So ultimately, this is the list that matters most. This is really the one that covers what I actually spend 90% of my time listening to: iPlod playlists.
It is tough to isolate only the music made after 12.31.99, but I will try, or at least I will include only the stuff that was new to me in the last 10 years (assuming at least the bulk was also new to everyone then too.)
Anyway, lots and lots of bands come off like geniuses when I can construct my own "best of" lists out of their entire career. Many bands who can't string a single decent album can be the basis of an outstanding playlist which can be kept in heavy rotation for years on end - often including near daily listening (if any of y'all want me to send you the exact track lists for any, I would be more than happy. I promise, they are all well-tested at this point and I am willing to taste test this work against any punk's anemic efforts any day! Sniff.) Lots of these bands weren't a part of any other list I've made, but are listened to 10x what some of the best albums of the decade are. It just has to be that way y'all. Bands make songs and albums - I make playlists. This list has to be the most important...it is the only one I have anything to do with! As such, it is long and has to be done in two parts. Hopefully the payout is up to the investment of time for you's...
Castanets - This is a band I have found I need 2 playlists to be able to fit in all the stuff I like, but at the same time, there is no one album I can point to and say "that's the one!" I can point to the song Song Is Not A Song Of The World as one of my top 5 of the decade. In fact, I am not sure there are too many songs I listened to more often. The albums are spotty, unfortunately. I found that each album can be counted on for gems, but there is often just enough arty self-indulgence to make the albums tough to take in all the way. The only exception, oddly enough, is something that could have been arty to a fault - the folk-dub experiment Dub Refuge, which is a dub take on his lo-fi folk album City Of Refuge. I happen to like the source material for Dub Refuge more than any other album of theirs, but add to that the way in which the dub veneer adds so significantly to the sparse spookiness of the original, and I actually find, the throwaway dub companion stands out as my favorite. If you want to acquaint yourself with them for free, look up all of their Daytrotter Sessions, which one can download free. They often work well, and certainly serve as a good intro to their sound and catalog. Plus it is the only place they issued their cover of Tom Petty's You Got Lucky.
Holly Golightly - Most know her from the White Stripes duet she does on Elephant, It's True That We Love One Another; but I wouldn't say that gives away what makes her great. She literally works the 2:30 60's garage rock/pop form in endless incarnations without ever wearing it out - no small feat. It is not something I listen to for hours on end, but I have 3 separate playlists going for her, and each has been optimized to allow for frequent listening. Particularly encouraging has been the more country-tinged stuff on the recent releases backed by The Brokeoffs. Key in picking her stuff out is to note that she often re-records her stuff for compilations and the different versions are not interchangable. Don't attempt to navigate her catalog willy-nilly - an experienced guide is best. If you must start with an album, I am partial to Truly She Is None Other. Laugh It All Up! is good for the cover tunes on it. By and large, I prefer the studio to the live stuff, but it isn't like the live stuff will bite ya! It all has a similar ring about it, but putting the effort in to build a master playlist properly pays the funky dividends over the long haul.
Carl Johns (Noahjohn/Charlamagne) - Alt.folk-Alt.country of sorts from one of Madison Wisconsin's finest. When dood is on, he makes some of my favorite music on planet earth. From Noahjohn, cuts like Standing On A Snake, Tadpoles, More Like Jesus, Bitch Lounge, (and the cover of Waterfalls with Eugene Chadbourne) are top-tier. Some of the Charlamagne stuff too is about as good as it gets - particularly Prisoner Of (sounds like Gram Parsons to me), Dawn Upon, Your Scars, Greyhound, and Pink And Silver are all cuts I literally don't think I can wear out. Not the easiest to find, and the last few discs under each band name fell off a little, but the first 2 albums of each incarnation have given me endless hours of pleasure. Hoping to see him live some day.
Neko Case - I am not the first to remark at what a set a lungs Ms. Case has on her, nor to note that she knows what to do with them. Many swear by the New Pornographers stuff, and it is nice and all, but I keep it separate from her solo stuff (the Corn Sisters release is nice for the covers, but it is a bit rough around the edges for me.) I think big time fans of her would wince at my list of favorites since I really like stuff like the live one, Tigers Have Spoken. I also love some of the early, more true-to-country stuff. She actually is yet to put out a bad album as best I can tell, and if anything, she seems to be growing steadily as she matures. Building out a playlist for her is tough because she does lots of tribute discs and has many compilation appearances. I am likely missing a few gems by not being a catalog completist with her. If you are gonna hunt, I like her cover of Tom Waits' Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis and her cover of Bob Dylan's Buckets Of Rain is a good time as well.
