The Best Albums Of The Decade: #1 - Saturday Night

MP3: The Bear Quartet - Birds Are Singing Deep Within the Greenery

#1 - The Bear Quartet - Saturday Night
A West Side Fabrication 2005

Matt On Saturday Night:

The middle of the decade, saw, unbeknownst to itself, it's musically defining moment. Largely neglected by most of the world, The Bear Quartet had constantly been getting better in their previous 15 years as a band, and when Saturday Night appeared, it signaled a change. Elements that would not work on their own do as a whole. Where music dared to tread in the early part of the decade it went, and whereas music in the latter half attempted to poorly imitate this masterpiece.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #2 - Alice

MP3: Tom Waits - Fish and Bird

#2 - Tom Waits - Alice
Anti Records 2002

Matt On Alice:

Released over a decade after its inception (due to the masters being stolen) perhaps might have made Alice even better. Originally a score, it's contextual separation from that event allowed the album to form its own visuals for the listener, and such a world that only Tom Waits can create. Our imaginations were always where a record such as this is meant to live.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #3 - Let It Come Down

MP3: Spiritualized - Don't Just Do Something

#3 - Spiritualized - Let It Come Down
Arista Records 2001

Matt On Let It Come Down:

Grandiose opulence is what Jason Pierce aimed for, and such is what he got. On what is his most hopeful album, and most beautiful. The songs within contain so much depth, it takes tens—maybe hundreds—of listens to begin unravelling the web of beauty.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #4 - My Gods

MP3: Laakso - True Love

#4 Laakso - My Gods
V2 Records 2005

Matt On Mclusky Do Dallas:

On their second album, the Laakso finally came into their own. Mixing their pop sensibilities with noisy, angular indie rock complimented Markus Krunegård's self-depricating lyrics better than before. The music is tense and dark, making that step from autumn into the cold Swedish winter.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #5 - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - O Children

#22 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
Mute Records 2004

Matt On Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus:

After the uneven (in Cave/Seeds standards) Nocturama, the Bad Seeds reconvened and this was the result. A refocusing found them reaching highs (and loudness) that they had not done prior.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #6 - Let's Get Free

MP3: Dead Prez - I'm A African

#6 - Dead Prez - Let's Get Free
Loud Records 2000

Matt On Let's Get Free:

Nary two months into the decade, this debut was a statement to the world. Mixing leftist politics with amazing beats and flows, Dead Prez released what has since become one of the best hip-hop albums of all-time.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #7 - Spirit Stereo Frequency

MP3: All Night Radio - Oh, When

#7 - All Night Radio - Spirit Stereo Frequency
Sub Pop Records 2004

Matt On Spirit Stereo Frequency:

Coming out of the ashes of Beachwood Sparks, Farmer Dave Scher and Jimi Hey collaborated on what was one of the best psychedelic pop albums in years. Ebbing and flowing every instrument used, as well as the samples, they have created mind-bending subdued music seldom seen this side of Spacemen 3.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #8 - Supreme Clientele

MP3: Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids

#8 - Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
Sony 2000

Matt On Supreme Clientele:

The sophomore slump was thrown off Mount Everest on this one. Tony Starks delievered an epic 21 Burroughsesque view of the world barely two months into the decade, and, almost ten years later, the world is still trying to decipher it.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #9 - At Dawn

MP3: My Morning Jacket - Phone Went West

#9 - My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
Darla Records 2001

Matt On At Dawn:

One would think that the connector album between The Tennessee Fire and It Still moves would be awkward, but in true My Morning Jacket fashion it's an ethereal twilight trip through an Ozark-like countryside—and the one that put them on the map.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #10 - Penance Soirée

MP3: The Icarus Line - On the Lash

#10 - The Icarus Line - Penance Soirée
V2 Records 2004

Matt On Penance Soirée:

On Penance Soirée, The Icarus Line, thirty years after the release of Raw Power, picked up where The Stooges left off. Thirteen noisy, brutally loud rock and roll songs, oozing sex and violence in every note. Yet, in our times, an album like this is unfortunately an anomaly instead of the norm.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #11 - A New Chance

MP3: The Tough Alliance - Something Special

#11 - The Tough Alliance - A New Chance
Sincerely Yours 2007

Matt On A New Chance:

Cementing 21st Century pop music, TTA mixes the gorgeous Islamic prayer songs with pitch-shifted samples over the course of the this record. Combine those elements with their own musical prowess and the knack for a damn fine melody, and you assume that in Göteborg it's always summer.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #12 - Wonderful Rainbow

MP3: Lightning Bolt - 2 Towers

#12 - Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow
Load Records 2004

Matt On Wonderful Rainbow:

Pummeling and brutal, the second proper Lightning Bolt record finally captured the intensity of their live sets in a take home package, complete with the ever so grand art of Brian Chippendale. However, we are also still waiting for a Barkley's Barnyard Critters hologram to accompany one of their records.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #13 - Shivering King and Others

MP3: Dead Meadow - Everything's Going On

#13 - Dead Meadow - Shivering King and Others
Matador Records 2003

Matt On Shivering King and Others:

Three records in, and Dead Meadow drops a fucking bomb. In addition to superior production when compared to their previous albums, Shivering King takes the sludge, drone and shoegaze up into a shroomed-out bliss.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #14 - Superwolf

MP3: Matt Sweeny & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Blood Embrace

#14 - Matt Sweeny & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolf
Drag City Records 2005

Matt On Superwolf:

Who knew of the most quiet and tense albums of the decade could be also be one of the most cathartic? Slowing plodding through a midwinter's field, our heros take a jackhammer to the permafrost to hibernate in.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #15 - Reconstruction Site

MP3: The Weakerthans - One Great City!

#15 - The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site
Epitaph Records 2003

Matt On Reconstruction Site:

Personally, I find this record to be criminally underrated in large circles. The Weakerthans finally found their home in slightly slicker production values to finally put the focus on John K. Samson's lyrics and give the music the light it had always deserved.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #16 - I Get Wet

MP3: Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet

#16 - Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet
Island Records 2001

Matt On I Get Wet:

The party album of the decade. AWK takes the gash slaying so far up the totem pole on his debut that he's in hedonist utopia. A must for everyone; hit play and everyone gets wet the old fashioned way.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #17 - Get Shot

MP3: Fireside - Backwards Over Germany

#17 - Fireside - Get Shot
Startracks 2003

Matt On Get Shot:

On what is presumed their final album, the legendary Fireside mix their classic chugging indie rock with feedback-covered drums and noisy swathes. A great swansong that, while looking back over their career, also hinted that their next record could, if it existed, be even better.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #18 - Leviathan

MP3: Mastodon - Megalodon

#18 - Mastodon - Leviathan
Relapse Records 2004

Matt On Leviathan:

Who knew that after releasing this in 2004 that Mastodon would become one of the premier bands in modern metal? One part metal, one part prog and all parts awesome, Mastodon took Moby Dick and made it even more badass (as if it needed any help at that part).

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #19 - It's Never Been Like That

MP3: Phoenix - Sometimes In The Fall

#19 - Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
Astralwerks - 2006

Like the Andrew W.K. for the French, Phoenix gets people wet with suaveness and charm rather than sheer intensity. A party album for the modern sophisticate.

The Best Albums Of The Decade: #20 - Pink

MP3: Boris - Farewell

#2o - Boris - Pink
Southern Lord (US) 2005

Matt On Pink:

This is Boris's album. Largely unknown to a majority of the world, Pink is what finally got everyone into the sludgy metal that the Japanese had long since known. Brutal and loud, tidal wave of noise.