Top Albums of the Decade

This is a list of my 200 favourite albums of the 2000's. That number may seem like a bit much to you, but it was almost going to be 250 albums, and it could probably even have been 300. But I wanted to keep this list to records I truly loved, and 200 is a nice even number. I get a lot of criticism about only listening to records Pitchfork "hypes", and this list probably won't change that idea. But I really don't care, they are the best music publication out there right now, and they have introduced me to thousands (probably) of great bands. So, there's going to be a lot of Pitchfork-approved indie rock here, and not very much rap or pop (because I think those genres work better in the medium of the single), and zero metal (Sorry Dave, if you're reading). Here we go!

ps. If you read my list for the top albums of 2008, you'll notice that there's an entirely different order to 2008 albums here. Times change.

200. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Best Track: "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"

199. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes
Best Track: "Ambulance"

198. Blur - Think Tank
Best Track: "Out of Time"

197. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Best Track: "Nobody's Baby"

196. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Best Track: "Like Eating Glass"

195. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Best Track: "Us Ones in Between"

194. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
Best Track: "Maps"

193. Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun
Best Track: "Season of the Shark"

192. Broadcast - The Noise Made by People
Best Track: "Come On Let's Go"

191. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Best Track: "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"

190. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Best Track: "I Turn My Camera On"

189. Futureheads - Futureheads
Best Track: "Hounds of Love"

188. Hayden - Skyscraper National Park
Best Track: "Dynamite Walls"

187. The Decemberists - Picaresque
Best Track: "On the Bus Mall"

186. Junior Senior - D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat
Best Track: "Move Your Feet"

185. Deerhoof - Apple O'
Best Track: "Blue Cash"

184. The New Pornographers - Electric Version
Best Track: "The Laws Have Changed"

183. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Best Track: "Heard Somebody Say"

182. Chad VanGaalen - Infiniheart
Best Track: "Clinically Dead"

181. Cee-Lo Green - Is the Soul Machine
Best Track: "The Art of Noise"

180. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Best Track: "Bewilderbeast"

179. At the Drive-in - Relationship of Command
Best Track: "One-Armed Scissor"

178. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Best Track: "Pink Steam"

177. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
Best Track: "Mexican Summer"

176. The Strokes - Room on Fire
Best Track: "Under Control"

175. The Sea and Cake - Oui
Best Track: "Afternoon Speaker"

174. Gillain Welch - Time (The Revelator)
Best Track: "Elvis Presley Blues"

173. Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Best Track: "The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack"

172. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Best Track: "French Navy"

171. The Notwist - Neon Golden
Best Track: "Consequence"

170. DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling
Best Track: "Transliterator"

169. Destroyer - Rubies
Best Track: "European Oils"

168. Final Fantasy - Has a Good Home
Best Track: "This Is the Dream of Win and Regine"

167. Shearwater - Palo Santo
Best Track: "Nobody"

166. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Best Track: "Myxamatosis"

165. Jamie Lidell - Multiply
Best Track: "Multiply"

164. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Best Track: "Unless It's Kicks"

163. Rufus Wainwright - Poses
Best Track: "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"

162. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Best Track: "The New Year"

161. The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone
Best Track: "We've Been Had"

160. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Best Track: "Rise Above"

159. Spoon - Girls Can Tell
Best Track: "This Fitted Shirt"

158. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Best Track: "Star Witness"

157. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Best Track: "Song for Sunshine"

156. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Best Track: "Come Pick Me Up"

155. St. Vincent - Marry Me
Best Track: "Now, Now"

154. Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic
Best Track: "Disconnect the Dots"

153. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes
Best Track: "It Was There That I Saw You"

152. Liars - They Trew Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top
Best Track: "Mr. You're on Fire Mr."

151. Kanye West - Graduation
Best Track: "Champion"

150. Cass McCombs - Dropping the Writ
Best Track: "Petrified Forest"

149. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free
Best Track: "Blinded by the Lights"

148. Grandaddy - Sumday
Best Track: "Now It's On"

147. Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty
Best Track: "Fix It"

146. Bjork - Vespertine
Best Track: "It's Not Up to You"

145. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Best Track: "Fake Palindromes"

144. M. Ward - The Transfiguration of Vincent
Best Track: "Outta My Head"

143. Man Man - Rabbit Habbits
Best Track: "Top Drawer"

142. Iron and Wine - The Shepard's Dog
Best Track: "Innocent Bones"

141. Robyn - Robyn
Best Track: "With Every Heartbeat"

140. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
Best Track: "Hope There's Someone"

139. m83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts
Best Track: "Run Into Flowers"

138. The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
Best Track: "The Rat"

137. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Best Track: "The Wind and the Dove"

