15) “White Blood Cells” The White Stripes (2001)Forty minutes of pure, unadulterated, garage rock bliss is how I would describe this record. This album (along with another album I’ll be discussing later on in this countdown) was instrumental in convincing a high school age Pete, who was listening more and more to classic rock and had almost given up hope on modern music, that there was still a lot of promising music being made by contemporary artists. It also helped that this album had just the right amount of classic rock sensibilities (one guitar, one drum, no nonsense rock) with singer/guitarist Jack White’s unique style sprinkled in all the right places. In my opinion this album still stands tall over 2003’s “Elephant” because of a higher concentration of memorable songs (“Fell in Love with a Girl,” “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground,” and “We're Going to Be Friends” chief among them). This album was one of the first to rekindle my interest in modern music, and without it who knows what I would’ve been listening to these days.
14) “Give Up”- The Postal Service (2003)Ben Gibbard and his primary band, Death Cab for Cutie, had an extremely impressive decade of music. During that span the band released such high quality albums as “The Photo Album” (2001), “Transatlanticism” (2003), “Plans” (2005), and “Narrow Stairs” (2008), albums by which Gibbard and his mates built a reputation for being able to capture the awkwardness of searching for love, complete with all the joy and heartbreak that accompanies it. However, it was with Gibbard’s side project, The Postal Service, that he found the most success in expressing that theme. Born out of a series of exchanges between Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello (Tamborello would produce the instrumental tracks, mail them to Gibbard, who would then write and record lyrics over them), “Give Up” is a perfect blend between Gibbard’s ability to write brilliantly poetic lyrical sequences and Tamborello’s catchy electronic beats. Highlighted by songs such as “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” “Such Great Heights,” “We Will Become Silhouettes,” and “This is the Dream of Evan and Chan” this album was the perfect music to listen to while studying in college, and I believe that it’s music that will weather the test of time quite nicely.
13) “Late Registration”- Kanye West (2005)I’ll come out right and say it: I love Kanye West. Along with Radiohead, he was the single most influential artist of the decade. That’s why it really bothers me to see Mr. West retreat from the public eye faster than Tiger Woods. Think about that one. Both men came under intense media scrutiny this year, and both responded by taking an indefinite leave of absence from their respective careers in order to sort out their personal lives. The difference: Woods was cheating on his wife with an endless string of cocktail floozies, while West merely upstaged a teenage country singer in front of a live television audience. Huh?
I’m not saying what Kanye did to Taylor Swift was defensible, it was childish. But come on, it was the MTV VMA’s. Let’s just hope that Kanye is able to overcome whatever demons he’s battling, because hip-hop, and music in general is much better when he’s making records. Like this one, for example. With chart toppers like “Touch the Sky,” “Gold Digger,” and “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” Kanye’s second album reinforced his title as a masterful song producer. On top of that, Kanye showed that his lyrical skills were also maturing, as evidenced by songs like “Gone” and my personal favorite of the album “Drive Slow” in which West paints a vividly nostalgic tableau of his adolescent days cruising around his neighborhood with his best friend, whose advice of “don’t rush to get grown, drive slow homey,” is both casual and unforgettable all at once.
12) “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”-Spoon (2007)This 2007 album by indie rock band Spoon is just over 35 minutes long, which means they waste very little space in crafting 10 superb tracks in such away that can only be described as effortless. It’s an album that really requires little explanation, because it’s just so simple, straight-forward, and immediately likeable. My favorites include “Don’t Make Me a Target,” “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” “The Underdog,” and “Black Like Me.”
11) “Silent Alarm”-Bloc Party (2005)Love Bloc Party, and love this album. I was absolutely floored when I first heard this album back during my junior year of college, and to this day I think it’s one of the best collection of dance-floor ready indie rock songs that any band has ever put forward. Lead singer Kele Okereke’s distinctive voice rings out clearly among Russell Lissack’s frantic guitar licks on stirring dance numbers such as “Helicopter, ”“Banquet,” and “Positive Tension” but it’s the album’s slower and more tender tracks, namely the timeless “This Modern Love” that truly sets this album apart. This British band has followed up their debut album with a couple of great albums, but they may never again capture lightning in a bottle like they did on “Silent Alarm.”
to be continued...
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