Best Music of the Decade Thread

any 10 things Linkin Park did.

this was a tough list to produce, not in any particular order:

funeral – arcade fire
yankee hotel foxtrot – wilco
boy in da corner – dizzee rascal
ideology – mouse on mars
lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven – godspeed you black emporer
blacklisted – neko case
heartbreaker – ryan adams
kill the moonlight – spoon

For 10 I have no list. For ’09 I have one choice:
Porcupine Tree: The Incident

That Eno guy knows what’s up. And I think he does a good job describing the current moment. If you buy what Eno’s selling, there’s no particular reason to listen preferentially to the music of this decade. The old stuff’s at least just as good and it comes anthologized (in the very least by wikipedia, but Our Band Could Be Your Life is a good example of what I mean also). Not only that, but the old stuff is often hugely relevant. The trend perhaps culminated in Girl Talk, but sampling is obviously very relevant to contemporary pop music. Beyond that, consider how listening to Pet Sounds for the first time either before or after listening to The Shins’ first album, or Person Pitch affects your impression of the latter albums.*

But whatever to all that. Lemme scroll through iTunes and figure it out. These are all just favorites, most of which I’ve listened to a bajillion times. There’s only one Hold Steady album because I only just started listening to them.

TV on the Radio – Dear Science
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
The New Pornographers – Electric Version
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna
Of Montreal – Satanic Panic
Girl Talk – Night Ripper
Spoon – GaX5
Spoon – Kill The Moonlight
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
The Shins – Oh! Inverted World
Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Okkervil River – The Stage Names
Page France – Hello, Dear Wind
Islands – Return To The Sea
The Black Keys – Magic Potion
Sigur Ros – Takk…
The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
Broken Social Scene – S/T
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People
BRMC – Howl
Andrew Bird – Mysterious Production of Eggs
The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone
M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas, Lost Ghosts
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts of the Great Way
Grandaddy – Sumday
Grandaddy – Sophtware Slump
Explosions In the Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Do Make Say Think – Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn
Deerhoof – Apple O’
Neko Case – Blacklisted
The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2
Beulah – The Coast Is Never Clear
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – S/T
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
O Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack

PS to the people who think every time I talk about music a horse dies tragically: horses aren’t that great. Get over it.

*Digression: my 14 year old brother watched The Shining his first time last November. When the “come play with us” part came on, he started laughing because he’d already seen the parody done on Family Guy. Pretty sure that wasn’t what Kubrick was going for.

The National- Boxer
James McMurtry- Live in 03
Regina Spektor- Begin to Hope
The Tragically Hip- World Container
The Decemberists- Her Majesty…
The Killers- Sam’s Town
Greg Laswell- Three Flights from Alta Nida
Wilco- Yankee Foxtrot
FallOut Boy- From Under the Cork Tree
Aimee Mann- The Forgotten Arm
Modest Mouse- We were dead before the ship sank
and whatever awesome discs I forgot

Jay-Z- The Blueprint
Kanye West- The College Dropout
OutKast- Stankonia
R. Kelly-The Chocolate Factory
Common-Be+Like Water for Chocolate.
Alicia Keys-Songs in A Minor

Not a single hip-hop album past 2005 makes the cut, but I think that just speaks to how readily available hip-hop is on blogs and torrents.

Kid A – Radiohead
Amnesiac – Radiohead
Hail to the Thief – Radiohead
In Rainbows Disc 2 – Radiohead
In Rainbows Disc 1 – Radiohead
Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes
For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver
Get Away From Me – Nellie McKay
In Absentia – Porcupine Tree
The Incident – Porcupine Tree
Funeral – Arcade Fire
Gimme Fiction – Spoon

With the others being pretty tenuous.

the moon and antarctica – modest mouse
in rainbows – radiohead
kid a – radiohead
be- common
college dropout – kanye west
de-loused in comatorium – mars volta
yankee hotel foxtrot – wilco
illinois – sufjan stevens
sea change – beck
gorillaz – gorillaz

Or Black-Eyed Peas? Fer Chrissakes. Racists, all of you. And Beck’s “Modern Guilt” and “Sea Change” need to be mentioned. White Stripes’ “Elephant” also is outstanding.

nice Eno reference, Andro. Good to see you respect the history.