Band Of Bees - Won't win any originality points, but what they do, they do very well. They strike me as heavy UK 60's influence without being terribly dogmatic about it. None of it could be called "important", but I find I can go back to it over and over and over again. I am partial to the debut (the cover of Os Mutantes' A Minna Menina was what I heard first - I still like it), but their most recent one Octopus, is at least the debut's equal. Be careful with the middle one since it came out when record companies tried to make it impossible to rip MP3s from CDs, and there are quite a few un-rippable copies out there among the copies you might be able to pick up.
The Wainwrights: Papa Loudon Wainwright III was known to me as a very small child because I loved his song Dead Skunk. Flash forward 30+ years, and 2 of his youngins are out making music of their own, though neither quite following dad's folkie template. Daughter Martha strikes me as not quite as talented as dad or her brother Rufous, but I love her diss song to dad (Bloody Motherfucking Asshole - not kidding), and some of her other stuff seems quite emotionally brave and works on that basis. Rufous' catalog isn't something I have mastery of, but the highlights I have heard strike me as being the product of genius - like an apprentice Leonard Cohen or something. As an aside, a double-disc of modern artists covering old pirate songs came out a few years ago called A Rogue's Gallery. Father Loudon Wainwright III's version of Good Ship Venus is truly one of the most foul things I have heard, and I can imagine it was a hell of a lot of fun to sing. Worth digging up, but not at all for mixed company or consumption during a meal.
Of Montreal - I gave Of Monty big shout-outs on my album countdown, but I have to say, I am up to 4 playlists for them, all quite different, all excellent, and well worth the effort needed to track all the stuff down and get it in the right order on the right list. His acoustic cover of the Kink's Days might be one of the most listened to cuts for me during the entire decade. His live covers are exceptional (there is a site good for tracking down many of them - have a look and you will see just how much a human jukebox homeboy is...he is the real deal in my opinion.) I have one live list that is largely covers (try his cover of Shakedown Street for sure...), but it also has acoustic renderings of the Of Montreal stuff too. One needs hear those arrangements to realize how amazing it is that he can be this prolific, with such full arrangements, and that underneath the albums are actually truly exceptional songs. Beyond the live stuff, their catalog is pretty easy to group chronologically. I am not as big a fan of the very earliest stuff, but after the first one or two, I follow it all, peaking with Satanic Panic, Hissing, and Sunlandic Twins. Those 3 are as strong a release triumvariate as existed this decade, dare I say. The last disc wasn't as great, but it is clearly transitional and I think time will vindicate its formal difficulties. I got sick and missed them the last time through. I can't believe I am yet to see a show by them. I hear those are excellent too. What I have heard from them in MP3 form indicates they are prime. I can't say enough good stuff about OM.
Jolie Holland - It is tempting to think of her slow Texas drawl too much, or too much to be authentic. Usually it is only the laziest flows in hip-hop who can spend so much time on each word and still stay on time, but Ms. Holland pulls it off in ways that do make one wonder. Can anyone be that Texas about it and still record for an indie/punk label, while spending a good chunk of her time in San Francisco? You have to listen and decide for yourself. I stopped looking for authenticity in her stuff and started just taking it in as it goes, and I am happier for it. Her cover of the Palace Brother's Drunk At The Pulpit is as excellent as her cover of the old-timey gem Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind - in fact, these two covers (flung out on compilation albums) are easily my favorite thing she's done. Her own songs work too - from the faux-swing of Mad Tom Of Bedlam to the high-n-lonesome stuff on her debut Catalpa, she can work the magic with her own stuff too. I am not sure how alt or how country she is, but I like her work, and no amount of repeating it has dulled my interest. One of the better finds for me this decade.
