| Can we characterize the past decade in music already? Lemme see... Well, by the decade's end, the cool kids had found their own spot on the dance floor alongside the popular kids, heavy metal was ridiculously vital (particularly at the extremes), and many older artists had re-stoked their careers in reunion concerts or on their own online shows. The argument that hip hop was dead came from some surprising corners, and indie rock's more insufferable tendencies, like its irony by default and its aesthetic laziness, began to subside as artists with serious artistic and commercial ambitions gained momentum. |
| Hmm... obviously, this perspective is biased by my life. At the beginning of the 00s, I moved to New York and fell somewhat into the dance and postpunk scenes. By the end, my tastes began showing the influence of my students past and present. This leaves big gaps in my decade in music, which I'm now fine with after years of incessant music and media consumption. |
| Such idiosyncrasy in musical exposure and tastes is, I suspect, the decade's ultimate theme. After all, the noughties were when the music industry and music media fell into serious decline. As MP3s, blogs, social media emerged as the new format for discovering and listening to music, the ability to hold a mass audience's attention was ceded to the lamest of musical performers and lowest-common-denominator conceits (hello, "American Idol"!). Now more than ever, listeners of good new music may have almost nothing in common in their music libraries, or be caught unawares by the acts on the covers of music magazine. That's a good thing, I think. As CD stores go extinct, it means we need to talk and listen more about music if we're to find our next musical obsession. (Which reminds me, many of the albums listed below came from recommendations by some of you—thanks!) |
| And now, without further ado... |
| 100. Christy & Emily - Gueen's Head |
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| 99. Lindsay Buckingham - Gift of Screws |
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| 98. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song |
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| 97. Vincent Black Shadow - Vincent Black Shadow |
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| 96. Roísín Murphy - Ruby Blue |
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| You know the cliché: she could sing the phone book and it would sound amazing. |
| 95. The Walkmen - You & Me |
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| 94. Maria McKee - Late December |
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| Alt-country doesn't figure heavily on my list, but nor does it on this record. Sounds instead like she's been listening to a lot of Dusty Springfield and Mott the Hoople—can't go wrong there. |
| 93. PJ Harvey - White Chalk |
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| 92. Ezekiel Honig - Scattered Practices |
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| 91. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope |
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| Apparently the kids at Vassar agree with me on this one. |
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