Dude's got the tech down pat! awwwesome! ...comments to follow on my own typically peculiar choices.

Top 100 Songs - 2000s

In a listenable format, countdown ordered from 100 to 1. Enjoy those tracks you find great, skip those that just grate.

I like your list, Marc, though I confess to not having heard enough Jack Johnson to either frown or applaud his prominent inclusion(s). Though we both apparently dig us some Wilco, for some reason 'A Ghost is Born' consistently rubs me the wrong way and gets worse for me with each listen. Am rediscovering Hope Sandoval's earlier disc from the decade that you included, after recently downloading her latest; the quiet prettiness of 'Suzanne' (not an LC cover) equals or betters any of the Mazzy Star stuff.

Will wait for everyone else's lists before expanding on the reasons my own choices. However, some reasons behind some notable omissions:

"White Blood Cells" - The White Stripes
Was originally on my list, as high up as the 30s. And if we were discussing a list of what we consider the most important discs of the decade, a concept fraught not only with pomposity but a seriousness of purpose unsuited to the casual sharing/piss taking of this particular space, than pehaps it would have rated in my top 5. But if I'm honest with myself, much as I like the album, I almost never listen to it, beyond sticking the breatkthrough single, which will appear shortly on my best songs list, on my shuffle for running.

The Killers - I don't fucking like them. Perhaps there's something to their sound that I should like. Still, no. Ditto Gwen Stefani, every member of the Black Eyed Peas or anyone from any American, Canadian Idol contest.

LCD Soundsystem, Ghostface Killah, Green Day...I don't own these albums. Perhaps I should. Let me know.

Am working on a way (thank you US Thanksgiving) to include my top 100 songs in a listenable countdown format widget from grooveshark, to possibly post tomorrow or Monday. Until then, happy blogging.

I know i'm gonna catch some flack for my list ...i just know it! ...here it is, the top 82 albums of the new millennium according to moi!

Some selections are solid and have legs, others, admittedly, not so much so; we will put them in the category of "temporal but of great significance in one way or another".


1-Arcade Fire, Funeral
2-Jack Johnson, Thicker Than Water
3-Antibalas, Talkatif
4-Suba, Sao Paulo Confessions
5-St Germain, Tourist
6-Getatchew Mekuria, The Ex and Guests, Moa Anbessa
7-Broken Social Scene, You Forgot it in People
8-Soil and Pimp Sessions, Pimp of the Year
9-Bugge Wesseltoft, Moving
10-Calexico, Feast of Wire
11-Brad Mehldau, Live in Tokyo
12-Koop, Waltz for Koop
13-Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
14-Clinic, Walking With Thee
15-Gotan Project, La Revancha Del Tango
16-The Strokes, Room on Fire
17-Death Cab for Cutie, Plans
18-Jack Johnson, Brushfire Fairytales
19-Sigur Ros, ()
20-Moby, 18
21-Wilco, A Ghost is Born
22-Air, Virgin Suicides
23-Dandy Warhols, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
24-The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic
25-Pawa Up First, Introducing New Details
26-South, From Here On In
27-Garbage, Beautiful Garbage
28-Soil and Pimp Sessions, Pimp Master
29-Jolie Holland, Escondida
30-Bebel Gilberto, Tanto Tempo
31-Lilly Allen, Alright Still
32-Interpol, Antics
33-Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head
34-Zero Seven, Simple Things
35-Franz, Ferdinand
36-Femi Kuti, Fight To Win
37-Eivind Aarset, Connected
38-Amon Tobin, Supermodified
39-Four Hero, Creating Patterns
40-Ladytron, Witching Hour
41-Antibalas, Who is This America
42-Bugge Wesseltoft, IM
43-Bonobo, Animal Magic
44-MIA, Arular
45-Soil and Pimp Sessions, Pimpoint
46-The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow
47-Beastie Boys, To the Boroughs
48-Outkast, Stankonia
49-The Avalanches, Since I Left You
50-Spoon, Gimme Fiction
51-Bugge Wesseltoft, New Conceptions of Jazz Live
52-Do Make say Think, & Yet & Yet
53-The Walkmen, Bows & Arrows
54-Mum, Finally We Are No One
55-Feist, Let it Die
56-Antibalas, Security
57-Built to Spill, You in Reverse
58-The White Stripes, Elephant
59-Pernice Brothers, Yours Mine & Ours
60-Jack Johnson, On and On
61-Bugge Wesseltoft, New conceptions of Jazz
62-Dzihan & Kamien, Freaks and Icons
63-Guided By Voices, Earthquake Glue
64-Beck, Guero
65-Thievery Corporation, The Mirror Conspiracy
66-Hawaii
67-Moby, Hotel
68-Sergio Mendes, Timeless
69-Eivind Aarset, Electonique Noire
70-Sam Roberts, Chemical City
71-Explosions in the Sky, The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Plan
72-Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams
73-Gnarles Barkley, St Elseware
74-Hope Sandaval, Bavarian Fruit Bread
75-Banca de Gaia, Last Train to Lhasa
76-Snow Patrol, Final Straw
77-Nils Petter Molvaer, er
78-Eivind Aarset, Electonique Noire – Light Extracts
79-Joseph Malik, Diverse
80-Manitoba, Start Breaking my Heart
The Decemberists, Picaresque (late addition not sequenced)
Shout Out Louds, Howl Howl, Gaff Gaff (late addition not sequenced)

