MALLINation

25.Black Francis – Bluefinger

Reviving the Pixies seemed to re-spark a hunger for Black Francis (aka Frank Black) so much so that he reverted to his previous moniker and dropped a blazing solo record that was the equal of his best work solo or otherwise.  This is no Pixies self-imitation though – Black uses all the colors in the palette he developed over his many years solo (often in the wilderness of semi-obscurity) to essay a supercharged tribute to Dutch punk poet Herman Brood.

24. Les Savvy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends

Les Savvy Sav had seemingly hung up their hats after the great singles comp Inches so it was a pleasurable surprise to find the reformed and re-energized band dishing up the best album yet of their career. Killer songs about teen girls possessed by Babylonian spirits, living like wolves, and freeloaders romp around gloriously as if they hadn’t been away at all.

23. Beck – Guero

Dismissed by many as Beck “doing” Beck, this feels to me like a summation of his many strengths along the lines of Radiohead’s In Rainbows or The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers. It also contains some of his best songs from the murder ballad dance moves of “Girl” to the chugging “Rental Car.”

22. The National – Boxer

A deep dark look at the darkness permeating the decade, Boxer is a masterpiece that calls bullshit on the hollowness at the core of so many lives in 00 America. The thundering drums portend a guitar blazing album that only emerges on “Mistaken For Strangers.” Elsewhere they are contrasted with surprisingly muted accompaniment, heartbreaking laments framed by magisterial horns and  strategically deployed piano.

21. Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress

I truly love this album despite the occasional groans it engenders from the B & S faithful. Made up of inexplicably discarded songs and muscularly produced by Buggles and Frankie Goes to Hollywood mastermind Trevor Horn, this is a fantastically far ranging set of songs from the horny Bacharach workplace double entendres of “Step Into my Office” to the orientation questions surrounding Mike Piazza on the acoustic “Piazza, New York Catcher” every song hits home, and the intricately arranged instrumentation seals the deal.

20. The White Stripes – Elephant

The White Stripes Elephant is aptly, if punningly titled. Like Hannibal they ride in as conquering heroes reversing the decade long trend of pilloried follow-up albums. Instead Jack and Meg build on their breakthrough album in every way here – bigger songs, bigger sales, better songwriting, meatier guitar playing. An absolute triumph.

19. …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Source Tags & Codes

Cursed by a perfect 10 out of 10 from 00s premier indie rock tastemakers at Pitchfork.com, Trail of Dead made some good follow-ups but were roundly pilloried by their former celebrators. Still, none of their subsequent works were as great as this marvelous synthesis of Sonic Youth moves, Elephant 6 referents, Replacements nods, and other indie signification wrapped in sturdy songs and powerful playing. Though their influnces are always apparent they are also transcended and transmuted, aided in part by the rich variety of sounds on the album.

18. McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas

McLusky gathered a rabid cult after the release of this, their second album. They would go on to do better songs on it’s wake but never a better collection of songs and more importantly, snotty attitude. After all, the ballad number is called “Fuck This Band”, (“Fuck their holes,” lead singer Andrew Falkous sweetly implores) which is contrasted by the sentiment of “The World Loves Us and is Our Bitch.” Elsewhere the scream singing and dynamic guitars along with Steve Albini’s production all nod towards the Pixies without slavishly imitating them. A raging joy of an album.

17. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive

Improbably The Hold Steady simply kept getting better and better culminating in this whopper of a record, one that takes in elements of new wave and chamber pop while only ratcheting up the anthem factor. Bonus points come from referencing John Cassavettes and the sheer awesomeness of the songs and arrangements.

16. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

This debut clearly owed a debt to the rise in guitar rock that followed in the wake of The Strokes debut record (see Kaiser Chiefs, Futureheads, Arctic Monkeys, The Hives et al) but Franz Ferdinand did the others one better by infusing their rhythm section with the other spirit of ’76 – disco. The unstoppable combo of punky Wire-like guitars chugging and churning over Chic like ass shaking rhythms are irresistible, as are the the love as spygame lyrics that have an internal logic all their own with recurring eye and hand imagery. i wanted to punch these guys when I saw their  slick suits and matching record covers but there is real substance inside their style.

15. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

A letdown in some quarters following the breakthrough of the previous record The Soft Bulletin, to my ears this ranks as the better album, infused as it is with unexpected electronic flourishes to go with the band’s advanced popcraft. Unexpectedly moving, particularly when seen performed live.

14. Stars – Set Yourself on Fire

A leftfield masterpiece Stars made you wonder how you missed their first two albums when this proved just how damn good and wide ranging they could be. From contemplating doing your high school crush at the reunion to the tyranny of the Bush administration this cuts a wide lyrical and stylistic swath under the co-guidance of angel-voiced Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell’s croon.

