Patterson Hood - Drive-By Truckers - Best of Decade List

1. The Glands - The Glands
Patterson Hood by Susan J. Weiand
My favorite album of the decade and also my all time favorite album ever to come out of Athens, GA. It came out in 2000 and is still growing on me nearly a decade later. Unfortunately it came out on Capricorn in the waning days of their attempt at resurgence and virtually no one outside of Athens heard it, but of those who have there is a cult of us who feel exactly like I do about it. They never released a follow up and Ross now manages a record store in town. A truly timeless masterpiece that gets better with every listen (and I've listened to it weekly for over nine years now).

2. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
Another timeless masterpiece and truly my favorite songwriting of the decade. At least three of these songs would be in my top 5 for the decade and "Elvis Presley Blues" is the all time greatest song ever written about a subject that I long considered closed. (That is meant as very high praise and not as a left handed compliment.) I suspect I'll still be playing this one a lot in ten more years.

3. Bob Dylan - Love and Theft (or Modern Times or Together Through Life)
Honestly I could interchange these, as any one of them could sit here nicely. I'll give the edge to L&T since it came out first and therefore has spent the most time in my player. Released on 9/11/01, (the same day my band released Southern Rock Opera) L&T is truly an album of a different time and yet strangely timely as an unintended soundtrack to a suddenly changed America. One of those spooky coincidences that Dylan has spent a career bumping into, the album somehow managed to be timely while also somehow seeming like it could have been just as timely in 1956, at the apex of an American century that was suddenly violently closed. Taken as a three album set, the three Dylan albums (not counting a stellar outtakes Bootleg Series release and a laughable Xmas album) make for a late-life artistic peak that goes far beyond any such in the Rock and Roll Era. Old Man Dylan is in my favorite era of his amazing career and he's totally my pick for Artist of the Decade.

4. Outkast - Stankonia
Before Jay-Z "retired" and Kanye West became a parody of himself, hip hop was actually hitting a peak at the dawning of this century and no one was making cooler records than Atlanta's Outkast. Stankonia is truly their masterpiece. "Ms. Jackson" is in my top 3 favorite songs of the decade and this album transcends its (or any) genre. It still holds up (timeless again) nearly a decade later when most of its contemporaries now sound dated and sometimes silly.

5. White Stripes - Red Blood Cells
They made being Rock Stars almost seem cool again. Big fun, goofy, funny, and smart. Rocking as hell, any nay-sayers must admit how well this album is holding up. Then they followed it up with three more stellar releases, plus an array of side projects and extra points for bringing Loretta back in such incredible style.

6. Iron And Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
8. Centro-matic - Love You Just The Same - My favorite band's best album, although only by inches as I could just about interchange any one of their 6-7 albums this decade and come out nearly as well.
9. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea - Another 2000 release that I still have on rotation.
10. Wilco - Kicking Television (Live in Chicago) - My favorite Live Rock and Roll album since Live At Fillmore East (Allman Brothers).
11. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose - The Comeback of the Century (so far).
12. Radiohead - Kid A
13. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
14. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
15. James McMurtry - Childish Things
16. Iron and Wine - (TIE) The Creek Drank The Cradle / Our Endless Numbered Days
17. Gillian Welch - Hell Among The Yearlings
18. Outkast - The Love Below / Speakerboxxx
19. Bloodkin - Baby They Told Us We Would Rise Again - My Favorite Album of 2009 / "Wild Rhododendrons" is my favorite song of the year.
20. Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
21. M. Ward - Post War
22. Tom Waits - Alice
23. Centro-matic - Distance and Clime
24. Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts
25. Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter

I didn't list Bettye LaVette's Scene Of The Crime, as I felt it would be lame to since I played on it and co-produced it, however I honestly can say that it would definitely be pretty high on that list otherwise.

I saw that this morning as well. Can't fault any of his choices.

Anyone got that Glands jonks? I know Derris has it/is big on it, but I guess I need to pay it more mind?

//www.mediafire.com/?byd0n0y2y4d (Glands)

What is a Centro-matic?

It has something to do with lube.

I saw patterson hood do 30 minutes of experimental noise with a bunch of guys at the 40 watt the other night.

1998

24. Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts

1996!

Man DJ. I'm pretty surprised you haven't come across this band in the last decade at some point.

Centro-matic = Will Johnson

Kind of earnest indie rock that can go from almost country rock to 90's-esque indie rock.

He's also the main guy behind South San Gabriel.

I know a couple of the guys in Centro-matic played on Patterson's solo disc from '09. He's been involved with a bunch of their projects and they've toured together several times I think.

Solid band.

I love that Glands album. Great choices. I could use this list as my own and just reorder it.

That Bloodkin thing sounds like an extra dull DBT album.

And by that I mean some of you will obviously love it.

yeah, i'm surprised more people on here don't like this band.

They'd (Centro-Matic) be more palatable if they'd up their production quality. Will Johnson was touring as Monster of Folk's drummer.

FINALLY, somebody besides me admits to liking that album!

centro matic just never did a thing for me. might have to hear this glands album though.

Put me down for liking Centro-matic. Love You Just the Same is a great album.

That Glands album is fucking fantastic. its a shame they never put out a follow up.

I haven't listened to centro-matic since I was at college radio, I take it from this thread that his newerish stuff is pretty decent?

even though I'm not patterson's biggest fan, I always enjoy his lists.

Big ups to Pat for not even knowing the name of his #5 album of the decade.

As far as Centro-matic, I prefer their earlier stuff a bit more, as it was a little more rockin'. "All The Falsest Hearts Can Try" remains my favorite.

Liking this Glands album so far.

I think it has a ramshackle Stonesy feel to it. Given they're from Athens, I would have thought it was all-time Gar material for you.