Best of the 2000s: Twenty-Five Best Albums

Sure, we have about six weeks left, but I have decided that I am going to post my top 25 Albums of the Decade.

This decade really changed my music listening habits, and not just because of the invention of the iPod (although that had an incredible effect too). The fact that so much music was available online for download and for listening meant that I didn't have to rummage through some indie record store where some asshole with bad hair looked down on me because I wasn't buying the new "hip" album. I didn't have to take as my chances on my purchases, because for the most part, you could listen to part of every song on any album you wanted to. And if I heard something online or saw some great new artist on Conan, I didn't have to wait till the next day to pick up the album. I know this all sounds rudimentary, but the sheer availability of music made me so much more knowledgeable and made this decade a lot richer for me.

Also, the fact that there are SO MANY SOURCES online which to read about music has pointed me in some really great directions. Pandora, Last.fm, Stereogum, Pitchfork, AllMusic.com, RateYourMusic.com... These have all been great resources for me to find stuff I never would have heard of or known of otherwise.

The last is satellite radio. There is no better way to serendipitously come across great new bands than on Satellite. Go to one of the niche stations and just listen for a few hours, and you will find yourself hearing things you would never hear on regular, terrestrial radio. I really hope that the fledgling format finds an audience because it is now an indispensible part of my life.

I don't think the 2000s (are we calling them "the Aughts" now?) have been THE best decade of music, but they have been one of the most diverse. And although I think pop music hit its nadir some time around 2005, hard-to-find music has flourished and become richer than ever. So here we go ... the soundtrack to my life for the last ten years.

I had considered breaking them up into pop/rock music and hip hop music, but let's face it: the decade has been sort of thin on both, and so I just picked my tops from both and I'm putting them together. Still, I stand by this list as being 100% great. I also considered ranking them but then I just got too lazy.

I will start by saying that my top three albums from 2000-2009 are, in alphabetical order by artist:

Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle


Shearwater - Palo Santo (Expanded Edition)


The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow

Don't ask me to pick my favorite because my mom always said that she couldn't pick her favorite kid, even though she's lying it's clearly me.

I will also give you 40 or so very excellent albums worthy of honorable mention:

AESOP ROCK - Labor Days (2002), Bazooka Tooth (2004), None Shall Pass (2007) - Indie hip hop


ARIZONA - Welcome Back Dear Children (2006), Fameseeker and the Mono (2007) - Indie pop


BABBLETRON - Mechanical Royalty (2003) - Indie hip hop


BLACKALICIOUS - Blazing Arrow (2002) - Indie hip hop


BLACK MILK - Tronic (2008) - Hip hop


BLITZEN TRAPPER - Furr - (2008) - Indie rock


BLOCKHEAD - Downtown Science - (2005) - Hip hop instrumentals


BLUEPRINT - 1988 - (2005) - Indie hip hop


BROTHER ALI - The Undisputed Truth - (2007) - Indie hip hop


CANDY BUTCHERS - Making Up Time - (2006) - Piano pop


CARIBOU - The Milk of Human Kindness - (2005) Electro-pop


ROB CROW - Living Well - (2007) - Indie rock / math rock


CUT CHEMIST - The Audience's Listening - (2006) - Hip hop instrumentals


DANGER MOUSE - The Grey Album - (2004) - Hip hop


EDAN - Beauty and the Beat - (2005) - Underground hip hop


EL-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead - (2007) - Indie hip hop


EMILY HAINES - Knives Don't Have Your Back - (2006) - Chamber/piano rock


FEIST - Let It Die - (2004) - Indie pop


THE FLAMING LIPS - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - (2002) - Experimental rock


DJ FORMAT - If you Can't Join 'Em ... Beat 'Em - (2005) - Indie hip hop / nerdcore


GHOSTFACE KILLAH - More Fish - (2007) - East Coast hip hop


ILLOGIC - Celestial Clockwork - (2004) - Underground hip hop


JOY ZIPPER - American Whip - (2004) - Dreampop / Indie pop


MF DOOM - MM..Food - (2004) - Indie hip hop


MGMT - Oracular Spectacular - (2008) - Indie/electro pop


MIDLAKE - The Trials of Van Occupanther - (2006) - Lo-fi / indie rock


MOTHER MOTHER - Touch Up - (2007) - Indie pop, experimental folk


PINBACK - Tour EP 2008 [Ascii E.P.] - (2008) - Indie/math rock


RADIOHEAD - Amnesiac - (2001) - Progressive rock


DJ RHETTMATIC - Exclusive Collection - (2004) - Underground hip hop


SOUL POSITION - Things Go Better with RJ and Al - (2006) - Indie hip hop


SPOON - Gimme Fiction - (2005) - Indie rock


SUN KIL MOON - April - (2008) - Indie folk


SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - Rings Around the World - (2001) - Neo-psychedelia


SWITCHES - Lay Down the Law - (2008) - Indie pop / retro pop


WOLFMOTHER - Wolfmother - (2006) - Hard rock


ZERO 7 - Simple Things (2001), When It Falls (2004) - Ambient techno

Now here is the full list of 25 (plus one EP), in alphabetical order by artist (click on the album cover for more information):

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AESOP ROCK - Float

Independent Hip Hop, 2000

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ARIZONA - Glowing Bird

Indie Rock, 2009

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BECK - Sea Change

Folk pop, 2002

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BON IVER - For Emma, Forever Ago

Indie folk, 2008

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CANNIBAL OX - The Cold Vein

Underground hip hop, 2001

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NIKKA COSTA - Everybody Got Their Something

Electro/dance pop, 2001

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DM STITH - Heavy Ghost

Experimental rock, 2009

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BEN FOLDS - Songs for Silverman

Piano pop, 2005

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SAGE FRANCIS - Sick of Waiting Tables (Compilation)

Independent hip hop, "emo rap," 2004

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GRIZZLY BEAR - Veckatimest

Art-rock, indie rock, 2009

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IRON & WINE - The Creek Drank the Cradle

Lo-fi alternative folk, 2002

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MADVILLAIN - Madvillainy

Underground hip hop, 2004

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STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - Pig Lib

Grungy indie rock, 2003

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OH NO - Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms

Underground hip-hop, 2006

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NERINA PALLOT - Fires

Adult contemporary pop, 2005

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RJD2 - Deadringer

Independent hip hop instrumentals, 2002

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ROGUE WAVE - Out of the Shadow

Indie rock, garage pop, 2004

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THE ROSEWOOD THEIVES - From the Decker House EP

Indie rock, folk-pop, 2006

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SHEARWATER - Palo Santo (Expanded Edition)

Chamber pop / power folk, 2006

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SHEARWATER - Rook

Indie rock / power folk, 2008

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THE SHINS - Chutes Too Narrow

Indie pop, 2003

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SUFJAN STEVENS - Illinois

Indie pop / progressive folk, 2005

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TOBACCO - Fucked Up Friends

Techno hip-hop electronica, 2008

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WEEN - Quebec

Ironic art-pop, 2003

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WILCO - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Alt-country/rock, 2002

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If you want, you can also read about my Best Post-Golden Age Hip Hop albums.

So that's been my decade. If you are interested in sampling any of these artists, I would suggest signing up at Last.fm, because it's the most accessible, it can track the songs you listen to on your iPod automatically, and to my knowledge there is no limit on the number of listens you can have. You can pretty much type in the name of an artist (or any artist you like) and listen to a whole truckload of songs. And let me know if you agree, or if any of my choices stink.