We’re going from #75 to #51 today.

PART 2:
This section is a mix of albums that had a major impact on me at the time but don’t really make it into my rotation anymore, or which I liked if not loved but which are still good enough to get the occasional listen.

 

75. The White Stripes
De Stijl
2000

The White Stripes came to my attention around the time of White Blood Cells, but I think all of the first three albums are quite terrific. I’m not sure what I can say about the White Stripes that hasn’t been said yet, but they sure were good at what they did, and this is a great example of that straight-to-the-point two-piece blues-in-overdrive, before they started expanding on their palette with Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan (and then Jack White broke up the band altogether for other projects).

Best Song: There are a few good choices, including “You’re Pretty Good Looking (for a Girl),” “Hello Operator,” and “Apple Blossom.” I’m quite fond of the two old blues covers, though, and while “Death Letter” is everything you’d want from a White Stripes cover of a blues classic, “Your Southern Can Is Mine” is the one I’ve listened to the most, easily.

 

74. The Clientele
Strange Geometry
2005

I discovered this album a couple of years after it came out, but the Clientele pretty well hooked me with their glossy, reverb-heavy style, intricate lyrics, and heady pop goodness. Not a lot to say about this album other than that. I feel like The Clientele would’ve grown on me a lot more had I discovered them sooner.

Best Song: I think everything I love about The Clientele is captured in the opener, “Since K Got Over Me.”

 

73. Art Brut
Bang Bang Rock & Roll
2005

This is just one of the best, most fun punky albums to come out of the era. Simple, straightforward, and energetic, a lot of the song subjects throw back to the kind of things you might have heard from early Beach Boys (“Emily Kane”, “Moving to L.A.”) with some wry and self-aware tracks– “My Little Brother” and “Modern Art,” although of course the leader in that regard was the tongue-in-cheek origin story that first broke Art Brut out. A fun jam that, like so many of the best punk albums, endures because of the strong songcraft.

Best Song: That origin story, “Formed a Band.”

 

72. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
2005

One of the standout one-album wonders of the era, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! hit the ground running with a killer debut that encapulsates everything that makes indie rock great– the structure and hooks of a great pop-rock song with the energy and intensity of the young and eager. The band never reached these heights again, but most artists would kill to have even one album this good in their repertoire.

Best Song: Not a bad song on the album, but “In This Home on Ice” stands out above all the rest.

 

71. Sun Kil Moon
Ghosts of the Great Highway
2003

Mark Kozelek’s latest project saw him writing at great length about… boxing? Even opening track “Glenn Tipton” (Judas Priest’s guitarist) starts “Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston…” A great lo-fi collection of songs, with “Duk Koo Kim” (a Korean boxer brutally killed in the ring) as the seven-plus minute centerpiece of it all.

Best Song: “Salvador Sanchez” is a good candidate as it rocks more than most of the tracks, though the album, and what’s best about it, is its softer tracks like “Gentle Moon.” With that in line, I’ll go with the final track, “Salvador Sanchez” counterpart “Pancho Villa”: the same song, but done in a more low-key, acoustic timbre.

 

70. Outkast
Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
2003

This album was the first sign that the partnership between Andre 3000 and Big Boi wouldn’t last, as each of them essentially made their own LP for a double disc. While at the time Andre’s disc was praised as the more inventive one, Speakerboxxx is the one that’s held up better for me with time. Andre’s experiments are generally interesting (and there’s some real killer stuff here– “Spread” has that aggressive, staccato beat I just love), but Big Boi’s good time holds up better on replay, with a ton of great beats and memorable hooks. (“Bowtie” and “Church” are two of my favorites.)

Best Song, Speakerboxxx: Second track (after the intro) “Ghettomusick” is an incredible banger with its big beats and throwback chorus.
Best Song, The Love Below: I mean, “Hey Ya!” was a massive worldwide crossover hit for a reason.

 

69. Electric Six
Fire
2003

Nice. (I mean, there was no way they were ending up at any other spot on this list.) Yeah, Electric Six can be pretty goofy and juvenile, but there’s nothing juvenile about their live performances. Having seen them (at least) three times (my memory isn’t reliable enough to say only three times), they’ve got a professional sense of showmanship that elevates the material– and as a whole, makes clear that Electric Six is all about having a good time. Have fun, slam a cocktail, and bang around to some loud, tight jams.

