This is the fourth stop (out of ten) on the Albums Of The Decade Blog Tour that features a ton of great music bloggers listing their favorites from the years 2000-2009. Yesterday’s list featured ten albums from Built On A Weak Spot and tomorrow’s will be provided by Clicky Clicky Music. For the complete schedule or any of the other lists, go check out Albums Of The Decade Blog Tour.
I’m not sure how anyone is realistically supposed to accurately and/or adequately represent their favorite albums of a decade in any sort of manageable list. I mean, this decade spans about a third of my life and basically my complete adult life. This decade saw me quit my band, get married, finish college, and become a father to two awesome little girls, one of whom turns four years old today. It’s impossible but here’s at least a half-assed attempt. Oh, Happy Birthday Hailey!
10. Cursive – Domestica (Saddle Creek, 2000)
This is the sound of catharsis recorded to tape. You want emotional, just have a listen.
09. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free (Vice, 2004)
I don’t listen to a lot of hip-hop or rap music, and (to me) this isn’t so much a hip-hop album as it is a brilliant narrative.
08. The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour (Epitaph, 2007)
The first “rock” song that my first daughter sang along to is from this album. This album reminds me of the cat we just had to put down. John K Samson is a genius. Nuff said.
07. At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command (Grand Royal, 2000)
These guys slept on the floor of our one-bedroom apartment in 1998 after blowing us away with their live show earlier in the evening. This record is truly important.
06. Minus The Bear – Menos El Oso (Suicide Squeeze, 2005)
I never really thought I liked Minus The Bear that much until I realized that we listen to this album all the time and that whenever the wife and I can’t agree on what to listen to we turn to Menos El Oso.
05. The Weight – Ten Mile Grace (Sabot, 2004)
So few people are familiar with Joseph Plunkett and The Weight (especially this album) and it’s downright criminal.
04. The Dismemberment Plan – Change (DeSoto, 2001)
When the Dismemberment Plan broke up in 2003, I stopped dancing at shows. This isn’t even their best album and it’s still better than almost everything else.
03. Lucero – That Much Further West (Tiger Style, 2003)
This was the first Lucero record I heard and I fell head over heels for ‘em. They are now my favorite (active) band.
02. The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant, 2006)
“Hey citrus, hey liquor, I love it when you touch each other.”
01. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch, 2002)
Put Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting genius up against Jay Bennet’s knob-twiddling and what you get is this landmark album. When it’s all said and done, this will be Wilco’s defining album. Heck, it already is.
Other great albums from the 2000’s: Gratitude – Gratitude, The Blood Brothers – Burn Piano Island, Burn, Bloc Party – Silent Alarm, The Postal Service – Give Up, Mates Of State – Re-Arrange Us, and many more…
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Nice list! I listened to the whole thing and I rarely do that. It also made me hugely sentimental for That Much Further West era Lucero… I like the new record and all, but this was about as good as it was ever going to get for me.
So yeah, in closing. Good job.
awesome list! totally forgot about minus the bear & surprised about The Weight–haven’t checked that one out. And that gratitude album is pretty good.
Good call, I’ve been following the blog tour and I think most of the highlights so far are here.
Although personally I’d have gone for “Left & Leaving” over “Reunion Tour”, one of the most beautiful albums ever recorded.
So few people are familiar with Joseph Plunkett and The Weight (especially this album) and it’s downright criminal.
Eric — i got this record in the 1.99 bin about 3 years ago, just b/c I’d heard of them (being on the local label Sabot).
Wow. What a fantastic record and you’re so right that this record is so under-heralded is criminal.
you still coming to Fest? If so i’ll grab you a drink!
Solid list. YHF and Boys and Girls are certainly 1 and 2. I like Reconstruction Site over Reunion Tour and Nobody’s Darlings over Further West but that’s just details. Stay awesome.
JP and the Weight are amazing and yes, sadly/criminally unheralded . I guess Joe (!) is bartending in Williamsburg and occasionally hanging out with a bunch of guys who call themselves The Weight but it’s not the 10MG group. Check out ‘Highways’ from their debut album if you can find it. Great list!
Amazing list. I’ll have to check out Joseph Plunkett and The Weight. Especially like The Weakerthan’s and Minus The bear picks.
SOLID list. Love these albums. Especially Yankee Foxtrot.
If you’re looking for some new music… perhaps for 2010-2020…
Brite Revolution has got some cool new indie artists. http://www.briterevolution.com. Griffin House, Joy Williams, Katie Herzig. More. Enjoy!
I concur on the Lucero album, I completely forgot how great that album is. And definitely on the Cursive – my all time break up album, hehe.
woah, about 8 of the 10 albums are some of my favorites of the decade. i love the “domestica” call. that’s cursive’s “Abbey Road.”
is there a problem with streaming mp3s ?
Nope. They just aren’t left up indefinitely… generally 2-3 weeks. Thanks.