100. Deadmau5 – For Lack of a Better Name
Deadmau5 has been regarded amongst the best DJs in House music for a while his second album ‘For Lack of a Better Name’ clearly has made him more of a household name (couldn’t resist). Cashing in on Pendulums recent success he released the single ‘Ghost’s ‘n’ Stuff’ feat Rob Swire which made him more accessible for popular radio. Although released late in 2009 it makes it into the top 100 albums of the year.
Listen To: Hi Friend!
99. Ryan Adams – Rock and Roll
I don’t like Ryan Adam’s soppy acoustic crap, this album although slated by some critics was good. Courtney Love recently said that she funded this project with her daughters college fund, Adams said he found the money himself and recorded it on a 4 track in his basement, it doesn’t matter who you listen to this album was recorded apparently during Adam’s heavy drug period. On all elements it shouldn’t be good but I enjoyed it enough to put it in this list!
Listen To: So Alive
98. Tom Vek – We Have Sound
Tom Vek’s debut album came out in 2005, he started a movement towards electronic mainstream music in British music, without this album the music scene would not have moved towards the danceable indie electro movement that came about in the subsequent years, his album remains the freshest that was released from that genre and it’s a shame he hasn’t appeared with a follow up record yet.
Listen To: I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes
97. Dan Sartain – Dan Sartain vs. The Serpientes
Dan Sartains first commercially released album brought the old school rockabily to a slightly larger market than his self produced first two albums, the album sounds like its been recorded in the 60s and is heavily influenced by the Rock and Roll sound of yesteryear, it however stands out as a great reflection onto a golden period of music.
Listen To: Walk Among The Cobras, Pt.1
96. Graham Coxon – Happiness in Magazines
Coxon’s fifth album was his most commercially successful one to date, he had quit Blur in 2002 and two years later written his finest work to date, produced by his long term collaborator Stephen Street you can hear the comfort throughout recording with Coxon recording nearly all of the instruments on this album being pushed by Steet to write some of his catchiest tunes since Blur.
Listen To: Freakin’ Out
95. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Crap live, great on CD. MGMT’s debut album Oracular Spectacular took a while to gain the public attention it deserved, however when the end of year poll’s came out it ranked highly on most of them for a reason, the sound is the brainchild of Ben and Andrew who worked alongside long term Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann and brings out the psychedelic sound of 2008!
Listen To: Kids
94. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
Canadian duo Crystal Castles debut album is like Marmite, you will wither hate it or love it. Those that hate it can’t understand why you would listen to screaming vocals from Alice Glass and electronic music that seems dismembered when put alongside the distorted vocals, however that is the exact reason why people also love this album, plus its kick ass beats!
Listen To: Untrust Us
93. Jane’s Addiction – Strays‘Strays’ was released in 2003 and with it brought them back into the limelight, they had progressed from their earlier days and recorded an album that showed they had grown up from their ‘Caught Stealing’ days, on the tour they were one of the first bands in the UK to bring Flash mobbing to the masses performing impromptu sets over the country, ‘Strays’ was a brilliant album after such a long break, its just a shame that now that Eric Avery has rejoined the band they have stopped playing songs from it live.
Listen To: To Match The Sun
92. The Verve – Forth
When Richard Ashcroft uttered “There's more chance of getting all four Beatles on stage together than a Verve reunion.” It was just a matter of time before they reformed and recorded a new album, Forth showed that they still had what it took to stay at the top of the game, since ‘Urban Hymns’ was released in 1997 Ashcroft found partial solo success, however this album showed us exactly why they are needed and how they can still record gems!
Listen To: Love Is Noise
91. Gallows – Orchestra of Wolves
Gallows album ‘Orchestra of Wolves’ brings old school hardcore back to the UK, the Watford band released it originally in 2006 but it was re-released in 2007 as Frank Carter (surely the hardest name in Rock…) and co. had brought the attention of all the industry, they signed a £1M deal with Warners for their subsequent work, although clearly just cashing in on the back of this great album.
Listen To: Abandon Ship
90. Holy Fuck – LP
Holy Fuck’s second album was a masterpiece when it came out in 2007, using weird instruments to make interesting sounds such as a film synchronizer as well as tons of miscellaneous non instruments they make electronic music that’s improvised as well as rocking! This album captures their live feel perfectly and thus made it one of the most exciting albums that came out in 2007!
Listen To: Lovely Allen
89. Felix Da Housecat – Virgo Blaktro and the Movie Disco
‘Virgo Blaktro and the Movie Disco’ is a superbly made album by Felix Da Housecat, in an interview he mentioned that he wanted to find the black soul of the music “I wanted to go Prince, and at the same time I wanted to go like George Michael and Pet Shop Boys, only them being black”. With tracks ‘Like Something For Porno’ and ‘Its been a long time’ we really hear his ideal of reviving the 1970s-80s black music.
Listen To: Sweetfrosti
88. Doves – The Last Broadcast
‘The Last Broadcast’ is Doves finest album, it was their second record and it went to number one in the British Charts, showing the rise in their popularity, again Nominated for a Mercury Music Award this time loosing out to Ms. Dynamite the album shows the beautiful element of the British northern music scene, ‘Caught By The River’ is the perfect end to this album.