The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/11/the-death-of-uncool/

saw times new viking and the axemen last week (as well as sonic youth and the feelies the following night)

times new viking rocked, but as a devoted fan of new zealand 80’s underground music, i was intrigued by the inclusion of the axemen on the bill. i had not heard of them prior to the show (on the bill it said they were formerly on flying nun), but they were nothing liked their contemporaries (the clean, chills, tall dwarves, bats, etc).

it was like old school punk, protest music with a heavy psych / blues (e.g. blue cheer) influence and they rocked. they also got a thumbs up from me for wear track pants and rugby shirts. 4 ugly looking old guys and that’s meant to be a complement playing in a venue full of goddamn indie hipster kids in skinny jeans wearing thick black frames in the audience.

for folks who might be interested, here’s a youtube of a uber lo-fi video produced in the mid 80’s, carmen on ice

oh, and sy and feelies the night after were awesome (and rocked) of course

not really in any order

Cross – Justice
Discovery – Daft Punk
Human After All – Daft Punk
Kid A – Radiohead
Narrow Stairs – Death Cab For Cutie
( ) – Sigur Ros
Third – Portishead
The Crane Wife – The Decemberists
Because Of The Times – Kings Of Leon
Everything All The Time – Band Of Horses

like the rest of you, im sure i left off some awesome shit that just isnt coming to my mind.

was it’s lack of innovative awesome ear bleed rock music. plenty of good stuff to listen to, but there was very little that just completely rocked the fuck out. one of the reasons why the hold steady are cool. it helps being from the twin cities i bet.

At Dawn – My Morning Jacket
Lions – Black Crowes

Still my favorite albums from both; and both snuck in right at the start of the century…

Dropkick Murphys – Blackout!
Vampire Weekend – S/T
Modest mouse – Moon and Antarctica; Good news for people who love bad news
The Walkmen – You and Me; Bows +Arrows
National – Aligator
Thermals – Body the blood the machine
Hold Steady – Boys and girls in America
M.I.A. – Kala
Wolf parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
Ted Leo +the Pharmacists – Tyranny of distance; Hearts of Oak
White Rabbits – Fort Nightly
Man Man – Six Demon Bag
Andrew Bird – The Mysterious Production of Eggs; Armchair Apocrypha
Bishop Allen – Charm School
TV on the radio – Desperate youth, bloodthirsty babes; return to cookie mountain

thats what i listened to this decade. maybe throw that bad religion album from 2003 in there.

Matisyahu – Youth
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
Outkast – Stankonia
Kanye West – College Dropout
Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers
Rise Against – The Sufferer and The Witness (although “Appeal to Reason” works for me too)
Thrice – Probably “The Artist in the Ambulance” but it’s a toss up for me.
Evans Blue – The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume
10 Years – The Autumn Effect
Bone Thugs and Harmony – Strength & Loyalty

The Strokes – Is This It
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
Murder by Death – Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?
Los Campesinos – Hold on Now, Youngster…
Lily Allen – Alright, Still
The Fratellis – Costello Music
Dirty Pretty Things – Waterloo to Anywhere
Deerhunter – Microcastle
Beirut – Flying Club Cup
Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances
Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime
Black Francis – Bluefinger

Gosh damn this decade rocked.