Best Song: While it’s apparently still just a rumor that Jack White does a guest spot on “Danger! High Voltage!”, listen to it and tell me it’s not him. (Not that that’s why this is the best song on the album, but it is.)

 

68. Madvillain
Madvillainy
2004

Man, I wish I could tell you more specifics about Madvillainy. Like the album itself, though, I was ensconced in a thick, smoky haze during my days listening to it, so only a handful of distinct elements peek out– “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “M-A-R-I-J-U–tink-tink-tink-tink-tink–A-J-U-A-N-A”– but MF Doom and Madlib’s collaboration here was a staple of those years of my life when cheap beer, clouds of smoke, some tunes with friends, and trying to do it all as cheaply as possible, was all I needed.

Best Song: Appropriately enough given all of the above, the one that sticks out in my mind is the one that ends on that ridiculously goofy jingle– “America’s Most Blunted.”

 

67. Annie
DJ-Kicks
2005

The second of three DJ-Kicks albums to appear on this list, Annie’s turn at the ones and twos is, as you might expect, more upbeat and poppy than Erlend Øye’s. Some cool, fun tracks– Alan Vega’s “Jukebox Babe” is pretty much just a pop song, fascinating for one half of Suicide; Le Tigre, Bow Wow Wow, and Datarock also make appearances– make for just a generally uplifting, good-time jam.

Best Song: Alan Braxe and Fred Falke make another appearance here, as their remix of Death From Above 1979’s “Black History Month” elevates the song to new heights. (Sadly, I could not find the remix on Spotify– the original is pretty good, but the remix really dials in on what makes the song work.)

 

66. Hercules and Love Affair
Hercules and Love Affair
2008

The then-Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons) handles most of the vocals on this album, which elevates it from disco-inspired dance music into its own unique thing, Antony’s particular timbre and warble giving the album its own unique sound and effect. Pretty cool.

Best Song: I like “You Belong,” although I think Pitchfork picked “Blind” as the #1 track of 2008. (Most of the album is quite good, in fact.)

 

65. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Shake the Sheets
2004

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ fourth album is possibly as much of a protest album as you’d find in indie rock at the time– full of anthemic calls to action, statements of purpose, criticisms of George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Oddly, that singular focus sort of detracts from the imaginative narratives that mark Leo’s best work– we’ve still got two more albums to cover from Leo and his group– but it’s still a great rocker with a bunch of catchy tunes.

Best Song: I chose “Counting Down the Hours,” but I don’t think any one song stands out particularly; the whole album is pretty consistent.

 

64. Dizzee Rascal
Boy in Da Corner
2003

Just a nasty album, in the best sense of the word. Serving as a breakthrough for grime, this album has the rough textures of aggressive, electronica-inspired breakbeats that define the genre, combined with Dizzee’s flow, charismatic and moving from angry to frustrated to soulful to optimistic with ease. Still sounds fresh.

(My one anecdote here is that I saw him once in Houston, at the long-gone Engine Room. Half the crowd were local hip-hop fans who were there primarily for the opening acts, and the other half were there because Pitchfork told them they would look cool. I would confess to being one of the latter except I actually get up and dance and make noise, whereas the rest of the hipsters stood there, possibly taking photos, possibly being seen. My friend and I might have been the two people most excited for Dizzee Rascal that night; with the rest of the crowd, I wouldn’t have come back to Houston if I were him.)

Best Song: At turns nasty, rapid-fire, and with that aggressive beat, “I Luv U” completely knocks it out of the park and still holds up today. (Get me some drinks and dare me to do both parts of the chorus, and I probably will.)

 

63. Dungen
Ta det lugnt
2004

Just take enough acid when you throw on this psychedelic album, and you too can speak Swedish! Okay, not really (or maybe; I have to admit, I never tried, although I’m sure you would have believed me if I said I had). But Dungen shows on this album that psych-rock that sounded like it was lifted straight out of the 60s, basement-recording production sound and all, transcends culture.

Best Song: Um… I just picked the title track. (It is one of a couple of songs that stand out to me from the album, the other two most memorable ones being “Panda” and “Festival.”)