Listen To: There Goes The Fear
87. Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows
Scotland’s answer to R.E.M. brought with them their finest effort on their second album, where ‘Hope is not Important’ failed ‘100 Broken Windows’ also failed but it had better tunes! They would gain some chart success with their next album ‘The Remote Part’ but it was this album which I think captures the genius behind Idlewild.
Listen To: Roseability
86. Manic Street Preachers – Lifeblood
The Manics slated this album after finishing touring it, they have stopped playing live songs from it. However this was actually a return to form, they had been lagging since the release of ‘Know Your Enemy’ and the ‘Greatest Hits’ and with the release of ‘Lifeblood’ they had moved another step into the right direction, unfortunately they would then return with crap like ‘Your Love Alone’ on the follow up album and slate ‘Lifeblood’ in its favor, a real shame they didn’t see the good in this album.
Listen To: Empty Souls
85. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
Chutes To Narrow was the second album by the Shins, they came to attention with their debut ‘Oh, Inverted World’ but it was this their second album which elevated them from a band with some good songs into one with a great lo-fi album, with more emphasis being placed on the guitar the songs were stronger and brought them as one of the best indie bands around.
Listen To: Saint Simon
84. To My Boy – Messages
Messages showed the energetic element that intelligent pop music should have, the album mixed electro sounds with jangling guitars with 3 minute pop songs. The logic behind the album was also brilliant, instead of being made in a studio the album was experimented within the laboratory using the beautiful machine to compose these futurepop songs!
Listen To: Model
83. Limp Bizkit – Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
Unlikely to be found on any other top 100 lists anywhere, this album defined a genre that was around briefly at the start of the decade. This album went on to sell 12 million copies worldwide, the video to ‘Rollin’ was filmed on top of the World Trade Centre Towers, this album defied how big the Nu-Metal movement was and defied the start of the decade.
Listen To: My Generation
82. Seu Jorge – The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions
Rising to fame in the Western world by starring in the great ‘City of God’ he then went on to appear in Wes Anderson’s ‘Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ where he played the part of Pele Dos Santos who just appeared to be playing Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs, this album of his covers shows not only the strength of Bowie’s music globally but also how great the sound covered by Seu!
Listen To: Starman
81. Seasick Steve – Dog House Blues
Seasick Steve came to my attention like many others when he played the Jools Holland Hootenanny, he blew everyone away and people can barely remember that Macca and Kylie were also on that show! Seasick released his second album Dog House Blues, which formed a collection of songs about his life living on the road as a hobo, using his three string trance wonder he mesmerised everyone with this great album.
Listen To: Dog House Boogie
80. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
With wailing vocals and a west coast surfer vibe, Brooklyn band CYHSY! built themselves up by self releasing their debut album in the US, over here in the UK they got a distribution deal through Wichita and released one of the greatest albums of 2005. The songs are lyrically genius, just one listen to ‘Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood’ and you will understand why this album stands out as a gem.
Listen To: Over and Over Again
79. Bat For Lashes – Fur And Gold
Natasha Khan worked on her debut album whilst studying in Brighton, the album was re-released by Parlophone in 2007 and once it picked up momentum people realized that we had our very own Björk inspired artist, the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’ shows the beauty and inspiration throughout Fur and Gold. ‘What’s A Girl To Do’ encapsulates the haunting feeling of loosing love and shows exactly why Fur And Gold has its place in the best albums of the decade.
Listen To: Prescilla
78. Mystery Jets –Twenty One
In 2006 I hated the Mystery Jets I thought they wrote crappy songs and they had their dad in the band, what was that about! In 2008 they returned with the Errol Alkan produced Twenty One, they had a nod to 80’s cheesy synth with ‘Two Doors Down’ as well as using Laura Marling’s vocals to perfection in ‘Young Love’ making this album one which championed the British Twee-indie scene.
Listen To: Half in Love With Elizabeth
77. Willy Mason – Where The Humans Eat
Zane Lowe brought Willy Mason to peoples attention after SXSW by playing him on his radio show, his debut offering was recorded mostly live with Willy playing both guitar and singing and his younger brother playing drums, this album shows that he has written songs which seem inconceivable coming from a 19 year old, he travelled the country by himself in his van playing shows and ‘Where The Humans Eat’ shows us exactly why Willy should be watched for years to come as he progresses from the truthful solo artist into a lot more.
Listen To: Oxygen
76. Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond
When the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup reformed after the reissues of their early albums in 2005 everyone was excited to hear Mascis, Barlow and Murph play live. When they announced they would record their first album together since 1988’s Bug nobody had much hope, they however released an album that not only proved they still could record great music but one that reminded us how amazing they truly are.
Listen To: Been There All The Time
75. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand broke onto the scene as the Art school Scottish rockers in 2004 and took the indie music scene into the mainstream, ‘Take Me Out’ elevated them into the mainstream and showed the British public that we could compete with bands like the Strokes, Killers, White Stripes and Kings of Leon. This album paved the way for a movement of British bands that would change the music scene bringing the emphasis back onto our shores.
Listen To: Take Me out
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