Mike and Derek, love the lists (though I'd say Jane Says is tenuous, much as I love this song). My intentions with the CA songs was to include those that reference the place, cities, or locations within the state, whether overtly or not. Which is why I didn't mention any of the Beach Boys songs you mentioned, and I certainly wasn't going to include 'California Girls'. Not to get into a pissing match about what constitutes a Cali song, though.

In a similar vein to the po-mo take you highlighted Bri, I should have also included Rufus Wainwright's "California" which begins, "California / California / You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay, in bed".

Also, I did mention Luna. And I don't like "LA Woman" though "Peace Frog", with its "bloody red sun of fantastic LA" line probably makes it a worthy entry.

My two cents worth on the Cali road trip soundtrack:

Flash and the Pan - California
Bran Van 3000 - Drinking in LA
The Lucksmiths - The Chapter in Your Life entitled San Francisco
The Decemberists - either Los Angeles I'm Yours or California One Youth & Beauty Brigade
Randy Newman - I Love LA
Jay Farrar - California
Warren Zevon - Desperados under the Eaves
Tom Petty Free Falling
Joni Mitchell - California
Jane's Addiction - Jane Says

Love the post modern take on California music guys, ie a lot of these writers are looking at the anti-dream rather than the promise. But come come, two California lists without the Beach Boys ?! You can, as I do, eschew most or all of the "00"s" Pitchfork idolization of everything Brian Wilson (I've railed about this in previous blogs), but to exclude Beach Boys from a list of Cali music seems just mean. For me Good Vibrations is their peak.

Other necessities would include something by the Byrds - the greatest LA band of all time in my humble view - I would suggest Mr. Tambourine Man for its dreamy (literally) qualities. Since we're talking about LA, what abotu the Doors LA Woman? Nice. And Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth" about the riots on Sunset Strip. Fanstatic. Millions more from the sixties, Grateful Dead, Sanatana, Moby Grape, Quicksilver, Jefferson Airplane, the list goes one (Marc, methinks I'm making you a disk).

And moving on, something from the 70's So Cal scene - the much blogged Jackson Browne (say, Doctor My Eyes), or hell if we're sticking to literal references why not Eagles "Hotel California". On a more modern note, "Unfair" would be my first choice (good job KP), but how about Luna's "California", or wait, that fairly wretched opening song from the OC (Kyle please insert title).

OK it's time I started working.

I'm still working on my 20xx list, but I can contribute a few ideas to the California playlist concept. I couldn't find videos for all of them:

1. California Stars by Wilco



2. California Dreamline by Rheostatics




3. Goodnight California by Kathleen Edwards



4. California by Low



5. Not California by Hem



6. California by Josh Ritter



7. Come a Long Way by Michelle Shocked



8. Losing California by Sloan



9. I Remember California by REM

10. San Andreas Fault by Nathalie Marchant

Brian, 'Toxic Girl' by Kings of C., will definitely be on the top songs list, though I'm not sure if Damian Jurado's 'Cannonball' will make the cut...will have to see on game day. Looking forward to everyone's list and some discussion about what was included and why. Not sure if that makes sense in this space or at the actual meeting but still plenty to go over.

