My 50 favorite albums of the past decade.

[Direckshun]

The decade's coming to a close. I've got another website where I list this stuff, but I felt I might as well list it here, too. I go five at a time, randomly, so don't expect regular updates.

This is just for me, so feel free to let this thread slide.

Thanks for any comments, though.

50. Earth, Hex; or Printing in the Infernal Method (2005)

Hex is to be lost in the woods. It is the sound of resignation. It is the sound of a knowing traveler, with any destination as his destination, and civilization nowhere close. Yes, it does tease the imagination: if you were perpetually lost, what would you become? Exactly how much of your humanity can you retain, isolated and hopeless? Hex is a hell of a concept album: it strips down the notion of rock music to such extreme measures that the songs barely exist. It's an awfully nihilist sound, and it's incredibly easy to fall into when you're depressed. This is the music you look forward to when you have nothing else to look forward to.

49. Man Man, Six Demon Bag (2006)

If there were ever a bar that was so fiendishly cool as to ritually use Man Man as their cheery drinking songs for every patron to swing their pints to, I don't know if I'd ever go home. Six Demon Bag is, for my money, the best Man Man album. Full of nickolodean madness, genuine humor, and a little piss and vinegar, the band also dials up the pathos on this album. Their usual clown car antics aside, Six Demon Bag shows that while they may not have a way with words, Man Man are truly great lyricists. Perfect combination of oddball music and good ol' American heart 'n' soul.

48. Feist, Let It Die (2005)

"The saddest part of a broken heart, isn't the ending, so much as the start. Losing your mind for the sake of your heart." In a decade of ADHD, it's lyrics by the likes of Feist that are worth slowing down for. Let It Die's gentle rock explores the grey lines that surround any relationship, successful or fleeting. The time you start to let go. The snowballing effect of two people engrossed with one another. Attempting to put Humpty back together again. Before the limelight engulfed her, Feist's words were what mattered. And when all the attention fades, her lyrics will be there to buoy her.

47. Prefuse 73 / The Books, Prefuse 73 Reads the Books EP (2005) [EP]

For a fleeting twenty minutes, this union between an experimental hip hop producer (Prefuse 73) and experimental doo-dadders (the Books) is nothing short of magic. The Books' constant knick-knacking with their various found sounds turns out to be a great canvass for Prefuse 73 to play with and rearrange like magnetic lettering on a refridgerator. Prefuse underscores the entire venture with conventional 4/4 beatwork to keep everything from straying too far, and the result is a pop album that sounds like virtually nothing else. There are not two boring seconds on Prefuse 73 Reads The Books, one of the best pure listens of the past 10 years.

46. Lali Puna, Tridecoder (1999)

Tricoder, Lali Puna's debut, is one of the most incredibly intimate albums where you have absolutely no idea what's going on. Though the indie-tronica outfit meticulously calculates their albums, they always tend to have a stream-of-consciousness aspect to them. As a result, you don't listen to their music as much as you do absorb it. The album is punctuated throughout with miniature beats and Valerie Trebeljahr's whispered, 6-inch voice, as if you're almost listening in on a secret. You'd never notice this tiny, quiet band if you weren't actively seeking them out, but their sound is capable of cradling you, like a beanbag chair, when discovered. "If you want to know who I am, just ask me."

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Just a sample that would make my top 50:

Nine Inch Nails - Broken
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
New Order - Substance
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
Stabbing Westward - Ungod
Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust
Crystal Method - Vegas
The Cure - Staring at the Sea
U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
Prince - Sign o' the times
Boston - Boston
Soundtrack - The Crow

You're like the third person to ignore that the thread title says "this decade."

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

You're like the third person to ignore that the thread title says "this decade."

you're right....my bad!

[Pioli Zombie]

The re-mastered Beatles CDs. That was within the decade.
Posted via Mobile Device

[KCUnited]

It would take some time to compile a top ten, some off the top of my head:

Vore-Lord of Storms
Engored-Where Monsters Dwell
Funerot-Invasion From The Death Dimension
Decapitated-Nihility
Gorgasm-Masticate To Dominate

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I'll post the top 5 of my top 10 lists for each year of this decade. It won't be the most accurate favorite 50 of this decade for me, as I may like one year's 6th and 7th albums more than another year's 4th or 5th. But its going to be close enough.

In order of year & preference in that year, not in preference of 50-1:

2009 (so far)
1.) Kalisia - Cybion
2.) Porcupine Tree - The Incident
3.) maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
4.) Brother Ali - Us
5.) Devin Townsend Project - [I]Ki

Oh, dude...you gotta put ADHD on there.

[NewChief]

Aquarium Drunkard is putting out their Albums of the last decade. Here's what they have so far (a list I like pretty well):
Spoon: Kill the Moonlight
My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves
Danger Mouse: The Grey Album


I like all 3 of those, so I look forward to seeing what they put out over the next few weeks. I love this music blog. Check it here:
http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by DMAC

Oh, dude...you gotta put ADHD on there.

