Justin's Top 10 Albums of the Decade: 2000-2009

Sure there are a lot of top 10 lists floating around right now but (of course) I don't think any of them got it quite right, so here goes. (think I'm way off? write your own damned list in the comments)

10. Old Ramon - Red House Painters (2001)

Ok, so I have a confession to make: this album was recorded in '97-98 and then caught up in business bullshit until its 2001 release, so maybe it doesn't qualify as a 00-09 decade release. But you know what? I only discovered it last year, so deal with it. Something about the repetitive rhythm of driving guitars spread out across eight-and-a-half minutes of Mark Kozelek's beautifully direct lyrics on In Between Days put me right back in San Francisco; walking along the Embarcadero, cold, February rain sprinkling down, an ocean mist stinging my eyes and the girl I love right there next to me, neither of us concerned with anything but the present. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few plane tickets to book...

9. Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer? - Of Montreal (2007)
I wasn't sure what to think the first time I heard Hissing Fauna. It felt too dance-pop and just not my style. But then I couldn't stop listening to it. Slowly but surely I was drawn in. The hyper-pop-fuzz of songs like Suffer for Fashion, Cato as a Pun and Bunny ain't no Kind of Rider were pure fun to listen to. Driving along I couldn't but bob my head along with the beat. And then, after a few days of bouncing around in my car like a schoolgirl something else happened: I began to internalize the lyrics and the songs took on a wholly different meaning. Suddenly the epic ender The Past is a Grotesque Animal didn't feel so out of place but rather the perfect ending to an album about so much more than it appears to be.

8. Funeral - Arcade Fire (2004)
When the wall of sound, fury and passion that is Funeral hit me the only thing I could think of was "How come I haven't heard of these guys before?" The brilliant songwriting that mixes somewhat melancholy lyrics with driving, impassioned musical performances was love at first listen for me. When I heard Crown of Love on an early season episode of Rescue Me and saw how beautifully the music played against powerful scenes in the show and then built up into the pounding ending, my only thought was I have to see these guys live... something I'm still waiting to do.

7. The Ugly Organ - Cursive (2003)
Just before a cross-country trip to Maine, a friend had given me a copy of The Ugly Organ with instructions to simply "just listen." Well, in the days before ubiquitous iPods and multi-CD changers, 36 hours roadtrips offered A LOT of time to "just listen" when you couldn't reach the CD case and your co-pilot was asleep. I still remember, quite vividly, driving into Bangor, Maine at dusk when The Recluse came on--maybe for the 6 or 7th time. It stuck with me this time, as did most of the album, and solidified Tim Kasher in my mind as one of the most brilliant and underrated singer / songwriters of the decade.

6. Give Up - The Postal Service (2003)
Already well in love with Death Cab for Cutie's incredible early work (as for their last two albums...) I quickly jumped at the chance to hear Ben Gibbard try something new on Give Up. It struck me as fun and infinitely listenable--a theory that would be tested over and over again in the next six years. During every party we hosted during college there was the inevitable party-playlist building session and every time it was decided "put the whole Postal Service album on." And no one, not a single person, ever uttered "ugh, change the song" when The Postal Service played. Never. Dozens of parties and hundreds of people agree: everyone loves The Postal Service.

5. Figure 8 - Elliott Smith (2000)
If I'd written this list between 2002-04 it may very well have been all Elliott. Introduced to him via Good Will Hunting, I fell into a deep obsession with Smith's darkly haunting, yet often hopeful songwriting. A string of failed relationships and my big "college breakup" helped fuel a need in me for the sort of cathartic listening that Smith's music provided. I went so far as booking time in my school's recording studio to produce my own version of a few of Smith's songs (which will remain unreleased, btw.) Eventually I began to grow out of Smith's songs--or rather--I became much more optimistic and happy but that fact remains that he still hits an emotional chord in me that few other musicians have ever managed to do.

4. Album of the Year (acoustic) - The Good Life (2004)
This album secures Tim Kasher's spot as my vote for best songwriter of the decade. "The first time that I met her I was throwing up in a ladies room stall / she asked me if I needed anything / I said I think I spilled my drink" begins the title track, which is a summary of the story the rest of the album tells about a failed relationship. "You never fell for me / you fell for how it felt / you fell for being held" begins Needy with Kasher's "let me tell you a story just like it happened" style. A stark contrast to fellow Saddle Creek label-mate Conner Oberst's often beautiful but much more metaphorical lyrical style.

3. Chutes too Narrow - The Shins (2003)
I remember the first time I heard Chutes too Narrow, my roommate freshman year of college brought it home and told me I needed to hear this. After the first few songs I said "Is this country?" and quickly dismissed it. Looking back I'm not sure what made me think that, other than at the time, nothing on my radar quite sounded like The Shins. There were stripped down and bare. No heavy guitars or crunching distortion--just straight ahead rock and roll fun. I finally came around and fell in love with them. The rest, as they say, is history.


2. Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros (2000)
Shortly after I became obsessed with figuring out what the song is that play's over the final scene in Vanilla Sky, a friend gave me this album to try out and everything clicked--Sigur Ros (the Vanilla Sky song is NjóSnavéLinin off their ( ) album.) There really isn't anything or anyone who sounds quite like Sigur Ros. From their use of Icelandic and made-up Hopelandic lyrics to lead singer Jonsi's use of a cello bow on his guitar, there just isn't anyone else making music on the level that Sigur Ros is. I keep a CD in my car at all times that has the title track, Agaetis Byrjun on it. When the world seems a little too heavy and fast-paced and the stress is piling up I put the track on, take a deep breath and think, "You know what?, This is An Alright Beginning (Agaetis Byrjun translated) to a wonderful day."

1. Come on Feel the Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens (2005)
You can't help but feel it when listening to Illinoise: feel that Sufjan may be one of the most talented singer / songwriters ever to tell someone (or someplace) else's stories. While no one is doubting the brilliance of tracks like Chicago and Jacksonville, I firmly believe that Casimir Pulaski Day may be the most beautifully tragic song ever recorded. My roadtrip several months ago to see him live reaffirmed my admiration to his talent and humble brilliance. Sure, he may never complete, or even add another album to, his 50 states project, but so long as he stays true to his goofy, banjo-playing, wing-wearing, completely original self, I'll keep on feeling every bit of noise he puts out.