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.