Friday, September 25, 2009

The Top 100!

Of the decade!

And, it's here.

This has been a lot of fun, very stressful, and deeply nostalgic . It's been an incredible decade, one in which my taste in music changed dramatically thanks to people like Nick living across the hall, Pitchfork, and the explosion of the indie genre. I never knew how much music was out there until these things happened.

That said, my list has a lot of emphasis on the 2004-2009 years, because since 2004-ish I've been a much more aware and avid music listener. Obviously there is lots of pre-2004 represented, but the choices might be more obvious ones.

I wish I had more time to devote to writing about these albums, but perhaps I will soon. But in any event, the damned list is done.

For dramatic effect, the top ten albums have cover art, too.

100 . Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast
99 . Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music
98 . Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
97 . Feist - Let It Die
96 . Edan - Beauty and the Beat
95 . Beck - Sea Change
94 . The Strokes - Room on Fire
93 . Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
92 . Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
91 . Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance

90 . Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
89 . Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
88 . Keith Jarret - Radiance
87 . Alphabeat - S/T
86 . Brendan Benson - The Alternative to Love
85 . Air France - No Way Down EP
84 . Kanye West - Late Registration
83 . Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
82 . Air - Talkie Walkie
81 . Andrew Bird - Weather Systems

80 . Travis - The Invisible Band
79 . Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
78 . Asobi Seksu - Citrus
77 . No Age - Weirdo Rippers
76 . M.I.A. - Kala
75 . Brian Wilson - Smile
74 . Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
73 . Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
72 . Deerhunter - Microcastle
71 . New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

70 . Godspeed You Black Emporer - Lift Yr Skinny Fists to Heaven
69 . Joanna Newsom - Milk-Eyed Mender
68 . Destroyer - Rubies
67 . Vitalic - OK Cowboy
66 . Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
65 . LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
64 . Broadcast - Tender Buttons
63 . Burial - Untrue
62 . Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
61 . Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

60 . The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Graves
59 . Russian Futurists - Our Thickness
58 . Radiohead - Amnesiac
57 . David Gray - Lost Songs
56 . Hot Chip - The Warning
55 . The Books - Thought for Food
54 . The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free
53 . Ratatat - Ratatat
52 . Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
51 . Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

50 . Hercules and Love Affair - S/T
49 . Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
48 . Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
47 . Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
46 . Tough Alliance - New Chance
45 . Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll
44 . Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
43 . The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
42 . Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
41 . LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

40 . Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
39 . The Knife - Silent Shout
38 . Okkervil River - The Stage Names / The Stand-Ins
37 . Animal Collective - Feels
36 . Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
35 . Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
34 . Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
33 . Radiohead - In Rainbows
32 . Belle and Sebastian - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds

31 . No Age - Nouns
30 . Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
29 . Cat Power - The Greatest
28 . Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens
27 . White Stripes - White Blood Cells
26 . Feist - The Reminder
25 . Spoon - Gimme Fiction
24 . The Strokes - Is This It?
23 . Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
22 . Madvillian - Madvilliany
21 . Eliot Smith - Figure 8

20 . Liars - Drums Not Dead
19 . Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
18 . The Rapture - Echoes
17 . Daft Punk - Discovery
16 . Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
15 . Rufus Wainwright - Poses
14 . The National - Boxer
13 . Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
12 . Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs
11 . The Walkmen - You & Me

10 . Spoon - Kill the Moonlight

9 . The Books - Lemon of Pink

8 . The Avalanches - Since I Left You

7 . Panda Bear - Person Pitch

6 . Jens Lekman - Night Falls over Kortedala

5 . Arcade Fire - Funeral

4 . Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

3 . Radiohead - Kid A

2 . Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise

1 . Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot