What's YOUR top 20 albums (or songs) of 2000's?

[ska invita]

Guardian have finished their top 10 albums of the decade. I think each entry was picked by a different muso:

Albums of the decade
No 1: The Streets - Original Pirate Material
29 Nov 2009: Ben Thompson:Original Pirate Material gave British rap an authentic new voice and provided the missing link between the Kinks and Dizzee Rascal. It also proved that nothing lasts better than music which is truly of its time

Albums of the decade No 2: Radiohead - Kid A
28 Nov 2009: Graeme Thomson: Wrestling with post-millennial tension, Kid A was a musical meditation on paranoia, premonitions and profound beauty

Albums of the decade No 3: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
27 Nov 2009: Inspired by kitchen-sink realism, the Sheffield band reimagined time-honoured tales of lairy lads for a new generation

Albums of the decade No 4: The Strokes – Is This It
26 Nov 2009: Garry Mulholland: At a time when nu-metal and dad-rock ruled the airwaves, the Strokes rewired rock'n'roll with irresistible songs, inventive guitars and arty arrogance

Albums of the decade No 5: Arcade Fire – Funeral
25 Nov 2009: Paul Mardles: Although death overshadowed the Montreal band's debut album, it was still one of the most life-affirming records of the decade

Albums of the decade No 6: Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
25 Nov 2009: Tim Jonze: If this was the decade in which celebrities bared all, then Winehouse managed to save her dark side for the music, combining misdemeanour with melody, scandal with soul

Albums of the decade No 7: The White Stripes – Elephant
24 Nov 2009: Sarah Boden: The stripped-back approach to rock'n'roll inspired many bands during the noughties, but none were a match for Jack and Meg

Albums of the decade No 8: Jay-Z - The Black Album
24 Nov 2009: Luke Bainbridge: Few would disagree with Jay-Z's boast about being the 'best rapper alive' after hearing this gloriously epic album

Albums of the decade No 9: Salif Keita – Moffou
23 Nov 2009: Charlie Gillett: West Africa produced many outstanding releases during the noughties, but the Malian singer's stark and haunting album was the most remarkable

Albums of the decade No 10: Burial – Untrue
23 Nov 2009: Observer Music Monthly starts the countdown to the 10 best albums of the decade with this melancholic masterclass from dubstep's dark knight

Full write ups can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/series/albums-of-the-decade

 

[ska invita]

Observer Music Mag have published 50-11 of this list:
50 DANGER MOUSE The Grey Album

deleted, 2004

The idea of mashing up Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' White Album was irresistible; those surprised by the brilliant results included the former's lawyers.


49 DESTINY'S CHILD Survivor

Columbia, 2001

Destiny's Child's multi-platinum bootylicious third album spawned four huge singles and sent the trio into the stratosphere, making Beyoncé a superstar.


48 RACHEL UNTHANK AND THE WINTERSET The Bairns

EMI, 2007

In keeping with folk tradition, the Tyneside sisters' narratives were bleakly candid. But sparse arrangements lent this set a rare elegance.


47 THE WHITE STRIPES White Blood Cells

Sympathy For the Record Industry, 2001

The Detroit odd couple's third album stuck to a blues-rock formula but extra pop clout, in the form of Hotel Yorba et al, made them household names.


46 THE LIBERTINES Up the Bracket

Rough Trade, 2002

Who'd want to do anything as tedious as fulfil one's promise? There were enough ramshackle thrills here to ensare a generation. Not to mention Kate Moss...


45 OUTKAST Stankonia

LaFace, 2000

A masterclass in psychedelic strangeness with knockout singles – including Ms Jackson – that took them from the underground to stardom.


44 ANDY PALACIO & THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE Wátina

Cumbancha, 2007

Conceived as a tribute to the threatened culture of the Garifuna people of the Caribbean, the late Palacio's masterpiece beguiled everyone who came across it.


43 THE STREETS A Grand Don't Come for Free

679, 2004

Embedded him in the public consciousness. Plus its best single not only reached No 1 it also yielded a catchphrase – dry your eyes, mate.