Aimee Mann- Lost In Space
Al Green- Lay It Down
Alice Smith- For Lovers, Dreamer, And …
Alicia Keys- As I Am
Anthony Hamilton- Ain’t Nobody Worryin’
Belle & Sebastion-Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Ben Folds- Rockin’ the Suburbs
Blackalicious- The Craft
Broken Social Scene- You Forgot It
Built To Spill- Ancient Melodies
Both Cee-Lo Albums
Both Coconut Records Albums
Coldplay- Parachutes & Rush of Blood
Daft Punk- Discovery
Diane Birch- Bible Belt
Dr. Dog- We all Belong & Fate
The Duckworth Lewis Method- S/T
Eminem- Mathers LP
Fastball- Little White Lies
The Features- Some Kind Of Salvation
Flaming Lips- Yoshimi & At War
Both Flight Of The Conchords Albums
Flobots- Fight With Tools
Foo Fighters- One By One
The Frames- Burn The Maps
Fugu- As Found
George Harrison- Brainwashed
Girl Talk- Feed The Animals
The Go Team- Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Incubus- Crow Left of The Murder & Morning View
James Morrison- Songs For You…
The Jayhawks- Rainy Day Music
Any Johnny Cash
Josh Fix- Free At Last
Joss Stone- Mind, Body, & Soul
junior senior- Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
Justin Timberlake- Justified
K-os- Joyful Rebellion & Yes
All Kanye West
Kristoffer Ragnstam- Sweet Bills
Liam Finn- I’ll Be Lightning
Louis XIV- Slick Dogs & Ponies
Magic Numbers- Those The Brokes
Mates of State- Bring It Back
Mayer Hawthorne- A Strange Arrangement
Michael Jackson- Invincible
Midlake- Trials Of Van Occupanther
Modest Mouse- Good News
Mos Def- The Ecstatic
My Morning Jacket- Z
 Neil Young- Silver & Gold
Outkast- Stankonia & Speakerboxxx
Paul McCartney- Chaos & Creation
Phantom Planet- The Guest & Raise The Dead
Phoenix- United & Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Plants & Animals- Parc Avenue
The Plastic Constellations- We Appreciate You
Portugal The Man- Censored Colors
Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf
Raconteurs- Consolers Of The Lonely
Any Radiohead but Kid A
Rival Schools- United By Fate
Robyn- S/T
Royksopp- Junior
Sean Lennon- Friendly Fire
Sloan- Parallel Play
Any Sondre Lerche
South- With The Tides & Adventures In The Underground
The Streets- Everything Is Borrowed
Strokes- Is This It?
The Subjects- With The Ease, Precision….
The Sunshine Fix- Age Of The Sun
SuperfurryAnimals- Love Kraft- DarkDays/LightYears
Any System of A Down
Tenacious D- S/T
Tom Petty- Highway Companion
Tool- Lateralus
William Shatner- Has Been
The Young Knives- Superabundance
Zero 7- When It Falls & The Garden
The Zutons- Who Killed.. & Tired Of Hanging Around
Zwan- Mary Star Of The Sea
31Knots- The Days & Nights & A Word Is Also A Picture & Worried Well

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Daft Punk – Alive 2007
The Decemberists – Castaways and Cutouts
The Killers – Hot Fuss
The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium
Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica
The Shins – Oh, Inverted World
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

I know that a lot of people seem to love him, but a couple years ago he came to my college during our big Spring concert/party/event. This is a day that usually has drinking start in the wee hours of the morning, people hanging out outside all day and so on. He was top bill at the concert. His album was called “desolate and lonely” and he is headlining a college Spring concert. Needless to say, after a ska band, a bluegrass band and a pretty good rock band played, he leaves a fairly crowd waiting for a good period of time. He then starts his lonely guitar playing and singing. People started heckling and booing him, and anybody that acted up in the concert was kicked out. I stayed until the end, but by the time his set (which was pretty short) was over, half of the audience had either left or been kicked out.
I hadn’t heard of him until then, and since I just haven’t been able to get into him.

but I believe the version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” that was done by Springsteen and his band AND Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine on lead guitar/vocals that was just on HBO’s 25 year anny of the R ‘n R HOF is one of the most powerful songs I’ve ever heard. I experienced it for the 2nd time last night and was completely blown away (puss-boy was tearing up, I was). Morello having “ARM THE HOMELESS” written on his guitar was a bit much but he absolutely whaled on guitar and vocals.

And Springsteen, bless the OPOS, played his guitar like Neil Young on “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” – just an animal. If I could send a YouTube out with this I would (N.KOREA!) but I would lend an ear. Prepare to be moved.

Who’s goin’?

its mostly just a bunch of indee crap

’09: Set Your Goals – This Will Be The Death Of Us
’08: Underoath – Lost In The Sound Of Separation
’07: Circa Survive – On Letting Go
’06: Saosin – S/T
’05: Acceptance – Phantoms
’04: The Used – In Love And Death
’03: Coheed & Cambria – In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth 3
’02: New Found Glory – Sticks And Stones
’01: Saves The Day – Stay What You Are
’00: Blink 182 – The Mark, Tom, And Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!)

for those who haven’t had the experience.

