Posted by jason on December 29, 2009
…I really don’t want to think much about the passage of time… I am a bit stunned at the fact that it’s gonna be 2010 in a couple days…………… Music’s been the one constant for me…. And when I look back up and down the years and can’t pinpoint what music was accompanying me through those hours and days, that’s when I know that those were the truly shitty times…. Over 10 years, I only count 3 or 4 of those periods…. Not too bad, considering…..
….I do have a clear #1 album of the decade… But after that, rankings are immaterial… I coulda made this list a good 50 deep….. I wanted to pick the albums that I still find myself going back to, even if it’s just in my head….. I wanted to pick albums that really captured me, that inspired me…. I wanted to pick albums that had a really distinct artistic vision, one that’s strong and clear enough to stand the test of time… I came to some of these during awful times, some during much better times, but the music and artistry in each exists over and above anything one single person experiences…………..
 ARCADE FIRE“Neon Bible” 2007 |
Most people would tell you their first album is one of the best of the decade. But this is the one that does it for me. No other album has the peaks that this one does, song after song. In a decade obsessed with “ironic”, snarky, self-referrential and self-reverrential bullcrap, this album represented a bit of a light in the dark….. As OK Computer did 10 years earlier, this album was a direct wake-up call to anything still human, to anyone willing to cast aside cynicism for just 45 minutes….. | |
| Everything else here you could easily shuffle places with for me……. | ||
 TV ON THE RADIO“Return to Cookie Mountain” 2006
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If it’s all been done in music, then TVOTR are the ones making the most original combinations of old sounds. To the point that it IS something new. Maybe the most original band of the decade. | |
 WILCO“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” 2002
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I also really liked A Ghost Is Born. But this gets the nod, because it’s uncompromising without ever being uninviting. | |
 BECK“Sea Change” 2002
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By 2000, Beck was a commodity; there was a Beck “sound”. He’d done acoustic before, but never had he taken a risk or a left turn like this. Radiohead’s producer was on board for this one…….. | |
 JOANNA NEWSOM“Ys” 2006
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No way would I ever play this on The Buzz. I don’t think it’s meant for that. I don’t think it’s for everybody. One of the most awe-inspiring expressions of ANYTHING I’ve ever encountered. I invite you to check it out, be brave, and explore….. |
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 GORILLAZ“Demon Days” 2005
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No other album captures the dread, discord, and dimming hopes of this deacde quite like this one…. | |
 …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD“Source Tags & Codes” 2002
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This was the next step forward for “Alternative Rock”, and should have gotten tons of airplay. Instead, you got Disturbed and Story of the Year. | |
 TOOL“Lateralus” 2001
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I consider this the last album of the 90s. It came out right before 9/11. It’s the most thorough presentation of what this band’s about. More is more in this case, musically, thematically, spiritually. | |
 MY MORNING JACKET“Z” 2005
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Maybe a bit of an underdog, a dark-horse. But there’s still a strange joyfulness to this album. Very difficult to pin it down…. Best description I’ve seen is a “questing spirit”, but it’s a lot more fun than that sounds…. | |
 FUTURE OF THE LEFT“Travels With Myself and Another” 2009
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Maybe it’s because it’s still fresh in my head, but I’ve got a feeling this might be my go-to release-excess-negative-energy album for YEARS to come…… |
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 SUFJAN STEVENS“(Come On Feel The) Illinoise” 2005
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I haven’t followed Sufjan’s career that closely after this. I may not need to. Maybe he caught lightning here, maybe he can’t claim total ownership of it. Or maybe it’s just that he’s THAT good at making the old and familiar sound completely alive and vital. |
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 GRIZZLY BEAR“Veckatimest” 2009
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One of the reasons people may love this album so much as that it’s a bit of a throwback, at a time when we all could use one. If you have enjoyed this album, that means you have actually gone against the primary theme of the decade: YOU SLOWED DOWN, YOU STAYED PUT, YOU ABSORBED SOMETHING, as opposed to trying to swallow it all whole in 2 minutes and moving on…… | |
 COLDPLAY“A Rush of Blood to the Head” 2002
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This was the best the mainstream got all decade. Listening back, it’s still an extraordinary recording. Chris Martin hadn’t become an international celeb yet, and could still just sing and play direct from the heart, with absolutely no interference…. | |
| …..and these guys are pretty much their own genre at this point…. | ||
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RADIOHEAD “Kid A” 2000 “Amnesiac” 2001 “Hail To The Thief” 2003 “In Rainbows” 2007 |
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| I can’t really group Radiohead in with everyone else anymore… They really have become their own thing, entirely. Though most of the acclaim goes to Kid A and In Rainbows, I actually favor Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief, probably their 2 most uncompromising albums, as harsh and jarring as they are beautiful. It’s the striking ability to combine those qualities again and again that has made them legendary. The fact is no one else has had the sustained run of excellence they have. They took risks, BIG musical risks. They addressed what was going on in our world, and did so artfully. And of course, the songs…… For some it’s “Pyramid Song”, others say “There There”, but I think over time it’ll become clear…. “Reckoner” is going to become one of the standards to emerge from this period of time, maybe the most stunning creation to come from these guys, who’ve made a habit out of it…. | ||
Paul Shirley is here today my friends! In headlines the guys discussed Tiger Woods, Brittany Murphy and Paul’s writing career.
Paul Shirley shared his top ten albums of the year: He writes for 
Nick Wright called in…we are soooo lucky to talk to two sports figures in one day.
Slimfast and Lazlo discussed their favorite movies of the decade and pretty much disagreed with each other every time.
Lazlo told Slimfast there was no Santa Clause, and I swear he almost cried.
Nick Wright called in to talk about the Chiefs coaches and how the game wasn’t on TV.
Slimfast is very upset that other people in the office are using corporate email to send personal messages.
Keith and Slimfast’s significant others are using their genitlia as weapons…ahhh, love. BARF.
Next the guys talked to some more successful bloggers…these guys created 
Harry from