1. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
No band did more for indie-rock in the 00's than Canada's own Broken Social Scene. Bold? Yes. Before "You Forgot It In People", BSS dabbled with post-rock and ambient song textures. The songs were beautiful little nuggets, well-suited for indie-film soundtracks than your stereo player They were tame and very modest instrumental songs working with electro-acoustic tendencies and minimalism. They were playing with the same type of soundscapes Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Sigur Ros were playing with.
But "You Forgot It In People" marked a growth. It was a move from introverted long-songs to anthemic tunes for a generation. It gave BSS a voice... actually more than one. Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Millan, etc. They are indie-rock personified: a rag-tage collective of musicians willing to experiment and produce something different with each others' help. Broken Social Scene is here to stay and perfectly summed up my childhood: teen angst, youthful abandon, and a life with the people you love. We're all in this together.
2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Panda Bear never really did anything new. It's not like sampling old songs was some new-found innovation. It's a beautiful artifact that from afar seems pretty frustrating to me: keeping up a tempo and having to deal with copyright and permits. But what made Person Pitch a distinct jam was how it exerted a feeling of sunshine and joy that's forgotten in our post-9/11 world. The Animal Collective member used the samples, not as the primary, but as background for his voice. The Brian Wilson comparison is tired but makes sense. For some reason, I see baby boomers and modern hipsters really bonding over this album. A record that plays with Beach-Boys arrangements of old and techno sensibilities of new.
3. TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Brooklyn will always serve as a beacon for indie-rock creativity and experiments. If you want to find inspiration and live in a community of musicians, just walk down the Williamsburg neighborhood. TV on the Radio evolved from this NY borough and their album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes recalls Brooklyn better than most bands. Many argue the Young Liars EP is their strongest effort, but it seems Desperate Youth is their most misunderstood. It's the harshest they'll ever sound without coming off too abrasive or melancholy. Songs like "King Eternal" and "Bomb Yourself" paint a pretty vivid picture of the world in Brooklyn's eyes. Not to mention Sitek's production is heavy and loud, emphasizing bass and electronics. It was a mid-2000s triumph.
4. M.I.A. - Kala
M.I.A. is a really strange person. I feel she used to be some kinda political blogger who was given a Casio drum machine and a microphone. If you follow her on twitter or read her blogs, you'll see she writes in CAPS. I'm guessing she's upset about something. She went on Bill Maher to talk about the Tamil Tigers and came off a bit ditzy. Her lyrics aren't really too complex, yet they're said with such ferocity and anger that it resonates. Kala is probably the angriest I've ever seen her and if she wouldn't have appeared on television or in magazines, I would be really intimidated by her. Kala marked a transition from the simple electro-bass aesthetic used on Arular, to a more a global African/Carribean perspective. With the help of Diplo, Switch and Timbaland on the production tip, M.I.A. made a rough and abrasive dance record with tons of genre variety including dub-step, reggaeton, dance-hall, grime, and house. It's my go-to club record.
5. The Strokes - Is This It?
It seems like New York City, in general, was a source of inspiration for many indie-rock bands in the 00s and the pivotal one that comes to mind was the Strokes. Their debut "Is This It?" sat as some kind of weird landmark for rock. Watching them live, you'll be fooled as to how bored they actually are with their music: a group of NY lads standing around strumming and drumming their instruments with little to no showmanship. But that's the type of attitude they resurrected with their brand of hipster 60s and 70s resurgent rock. A reckless abandon that kick-started indie-rock back to fruition when it was down. Is This It? is arguably one of the most important albums of the decade.
6. Ghostface KIllah - Supreme Clientele
I had trouble deciding which Ghostface album was superior this decade: Supreme Clientele or Fishscale? Fishscale was a nice little album about cocaine and robbery that had Tony Starks at his most nonsensical via stream-of-consciousness. It was fun, and above all totally awesome. But Supreme Clientele had Ghost at his most confident. It really felt like his album. His solo debut Iron Man was about as much his album as Only Built For Cuban Linx was to Raekwon; they were both two sides of the same coin. Supreme Clinetele was truly Ghostface Killah's album and he had fun with it, complete with Iron Man cartoon clips and a sharp tongue. Also, Nutmeg is probably the best song to start with on an album.
7. Arcade Fire - Funeral
I feel like all the music released this decade was a response to September 11th. Funeral by Arcade Fire definitely felt like an album you can mourn to. With it, the band introduced the most original sound this decade: a blend of baroque pop, chamber orchestrations, and shout-out punk. At the time, I didn't think much of the album because I hadn't really dealt with any deaths. But soon after a relative of mine died, Funeral made perfect sense. Honestly, this is the best album of the decade because it paraphrases this bittersweet 10-year period in less than an hour.
8. Kanye West - Late Registration
Jon Brion multi-instrumental production? Check. A plethora of guest spots including Cam'ron, Lupe Fiasco, Jay-Z, Nas, and Paul Wall? Check. A seven minute-long, progressive rap song about retrospection and success? Check. Seriously, Kanye West's Late Registration is the best hip-hop album of the decade. Up to that point, he really only flaunted his production chops, which he had on lock. In terms of rhyme, he could really only add "mayonnaise-colored benz / I push miracle whip" to his resume of amazing lines. Though, songs like "Gone" and "Drive Slow" had him at his most creative and most clever. Kanye West hasn't really shown any sign of slowing down, minus the whole Taylor Swift thing, though I feel West is constantly experimenting. The guy is about as consistent as Animal Collective, meaning he is never consistent. He's constantly growing, and whether that means he is evolving into an egotistical narcissist or a maniacal genius, you can't really deny his importance in the 00s.
9. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
You can blame Zach Braff or Natalie Portman all you want for making The Shins a household item. In reality, there are a lot of people who still don't know who they are. Chutes Too Narrow is The Shins' sophomore LP and it's exemplary indie-pop leaning more towards the pop. James Mercer is a master at writing traditional pop records but Chutes stands out next to their first record Oh, Inverted World, which relied on atmosphere rather than song structure. Chutes moves with a precise hand and each song never fails. You, also, can't deny their indie gateway appeal, which definitely had sway over me and my fellow youth cohorts.
10. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
If you're feeling overly pessimistic or sad after listening to Funeral, then pop in Since I Left You by The Avalanches and watch your day go from overcast to ridiculously shiny. An album pieced together by samples taken from television shows, old records, and field recordings-- it's a giant jigsaw puzzle with a picture of a animals, cartoons, and friends dancing at a beach party. The whole frustration with sample-clearing I talked about on Person Pitch is multiplied by a hundred with this record. Strangely enough, the The Avalanches haven't released a sophomore album to accompany this gem, yet Since I Left had a glee about it that's hard to recreate.
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