PART 3:
These albums were really important to me, albeit not quite as much as the ones to come. I still love them and many of the tracks on here rank among my favorites of the decade.

 

50. The Notwist
Neon Golden
2002

The Notwist’s sound is rather uniquely low-key, electronic pop– there wasn’t much like this around at the time, certainly not this good. The album is dripping with melancholy but there’s something real and heartfelt about it underneath all the beeps and buzzes. Honestly, another album that works so great because once you look past all the stylistic uniqueness, all the songs are just really damn good.

Best Song: I picked “Off the Rails,” primarily because I love that chorus– “This is all I know, sitting still to watch the engines come and go.” A number of other tracks would have been great nominations, particularly “Pilot” and “Pick up the Phone.”

 

49. The Streets
Original Pirate Material
2002

All the critics of the time preferred A Grand Don’t Come For Free, but I found that one sleepy by comparison to Original Pirate Material, whose staccato beats, variety, and energy I prefer to the more languid Grand— I’m not terribly concerned about the entire album being one story. Mike Skinner’s debut is for me the freshest, most energetic, and most stylish work of his.

Best Song: It’s tough to pick with such diversity. The peppy beats of “Turn the Page” or “Has It Come to This?” The confidence-boosting-mates jam of “Don’t Mug Yourself”? The booze vs. weed argument of “The Irony of It All”? The lament of “It’s Too Late”? In the end, I went with one I thought was the best balance of all the things that make the album great: “Weak Become Heroes.”

 

48. The Decemberists
Her Majesty
2003

Colin Meloy’s Decemberists have a gift for walking the line of twee and precious without becoming unbearable, and for it all, it holds up remarkably well, if not entirely (“I Was Meant for the Stage” is a little too blunt on the look-at-me-now-dad energy). By and large, the songwriting is precise and alive enough to pull this thing off. Sure, they were way more appealing to me in my sensitive-young-man phase, but at an age where too much tweeness makes me physically nauseated, the Decemberists still hold up.

Best Song: I considered the poppier “Billy Liar” or “The Soldiering Life,” but I think that “The Gymnast, High Above the Ground” is out-and-out pretty in a way I don’t say often about rock music, and in a way I think the band was trying to achieve.

 

47. Spoon
Kill the Moonlight
2002

My favorite Spoon album, which I don’t think is a minority opinion; this is where Spoon’s songwriting is the strongest, I think, and lets their distinctive style stand out the most, from that opening beat of “Small Stakes” to the breathy beatboxing and that accelerating riff in “Stay Don’t Go” to the energy of “Jonathon Fisk” to the more laid-back style of “Don’t Let It Get You Down.” Just a great album all around, the one where everything Spoon did really worked for me.

Best Song: Fun memory: A college friend of mine used to have an “Easter beer hunt” at her parents’ house, where we all stayed over drinking the night before then woke up for the hunt and brunch. Anyhow, the year I went, the stoners among us drove around the neighborhood in my car smoking and listening to “The Way We Get By.” You bought a new bag of pot, said let’s make a new start, indeed. (Also, three, count ’em, three Iggy Pop references!)

 

46. Ghostface
The Pretty Toney Album
2004

A lot of people will say Supreme Clientele; some will say Bulletproof Wallets; a few will say Fishscale. All great albums, but The Pretty Toney Album is the one that grabbed me and got its hooks in me at the right time. Ghostface Killah (just going by “Ghostface” this record, for some reason) covers a whole range of styles here, from gangster life (“Biscuits” and “Run”) to– well, to what passes for a sensitive ballad on a rap album (“Holla”), to your typical assortment of sketches common for the time (usually better than most, at least), to dance-floor jams (see below). Sure, this might have been right place, right time for me, but it made me a lasting Ghostface fan.

Favorite anecdote: going to the Ghostface show at South by Southwest 2006, watching all the other hipsters leave after Lady Sovereign (shades of Dizzee Rascal), and being treated to a surprise show by the entire Wu-Tang Clan.

Best Song: It’s a great album the whole way through, but the big-beat, sweaty, raw, dance-floor-sex jam of “Tush,” featuring Missy Elliott, has long been my favorite.

 

45. My Morning Jacket
It Still Moves
2003

Part psych-rock, part jam band, My Morning Jacket made a big album with It Still Moves. By “big” I mean– this album creates and then fills a lot of space, those reverb-drenched guitars and the echo added to Jim James’ otherworldly voice. A masterpiece on headphones, possibly aided by a thick cloud of weed smoke.