42 BADLY DRAWN BOY The Hour of Bewilderbeast

Twisted Nerve, 2000

Damon Gough's Mercury-winning debut deftly married his lo-fi sensibilities with undeniably catchy hooks and melodies. He was followed by a raft of beardy imitators.


41 SIGUR ROS ( )

Fat Cat, 2002

Known as "Brackets" to fans, with lyrics sung in the meaningless "language" of "Hopelandic", this was always bound to soundtrack Skins; gorgeous nonetheless.


40 PJ HARVEY

Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea Island, 2000

Polly Jean's six-month fling with New York saw her briefly "dabble in the positive" to make the most uplifting LP of her career. She got the Mercury prize for her troubles.


39 AMADOU AND MARIAM

Dimanche à Bamako Because, 2005

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia's fifth album was the one that catapulted them to fame – and introduced a new set of fans to the joys of Afro-pop.


38 KONONO NO 1

Congotronics Crammed, 2004

One of the most pleasing aspects of the Noughties? That such a strange record of traditional Congolese music should be so embraced by the hipster likes of Björk.


37 BON IVER For Emma, Forever Ago

4AD, 2008

Justin Vernon's recorded-this-in-a-log cabin backstory seemed too perfect but it was hard to argue with the result even in a world overrun by beardy folk singers.


36 JAY-Z The Blueprint

Def Jam, 2001

Rugged but accessible, this was his first step on the road to becoming an international ambassador for hip-hop. On soulful production duties: Kanye West.


35 ELBOW The Seldom Seen Kid

Fiction, 2008

Eighteen years into their career, the all-conquering, multi-award-winning The Seldom Seen Kid finally secured Elbow the wider acclaim they deserved.


34 SYSTEM OF A DOWN Toxicity

American, 2001

The Armenian-American quartet's lurid blend of folk-metal was an extraordinary and colossal two-fingered salute to American imperialism.


33 FRANZ FERDINAND Franz Ferdinand

Domino, 2004

Stylish, clever and boldly idiosyncratic, the adopted Glaswegians revived a moribund genre with pop-savvy art rock that got girls dancing.


32 EST Seven Days of Falling

RCA, 2003

Pianist Esbjörn Svensson was in the vanguard of those jazz acts who showed the Americans how it should be done; his death was a shock that still reverberates.


31 MIA Kala

XL, 2007

Paper Planes broke her in the US, and this collision of street-level sounds from around the planet made her the poster girl for a world shrunk by globalisation.


30 THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad & the Queen

Parlophone, 2007

Damon Albarn's "supergroup" captured the melancholy mood of post-Iraq London, with what OMM called its "Waterloo Sunset-in-dub sound".


29 EMINEM The Marshall Mathers LP

Interscope, 2000

His peak, selling more than 1.7m albums in one week in America alone, with Stan absolute proof that he was more than a foul-mouthed Bart Simpson.


28 SUFJAN STEVENS Come on Feel the Illinoise

Rough Trade, 005

The folkie pin-up pulled a baroque masterpiece out of the bag with his conceptual offering, heavy on melodrama, history and haunting melodies.


27 GOTAN PROJECTLa Revancha del Tango

XL, 2001

The Paris-based pair's delicious debut combined tango with laid-back post-acid house beats, evoking a more widely travelled Massive Attack.


26 ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS I Am a Bird Now

Secretly Canadian, 2005

If anything can be said of Antony Hegarty it's that he sounds like no one else (no, not like Tiny Tim, thank you); and here he announced himself in devastating style.


25 TOM WAITS Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

Anti-, 2006

A 56-song set of new songs, discards and the odd cover showed that while Waits can vary styles widely and weirdly, the quality remains unwaveringly high.


24 TV ON THE RADIO Dear Science

4AD, 2008

Angry, melancholic and fun, the Brooklyn crew have never been short of ideas. On their fourth album, however, they were stapled to whistle-friendly tunes.


23 BOB DYLAN Love and Theft

Columbia, 2001 Dylan shook off his melancholy for an album that revisited his core influences: most emphatically, the rural and urban blues traditions. Standout track is Mississippi, on which he sings, "Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there". On Love and Theft, he was right there, and still moving faster than most.