Its currently in my honorable mentions list for the year, just missing the top 10. This is a strong year for albums, and while I greatly enjoy Anno Domino High Definition (I think I'll play it next, after this Ulver album finishes) there are at least 10 other albums from this year that I like more.

My full 2009 list, just for kicks, currently looks like this:

1.) Porcupine Tree - The Incident
2.) Kalisia - Cybion
3.) maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
4.) Brother Ali - Us
5.) Devin Townsend Project - Ki
6.) Brother Ali - The Truth Is Here EP
7.) Mastodon - Crack the Skye
8.) Wolf - Ravenous
9.) Florence + The Machine - Lungs
10.) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Honorary Mentions: The Mars Volta - Octahedron, Chali 2na - Fish Outta Water, Rudra - Brahmavidya: Transcendental I, Persefone - Shin-Ken, The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Ape Uprising, Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition, Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day, Mos Def - The Ecstatic, Celesty - Vendetta.

[patteeu]

How come Direckshun's top 50 albums only includes 5 albums?

[Direckshun]

45. Joe Maneri, In Full Cry (1997)

In Full Cry is structured as any standard jazz quartet album might be, with assorted melodies, soloing, and extemporaneous interaction. But everything is askew, as if the music has been left out in the sun too long, and the band stumbles like a drunk throughout the entire album. All the set pieces are there, but instead of singing harmonies, they are confused instruments bumping into each other. Joe Maneri understands the line between function and dysfunction, and always stays slightly on the side of the latter. The album is a tightrope walk that Maneri and friends pull off gracefully as the best ever intended mistake.

44. Dntel, Life Is Full of Possibilities (2001)

A dream sequence if there ever were one, Dntel's Life Is Full of Possibilities is a technologically precise rabbit hole of what I can only describe as "pillow-tronica." There are so many classic, tear-in-your-eye moments of sleepy warmth that permeate this work of art from start to finish: the jittery accordian at the end of "Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think," Mia Doi Todd's elegant reminders on "Anywhere Anyone," the frantic static intro to "The Dream of Evan and Chan"... I mean seriously, this is a dream date, and Dntel serves as the master of ceremonies, materializing melodies out of thin air that seduce and enrapture one another. No matter how full of possibilities life may be, it won't offer you perfect gems like this very frequently.

43. Oval, Ovalprocess (2000)

How does Ovalprocess exist? How lucky can we be? Oval's already-implacable glitch music took even stranger turns at the start of the century, kicking off with Ovalprocess who, like its companion piece Ovalcommers, sought to remove any earthly strand of "song," instead choosing to embrace the element of untouchable, abstract sound. But where commers looked to completely re-evolve the human ear, process just wants to immerse it. Ovalprocess is the ultimate headphones album, as demented, broken clicks hustle over unchanging keyboard chords that slowly push and pull. This is a blast into outer space for anybody unfamiliar with Oval's body of work -- but for a fan of leftfield serenity, it can't be beat.

42. Matisyahu, Live at Stubb's (2005)

I haven't bothered Googling where exactly a place like Stubb's might be. I don't know where it is, I don't know who goes there. All I know is that, four years ago, where ever it is and who ever was there shared the room with the greatest religious musical performance of the decade as far as I'm concerned. A controversial Jewish raggae rapper, Matisyahu and his band blew the doors off Stubb's with their hearts, not their musical ability. There has been better religious music created -- much better -- but Live at Stubb's is a series of perfect, naked raggae jams backing up Matisyahu as he cries syllable after syllable for an hour that seems to stretch on forever. I get a lot of flack for loving this album, but let there be no shame in allowing yourself to experience the ecstacy of others. God bless.

41. Tabla Beat Science, Live in San Francisco: At Stern Grove (2002)

Let there be no doubt: the western hemisphere is not the sole province of virtuoso music. Tabla Beat Science, a definitively eastern-hemi supergroup, features freakish, otherworldly jam sessions of hypercussion and pure pathos that would likely even sound alien to somebody from their side of the planet. To my Ozarks ears, it is a gift from the heavens. That this much talent could be assembled in one band and avoid the chaotic jumbling that usually comes from that is no small feat. But just listen to the 16-minute epic opener, "Taaruf" -- and tell me At Stern Grove isn't the most innovative, explosively creative, and trailblazing live album since Miles freakin' Davis.

[Direckshun]

40. Tool, Lateralus (2001)

Lateralus is what Tool's generation of rockers could have done if they had ever committed themselves to the limits of what their art had to offer instead of channeling their inner Nickelback and producing the same albums for the next ten years. Tool could have done that just as easily as any other band. Instead, they decided to build their ideas, allowing them room to breathe, rather than abbreviating their ideas and shoehorning them into a radio cut, and the result is sometimes breathtaking. 10-minute tracks allow the band to go any direction they wanted, with some thrilling crescendos. Taking prog rock to its darker, more existential corners, Lateralus stands the test of time as well as anything from Tool's generation of sadly generic rockers.

