Best of the Noughties - Top 10 albums

Best of the Noughties - Top 10 albums

08/12/2009

text: Gareth Owen

Welcome to the sixth instalment of the “Best of the Noughties.“ After previously examining music blogs, public art installations, songs, documentaries and music trends, we’ve come up with a personal list of our ultimate albums of the decade. Of course this list is not complete: there are a huge number of amazing albums that we didn’t mention. Many of the ones we did are so classic that they seem obvious now; others flew under the radar but influenced music irrevocably. However, if you think this is a definitive list, you've missed the point. Enjoy our selections.

 

01_moldy

The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches (2000), Downloading Porn with Davo

 

More lo-fi than listening to your records through a needle and paper cup. It’s hard to believe there’s anything more fun than being drunk and singing “Downloading Porn with Davo". Like a kick in the balls from a naughty child, this is visceral, terribly produced, borderline offensive and brilliant. Probably not on many other lists, but it's on mine.

02_dangermouse

Danger Mouse - The Grey Album (2004), 99 Problems

 

It's easy to forget the wave of mash ups that dominated clubland in the middle of the decade. In the UK at least, Eminem's rhymes were being attached to an increasingly bizarre selection of backing tracks almost every week. However, the fad quickly turned to novelty, and just when things were getting really silly, Danger Mouse dropped his Grey Album. Fusing Jay Z's Black Album with the Beatles’ White Album to stunning effect, Danger Mouse’s masterpiece was one of the first underground Internet hits. The Grey Album disappeared almost as soon as it arrived; only to be whispered about furtively in circles of music lovers and hip hop fans.

03_clark

Clark - Totems Flare (2009), Future Daniel

 

The newest album on the list and the point where Clark finally combined the sonic forces he built over the course of the decade into something far beyond the sum of its parts. Eminently listenable, Totems Flare is one of those albums that changes and morphs into something totally different each time you hear it. The pinnacle of what Clark has done in the noughties.

04_avalanches

The Avalanches - Since I Left You (2001), Frontier Psychiatrist

 

Sampling reached its zenith in the last ten years, and the debut album by the Avalanches is one of the best of its ilk; the words "that boy needs therapy" should be instantly recognisable to anyone who ever geeked out to “Frontier Psychiatrist” on a dancefloor. Maybe due to the rich musical thread running through songs like “A Different Feeling”, maybe because this was effectively a one-album wonder, Since I Left You still sounds great and never wears you out.

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