Yeah, the decade is more than half over now. Doesn't seem like it somehow. Here is my brief review of the music.


A sort of electronic/pop/rock music has seen success with Radiohead, Postal Service, and Lali Puna. What else can be said about Kid A at this point I don't know. I just can't believe that my most anticipated album of all time still managed to surprise me and surpass expectations.

Neko Case did the impossible and got me into country. Blacklisted is so good it shatters your preconceived notions. Now I'm a Gram Parsons fan and I have Gillian Welch on this list too. But Blacklisted is still my favorite.

Old favorites PJ Harvey and Nick Cave are still going strong. Cat Power, Tanya Donelly, and Dirty Three are still worth listening to though they may never reach their earlier peaks.

Insanely catchy pop music made somewhat of a comeback with bands like the Shins, Mass Pornographers, Exploding Hearts, and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. A fantastic trend as far as I'm concerned.

"Weird folk music", for lack of a better term. I've found I lose interest in many albums I would put into this category. Joanna Newsom and Animal Collective are standouts though; in fact I like them better than when I first got them.

Two Lone Swordsmen and Amon Tobin released great electronic albums, however I can't help but feel that instead of going forward these releases are not as good as those of the 90s. Maybe I'm just not as big a fan of the genre as I was then.

OOIOO finally showed me what the Boredoms could sound like if all they cared about was providing joy to the listener, and I loved the result. Not that I don't love the Boredoms as well. For the non-easy-listening set, Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt are godsends. Some of my all time favorites.


Top 30 of 2000-2004


1. Radiohead - Kid A
2. Deerhoof - Reveille
3. Neko Case - Blacklisted
4. Low - Things We Lost in the Fire
5. OOIOO - Feather Float
6. Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow
7. Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2
8. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
9. Songs: Ohia - Didn't it Rain
10. Postal Service - Give Up
11. Clinic - Internal Wrangler
12. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
13. Joanna Newsom - Milk-Eyed Mender
14. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
15. Dirty Three - Whatever You Love You Are
16. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
17. Cat Power - The Covers Record
18. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
19. Broadcast - Haha Sound
20. Amon Tobin - Supermodified
21. Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic
22. Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks
23. Two Lone Swordsmen - Tiny Reminders
24. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
25. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place
26. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
27. Tanya Donelly - Beautysleep
28. Bardo Pond - Dilate
29. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance
30. Lali Puna - Scary World Theory

much more original than mine.

I'd do one but i'm too lazy.

Besides my number one would be Kid A as well, so it wouldn't be too original.

I knew nothing of OOIOO. Now I am intrigued. So there you go.

1. Radiohead - Kid A
6. Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow
7. Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2
9. Songs: Ohia - Didn't it Rain
16. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
19. Broadcast - Haha Sound
20. Amon Tobin - Supermodified
25. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place
29. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance


Wor dup. These would all either be on my list or be in the vicinity...also your list gave me some good download ideas.

I don't have any kind of comprehensive vision or thought on the first half of the decade. There were a bunch of albums that came out and I liked them and a bunch more that came out that I ignored.

This is why I'll never be an actual reviewer or music journalist. Too lazy to encapsulate, perspectivate and elucidate.

probably on my top30 list, or the vacinity