136. Califone - Roomsound
Best Track: "Bottles and Bones (Shade & Sympathy)"

135. Daniel Johnston - Welcome to My World
Best Track: "Some Things Last a Long Time"

134. Basement Jaxx - Rooty
Best Track: "Romeo"

133. Battles - Mirrored
Best Track: "Atlas"

132. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
Best Track: "Blind"

131. The Beta Band - Hot Shots II
Best Track: "Human Being"

130. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
Best Track: "Punks in the Beerlight"

129. Cat Power - The Greatest
Best Track: "The Greatest"

128. Real Estate - Real Estate
Best Track: "Fake Blues"

127. Air - Talkie Walkie
Best Track: "Surfing on a Rocket"

126. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Best Track: "Smash Your Head"

125. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Best Track: "Almost Ready"

124. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
Best Track: "O'Malley, Former Underdog"

123. Fugazi - The Argument
Best Track: "Epic Problem"

122. Feist - The Reminder
Best Track: "Feel It All"

121. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Best Track: "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House"

120. The Knife - Silent Shout
Best Track: "We Share Our Mother's Health"

119. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Best Track: "Watching the Planets"

118. Broadcast - Tender Buttons
Best Track: "Michael A Grammar"

117. Handsome Furs - Plague Park
Best Track: "Can't Get Started"

116. Kevin Drew - Spirit If
Best Track: "Safety Bricks"

115. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Best Track: "Float On"

114. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Best Track: "Wet Hair"

113. Various Artists - Dark Was the Night
Best Track: Yeasayer - "Tightrope"

112. D'Angelo - Voodoo
Best Track: "Devil's Pie"

111. Califone - The Orchids
Best Track: "The Orchids"

110. The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2
Best Track: "The Moon"

109. The Decemberists - Her Majesty
Best Track: "Red Right Ankle"

108. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Best Track: "Keep the Car Running"

107. Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
Best Track: "Naked As We Came"

106. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Best Track: "The Modern Leper"

105. The Dodos - Visiter
Best Track: "Fools"

104. Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
Best Track: "Do the Whirlwind"

103. The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Best Track: "Taking the Farm"

102. Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
Best Track: "No Children"

101. Smog - Dongs of Sevotion
Best Track: "Permanent Smile"

100. Deerhoof - Milk Man
Best Track: "Milk Man"

99. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Best Track: "Don't You Evah"

98. Beach House - Devotion
Best Track: "Gila"

97. Constantines - Shine a Light
Best Track: "Young Lions"

96. Jim O'Rourke - Insignificance
Best Track: "Memory Lame"

95. The Rapture - Echoes
Best Track: "House of Jealous Lovers"

94. Erlend Oye - DJ Kicks
Best Track: Jurgen Paape - "So Weit Wie Noch Nie"

93. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Best Track: "The Knife"

92. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney - Superwolf
Best Track: "My Home Is the Sea"

91. Love Is All - Nine Times the Same Song
Best Track: "Felt Tip"

90. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
Best Track: "Scenic World"

89. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
Best Track: "Who Could Win a Rabbit"

88. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Best Track: "Roscoe"

87. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
Best Track: "Carry Me Ohio"

86. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Best Track: "Lisztomania"

85. The Streets - Orignal Pirate Material
Best Track: "Weak Become Heroes"

84. Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens
Best Track: "Maple Leaves"

83. MIA - Kala
Best Track: "Paper Planes"

82. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Best Track: "Staralfur"

81. Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Best Track: "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will."

80. The Clientele - Suburban Light
Best Track: "Reflections After Jane"

79. Beirut - The Flying Cup Club
Best Track: "Nantes"

78. Cass McCombs - Catacombs
Best Track: "You Saved My Life"

77. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go
Best Track: "Love Comes to Me"

76. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
Best Track: "Empty Page"

75. Deerhunter - Microcastle
Best Track: "Nothing Ever Happened"

74. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Best Track: "Unforgettable Season"

73. Menomena - Friend or Foe
Best Track: "Muscle 'n Flo"

72. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
Best Track: "Black"

71. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
Best Track: "The Dress Looks Nice on You"

70. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Best Track: "The General Specific"

69. The Tough Alliance - A New Chance
Best Track: "Something Special"

68. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette
Best Track: "Bobby Malone Moves Home"

67. Atlas Sound - Logos
Best Track: "Walkabout"

66. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
Best Track: "Long Distance Call"

65. My Morning Jacket - Z
Best Track: "Gideon"

64. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Best Track: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

63. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Best Track: "Travelling Woman"

62. Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction
Best Track: "The Bad Arts"

61. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Best Track: "First Song"

60. Girls - Album
Best Track: "Lust for Life"

59. Radiohead - Amnesiac
Best Track: "I Might Be Wrong"

58. Yeasayer - All Hours Cymbals
Best Track: "(Red Cave)"

57. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Best Track: "Streets of Fire"

56. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Best Track: "Fireworks"

55. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan
Best Track: "Romulus"

54. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
Best Track: "Bridges and Balloons"

53. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Best Track: "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal"

52. Iron and Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Best Track: "The Lion's Mane"

51. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Best Track: "Poison Oak"

50. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Best Track: "A Postcard to Nina"

49. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
Best Track: "Company in My Back"

48. Yo La Tengo - An Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Best Track: "You Can Have It All"

47. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
Best Track: "The Crystal Cat"

46. Hot Chip - The Warning
Best Track: "And I Was a Boy from School"

45. Beck - Sea Change
Best Track: "Lost Cause"

44. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Best Track: "Do You Realize?"

43. The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
Best Track: "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect"

42. Animal Collective - Feels
Best Track: "The Purple Bottle"

41. McLusky - Do Dallas
Best Track: "To Hell with Good Intentions"

40. The Strokes - Is This It?
Best Track: "Is This It?"

39. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
Best Track: "Mageetah"

38. Madvillain - Madvillainy
Best Track: "Accordian"

37. The Shins - Oh Inverted World
Best Track: "New Slang"

36. Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
Best Track: "3rd Planet"

35. The National - Alligator
Best Track: "Sons and Daughters of Soho Riots"

34. Daft Punk - Discovery
Best Track: "One More Time"

33. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Best Track: "Young Folks"

32. Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
Best Track: "This Year"

31. Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
Best Track: "Love Is Overtaking Me"

30. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Best Track: Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)

29. Cat Power - You Are Free
Best Track: "I Don't Blame You"

28. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Best Track: "White Winter Hymnal"

27. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
Best Track: "The Body Breaks"

26. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Best Track: "Skinny Love"

25. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Best Track: "Shout Me Out"

24. WHY? - Alopecia
Best Track: "Good Friday"

23. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Best Track: "Stillness Is the Move"

22. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Best Track: "House of Cards"

21. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Best Track: "I'll Believe in Anything"

20. The Postal Service - Give Up
Best Track: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"



The Postal Service's Give Up is sort of the pinnacle of indie-electro for me. First of all, it's outright beautiful, and that's not hard to hear. But it's also great balancing act for the two band members. Ben Gibbard's lyrics always borderline on the cheese, but he has just enough clever insight to pull off his clunkers. Jimmy Tamborello manages to produce tracks that are entirely accessible, while maintaining the sense of adventure from his previous Dntel work. They've never made another record, but even if they tried I doubt they could recreate the chemistry of Give Up.

19. The National - Boxer
Best Track: "Fake Empire"



In 2005, when the National released Alligator, I thought I was in on a secret that barely anyone knew about. Of course, that's stupid now in 2009, as both Alligator and Boxer are huge indie-rock touchstones. But what gives Boxer the edge? Well, there's no more of those screaming anthems like "Abel", but there is a lot more subtle, emotional heft, and this makes the record a little more personal for me.




18. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Best Track: "Kissing the Lipless"




How can you not like the Shins? James Mercer not only has the melodic capabilities of someone like Brian Wilson, but as a lyricist he puts most singers to shame. Chutes Too Narrow is brief and sort-of easy listening, but it's incredibly easy to go back to, and impossible to deny.





17. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Best Track: "Two Weeks"




Obviously, Veckatimest is one of the best releases of 2009, but I feel like Grizzly Bear affected me so much this year that I am entirely comfortable putting this record in the top 20 of the decade. The band added more bursts of melody here than they did on Yellow House (itself, an amazing record), and that's exactly what I thought they needed. Time will tell, for sure, but I think in a few years poeple will look back at Veckatimest as one of the decade's best.



16. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Best Track: "I Was a Lover"



I really liked TV on the Radio in 2004 (you'll notice that their debut, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes is 199 on my list), but I honestly wasn't expecting them to blow me away like they did on Return to Cookie Mountain. They fleshed-out their band from three to five members, and at the same time they fleshed out their songs. There's bigger anthems, more insane production tweaks from Dave Sitek, and an extremely awesome cameo from David Bowie. This record's a beast.



15. The Go! Team - Thunder and Lightning Strike
Best Track: "Ladyflash"



I crave albums like The Go! Team's Thunder and Lightning Strike. By that I mean I crave albums that are impossible to pin down; genre-less you might say. But I do know what the indgredients are here: old-school rap, 80's TV theme songs, twee-pop, indie-rock, techno, and a dash of everything else.



14. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Best Track: "Since I Left You"



Similar to The Go! Team, The Avalanches are impossible to pin down. The difference is that Since I Left You flows seamlessly, instead of jumping around from influence to influence. This is definately a party record with huge beats and hilarious samples, but it's also a great album to take in on one sitting. These guys are planning to release a new record in 2010, a decade later, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of best albums of the 10's.

