I wrote this back in September of 09 so forgive me for its' prematureness as the decade wasn't over yet.
Eminem::The Marshall Mathers LP::2000
God, I love albums that have a parental advisory sticker on the front. That means I get to learn all the cuss words and put combinations of them together that I would never even think of, and best of all, rap them! I love this album for its in yo face honesty. I think that's the same reason some people hate it. The truth is not always kind, my friends. Every single song grabs your attention and if it doesn't, you must be deaf or not know what the words mean. Whether the subject is about an obsessed fan driving drunk off a bridge (with the 'ol ball N chain tied up in the trunk), killing my slut of a mother and girlfriend, or the amount and variety of drugs that have been done, you bet I'm listening. The quality that I like most about majority of the songs on Marshall Mathers is that most of the time while listening, I'm horrified but then moments later, I am suddenly agreeing with everything Em is saying (yeah, I call him Em now). Horrifying as it may be, Marshall's just holding a mirror in everyone's face. This album made my list because...well, I think Eminem says it best himself: "I'm like a head trip to listen to cause I'm only giving you things you joke about with your friends inside your living room the only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of y'all and I don't gotta be false or sugar coated at all."
Alicia Keys::Songs In A Minor::2001
This album provided me with a moment in time I will never forget. Dramatic, I know, but true. I remember being 18, driving around Mansfield on route 140 and suffering from a severe case of A.D.D. with the songs being played on the radio and stopping on "Fallin" by Alicia Keys. My jaw dropped and I didn't close it for about three and a half minutes. I went out and bought 'Songs In A Minor' the next day. She got herself a true fan that day because as suspected, none of the songs on 'Songs' disappointed. Alicia was 19 when she wrote those songs. After hearing this album, I would have guessed she was about 35. She's an old soul and that is apparent in both her lyrics and her voice. The music on this album was just rich with soul and I love me some soul. The best part about this album was knowing that it was the first of many more to come from Miss Keys.
Jay-Z::The Blueprint::2001
One of the dictionary definitions for blueprint is a model or prototype. The name of one of my favorite Jay-Z albums is called The Blueprint, and rightfully so. Every song on this cd is exactly how rap should be, fo shizzle nizzle. But what do I know? I'm just a little white girl from Mansfield. This is why it's just an opinion. In all seriousness though, each track sounds like it has the potential to be a hit and I'm pretty sure a lot of em were (this is where a writer from Rolling Stone or Pitchfork would have actual chart numbers). Shawn Carter makes it all sound so easy, like maybe even I could do it. At times when I listen to Jigga Man, I'm overly confident with my spittin' skills (which are non existant). What really intensifies my love for this album and basically any J-Hova album, is the fact that my man doesn't write anything down. Huh? I can't even remember what I said five minutes ago and Jay is remembering improv and piling up on the word plays. I can't keep up with HOV. He's always one step ahead of errrrrrone else. Jay-Z nickname count: at least 4. <> HOVA! HOVA! HOVA!
Radiohead::Hail To The Thief::2003
Fact: Hail To The Thief is Radiohead's most overlooked album. I've even read that it is a 'bad album' somewhere. Radiohead? A bad album? Okay, okay fine. I am a little biased because, well to put it simply, Radiohead is my favorite band. Regardless of that fact, this album definitely doesn't get as much credit as it deserves. I always try and figure out why 'critics' don't like it and the only two possible ideas I can think of are that it came out after Kid A/OK Computer or because it doesn't sound like old Radiohead or new Radiohead. Personally, my love for an album doesn't stem from the similarity to it's predecessors or for the 'freshness' of the sound. I don't need new or old Radiohead, I just need some god damn Radiohead. This album is grumpy Thom Yorke and friends which is perfect because a grumpy Thome Yorke is my favorite kind of Thome Yorke. I just have one question though. What kind of album would you make having already created one of the greatest albums ever (hint: OK Computer)? That considered, Hail To The Thief is more than alight in my book.
Arcade Fire::Funeral::2004
It may have come out in 04, but I was not so lucky to know about it then. The first time I heard this, I was a senior at UMass (nostalgic sigh). I had never heard anything like it before and haven't since. I mean, when is the last time you heard an organ being played in a band? A band that consists of about 10 musicians nonetheless. I love how one minute a song is calm, and then in the next, it's melodic chaos. No two songs sound alike and they just let the emotions rip. The combination of the layering of the voices providing depth to each song and the melting pot of sounds being made by their respective instruments is a recipe for great music. Arcade Fire mastered that recipe with 'Funeral' and made it their own. I think the biggest part of why I chose this album, besides the obvious awesomeness that it is, is because it lead me to go see the best concert I've ever been to. Arcade Fire at the Orpheum in Boston. Best. Concert. Ever. Words wouldn't even do it justice. No one else is doing what they're doing.
Modest Mouse::Good News For People Who Love Bad News::2004
First of all, what a great album name. Second of all, the lead singer reminds me of Linus from Charlie Brown at times and I love Linus. While the album has got those going for it, they are not the reasons this album is on my list. This album is showing up here because it has songs like "The World At Large," "Blame It On The Tetons," and "The Good Times Are Killing Me" on it. Listen to those songs and then I dare you to tell me you don't like Modest Mouse and if you do come back and say that to me, than we probably should just end our friendship right there. It's not me, it's you. I love the versatility of Isaac's voice throughout this whole album. At times he is soft and whispery (The World At Large) and then other times you think he is going to come out of the speakers and stab you (Bury Me With It). There are a few tracks on the album that neither make nor break it but serve as 'fillers' if you will. Even with those fillers, this release from Modest Mouse is better than most of the music out there. I think hardcore Modest Mouse fans would likely say that this was their biggest, most commercial, "sell out" album and they are probably right but that doesn't make it any less good. Afterall, how can a song with a badass opening line like "I backed my car into a cop car the other day, well he just drove off, sometimes lifes ok" not become popular?
