Top 25 Albums of the Decade part III

Top 25 Albums of the Decade part III

A few albums get a helping hand from the net,

and the first hip-hop on our list.

10. The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches – Adam Green and Kimya Dawson can’t really play or sing, and they write lyrics like “Whose pussy hole needs filling.” They wear baggy clothes, look like they probably smell, and have hair they may have literally stole from the 60’s. But from their basement in Port Townsend, Washington they channel their awkwardness childhood-latching souls more honest and raw than anyone.

   Their self titled second album was released cryptically on September 11, 2001 containing the track “NYC’s like a Graveyard.” A song about the fakeness and filth of the city.

   The heads of the Anti-Folk totem pole, The Moldy Peaches, have the peccaries identify of being the leading act in a play about anti-social art. Although they have since split up, they have been summoned from their cold northern basements by Juno and its use of the cutesy duet “Anyone Else but You” to play a few gigs now and then.

Key Tracks: Anyone Else But You, Lucky Number Nine, Steak for Chicken


11. Jay Z - The Black Album – Hip Hop dominated the Billboards and iTunes for most of the decade, but that doesn’t mean a lot of it is worth a damn. Jay Z however, doesn’t know how to make any other kind, and he deviled on her constant boosting as the world’s pound-for-pound greatest with what he claimed would be his last Studio Album (something that has become a theme.) 

   With an army of producers that would rival the JLA in raw power (Timbaland, Rick Rubin, even Kayne West, and even Eminem) the Black Album not only prove proof positive Jay Z lordship, it shaped the genera for the remainder of the decade.

   In what would be the first of his Farwell tours Jay-z took on and demolished everyone from critics to the police – while reminding them all: he was from the streets before he was King.

Key Tracks: 99 Problems, December 4^th, Encore

12.  M.I.A – Kala- MIA mixes her bright beats, with dark themes to make an album so dense and powerful that even rock nerds had to take notice. The Album, named after her mother, is about motherly struggles; how to you provide for your family. But MIA doesn’t keep it there, she expands the metaphor to topics like immigration (Paper Planes), and how easy it is to buy AK-47’s in Liberia (the Pixies inspired and sampled: 20 Dollar.) 

Although her music is far from the shallow club fair that was common this decade, it holds up pretty well if you feel like dancing to songs about problems in the Third World.                                                                                                                                               

Key Tracks: Paper Planes, 20 Dollar, Jimmy

13. Danger Mouse – The Gray Album – Some things are great apart, but don’t mix well (like cheese and chocolate.) For the most part (looking at you Fred Durst), Rap and Rock were one of them. However, Danger Mouse (aka Brian Joseph Burton aka Coolest Person Alive) developed a new method to the mad synthesizes of MC’s and Rock Riffs.

   Sampling from The Beatles’ The White Album and Jay Z’s Black Album, Danger Mouse conjured up something we didn’t even know we were missing out on. 

Aside from the masterful mixing, the Gray Album also prompted a discussion, and even some civil disobedience, about the legality of sampling music. The Gray Album is the father of the re-volution, and his inspired thousands to post their mixs on Youtube. 

    Key Tracks: 99 Problems, What More Can I Say, December 4th

14. The Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I am, I am – The Arctic Monkeys could have become maintains of the British super-hip rock scene on the strength of their savvy guitar licks, charming and precise vocals and Alex Turners candied lyrics.

   But, The Monkeys got lucky. After handing out some burnt CD’s of their EP, fans started networking. The bands fan run Myspace generated an army of fans. Big enough so that when they final did sign to a label, their first LP outsold the likes of Oasis and The Beatles.

   The albums unlikely story isn’t the only reason why Whatever People Say takes the 14^th spot however. Alex Turner turns running away from the cops, the club scene, and prostitution into poetry.

They also rock.

    Key Tracks: I Bet that you Look Good on the Dance Floor, Riot Van, When the Sun Goes Down