albums of the decade - 47. Eluvium - Copia

47. Eluvium - Copia (2007)

Eluvium brought out three great albums this decade, but this one is the pick of the apple tree. 'Talk Amongst The Trees' was quite grainy, droney and grey. 'Copia' sounds a lot purer, like 'Copella' the apple juice and it is quite appley actually. Matt Cooper incorporates organs and pianos into his work here and it holds more classical inspirations than his previous drone compositions. Many talk about new age comparisons,' but this is far from Enya, it's merely a minimal style Cooper uses and it sounds beautiful. When you play it, you think you've heard it before which is inaccurate and of no matter of course, just play it again and then you will have heard it before and if you could look at it, it would be the apple of your eye. How do you like them apples?

albums of the decade - 48. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

48. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (2008)

There's still a long way to go for Steve Ellison, but soon he'll be a household name on Warp Records and up there with Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada and Squarepusher. Like Prefuse 73, Flying Lotus brings a new dimension to hip-hop with laptop experimentalism and it really is either the end or the future of "rap". There were quite a few times when my old room-mate would walk in and be like "Holy shit! What is this?" counfounded that these sounds had been produced for 'Los Angeles'. What followed was one of those classic music buff debates about genre and he reasoned that this wasn't hip-hop at all, and I put across that it certainly has some elements there in this mutant genre and that we can't just pigeonhole it. Best just to nod ones head and try not to be confounded, but it's hard.

albums of the decade - 49. Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love

49. Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love (2006)

Nathan Fake is a sensation that needs to happen. On his 2009 LP 'Hard Islands' he came straight out of the blocks and ran a techy pace, 'Drowning In A Sea Of Love' though is warmer, fuzzier and well, lovelier. 'Bumblechord' is a nod toward M83 and their electronic blue gaze, while the staccato of 'Grandfathered' sounds like it was made on a Casio keyboard in a delightfully cutesy kind of way.'You Are Here' has a climax the size of a tidal wave, while the sterling 'Long Sunny' proves the drums are certainly there to back up the melodic squiggles. The fact that Fake changes his style a lot helps his evolution and it would be nice to see him get tall acclaim a wee bit soon.

albums of the decade - 50 Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things

50 Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things (2006)

I like this album, it's nice. Fuijya & Miyagi are from Brighton, UK and they pretend to be Japanese and use all kinds of lyrical fragments in a cosy arrangement that's as snug as a bug in a rug. They look to Can, Neu! and Kraftwerk as inspiration and are a much superior version to Hot Chip. I saw them live in Brighton at The Great Escape 2008 and it was one of the gigs of the festival as you felt you could dance and chill-out at the same time which is always a great thing. Everyone was in the Old Market Theatre getting crunk and tipsy and it was a sweet closure to the whole she-bang of shenanigans that you just couldn't plan again. As you can see, Fujiya & Miyagi's motorik- lounge could make you go all goofy, but do it, he's better than Mickey Mouse (but not Donald Duck).

albums of the decade - 51. Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days

51. Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

This topped my albums of 2004 list and was my introduction to Sam Beam and his beautiful band, music and outlook. One thing that's been key to Beam's development as a songwriter is the addition of new instruments here compared to his stripped down, 2002 debut 'The Creek Drank The Cradle'. He does this for each new record in fact and 'Our Endless Numbered Days finds him fascinatingly poised between that whispering-in-your-ear intimacy of the first effort and the full-bodied complexities of third studio album 'The Shepherd's Dog'. 'Free Until They Cut Me Down' adds a touch of rockabilly to proceedings, while 'Teeth In The Grass' has, if not the style, then the conviction of rock & roll, meaning that this is where Beam started to make folk for the folk.

albums of the decade 52. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

52. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)

I'm a fan of ignoring hype. The buzz around this folk debut was phenomenal, so I avoided it. Silly thing to do really as it's such a great accomplishment for the band from Seattle. You just have to simply let it in. There's a hilarious comment on a Metacritic forum by a guy who calls himself Joe Blow and Mr. Blow gave it 0/10. Have a chuckle:

"Just another perfect example of the oldest misconception in the world, if everyone likes it that much, it must be good. Wrong. The way I see it, if everybody likes it that much, it probably means that it's suited for the masses, meaning, common, saturated ideas that are more than likely being done better elsewhere, not en-masse"

Joe takes his own rigid idea and applies it to everything. He himself suffers from misconception disorder. Seeing as I seem to be filling this entry with quotes, I'll let this nice desciption from Entertainment Weekly do the talking:

"Hushed and wistful, Foxes evokes the itinerant days of yore...you know, before gas cost four bucks a gallon"

albums of the decade - 53. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Persuit

53. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Persuit (2006)

I'm going to use my words from 2006 that I wrote in my Livejournal blog for this:

"The sixth LP from this Scottish collective isn't as unashamedly twee as their previous efforts, yet is still as innocent sounding as when they bizarrely collected a Brit Award at the start of the decade for Best Newcomer. Gaze at the cover, and the fact that The Life Persuit is by the band suggests that it inspires to accompany a play set in the West End - see the luscious closer 'Mornington Crescent' (despite this tube stop being in North London!) for living proof. If you've ever experienced those timeless college days where you dawdle to class, sleep through a seminar and drink ridiculous amounts of coffee & beer, and experience utter freedom then this LP is yours. Timeless."

albums of the decade - 54. PJ Harvey - White Chalk

54. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (2007)

In her heyday, Polly Harvey was my dream woman. In many ways she still is. She is an artist in every sense of the word and on 'White Chalk' she adopts a haunted, withdrawn, Sylvia Plaith-esque approach. The Phoenix review dubbed this "chamber music" and I think that's a fair genreization for this outing as the music is magnetic and lingering, intense and chilling. It fits together seamlessly and while 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea' takes the popular vote as her best work of recent years, I view 'White Chalk' as a total departure from anything she'd previously done which is more of a symbolic triumph than Mercury Music accolades and the rock-and-roll-chick limelight she'd previously revelled in.

albums of the decade - 55. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

55. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (2009)

Natasha Khan sure likes to craft a good old epic. 'Two Suns' is different to her debut 'Fur and Gold' in that it's less tribal and more global, less 90's and more 80's and increasingly grandiose and structured. The concept of inevitable seperation from someone over distance is explored and so is the fact that there's no getting away from the longing and confusion, wherever you are on the planet. All this is commendable in that it's explored tidily on this record. 'Two Suns' also talks about the idea of people orbiting around one-another, much like planets and suns themselves, and again the concept is presented with balance, as opposed to a cloudy cluster of grey matter. There's a lot going up in Natasha's grey matter though and we await her next step with baited breath because she's a cracking and mythical talent.

albums of the decade - 56. Lemon Jelly - Lemonjelly.ky

56. Lemon Jelly - Lemonjelly.ky (2000)

The address of their website and possibly the cheekiest album title ever, Lemon Jelly's debut album sounds like you could indeed guzzle it down, it's mighty delicious. Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin use obscure, often BBC samples of yesteryear, chop them up and splatter over melodic trip-hop. Opener 'In The Bath' is a bit of a rascal: "What do you do in the bath?" it asks repeatedly, before the glorious 'Nervous Tension' gives quirky counselling over a bouncy melody. My first experience of Lemon Jelly though was on a CD that came free with Select Magazine and it included 'Page One', an insane track with insane beauty. Is asks of us:

"Imagine if you can what it is like to have no posessions at all.
Nothing. Very few people are able to imagine such a thing, to have nothing at all.
Well let us, you and I, try to imagine something a hundred times harder.

Not just to have nothing at all, but when there was nothing at all."

Just priceless!

albums of the decade - 57. The Dirtbombs - Dangerous Magical Noise

57. The Dirtbombs - Dangerous Magical Noise (2003)

"Stubbornly lo-fi and expectedly scrappy, the album is also tremendously listenable, a rhythmic, leg-flailing romp through vintage soul cool, glam boogie, classic rock thrash, and punk bravado" said pitchforkmedia about this record from Detroit, the Motor City. While Jack White's always in the spotlight with The White Stripes for reinvigorating the dusty blues and while he's one hell of a talent, The Dirtbombs are the group keeping it real in Detroit. Some genres that the Pitchfork review didn't mention are garage rock and motown which soar through in Mick Collins' stunning voice - he's even better than Phil Collins! As a non-driver, it's hard to back this up, but I bet this is the best album to drive to this century with the sun blazing down and the top-down. Instead, I'll just stick to singing it in the shower where it always seems to be raining.

albums of the decade - 58. James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing

58. James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing (2007)

I saw James Blackshaw play live in Brighton and it was a sit-down concert, where you could take your own alcohol and close your eyes in wonder of the beauty of the music played by a 12 string acoustic guitar. Blackshaw works without the use of vocals and his tracks can exceed 10 minutes in length. With so many strings and such quick-picking, it sounds like multiple instruments playing at once, and it's 'The Cloud of Unknowing' that best demonstrates this. There's something crisp and autumnal about the opener and title track that reels one into a new realm of green marvel. The pure speed at which Blackshaw plucks his strings and yet the unhurried nature of tuning his guitar between songs that is truly mountainous and this fifth album of his is the summit.

albums of the decade - 59. Radiohead - Amnesiac

59. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)

When Radiohead released Kid A in October, 2000 and then 'Amnesiac' just 9 months later, it was like having 10 christmas's in the time of a pregnancy. It was also becoming clear that the musical landscape was changing. These albums were recorded during the same sessions, but it's hardly like 'Amnesiac' was the leftovers or anything. Thom Yorke has said since that 'Kid A' was withdrawn and like looking from the oustide into a forest. He said that with 'Amnesiac,' you're actually in the forest while the fire is happening and he has a point. 'I Might Be Wrong' is much more direct than anything on 'Kid A' and 'Pyramid Song' may be disorientating as a baseball bat to the head, but it's beautiful like an oil painting and isn't as smudged as anything on the predecessor. All in all, the depth that Radiohead delve into on these albums set a standard that puts them right up there as the band of all bands and 'Amnesiac' deserves its place in all this.

albums of the decade - 60 Four Tet - Rounds

60. Four Tet - Rounds (2003)

It would probably be worth spending $34459374 on a new sub-woofer just to hear the vagrant and intricate majesty on show on Kieran Hebdens third record. It shimmies, scuttles and darts around on a grand journey. It creates order within a noisy disorder. It challenges the listener but not too much. It's simple and complicated. It's accessible, beautiful, consistent, funky, electronic, ditzy. It's nice to see him live with 5 laptops, going mental, eyes poppoing out of his sockets. Whenever I've seen him live, he's always worn the same orange polo-shirt, but I'm sure he has other tops, maybe they're just in the wash.

albums of the decade - 61. Vitalic - OK Cowboy

61. Vitalic - OK Cowboy (2005)

This shit is relentless. It's gonna sound controversial but this album is pure champagne. It's gonna sound controversial but this album is pure cocaine. Regardless of either matter. 'OK Cowboy' is the most straight up great techno album since Daft Punk made 'Homework' and I know I said that about Kiko's ''Midnight Magic' further down the list, but hey this sounds even more like it. A debut with the intensity of metal and the funkiness of disco. Felix Da Housecat came so close to making a classic electro album with 'Kittenz & Thee Glitz' but it had about 10 minutes of filler on there. This doesn't though.

albums of the decade - 62 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

62 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

This album is pretty new to me so I'd rather write about the two people who have shaped my recent appreciation towards Wilco:

Jimmy Fuller: Likes to call alcoholic drinks "oozie boozies". Likes women and does very well with them, though he woudln't admit it. James went to watch Wilco in London the night after I saw them in Leeds in Octo 09 (just 2 weeks before writing this). Inspired the whole getting wasted while watching Wilco thing which resulted in screaming "Yea Boi!!!" loads at Jeff Tweedy. Fuller is commonly known in call centres as "The Incredible Sulk" after the French footballer Nicolas Anelka because he gets sales on his own terms, just like Anelka will erratically score goals. Is a good long distance runner having ran a half-marathon in the past. Is good fun on a balcony overlooking Brighton, not smoking, looking down below, when everyone else is smoking and shit.

Owen Brown: The creator of Mr. Fuck (see pic below), this brute has probably made me laugh more than anyone else ever and I can't describe why. Extremely liberal, yet very set in his ways, this motherfuckers hobbies include having a nice bath, cooking a nice gammon and screaming "Yea Boi!" during Wilco gigs. Likes to break up fights. Likes to play fight when drunk. Likes to have a verbal fight without playing devils advocate. Likes to gobble up a good rhubarb crumble once in a while and still fancies Eva! Aight!

albums of the decade - 63. David Holmes - The Holy Pictures

63. David Holmes - The Holy Pictures (2008)

David Holmes does everything. Funk and soul compilations, soundtracks for the Oceans 11, 12 and 13 movies - in which the music is vastly superior to the films and some more stuff that's explained in the next sentence. He's also experimented with electronic meanderings, shopped around dusty record shops in Belfast and New York to find rare soul nuggets and fused more styles than Diego Fuser has had Italian football clubs. I want his life. This album brings along an hypnotic shoegaze and for the sake of cliche 'adds a new string to Holmes' bow.' Sometimes cliches are necessary. Style-wise, 'The Holy Pictures' sounds like a vintage Holmes soundtrack for a film that never was, the tracks flittering from vocal to instrumental and it retains consistency throughout. Debonair.

