Paste's 50 Best Albums Of The Decade
The decade recounting started with Pitchfork handing top honors to Kid A and Uncut lusting after Jack White. Now it's Paste's turn to list their favorite albums of the '00s and, as you might expect, they add some different names to the mix. For anyone keeping track, Animal Collective beats out Grizzly Bear once again. (Coldplay beats out AC as they do daily on your father's iPod.) Otherwise, there's a rap sighting (times three). And Gentleman Jesse loves Paste. The magazine said this about the owner of the album at the top spot: "[The] music pushed boundaries between pop and classical, and the emotional weight of [the] lyrics grounded [a] feather-light voice." Hey, look, the Avett Brothers.
50 Björk - Vespertine (Elektra, 2001)
49 Libertines - Up The Bracket (Rough Trade, 2002)
48 Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope, 2004)
47 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino, 2006)
46 Once - Music From The Motion Picture (Columbia, 2007)
45 Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-released, 2007)
44 The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music (Lost Highway, 2003)
43 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian, 2007)
42 Jay-Z - The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella, 2001)
41 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Capitol, 2007)
40 TV on the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope, 2006)
39 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge, 2007)
38 Gentleman Jesse - Introducing Gentleman Jesse (Douchemaster, 2008)
37 Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop, 2004)
36 Pedro The Lion - Control (Jade Tree, 2002)
35 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino, 2009)
34 Various artists - O Brother Where Art Thou? (Mercury, 2001)
33 Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Capitol, 2002)
32 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Warner Bros., 2002)
31 Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism (Barsuk, 2003)
30 Damien Rice - O (Vector, 2003)
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar, 2008)
28 Paul Westerberg - Folker (Vagrant, 2004)
27 Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day (New West, 2003)
26 Over the Rhine - Ohio (2004)
25 Sigur Rós - Med ud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL, 2008)
24 The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop, 2003)
23 Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (Bloodshot, 2000)
22 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (Capitol, 2006)
21 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL, 2008)
20 The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet, 2007)
19 Beck - Sea Change (Interscope, 2002)
18 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (Universal Republic, 2007)
17 Kanye West - The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella, 2004)
16 Rufus Wainwright - Want One (Dreamworks, 2003)
15 Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses (ATO, 2002)
14 The Strokes - Is This It (RCA, 2001)
13 Josh Ritter - The Animal Years (V2, 2006)
12 Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (Merge, 2002)
11 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant, 2006)
10 M.I.A. - Arular (Interscope, 2005)
09 The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You (Columbia/American, 2009)
08 OutKast - Stankonia (Arista/LaFace, 2000)
07 Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (Acony, 2001)
06 The White Stripes - Elephant (V2, 2003)
05 Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek, 2005)
04 Radiohead - Kid A (Capitol, 2000)
03 Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge, 2004)
02 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch, 2002)
01 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty, 2005)
You can read the blurbs and listen to the records at Paste. David Bazan weighs in on Spoon.
Posted at 1:43 PM by brandon in List
Tags: Sufjan Stevens
Please stop posting these.
Score = -4
Great list, love the inclusions of the Hold Steady, Josh RItter, Pedro the Lion, and Over the Rhine.
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Seeing Over The Rhine and Pedro the Lion on this list makes me really happy, too.
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Nice to see someone put Josh Ritter on their list.
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Completely agree. I think "The Animal Years" was one of the most unjustly overlooked albums of the decade. 3+ years later it's just as good as it was then.
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Quite a few cool picks. Original without being ridiculous.
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Looks like what I would expect it to look like. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.
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very soft core list. raises the question: was this a soft core decade we just survived?
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With Iron and Wine, Mercury Rev, Sigur Ros, indie bands like Franz Ferdinand, the Strokes,
this may look like a softcore decade, but......
What to think about: Mastodon, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, The Mars Volta, Tool, Nightwish, Textures. This decades goes in all directions; from very soft to hardcore.
