The Top Albums of the Decade (Everyone Else is Jumping Off the Bridge)

This decade has been defined by a seismic shift in personal musical taste. It kicked off with club-friendly trance, morphed into minimalist Detroit techno and experimental musique concrete, dove straight into the Detroit garage rock scene, and now I have emerged with an appreciation for more conventional pop music. I am getting old and unconventionally conventional.

It is hard to separate what records were merely important at the time versus which ones were really the best since longer distances provide greater perspectives. The music below will stick with me for a great while, having weathered the typical cycle of: obsession -> expiration -> reexamination.

(15) Life, Love, and Leaving by Detroit Cobras (2001)

The Detroit Cobras perform cover songs that are obscure enough to deceive you into thinking that they wrote the songs themselves. This gimmick works perfectly since they possess a record collection that is deeper than yours or mine. Each performance is a miniature revelation and who wrote what becomes irrelevant as you listen because the Detroit Cobras simply own these songs.

(14) Resuscitation by ADULT. (2001)

Resuscitation is a collection of the Detroit duo’s early 12” records. Despite its robotic pulse and clinical precision, the record actually is determined to remind us of the analog past by holding up a mirror to show us what 21st century claustrophobia looks and feels like. While this sounds incredibly banal, the music is electrifying and has enough fuzzy bass and synth lines to facilitate dancing. I have admired them for a decade and ADULT. remain the most polarising band that I listen to- indifference is not an option, this is music that you either love or you hate.

(13) Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp (2008)

Seventh Tree is Goldfrapp’s entry into folktronica, the lamest name for a musical genre ever. Is there something unusual about creating earthy and atmospheric pop songs? Seventh Tree was widely panned as being the boring follow-up to the uber-glam Supernatural and, on those relative terms, I guess it is boring. But you can’t party all of the time and grabbing a hot tea during a Somerset afternoon while humming along to A&E or Happiness sounds like a more exciting proposition than shaking tailfeathers to Ooh La La.

(12) Girls Can Tell by Spoon (2001)

Somewhere in Texas there is a mattress where Spoon has stuffed all of the excess notes that they did not end up investing in their records. Girls Can Tell bests the rest of their records simply by being the most economical. The music here is tidy and well-kept and it enters and exits after 35 minutes of precision housekeeping.

(11) The Greatest by Cat Power (2006)

Whether the Dusty-fied Cat Power is your thing or not is irrelevant. Just put The Greatest on right after Dusty in Memphis and tell me that these records are not conjoined twins that were separated at birth and reunited decades later. They are both lovely southern soul records, poignant accompaniment to one-too-many mint juleps. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Memphis studio where The Greatest was recorded. I can not help but smile at the image of the notoriously shy Chan Marshall conducting seasoned soul veterans into performances that are as assured as these ones.

(10) Scar by Joe Henry (2001)

Why hasn’t anyone heard of Joe Henry, other than his famous sister-in-law? (Madonna). He gave her the song Don’t Tell Me and then reinvented it as a tango for Scar. In a fair pop landscape where commercial stature was proportional to artistry, Joe Henry would rank among Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and other mood poets.

(09) Lack of Communication by The Von Bondies (2001)

The Von Bondies played an awe-inspiring show at the Metro Times blowout in Detroit right around the time Lack of Communication was released. It was ear-splitting loud, to the point where I drank fast so I could move to the back of the bar to queue in line where it was much quieter. After that evening, I was certain that The Von Bondies were going to be the biggest band in the world. If only I had a penny for every time that I have claimed that…

(08) Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State by Sufjan Stevens (2003)

This is a postcard from my home state and a love letter to it. It gives reasons to appreciate Michigan while being critical of its problems. Sufjan touches on the tourist haunts (Sleeping Bear Dunes, Holland), ponders the Upper Peninsula, and gives lip to the crumbled industrial power that once defined the state. The urgent Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild, Restore, Reconsider) is a high point of the decade, as is the big heart that Sufjan put on the line in the making of this sprawling one hour record. Such love letters are rarely shared on such a grand scale.

(07) Murray Street by Sonic Youth (2002)

Sonic Youth were on fire this decade. Their trifecta of Murray Street, Sonic Nurse, and Rather Ripped was artistically unparalleled by any other artist during the decade. Murray Street was recorded not long after 9/11- one of the hijacked planes’ engines actually landed on the street outside of their studio. They chose to finish the record in their damaged corner of New York City and there is a spirit of defiance in the instrumental performances. This is vital music .

(06) Tanglewood Numbers by The Silver Jews (2005)

Clocking in at under 35 minutes, Tanglewood Numbers does not leave much wiggle room for a misplaced song or a bad lyric. This is a sloppy and literate record and the decision for Mr Berman to bring in his wife to help balance the record is pure Nashville genius, adding some southern sweetness to what could have been the big depression record. Absolutely perfect from start to finish, Tanglewood Numbers is a ramshackle testament to music’s redemptive powers.

(05) In Ear Park by Department of Eagles (2008)

If you want to truly appreciate the sounds of a forest then you need to sit in the middle of it, not listen from a window. In Ear Park is best observed by immersing yourself into it and must certainly be one of the decade’s biggest headphone records. There is beautiful detail that is low in the mix and it draws you in, keeps you digging for even greater detail, until the songs are deconstructed down to bare timber. Like Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, it is hard to tell from exactly which era In Ear Park was birthed- and it is all the better for it.

(04) Segundo by Juana Molina (2000)

It is rare that pop music can be completely detached from the literal meaning of its songs but, by singing in her native Spanish, Juana’s voice becomes just another ambient instrument, on democratic footing with the synthesizers and guitar. If you speak Spanish, then Segundo is full of experimental pop songs; if you do not then it is a record that contains a dozen ambient works of art.

(03) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco (2002)

My brother and I had secured an advanced copy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from Napster. Because download speeds were so slow in 2002, we divided the tracks- one of us downloaded the even songs, the other downloaded the odd. We met at my apartment, assembled a master copy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and sat down on my sofa, which directly faced the hi-fi. I remember wondering whether the melting vibes at the back of Kamera were ever going to end- and quickly hoping they wouldn’t.

(02) Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes (2005)

The White Stripes’ impossible follow-up to Elephant was recorded in a mansion just a couple miles from my Detroit neighbourhood. This record received a lot of flak for its (perceived) abandonment of the guitar but I always scratched my head on why it didn’t get praise for its embrace of melody. The Nurse is the only song on Get Behind Me Satan that may be a conscious attempt at alienating new fans; otherwise the songs are accessible with songwriting chops as strong as old Tin Pan Alley songs.

(01) Vespertine by Björk (2001)

I used to think that Björk invented the term vespertine- she does unusual things like that. But it is legitimate, a botanist’s adjective to describe flowers that open and close in the evening. It gives me a new perspective since I have always envisioned Vespertine as a frosty afternoon record and, to paraphrase Björk, a soundtrack in which to make a sandwich. Trying to justify why this is the best album of the decade is like trying to pick a favourite child. But it is often easier to pick out the creative one, the child with pretend friends that can conjure up internal worlds of their own design. This is not a party record nor a downbeat record. It is not even a piece of art- it is a collection of songs that feel comfortably lived in, a place to hang your hat and make a sandwich.

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