 

62. Björk
Medúlla
2004

One of the most inventive pop arrangers of her time, and also a magical elf who I want to have a million of my babies, Björk engaged in perhaps her most audacious experiment yet: Constructing an almost entirely a capella album, relying on vocal percussion and an array of singers to fill out the instrumentation. For me, it’s a wild success and a favorite of mine: Perhaps it’s because I’m a sucker for beatboxing; perhaps it’s because the songwriting is amazing; perhaps she just mesmerizes me (see the first sentence). I think it’s a bit of all of the above; but what’s more important to your experience here is that she’s made a wonderful, singular, incredible album that was a huge risk considering how it was made. I love it.

Best Song: No question for me, as it’s one of my favorite songs of the entire decade, period: “Who Is It?”

 

61. LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
2005

James Murphy’s name was well respected in indie circles as one half of Death From Above records and its production team (alongside Tim Goldsworthy); when he started releasing his own singles under LCD Soundsystem, the indie world took notice. Danceable, catchy, and self-aware, this disc is one disc of the band’s classic singles from 2002-04, one half new material. It’s all great and a worthy introduction to the band.

Best Song: I think “Losing My Edge” wins me over, as a music nerd who can relate to everything in it– the name-checking, the sincere love of obscurities and rarities, the sense that I’m falling behind or out of touch with what’s hip and fresh.

I could’ve chosen one from each disc, but I… didn’t. (From the new material, “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” is the most fun, but “Tribulations” might be the best song.)

 

60. The Fiery Furnaces
Blueberry Boat
2004

I loved this album when it came out, and while its wild inventiveness and meandering storytelling don’t exactly make it an easy go-to for regular spots in the rotation, upon revisiting it, I found it to be just as inventive and entertaining as it was then. It’s hard to describe this album; it’s rock, sure, but the strange instrumentation and the way the songs wend and weave and how long some of them are– five tracks are 7:53 or longer; the whole album is 76 minutes!– it defies categorization. It’s an album that really creates its own world in a way you don’t often see.

I don’t know if the Fiery Furnaces still tour or if they play it the same, but in my experience, they put on a hell of a live show– really, just a medley of their songs, usually performed in different styles and mixes than on the album.

Best Song: The one I put on the most mixtapes– and that also serves as a great representative of their sound in three and a half minutes– is “My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found.”

 

59. Belle & Sebastian
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2003

Those titans of chamber pop made a worthy followup to If You’re Feeling Sinister and The Boy with the Arab Strap here. Belle & Sebastian, still on the top of their game, do their usual thing, gorgeous melodies and harmonies in a style that could be considered twee if there weren’t so many lively and fun songs on the record. I’m not sure I have anything new to say about Belle & Sebastian, other than their name often confused me when I first discovered them, associating it with characters from two consecutive films in Disney’s late-80s / early-90s run of returning to classic form.

Best Song: “If You Find Yourself Caught in Love” is a great ballad, but I really enjoy the goofy, chipper tone of “Step Into My Office, Baby,” which I choose to think is a metaphor for sex as opposed to a tale of inappropriate workplace behavior. Shout-out, though, to “Piazza, New York Catcher,” commenting on the funniest, most inexplicable press conference in recent memory (at the time).

 

58. The Rapture
Echoes
2003

You got dance in my punk! You got punk in my dance! Echoes was a darling back in 2003 when it looked like “dance-punk” would set the hot new trend for years to come. It didn’t quite happen that way (just plain electronic dance and “freak-folk” ended up becoming two bigger trends of the 2000s), but I still listened to this album a lot at the time. Putting it on today, I find it holds up very well, because memorable hooks, catchy riffs, hip-shaking beats, and tight song structure never go out of style.

Best Song: This album stands strong with such tracks as “Heaven,” “I Need Your Love,” and “Sister Saviour,” but it’s elevated by the huge hit (well, huge among a certain set) “House of Jealous Lovers.”

 

57. Mirah
C’mon Miracle
2004

Another one of my sensitive-young-man favorites, Mirah’s third solo album after working with The Microphones hit me at an intense time in my life. Twenty-three, finding myself in a fresh new relationship with the uncertainty and intensity you might expect from someone much younger, everything made my hair stand on end. I felt like Keats or perhaps Rilke, too sensitive for the world, inflamed by an ability to feel it all to a degree that at times made operating in the world impossible. This soft album– the sort of thing that gave me goose bumps then– reminds me of those times, is a memory that will always stick with me, of being young and innocent and new and trying my best not to be overwhelmed by all the sensations and feelings I was finally opening myself up to.