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Is anyone else even a little bit perturbed at how incredibly milquetoast these lists are (not just Paste, although that magazine practically defines milquetoast, white-indie taste)? Not that any of these albums are bad or anything (um, OK, a few of these are), but does no one really have taste that steps outside of comfy, cozy indie confines? Has the indie counter-culture simply created the new era of adult contemporary? I like a nice softly sung, folk album as much as the next guy with stubble and a shirt from Urban Outfitters, but is there anyone else out there that fears that this generation has found its new rut? Granted, there are some adventurous and slightly out there albums on here, but it seems like the critical consensus is rather boring.
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I think the critically-acclaimed material of this decade is exciting in context. After bands like the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur, Jr., The Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine, it wouldn’t be exciting or risky or original to turn up the volume, distortion, or screaming. Likewise, after Pavement and Guided By Voices, the whole low-fi, DYI, slacker vibe is seen as been-there done-that. In comparison, thoughtfully crafted, hi-fi, literate, sincere folk-pop is new terrain. As Kings of Convenience put it, "quiet is the new loud." Soon the Zeitgeist will move on to something else; I'm thinking big, frantic, loud jazz-rock, sort of like the new Flaming Lips and some of the new material Sufjan has debuted. It’ll probably be something completely unexpected, though.
Score = 5
So you think this'll be the next big thing then?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUs22IcNBpw
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I agree. Wire magazine always has music content that pushes the envelope much harder, even for me, a lifelong musician w/ jaded hard-nosed bias towards anything reeking perceptibly of mainstream. What about Dub Step, Hybrid acts like Cinematic Orchestra, David Sylvian, Tony Allen, Steve Jansen, and JAZZ!?
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not bad. well done putting arctic monkeys on here, though the order is quite relative if you ask me
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Gentleman Jesse was one of the most under rated albums pretty much... ever. I'm glad somebody, somewhere, is fiinally giving them a little credit. For some reason, the blogs didn't pick up on it... so basically nobody else did either. BTW, check out their Halloween show pics from last Saturday at the Earl. RAWK!!
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It gives me joy to see Illinois at the very top of the list. :)
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didn't these people name 'she & him' as album of the year in 2008?
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she & him blows.
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avett brothers blow ass
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Milquetoast! Nicely put. This is a magazine made by and consumed by people in their mid-thirties who had college radio shows in 1992 and just discovered their favorite new band, Belle and Sebastian. Their collective most recent purchase: rectangular black plastic glasses frames.
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Carson what albums would you prefer?
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Well, listen, I don't want this to be a "my musical taste is more valid than theirs" type thing - I just find that you have tried-and-true indie rock (your Arcade Fires, your Wilcos) and everything else gets a token nod (although Pitchfork has at least moved on from tokenism in certain genres over the years, making them a little bit more relevant than the rest). Even judging by the comments on this site - there's folky, whispery indie and then there's everything else (thankfully, Brandon's love of metal keeps things pretty honest). It would seem that what was once a challenging and vibrant music scene has become the easiest kind of music to like. I love about a fifth of this list, but I feel that if you were to add on another 50 albums, you would get more of the same - alt-country based indie, singer-songwriter stuff, a couple more albums by Christian artists (Paste is a Christian magazine after all - not that there's anything wrong with that) and maybe an extra album or two from Jay-Z and Kanye.
Not that my list is that more invigorating: I have my musical biases, just like anybody. I like DC-punk, not exactly the scene de rigueur (Dismemberment Plan's Change, Fugazi's The Argument), and a top 20 of mine would probably fill out with Dungen's Ta Det Lugnt, Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun, Hot Snakes' Suicide Invoice, a couple Wu-Tang related albums and a couple metal albums. At the same time, my list would have a lot of what's on here (Shins' Chutes Too Narrow, Jay-Z's The Blueprint, Animal Collective's MPP, Spoon's Kill The Moonlight).
I just wish there were music sites and music magazines that were willing to buck the trend and be all-encompassing as opposed to semi-encompassing, allowing only the pre-approved, token "out" albums. This was the decade where the lines of musical taste were supposed to blur, but you don't really see it on a list like this.
