The Best of 2001 - 2005

The other day, I realized that the decade is half over, that the first five years of the millennium had past us by, barely leaving a scent of knock-off Tommy Girl in the bathroom. Poor 2001-5, she was a manic girl, and I’ll always have these albums to remember her by

1. The Shins Oh, Inverted World


2. Spoon Girls Can Tell


3. Sufjan Stevens Illinois


4. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Hearts of Oak


5. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl


6. Neko Case Blacklisted


7. The Decemberists Picaresque


8. The Liars They Threw Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top


9. Joanna Newsom The Milk-Eyed Mender


10. TV on the Radio Young Liars


11. Low Things We Lost in the Fire


12. . . . And You Will You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Source Tags & Codes


13. Radiohead Amnesiac


14. The Aracde Fire Funeral


15. Regina Spektor Soviet Kitsch


16. Party of Helicopters Please Believe It


17. Whiskeytown Pneumonia


18. Mogwai Rock Action


19. Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People


20. Interpol Antics


21. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yeah Yeah Yeahs [Master EP]


22. The Unicorns Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone


23. Notwist Neon Golden


24. Xiu Xiu Fabulous Muscles


25. Fugazi The Argument


26. The Faint Danse Macabre


27. Anti-Pop Consortium Arrhymthmia


28. Death Cab for Cutie The Photo Album


29. Idlewild 100 Broken Windows


30. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Black Star


31. Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill


32. Ghostface The Pretty Toney Album


33. Antony & The Johnsons I Am a Bird Now


34. Björk Vespertine


35. Ugly Cassanova Sharpen Your Teeth


36. Clinic Internal Wrangler


37. Forget Cassettes Instruments of Action


38. The Raveonettes Whip It On


39. Le Tigre Feminist Sweepstakes


40. Danger Doom The Mouse & the Mask


41. Sonic Youth Murray Street


42. Dresden Dolls Dresden Dolls


43. cLOUDDEAD Ten


44. Kanye West The College Dropout


45. The Blood Brothers March On Electric Children


46. The White Stripes White Blood Cells


47. The Velvet Teen Out of the Fierce Parade


48. Saul Williams Saul Williams


49. The Kills No Wow Now


50. Q & Not U No Kill No Beep Beep


51. Cat Power You Are Free


52. The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat


53. Hot Cross Cryonics


54. Jose Gonzalez Veneer


55. Cursive Burst & Bloom


56. Red Sparowes At the Soundless Dawn


57. Desparasidos Read Music Speak Spanish


58. Koufax Social Life


59. The Paper Chase God Bless Your Black Heart


60. The Constantines Shine A Light

There you have it: one album for each month. I never used an artist more than once and did not include compilations, soundtracks, etc. These are mostly my personal favs, along with some I think deserve recognition. I may annotate this list later on.

Please leave your comments about your own favs, what I forgot, or suggestions for artists you’d like to know more about.

Coming Soon: Batman takes on the Man of Steel