Top 50 albums of the decade, part four

After showcasing ten albums a day for the past three days, here is day four of the ongoing unranked, alphabetical rundown of top 50 albums of the decade, as compiled by myself and future wandering troubadour Calle Fitzgerald.

For the project's introduction and part one, click here.
For part two, click here.
For part three, click here.

OutKast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)

It'd be a lie to say Speakerboxxx/The Love Below isn't an exhausting listen. Any album clocking in at two hours and fifteen minutes is bound to be, but it's much less exhausting than any ambitious genre-hopping two-plus hour album has any right to be. Granted, the album's diversification was made easier by the fact that the two members of OutKast merged two very different solo albums together, with Big Boi delivering a rough-edged but still experimental party-rap album and Andre 3000 churning out a jazz-influenced and even more experimental groovefest, while tossing in the occasional pop charm like the irresistible “Hey Ya!” Cut into pieces, it would easily be one of the best rap, R&B, jazz, or pop albums of 2003, and put together, it's one of the best albums of the decade. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Bowtie,” “The Rooster,” “Hey Ya!”

Panda Bear, Person Pitch (2007)

While I wouldn’t necessarily say Panda Bear has the songwriting chops of Animal Collective bandmate Avey Tare, he has his own distinct brand of musicianship that is a huge factor in the sound of Animal Collective. Removed from that context, as on Person Pitch and on his other solo albums, Noah Lennox stretches a little bit and shows his musicianship and keen ear. His voice is at the forefront here; the harmonies are rich and gorgeous, the melodies breezy and effortless. The two extended jams in the middle of the album are especially compelling for the way they drone and flow from section to section, never for one minute overstaying their welcome. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Comfy in Nautica,” “I’m Not,” “Ponytail”

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

Starting with their 2000 debut, United, this decade has given France's Phoenix a career jump every three years, landing on Lost in Translation soundtrack in 2003, gaining wide acclaim for their 2006 effort, It's Never Been Like That, and now popping up everywhere in 2009, from car commercials to basically every possible late night TV show (hell, as I'm posting this, they're on Last Call with Carson Daly), on the strength of the bouncy and infectious Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, their best album yet. While the title of the album and songs like “Lisztomania” and “1901” suggest a possible orchestral approach, it comes closer to the work of 20th Century minimalist composers, sounding something like what Philip Glass or Terry Riley might try to concoct if they went on a Bee Gees binge and decided to go pop. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Lisztomania,” “1901,” “Rome”

R.E.M., Reveal (2001)

While 2004’s Around the Sun seemed an icy representation of winter, 2001’s Reveal was completely a summer album. This album was not very well-received at all, but listen closer: hear the sounds of a hazy summer night swirling about from the beginning of “The Lifting” to the bossa-tinged “Beachball.” R.E.M. albums all take some time to grow on a listener, and this one is no different, but the hooks abound and it holds up to repeated listens excellently. There is no shortage of sun-soaked beauty on this album, and I’m convinced that most other bands would have been rocketed to stardom with this nugget of radiance. (CF)
Choice tracks: “The Lifting,” “Chorus and the Ring,” “Beachball”

Radiohead, Hail to the Thief (2003)

I will never understand why exactly Hail to the Thief is so overlooked in Radiohead’s catalog. It is a synthesis of everything that makes the band so great. The album never feels disjointed, despite its juxtaposition of varied styles that hearken back to various points in their oeuvre. “Sit Down. Stand Up.” builds up to a frantic climax that could easily fit in on Kid A or Amnesiac. “There There” and “Go to Sleep” chug along like (somewhat) rockier albums OK Computer or The Bends. For all this, it never sounds backward; it is not merely raiding the past for want of ideas. And for my money, there is no cooler sounding Radiohead song, live or recorded, than “The Gloaming.” (CF)
Choice tracks: “2+2=5 (The Lukewarm.),” “The Gloaming. (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold.),” “There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)”

Damien Rice, O (2003)

Three years before Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová sang their hearts out in the popular indie film Once, fellow Irish singer-songwriters Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan did the same on O. This is not pick-me-up music, but rather it is Rice’s raw emotion on display, rendered beautiful through melody and passionate, yearning vocals. Even if you haven’t heard the album, some of these songs will likely sound familiar—several have been used in movies, most notably in Closer, and on numerous TV shows, including Lost, House, and The O.C. That is no coincidence, as these songs have an almost cinematic grandeur to them. Look no further than Rice and Hannigan’s duet, “Cold Water.” I have no idea how that male choir manages to sound the way it does, but it is absolutely perfect, a highlight on an album full of grand, gorgeous moments. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Delicate,” “The Blower’s Daughter,” “Cold Water”

Sigur Rós, Ágaetis Byrjun (2000)

While there are some albums on this list that are really strong lyrically, but not musically interesting enough to make it on that strength alone, Ágaetis Byrjun is an example of jaw-dropping music with Icelandic (to me, incomprehensible) lyrics. To attempt to put the sound of this album in words is to not do it justice, so just listen, and be swept away by Sigur Rós’ exhilarating soundscapes to the remotest, prettiest corners of your imagination. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Svefn-G-Englar,” “Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa,” “Olsen Olsen”

Sleater-Kinney, All Hands on the Bad One (2000)

On All Hands on the Bad One, a high point in Sleater-Kinney's top-notch discography, the trio of Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss share a tumult of chemistry, with Tucker and Brownstein trading off fierce guitar licks while Weiss gives a master class in rock and roll drumming, all the while delivering their trademark mix of banshee howls and meticulous harmonies. Despite never veering too far from their distinctive sound from the mid-1990s to their 2006 break-up, Sleater-Kinney's dynamic never gets old, always packing their albums with an overabundance of punk rock energy, unleashed particularly well on album highlight, “You're No Rock 'N' Roll Fun,” a put-down track that works as a perfect Cliffs Notes for their ethos. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Ironclad,” “You're No Rock 'N' Roll Fun,” “#1 Must Have”

Elliott Smith, Figure 8 (2000)

Even if Elliott Smith hadn’t tragically died in 2003, Figure 8, the last album released in his lifetime, would remain a sublimely haunting piece. Smith’s voice always seems to be coming from another world, too frail in its whispers and quivers to be of this one, and his songwriting is better and more consistent on this album than any previous time in his career. He wisely chose to couch his misery in warm, at times upbeat arrangements that never undermine the words or vocals, but make them all the more moving. The album is a great achievement, and just as the cover serves as a fitting visual tribute to Smith’s memorial in Los Angeles, the music serves as a memorial for the man’s talent. Who knows what beautiful, delicate heights he could have reached? (CF)
Choice Tracks: “Everything Reminds Me Of Her,” “In The Lost and Found (Honky Bach),” “Stupidity Tries”

Sparks, Hello Young Lovers (2006)

Much like Frank Zappa, Sparks would easily be pegged as a novelty act thanks to their giddily goofy lyrics if their music weren't so damned sophisticated. While their first album this decade, Li'l Beethoven, took that musical sophistication to the extreme by working almost completely in the classical vein, it generally lacked the Queen-like bombast that made their '70s and '80s releases so fun. The sole exception on that album was “Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls,” and Ron and Russell Mael certainly kept the strength of that guitar assault in mind for their follow-up, Hello Young Lovers. It's still heavy on the strings, choir vocals and church organs, but it makes sure to rock just as hard as any of their early cult favorites, and as always, their sense of humor shines through on every song. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Dick Around,” “Perfume,” “(Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country?”

For part five, click here.
For the individual rankings and also-rans, click here.