My Albums of the Decade
WXPN published their top 88 Albums of the Decade last week: http://xpn.org/allaboutthemusic/xpns-albums-of-the-decade-6146. This prompted me to compile my personal favorites list in chronological order, which I tried to restrict to less than 20 entries.
- Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler (2000)
- Look into the Eyeball by David Byrne (2001)
- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco (2002)
- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips (2002)
- Cuatros Caminos by Café Tacvba (2003)
though Sino (2007) is also excellent - Feast of Wire by Calexico (2003)
though Carried to Dust (2008) is also excellent - O by Damien Rice (2003)
- Electric Version by The New Pornographers (2003)
though I really enjoyed all four of their recordings in the decade - The Clarence Greenwood Recordings by Citizen Cope (2004)
- Illinois by Sufjan Stevens (2005)
- Plans by Death Cab for Cutie (2005)
- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case (2006)
- St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley (2006)
- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon (2007)
- Santogold by Santogold (2008)
- Asking for Flowers by Kathleen Edwards (2008)
I probably could have included the self-titled Fleet Foxes (2008) on the list and definitely would have if I could have substituted my two favorite tracks from their Sun Giant EP released earlier that year for my least favorite tracks on the full recording.
I noticed I don't have any entries for 2009. I'm not sure if that reflects the quality of the music for the year (or more probably) my tendency like so many others to get and listen to individual tracks rather than becoming immersed in full recordings. That said, I did particularly enjoy Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle by Bill Callahan, Give Up the Ghost by Brandi Carlile, Manners by Passion Pit and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix.