albums of the decade - 64. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

64. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)

I have a pin-badge - or button as they say in America - of 'Veckatimest,' and one day I went into the local shop to buy some nice pasta and the girl behind the check-out grabbed my jacket and asked me about the band and I told her about Grizzly Bear and she started to randomly ask me about Icelandic music and I told her I was there in the summer of 2008 and she blushed and I blushed. I went back in and didn't really hold the nerve to ask her out. I went in again and didn't really hold the nerve. Again, and this time I did. She said yes. So we were all set to go to a Passion Pit gig, with The Antlers as support, I just had to meet her after her game of beach football, straight opposite the venue.

Day of the gig: she calls me at work and tells me that her boyfriend might come. I was a bit flummoxed but went with it anyway. On the night I saw her game and it was 8.30, due to finish at 9. Cool! I luckily bought a couple of tickets from the bouncer from what was a sold-out gig and thought my luck was in. I went in, grabbed a Red Stripe and started to enjoy the support band. Due to the location of the smoking garden I could also see the game of football and it looked like an epic. 9pm turned into 930 and I was getting a bit uncomfortable. I went outside and the game was done, I waved over and she waved over, she ran into the volleyball cafe and my phone went and I asked if she had a good game and she said she wanted to be sick and it was so intense and that she couldn't go to the concert and that she'd pay me back the money if I went back into the shop. I went to the gig on my own and tried to make the most of it.

At the time I felt a bit stitched up, now I realize that things are really circumstantial. If I hadn't had bought the brilliant third Grizzly Bear album - which is like The Beach Boys but not as straightforward, much like this little story - then none of this would have happened, and it's quite funny looking back.

albums of the decade - 65. Interpol - Antics

65. Interpol - Antics (2004)

A very brilliant follow-up to 2003's debut 'Turn On The Bright Lights,' Interpol upped the ante further with 'Antics'. Here, we have ten dazzling tracks that don't flow as seamlessly as on their debut but nevertheless fire from the same barrel, they're so potent that they carry a sting like a scorpion. Just like Scorpion on the fighting game Mortal Kombat - '"GET OVER HERE'" he once said - Here, they have a sing called 'C'mere' so it's essentially the same as that. Interpol have drifted off a little since 'Antics,' but, like their chief inspiration Joy Division, they packed a lot of quality into a short space of time. A cross between Mortal Kombat and Joy Division then, what more could you ask for?

albums of the decade - 66 Dungen - Stadsvandringar

66 Dungen - Stadsvandringar (2002)

The album title translates as 'city walks' and the record itself is just as satisfying as taking a city break and mooching around and getting coffee, taking in a couple of galleries and churches, then heading out to a restuarant and ordering salmon en croute with a couple of nice side dishes like roasted vegetables and chunky potato wedges, then getting a tram to another district and looking around the old town complete with the handmade jewellery, onto a wine bar and a nice glass of valpolicella and a cheeseboard and back to the hotel and bed.

'Stadsvandringar' is a great folky album from Swedish band Dungen and it's a real breath of fresh air like going on holiday!

albums of the decade 67. Prefuse 73 - Surrounded By Silence

67. Prefuse 73 - Surrounded By Silence (2005)

Scott Herren went collaboration crazy on his third Prefuse 73 record, whereby guests as diverse as Ghostface, Beans and The Books were placed within fresh new parameters to provoke a soundclash that flourishes like purple and red paints splattered on a canvas. Massive thought went into every bar of the music and Prefuse manipulated sound to the infinite degree. Rap? IDM? Jazz? Funk? All of these plus a whole lot more packed into 21 tracks and for the third time Herren delivered big-time. Herren has paved the way for how hip-hop of el futuro will sound along with Daedelus, Madlib and Fyling Lotus. True pioneers my friend.