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what if anything makes Paste a Christian magazine? I'm not understanding how that is relevant to the magazine or how it impacts the content?
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It's not a "Christian" magazine, per se, but the magazine ownership certainly stems from that world (and seriously, there's nothing wrong with that), but I think it does impact the content in some small ways (even reading the comments on the website, people were upset that the magazine ignored albums by mewithoutyou and Further Seems Forever). It's covert, but it's there - speaking into their banal tastes in subtle ways.
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Ok isn't Sufjan's album titled Illinoise? Seems like everyone has been spelling it just like the state. Don't know why it's bugging me.
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No dude, the cover say Illinoise, but Sufjan Pronounces it like the state. Honestly it doesn't mater anyway
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Whole lot of white folks
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Whole lot of rascist.
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kinda confusing....they picked she & him as the best last year and they didn't make it on the list......and they picked the national for 2007 yet somehow amy winehouse is ranked higher???? so glad to see spoon and josh ritter on there!!
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Really? another one of these list? Music is all perspective so why do these matter?
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What a horrific pile of indie crap.
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why are you on here then?
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Can we please put a stop to the whole best of list? Seriously, Paste, P4K and all you other indie-blog/mags out there...this shit is tired. Music lovers who genuinely love music are smart enough to know that ranking music is subjective. If i wanted to read derivative, unoriginal music journalism, I'd read RollingStone.
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Where oh where is Hissing Fauna are you the Destroyer??
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Yes! Hissing Fauna... is a glaring omission. It easily outshines at least half of the albums on this list. Also, Separation Sunday is far better than Boys and Girls in America. Also, lists are for assholes. They are a cheap get-rich-quick scheme devised by media magnates to con people into buying more magazines. It's the same tactic as selling a "special edition" every few months. It's always the same garbage inside, but with a shiny cover. Except Q's Bob Dylan special a few years ago. That was actually really informative.
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Good to see Bright Eyes finally making it into a Top 10
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Hey, white elephant! Let's check and see how his label spells it. That oughta clear things up for you
http://asthmatickitty.com/music.php?releaseID=16
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Very confused. Because it's always spelled/pronounced like the state, except for on the cover of the album. But whatever. I'm just gonna go with the flow. Don't know why this always catches my attention.
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you have to read the cover from top to bottom.
sufjan stevens invites you to: come on feel the illinoise!
that is obviously not the title of the album, just a clever play on words.
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I'm glad Kill The Moonlight got some love on this list. I much prefered it to Ga Ga Ga Ga. (proper amount of Ga's?)
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Not one album by Califone? Especially Quicksand and Cradlesnakes. That is just plain sad.
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There's nothing really wrong with this list, as the magazine caters to a more adult contemporary alternative-indie crowd. Obviously this isn't a list for everyone and leaves some bands and genres out in the cold altogether, but if I were someone who dug the kind of folk-indie-adult contemporary alternative stuff Paste covers, this would be a good summary of the decade.
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Keep these lists coming. I'm interested in what these various music sites put for their top 50s/100s. I don't love music enough to visit the other websites for their opinion, so I value stereogum being a hub.
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Why does PASTE have such a boner for Josh Ritter?
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Somehow...this list seems more realistic than others. IDK.
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Well sir...to a large extent I would disagree...the best Shins album remains Inverted World...I know...old sneakers...
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paste is for the old, turtleneck, do ur work at starbucks crowd....doesnt represnt the youth at al
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I'm just not sure why everyone complains about Paste and who it caters to, yet still takes stock in its lists and who it chooses to like. It makes no sense to me. It's not a magazine that covers hardcore underground grindcore hillbilly rap or some shit. It is what it is, and it covers what it covers.
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Fair enough...but what does Paste cover then? If I were reading a metal magazine, I'd expect to see a list of just metal. If I were reading Vibe or something, I'd expect a hip hop list. Paste has never really laid claim to its breadth of coverage, but judging by its list it seems to be attempting something large and all-encompassing (Kanye, Jay-Z, The Hold Steady, Animal Collective). I don't doubt that the magazine is essentially focused on traditional indie, but it looks to be attempting (and failing) to represent more than that. It's not a matter of this list sucks - I just want to know: who is Paste for? And should those who it is for be patting themselves on the back for their taste in music?
