20. Bjork - Vespertine (2001)
Bjork's prior release in '97, Homogenic, is my favorite. In my mind, it's the perfect blend of electronica, pop and her oddly beautiful voice. Even though it was released four years later, Vespertine feels like a companion piece to Homogenic. If she climbed the digital mountain top in '97, she descended it in '01. She was bouncing, pulsing, marching in '97. In '01 she is reflecting, resting and quiet. The digital elements are still there, but they are more ambient, the samples more subtle. It's quite pretty. On several tracks she uses a choir of light voices ("It's Not Up to You" and "Undo" for example), perhaps a slight foreshadowing of the vocal exercises to come on Medulla. I have this idea in my head that as soon as one steps from the plane in Iceland you can hear these voices, echoing throughout the country side. It's a magical world filled with the glorious music of Bjork, Sigur Ros and Mum.
Bonus trivia: According to Wikipedia, Bjork's first official release came at age 11, in 1977. If you have it, I want to hear it. Please share.
19. Sigur Ros - Takk... (2005)
This band has made a lot of great music. One might argue that their 2002 release ( ) should be on this list instead (that's not a mistake, there are no words in the title, just parentheses). You could also argue that 2000's Agaetis Byrjun should be on the list (forgive me, I don't know how to type all the accent marks). While both are great records, I would say that neither "shaped your decade" more than Takk. Remember, that's one of our criteria for the list. I think for many Takk is the Sigur Ros album they heard first and then they made their way back through their catalog. It is, in my opinion, their most accessible album, if you can call dreamy post-rock with vocals sung in a made up language accessible (not kidding, it's called "Vonlenska" or "Hopelandic").
I find this band pretty fascinating. No one understands a good portion of their lyrics but them so the vocals end up being used more as atmosphere. For a couple of years I thought there was a female vocalist in the band, but nope, that's just Jonsi Birgisson's falsetto. He also happens to play his guitar with a cello bow. Oh yeah, and he's blind in one eye.
18. Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce MF Doom, the best rapper you've never heard of. I'll be honest, I didn't know who Doom was until 2004 and I'm a little ashamed to admit it. He had already released several gems under his alter egos. In 1999, under the name MF Doom he dropped Operation: Doomsday. In 2001 through 2004 he released volumes one through eight of his instrumental records, Special Herbs, under the name Metal Fingers. In 2003 he dropped Vaudeville Villain under the name Viktor Vaughn and Take Me to Your Leader as King Geedorah. He had even recorded two albums in the early '90s as one third of a group called KMD. Back then he called himself Zev Love X. Somehow I missed all of that. Maybe it's because I had no idea all of those names belonged to the same person. Geez! Actually, his various personas are one of the many things I like about Doom (apparently it's just "Doom" now). He's a comic book rapper, often taking on superhero or super-villain personalities (which you may have guessed from the mask or the Doctor Victor Von Doom reference). And it's almost as if Doom does not want to be found, like the super-villains he models himself after.
Fortunately, his project with Madlib, Madvillany was pretty easy to find. Seems like it was on everyone's list as one of the best albums of 2004. It perfectly pairs Doom's persona with Madlib's soulful, jazzy, short and sweet, sample heavy beat making. You may not realize it, but these two are influencing rap music from the shadows, from behind the masks, from their secret lairs. Madlib's beats are making their way closer to the mainstream. Doom is doing his fair share of production work himself. Together, they will rule the rap game in villainy! Muhahaha...
17. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
I was a big fan of Marshall in the year 2000. Yeah, he was incredibly violent, sexist, homophobic and downright disturbing but he was also so clever, so razor sharp and, in my opinion, had the best flow in the business. He possesses a unique vocabulary which enables him to paint verbal pictures like non other. Sometimes that's part of the problem. I don't really need or want to visualize Slim Shady killing his wife. He's just so descriptive and it seems to come naturally. We didn't really need a video for "Stan." The song says it all, the images are in your mind and the track includes some of the sound effects. The sound of pencil on paper, the rain, the screams from the trunk, the screeching tires - they're all included in the music without overwhelming Em's lyrics.
Pitchfork included this one in their 100 best albums of 2000-2004. I couldn't agree with their assessment more and for fear of plagiarizing them, I'm going to just direct you to their words.
However you feel about Marshall, I don't think you can argue that his music impacted our culture in the last ten years. His rants about the controversy he created ("The Way I Am" or "Who Knew") are not overstated, which I might add, is a part of his appeal. He's so darn honest and conflicted.
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell (2003)
It took me a little while to warm up to this one when it was first released. Like everyone else, I loved "Maps" but I had trouble with the rest of it. I will say, however, that I'm a sucker for a band with a big sound, a sound that's bigger than the sum of it's parts. I'm also an admirer of bands that don't do what they are expected. When songs from the YYY's second album, Show Your Bones, started to leak I was impressed with their range, their diversity. I started spending more time with Fever to Tell and it really started to grow on me. I remember taking a bus ride to New York and blasting the album on my ipod during the trip. It felt like the perfect sound for NYC's underground. It was loud and messy and Karen O sounded so savage, yet so beautiful. Turn the volume up on "Tick" and tell me that O doesn't get under your skin. It's the hardest hitting "garage rock" record I've heard and after a while, I actually wanted more. That's precisely what they did not give us though, more. Nothing they have released since sounds the same. I guess they've grown up a bit.
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