albums of the decade - 68. Wu Tang Clan - The W

68. Wu Tang Clan - The W (2000)

This is one heck of a Wu Tang record, in fact it's up with their debut 'Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers)'. The production from RZA is stellar, Ghostface gives a standout performance on 'I Can't Go To Sleep' and, as ever, Method Man steps up to the plate as his delivery is certainly better than than that of The Royal Mail - it's exceptional. 'The W' is the album that unites the taste of my brother and I, we're like chalk and cheese normally when it comes to music taste. At a time when it seems like hip-hop suffers from the same old- same old macho bullshit, the violence actually enhances the Wu. It's not the only thing they're about though, as a noir-like soul tone hangs over this record. It's extremely poignant at times. With 9 members all sharing the mic and multiple styles, layers, themes and genres on show, this is one heck of a record, shit did I say that already?

albums of the decade - 69. Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs

69. Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (2000)

What a genius concept. A triple-disc album for a start (with love included) and a huge stew of song-writing invention. It has bangers, clangers and a few that leave you hanging on to the idea of luuuuuuurve till the kingdom comes. Stephin Merritt deserves a lifetime supply of champagne for penning all the songs and singing on most of them of corpse. The lyrics are often cheeky, and boundless ideas are chanelled into one schmaltzy school of thought. I would never play this in one sitting, it would like be eating an 11 course meal, but then and again, the next album by Magnetic Fields wasn't called 69 Gluttonous Songs for nothing.

albums of the decade - 70. N*E*R*D* - In Search Of...

70. N*E*R*D* - In Search Of... (2002)

"It is quizzical, troubled, socially concerned, compassionate, schizoid, retro-eclectic, strikingly modern, racially mixed--and even likes women" - Mojo -

"Sure they're clever, but they're also as shallow as Britney Spears." - Village Voice-

"Do I really even love you
Or do I really love your brain
I just love your brains" -N*E*R*D* -

Mixed-up quotes, a trivial band attempting to be deep, the funkiest thing since sliced funk, an instrumental and rerecorded rerelease of a previously electronic affair, an album that sounds like Prince, witty, funky, sleazy, sultry and classy, even if they were ubiquitous, even if they produced Britney, even if they were as shallow as Britney, even if they went a bit shit later.

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 a refreshing and 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.' It'll 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 cut you dick 'ed. 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 a lost classic.

albums of the decade - 78. Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood OST

78. Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood OST (2008)

There Will Be Blood is a brutal, bloody film that works on so many levels and it really packs a Tyson punch. Greenwood's soundtrack however, doesn't cause one to laugh out loud or cringe at a Henry Plainview pummeling of Eli with bowling balls. It will however send a chill down the spine as the strings here sound brilliantly evil, experimental and dangerous. 'Henry Plainview' sounds just as damaged as Daniel Day Lewis' ferocious performance of said character and the title track that follows it includes the most raucous staccato to maximum effect. There's respite in 'Oil' and the icebreaker 'Open Spaces' has that hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck sensation that's cliche' for a reason. There are not normally many rhythms to contend with in classical music, but 'Proven Lands' employsvaliant drums before the soundtrack winds down, leaving one strung out in the best way possible.

albums of the decade - 79. The Foreign Exchange - Connected

79. The Foreign Exchange - Connected (2004)

This is blissed-out, sun-kissed, deep-down, back-to basics, sophisticated and sincere hip-hop that gently pats the gangster schmuck on the back and tells him to be on his way. The concept here is similar to that of The Postal Service in that American rapper Phonte Coleman (of Little Brother fame) and Dutch producer Nicolay had never met prior to The Foreign Exchange and so they sent the stuff to each other back and forth. The apparent ease at which they create together is there to hear in the pure tranquility of the operation. Soul music is a big deal for these chaps, as the delicious 'Sincere' will testify. I just want to lie down now and listen to some, but I'm going to go and read some Mark Twain instead I think, it's hard to do both at once.

albums of the decade - 80. Spritualized - Let It come Down

80. Spritualized - Let It Come Down (2001)

'Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space' is one of my favourite albums of all time and Spiritualized are a top, top band. 'Let It Come Down' was a worthy follow-up to the aforementioned classic, as the grandiosity here includes over 100 musicians, with an orchestra and choral singers in the shakeup. My hero Jason Pierce wrote all the music here and his colossal outlook is once again like nothing else. 'Stop Your Crying' is up there with The Flaming Lips' 'Do You Realize?' as one of the songs of the decade and is the sound of a newly-healed man. Spiritualized are normally "drugged up, fucked up, broken up, loved up, busted up" according to one fan on Metacritic.com, but this record is the sobering hindsight of those once turbulent times, and of a spaceman truly coming of age.