Best Song: I picked “Run Thru” for its awesome break into a fast jam, but there are a lot of good options here, from “Mahgeetah” to “Master Plan” to “Easy Morning Rebel.”

 

44. Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
2004

This one ended up rising pretty heavily in my rankings after I threw it on some months ago and found it held up remarkably well. (If you knew “Disco Sucks” was bullshit, that’s no surprise to you.) This funky, campy, gay as hell 70s homage (about 80% disco, 20% Elton John) is full of jams that could have been lifted straight from the era, from Sir Elton-esque ballads like “Laura” and “Can’t Come Quickly Enough” to good-time partiers like “Filthy/Gorgeous” and “Music Is the Victim”– and including more mature numbers (the lament of “Return to Oz” on the infiltration of meth into the gay community– “What once was Emerald City’s now a crystal town”). In 2004, I thought this was a pretty good album; in 2019, befitting its fabulousness, it hasn’t aged a day.

Best Song: This one is full of gems, but the lead single “Take Your Mama” is probably the correct answer. Keep an eye out, if you can find it, for their cover of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out”– it’s not on this album, but it is a fascinating spin on the song, with the Sisters in full-on Elton John mode. 

 

43. Annie
Anniemal
2004

Hit the dance floor! This electronic pop album is a straight groove the whole way through, with Annie’s breathy vocals backed by funky, cool beats that snap from Richard X and Röyksopp. The album is about boys– mostly, the ones who aren’t good enough for Annie, but there’s added depth to this album that comes in songs like “Heartbeat” and “My Best Friend”: Annie started her career in 1999 after meeting producer Tore Kronkes; the two would soon begin dating, but Kronkes died of a congenital heart defect in 2001. Knowing that background adds a bit of poignancy to even the more upbeat of Annie’s dance music: The boys not being good enough for her might be an attempt to regain confidence, or it might be the real thing, sure in what she had and deserves again. In any case, this album is certainly moving at points, but what’s more important about it is that it’s fun as hell and has aged really well. (That’s dance-pop for you: People will always want to sing along and dance, right?)

Best Song: “Heartbeat” was the most critically acclaimed hit, but I’ve always thought the best song on the album was “Chewing Gum,” with that whip-crack (or perhaps more appropriately, gum-snap) beat.

 

42. Jay-Z
The Blueprint
2001

The biggest noise in New York City on September 11, 2001 was the sound of one of Jay-Z’s career-defining albums dropping. The Blueprint takes some of Reasonable Doubt’s edge and adds the polish and eye on crossover superstardom that would make it a smash hit. Eminently listenable and not a bad track on it. Bonus points for helping launch Kanye West’s career with the production work he did on this album.

Best Song: I was tempted to choose “Takeover”– don’t come at me with any “‘Ether’ was better” takes; Nas spends most of that song finding different ways to call Jay-Z gay– or even “Renegade” (Nas was right about that, at least– Eminem’s verse is better, although “not as good as peak Eminem” isn’t much of a diss), but the big smash hit was a smash for a reason: It’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”

 

41. Bill Callahan
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
2009

When Bill Callahan turned forty, he stopped using the name Smog– having released thirteen albums under that moniker– and started releasing music under his given name. Perhaps that was a sign of maturity; in any case, this second album of his really struck a chord with me, and is the latest-released album on this list. Callahan’s always been a good and a unique songwriter, of course, but something about his songwriting here particularly captured me. Perhaps it was the deeper, more ruminative and philosophical themes; perhaps it was the pace of the album; but together all of it comes across as the work of an older, wiser, more patient man, one who has accepted what he is and is not. Perhaps that struck a chord in me as I was aging into full adulthood, making decisions that would cut off other decisions, and accepting that I would have to live with this, that life is full of possibilities but at a certain point you have to choose a road, and sometimes that road contains very ordinary things. And that’s okay.

Best Song: I mean, there’s only nine songs, so you really should just listen to them all. My choice, probably standing out above the rest because of its closing movement, is “Too Many Birds.”

 

40. The Futureheads
The Futureheads
2004

The Futureheads understood “keeping it tight” better than maybe any of their pop-punk contemporaries. All the songs on this album are short: the longest checks in at 3:13, and 13 of the 15 tracks are under three minutes. It works outstandingly, because the band gets to what matters in the songs: Their distinctive, angular riffs manage to take the songs to interesting places as quickly as possible. They get in and they get out, keeping the action moving, and on top of that, they use harmonies better than perhaps any of their contemporaries. A quick, tight album that I can’t imagine would leave anyone disappointed. (Also, they kicked ass live.)

