Because no one demanded it, here is a list of my favorite albums of the last decade. It's extremely hard for me to rank anything, and at this point the honorable mentions are just ridiculous, but anyway, we move on. It's highly likely I've forgotten something. For artists whose work in the decade merits numerous mentions (Destroyer, Spoon, White Stripes, etc.) I've decided to just mention my favorite. The ranking from #10 on down becomes increasingly subjective.
1. Elliott Smith - Figure 8
2. Destroyer - Your Blues
3. Neko Case - Blacklisted
4. Joanna Newsom - Ys
5. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back
6. Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog
7. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories From the Sea
8. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
9. Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt
10. Cat Power - You Are Free
11. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
12. Radar Bros. - And the Surrounding Mountains
13. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
14. Björk - Vespertine
15. Radiohead - Kid A
16. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
17. Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
18. The Movies - In One Era Out the Other
19. Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
20. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
21. Air - 10,000 Hz Legend
22. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
23. Low - The Great Destroyer
24. The White Stripes - Elephant
25. Beck - Sea Change
Honorable Mentions (because ranking anything after 25 seems totally ridiculous) in alphabetical order:
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness
The Black Heart Procession - Three
Black Mountain - In the Future
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - BMRC
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
Richard Buckner - The Hill
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Comets on Fire - Blue Cathedral
Crooked Fingers - Crooked Fingers
Doves - Kingdom of Rust
Earth - Hibernaculum
Feist - Let It Die
Field Music - Field Music
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Jose Gonzalez - Veneer
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Guided By Voices - Isolation Drills
Justice - †
Lambchop - Aw Cmon/No You Cmon
Madvillain - Madvillainy
MF Doom - MM Food
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
AC Newman - The Slow Wonder
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Portishead - Third
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Sigur Rós - ( )
Slumber Party - Psychedelicate
Swearing At Motorists - More Songs from the Mellow Struggle
Richard Swift - The Atlantic Ocean
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Brian Wilson - SMiLE
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Yo La Tengo - And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/phot
1. Elliott Smith - Figure 8
2. Destroyer - Your Blues
3. Neko Case - Blacklisted
4. Joanna Newsom - Ys
5. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back
6. Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog
7. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories From the Sea
8. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
9. Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt
10. Cat Power - You Are Free
11. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
12. Radar Bros. - And the Surrounding Mountains
13. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
14. Björk - Vespertine
15. Radiohead - Kid A
16. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
17. Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
18. The Movies - In One Era Out the Other
19. Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
20. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
21. Air - 10,000 Hz Legend
22. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
23. Low - The Great Destroyer
24. The White Stripes - Elephant
25. Beck - Sea Change
Honorable Mentions (because ranking anything after 25 seems totally ridiculous) in alphabetical order:
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness
The Black Heart Procession - Three
Black Mountain - In the Future
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - BMRC
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
Richard Buckner - The Hill
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Comets on Fire - Blue Cathedral
Crooked Fingers - Crooked Fingers
Doves - Kingdom of Rust
Earth - Hibernaculum
Feist - Let It Die
Field Music - Field Music
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Jose Gonzalez - Veneer
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Guided By Voices - Isolation Drills
Justice - †
Lambchop - Aw Cmon/No You Cmon
Madvillain - Madvillainy
MF Doom - MM Food
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
AC Newman - The Slow Wonder
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Portishead - Third
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Sigur Rós - ( )
Slumber Party - Psychedelicate
Swearing At Motorists - More Songs from the Mellow Struggle
Richard Swift - The Atlantic Ocean
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Brian Wilson - SMiLE
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Yo La Tengo - And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/phot