13. Dismemberment Plan - Change
Best Track: "Ellen and Ben"



Dismemberment Plan's 1999 record, Emergency & I, is hands down one of my favourite-ever albums. But Change lives up to its predecessor. For years, this band balanced the pop sensibilties of, say, The Cars with the angular noise experiments of Brainiac or Deerhoof. This record, however, finds the band at their most reflective and sentimental. Change is also the band's final release, and it's a damn fine swan song.


12. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Best Track: "Bros"



Isn't it enough to be a member in one of the decade's greatest bands? Animal Collective's Panda Bear says no, apparently. That's good for us though, as Person Pitch was the most accessible and magical AC-related release to date. And it obviously informs the glorious Merriweather Post Pavillion.






11. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Best Track: "Stuck Between Stations"



Are the Hold Steady single-handedly responsible for re-emergence of Bruce Springsteen in the indie-rock consciousness? Maybe not, but they're the Boss' biggest representative. And thank fucking god for them too. The detached cool of most indie rock was getting a bit much anyways. I want a band who is emotional, who is flawed, who is fun-loving AND who is super-smart. Here they are.




10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Best Track: "My Girls"



With Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective put themselves in a place that rivals Radiohead as the best band of the decade. And their trajectory is probably the most incredible thing about them! Once a messy, folky experimental duo, AC are now indie-pop superstars with songs that are flat-out danceable. Naysayers might yearn for the days of Here Comes the Indian, but I think the band's inventive ways of making accesible music is more impressive.



09. Manitoba - Up in Flames
Best Track: "I've Lived on a Dirt Road All My Life"



I know Dan Snaith has to go by Caribou now for legal reasons, but it says Manitoba on my cd case so I don't give a shit. And what a cd it is! Snaith created one of the happiest sounding records I can think of by crafted simple folktronica tunes and then dropping a melody-bomb of psychedelica on them. Up in Flames is an epic listen and highly recommended.





08. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Best Track: "NYC"



Interpol have always been slammed with Joy Division comparisons to the point that it's tiresome. But let's be honest; they really do sound like Joy Division. But that's a good band to sound like, right? Besides, the voice of singer Paul Banks and the production of Turn on the Bright Lights places the band undoubtedly in the present. And those songs are so good anyways, let's just pretend it's Joy Division.




07. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Best Track: "Casimir Pulaski Day"



Hyper-literate, classically trained, super-religious, and impossibly touching, Sufjan Stevens can't help but make interesting and amazing music. Illinois is the obvious highlight of his career, and it's definately a big undertaking to listen to the record front-to-back, but it's also one of most rewarding and emotional listens ever.





06. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Best Track: "In This Home on Ice"



CYHSY unfairly took the brunt of hype-bands/Pitchfork backlash, and it's a real shame. This record is one of, if not the most catchy albums of the decade, and it was the DEBUT record of an UNSIGNED band. It's stupid that more people don't love this album.






05. Radiohead - Kid A
Best Track: "Idioteque"



OK, this one's just obvious. Probably the most acclaimed album of the decade (I just happened to like 4 other records more). Radiohead are the Beatles of today in terms of greatness. Really innovative, experimental, mind-blowing, yada yada. Let's move on.






04. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Best Track: "Jesus, etc"



Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a painstakingly-crafted, rich, and devastatingly emotional album and definately one of the best of the decade. What's really remarkable is that it was made by a band who could've gotten by just making pretty folk songs. Wilco went though a lot of shit to get this record out there (see: documentary), and it was obviously a big risk for them, but they more than delivered.



03. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Best Track: "All My Friends"



LCD's James Murphy ate up every extremely cool and extremely rare record from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and then puked up this silver mess of a record. (i'm getting tired ok?) Yes, the influences can be picked apart fairly easily, but the combination of styles here is unlike any other album ever... in history...period. Sound of Silver is the best representation of a decade obsessed with the retro.





02. Arcade Fire - Funeral
Best Track: "Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)"



I challenge you to not be awed by this record. You'll lose. Many great bands (Talking Heads, Modest Mouse, Bruce Springsteen, etc) informed Funeral, but none of them matched Arcade Fire's inspiration or appeal. This is simply the greatest batch of anthems I've ever heard in one place. And they are from Canada, which is obviously the best.




01. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People
Best Track: "Cause = Time"



Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People changed everything for me. It signalled a shift not only in my musical taste, but also in my personality and the direction my life would go in. It's not just my favourite record of the decade, it's my favourite ever. It's got everything I want out of an album (anthems, ballads, experiments, noise, jams, etc) and it hits all the right emotional bases for me. It's all-around, my favourite listening experience.