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Please ThRobert enlighten us with your taste in music.
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I see where a lot of commenters are coming from. This list is generally light and predictable. When I see a list what I'm looking for is artists or albums I've never heard of or listened to. "Really, that album is #7 of the year? I gotta check that out." If you don't like these lists, I'd suggest taking the numbers associated with placement off. Then you just see a list of albums someone or some collective liked.
I think these lists are very interesting, though. Especially since music magazines are virtually dead. This is 2000-2009 in music according to Paste, so check out what's on here, and try not to focus on what's absent from here. If nothing else, you realize something about Paste's taste.
Moreover, guys, we've only just begun with these decade lists! Come on -- I can't be the only one that's a little bit excited . . .
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I'm slightly less embarassed about loving the "Once" soundtrack so much, but why does the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah debut get zero love from these lists? I just did a quick scroll of the Pitchfork top 200 and I'm pretty sure it's not there. Correct me if I'm wrong. What is that?
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ditto about the clap your hands say yeah omissions. wtf? i still listen to their debut record all the time. the only other records I can say the same about from that era is animal collective's "sung tongs", exploding hearts and "dear catastrophe waitress". (not arcade fire, because frankly I'm sick and tired of it by now. these days you walk into urban outfitters, trader joes, fucking combination pizza hut/taco bell and it's ALWAYS playing) Returning to these albums again and again is what these lists should be about, so therefore no best of '00s list will be very good for another 5 years.
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Huge fan of the Avett Brothers but they are way out of their league, even on this list...
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It seems like if you were going to include an Avett Brothers album though, you'd go with Emotionalism. At least that's what I would have done.
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Paste is for your mom. Or your hopelessly out of touch college professor. Or anyone who still isn't sure how to download music. Obviously.
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Coincidentally my mom is for paste.
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Radiohead's Kid A should be numero 1.
...and no Grizzly Bear? ?!
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This.
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PAUL WESTERBERG IS GOD, folker was pretty uneventful though..
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this sucks. no dirty projectors or GB?
lamesauce
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list is decent for the most part. No Turn On the Bright Lights or Yeah Yeah Yeahs?
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You Forgot it in People...?
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the fact that Control is on that list = WIN
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The point of these lists is not to dictate what you should be listening to.
It is to expose you to knew music.
If you have to be told what kind of music to like, then you don't like music.
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i'm glad paste gave dcfc a nod unlike pitchfork.
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No Grizzly Bear? Wow. Oh and if you're wondering the validity of Paste, consider that their 2008 choice for album of the year was She & Him and it is not found anywhere on this list. Whoops, eh Paste?
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the single most overlooked album of the past decade: streetlight manifesto's everything goes numb. that album is truly a work of art, musically and lyrically. the fact that it does not get any recognition on these lists completely blows my mind and makes me wonder what type of credentials the people who make these list have. dont get me wrong, there's some good albums on this list, but if you are going to be so bold as to make a top 50 list of the past decade, do a little research and take a step outside of the indie box. oh and M.I.A. in the top ten? come on now.
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No David Dondero or Mountain Goats? "The Transient", "South of the South", "Tallahassee" or "All Hail West Texas" could all four easily be on this list?
The fact that Josh Ritter is 13th tells you something...
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I'm actually quite okay with this list.
But what's really annoying me, is that lack of bloc party on any of these lists.
Silent Alarm is one of the best albums of the decade for sure!
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Yes, it's milquetoast, kinda makes me glad MMJ did not make the list. A little surprising though considering Pastes 'audience. MMJ is missing from most of these list so far. Was Evil Urges really that unforgivable? Maybe they'll get a consolation prize for best live album of the decade...ahh,list...whatev...
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yay bright eyes! but yeah yeah yeah yeahs?