39. Joanna Newsom, Ys (2006)

According to Breton folk culture, the city of Ys was the most beautiful and impressive metropolis in the world, but as these types of cities typically do, it collapsed under sin before eventually being swallowed by the sea. The story of the city is both curious and tragic, and that's as good a place to start as anywhere when you consider harpist siren Joanna Newsom's 2006 album of the same name. Hey, I love a pretentious exercise as much as the next guy, and Lord knows there's plenty of pretentious music lighting up this list. But Ys is much more than just an artist that's in love with her own unusual compositions, marvelous stories that spread out for ten minutes, and ornate lyrical stylings that are as gorgeous as they are bizarre. Ys is fantastical prose, set to syran-wrapped musical packaging with a big fluffy bow, telling these stories about realities you'd rather visit than habitate.

38. The XX - xx (2009)

I've often drawn to minimalism and maximalism in music, and no minimalism outfit climbs higher on this list than spankin' new English band, the XX. Armed with a drum machine and a pair of naked, dancing guitars, xx's instrumentation is often simply a metaphor for what the lyrics are constantly discussing: emotional and sexual intimacy. "Don't rest with the less / I'm burning to impress / It's deep in the middle of me / I can be fantasy." What is usually the province of horny arena jams takes on a special eroticism when barely whispered through singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. These songs are pregnant with meaning (no pun intended), and their ability to utilize silence as a complimentary instrument should be heard to be fully appreciated.

[Red Brooklyn]

wow... this thread just died right out... Direckshun, if you ever feel like finishing your list, I'd love to read it.

My top 50 of the past decade (2000-2010)

1. The Crane Wife - The Decemberists
2. Cease To Begin - Band Of Horses
3. Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes
4. Home – Dixie Chicks
5. Riot Act – Pearl Jam
6. From A Basement On A Hill - Elliott Smith
7. Sea Change - Beck
8. In Rainbows - Radiohead
9. Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
10. Rockin’ The Suburbs – Ben Folds
11. Once (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Glen Hansard
12. Sugarcoating - Martin Sexton
13. Infinite Arms - Band Of Horses
14. The Hazards Of Love - The Decemberists
15. Backspacer - Pearl Jam
16. Consolers Of The Lonely – The Raconteurs
17. Wincing The Night Away - The Shins
18. Haunted - Poe
19. Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
20. The Marshall Matthers LP - Eminem
21. Elephant - The White Stripes
22. Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams
23. Modern Guilt - Beck
24. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
25. Her Majesty - The Decemberists
26. Amnesiac – Radiohead
27. The Else - They Might Be Giants
28. Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
29. Figure 8 - Elliott Smith
30. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
31. American Idiot - Green Day
32. Binaural - Pearl Jam
33. Hate - The Delgados
34. The Eminem Show – Eminem
35. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
36. Life In Cartoon Motion - Mika
37. Under The Black Light - Rilo Kiley
38. Flavors Of Entanglement - Alanis Morissette
39. Gold - Ryan Adams
40. The Repulsion Box - Sons And Daughters
41. The Con - Tegan and Sara
42. Scarlet’s Walk – Tori Amos
43. O - Damien Rice
44. Hot Fuss - The Killers
45. Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
46. Chrome Dreams II - Neil Young
47. The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
48. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? - Of Montreal
49. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
50. The Woods - Sleater-Kinney

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

wow... this thread just died right out... Direckshun, if you ever feel like finishing your list, I'd love to read it.

Good list. I'd put Everything All the Time ahead of Infinite Arms from the BoH catalog, though. Hell, I might put Everything All the Time ahead of Cease to Begin, actually. I really like that album. I'd probably rank Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a lot higher, too.

[Red Brooklyn]

I struggled with YHF. I love that album. I've just been listening to some of that other stuff more recently. Up until a year ago I had it ranked in the top 20. My lists always fluxuate.

Everything All The Time is a great record. And it should definately be on this list. I'm a little surprised at myself for it's omission. It should be up there around #27. I'll always love that album for giving me BoH; for The Funeral, The Great Salt Lake, St. Augustine, Wicked Gil. Such a good album. But Cease To Begin is maybe one of my favorites of all time. That album just hit me in a really particular way. And Infinite Arms has just recently grown on me. For a long time it was ranked third (among BoH records).

The melodies, the harmonies, the lyrics are just so moving.

[Demonpenz]

a dixie chicks sighting. nice

[Omaha]

Originally Posted by phisherman

No Nickelback?

Yeah, isn't there a rule that says something like:

if you like Creed, you automatically like Nickelback