(Albums that still sound fresh to me upon heavy repeat listening.)

Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
Hold Steady – Stay Positive
The Bad Plus – Prog
Elliott Smith – Figure 8
New Pornographers – Mass Romantic
Okkervil River – The Stand-Ins
The Long Winters – When I Pretend to Fall
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois/Avalanche (rearrange the tracks, and you can get all the great stuff to fill one CD, and all the filler on the other)
Neko Case – Blacklisted

especially w/o duplicating, though some probly bare worth repeating…but some of mine:

dj danger mouse w/sparkle horse and david lynch: Dark Night of the Soul.

hot chip: both The Warning and Made in the Dark

elliot smith: From a Basement on the Hill

fat lip: The Loneliest Punk

wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

fanny pack: So Stylistic

beck: Sea Change

flaming lips: Fight Test

dead prez: Lets Get Free

johnny cash: American IV

set the standard and the blueprint for the best pop of the decade, many have tried to emulate, but none have hit the heights.

he’s coming – he’s the dance hall master

Feel free to make fun of the last one – but I thought it was a solid album beginning to end

Pillar – Where Do We Go From Here
Foo Fighters – In Your Honor
U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Alter Bridge – Blackbird
Daughtry – Daughtry

you should know by now that the best bands don’t play instruments

St. Vincent – Marry Me
St. Vincent – Actor
Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die
Menomena – I Am the Fun Blame Monster
Menomena – Friend and Foe
The Beta Band – Hot Shots II (it’s no Three EPs, but that doesn’t qualify)
Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country
Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Fiery Furnaces – Gallowsbird’s Bark (most critics seem to think Blueberry Boat is the superior album, but I disagree)

Criminal Underrated (but not recognized enough to be considered “Best of the Decade”):

The Good Life – Black Out – This album from Cursive frontman Tim Kasher is basically Don Draper if he were a musician instead of an ad man. That is to say, it perfectly captures the thought process of men who can’t be satisfied in a monogamous relationship and the effect it has on their lives and their psyche. And despite some experimental touches musically, this album is one the tightest, most cohesive listens of the decade.

Amy Milan – Honey from the Tombs – In her first effort away from Stars (people must have a thing against side projects), Amy Milan made an alt-country album that was largely ignored. While the simply arranged songs may be part of the reason, people are missing out on a wry lyricist that paints beautiful images of falling in and out of love with a lovely but detached voice that keeps it from coming off as bitter or angry. If I am not falling asleep to Iron & Wine or Air, then this is the album of choice for me.

awesome album – better than all the crap on this thread put together – apart from Goldfrapp of course

Arcade Fire are fucking shit

regards

wtgtd reenacting that scene from Risky Business, but instead of blasting Old Time Rock N Roll he’s got some Regina Spektor on instead

10 best artists of the decade, no particular order:
Black Keys
MGMT
White Stripes
*anything else with Jack White
Modest Mouse
Spoon
Gorillaz
Ludacris
Eminem
Outkast – which of course was good before the turn of the century too.
that Johnny Cash album right before he died was pretty great.

bands/artists some of you listed that I cant stand:
Insufferable Sufjan Stevens
the decembrists
blink 182
daughtry
bone thugs and harmony
there were a few more that made me shudder but Ive blocked them from my memory.

overrated:
Wilco
several others

and theres a ton of stuff here I dont even know wtf it is. I guess Im too old to give a shit about keeping up with you fucking kids and hipsters.

1) Strokes – Is This It
2) Girls – Album
3) Radiohead – Kid A/Amnesiac
4) The Sleepy Jackson – Personality
5) Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
6) Sterolab – Sound Dust
7) Daft Punk – Discovery
8) Bjork – Vespertine
9) Boards of Canada – Geogaddi
10) The Libertines – Up The Bracket

Radiohead – Kid A
The Black Keys – Rubber Factory
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Rodrigo y Gabriela
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Passion Pit – Manners
Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Foo Fighters – In Your Honor
Band of Horses – Cease To Begin
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

so slim shady wins the championship.