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god what a shite list, sufjan stevens at number one? really? what overrated tripe, as a decade closer I think Built to Spill's There Is No Enemy should be getting more accolades, one of their best albums in years
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Seriously, "Boys and Girls in America" isn't even as good as their first two albums... and I'm not even a Strokes fan, but that album has to be higher than "Illinoise". Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Kid A should be in that number 1 seat.
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I really can't stand people who complain about lists......
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Quit saying milquetoast. You sound like assholes.
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Not a bad list, but a few omissions I think...
1) Andrew Bird's Mysterious Production of Eggs
2) The Tyranny of Distance by Ted Leo
3) Give Up by The Postal Service
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decent but missing a few of the greatest songwriters of this generation... simon joyner, david dondero, john darnielle, catherine irwin of freakwater...
at least loretta lynn is on there. but #48 seems like a joke!
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I think it's nice to argue the idea that different genre's of music should be included on these lists, but it has to be considered who these blogs, magazines, etc., that are making these lists appeal to. I am not saying I disagree that they all focus on what is "white" and "indie", but this is the kind of music I find most relevant to me, and I think that's what matters. These lists are cool to look at, mostly to check out stuff you may have overlooked or just to bitch about, but the bottom line is, the albums or songs or bands or whatever that mean the most to you are probably never number 1 and maybe not even on the list. Can anyone dig what I'm saying?
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Ah, finally. Gillian Welch recognition. Can't agree with that more.
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To all list-haters:
You are completely correct... but you also suck and have no sense of humour. Of course lists don't matter! Music criticism doesn't matter.... AT ALL. But my god it's fun! It's such a cheap thrill when your favorites are vindicated, and such a travesty when they are snubbed. I particularly love the hurt comments of the heartbroken. You can taste their pain in every sacrastic put down. It makes me feel good, because it reminds me that people still love music enough to fight for it... or at the very least whine annonymously on the internet.
But really folks, no need to get pissy about the lists. You can't tell me that they're not fun. Making ( and mocking) lists is favorite pasttime of many a music nerd. We don't do these things because they matter, we do these things as leisure. This is baseball, this is footy, this is poker... or at the very least crazy eights. So lighten up.
p.s. my top fifty is infinitly better than any of yours. so there.
Score = 2
I'm surprised so many of you are surprised. I mean, this is Paste magazine, what kind of list did you expect? There's not enough variation, or everything on here sounds the same? Or is "Indie?" I mean, that's what type of magazine it is. And this is Stereogum, practically an online "indie"-magazine. That old cliche, "Everyone's a critic," rings so true these days.
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Great list and I love seeing Ritter on there. Would have liked to see a nod to Sun Kil Moon/Kozelek/Red House Painters, though.
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taylor i completely agree. i am not on here to debate lists. it's just nice when an album or plural that you feel was outstanding gets recognized as an achievement -
ps. did red house painters even release an albumin the 2000's. i would honestly say april by sun kil moon could have snuck in the late 40's
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I have agree with bill about Loretta Lynn's place on the list, she should have been much higher than 48. That was a fantastic album.
Oh, and where is "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"??????
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These lists are such crap and reading them is a complete waste of time.
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At age 30, I feel like this is a great list for people who used to like music a good bit but now buy an album or two -- and they're usually pretty good ones -- every year. The person who said this list is for college professors and people who don't know how to download music is right. In other words, the kind of people who are really into Sufjan Stevens. While I can't figure out how anyone can listen to Sufjan Stevens, I respect this list for what it is, even as I wish it had some of the more aggressive or experimental records on there.
But hey, at least it doesn't pretend that country music doesn't exist, which I can't say for Pitchfork's list.
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Where the hell is anything that doesn't have a melody, I mean I know that to some people have trouble listening to anything edgier than Coldplay but come on. Not one noise album, not one metal album, just all pop? Diversify, take a chance. Oh and could they have pick a more obvious top six, seriously sufjan, wilco, arcade fire, radiohead, bright eyes, and the white stripes. It looks like they could have taken that list of any indie kids blog from anywhere, actually, but probably not. You know what I mean though, it was predictable. They are all fairly good bands, its just, we get it you like them.