Best Songs: I have a few personal favorites- the gentleness of “Nobody Has to Stay” makes me shudder; I love the liveliness of “The Dogs of B.A.”– but I think in the end it has to be “Jerusalem,” the Jewish Mirah’s protest against the state of Israel’s apartheid policies– a stance which was much more unpopular to take in 2004 than now, even as it sadly remains more relevant than ever.

 

56. Franz Ferdinand
You Could Have It So Much Better…
2005

This is not the exquisitely tight and polished work of their debut album, but a little messiness also allows a little more freedom, as the band wanders a little more out of structure and is rewarded with catchy grooves that swerve and some killer drum lines, while staying punchy and energetic.

Best Song: Very difficult to choose: “Do You Want To” was the big single, I’m a huge fan of “The Fallen” and “This Boy”, but I think “You’re The Reason I’m Leaving” gets the edge. (Oh, and the “Eleanor” in “Eleanor Put Your Boots On”? Eleanor Friedberger, one half of the brother-sister duo that comprise the Fiery Furnaces.)

 

55. Jens Lekman
Night Falls Over Kortedala
2007

This sweet, gentle album of baroque pop was a huge, huge favorite of mine when it debuted. Some of the shine has worn off since then, but it is a lovely album, lush and romantic and sentimental (and critical of sentimentality) and with plenty of personal tales from Lekman’s own life. I was starting to age out of my sensitive-young-man phase at this point, but this album still caught me by those heartstrings and wouldn’t let go.

Best Song: I’m slightly cheating here and picking two, in large part because one of the things I really love about the pair is how one segues into the other. That would be opener “And I Remember Every Kiss” and second track “Sipping on the Sweet Nectar.”

 

54. Stars
In Our Bedroom After the War
2007

Beautiful music that’s also emotionally devastating. I don’t know if that was Stars’ calling card, having not listened to much else by them, but that certainly describes In Our Bedroom After the War. It’s intimate and baroque and baleful and regretful and beautiful pop that carries a hefty emotional weight for things done and not done. An album that hit me hard, thinking about some of my regrets about what happened to me in 2005 and how I failed to make the most of the opportunities 2006 presented.

Best Song: Nothing is as quietly devastating as the missed connection of “Personal.”

 

53. Hot Chip
DJ-Kicks
2007

My favorite of the DJ-Kicks series, Hot Chip mixes together obscure electronic cuts with some classics from across genres, ranging from everyone’s favorite new wave band (“Bizarre Love Triangle”) and oddball rap (“I Got a Man”) to a classic from that wave of 70s British singer-songwriters (“Steppin’ Out”) and Ray Motherfuckin’ Charles (“Mess Around”). It’s my favorite of the DJ-Kicks albums because it’s just so damn much fun– the songs are all catchy as hell, and some of them have the cheeky sense of humor that keeps the album entertaining even when you don’t feel like dancing anymore.

Best Song: I’ll pick two from this one: Hot Chip’s original “My Piano” is one of my favorite songs of theirs, and for one of the tracks they’ve picked for the album, the opener ended up becoming my favorite track of the year at the time: “Nitemoves,” by Grovesnor.

 

52. The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
2002

This one certainly suffers a bit for me coming directly after 1999’s The Soft Bulletin, the Lips’ best album and the one that takes their psychedelic side to its maximum sheen. This is still quite a good album; even if you don’t particularly care for the goofiness of the title track, rockers like “Fight Test” and daydreams like “In the Morning of the Magicians” and “It’s Summertime” still make for an album that’s both fun and pretty.

Best Song: It’s trite by now, but I don’t care: “Do You Realize??” was a gorgeous heartbreaker in 2002, even if overuse and cynicism have blunted its effect since then.

 

51. Daft Punk
Discovery
2001

I mean, this is undeniably one of the legendary albums of the decade; it’s just not one that was that personally moving to me, much as I like all the big songs on it. There’ll be a handful of entries like this one the list; albums that aren’t as personally significant to me but are just too damn good to deny. Other people can tell you better than I how great it is; I simply couldn’t let it go without recognition.

Best Song: I’m tempted to pick “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” but my true choice is “Digital Love.”