Nar’s Favorite Albums of the Decade, 2000-2009!

Like all art, music is subjective. I lean folk, rock, and electronica, myself. So this is by no means a best of list — just a list of the top ten records I spinned most this decade!

1. Bjork, Vespertine

The Icelandic genius has made a career of delighting me with creative ways to form beat, melody, and lyric into music that sounds of another world altogether, and I think Vespertine is the pinnacle of her ongoing experiment.  It’s a folktronica album that utilizes audio samples by Matmos, harps, music boxes, choirs, and of course Bjork’s striking vocals to create an intimate, dreamlike experience that has brought me to tears on more than one occasion. Quite simply, I think it’s the most beautiful record ever made.

2. Radiohead, Kid A & In Rainbows (Because it’s impossible for me to pick one over the other.)

3. Wilco, A Ghost is Born (I prefer this follow up to their critical darling Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.)

4. Boards of Canada, Geogaddi (Best electronica of the 2000s came from these guys.)

5. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes (Most glorious folk rock harmonies since Crosby, Stills, and Nash.)

6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Wailing vocals, melodic synths, and galloping guitars. What’s not to like?)

7. Marumari, Pathscrubber (Relatively obscure electronica artist’s final record — a brilliant musician.)

8. The Strokes, Is this It? (Scruffy retro garage pop at it’s best.)

9. Tunng, Mother’s Daughter and Other Songs (A British folktronica gem.)

10. Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway (Dark, brooding, country rock.)

What music did you love in the 2000s?