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am i the only one that finds tv on the radio, lcd sound system, arcade fire, vampire weekend and the white stripes either horrible or boring.
no interpol, pinback, mosdef, foals, these new puritans, walkmen, crystal castles or cut///copy, but i'm glad to see the national.
Score = 2
"Transatlanticism" is better than "In Rainbows"? Yeah right.
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what is wrong with being obvious or predictable? it's a "best of" list, meaning that these are albums that people have known and enjoyed throughout the decade. of course it's somewhat predictable. in my opinion, it's not worth sacrificing integrity for spontaneity.
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Im getting tired of these stupid lists with stupid bands. seems the really great bands don't get enough credit and the mediocre bands got a lot of credit on this one. lame.
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If you guys really think this list is bad check out Kerrang! magazines 50 best albums of the 21st century you'll puke. This list is far better and most of the artists sound different to me.
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I give up on trying to think these people can really make list i'll like. Just glad to see Bright Eyes so high, of course the Strokes are there, and glad the Libertines made it too.
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for u, sn i have forgotten
right now i like the fall, abe vigoda, iggy pop, autechre, and seefeel
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I think there are some really awesome comments on this thread....the truth is...these lists make music lovers discuss what is important to us in the past ten years.
To be honest, I've learned more about music from posts on these threads than I ever scouring record stores and probing friends for their latest playlist.
I love reading about everyone's favorite albums from the past ten years. Even if the opinions differ from mine, it think it's really cool to see what other people have fallen in love with. I admit I've started listening to a few bands because of some random comments from Stereogum. I've found out so much about music from this blog, and from the comments, and I think we should all consider that and welcome dialog.
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Not a horrible list at a glance...though GUH ...hate Bon Iver. N god bless you Death Cab fans...how you can get thru an entire cd w/mr boring high-voice is beyond me (shivers). Course that goes for a lot 'o singers with extremely unique/non-dynamic vocal stylings;)
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haha...i bet you anything 'Mr Milquetoast' got that word from Ted Danson's character on Bored To Death:D
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I guess you're referring to me because I was the first to use it. Haven't seen Bored To Death Yet, got it on PVR though, looking to check it out. Also, I have a standard vocabulary, enough so that "milquetoast" doesn't feel like a daunting word to use.
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Where are the New Pornographers on this list?
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haha. milquetoast does make people sound like assholes. my vote is for voice generator circa 2000...i loved that voice. gentleman jesse gets a little love. nice. hometown heros.
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Aside from the disastrously average Neon Bible appearing here, I'm quite a fan of this list. 4 of the top 5 are classics in my mind, and the other (Illinois) I appreciate the quality of, though I'll always find it over-rated.
Good to see Boxer, O and Heartbreaker getting the love they deserve.
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I enjoy lists in general, if only to research some artists I may not have encountered before. Having said that, this list is particularly drab and uninspired. I'm pretty surprised at such high rankings for The Hold Steady, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens and Josh Ritter. No Joanna Newsom, Grizzly Bear, Interpol, ...Trail of Dead, Modest Mouse, Bonnie 'Prince' Billie, The Walkmen, Battles, etc. I can't attest to being a Paste subscriber, but these glaring oversights have ensured that this will remain the case. Oh well, it shan't ruin my day.
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Very very nice to see a list that didn't seem completely saturated and controlled by blog culture/Pitchfork. Great to see picks like Transatlanticism and Our Endless Numbered Days.
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List mean nothing anymore with comment sections on blogs
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Despite my last post, this needs to be said:
This was an incredible decade for Canadian Music. The scenes in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto produced an astounding number of stellar groups, who put out some of the VERY BEST albums in the last ten years. Full Disclosure: I am a proud Canuck, and I am somewhat dismayed, although not surprised, by the general American ignorance of this greatness (all references to the Arcade Fire aside).
Where would this decade have been without, Fucked Up, The Constantines, the New Pornographers, Wolf Parade, Holy Fuck, The Arkells, Cuff the Duke, not to mention Broken Social Scene and the entire Arts and Crafts crew. It would have been something different, so give your neghbours to the north a shout-out!
