The Best Albums of 2000-2009 [OUT-DATED]
Submitted by Waldo Jeffers on Sat, 05/28/2011 - 17:58
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- 10. Xiu Xiu | A Promise
- Besides having the best album cover of the ’00s, Xiu Xiu released a deluge of experimental releases, with strange electronic effects underscoring a tragic, flawed voice. Beautiful pop melodies were drenched in horror and claustrophobia. A sound unlike any other was born, and a near-masterpiece was released. And there’s a naked dude holding a baby upside down. If you don’t like this album, I probably don’t like you.
- 9. Alcest | Souvenirs d’un autre monde
- The 2000s were a decade of revival of old forms. Chief among these after post-punk was most likely shoegaze. Bands like Fleeting Joys ran Loveless through a Xerox machine. A Place to Bury Strangers used and abused the sounds of Slowdive with about six times the sound and ridiculous reverb effects. It stands as poetically just that the greatest shoegaze revivalist of the decade, Neige as of this album, is a French black metal artist who was never previously exposed to the sound. Souvenirs d’un autre monde pushed shoegaze and black metal lightyears ahead of where they were at the beginning of the decade and made it palatable for all. Truly a great album of the last ten years and the best shoegaze album since the classics.
- 8. Arcade Fire | Funeral
- If there is one thing that the 2000s innovated in the realm of music, it was the way that people are exposed to new music. Pitchfork Media became a progressively worse resource for indie and alternative music over the course of the decade, but at its peak in 2004, its rating of a 9.7 to an obscure Canadian collective (for all Pitchfork 9.0+es are “collectives”, not plebeian “bands”) started a meteoric rise to indie fame. Even when the context is stripped away and the relevance of the band’s most recent effort Suburbs being the latter-day Nevermind, Funeral remains a damn good album. Its beautiful union of art and pop with dark themes and light makes it the perfect soundtrack to a disenchanted generation with a lot to consider and a whole lot more to do.
- 7. Supersilent | 6
- Truly, it is a good bit of cheating including this record on this list of so-called popular music. Something that so expertly merges electronic sounds with free improvisation approaches to music-making, all while pushing both genres future and maintaining their respective dignities can hardly be referred to as such. Still, for all those reasons and more, 6 persists as one of the singular greatest innovations in the 2000s canon of music, and it deserves its place without a doubt.
- 6. Kanye West | Late Registration
- The definitive proof to doubters that Kanye West does, in fact, deserve his fame si right here. Absolutely ridiculous production values, classic personal ‘Ye lyrics, and some of the best delivery of any mainstream rapper came together to make an album deserving in every sense of the word classic.
- 5. Madvillain | Madvillainy
- The now-legendary collaboration of MF Doom and Madlib was destined for success. Both some of the experimental forerunners of rap music, a synthesis of the two was more than most underground rap fans could handle. The result is even more sublime. Hyperbole can do no less than ruin the experience, but if you have not listened to this yet, do so. It will elevate you to a higher plane of existence through the weed-inspired, socially conscious, superhero cartoon reel spoofs of Madlib and out-of-this-world one-of-a-kind lyricism and steady, deliberate flow of MF Doom. But like I said, no hyperboles.
- 4. Cannibal Ox | The Cold Vein
- By complete chance, the three rap albums of this list landed right next to each other. You must, however, believe that it is by no oversight that I place The Cold Vein above all other hip hop of the 21st Century thusfar. In indescribable ways, everything that makes Late Registration and Madvillainy good - steady flow and powerful, in-your-face yet chilled production - is exactly the opposite here. The whole thing is completely exotic. If space-rap exists, you’re listening to it. The strangest inspirations for a rap album - among them more fantasy references than a beat-up station wagon full of ex-hair metal fans - further dilute the ease with which one can really describe the album favorably. Trust me on this, though: Cannibal Ox do not disappoint, and The Cold Vein will leave you reeling.
- 3. Battles | Mirrored
- The greatest extension of classic Tortoise math rock in the 21st century, Battles debuted with one of the most sonically transcendent albums in years. The frantic pace and loads and loads of special quirks that never felt like gimmicks (the chipmunk vocals, the raised crash cymbal) were definitely contributors, but the central facet of the album is just how math-y the album can be while injecting itself with a rush. Tortoise excelled in their ability to create mathematically tight, slow-moving, gradual pieces. Battles instead transcend in their ability to use their own formulas to create one of the fastest-paced albums in the genre and what might end up being its figurehead very shortly.
- 2. The Mars Volta | Frances the Mute
- The most relevant band for rock music’s progression in 2005? Quite possibly. The Mars Volta showed themselves on Frances the Mute to truly be the only band of the time worth listening to. Each suite of this album was its own, contained piece. An excellent precision of structure, virtual virtuosity, and a dedication to experimentation made sure that Frances the Mute would be quite universally panned. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the last decade is that Frances the Mute was the only Mars Volta album worth giving any sort of credit, and for that, it is relegated by most to the “least bad” release by a band that truly peaked here and them slumped back into mediocrity immediately. This one diamond in the rough is definitely worth your time, though, and to miss it would be a crime.
- 1. Joanna Newsom | Ys
- Anyone who knows me knows that Joanna Newsom is my pick for the most important artist of the last twelve years, if not more. Ys is the perfect reflection of what she has accomplished. All her talents are on display here. In five moving pieces, Newsom establishes a voice at once more palatable and stronger in delivering her message than she had in her debut. The lyricism here, fixated on fantasy and fables, matches Dylan at several points. The production of the album was handled by the best of the best, including Steve Albini. The harp itself is played with a style so smooth and inviting so as to serve as a mighty anchor for a lushly orchestrated album inspired by the classicists of every form of ancient art. Perhaps the defining statement of a decade bent on returning to roots, Ys stands as the greatest tribute to music released in the past ten years and the establishing work for a new musician whose talents will take her far beyond the audience she currently has.
Very well done. I agree with Ys as "album of the decade".
Recently for me, Have One on Me has begun to approach it as possibly its equal, or perhaps even better.
Thanks a lot. Most of the choices here are now, as disclosed in the title, severely out-dated, and I feel like particularly the middle block could use some re-arrangement. I like keeping this around for archival purposes, though. Be sure to stay on the look-out for the updated version soon.
As for Have One on Me and Ys, I am definitely of the mind that Have One on Me is its superior, though full disclosure requires that I mention I heard H1OM about three or four times before I ever bothered with Ys, and H1OM has at least twice the listens of Ys. I personally consider that more a testament to H1OM than a reason for its superiority in my mind, but it's notable I suppose. Time will tell.