As for the road trip, we could probably spend lots of time coming up with a set of criteria for what constitutes good road music (first one to mention Tom Cochrane without irony is kicked off the blog...ha ha ha, no i'm serious), I'm gonna go the easy route and throw out my list of 'California' songs, some classic, some not so classic:

10. Los Angeles - Frank Black




9. I Left My Wallet in El Segundo - A Tribe Called Quest

8. Straight Outta Compton - NWA

7. Going Back to Cali - LL Cool J

6. Unfair - Pavement



5. Santa Monica - Everclear

4. I Hate (California Girls) - Magnetic Fields




3. California (All the Way) - Luna



2. Going to California - Led Zepellin

1. Mama's and the Papa's, of course

I've held off on looking at Kyle's list so as not to sully my thoughts. Brian et al. as for a get together, i will be out of town from Dec 18th to Jan 5 ...oh, and i need to put together a playlist for a road trip to CALIFORNIA! ya baby!

Working on a list has caused me to pull out and spin some tunes from the decade that i have not given a fair shake ...it's a good thing. I am also surprised by how much music that i was quite fond of was released just prior to the turn of the century.

Kyle you're putting us all to shame for Christ's sake. I knew you'd been noodling on your top 100 for a while but somehow didn't imagine it ever coming out (umm, maybe that's more MY thing). It's a great list, gotta say. Very rounded, very inclusive, yet very Kyle. I've looked at it a few times, and there's a fair bit of music that I don't know, which is always fun. Lots to explore.

And since I am planning on unveiling my ambitious top ten albums list (wow! ....OK, I'll think about songs too) in the upcoming week or two, I can comment on the overlap. There are definitely signs of cross-pollination in there; you have three of my top ten in your top ten (you usurping bastard) and a few more BD top tens on the rest of the 100. Interestingly though, four of my toppers aren't on your list at all. A couple of which don't surprise me (odd choices on my part), a couple of which do. I won't give 'em away though, gotta leave some suspense.

In terms of beloved-but-non-top-tenners that would have made a long list for me, a few potentially in your wheelhouse that jumped out were Andrew Bird (Armchair), Kings of Convenience (Quiet - which I warmed up and up to over the decade), something by Damien Jurado (I adore "And Now That I'm in Your Shadow", which still might squeak into my top ten, but others in his oeuvre are v. good), something by Beulah (Coast is Never Clear?), and also something by Matt Pond (say, Measure or Green Fury).

Looking forward to the listening party, have we agreed to wait to January? I'll make an early suggestion that Mike makes the trip to the Big Smoke to come down for a weekend and bring along his noughty best. In which case, lets look at calendars to help that along.

I do plan on posting my top 100 songs as well, but am still working on the final list and ranking.
Also, it has been pointed out that I failed to include the first Sigur Ros album, which I indeed love to bits but was listed on allmusic.com as being released in 1999. If we agree that it was only released domestically in 2000 (think I bought the pricy import a few months prior), then I'm happy to include it prominently on my list. Let me know if there are any others dubious omissions, iyo.

Egads man, you ranked them, and 100 at that!!

Will need some spare time to digest your comprehensive list. I could use some of that bountiful spare time you have while on the road that allows you to devise such a list. When are we getting together to spin the top 500 (5 guys x 100 different albums, just saying) albums of the noughties?

Also, appropos of nada, my top 100 albums of the decade.