Best song: For one track, though, the Futureheads completely transcend everything else they’ve ever done. Few things sound more blasphemous when spoken out loud than suggesting someone has outdone Kate Bush on one of her own songs. But “Hounds of Love” is not only the best cover of a Kate Bush song, bar none, it’s in the running for one of the best cover versions of all time.

 

39. Kaiser Chiefs
Employment
2005

We immediately revisit the pop-punk well again, this time with another band that found its own sense of urgency and storytelling that elevate the music above any number of peers indistinguishable from one another. Remarkable how much Kaiser Chiefs run the gamut on Employment— great use of complementary vocals on “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” and “Na Na Na Na Na,” to such oddities as the mead-hall shanty of “Time Honored Tradition.” Another album just bursting with energy; if the goal of a pop-punk album is to make you feel alive when you put it on, this one surely succeeds.

Best Song: I don’t think anything tops the energy, and the way it swerves into a new section every time you expect it to slow down, of “Everyday I Love You Less and Less.”

 

38. Of Montreal
Satanic Panic in the Attic
2004

I’m pretty rare in this regard, but I miss the old Of Montreal, the one that was more a psych-pop band than a darkly funky, experimental one. This is a relatively simple pleasure of an album, but “pleasure” is the key word, with a number of great pop songs that maintain both thematic consistency and individual diversity– a bit like if Chutes Too Narrow and Electric Version took acid together. (Does that even make sense?)

Best Song: Probably “Eros’ Entropic Tundra” (aka “Sad Love”), although there are a few good contenders.

 

37. Various Artists
After Dark
2007

This compilation of artists from the Italians Do It Better label was part of the brief Italo-disco revival, but even today it remains a terrific record to throw on all the way through, with tracks rollicking and fun to dark and intense, and even some covers you’ll recognize (“Computer Love,” anyone?) Plus at least one band who’s since gone on to much bigger and better things, the Chromatics. I boogied in the car and at home to this one a lot, in 2007 and since.

Best Song: It’s tough for me, so I’ll cheat and give myself two choices, justifying it as this being two different artists since this album is a compilation. Glass Candy’s “Rolling Down the Hills (Spring Demo)” is, in my opinion, better than the version on their debut album B/E/A/T/B/O/X, at a half-step slower. It’s either this or Chromatics’ “In the City,” although Farah’s “Law of Life” and Glass Candy (again) with “Miss Broadway” also make strong contenders.

 

36. Junior Boys
Last Exit
2004

This album gripped me like few others did at the time, Junior Boys’ low-key electro-pop being another album full of sensitivity, but in a medium unlike many of the acoustic singer-songwriter albums on this list that fall into the same category. But even though it’s not a loud album, it’s still got the interesting beats and hooks you’d hope for from an electronic album, and some good songs too. It’s intimate and warm. I have to admit that I haven’t listened to it a whole lot in recent years, but at the time, Junior Boys’ debut album filled a real Depeche Mode-sized hole in my heart.

Best Song: Hard to go wrong– “Birthday” is a strong contender; I’ve always been fond of “More Than Real,” “High Come Down,” and “Teach Me How to Fight.” But I think the best example of what the Junior Boys do is “Under the Sun.”

 

 

35. The Strokes
Is This It?
2001

I mean, there’s no getting around that these were rich city kids with scenester connections. And while they couldn’t keep the quality up, that first album was a real kick-the-door-down moment, a sea change in indie rock; more than any other album, this one really presaged the movement of slick, stylish, tight rock-and-roll. (Interpol and Franz Ferdinand, among others, each owe something to this album.) A little bit on the fuzzy side, a sort of garage-rock-with-polish aesthetic, the Strokes may have been heavily overhyped, but that first album deserved it all, with tight performances and songwriting and groovy jams.

Best Song: Fuck that they cut it from the American release in the wake of the patriotic fervor the country was gripped in in late 2001. I picked “New York City Cops,” and if you don’t like it, you can kiss my ass.

 

34. Outkast
Stankonia
2000

Look, I mean, obviously this is a legendary album. It was on everywhere when I was in college, “Ms. Jackson” in particular. It kicks ass in every conceivable way, it’s loaded with jams, and it’s extra-long without being dull.

