daniels' voice and lyrics are to die for. There's something very-- literate about this album.
Two sample tracks: I Summon You & I Turn My Camera On
Rolling Stone ranking: >:(
1.
What: Room On Fire
Who: The Strokes
When: 2003
Why: This album literally changed my life. HAHA OMG DRAMA but I would not be anything like the person I am today without it. Aged 13, I had never loved a band harder. I still haven't. Is this It is arguably a better album, but there's a rhythm and refinement to this one, an honest exhaustion, that I truly adore. The Strokes made me crave big cities and shows in dirty bars and boys who skipped class. They made me buy skinny jeans and band tees and Converse before they were ~cool~ where I lived. They made me realize that music could be more than something to listen to, to dance to. It's something to live to.
Two sample tracks: Reptilia & What Ever Happened
Rolling Stone ranking: Is This It is #2...
Honourable Mentions:
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