Tapes n Tapes - I am surprised how forgotten this band is on best-of lists after they put out 2 such solid indie albums. Not only did they not suffer a sophmore slump, their second album showed their potential may even be greater than their past. Straight ahead indie rock stuff that one can listen to over and over, end to end. Never great but always good - that is really all I can ask.
Blitzen Trapper - I listened to a lot of Blitzen Trapper around the time of Wild Mountain Home, and I think I was lucky to catch them at a peak. After enjoying that album so much, I dug up their catalog stuff and much of it proved excellent as well, though never as consistently good as Wild Mountain Home. Their last album was a bit of a breakthrough for them, and they deserve a wider audience (I saw Fleet Foxes open for them - then saw that on the tour following, they switched places on the bill - heartbreaking! Fleet Foxes are a bad CS&N retread who proved much of PT Barnum's wisdom.) I personally would rather see them veer off the path to the mainstream and indulge their punk/alt side as much as their country/classic rock side, but if they don't I am sure they will still pump out a jam here and there. I think you could be best served starting with Wild Mountain Home, but don't miss their extras, particularly their cover of Heart's Crazy On You, which is distilled awesomeness.
Marissa Nadler - I should have put her album Songs III on my decade best-of albums list. There are at least 4 excellent songs on there, big songs. Bird On Your Grave is one of the most haunting things I have heard. Stuff like Leather Made Shoes and Mexican Summer are not far behind. I think I left it off because I was disappointed with her last album, Little Hells. That is unfair. Little Hells isn't bad, and in fact, it was a needed departure. She does haunting acoustic songs as well as anyone ever has, but she is so prolific and true-to-form, it is tough to take her catalog in large doses. Her last album was an attempt to do something new, and just because it didn't distinguish itself to my ears is no reason to right her off. All I can say is that she does beautiful things with her own stuff, but to understand just how deep her talent goes, dig up her cover of Radiohead's No Surprises, or XiuXiu's Clowne Towne. In the case of the XiuXiu cover in particular, she totally strips out the song from the alienating arrangements organic to a XiuXiu original and shows how good the song, and she, truly are. Not only that, I think she pulls off awesome Neil Young covers with songs I think 99% of singers would fear approaching at all. I hope she keeps working at finding a lasting way to express her incredible talent. I will always give her benefit of the doubt and try it out.
Tegan & Sara - I am late to the party with T&S, and I am not sure how long I intend to stay. Even so, when they are good, they are excellent. They write pop songs with a bit of an alt. bent, but they mean it, and that goes a long way. I admit to becoming more curious about them because the White Stripes covered Walking With A Ghost. That song is excellent, and it hurts me to say, the Stripes didn't come close to the original's quality. Up until the album they just put out, Sainthood, I thought the twins were on an upward trajectory that had no end in sight, but I have to admit, the new album does almost nothing for me at this point. I have road tested it, I have walked it endless blocks, and I am not feeling it. Perhaps they are going through a (needed) transition. The good news is, they could go either way - art or commerce. They have the skills for either, and they have a unique skill at melding the two. The two albums before this new one are my favorite, but everything - save for the new one - has at least one or two heavy hitters on it. Much of their live catalog is also legally posted online, and you can find some awesome covers in their sets to boot (Dancing In The Dark from the Boss is one I like in particular.)
Clinic - Had I ever gotten it together to make music, I hope it would have sounded like a Clinic album: cavernous, bassy, warm, organic, and intermittently nasty. They sound like they love how 70's classic dub albums sound, but want to make edgy rock using that sound. For a band so formulaic, it would be easy to become quickly fatiguing in the playlist setting, but this band defies the usual curse of the band who have "A Sound". They do this by getting better at songwriting. On this point, I would say they are at a peak. Their last two albums have been a little less easy listening, but they hold up to heavy rotation much better. Stuff like Free Not Free, The Witch, and most of the album Visitations is miles ahead of their earliest stuff, yet instantly and unmistakably them. I am sure dood's voice will be off-putting to many, but you get used to it quickly, and over time, understand why it is as much an instrument for them as the melodica or fuzz-tone. You can't have this music without THAT voice. It is pretty easy to see if you might like Clinic IMHO - dig up The Return Of Evil Bill or The Equaliser or the songs/albums mentioned above. If you're feeling that stuff, you should work your way through their catalog.
