Top 50 albums of the decade, part one

It's now the final month of the aughts or double-Os or whatever the years 2000-2009 will go down as, and with that, most music publications are spotlighting their picks for the decade's best music. Knowing full well I would get caught up in this list-making fury, I began planning this list a couple months ago and embarked on an ambitious game of catch-up with a bevy of albums from the past ten years that previously hadn't made it to my ears. Even with that preparation, though, I still felt my grasp on the decade in music would be limited, so I enlisted my close friend and fellow music enthusiastic (and member of this decade's finest group devoted to autotuned Renaissance pieces with techno beats, The Instincts), Calle Fitzgerald. We worked separately on our own ranked lists of the decade's fifty best albums, and then used a simple points system to determine which albums from those would go on to our combined list. Since we're only two people, a rating system would be completely meaningless and unagreed-upon, so the top fifty we came up with together will be presented in alphabetical order, with ten albums spotlighted daily for the next five days. On the sixth day, our individual lists and rankings will be posted. Calle and I both agree that a main reason for lists such as these is to stimulate discussion, so we're hoping the comments board lights up with anger, agreement, insights, suggestions, alternate lists, or anything else this list may compel you to write. (To get the ball rolling on the anger front, I've included immature put-downs for every album on today's list.) And since both of us have made musical discoveries that eventually turned into obsessions from these such lists, we're holding out hope that someone will experience that off something from this list:

Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Animal Collective have always been working on more than one level, not content just to combine interesting rhythms with divine harmonies, but also fascinated with sound craft. Here, they have created a breathtaking world in which nothing sounds out of place; to listen to it is to hear a cohesive piece that clearly took a great amount of labor, yet seems effortless, as many great works of art do. Merriweather Post Pavilion is an album bubbling with life, while mostly being composed and performed electronically. The album's influence on contemporary music and the way it is made could perhaps be immense, but that’s not the point or reason for its inclusion here and my top pick. Rather, it is the stunning, visceral experience of turning the record on and hearing unabashed exuberance, warmth and passion from beginning to end. (Calle Fitzgerald)
Choice tracks: “In The Flowers,” “Also Frightened,” “Lion in a Coma”

Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll (2005)

On “Formed a Band,” Eddie Argos sets ridiculously high aspirations for Art Brut, clearly aiming to outshine Bono in both the rock star fame and peace-making department. Naturally, they never reached that height, but on Bang Bang Rock & Roll, they did manage to churn out a highly meta barrage of fierce riffs and oft-hilarious sloganeering that serves as one of the most exciting rock records of the decade and a brilliant, fist-pumping piece of music criticism. Whether shout-singing the sheer thrills of rock and roll or pining for his childhood sweetheart, Argos is a kindred spirit to rock critics and overthinkers like myself. A kindred spirit who could thoroughly kick my ass. (Jon Marquis)
Choice tracks: “Formed a Band,” “Emily Kane,” “Good Weekend”

Beirut, The Flying Club Cup (2007)

While Zach Condon seems to be moving his music in a new direction these days, his first two albums, 2006’s Gulag Orkestar and 2007’s The Flying Club Cup, serve fairly well as companion pieces. Condon’s appropriation of European folk music never comes across as pretentious, his sincerity radiating from an evident love of the music and style. The Flying Club Cup builds on its predecessor’s considerable strengths and adds richness and subtlety to the dreamy escape appeal of Gulag Orkestar. “What melody will lead my lover from his bed,” sings Condon, perhaps not coincidentally over a lovely melody that would for certain beckon many a listener forth to the source of this alluring album. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Nantes,” “A Sunday Smile,” “Cliquot”

Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit (2006)

Belle and Sebastian have always derived musical bliss from the power of their melodies, and the veteran indie band’s most recent album, The Life Pursuit, is no different. What is different, though, is an expansion of styles that still maintains the band’s distinct sound—they had flirted with '60s pop and Motown sounds before, but here they stretch out further, trying out funk, soul and blues. Fortunately, it all succeeds. They also manage to weave these stylistic experiments and the band's more familiar sparkling pop (“Another Sunny Day”) and gorgeous balladry (“Dress Up In You”) into a coherent album, one that provides pleasure upon many listens. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Another Sunny Day,” “Dress Up In You,” “Funny Little Frog”

Beulah, Yoko (2003)