22 RADIOHEAD In Rainbows

XL, 2007

It didn't need to cost you a penny; but once the hype over this album subsided, the record that stood revealed was the band's most human. What price that?


21 KINGS OF LEON Aha Shake Heartbreak

HandMeDown, 2004

"Everyone's gathered to idolise me," sang the "balding" Caleb Followill disgustedly; less comfy in their rock skins back then, the quartet were better for it.


20 LILY ALLEN Alright, Still

Regal, 2006

For a record that tasted of fags, spilt drinks and smudged lipstick, this was a breath of fresh air; unashamedly pop, it introduced quite the star, too.


19 KANYE WEST Late Registration

Def Jam, 2005

Inspired by Portishead, with production assistance from composer Jon Brion, West's ambition was clear: he was bigger than hip-hop. He was right, too.


18 ALI FARKA TOURE Savane

World Circuit, 2006

Recorded in a temporary studio in Bamako when the great Malian bluesman knew he was dying, this posthumously released set is probably his masterpiece.


17 PRIMAL SCREAM Xtrmntr

Creation, 2000

Kill All Hippies was the opening exhortation while Swastika Eyes took no prisoners either; forget Screamadelica, this was the band at their baddest best.


16 QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Songs for the Deaf

Interscope, 2002

A shot in the arm for heavy rock, Josh Homme's best record quaked with attitude, tunes and locomotive piston drumming, courtesy of Dave Grohl.


15 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound of Silver

DFA, 2007

The second album from James Murphy's outfit distilled 30 years of dance music – from disco to post-punk to acid house – into dancefloor hits like All My Friends.


14 DIZZEE RASCAL Boy in Da Corner

XL, 2003

A product of the grime scene, the then 17-year-old was the first rapper to win the Mercury prize. His debut was much darker than his recent crossover hits.


13 JAMIE T Panic Prevention

Virgin, 2007

It started with the exclamation "fucking croissant!", sampled Betjeman and ended up as the most vivid portrait of London this decade, thanks to Wimbledon's finest.


12 JOHNNY CASH American III: Solitary Man

American, 2000

American IV included Hurt, but this was the peak of Cash's recording sessions with producer Rick Rubin, the go-to guy for legends wishing to age with grace.


11 GORILLAZ Demon Days

Parlophone, 2005

Damon Albarn played pop visionary as his magpie approach to music bore fruit, with assistance from a stellar cast, including Dennis Hopper.

 

[matt m]

They published a top 10 too. It had the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes in it, and The Streets "Original Pirate Material" was no. 1.

Part of the trouble with these lists is they’re immediately skewed by a need to be all varied and everything. Chances are, a really interesting and innovative band will have made more than one fantastic album in a decade, but those lists aren’t going to reflect that. I mean my top 20 would have two Dizzee Rascal albums in it, two MIA albums in it, two Goslings albums in it etc

 

[g force]

At least it has taken less of a "white people with guitars" slant than many others. However the inclusion of Jamie T renders its lolsome

 

[ska invita]

They published a top 10 too. It had the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes in it, and The Streets "Original Pirate Material" was no. 1.

post 61

incidentally the top ten is a single choice by a different muso, but then someone put them into some kind of order...

I guess the streets was a bit like blurs park life in that it captures a time and space, and thats partly what a decade review is about

 

[twistedAM]

Been listening to Supreme Clientele this week which actually rolled high in the Pitchfork list. It came out in the first week of the decade; was supposed to come out in 99 but was put back cos of promotional considerations (Ghostface was in jail)

 

[Balbi]

or

Tough to choose between the two.

For starters.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I have decided that the album of the decade is:

 

[Reno]

The albums I've listened to most this decade:

Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight
Feist - The Reminder
Burial - Untrue
Joan as Police Woman - Real Life
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Palaxy Tracks - Cedarland
Dominique A - Tout sera comme avant
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Yo La Tengo - I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Johann Johansson - Englaborn
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Quasi - The Sword of God
The Books - The Lemon of Pink
Francoiz Breut - Une saison volee
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
M83 - Saturday = Youth
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Justice - Cross
Stereolab - Sound Dust