00s in Review: Gabe Joins the 21st Century
00s in Review: Gabe Joins the 21st Century
An Introduction to the Process
By Matt Ashworth
In early January, I sent Nada Co-founder Gabe Baker my “work in progress” list of favorite albums from the last decade. He quickly divulged that he had set off on a similar project – reviewing every album on Pitchfork’s top 200 of the 00s that was available at the Seattle Public Library (SPL). This is especially notable given that Gabe, after voraciously consuming new music with me since we were in the 8th grade in 1987, hadn’t kept up after the turn of the century.
After some discussion, we decided it would be better to include some other data sources. God bless Pitchfork, but how could we rely solely on a list that omitted some of our favorites, most notably Bobby Bare Jr. and the Drive By Truckers? We landed on the following methodology for “00s in Review: Gabe Joins the 21st Century.”
First, we aggregated eight lists of the top 50 albums of the decade as determined by: A.V. Club, KEXP (listeners), NME, Paste, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, and my own list. Now we’re listening to each of the albums listed below, in alphabetical order (even those we can’t find at the SPL), and providing brief commentary and a rating of “Love,” “Like,” or “Do Not Like.” When we’re done, we’ll publish our revised lists. At start time, I’d already heard 91 of these albums. Gabe? 40.
The following 117 albums were on one list:
- 50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
- American Analog Set – Promise of Love
- Animal Collective – Feels
- Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
- Antony & the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
- At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command
- Avalanches – Since I Left You
- Babyshambles – Down In Albion
- Ballboy – Club Anthems
- Basement Jaxx – Kish Kash
- Basement Jaxx – Rooty
- Beck – Guero
- Black Mountain – In the Future
- Blur – Think Tank
- Boards of Canada – Geogaddi
- Bob Dylan – Love And Theft
- Bob Dylan – Modern Times
- Bobby Bare Jr. – The End of Your Leash
- Bobby Bare Jr. – Young Criminals Starvation League
- Boredoms – Vision Creation Newsun
- Brendan Benson – Lapalco
- Bright Eyes – Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
- Bruce Springsteen – Magic
- Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
- Built to Spill – Live
- Burial – Untrue
- Cat Power – The Greatest
- Clinic – Internal Wrangler
- Clipse – Lord Willin’
- Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
- Damien Rice – O
- Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
- Deerhunter – Microcastle
- Devin The Dude – Waitin’ To Inhale
- Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
- Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
- Drive by Truckers – Southern Rock Opera
- Elbow – Asleep In The Back
- Exploding Hearts – Guitar Romantic
- Fennesz – Endless Summer
- Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
- Gentleman Jesse – Introducing Gentleman Jesse
- Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
- Girl Talk – Night Ripper
- Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump
- Green Day – American Idiot
- Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
- Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
- Jay-Z – The Black Album
- Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
- Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
- Joanna Newsom – Ys
- Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around
- Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
- Justin Timberlake – FutureSex/LoveSounds
- Justine Timberlake – Justified
- Kanye West – Graduation
- Kings Of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak
- Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
- Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
- Libertines – Up The Bracket
- Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
- Loretta Lynn – Van Lear Rose
- Los Halos – Leaving VA
- Luomo – Vocalcity
- Manu Chao – Próxima Estación Esperanza
- Midlake – The Trials Of Van Occupanther
- Missy Elliott – Miss E…So Addictive
- Modest Mouse – We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank
- Muse – Absolution
- My Morning Jacket – At Dawn
- O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
- of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
- Over the Rhine – Ohio
- Patty Griffin – 1000 Kisses
- Paul Westerberg – Folker
- Peter Bjorn & John – Writer’s Block
- Phoenix – It’s Never Been Like That
- Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
- Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
- Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
- Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
- Rufus Wainwright – Want One
- Ryan Adams – Gold
- Sigur Rós – Med ud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
- Sigur Ros – ( )
- Sigur Ros – Takk
- Spirtualized – Let it Come Down
- Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
- Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World
- System Of A Down – Toxicity
- The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
- The Black Angels – Passover
- The Blood Brothers – Crimes
- The Coral – The Coral
- The Coup – Party Music
- The Delgados – The Great Eastern
- The Fruit Bats – Mouthfuls
- The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me
- The Jayhawks – Rainy Day Music
- The Libertines – The Libertines