Fiona Apple::Extraordinary Machine::2005
Ahhhhhh Fiona, Fiona, Fiona. This woman is a poet (and my therapist). She writes poems and then plays the piano (magnificently I might add) and then effortlessly sings said poems over the sounds of the piano. Her voice is not impressive as say oh I don't know, Mariah Carey but on it's own level, it's perfect. Mariah Carey singing these songs would be ridiculous. She can stick to the surfacey stuff. I don't listen to Mariah for her lyrics. I do in fact, listen to Fiona for her words, and powerful ones they are. Sometimes I'll listen to a song off of this album and just rewind it a bit to be certain I just heard the string of words I thought I did and then I'll rewind it again because it was that awesome. More often than I'd like to admit, I have to look up the meanings of the diction Fiona chooses to express herself (i.e. Stentorian (adj.) very loud or powerful in sound). Fiona makes me smart. I'm sure most dudes probably consider her music as "girly" but come on now,you're just depriving yourself of good music and music doesn't have a gender. Hell, I like 'dad rock' (see below). Fiona rules and that's all she wrote.
Wilco::Kicking Television:Live In Chicago::2005
I guess I'm sorta cheating on this one for 2 reasons. 1. It's a live cd and 2. It has songs on it from a bunch different Wilco albums but ya know what? I'm over it. It was an official Wilco release so that's fair game to me. Kicking Television is glorious. I had never heard a note of Wilco until these live versions. It wasn't love at first note for me. This one was one of those ones that was just on in the background while I was cleaning or came up on shuffle and I'd leave it. Before I knew it, I knew all the words and even had tracks I favored more than others. This led me on a search for the original albums and songs and with all this technology those crazy kids are coming up with these days, that task wasn't hard. Then something weird happened. I actually liked the live versions better and the studio versions sounded weird to me. Not that the studio versions are bad. There is just something about the live music on these two discs. Maybe it's the crowds' involvement that can be heard throughout, or maybe it's the jam sessions that are broken into. I think mostly though, it's just the realness of the music. No bells and whistles. Just some old dudes creating some "Dad rock" that a 26 year old girl loves.
Band Of Horses::Cease To Begin::2007
The sophomore ablum is always considered the true test of an artist or band. The listener's fear of being let down places all the pressure on the sophomore album. Is it going to be as good as the debut or even comparable? For me, the answer that question regarding the second Band of Horses album is...hell ya. If not as equally as good as their first album ("Everything All Of The Time" hmmm possibly stolen from a Radiohead song? ahem..."Everything In It's Right Place"), it might even be slightly better. There are so many things to love about the album; the southern twang that is laced throughout but not so much that you could mistake it for country, the singers distinct, haunting voice with a range that is pretty damn good for a dude, and most noticeably, the beautiful melodies that I promise you will be in your head for days. There is something about this Southern folk that is warm and comforting and it makes me want to be around it. It's like when you come home from college for the first time and your mom makes you a home cooked meal. It's been two years since this album came out and I am so ready and excited for Band Of Horses to come out with their third album. I will say this though, it better be better than their sophomore album. Now that's pressure.
~2007::RUNNER UP::THe National::Boxer
Bon Iver::For Emma, Forever Ago::2008
What can I say? I'm a sucker for albums about heartbreak. People write the best music when they are hurt. I feel like this album is....special. I know I know more adjectives than 'special' but I feel like that is truly appropriate here. I mean, this man breaks up with his band, breaks up with his girlfriend, his heart's broken, he moves out to a cabin in the Middle Of Nowhere, Wisconsin, with no plans of making an album and 10 tracks later, has an album that is raw and authentic. I think knowing that backstory most definitely makes me like the cd more but regardless, these are some of the saddest, most beautiful songs I have ever heard. I love the unprofessional production of it and the parts that I can't really make out what he's saying, but I feel it, and I know exactly what he means.
~2008 RUNNER UP: Fleet Foxes::Fleet Foxes
Camera Obscura::My Maudlin Career::2009
I have never fallen in love so hard and so fast as I did when I heard tracks 1-11 on "My Maudlin Career" by Camera Obscura. I simply could not get enough and my iTunes play count can vouch for me on that ("James": 116, "Forests And Sands": 115 and so on and so fourth). For me, it was an album I just wanted to lay on my bed and listen to over and over again. I think a lot of my attachment to it has to do with all the shit I was dealing with in my life when I heard it. It was like they wrote the songs just for me and although they clearly didn't, it was oddly comforting to know that someone at some point was feeling the exact same feelings as me. It was like she took the words out of my mouth. That cd was my best friend for a few of the hardest months of my life. It filled a void for me. The individual who made me privy to My Maudlin Career was actually the same individual that caused me to have a void in need of filling in the first place. How ironic that it became my favorite? Nonetheless, I would personally thank Camera Obscura for making this album if I could.
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