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The Crane Wife? Are you serious?!?! Anyone remotely familiar with the Decemberists would tell you that every album that preceded it was much much better. Plus, the omissions of Daft Punk, Mylo, Kings of Convenience, Cut Copy, Belle and Sebastian, Phoenix, The Unicorns, Cat Power, M83, The Rapture, Modest Mouse, Caribou and the Avalanches are criminal. At least they didn't include boring-as-hell mediocre Grizzly Bear, which is surprising. Did I miss why they were completely ignoring electronic music besides LCD Soundsystem? I hate to say it, but this makes the Pitchfork list look good.
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Agree with the Canadian comment -- but add Kathleen Edwards to that list too! Her debut "Failer" is one of my faves. I would like to see a little more alt-country on this -- but happy to see Gillian Welch, the Jayhawks and a few others on the list
In addition to Kathleen, in alt-country I would add-- Kasey Chamber's debut "The Captain" -- Buddy & Julie Miller's self-titled 2001 album, and the O! Brother soundtrack.
In pop --- Johnny Marr+the Healers "Boomslang" and this year's Monsters of Folk -- last year's Oasis album "Dig Out Your Soul" is excellent too.
For neo-soul -- I would add Corrine Bailey Rae's debut (my son loves it) and Macy Gray's "The ID"
For retro rock -- I love Tom Petty's "Highway Companion"
For obscure -- Paul Westerberg's "49:00" which was only available as a one-track (43-plus minute) download for a few days, before getting yanked because of copyright issues with a few mashed up covers -- including Born to be Wild. I also the love the new album by The Twilight Hours (former Trip Shakespeare dudes) titled "Stereo Night" and this year's album "Ladyluck" by Connor Obert's ex-Maria Taylor.
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Come on, who really takes this drivel seriously? it's just some random guy who picks probably 15 of his fav cds, writes them down and spensd about the next hour trying to come up with filler names that'll A0 make him/her look hip, and once those names run out B) fills in space with the easy big obvious names.
thankfully michael jackson didn't put out any cds really this decade, cause otherwise had he JUST died you know he'd be on the list. PLus that flavor of the month... it's like some silly formula and everybody gets all worked up.... who cares.. it's just words on a page.
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I'm a huge Westerberg fan, but Folker does not deserve to be anywhere close to this list. It's not even HIS best album of the decade - in fact, it's one of his worst IMO. Stereo/Mono from 2002 and 49:00 from 2008 are his best from this era.
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it's ludicrous to put sufjan stevens ahead of wilco, radiohead, the white stripes, and outkast on any list. that album isn't even top 10 of the decade. it has maybe 3 good tracks, at best. the rest is twee community choir bullshit. but it's paste magazine, and paste is a shitty, skimpy, vanilla-ass magazine, so it's not surprising they picked sufjan.
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I hate being that guy who picks apart lists made by people more knowledgeable than me, and this is also a complaint about the top of the list (extra lame), but Arctic Monkeys above The Libertines? Fucking never ever ever.
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don't assume that the d-bags that makes these lists are more knowledgable than you. the fact that this clown put Illinois at #1 proves they don't know their ass from their elbow.
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PASTE Forgot It In People.
In all seriousness, You Forgot It in People is one of the best albums of the past century, as far as I'm concerned...looking forward to the upcoming release.
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Wait....what...no Moon & Antarctica?
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Has anyone screamed for Interpol yet?
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yes. also no walkmen, broken social scene, foals, these new puritans, daft punk, cut///copy, crystal castles or tokyo police club. the major strong point of the list is the national, but there's so much folky boring music on here.
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Good list (except I can't stand that particular White Stripes album and the Bright Eyes album should be Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, not Wide Awake...)
It's totally missing these however:
-John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt
-13 & God - (self title)
-The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving (or if 2000 is too old, definitely Reunion Tour)
And maybe even Dredg or M. Ward, etc
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Yeah, I can't see how Folker could have beat out Westerberg's far superior Stereo/Mono.
