Top 200 Albums of The Decade (174-200ish)

ALBUMS I BOUGHT BECAUSE I THOUGHT I SHOULD THAT ENDED UP BEING PRETTY GREAT
174. Blitzen Trapper- Furr
A jazz drummer I know told me that one of his measures of great music is "could you play the melodies as jazz?" He said this whole album could be covered by The Bad Plus and would be righteous. I agree.
175. O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack
176. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton- Knives Don’t Have Your Back
177. Band of Horses- Cease To Begin
178. Queens of the stone age- Songs for the Deaf
The drumming! The stoner rock! The song "No One Knows"!
179. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson- Rattlin' Bones
180. Eels- Souljacker
Fresh Feeling is one of the great songs out there. A rare exception to the "be careful using drum samples as they age crappily..." rule.
181. Wallflowers- Red Letter Deays
182. Ken Stringfellow- Touched/Soft Commands
183. Beta band- Hot Shots II
184. The Killers- Hot Fuss
185. At The Drive-In- Relationship of Command
186. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
187.Counting Crows- Hard Candy
Yeah, no one was saying I should buy this. But it's good and underrated. The background vocals and arrangements feel particularly retro and inspired.
188. Jay Farrar- Sebastopol/Terroir Blues
189.Madeline Peyroux- Careless Love
190. Fionn Regan- The End of History
191. Kanye West- The College Dropout
192. Kings of Leon- Only By The Night
Yes. I tried to resist, but Use Somebody and Sex On Fire? Those are good songs. Seriously.
193. Toronto Raptors

GUILTY PLEASURE OF THE DECADE
194. Taylor Swift
195. Madonna- Music

No, that's not 200 exactly. But with EASILY more than 5 fused albums (Sebastopol/Terroir Blues and Planatlanticism), we hit our mark. And, yes, we missed tons. Oh well. See you in 2020.

Top 200 Albums of The Decade (129-173)

129. Leona Naess- Thirteens
130. Spoon- Kill The Moonlight
131. The Weakerthans- Reconstruction Site
132. Sarah Harmer- All of Our Names
133. Elliott Smith- From A Basement On A Hill
That this is his last statement still really hurts. That it is a beautiful, harrowing, hazy statement helps, though. If you can dig up "Coast to Coast" and the previously unreleased track "Abused," you'll get a real and difficult view of Smith's late mindset.
134. Calexico- Garden Ruin
Some people criticized the band's swerve away from the usual southwestern mariachi rock. I liked it better.
135. Innocence Mission- We Walked In Song
136. Sigur Ros- Takk Takk
137. Red House Painters- Old Ramon
138. Low- Drums & Guns
Was Breaker the best song of the decade? It was certainly up there.
139. Richard Buckner- Dents & Shells
140. Bob Dylan- Modern Times
141. The Hold Steady- Separation Sunday
142. The Hives- Veni Vidi Vicious
143. Over The Rhine- Ohio
144. Hem- Eveningland/Rabbit Songs (another condensing job)
145. Foo Fighters- One By One
146. Neil Finn- One All
147. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- Baby 81
148. Feist- Let It Die
149. New Pornographers- Challengers
150. Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga…
151. The Cardigans- Super Extra Gravity
152. Freedy Johnston- Right Between The Promises
The previous decade was so amazing for Johnston that this great record somehow felt underwhelming.
153. Tom Waits- Alice
154. Band Of Annuals – Let Me Live
155. Ron Sexsmith- Retriever
156. The National- Alligator
157. Frou Frou- Details
Pre-OC Imogen Heap in a partnership that launched the Heap we know now.
158. Tegan & Sara- So Jealous
I know, I know, I know: it should be higher.
159. Cracker- Greenland
160. Erin McKeown- Grand
161. Grant Lee Phillips- Mobilize
I had tickets to see Grant Lee on this tour on 9/11. Obviously, he got stuck in Canada on a flightless day. But this album always brings back those doubt-ridden days. A lot better than Enrique Iglesias' "Hero" too.
162. Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
163. Patty Griffin- Impossible Dream
164. Dixie Chicks- Home/Taking The Long Way
I'd been guiltily listening for awhile, but the doc Shut Up And Sing finally pushed me over the edge.
165. Beck- Guero
166. Elvis Costello- When I Was Cruel
167. Neil Young- Prairie Wind
168. Kings of Leon- Youth & Young Manhood
169. Cat Power- The Greatest
170. Kathleen Edwards- Back To Me
171. Cracker- Forever
172. Kasey Chambers- Barricades & Brickwalls
173. Drive By Truckers- Dirty South/Blessing & A Curse