Whether the title is read as a reference to the notorious break-up scapegoat or an acronym of stand-out track, “You're Only King Once,” there's no escaping the despairing sense of finality that runs through Beulah's last album. Sure, it still has its fair share of lushly orchestrated pop suites and a couple fast-paced rockers, but this is the sort of album where the bubbliest chorus comes on a track entitled, “Me and Jesus Don't Talk Anymore.” Elsewhere, mournful strings, sad horns and vocals on the verge of cracking into tears make up the album's aural DNA, and it's a tough mood to shake. (JM)
Choice tracks: “A Man Like Me,” “You're Only King Once,” “Me and Jesus Don't Talk Anymore”

Beyoncé, B'Day (2006)

The first single off B'Day, “Deja Vu,” likely evoked the titular feeling in most people familiar with Beyonce's earlier “Crazy in Love”: Another high-spirited pop hit featuring guest vocals from Jay-Z, who even notes that he “just makes the hits like a factory.” Pop music is a singles medium, after all, so there's nothing wrong with trying to replicate such an irresistible success, especially when the result is an album chock full of single-worthy tracks from one of the most reliable pop artists of the decade. Save for two slower numbers toward the end (one of which is the highlight, “Irreplaceable”), Beyoncé never lets the party atmosphere drop, ripping through a raucous set of seemingly-effortless and often raw pop marvels. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Deja Vu,” “Suga Mama,” “Irreplaceable”

Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)

A lot can be (and has been) said about the man behind Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, but it’s a bit of a tragedy that as many, if not more, words could be devoted to his music and poetry. I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning was made as a double album with Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and shines brightest among a constellation of wonderful albums he released this decade. Oberst doesn’t shy away here from the most difficult topics to effectively write about, but it pays off marvelously, from perhaps the sweetest love song of the decade (“First Day Of My Life”) to intensely-wrought political fury (“At the Bottom of Everything,” “Road to Joy”). In between are typical Bright Eyes ruminations, but every song is stellar, simultaneously providing brilliant lyricism and achingly beautiful melody at every turn. (CF)
Choice tracks: “Lua,” “First Day of My Life,” “Landlocked Blues”

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008)

As the lead singer of the Talking Heads in the 1970s and early '80s, few artists made living every waking moment seem so fraught with peril and paranoia as David Byrne. In 2008, though, few artists made growing old seem so peaceful as Byrne, teaming up with Brian Eno for Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, 27 years after their previous collaboration, the considerably tenser My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Here, Eno settles into relaxed grooves throughout, while most of Byrne's lyrics express sheer contentment, a feeling easily captured when listening to this album. (JM)
Choice tracks: “Home,” “Strange Overtones,” “One Fine Day”

Camera Obscura, Let's Get Out of This Country (2006)

Following their promising and aptly titled sophomore effort, Underachievers Please Try Harder, Camera Obscura did just that on their artistic breakthrough, Let's Get Out of This Country, punctuating their debt to 1960s girl group pop with a shimmering Wall of Sound. While their musicianship bursts with confidence, from the organ that drives “Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken” to the pounding drums on “If Looks Could Kill” to every glorious horn section, Tracyanne Campbell's fragile coo injects every track with painful insecurity, asking a lover to convince her she's pretty on the title track and in a handclap-driven stand-out, proclaiming “I Need All the Friends I Can Get.” Based on the strength of this bittersweet masterpiece, such insecurity is wholly unwarranted. (JM) Choice tracks: “Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken,” “Let's Get Out of This Country,” “If Looks Could Kill”

The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon (2006)

Heavily political rap probably shouldn't mix with lovemaking funk, but on Pick a Bigger Weapon, The Coup expertly juggle those balls, an approach best summed up in the now-dated pick-up line song title, “BabyLet'sHaveABabyBeforeBushDoSomethingCrazy.” The crammed-together words are key, as these two approaches often intermingle in the same song. Sometimes Boots Riley's penchant for provocation gets the better of him, such as the imagined coital scenarios between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein on “Head (Of State),” which features otherwise eloquent rapping about his political views, but elsewhere on the album, he's able to couch insight in his immaturity. As political diatribes go, it's doubtful there are any as simultaneously scatological and sexy as this one, let alone downright groovy. (JM)
Choice tracks: “We Are the Ones,” “Laugh/Love/F**k,” “My Favorite Mutiny”

For part two, click here.
For part three, click here.
For part four, click here.
For part five, click here.
For the individual ranked lists and also-rans, click here.