albums of the decade - 71. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

71. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (2006)

Yo La Tengo's previous effort to this album - 'Summer Sun' - was so laid back, it sounded stoned. The band needed to throw more paints at the easel and by hell they did with this all-over-the-shop follow-up. The critics generally felt that this was a perfect summation of everything that Yo La Tengo have done in their time together, which at the time of writing was an incredible 25 years. From the excessive, rocky jam of opener 'Pass the Hatchet, I think I'm Goodkind' to the pretty-pretty 'Song for Mahila,' this is a runaway success that has it all. I saw them live in Florida in 2007, and the band seemed so in their peak, so this could be both the definitive Yo La Tengo album and the perfect introduction to the band for those that have missed out.

albums of the decade - 72. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

72. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)

Seeing Bon Iver at the 2008 Great Escape in Brighton when he was up-and-coming, was as refreshing and an awe-inspiring discovery as I've made, truly. He came off the stage and into the crowd and played 'Skinny Love' and the energy in the Pressure Point bar was ethereal. There's also a performance of the same song that appeared on Jools Holland that just has to be youtubed. This luscious collection of songs were recorded in isolation, as Justin Vernon spent 6 months alone on a log cabin. The trademark double-tracking of his saintly falsetto spreads magic across the depth of the 8 tracks on show. For a debut it's quite mesmerizing to know that he still has room to grow and his next move will kill all the cats in the world with curiosity. Highly experimental, beautifully elegant, 'For Emma, Forever Ago' is just the start.

albums of the decade - 73. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

73. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies (2006)

When I had a radio show at university, Destroyer was my most played artist and all of the tracks were lifted from this. Post-modern, self-referential, dense lyricism in an album that's so rich and sumptous with ideas, it could be listened to eight thousand times and you'd still be intrigued and interpreting Dan Bejar's 'Rubies' in shiny different ways. People may disagree, but Bejar's voice reminds me so much of The Smashing Pumpkin's Billy Corgan. Anyway, like Junior Boys below on this list and too many others to mention including Wolf Parade, Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy, there is so much great music coming out of Canada it's pretty staggering. When Bejar sings about Toronto, you feel like you're there and that sense of time and space is priceless, more so than diamonds, pearls or ruby boobies.

albums of the decade - 74. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye

74. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye (2006)

The album title here really resonates, as you have to say goodbye to so many people throughout life on so many levels. The level that I was at, when I crossed this road, was the whole process of meeting someone, possibly through travelling, and not knowing whether you're going to see them again. I studied for a year abroad in Miami and after the first semester, it was hard to say those farewells and again another time as the academic year was up. 'So This Is Goodbye' and it's spellbinding, reflective and grown-up electronic pop was released during this time and it fits perfectly into my jigsaw of experience as an era-defining record that I love.

albums of the decade - 75. Basement Jaxx - Rooty

75. Basement Jaxx - Rooty (2001)

"Delectable and dizzy housed up party popping funktropic bonanza" I said back in 2001 about this album. That statement still makes sense to me and its naivety made sense in a wise way when I sat down with a glass of red in the Sidewinder Pub, Brighton and heard this again for the first time in a few years and it really struck me as being the perfect pop album. The production involved is technically superb and it sounds like so much fun. 2001 was the year I went to Ibiza and the archetypal beach bar Bora Bora had a 'Rooty' sticky on their fridge and that loony gorilla in that hedonistic setting seemed to make the most glorious sense in that naive, wise head.

albums of the decade - 76. DJ Signify - Of Cities

76. DJ Signify - Of Cities (2009)

Gritty and not shitty, 'Of Cities' feels like a real find, not in a treasure-found-at-sea kind of way, but like rooting around in a garbage chute and finding a bit of mackerel. So, DJ Signify is like DJ Shadow mixed with early Moby. With not a great deal of critical acclaim behind him, or much coverage of any kind as a matter of fact, this whole tapestry - his masterpiece - could be licensed out to commercials, making fluffy advertising feel more 'urban' - fuck that word - but DJ Signify is ironically 'significant' in a bleak anonymity. The beats are as crisp as potato chips and Aesop Rock is on absolute fire in 'Low Tide,' that it will blow your lowly brains out. Go get!

albums of the decade - 77. The Sleepy Jackson - Lovers

77. The Sleepy Jackson - Lovers (2003)

Press play on this one and 'Good Dancers' is instant feel-good, the unsullied brilliance of Luke Jackson's folk sounds a lot like The Flaming Lips. Next track 'Vampire Racecourse' sounds like The Strokes' 'Modern Age' complete with a bluesy piano, The Sleepy Jackson sound like a totally different animal on each track. And so it follows, each song throws down a different influence, they can do psychedelic, highly-strung and strung out. This keeps in tune with the phasal nature of Jackson's own personality as he's had moments with drink, drugs and religion. 'Lovers' stays on the right side of loopy, without being too bonkers, this alt-country album is an lost classic.