13. Bob Dylan – Love and Theft

Who could foresee that Dylan would make one of the best records of his long career in 2001, fully embodying the voice of several eras of gritty American music while still holding forth with verve and vitality not to mention humor and randiness.

12. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica

Taking advantage of their biggest budget yet Modest Mouse respond with their most focus songs musically, but their most expansive lyrically. Blowing minds by taking you from the outer edges of the universe to the quiet trap of a lonely big city apartment, it’s a bracingly challenging yet accessible album – one they’ve yet to top.

11. The New Pornographers – Electric Version

The second album from this Canadian supergroup of sorts ust lays on the killer guitar riffs, driving drums, and massed vocals until you simply have to cry “Uncle” and surrender. This makes sense since the whole thing functions as a sideways critique of Bush era America.

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

Karen O and Nick Zinner are singular musical talents, the yin and yang of one of New York’s greatest bands. While she whoops and swoops vocally he creates sharp shards and huge monuments with his guitar – it’s all there on this debut. Oddly it’s front loaded with the driving abrasive stuff (all of which is great), saving the killer pop songs for the one-two punch of “Y Control” and classic ballad “Maps” close to the very end.

9. Jay-Z – The Blueprint

Essentially the album he keeps trying and failing to follow up, The Blueprint showed Jay-Z swaggering into the new century on a nagging Jackson 5 sample, when not taking Nas down with an equally nagging and even more audacious Doors loop. A monster.

8. TV On The Radio – Dear, Science

TV On The Radio distill everything they’ve learned on this streamlined grower, a record that suggests they could be as big as U2 if they so desired. Every song is opened up to breath and pulsate, with hooks aplenty and their trademark vocal contrast at its best.

7. The Strokes – Is This It?

The record that blew open the doors to good old fashioned New York style punk in the new century, The Strokes revived vintage Tom Verlaine moves like they were invented yesterday. More important was the verve and delight they took in playing and the freshness of their attack. For a moment it seemed like guitar bands might rule the decade.

6. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

Not easily pigeonholed as electronica or anything else really, this record saw LCD Soundsystem master the art of great album making. Each song has it’s own setting and atmosphere -  there is a maturity and world weariness here that sinks down deep into the bone.

5. M.I.A. – Kala

M.I.A. caused a sensation with her debut but a large share of the praise was leveled at her producer, Diplo, who slung far flung, far out beats her way and strung it together into ass moving coherence. With this follow-up M.I.A. went out on her own, adding even more varied flavors and proved her talent was big enough to swallow borrowings from groups as diverse as Pixies, Jonathan Richman, and The Clash and transmuting it into her own deep groove.

4. Arcade Fire – Funeral

Montreal became a new indie rock nexus in the 00s in part because of this band and this amazing album. Making the world safe for deeply felt (as opposed to 90s era irony) music may have seemed corny to some but to others it was affecting stuff, leading to the mass catharsis that was their live shows.  The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation  is always impeccably arranged to highlight rather than overwhelm the sturdy songs at the heart of the record.

3. Spoon – Kill The Moonlight

Spoon stripped it all down to the basics on this record – it’s as much about what’s not being played here as what is being played. Handclaps, lonely pianos, stinging guitars, all twine and combine to form exquisite songs of lust, loss, and longing. Then there’s the human beatbox on “Stay Don’t Go” and the punching horns on the bullying “Jonathan Fisk.” This is where Spoon comes into a sound that’s entirely their own.

2. Radiohead – Kid A

Radiohead started the decade with a rousing blast of artistic freedom, an electronic album by a rock band that upended expectations for the band, the genre and even the music industry. The predecessor, 1997′s OK Computer had already vaulted them from under-appreciated one-hit wonders to prog rock space geniuses. Yet Kid A still confounded expectations while adhering to the theme of the 00s. Blending music that previously had been kept in separate spaces, appreciated by very different fan bases, into a coherent and bracing whole. This is where Radiohead earned the sobriquet of best band in the world.

1. Girl Talk – Feed The Animals

Choosing this as the album of the decade has already led to strained friendships and personal hardship but I call’s ‘em as I see’s ‘em.  Girl Talk is the mastermind of DJ Gerg Gillis and no-one better embodies the 00s ethos of short-attention span, the song’s the thing, put it all in a blender and give me the highlights than his two most recent Girl Talk albums. This second one gets the edge just for upping the number of sonic filchings and for creating even more creative juxtapositions between hip-hop and indie rock, classic rock and electronica. It’s all grist for his booty-shaking mill. The rise of file sharing meant that listeners no longer were subject to the 80s and 90s trend of genrefying music into marketable sub categories with their own radio stations, labels and fans. In the 00s all the categories came together. As it should be.