High Places - Being a darling of music blog Pitchfork could end up being a bit of a curse to these youngins. I hope not. It is true the girlie isn't going to win any vocal scholarships, nor will anyone ask them to arrange a Beach Boy's tribute album, but for all the albums made on a mac on synthesizers in a Brooklyn apartment, I am pretty sure none pull of the synthesis of world influence, girl pop innocence, and dance music even half as well. Some of their songs come off as tiny little odes to minutiae too simple to be finished, but that first impression falls away over time. They are way better with song craft than they get credit for, and their world music influence is subtle enough to make one work a little bit to see just how well integrated their influences are. The compilation of their singles and compilation tracks is a better place to start than their album, but I am yet to hear anything by them that was unrewarding at some level, and some of it is a hell of a lot of fun. I also find the singer to be a hottie in the way Midwestern girls often are. That counts for something too dammit!
Cat Power - I think Ms. Power is past her prime, but I hope I am wrong. Her early stuff is raw in the good way just as her recent stuff is polished in the bad. I can forgive her any mainstream dalliance because one need only look and listen to her covers to know she is a true fan of music and does what she does because she loves music. Her eccentricities are easily forgiven because I always have seen them as innocent and naive and honest. That doesn't always make for good music, but it can produce the best possible music, and she comes close to that often enough that I have spent much of the decade working through her catalog and being impressed with her. I will give her newer, more commercial sounding stuff a chance because it too has its moments, but I can't deny I would love to hear her let loose a little more. I don't expect her to break down at the piano or sing about old boyfriends while crying or something - I think that was a product of her life of the time. She is the same age as I am, and I can't imagine all she has left in the hopper is the nicey-nice Memphis sound and that all her life is even keel and wistful nostalgia. I can't imagine her pilot light is truly out; all I hope is that she give over to her feelings of the moment once again and not try too hard to tighten up the presentation. It isn't that she is bad at it, but she is so much better at the other stuff, even when the songs aren't her. To that end, I like the first covers record 10X more than the recent one. I prefer the mid and early period stuff to the most recent, but each album needs a listen since each offers up several to the heavy rotation playlists without fail.
Fiery Furnaces - The little bitchy thing with the dood from this group being catty toward Beck and Radiohead has made me realize what douchebag he is. Even so, I can't deny I have enjoyed some of their stuff. This band takes some getting-used-to, and I am convinced their crap-to-genius ratio makes exploring them from scratch prohibitive, but when they are good, they are excellent. I am convinced they are excellent because dood's sister finds ways to salvage his ponderous lyrics and arrangements, but he is seen as the auteur of these arty little youngins. Whatevs. For my money, their cover tunes actually end up delivering on their promise more consistently than their homespun stuff. I love their cover of Norwegian Wood (though I suspect Beatles' true-believer fans will hate it) and their cover of Junior Kimbrough's I'm Leaving is atypical of their sound, but shows how much they are capable of. As for their originals, I like the girly-penned Benton Harbor Blues Again a lot, but stuff like Ex-Guru, Duplexes Of The Dead, The End Is Near, and Keep Me In The Dark are excellent too. A lot of work, but it definitely can pay it off.
Peter Bjorn and John - PB&J came to me the way I think they came to many, the album Writer's Block. In my defense, I wasn't turned on by Young Folks at first, but how can you deny that one, eh? For my money, I prefer the slower groove stuff like Amsterdam and Ancient Curse. While they haven't followed-up as strong as they might have, their last disc was quite good, and there are loads of gems to be found throughout their pre-Young Folks catalog. I am not sure if time will bury this groups work as a band, but I suspect they will be rediscovered one day on the strength of their songs. Their production (for themselves and other Swedes) is lovely enough, but there is a lot to their work that might not leap out at first if they focus too much on the pop stuff. Their arrangements may rely on well-worn sounds and instrumentation but so many little details end up sticking with me, it was only over a long period of listening and optimizing the playlist that the true depth of their skills revealed itself to me. The little counter-melodies, harmonies, and the backhanded build-release structure of some of the slow-burners takes some time to fully appreciate. The good news is, they aren't guilty of too many out-and-out duds. They might have stretches of stuff that run together, but on no album of theirs I have heard does one have to wait long for one of the little masterpieces to jump out.