100
Blueberry Boat
Fiery Furnaces
99
Berlin Serengeti
Radio Citizen
98
And Yet And Yet
Do Make Say Think
97
Tanto Tempo*
Bebel Gilberto
96
War of the Waking Phantoms
The High Dials
95
Trials of the Van Occupier
Midlake
94
In Ghost Colours
Cut Copy
93
Vekatimist
Grizzly Bear
91
Silent Alarm
Bloc Party
91
Len Parrot's Memorial Lift
Baxter Dury
90
The Visualz Anthology
Siah & Yeshua
89
Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven
Godspeed You Black Emperor
88
Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors
87
Deadringer
RJD2
86
Lust Lust Lust
Raveonettes
85
The Many Moods of Ben Benjamin , Vol. 1
Ben Benjamen
84
The Great Eastern*
The Delgados
83
Cease to Begin
Band of Horses
82
Phrenology
The Roots
81
The Stage Names
Okkervil River
80
From Here We Go Sublime
The Field
79
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
78
What We Must
Jaga Jazzist
77
Good News for People Who Like Bad News
Modest Mouse
76
Cibelle
Cibelle
75
Feels
Animal Collective
74
Close to Paradise
Patrick Watson
73
Finally We Are No One
Mum
72
Before the Dawn Heals Us
M83
71
Rings Around the World
Super Furry Animals
70
The Long Goodbye
The Essex Green
69
Poses
Rufus Wainwright
68
Joyful Rebellion
K-os
67
The Fast Rise and Fall of the South
The Kingsbury Manx
66
Back to Black
Amy Winehouse
65
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Bright Eyes
64
Microcastle
Deerhunter
63
The Sophware Slump
Grandaddy
62
The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
The Besnard Lakes
61
The Eraser
Thom Yorke
60
Five Roses
Miracle Fortress
59
Andorra
Caribou
58
Walking With Thee
Clinic
57
Alligator
The National
56
One Bedroom
The Sea and Cake
55
Black Sheep Boy
Okkervil River
54
For Emma, For Ever Ago
Bon Iver
53
Parc Avenue
Plants & Animals
52
The Life Pursuit
Belle and Sebastian
51
Our Endless Numbered Days
Iron & Wine
50
Oh, Inverted World
The Shins
49
The Reminder
Feist
48
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
47
Z
My Morning Jacket
46
Person Pitch
Panda Bear
45
The City
Fembots
44
Post-War
M.Ward
43
Arular
M.I.A.
42
Vieux Farka Toure
Vieux Farka Toure
41
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon
40
Transatlanticism
Death Cab for Cutie
39
Yours, Mine & Ours
Pernice Brothers
38
Specialist in All Styles
Orchestra Baobob
37
Late Registration
Kanye West
36
The Glow Part 2
The Microphones
35
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
34
Pushin' On
Quantic Soul Orchestra
33
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Yo La Tengo
32
Sao Paulo Confessions
Suba
31
Cast of Thousands
Elbow
30
Sea Change
Beck
29
Picaresque
The Decemberists
28
Bows + Arrows
The Walkmen
27
Veneer
Jose Gonzalez
26
Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia
The Dandy Warhols
25
Melody A.M.
Royksopp
24
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
23
Figure 8
Elliot Smith
22
Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Outkast
21
Simple Things
Zero 7
20
Set Yourself on Fire
Stars
19
Madvillainy
Madvillian
18
Return to Cookie Mountain
TV on the Radio
17
You Forgot it in People
Broken Social Scene
16
Antics
Interpol
15
The Electric Version
The New Pornographers
14
The Grey Album
Danger Mouse
13
Tourist
St. Germain
12
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
11
In Rainbows
Radiohead
10
Waltz for Koop
Koop
9
Chutes Too Narrow
The Shins
8
Feast of Wire
Calexico
7
Is This It?
The Strokes
6
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case
5
Come On Feel the Illinoise
Sufjan Stevens
4
Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Badly Drawn Boy
3
Kid A
Radiohead
2
Funeral
Arcade Fire
1
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco

*indicates those that were added after the list was posted and i realized i had somehow left them off the initial list

Great minds think alike, Mike. I've been reluctant to spend the time going back through my downloads and rating them, for the same reason: would it be worthwhile? Haven't had the time to sit down and go through all those downloads (have been a member for 5 years and w/ 90 downloads per month, there's a lot through which to sift) but may try to get to it sometime soon.

Hey Mike, no, I've never tried using the feedback function. Sill the new format seems to do a pretty good job of suggesting music, mostly old jazz in my case. It becomes a bit of a loop I get stuck in, where I download some or all of the five or six albums on the home page, end up using most of my monthlies, and so get recommended the same type of thing again. And there do seem to be a ridiculous number of old jazz albums coming out of the woodwork.

Have any of you emusic.com users spent the time to rate the various albums that you've downloaded using the tools that they provide? I think that the idea is that if you rate things consistently, the site will be better able to suggest new music that is in line with your tastes. I've never bothered to rank anything on the site, but I'm considering taking the time to do it retroactively, and I'm wondering how effective the system is.