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I can think of several recent omissions that prove just how subjective and unnecessary compilations like these are to the public. Starting, not in any order, but including...
1. What Will We Be by Devendra Banhart
2. Attack and Release by The Black Keys
3. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian
4. Blood of Man by Mason Jennings
5. Monsters Of Folk by Monsters Of Folk
6. The Ecstatic by Mos Def
7. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
8. A Brief History of Love by The Big Pink
9. Gather, Form And Fly by Megafaun
Need I continue with even more you have overlooked?
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where is last year,s wonder kids FLEET FOXES? surprised its not on considering it was pretty much top2 in almost every list of 2008.
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What's with all of these premature lists...is the apocalypse tomorrow?
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Fever to Tell doesn't make the top 50? What a joke. And if they're gonna be this singer/songwriter heavy, where is "Love and Theft"? But oh yeah the Hold Steady are #11. Idiotic list.
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this list pretty much neglects the fact that hip hop, electronic, metal or anything outside of folk & indie were equally contributing to music as a whole this decade. granted i agree with several of their choices but it's all relative. There were equally as many in other genres that were as groundbreaking & innovating & shaped the decade as well
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Everyone on here is right... and wrong. Paste caters towards a specific audience, and if you're upset by that, don't read Paste. Paste is also full of themselves, and their list, while touches on many of the decades great albums, misses the mark.
I believe one reviewer said that a true retrospective list shouldn't even be attempted for 5 more years, and I completly agree.
The Avett Brothers, while good, should not be in the top ten of the DECADE. It's too new to have perspective.
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Pretty hard to agree with Med ud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust over Agaetis byrjun
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Way to Go Bright Eyes! So glad they got Once and O Brother Where Art Thou on there. ha :)
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A list is just an attempt to get your opinion out there... so here's mine:
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (remove the Hold Steady... saw them live too, don't know what the rest of you rboneheads are seeing besides sweaty piano...)
Give Up - The Postal Service (exchange it with the Death Cab For Cutie since this album is far superior to anything they've written)
A Ghost Is Born - Wilco (I don't know what you should remove, but everyone needs to get off the jock of Yankee Hotel... yeah, it's good, but far from their best)
Walking On A Dream - Empire Of The Sun (remove Bright Eyes... that guy can write some lyrics but he needs to hire a singer)
Transatlantacism - Death Cab For Cutie (okay, bring this one back and replace Bon Iver... please, someone make that guy and all of the hype go away. Seriously, who do you have to sell your soul to to get his kind of hype?)
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list is invalid due to #1 position. REALLY?
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People, I'm sorry your favorite obscure, experimental, indie-fusion band did not make the list, but their music must not have had much of an impact on Paste's demographic. And I'm sorry the list is not more racially diverse, but I doubt you'll see many white indie bands listed in the Source's top 50 albums of the decade. Please do not expect every individual year/decade-end list to encapsulate all great music from that time period. The fun is in reading several different kinds of lists and comparing and contrasting them to each other and your own. My own list is something to see, though. Sad, white 28-year-olds would love it.
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Spoon - Kill the Moonlight??? Where is Gimme Fiction? I really like this band but Gimme Fiction I believe is still their best album to date. Nice to see Jens made it in though
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I wish indie mags would just stop even trying to include hip hop in their "best of..." lists. It's absurd. They're clearly just sticking a few critically acclaimed mainstream hip hop albums on their list to make it look like they respect the genre. Obviously they don't though. Stankonia and Blueprint are good and important albums, don't get me wrong. But seriously, why even bother if you're going to ignore all the Wu-Tang side projects, the whole Minneapolis scene, El-P, cLOUDDEAD/Why?, J Dilla, Madlib, Aesop Rock, etc etc.
I get that they aren't making a best hip hop list. They're making a list of soft, polite, hi-fi indie. And that's cool. But don't pretend to have love for hip hop when you don't. That's frontin'
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Majorly missing: M83, CUT COPY, & THE KNIFE!
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"This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars should be on this list! It's a brilliant album filled with passion and emotion and was created with a beautiful message of fighting for your dreams.
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