MALLINation

100. Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope

Regina Spektor continues to stride the fine line of what radio programmers call AAA (alternative for old folks) and quirky indie – ans she never did it finer than on this record which coupled poppy keyboard driven tunes with weird New York boho lifestyle observations.

99. Deerhunter – Microcastle

Deerhunter’s second album found them filling out their sound – lo-fi punk edging into jammier territory without ever losing a sense of melody.

98. Primal Scream – Xtrmntr

Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie is aided here by My Bloody Valentine mastermind Kevin Shields among others, but the results are very different from MBV’s wall of guitar sound. Gillespie is as interested in beats as always and mashes a lot of electronic sounds in with dub style bass and kraut-y guitars. An early example of the musical eclecticism that would define the decade.

97. Portishead – Third

Portishead came back after nearly 11 years, and Geoff Barrow and company weren’t content to revisit the trip-hop sounds they had pioneered. Instead the experimental impulses that peppered the bands second album in 1997 were given full range here to stunning effect.

96. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime

One of the most interesting trends in the 00s was a revisiting of the art of sampling but on a whole new level thanks to sophisticated computer software. The Field created involving fascinating hypnotic reveries out of mere seconds of other pieces of music – often unrecognizable until a few bars more are allowed to resolve and you realize that the haunting minimalist motif you were fascinated with was a section of Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

95. Quasi – The Sword of God

Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss moonlit in this band with her soon to be ex-husband and to my taste this was the better project. Wonderfully sardonic songs with killer guitar parts and Weiss incredible drumming – what’s not to like?

94. Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation

The album cover and some of the band’s moves sparked Pavement comparisons and the resemblance is there, make no mistake. Yet Blitzen Trapper had some moves of their own on this debut, going way more rustic than Pavement ever did and putting their own skewed worldview on musical display.

93. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary

Wolf bands were big in the 00s – Wolfmother, Guitar Wolf etc., but Wolf Parade was the best of the bunch. The varied debut introduced Spencer Krug and co. to the world and if the vocal timbre of the band is reminiscent of  other blog world favorites the high quality of the songs and varied approach are all their own.

92. Jason Forrest – Shamelessly Exciting

Another great example of the propensity of music to get sliced, diced, chopped and channeled in the 00s. Forrest made amazing soundscapes out of old songs but while the approach of The Field was to go minimalist and someone like Girl Talk was to cram as many referents as possible into each track, Forrest constructed new pop beasts out of the parts of old stuff by the likes of Blood Sweat and Tears, ELO, The Sex Pistols, and Television.

91. Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump

Yes, the concept album was back – often in modest form as in here by Jason Lytle’s now defunct band Grandaddy. Sounding like Neil Young circa Reactor with extra bloops and bleeps they tell the story of a sad robot named Jed. It sounds awful but the band pulls it off with tunefulness and a disdain for plot.

90. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow

Damn you Garden State. The Shins unassuming nearly-twee pop was barely able to handle the lofty expectations thrust on it by Princess Amidala in Zach Braff’s Graduate wannabe film. Still this follow up to their debut was nearly perfect: short sharp and sweet.

89. My Morning Jacket – Z

My Morning Jacket shrugged off the onerous jam band tag and started to stretch out with Z, leading some overzealous types to call them the American Radiohead. Not quite, as MMJ don’t really dabble in electronica at all and prefer to ground even their most experimental stuff in sturdy grooves and earthtoned sounds.

88. Strokes – Room on Fire

Ah the much maligned second album syndrome. Roundly shat upon for not being the earth-shattering debut, in retrospect the spare follow-up to the Strokes’ first album is a capable and engaging record in it’s own right. At times sounding practically dubbed-out, it anticipates the new wave baiting moves of so many of The Strokes follower bands without losing their essential sound and spirit.

87. Radiohead – Amnesiac

The companion record to Kid A, Amnesiac was fated to be less surprising than it’s predecessor. That said, there’s no shortage of good stuff here.

86. Silver Jews – Tanglewood Numbers

“Black planet, black freighter, black sea..” croaks Dave Berman, describing the deep descent into drug dependency and depression that sidelined him for several years before coming back with Silver Jews most vital, alive record.

85. The Dears – Gang of Losers

The Dears may have felt like losers – Morrissey acolytes adrift in a sea of white indie rock – especially with a black band leader. Where they previously had gone orchestral the Montreal band pulls back into leaner, meaner arrangements that emphasize their song chops and Murray Lightburn’s terrific voice and acerbic lyrics.

84. Dangermouse/ Jay-Z/ The Beatles – The Grey Album

DJ Dangermouse, soon to find a measure of fame with Cee-Lo in Gnarls Barkley, got on many music fiend’s radar with this audacious cross pollination of Jay-Z’s mighty Black Album and the Beatles monumental White Album. Conceptual perfection is achieved. The Grey Album also exemplifies the loss of control that traditional gatekeepers had over music in the 00s. Meant as a freebie for friends it spread far and wide thanks to free illegal downloading services, raising the ire of The Beatles and Capital Records.

83. Islands – Return to the Sea

Unicorns made one cultishly adored album before imploding, leading co-leader Nick Diamonds to better the debut with this eclectic sun-splashed disc. That’s not to say all is sweetness and light, amidst the punning self-referential lyrics and marimbas there are intimations of the end of the world and other light topics.

82. Gravenhurst – Fires in Distant Buildings

Reviewers weren’t sure what pigeonhole to place Gravenhurst in – were they folk, drone-rock, kraut? Their heavily atmospheric sound, best exemplified by this album, traded in aspects of each of these while still finding a unique sound.

81. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

The album that introduced most folks to the quasi- brother/sister duo of Jack and Meg White. Kicked down the door opened by The Strokes by bringing indie rock sounds to mainstream radio and TV, ultimately becoming more of a commercial force.

80. MF Doom – Mmm Food

Leave it to eclectic alt-rapper Doom to craft an entire album about eating and food – though naturally his meals extend to other, lesser MC’s.

79. TV on The Radio – Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes

The first full-length from these Brooklynites revels in their unique mix of Peter Gabriel-esque art rock, doo-wop, and crunching indie guitar rock.

78. CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy

Brazil’s best export, at least since their waxing style and thong swimwear, CSS bought an ass-shaking sensibility to forward thinking dancefloors.

77. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

On the surface less experimental than it’s predecessor, Sky Blue Sky sneaks up on the listener with twirling intricate guitar lines undercutting traditionalist song structures.

76. Spoon – Girls Can Tell

After the kind of major-label hell experience that broke lesser bands sent Spoon into the arms of Merge Records, they bounced back with their most wide-ranging and accomplished record yet. Their future, stripped-down sound is hinted at across these tracksbut there is a palpable sense of liberation here as well.