My Ten

Okay, here's mine, in non-dramatic fashion.



1. Cibo Matto--Stereotype A (1999). 

Unlike anything else out there. Tight beats a trombone solos with Japanese rapping over the top of it all. Why can't they get back together?



2. U2--All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000). 

U2's return to earnest rock-n-roll after the po-mo mess of Pop. There's a reason why these guys are the biggest band in the world.

 Arena sound with an intimate touch.

3. Vampire Weekend--Contra (2010).

 Love the complexity and musicality of this group. Witty, wistful lyrics too. 

Any band that writes a song about the Oxford comma is okay by me.

4. DJ Dangermouse--The Grey Album (2004)

. The best mashup/remix out there. Dangermouse has been behind some of the most innovative stuff of the past decade (Gnarles Barkley, Broken Bells).

 Beatles' White Album + Jay Z's Black Album = great music.

5. Kanye West--808s and Heartbreak (2008). 

So what if the guy is, in the words of the President, a "jackass." He has a melodic sensibility that is absent from other hip-hop artists. What's cool about this album is that West uses old 808 symthesizers from the 1980s for a kind of retro sound.



6. Regina Spektor--Begin to Hope (2006)
. Regina Spektor writes beautiful music, sings in a range of vocal styles, and explores some big questions.



7. Postal Service--Give Up (2003). 
Minimalistic synthpop in the style of Yaz, with Deathcab frontman Ben Gibbard. If you've watched television within the past five years, you've heard Postal Service tunes, especially in the advertisements. 



8. Arcade Fire--The Suburbs. I'm going to grab this one before anyone else does (since Eric took "Funeral"). This band manages to critique and romanticize life in the suburbs at the same time. If you grew up in the burbs during the 70s, this album is pure nostalgia. 



9. Adele--21. (2011). I am a recent convert to Adele, making me pretty late to the party. But I can't stop listening to 21, now my favorite breakup album. Adele has an amazingly expressive voice, both sorrowful and buoyant, like the blues itself. She had me with her cover of the Cure's "Lovesong."



10. The Strokes--Is This It? (2001)
. Put it on. Turn it up. Three chords never sounded so good.