Top 200 Albums of The Decade (75-128)

53. Ryan Adams- (my own mix of Jacksonville/29/Cold Roses/Easy Tiger/Cardinology/Follow The Lights) again, taking some poetic license and creating greatness from the scattered moments of greatness. And, yes, I am fully aware that this is not in the spirit of "taking a work of art on its own merits." Sue me.

THE STILL TOO SOON TO TELL albums part1

77. Avett Brothers- I and love and you

78. Megafaun- Gather Form & Fly

79. Low Anthem- OMGCD

All three of these hit high notes for me this year, but I'm hesitant to pull a Pitchfork and laud them as the greatest thing since (enter hipster record of note here).

80. White Stripes- White Blood Cells (too low? probably)

81. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins- Rabbit Fur Coat

82. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- s/t

didn't age like I hoped it would, but still a great album

83. David Gray- White Ladder

84. Rufus Wainwright- Poses

85. Norah Jones- Come Away With Me

86. Spoon- Gimme Fiction

87. Gillian Welch- Soul Journey

88. Sigur Ros- agaetis bjyrtjsfsdfsdf

89. My Morning Jacket- Z

90. Joe Henry- Civilians

91. Josh Rouse- Nashville

92. Tom Waits- Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards

93. M Ward- The Transfiguration Of Vincent

94. Beth Orton- Daybreaker

95. Jason Collett- Here’s To Being Here

I still love this record, but I may have overrated it in 08 for reasons unknown.

96. Ryan Adams- Gold

97. Jayhawks- Smile

98. Jay-Z/Danger Mouse- The Grey Album

Not a ton of more culturally relevant albums out there.

99. Damien Rice- O

100. Badly Drawn Boy- Hour Of The Bewilderbeast/About A Boy (liberties again.)

101. Regina Spektor- Begin To Hope

102. Ben Kweller- On My Way

103. White Stripes- Elephant

104. Travis- The Invisible Band

105. Aimee Mann- The Forgotten Arm

106. Mark Mothersbaugh- Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack

107. Sufjan Stevens- Illinoise

108. Sunfall Festival- Bang Bang Bang

109. Laura Gibson- If You Come To Greet Me

110. Dominic Moore Sings His Heart Out

111. Bob Dylan- Love & Theft

112. Wallflowers- Breach

113. Fleet Foxes- s/t

114. Retribution Gospel Choir- s/t

115. Josh Ritter- Hello, Starling

STILL TOO SOON TO KNOW albums part 2

4 more albums from 2009 that really hit me hard, but, again, I'm taking the safe route and letting time do what it does best: sift the pretenders out.

116. Fanfarlo- Resevoirs

117. David Rawlings Machine- Friend of a Friend

118. Sara Watkins- s/t

119. Sparklehorse- Dark Night of the Soul

120. Camera Obscura- My Maudlin Career

121. Ryan Adams- Love Is Hell pt1/2

122. Tim Easton- Break Your Mother’s Heart

123. Ben Folds- Rockin’ The Suburbs

124. Grant Lee Phillips- Virginia Creeper

125. Delgados- The Great Eastern

126. Ben Kweller- Ben Kweller

127. Shins- Chutes Too Narrow

128. Jayhawks- Rainy Day Music

Top 200 Albums of The Decade (41-75)

