After their dreadful mainstream pop/rock debut, Plans, I'd mostly given up on Death Cab ever releasing anything good again. Narrow Stairs truly surprised me. These 11 tracks, all dealing with a painful loss, from a mother to innocence, revealed a profound maturity in Ben Gibbard's writing since Plans. How this was such a mainstream success, I can't really figure. The songs are slow, build naturally to anticlimactic endings, and are as longingly sad and beautiful as anything on their early masterpieces.
104. Modest Mouse, The Moon & Antarctica (2000)
This is widely considered one of the best albums this decade by music critics, and I can see why. It's full of creative guitar riffs, a great vocalist, inventive and weird lyrics, and shows a mastery of pop song writing. It gets a bit long, and there are some less than stellar filler tracks, but the great handily outnumbers the average.
(As a present to Earth, Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters released an album of Modest Mouse covers, mainly from this album, called Tiny Cities. It's a must-listen.)
103. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life (2008)
Two Pitchfork favs in a row. This won't likely happen again. Fucked Up's brand of hardcore/punk is infectiously catchy. It's almost wrong. And it's, dare I say, pretty? Hard to imagine when you know a fat vocalist named "Pink Eyes" is screaming at the top of his lungs about mushrooms and Jesus. Hearing the up to 17 guitar tracks going at once creates a huge, deep sound that makes you want to get up and thrash around.
102. The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, Dissertation, Honey (2003)
Jazz-punk. Spastic, hyper, biting jazz-punk. And it's so fun. This young band put a jazzy swing into their snotty punk formula to make one of the most successful genre-benders I heard all decade. A saxophone adds a whole emotional layer to what might otherwise easily be forgettable punk. Their songs were short and sweet, and the vocals energetic and sassy.101. Defiance, Ohio, Share What Ya Got (2003)
This fine folk punk band from the Plan-it-x label are probably mostly associated with the popularity of Against Me! early in the decade. They share similarities, and sometimes ideals, but Defiance, Ohio is definitely their own band with their own sound. Playing completely acoustic, with some strings, male and female vocals, they make moving folk punk that's easily accessible. Share What Ya Got is their finest offering to date, combining angry social unrest anthems with intimate ballads. I'll remember this album forever because of standout track "Bikes and Bridges", a fist pump anthem that bleeds into a poetic chant with "Heart aren't made of glass...". It's heartbreaking stuff that gets me every time. This might even deserve to be higher.
100. Drudkh, Autumn Aurora (2004)
This is finest offering from what has to be one of the most consistent and greatest black metal bands making music in the 2000s. This Ukranian group refuses to take press photos, promote their album, interview, or even tour, but their music really speaks for itself. It's beautifully atmospheric, recalling images of the forests and nature of Europe. It's incredibly easy to get lost in these sprawling tracks, as they wind through fantastical, dreamy landscapes. For the record, the album they released in 2009, Microcosmos, is almost just as good
99. Rx Bandits, The Resignation (2003)
Rx Bandits started out as just another annoying, immature ska group capable of some catchy riffs. Each successive album has been more experimental and innovative than the last, leading all the way up to this years Mandala. But their greatest success was back in 2003 when they really shed their simple ska past for the first time, in favor of a jazzy, reggae-ish, rock sound. After a throw-away first track, the album really gets going with standout track "Prophetic", and never stops. The album builds to emotional highs with crushing guitars and beautiful horns.
98. Mono, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shine (2004)
Mono has been playing some of the best post-rock around for over ten years. With Waking Cloud...they perfected their formula. Epic songs, huge guitars, beautiful keys, and some strings thrown in for good measure. Everything gelled on this album, and the results are staggering. It's enough to make anybody cry.
97. Menomena, Friend and Foe (2007)
This was the first Menomena album I'd ever heard, and it blew me away. From opener "Muscle 'N Flo" to the end, it's wonderful drum loop insanity. These songs are wonderfully poppy, yet brimming with intense emotion. "Wet and Rusting" is one of the best singles of the decade.96. Altar of Plagues, White Tombs (2009)
More black metal. This is from a small, unknown band that really got shit done with their debut. Four tracks of sprawling hell get done what most metal bands could never do. They've perfected the truly unique version of American black metal. No paganism or nature, just the hell of industrial wasteland. They also pretty things up a bit. White Tombs could easily be lumped into the post-rock/black metal category.
95. Dillinger Four, Versus God (2000)
It's just so hard not to love these guys. Fast pop punk at its finest. They know their way around catchy riffs and melodies. I can't ever skip a Dillinger Four song. This was their first offering of this decade, and it was the first where the two weird sounding vocalists started to complement each other perfectly. Every track is a standout, partly because they mostly sound the same, but more because they're all amazing.
94. Bike for Three!, More Heart than Brains (2009)
Think Postal Service if they were hip-hop and way cooler. You know I love Ben Gibbard, but he has nothing on the intimate, yet distant cross continental colaboration between Anticon rapper Buck 65 and Belgian producer Greetings from Tuskan. "Lazarus Phenomenon" is still my favorite song of 2009, and most of the tracks are almost as good. For two people who have never met, these songs are amazingly intimate, seemingly written about the strange relationship, like in "Let's never meet". It's all close to perfect. Buck 65's stream of conciousness poetry flows beautifully over Greetings intricate procuction.
93. Agalloch, Ashes Against the Grain (2006)
Agalloch mix black, folk, heavy, doom, and drone metal, with a good serving of neofolk thrown in on Ashes. Acoustic passages melt into slurring distortions that convey desolation in a way I've never heard elsewhere. Black metal vocals enhance the experience. These guys play long and epic, but it's worth every minute.
92. Krallice, Krallice (2008)
While not techinically a black metal band, Krallice is close. They play ridiculously long songs at impossible speeds, slowing down only to end a song and start another. It's pretty absurd, but as far as metal goes, it's some of the most fun to listen to. They recently expanded their line up, adding another crazy fast guitarist. What's up with these freaks?
91. Sun Kil Moon, April (2008)
Mark Kozelek again. More slow, and deliberately paced masterpieces from a slowcore legend. These songs have an average length of over 7 minutes, the lyrics are deceptively simple, and the music is never anything but quiet. But this album is so heartbreaking, it's unreal. How Kozelek can make me want to cry with only a few slurred phrases is uncanny.
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