The first decade of this millennium started off pretty weak for music. When I sort my iTunes by year and flip though the decade, the options from 2000 to 2005 are rather sparse, in 2006 I it picks back up again. I would also add that really good albums take a year or two to get traction in my collection so Veckatimist, Monsters of Folk, Hold Time and Blood Bank may have made the list if they came out earlier. So here you have it in no particular order:
In Rainbows | radiohead
I almost want to say that it is my favorite album of the decade, but it’s too close to call with Sky Blue Sky and Cease to Begin. Radiohead continued to progress and drop yet another album that is totally fresh and yet still Radiohead.
Sky Blue Sky | Wilco
I’m not a Wilco diehard; I came late to the party. This album might not be really high on the list for Wilco fans, but I love it. A really complete album that I love to listen to front to back.
Cease to Begin | band of horses
This one sat around in my iTunes library collecting dust for a while. I knew I liked it right away, I just needed to sit with it and get to know it more. The only bummer is that the album is only like 34 minutes long.
Fleet Foxes | fleet foxes
Music hasn’t seen much of anything earth shattering in terms of a fresh movement since grunge hit. From what I can tell the Northwest has delivered a ground swell again and we should feel blessed that it hasn’t caught on in the main stream. That movement is the Alt-Folk movement or whatever you want to call it. The whole genre has been a breath of fresh air and the Fleet Foxes are my favorite…my son’s too.
Bleed American | jimmy eat world
I think radio was in the middle of killing itself in 2001 and the web hadn’t quite become the source for new music that it is now. Bleed American slipped through the cracks of crap that was being played and showed everyone that good albums could be played on the radio.
Continuum | john mayer
To be honest I have to say that I can’t stand John Mayer prior to Continuum. He grew up or fired someone around him that was holding him back and put together what 20 years from now we might consider to be one of the best guitar albums of all time.
We Don’t Need to Whisper | angels & airwaves
I’ve said it before; I can’t figure out why I like this album so much, I just do. So there.
By the Way | red hot chili peppers
I know, every Chili Pepper’s album can get annoying, but this one is different for me. I think partially because I moved to Hawaii prior to its release and it was a perfect album for the place I was at in my life.
Silence | Blindside
I love me some hard rocking music. I first saw blindside when they opened for Project 86 and POD at a little club in 2000 and it was a refreshing spin on the genre. Was he singing? Was he screaming? Maybe a little of both?
Live at Stubb’s | matisyahu
The only reggae album you own is Legend, that’s okay, you’ll like Matisyahu. I’m still spinning tracks off this disc. And it was recorded right here in Austin at Stubb’s!
I just moved to Austin TX in June and I have met literally hundreds of people. In a highly artistic community like Austin, the conversations I have almost always end up in music. I have tried several times to describe my taste spectrum and it gets harder every time.
Here is a list of 11 songs that is a brief tour of my taste. Its not a list of my favorite songs…that changes weekly.
What 11 songs give a look into your musical taste?
I was in a hurry to make a CD to take on an afternoon trip last week. You know how it is, you flick through your library and things just kind of jump out at you.
A few tracks that are getting a lot of play around our house lately:
Citizen Cope | bullet and a target
What’s with the Canadians lately? They keep kicking out stuff that I like. Sometimes Citizen is rap, sometimes it’s reggae. You decide. {LISTEN}
Fleet Foxes | ragged wood
I picked up their album in October and I keep uncovering little gems and parts that blow my mind. You saw Steele sing along in the car the other day. {LISTEN}
The Smiths | how soon is now
Progressive music dominated where I grew up, so it’s a part of my upbringing. The holy trinity was The Cure, Depeche Mode and The Smith’s/Morrisey. Yeah, it’s from the vaults, but maybe you forgot about them. {LISTEN}
1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez – Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon
That is all_
[UPDATE 12/31/2009 :: apparently this isn't an original idea - http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=11worst // small world]
Last year I did the best of 2007 like everyone else and I started doing a best of 2008 and it just wasn’t coming together for me. I wasn’t that excited about much in pop culture in 2008. Movies weren’t that great. Music was less than stellar. I didn’t dig very many books that came out this year. So I am going to continue a conversation that I was having a few weeks ago.
Vince’s favorite albums of all time. These are the albums that I can always listen to straight through and have been for years. I did make a rule that it had to be a studio album and not a live album, best of or compilation.
Dark Side of The Moon | pink floyd
If you don’t like this album, I will fight you. No seriously, there is a reason that Dark Side of The Moon was in the top 100 for like 6 years.
The Wall | pink floyd
When I was a kid I would lay in my bed for hours and listen to this album straight through on my walkman, it never gets old. On days when I need to be penned up in the office to do busy work, I spin this album.
No Control | bad religion
If you have been around me much, you know that I thrive on the testing of my beliefs, it is an important part of my spiritual life. It may have something to do with Bad Religion. This was the first album I ever owned on CD. The lyrics are deep and challenging to my beliefs, which I love.
August and Everything After | counting crows
This album grew on my slowly, probably because Mr. Jones is the weakest link on the disc and it was the first single. This is a great traveling album, I keep it on my phone so I can go to my happy place on airplanes and waiting rooms.
OK Computer | radiohead
The quintessential Radiohead album. Start to finish it is an amazing creative journey. I really love this album when I go on really long runs and I need a voice to keep me company.
So | peter gabriel
Above any album I know, I would have loved to be in the studio while So was being put together. From a production and mastering standpoint, this is the best engineered album ever. Give it another listen and you will find little notes and measures that make your day.
Dulcinea | toad the wet sprocket
You probably forgot about Toad, that’s OK. This is my choice for laying on the floor on a rainy day and meditating, It’s simple and beautiful.
Brothers in Arms | dire straights
This is the first tape I ever owned and it is what stoked my love for music. My brother gave me a walkman and my dad had this tape laying around, so it’s really all I had. Lucky for me I stumbled on a classic.
Evil Empire | rage against the machine
I learned how to play guitar by mastering every note of the first Rage album and I was lined up at the record store for the CD release party of Evil Empire. Rage matured and put together an amazing album that really blurred the line between rap and rock.
Check Your Head | beastie boys
The Beastie’s most complete album; rap, jazz, rock and more. The first album that let us see how talented they really are. If you only know them for Licensed to Ill, then you have missed out on a lot.
If you ask me a couple years from now this list will probably be different, but for now, these albums rule the playlist.