- The Libertines – Up The Bracket
- The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2
- The Old 97s – Satellite Rides
- The Rapture – Echoes
- The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
- The Soledad Brothers – The Soledad Brothers
- The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
- The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine
- The Von Bondies – Lack of Communication
- TV On The Radio – Dear Science
- U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
- U2 – No Line On The Horizon
- Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
- Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
- Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
These 29 albums made two of the lists:
- Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
- Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head
- D’Angelo – Voodoo
- Drive By Truckers – Decoration Day
- Drive-By Truckers – The Dirty South
- Elliott Smith – Figure 8
- Fugazi – The Argument
- Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele
- Kanye West – Late Registration
- Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News
- McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas
- MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
- My Morning Jacket – Z
- Neko Case – Blacklisted
- Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
- Once Soundtrack
- OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
- Panda Bear – Person Pitch
- Pedro the Lion – Control
- The Avalanches – Since I Left You
- The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
- The Killers – Hot Fuss
- New Pornographers – Mass Romantic
- The Postal Service – Give Up
- The Walkmen – Bows + Arrows
- The Wrens – Meadowlands
- The Shins – Oh, Inverted World
Nine items appeared on three of the lists:
- Bjork – Vespertine
- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
- Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
- Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
- M.I.A. – Kala
- M.I.A. – Arula
- PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
- The National – Boxer
- Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
16 albums appeared on four of the lists:
- Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
- Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
- Broken Social Scene – You Forget It In People
- Daft Punk – Discovery
- Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism
- Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
- Kanye West – The College Dropout
- Radiohead – Amnesiac
- Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
- Spoon – Kill the Moonlight
- The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America
- The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
- The National – Alligator
- The Knife – Silent Shout
- The Streets – Original Pirate Material
The following 11 albums made five lists:
- Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
- Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion Domino
- Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
- Beck – Sea Change
- Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
- Jay-Z – The Blueprint
- Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica
- Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun Fatcat
- The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
- TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
Four albums made six of the lists:
- Interpol – Turn On the Bright Lights
- Radiohead – In Rainbows
- Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
- The White Stripes – Elephant
These three albums made seven of the lists:
- OutKast – Stankonia
- Radiohead – Kid A
- The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
And four albums made all eight lists
- Arcade Fire – Funeral
- LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
- The Strokes – Is This It
- Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
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Editor’s update, December 2013. Here’s what Gabe and Matt have finished so far:
- Part 28: Midlake, Missy Elliott & Modest Mouse
- Part 27: Luomo, Manu Chau & Microphones
- Part 26: Lil’ Wayne , Loretta Lynn & Los Halos
- Part 25: Klaxons, Les Savy Fav & The Libertines
- Part 24: Justin Timberlake, Kanye West & Kings of Leon
- Part 23: Johnny Cash, Josh Ritter & Justin Timberlake
- Part 22: Jens Lekman & Joanna Newsome
- Part 21: Iron & Wine, Jay-Z & The Jayhawks
- Part 20: Gentlemen Jesse, Grandaddy & The Hold Steady
- Part 19: Devin the Dude,the Deglados & the Fruit Bats
- Part 18: The Blood Brothers, The Coral & The Coup
- Part 17: Avett Brothers & Black Angels
- Part 16: Fennesz, Girl Talk & Grizzly Bear
- Part 15: Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple & Gilian Welch
- Part 14: Elbow, Exploding Hearts & Green Day
- Part 12: Dirty Projectors, Dizzee Rascal, & The Drive By Truckers
- Part 11: Damien Rice, Death Cab For Cutie & Deerhunter
- Part 10: Basement Jaxx, Cat Power & Clipse
- Part 9: Bruce Springsteen, Clinic & Crystal Castles
- Part 8: Bobby Bare Jr., Boredoms & Burial
- Part 7: 50 Cent, American Analog Set & Babyshambles
- Part 6: Boards of Canada, Brendan Benson & Bruce Springsteen
- Part 5: Bob Dylan, Bobby Bare Jr. & Bright Eyes
- Part 4: Animal Collective, Beck & Built to Spill
- Part 3: Basement Jaxx, Black Mountain & Blur
- Part 2: Animal Collective, Antony & the Johnsons and At the Drive In
- 00s in Review: Gabe Joins the 21st Century