My 100 Favorite albums 2000-2009: #100-11

In a lot of ways, Ryan's list of off-the-radar records from the past decade is a lot more relevant than this list will ever be. But hell, I took the time, and I'm gonna post it. I mean... I AM posting it. Right now. You're lookin' at it: Crawford J. Philleo's 100 Favorite Records of the Decade. Now, many lists are floating around out there, and many, many more lists have secretly formulated in the heads of music lovers everywhere. This particular list, while thorough, is simply fraught with disaster. I'm sure that many will find choices on here they agree with, many will find choices they don't agree with, and (my hope would be that) many will find a lot of stuff they haven't even heard yet. It's a testament to the decade itself, though, as these past ten years has seen a span of music that effectively killed the genre. Technology enhancements made music not only sound different, but function differently within culture on a broad and sweeping scale. Much has already been written about the influence of the internet on media, but it's really interesting to see how it boils down in terms of what individuals actually liked, and indeed, that's why I think it's important for all of us to take time to think about things like this. There is simply too much music out there, and it is simply too easy to listen to it all, at nearly any time or any place. But this is a paradox because of course there is absolutely no way any one of us can hear everything there is to hear. Ryan's list is a prime example - five albums I had no idea existed are now at the top of my to-do list for 2010. So as a preamble to the monster I'm about to unleash here, I ask that my fellow music fans try to approach the list the same way as I did: not too seriously.

Man, though... look at it. What a crazy, crazy, insanely weird and awesome decade of music we had. One really interesting thing I noticed is that the beginning of the decade absolutely DOMINATED my list... I wonder if music is getting worse (yeah... right!), or my tastes are getting more refined, or perhaps the newer onslaught-of-awesome just hasn't fully sunk in yet (a much more likely explanation). I think it'd be a good thing to come back in five years and have another stab at it.... Some of the sad, sad casualties include:

Tallest Man on Earth, Blitzen Trapper, Fiery Furnaces, El-P, Destroyer, Dälek, Hercules & Love Affair, RJD2, Stars of the Lid, Enon, Devendra Banhart, Crooked Fingers, Camera Obscura, James Blackshaw, Isoleé, Grouper, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Need New Body, Man Man, Low, Burial, Clipse, Ghostface, The Fucking Champs, Derek Bailey, Herbert... so many more...

Also, the only conscious effort I made towards compiling this list was to double-artist as least often as possible. You'll notice only two bands got the double-dip... Deerhoof and Radiohead, but at least in my head that makes some sense.

Ok, enough. Time to get this over with. Please chime in with your favs, or let me know all the great stuff I missed on mine!

100. Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life (World Village, 2007)

99. Ted Leo /Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak (Lookout!, 2003)

98. Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D. (Kranky, 2002)

97. The Notwist - Neon Golden (Domino, 2003)

96. Orthrelm - OV (Icepac, 2005)

95. M. Ward - The Transfiguration of Vincent (Merge, 2003)

94. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan the Great Lakes State (Asthmatic Kitty, 2003)

93. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun (Warner, 2000)

92. Philip Jeck - Stoke (Touch, 2004)

91. Scott Walker - The Drift (Drag City, 2006)

90. Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth (Sub Pop, 2002)

89. Jens Lekman - Oh You’re So Silent, Jens (Secretly Canadian, 2005)

88. Ms. John Soda - No P. or D. (Morr Music, 2002)

87. Castanets - Cathedral (Asthmatic Kitty, 2003)

86. Blur - Think Tank (Parlophone, 2003)

85. Espers - Espers (Locust Music, 2003)

84. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (Interscope, 2002)

83. Ekkehard Ehlers - Plays (Staubgold, 2002)

82. TV On the Radio - Young Liars EP (Touch and Go, 2003)

81. High Places - High Places (Thrill Jockey, 2008)

80. Dismemberment Plan - Change (DeSoto, 2001)

79. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat (Kill Rock Stars, 2002)

78. Annie - Anniemal (679, 2005)

77. Cass McCombs - Catacombs (Domino, 2009)

76. Tim Hecker - Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do it Again (Alien8, 2001)

75. MIA - Arular (XL, 2006)

74. Kanye West - Late Registration (Sony, 2005)

73. Shining - In The Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster (Rune Grammafon, 2005)

72. Beck - Sea Change (Geffen, 2002)

71. The Sea and Cake - Oui (Thrill Jockey, 2000)

70. Deerhoof - Reveille (Kill Rock Stars, 2002)

69. Portishead - Third (Island, 2008)

68. Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump (V2, 2000)

67. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic (Mint, 2000)

66. Gas - Pop (Kompact, 2001)

65. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast (XL, 2000)

64. Jim O’Rourke - Insignificance (Drag City, 2001)

63. The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone (Smartime International, 2002)

62. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (V2, 2002)

61. Chicago Underground Quartet - Chicago Underground Quartet (Thrill Jockey, 2001)

60. Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow (Load, 2003)

59. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop, 2001)

58. Junior Boys - Last Exit (Domino, 2003)

57. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop, 2008)

56. Songs: Ohia - Didn’t It Rain (Secretly Canadian, 2002)

55. Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives (Warp, 2001)

54. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People (Arts & Crafts, 2003)

53. Manitoba - Up In Flames (Domino, 2003)

52. Dungen - 4 (Kemado, 2008)

51. LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 (iTunes/Nike/DFA, 2005)

50. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (Warp, 2007)

49. The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge, 2004)

48. Max Tundra - Mastered By Guy at the Exchange (Domino, 2002)

47. Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs (Kranky, 2002)

46. Antony & The Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian, 2006)

45. M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (Gooom, 2003)

44. Radiohead - Amnesiac (Capitol, 2001)

43. The Beta Band - Hot Shots II (Astral Werks, 2001)

42. Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle (Sub Pop, 2002)

41. The Clientele - The Violet Hour (Merge, 2003)

40. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House (Warp, 2006)

39. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (Fat Cat, 2003)

38. Erlend Øye - DJ Kicks (Studio !K7, 2004)

37. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (Domino, 2009)

36. Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities (Plug Research, 2001)

35. Fugazi - The Argument (Dischord, 2001)

34. Spoon - Kill The Moonlight (Merge, 2002)

33. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (Kill Rock Stars, 2001)

32. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks, 2008)

31. Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador, 2000)

30. Califone - Heron King Blues (Thrill Jockey, 2004)

29. The Books - Thought for Food (Tom Lab, 2002)

28. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (Epic, 2000)

27. The Strokes - Is This It? (RCA, 2001)

26. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City, 2004)

Top 25!

25. Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (Kranky, 2000)

24. Super Furry Animals - Mwng (Placid Casual, 2000)

23. Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks (Fat Cat, 2006)

22. McLusky - Do Dallas (Too Pure, 2002)

21. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (Matador, 2002)

20. Tom Waits - Alice/Blood Money (ANTI-, 2002)

19. Clinic - Internal Wrangler (Domino, 2000)

18. Mouse on Mars - Idiology (Thrill Jockey, 2000)

17. Trans Am - The Red Line (Thrill Jockey, 2000)

16. Smog - Dongs of Sevotion (Drag City, 2000)

15. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros., 2002)

14. Microphones - “The Glow” pt. 2 (K, 2001)

13. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (Warp, 2002)

12. Madvillain - Madvillainy (Stones Throw, 2004)

11. Cat Power - You Are Free (Matador, 2002)

Stay tuned for the top 10!!

--Craw'z