41. John Prine- Fair & Square
Years and years into a stellar career and maybe his best album?
42. Great Lake Swimmers- Ongiara
43. Postal Service- Give Up… with apologies to Owl City
44. Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake, It's Morning
45. Radiohead- Hail To The Thief
46. Travis- The Man Who
47. Rhett Miller- The Instigator
I'm not an Old 97s fan, but this album rules. And Jon Brion only makes it better. Take a listen to Our Love or Terrible Vision and tell me its poptastic goodness doesn't get you.
48. Feist- The Reminder
Let's not forget that, before the Apple spot, this album was supersolid.
49. Ray Lamontagne- Trouble
50. Rachael Yamagata- Happenstance
Trouble and Happenstance will always be connected for me- two of the unofficial albums of my "courtship." Best of Leonard Cohen and A Ghost Is Born are in there too.
51. Nada Surf- Let Go
52. Radiohead- In Rainbows
53. Teddy Thompson- As a giant Teddy Thompson fan, I couldn't pick just one. Having seen him about a dozen times while living in NY (and once, oddly, opening for Elliott Smith in Salt Lake City), I think I've earned the right to mix/match (which you'll see more of, trust me) . Here's to all of Separate Ways/his self titled debut/Upfront & Down Low/Piece of What You Need/I’m Your Man/Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. This is one of those cases of "How Did I Rank This So Low?" The answer is: "impetuousness and low I.Q."
54. Frightened Rabbit- Midnight Organ Flight
55. Death Cab For Cutie- Plansatlanticism
Continuing my artistic license of fusing albums. I loved Transatlanticism when it came out but a) their live show on that tour wasn't exactly impressive and b) Plans has stuck with me and borne more repeat listens over time.
56. Caitlin Cary/Thad Cockrell- Begonias
57. Joe Henry- Scar
58. Felice Brothers- s/t
59. Coldplay- Parachutes
Before they were trotting around in Gay Sgt. Pepper knockoffs, there was some real nuance to Coldplay (hey, A Rush Of Blood To The Head is in my Top 10, so clearly I have an affinity).
60. Mark Kozelek- Rock N Roll Singer
61. Once soundtrack
62. My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves
63. Pedro the Lion- Achilles Heel
64. Lucinda Williams- Essence
65. Atherton- Skyline Motel
66. Dan Bern- New American Language
67. Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine
68. Clem Snide- Soft Spot
Eef Barzelay is one of the unique voices (both literarily and aurally) of our time and this is him at his best. "I saw you, doubting yourself in the mirror. But you look good to me." Simple moments captured through a distinctly Eefy lens.
69. Whiskeytown- Pneumonia
70. Interpol- Turn on the Bright Lights
71. Damien Jurado- Caught In the Trees
I have listened to this album a ton over the past 2 weeks and have to say that my Top 10 of 2008 assessment was spot on.
72. Radiohead- Amnesiac
73. The Hold Steady- Stay Positive
74. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- BRMC
75. Low- The Great Destroyer

Top 200 Albums of The Decade (11-40)

Continuing the list that is less definitive every time I look at it. (How's that for a vote of confidence?)

11. Wilco- A Ghost Is Born
12. Joe Henry- Tiny Voices
13. Elliott Smith- Figure 8
14. Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator)
15. Aimee Mann- Bachelor #2
16. Cardigans- Long Gone Before Daylight
Some people think this band just has the hit. Those people are idiots. If you are an idiot, go pick up this album and get your mind all changed.
17. Broken Social Scene- You Forgot It People
18. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss- Raising Sand
19. Low- Things We Lost In The Fire
20. Jon Brion- Meaningless
This album/artist changed everything for me and I totally realize that this is personal bias with no objectivity whatsoever.

