The years 2000-2009 have been epic. We seem to be racing faster and faster towards something inevitable, and that inevitable something seems to catch us by surprise faster than we expect, and never when we suspect it. This list of favorite albums from the past decade has plenty of threads running between and around them.
First, it seems that 2000-2002 were “my years” for music. With 70% of the picks coming from that period, it makes me wonder if I’m still trying to live in that 25 year-old me. Or am I simply not “getting” what has been released since then?
Next, much of the music is self-recorded, sans producer, often alone. From my experiences in recording my own music in the past few years, I’m finding that the performances captured when alone tend to be most moving to me and I wonder if that correlates with music that other people make.
Lastly, there’s an inherent sadness to much of this music, and while, I’m not the saddest person on the earth, it’s clear that sad music connects with me on a deeper level than anything else.
10. Brent Gorton : San Diego (2001) A brilliant (solo) debut album from Brent that still wrecks me to this day. San Diego shares traits with some of my other favorite albums from this decade; home-recorded, sincere, unique, sad, magic, etc. It’s a clear vision that Brent presents; pop songs that are not “pop”, love songs that skate around the word “love”, lonely laments that make you feel less alone. Since there’s less of a chance that you might have heard songs from this album, here are “Maiden Spring” and “Holland“:
Brent Gorton : “Maiden Spring”
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Brent Gorton : “Holland”
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9. Wilco : Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) Here’s a great example of a band who has only made one album I truly love. I find their “Before YHF” albums a bit too “alt-country” and their “After YHF” a bit too “experimental without handing over good songs”. This record drives the arrow straight between those two lines. A world where chaos intersects with beautiful, thoughtful songs and inventive sound production. Witnessing this band perform the Yankee Hotel songs at Union College just a week or so before its release date was a highly memorable occasion from those days.
8. Bon Iver : For Emma, Forever Ago (2008) There’s something charming about the story behind this album. Boy goes off alone to family cabin in the woods to steam-off a breakup by writing and recording songs. Surely not the first time this has happened, but it may be the first time it happened this well. What feels and sounds like an open wound of emotion teeters on the edge of searing beauty and sadness. “Lump Sum” is the song that really caught me, with it’s cyclical chords, thrumming rhythm and hair-raising harmony climaxes. That this record revealed itself to me in winter was certainly perfect for its sounds and vibes.
7. Gillian Welch : (Time) The Revelator (2001) There was some serious internal debate about whether this album or its follower Soul Journey should be included on this list. I’d say the latter has better songs on it, but Revelator ended up here on the merits of the fourteen-minute album closer – “I Dream a Highway“. There is not a more cathartic, sullen, gem of an experience to be had with two acoustic guitars and two vocals produced in the 2000s.
6. LOW : Things We Lost in the Fire (2001) This fourth full-length album from the Minnesota band LOW is responsible for digging me out of one of the worst sadnesses I’ve ever felt. Well, I should say the concert I witnessed that was in support of the release of TWLITF brought me out of that ugly funk. “When they found your body, giant Xs on your eyes…” sung in gorgeous harmony by husband and wife team Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are the lyrics that kick off this record. Despite plenty of dark, creepy moments, this album is comforting and warm.
5. The Shins : Oh, Inverted World (2001) Sub Pop has a knack for grabbing bands right before they release their best recordings; oftentimes their first! Such is the case for the Shins. Oh, Inverted World is a brief, but classic album. Beginning with a whistle and ending with a guitar strum, we are drawn into the world of James Mercer. There’s songs of situations and love and fear and fear of love and fear in love, all written in unexpected song forms that tend to be short but always poignant. And, despite the schlock in the source of this statement, Oh, Inverted World will indeed change your life.