Okkervil River - When my iPlod crapped out, it took me awhile to get back to making a playlist for OR. In going through the catalog, I realized just how much better they are getting with time. Like the dood in the National, it is easier listening to the early stuff for the potential than the actual performance. Sometimes the lyric work makes one embarrassed for the lads, and that they add such affected performance to it only serves to make one think they had someone who believed in them not give up until their potential finally materialized into something bigger. With OR, I think they really didn't get consistently excellent until Black Sheep Boy. I think you could start with that album and then move ahead through the most recent few. Only if you love their stuff should you go too far back. Don't get me wrong - it isn't that they were a horrid pupae made good or anything, but it really isn't until they matured that they started getting to the point where their eccentricities didn't feel forced, and began to work with their song craft rather than against it. The songs were always there, and Will Sheff seems to have a voracious ear for music and enthusiasm for integrating it all - it was only a matter of time before he pulled it off. My personal faves are on Stage Names, Stand Ins, and Black Sheep Boy (particularly the title track cover), but they are also all over different compilations and internet sessions worth hunting down. Lest you doubt their skills, try getting their cover of Big Star's O Dana - no rookie would dare pull it off, and no one without real chops could even come close. That they successfully filter it through their thing shows their power as well as anything can.
Field Music - I am very happy this band recently got back together and has new music coming out. I am most happy because I didn't figure out how good they were until (what was said to be) their last album Tones Of Town. They barely graze the line that could push them into nerdy-music category with their relatively non-intuitive song structures, but they are saved from this by the overwhelming power of their pop sensibility and the sweetness of their harmonies and leads. In some ways, they are an amalgamation of contrasts between punk, art-rock, indie, pop, and something very UK-production value. They are not a good collection of influences so much as a great synthesis of them. They are just complex enough to require heavy listening to truly bond with, but sufficiently relatable to make bonding possible. Start with the song In Context and listen to it until you see why it is so damn good. From there, work backward through their catalog, and don't give up too easily. The payout isn't always immediate.
Animal Collective/Panda Bear - These lads ended up being the poster boys for the Indie Rock Oughts, and I suppose they are as good as anyone for the job. They definitely sifted through the culture of the time and came up with a synthesis no one had really worked with before, and their growth as songwriters and musicians was significant enough that they settled into something truly their own and unmistakably quality. Naturally, they have seen some backlash, but they have answered it with quality work, and in doing so, I think will easily shake-off any criticism that they were just blog darlings. If they only had Merriwether Post Pavillion, then MAYBE you could paint them with that, but that is really just their most recent alpha-work. I am partial to the last 3 or 4 albums over their early stuff, but this isn't because I recoil from their more out there tendencies. I like those tendencies, and they'd be no good without them, it is simply that they hadn't worked enough with them to be able to rely on them to do consistently excellent work by them. I give AC credit for being able to take the ethic behind (what a person as old and disinterested in the subculture of electronica would say is) a sort of tribal/rave vibe, and filter that dynamic through both abstract/freeform out stuff and more traditional indie rock. They do with repetition and the slow-build what I hear in a lot of the late 80s/early 90s house/dance music, but they have just enough creativity to get over the cheap build-build-build-release pop and do something more meaningful with it. Naturally, it doesn't hurt that you also have a Brian Wilson-in-training in the person of Panda Bear. They would be excellent without his touch, but they benefit immensely from his sensibilities. They really are elevated above their peers by their ability to meld his sensibilities in with Avey Tare's (I know they are more than those two doods, but I think they stand out.) I find Panda's stuff to be lyrically naive to the point of being grating here and there, but within the ethic of this band, it works. They elevate the naive and sensory without being cute or cloying with it, which is no small feat. That finds its fullest expression on Panda's solo stuff, but it is made most interesting when they are together. At this point, if you are unfamiliar with them, I would think you could just go backward through their catalog til you hit something you don't like, and you'd have given them a fair airing. Going for Panda Bear's Person Pitch is a separate pursuit - well worth taking - but also one enjoyed in the context of the AC catalog. They may not be indie Gods, but they aren't just hype either. They have the chops and the heart. They have earned their renown. Since they appear to be on an upward trajectory, their is no reason to think they have anything but their best work ahead of them.
-----------------------------------