The biggest reason it’s not higher is simply the lack of personal connection. I had a ton of fun listening to this album. Beyond “Ms. Jackson,” there’s other dance classics like “So Fresh, So Clean” and “We Luv Deez Hoez”; there’s the aggressive bombast of “Gasoline Dreams” and “B.O.B.”; and just some random shit I really like, like “Humble Mumble.” Great album. You already know it’s a great album. It would be higher if I had something special to tell you about it that nobody else could.

Best Song: Which extends to this section. Pitchfork in both 2004 and 2009 picked “B.O.B.” as their #1 single of the decade, and while I don’t know if it would be my pick, I also haven’t thought about the question of what would be that deeply. Its sonic assault is like nothing else, that’s for sure. I wish we got more tracks like this.

 

33. Jay-Z
American Gangster
2007

A controversial pick, I’m sure. I can’t even claim this is any kind of return to authentic gangster roots for Hova– when was the last time he was an authentic gangster? I mean, this is based on the Frank Lucas biopic!– but the songs are just so damn good. Guest spots by Lil’ Wayne and Beanie Sigel, among others, elevate the record, and the Frank Lucas hook gives the album an arc that most of Jay-Z’s records lack. I just find this one really strong and easy to go back to. It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly it is about the record that would make me rank it this highly, but it just works for me, and I do consider it Hov’s most underrated work.

Best Song: Beanie Sigel’s return from prison on weapons charges brings “Ignorant Shit” to another level, and “Say Hello” is also a strong contender, but appropriately enough, the winner is “Roc Boys (and the Winner Is…)”, a rollicking celebration built around a killer sample from the Menahan Street Band.

 

32. Lil’ Wayne
Tha Carter III
2008

Weezy F. Baby’s magnum opus sees everything that makes him compelling rolled into one at his peak. He’s got a rare charisma and a gift for free association that reveals a singular consciousness. No wonder he so often talks about being a Martian; I would too if my thought patterns were that unique. When Wayne’s not talking about being an alien (“Phone Home”), he might be a doctor operating on struggling rappers (“Dr. Carter”) or seducing a police officer (“Mrs. Officer”). Or he might be visiting the strip club (“Got Money”), but in that peculiar, specific, uniquely observed Lil’ Wayne fashion. (“I need a Winn-Dixie grocery bag full of money right now to the VIP section!”) Or he might be saying “bitch” with as much glee and panache as Danny DeVito saying “whore” (“Let the Beat Build”).

Wayne’s got a gift for bizarre non-sequiturs, metaphors, and connections no one else would have made, probably not a surprise to hear given that this is the guy who gave us “real Gs move in silence like lasagna.” Just one example: During sex, “When I’m at the bottom, she Hillary Rodham”– playing on both Hillary Clinton’s image as a take-charge woman and the parallel in that to the woman being on top, and the pun “Rodham” / “ride him.” Apparently he’s also quite familiar with the Wayans Brothers filmography: “Go ‘head, n****, say another name / Take this family for a joke, play them Wayan brother games / And I’ma Git You Sucka, I be schemin’ with this Keenan / Aimin with this Damon, I’m putting that Major Payne in / My Little Man is on ya, Marlon and Shawn ya / Lay the beef on his noodle, make some Luger lasagna.” (Hey, maybe he just really likes lasagna, he’s Garfield, no Guiteau.)

And, like any New Orleanian of the time, Wayne and this album were deeply impacted by Hurricane Katrina– there isn’t the righteous fury of “Georgia… Bush” anywhere on here, but “Tie My Hands” touches on the situation and what’s happened to the community as a result. Then there’s the closing “Dontgetit,” largely given over to a spoken-word stoned monologue by Wayne, one where he touches on, among other things, drug sentencing disparity and Al Sharpton’s time as an FBI informant.

The beats are great too; I can’t do this album much justice in such a short space. This has already run long; you may be gathering why I once chose this album for a Year of the Month column that I never ended up writing.

Lil’ Wayne is such a unique and shining talent, and never more so than on this album. Shit, he was so on top of his game here he made a massive club hit (“Lollipop”) just to show that he could.

Best Song: My fondness for earth-rattling bass comes through here; few tracks of the decade brought the thunder like “A Milli.”

 

31. The New Pornographers
Electric Version
2003

Easily one of my favorite bands of the period, the New Pornographers did more than anyone in the early 2000s to keep the flame of power pop alive. This isn’t my favorite record of theirs, but it contains a whole lot of everything I love about the band– harmonies, big hooks, singalong choruses, and the intriguing lyrics that speak to my sixth sense.

Best Song: Hard to choose as I don’t really have one I love above all the rest, but if pressed, I think my answer is “The New Face of Zero and One.”