4. Radiohead : Kid A (2000) My favorite memory of this album was a weeknight spent at the old Lionheart Café on Lark Street, in the space where Bombers “Upstairs” now exists. I can’t remember whether this was a Tuesday night jazz night or a random Sunday night; but I remember Kid A coming on in the back room where the “stage” was, and all conversations began to peter out. By the time “How to Disappear Completely” came on, everyone was silent. It was an inadvertent “movie” moment and we all looked at each other around the room and knew that we had just experienced the same thing; we were in the same world, together.
3. The National : Boxer (2007) Boxer surprised me. I had no idea that this band was capable of the magic it weaves on this album. Woozy, punch-drunk vocals don’t usually do it for me, but singer Matt Berninger really nailed the intonation (or lack thereof) for these perfect lyrics. I said to an excited friend about this album; “Each song is a home-run, or at least has a home-run moment in it!”
2. Tara Jane ONeil : Peregrine (2000) Like a few of the other releases on this list, Peregrine is a home-recorded effort. On this first solo effort after years of playing in bands, TJO makes claustrophobia sound warm and welcoming under layers and layers of carefully plucked guitar textures, errant splashes of violin, piano twinkles and unearthly drones. Her voice is fragile and deliberately hidden underneath these layers, making the listener truly tune-in to hear what she’s singing about. If I were more into synesthesia I could tell you which “color” this album is, because I’m sure it’s a color I’ve never heard before.
1. Iron & Wine : The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) Another strong debut album from a Sub Pop band. “Band” being in the loosest sense of the word in this case, since this album was made entirely by Sam Beam. On his home computer. Possibly thinking that no one would ever hear these songs. And what a shame that would have been! That the world not be treated to songs like “Upwards Over the Mountain” or “Faded From the Winter” is a thought I do not want to entertain. There is no better instant transport than to drop the needle or click play on the love tone-poem “Lion’s Mane“. For me, it’s an immediate cue to settle in for forty minutes of heart-warming/wrenching song-waves. I have such an attachment to this collection of songs that I have not moved on from this album. No Iron & Wine album since has moved me the way “…Cradle” does. As soon as Beam left the bedroom for the recording studio, the intimacy was lost and I simply cannot enjoy what came next.
Here is my Issue with Bon Iver. I think he is a fake. He went to his Family’s Nice Cabin on their land. He was with his Father and his Brother. He brought his Laptop and DVD collection. They drank beer and ate Venison for a month or something like that. He basically went on vacation. And played the poor hurt indie boy. I don’t know. I just can’t get into it. I think he pisses me off more than anything.
I didn’t mean to sound like such a whiney jerk. It just came out like that.
@Todd:
On that note, did you know that Theraux basically did the same thing when he wrote Walden, only he did it in Emerson’s Nice Cabin in Emerson’s backyard? What’s more, “Walden” compresses everything he did over a few years into one year and all of the events are actually symbolic. Is he a fake?
@Todd: wow! Someone more skeptical than me out there in the world! I didn’t think it was possible!
Like I said in the text, the story behind that record isn’t new; in fact, I’ve heard it enough that I tend to ignore it in most cases.
Something rang differently with this record for me. It was immediate that I loved it. It was perfect for the time it found me.
Perhaps someday it will find you?
So with you on Iron & Wine for #1. Timeless sounding, yet totally present in my life throughout the 00′s.
@Julia: yeah, it’s a perfect record. It really is. Perhaps it’s cos it was assembled from a bunch of songs he had built over time that it was so special.
Did you hear about that “I Run & Whine” show we did in 2003? It was Bob from KH, Katie Haverly and Nick Matulis and we learned that entire album and performed it in Albany on a chilly Sunday evening.
There may or may not be a recording of that night somewhere, itching to be released…
11. david bryne/brian eno everything that happens will happen today.
Boxer! Best. Nice to see this on a decade list Matt.
hey SKM’s ‘Ghosts…’ was released in 2003.
@Sean: ! Yes! Boxer is the killer! I really wanted SKM on here, and that certainly would be an album to include, but you know, the other records on here affected me more when it came down to brass tacks! Hope to see you and the fam soon!