Top Fifty Albums of the Decade

Pitchfork pitched in with theirs back in October, the NME did it more recently, and this weekend the Observer/Guardian published theirs. Today it’s my turn. I know you’ve been waiting with baited breath for what is the ultimate list of the top fifty albums of the decade.

And was it a good decade? There was no emerging or prevalent musical ‘movement’ that I’m aware of, unlike Britpop and the ecstasy-fuelled Dance of the Nineties. That decade will always be a defining era for me because it’s when my musical taste left the mainstream for a more independent view. This past decade saw a similar but lesser renaissance, as I discovered alt-country through the likes of Lambchop and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, and trekked a little further off the beaten track into the world of Animal Collective, Explosions in the Sky and a Band of Horses. Judging from this list of albums, though, it seems as if I’ve not quite shaken being an indie kid at heart, and that’s fine by me.

So here it is, culled from my own personal collection and ordered in terms of the albums I like most (therefore my order is right and ‘corrections’ you might like to make are inherently wrong).

1. Is A Woman
   Lambchop (2002)
2. Rings Around The World
   Super Furry Animals (2001)
3. Greatest Palace Music
   Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (2004)
4. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
   Arctic Monkeys (2006)
5. Leaders of the Free World
   Elbow (2005)
6. The Hazards of Love
   The Decemberists (2009)
7. Funeral
   Arcade Fire (2004)
8. The Sophtware Slump
   Grandaddy (2000)
9. Rounds
   Four Tet (2003)
10. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
    Explosions in the Sky (2007)
11. Picaresque
    The Decemberists (2005)
12. Hail to the Thief
    Radiohead (2003)
13. The Decline Of British Sea Power
    British Sea Power (2003)
14. Cease to Begin
    Band of Horses (2007)
15. Astronomy for Dogs
    The Aliens (2007)
16. Colour It In
    The Maccabees (2007)
17. Absolution
    Muse (2003)
18. White Blood Cells
    The White Stripes (2001)
19. Happiness In Magazines
    Graham Coxon (2004)
20. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)
21. Black Mountain
    Black Mountain (2005)
22. Blueberry Boat
    The Fiery Furnaces (2004)
23. ( )
    Sigur Rós (2002)
24. Boxing Hefner
    Hefner (2000)
25. Superabundance
    The Young Knives (2008)
26. Cansei De Ser Sexy
    CSS (2006)
27. I Am Kloot
    I Am Kloot (2004)
28. Amber
    Clearlake (2006)
29. Keep On Your Mean Side
    The Kills (2003)
30. Fleet Foxes
    Fleet Foxes (2008)
31. Franz Ferdinand
    Franz Ferdinand (2004)
32. Sound Of Silver
    LCD Soundsystem (2006)
33. The Closer You Get
    Six By Seven (2000)
34. Let It Come Down
    Spiritualized (2001)
35. Antidotes
    Foals (2008)
36. Up The Bracket
    The Libertines (2002)
37. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
    Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (2000)
38. #1
    Fischerspooner (2002)
39. Antics
    Interpol (2004)
40. American IV – The Man Comes Around
    Johnny Cash (2002)
41. Xtrmntr
    Primal Scream (2000)
42. Is This It?
    The Strokes (2000)
43. Merriweather Post Pavilion
    Animal Collective (2009)
44. Since I Left You
    The Avalanches (2001)
45. Vampire Weekend
    Vampire Weekend (2008)
46. You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
    Death From Above 1979 (2004)
47. These Were…
    The Earlies (2004)
48. Give Up
    The Postal Service (2002)
49. Show Your Bones
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2006)
50. Felt Mountain
    Goldfrapp (2000)

Fifty seems like a pretty big number, but it seems I bought a lot of albums in the past ten years. My long-list comprised 120 releases, and it was pretty tough subsequently leaving out great albums such as Third, Neon Bible, Kid A, as well as artists like Beck, Beirut, Bon Iver, Calexico, Wilco and even Basement Jaxx, Madonna and the Streets. Such is the nature of stupid lists like these. Have you got an albums of the decade list? What albums you would have put in here?