21. Patty Griffin- 1000 Kisses
Just for the fact that Long Ride Home is one of the best songs ever written. And the bridge on Chief.
22. Kathleen Edwards- Failer
23. Leona Naess- s/t
24. Johnny Cash- American Recordings (All, yes I'm lumping them. They are essentially the same in spirit and sometimes session. So I'm taking the liberty.)
25. Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
26. Doves- Last Broadcast
criminally underrated.
27. Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
It's hard to remember a time when this album didn't exist, before Wayne & Co. were singing Do You Realize and Yoshimi to the world.
28. Steve Earle- Transcendental Blues
Why is this album so low? Because I am not just a moron. I am a lazy moron who refuses to redo the list.
29. Sigur Ros- ( )
30. The Strokes- Is This It?
31. Fugazi- The Argument
32. Pete Yorn- musicforthemorningafter
33. The Weepies- Say I am You
34. Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State
This album would be higher if I didn't fear how recently it came out.
35. Iron & Wine- Our Endless Numbered Days
36. Josh Ritter- The Animal Years
37. Wilco- Sky Blue Sky
That's 3 for Wilco in the top 40. Kasey Casem would be proud.
38. New Pornographers- Electric Version
39. The Innocence Mission- Befriended
40. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible

Top 200 Albums of The Decade (1-10)

'Tis the season to be listing. So we'll add ours to the pile. This one? THE BLACK CONVERSE'S BEST ALBUMS OF THE 00'S (since Charlie T consulted and wisely opted not to compile his own). Yes, this is supposed to be a hoops and music blog, even if we don't always do the greatest job showing it.

So...

200ish albums nominated in a manner so unscientific, so anti-methodical that it might actually be genius. Why is In Rainbows so low? I don't know. You're right: it should be higher. And what about this year's albums, why so low? Again, you're right, but I felt like they needed more time-testedness.

All in all, these are the albums that meant something to me/us this decade- a decade that saw me at two different colleges, in 4 big breakups, graduate, first big job, move to NYC, get married, move to UT, have a kid. Big stuff. Rather than elaborate on every single one, I've picked some at random to talk about and just listed the remainder. Surely this list will change tomorrow, maybe tonight. But I'll stand by it today.

So let's get to it. Ladies and gentlemen, "our" Top 10 of the 00's. (Notice how we don't make you rifle through a heap of albums before getting to the meat. Yeah, we rule. You can read the also-rans later on.)

10. The Hold Steady- Boys And Girls In America

We've never hid our love of The Hold Steady on TBC. And we ain't starting now.

This album was- poetically, considering the subject matter- my fist-pumping gateway drug.

9. Beck- Sea Change

Like I said, this decade saw 4 big heartbreaks. And this album was there for half of them.

The 1-2 combo of The Golden Age and Guess I'm Doing Fine still destroy me.

My favorite Beck album by a sampleslide. Or kitschslide. Or schtickslide. Whatever.

8. Sun Kil Moon- Ghosts of the Great Highway

Mark Kozelek's best record.

If you need more explanation than that, you need more Mark Kozelek in your life.

Particularly your ears.

Sad, mournful, nostalgic, gorgeous.

7. Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker

This album changed the way I listen to music forever. Most fans have spent a good deal of time wishing Ryan Adams would revisit this world. I spend that time just happy he ever did.

"Come Pick Me Up." Best Song of the Decade? Or Best Song Ever?

The album art, however, has always been baffling to me.

6. Coldplay- A Rush of Blood To The Head

Oh, Coldplay, we hardly knew thee.

5. Radiohead- Kid A

No Top 10 list is complete without it.

Understandably.

People think that In Rainbows was their groundbreaking move.

How about recording an amazing-but-not-particularly-radio-friendly follow-up to OK Computer?

It saved them from themselves. And gave us all an incredible record.

4. Arcade Fire- Funeral

All of these records are great,

but I think 20 years from now

this will be the one that was perhaps

the most game-changing.

Listen to Fanfarlo,

one of our favorite records of 09,

and tell me differently.

3. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago

Too soon, you say?

That's funny. I was thinking, "too low."

2. The National- Boxer

Everything about this album works for me.

Smart lyrics and melodies, especially in light of the mumbliness.

Incredibly moving and layered arrangements.

And if it has a weak spot, well, it doesn't so stop pretending it does.

1. Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot