best FOUR ALBUM RUN of the 2000s (aka the Stevie Awards)

--This is NOT about your personal pet favorites.
--This is NOT about LOL answers

Think of this more about CANONICAL artists, etc., etc.

Real answers not bullshit, thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm gonna have to say:

Supreme Clientele
Bulletproof Wallets
The Pretty Toney Album
Fishscale

followed closely by:

White Blood Cells
Elephant
Get Behind Me Satan
Icky Thump

unless someone can convince me otherwise

I can't disagree with GhostFace, but I'm going to have to nominate/mention The Clientele's run of discs:

• Suburban Light
• The Violet Hour
• Strange Geometry
• God Save The Clientele

Of course there's:
Kid A
Amnesiac
Hail To The Thief
In Rainbows

Probably either

Carrying On (2001)
My Town (2002)
You Do Your Thing (2004)
Some People Change (2006)

or

Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)

• Sung Tongs
• Feels
• Strawberry Jam
• MPP

As much as I don't like Radiohead, that is a pretty solid run.

I would say Animal Collective might even be better than Ghostface if Bulletproof Wallets wasn't >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Strawberry Jam

I'll give AC over Stripes though for a lean second place imho

Almost Killed Me
Seperation Sunday
Boys and Girls in America
Stay Positive

Man if only Luda's 4th album wasn't shite.

Ditto T.I. v. T.I.P. ruining everything.

Girls Can Tell
Kill the Moonlight
Gimme Fiction
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

cosign Spoon

i second both yr selections whiney. may i also suggest:

Ride The Skies
Wonderful Rainbow
Hypermagic Mountain
Earthly Deilghts

Sunn O))):

White 1
White 2
Black One
Monoliths & Dimensions

Does it need to be uninterrupted?

Blackwater Park
Deliverance
(Damnation)
Ghost Reveries
Watershed

Remission
Leviathan
Blood Mountain
Crack The Skye

ellen allien.

stadtkind
berlinette
thrills
orchestra of bubbles

this is v hard tho.

it's Ghostface by a mile.

Girls Can Tell
Kill the Moonlight
Gimme Fiction
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

― Mr. Que, Monday, September 28, 2009 3:38 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if rebirth brass band had released one more real album in the 00s, it would be that.

you could make an argument for r kelly too (tp2/chocolate factory/happy people/tp3).

Hold Steady, probably my "rock band" choice, though this might come close:

Blackwater Park
Deliverance
Damnation
Ghost Reveries

or maybe:

Come On Everybody Let's Rock
Steel Rod
Anthem Of The Moon
Each One Teach One

Also not bad (though not a rock band):

Can't Take Me Home
Missundaztood
Try This
I'm Not Dead

(xp on the Opeth; typed that before I saw fastnbulbous's post)

Dylan (if you include the upcoming x-mas album)!

didn't Try This kinda suck, tho.

This is actually kinda hard. I dig Longwave's 4 albums but they're hardly "the best". The first 3 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club albums are great and then the 4th took a dive. Not too many people know who The Black Watch are but their 00 albums have been consistently great. Camera Obscura's been fun, too. I'd love to offer The Fall but there hasn't been 4 straight excellent albums this decade. Everything Hem's done has been in heavy rotation for me. New Model Army continue to release one great album after another. There are other candidates - Pernice Brothers, Grant Lee Phillips, Plus Minus, TV Smith (yes, really), They Might Be Giants kids albums, but in terms of sheer volume of play when they came out, it's these two:

Ryan Adams: (excluding odds and sods _Demolition_)
Heartbreaker (2000)
Gold (2001)
Rock N Roll (2003)
Love Is Hell (2004)

Neko Case: (excluding live album)
Furnace Room Lullaby (2000)
Blacklisted (2002)
Fox Confessor (2006)
Middle Cyclone (2009)

missy elliot could be up in there, if you like 'the cookbook'.

If Thug Motivation 103 is the nuts (and released by the end of the year), Jeezy wins this hands down imo.

Deerhoof's been pretty consistent all decade long

Reveille
Apple O'
Milk Man
The Runners Four
Friend Opportunity
Offend Maggie

that oneida list above is good, but I'd go with Each One, Teach One and onward. secret wars and the wedding are can't miss releases of theirs.

Does it need to be uninterrupted?

it's the stevie awards! of course it does!

oooh Oneida yeah

mass romantic
the electric version
twin cinema
challengers

I'm hoping I can say Broadcast once I've listened to '...Witch Trials Of The Radio Age', following The Noise Made By People, haha sound and Tender Buttons (not counting Microtronisc)...and the three EPs were all great too

Hip-hop, strangely enough I'd probably go with:

500 Degreez
Tha Carter
Tha Carter II
Tha Carter III

Dunno if anyone will agree with me but this is a pretty great run:

Ghetto Pop Life (w/ Jemini)
The Grey Album (w/ Jay-Z and The Beatles)
The Mouse and The Mask (w/ DOOM)
St. Elsewhere (w/ Cee-Lo).

xp Or

Book of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47
Thugs Are Us
Thug Holiday
Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets

xhuxk otm re trick daddy

The Tyranny of Distance
Hearts of Oak
Shake the Sheets
Living with the Living

hahaha, glad I actually looked at the thread title again before I started posting about the 60s and 70s.

I haven't heard the newest album, but Yoko Ono's two remix albums in the 2000s were killer, and Blueprint For A Sunrise very beautiful:

Blueprint for a Sunrise (2001)
Yes, I'm a Witch (2007)
Open Your Box (2007)
Between My Head and the Sky (2009)

Pretty good for a woman a few days older than my Grandma!

Murray Street
Sonic Nurse
Rather Ripped
The Eternal

Another pretty good rock one:

Black Lips! - 2003
We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow - 2004
Let It Bloom - 2005
Good Bad Not Evil - 2007

Furnace Room Lullaby
Blacklisted
Fox COnfessor Brings the Flood
Middle Cyclone

I'm Serious
Trap Muzik
Urban Legend
King

Spaceheater/Perfect Interior
Between The Dead
Grandeur Of Hair
Occasion

Objectively, White Stripes. Subjectively, Jay Reatard's run of 57 songs in 40 months is one for the ages. Works out to four albums if you count the comps.

it's Ghostface by a mile.

yep.

I'm cool with the Stripes, AC, and Spoon bein closely behind tho

four albums' worth of material in 3 and a half years is not exactly superhuman, tbh (xpost)

def. Broadcast too

Scar
Tiny Voices
Civilians
Blood From Stars

I was gonna suggest that Ted Leo run.

oh this won't count but in so many ways it's my answer

love/hate
how to be a lady: vol 1
love vs. money
memoirs of an imperfect angel

This four-album run would be somewhere in my Top Five for the decade:

• Things We Lost in the Fire (2001)
• Trust (2002)
• The Great Destroyer (2005)
• Drums and Guns (2007)

four is ~really~ tough, esp. within this decade. Dylan(3), Wussy(3), Drive-by Truckers(3, but not in a row) & Sonic Youth come close. But the best run of four in a row, for my money, is Youssou N'Dour:
Joko (The Link)
Nothing's in Vain
Egypt
Rokku Mi Rokka

^^^oh, yeah, that's a good one.

Felt Mountain
Black Cherry
Supernature
Seventh Tree

isn't too shabby

How about

Catharsis
The Illusion Of Motion
The Unreal Never Lived
The Great Cessation

or even

Blast Tyrant
Robot Hive: Exodus
From Beale Street To Oblivion
Strange Cousins From The West

Despite outdoor_miner's comments to the contrary, I was jumping in to specifically post the run of:

Murray Street
Sonic Nurse
Rather Ripped
The Eternal

Pretty fantastic run imho.

I'd actually be really curious to hear jazz nominations for the '00s. Though that might be tough, I guess, since some of those guys seem to realease four albums in a single year, and with collaborations it might not be obvious which albums to count as regular releases. Still curious who would be nominated, though -- James Carter, David S. Ware, Dave Douglas? Or more likely, somebody I know nothing about.

Luomo:

Vocalcity
The Present Lover
Paper Tigers
Convivial

But I consider Paper Tigers a dud.

Xiu Xiu:

Knife Play
A Promise
Fabulous Muscles
La Foret

Lawrence:

Lawrence
Absence of Blight
The Night Will Last Forever
Until Then, Goodbye

ok we're officially stretching now

you can't start an open-ended list thread and expect people to just stop posting after they cover all the canonical bases, even if you explicitly tell them to

u can't be surprised that this turned into "artists who released 4 albums in the 2000s"

Yeah, I guess I'm not really willing to make an argument for any of those. I'll shut up now. :)

xp Also, "best" vs "personal pet favorites" is a false dichotomy in the first place, obviously.

posts very much in character

Look forward to the singles version of this thread (though maybe the criteria needs to be a bit more stringent?).

already had it best consecutive 5 singles of this decade

Ahh, cool, thanks.

I'd actually be really curious to hear jazz nominations for the '00s.

Nicole Mitchell/Black Earth Ensemble:

Vision Quest (2001)
Hope, Future, Destiny (2004)
Black Unstoppable (2007)
Xenogenesis Suite (2009)

http://www.nicolemitchell.com/

automatic midnight
suicide invoice
audit in progress
thunder down under

rocket to the moon
the power out
axes
no shouts, no calls

Murray Street
Sonic Nurse
Rather Ripped
The Eternal

Pretty fantastic run imho

just for the record- i don't disagree at all, jon, but i just don't love nurse as much as i want to.

Sea Change
Guero
The Information
Modern Guilt

The College Dropout
Late Registraton
Graduation
808s & Heartbreak

^my vote

wish i liked late reg more it'd be mine too

wayne:

carter 2
dedication 2
lil weezyana
da drought 3

(this is stretching tho cuz i cherry picked mixtapes)

i've always been butthurt about people not adhering strictly to the 5 singles premise in that thread - i wanted video game soundtrack singles & joy division covers counted against!

of Montreal:

2004 Satanic Panic in the Attic
2005 The Sunlandic Twins
2007 Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
2008 Skeletal Lamping

camera obscura's four albums of the decade are pretty strong:

biggest bluest hi fi (2001)
underachievers please try harder
let's get out of this country
my maudlin career

i want to say lucksmiths but two of their six albums this decade are comps, and their last album wasn't very good.

i dig stars albums quite a bit:

# Nightsongs (2001)
# Heart (2003)
# Set Yourself on Fire (2004)
# In Our Bedroom after the War (2007)

z-ro

life of joseph w mcvey
let the truth be told
i'm still livin
crack

project pat!

mista don't play
layin da smack down
crook by da book
walki bank roll

tom waits:

Blood Money (2002)
Alice (2002)
Real Gone (2004)
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)

i like the of montreal one

Rated R (2000)
Desert Sessions 7 & 8 (2001)
Songs For The Deaf (2002)
Desert Sessions 9 & 10 (2003)

High On Fire:

Art of Self Defense
Surrounded by Thieves
Blessed Black Wings
Death is this Communion

FYHCYWLaP
Storytelling
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
whatever that last album was called

Read & Burn 01 (2002)
Read & Burn 02 (2002)
Send (2003)
Read & Burn 03 (2007)
Object 47 (2008)

I guess those first 2 can count as one.. But some of the same songs are on "Send".. so yeah, that's a weird one..

High On Fire might be a serious contender if that new album drops by the end of the year

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
The Blueprint (2001)
The Blueprint 2 (2002)
The Black Album (2003)

haha I dare someone to try this w/Madlib

"remember: strict chronological order, kids"

also really like these runs:

Wilco:

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (April 23, 2002)
A Ghost Is Born (June 22, 2004)
Sky Blue Sky (May 15, 2007)
Wilco (The Album) (June 30, 2009)

The Blueprint 2 (2002)

gtfo

it was worth a shot

OK Calculator (2002)
Young Liars (2003)
Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes (2004)
Return To Cookie Mountain (2006)

Okkervil River:

2003 Down the River of Golden Dreams
2005 Black Sheep Boy
2007 The Stage Names
2008 The Stand Ins

The Fiery Furnaces (how about seven?):

Gallowsbird's Bark (2003)
Blueberry Boat (2004)
EP (2005)
Rehearsing My Choir (2005)
Bitter Tea (2006)
Widow City (2007)
I'm Going Away (2009)

now a huge fan of I'm Going Away

you're really gonna stan for the not-really-ever-released "Ok Calculator EP" rather than mention the awesome new TVOTR album?

yup

you're ridiculous

However,

TVOTR would be the hands down, no question, no dispute winner of this if they actually released four albums this decade

which they didn't so take that shit to another thread

i know we're supposed to doing "canonical" stuff but i knew no one else would agree anyone and it hadn't been mentioned yet..

if ok calculator is anything, it's definitely interesting.

anyway*

i really wish TVOTR would just release another album and sweep this

But Young Liars is their best release..

It's an EP

604
Light & Magic
Witching Hour
Velocifero

could you guys at least post the band name when doing fifth-tier indie rock acts so everyone doesn't have to wiki it

Most of my answers to this questions shouldn't qualify so just ignore mine..

But if little cheats here and there do count, my real answer is the Queens/Desert Sessions one I listed first.

haha ladytron

:)

little cheats don't count at the stevies!

Innervisions wasn't an EP!

YOB:

Catharsis
The Illusion Of Motion
The Unreal Never Lived
The Great Cessation

I posted it above but didn't label it. They're all ace.

do live albums count?

liars

* They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top (2001)
* They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (2004) - CD/LP
* Drum's Not Dead (2006) - CD+DVD/LP
* Liars (August 2007) - CD/LP

What if I just called mine a Josh Homme 4-in-a-row?

Good call on Liars

The Getty Address
New Attitude EP
Rise Above
Bitte Orca

Liars is a great call!!!

I JUST SAID EPS DONT COUNT EEN!

(I figure they don't for the same reason dj-mixes wouldn't) xxxxpost

they don't

mass romantic
the electric version
twin cinema
challengers

agree but

Mass Romantic
The Electric Version
The Slow Wonder
Twin Cinema

kinda down with Josh Homme too

this one is pushing it...

Ween:
White Pepper (2000)
Quebec (2003)
All Request Live (2004)
Shinola Vol 1 (2005)

I just can't bring myself to include La Cucaracha, especially since All Request Live is so awesome and it's technically live-in-studio..

I don't know Black Dice well enough but I'm sure they would work for this.

re: ween

one of those is a live album and one of those is a B-sides comp and you're essentially trolling me at this point

haha sorry

hahaha i was just going to post all the Burial EPs but couldn't bring myself to count Moth/Wolf Cub as an EP, BUT MAN THINK OF THE TROLLING THAT COULD'VE GONE DOWN

also i'm sure there are plenty of Dirty Projectors fans who would've put Slaves' Graves and Ballads in there but i just don't get that one

There are at least a dozen great NWW albums in the 00's, but I don't think there's a run of four without some sort of dud.

so many rules for this thread

girls aloud

# 2003 – Sound of the Underground
# 2004 – What Will the Neighbours Say?
# 2005 – Chemistry
# 2007 – Tangled Up

the doldrums
worn copy
house arrest
lover boy

(ariel pink's haunted graffiti)

trembling blue stars just sneak in

# Broken By Whispers, February 2000
# Alive To Every Smile, October 2001
# The Seven Autumn Flowers, January 2005
# The Last Holy Writer, April 2007

have you guys LISTENED to those project pat albums!?!? come on!!

totally forgot liars which may actually be my answer

stephen malkmus
pig lib
face the truth
real emotional trash

phoenix

2000 - united
2004 - alphabetical
2006 - its never been like that
2009 - wolfgang amedeus phoenix

Bersuit Vergabarat:
Hijos del Culo
De la Cabeza
La Argentinidad al Palo
Testosterona

I love The Cookbook so Missy is in; T.I. shd be in w/I'm Serious, but even if you count T.I. vs. T.I.P. the average is so high with Paper Trail that it shouldn't matter.

flood
heavy rocks
akuma no uta
boris at last - feedbacker

eps count def - an ep is an album theres no real dif - sry whiney yr overruled

you know, I hate the guy who trolls the annual best-of threads with "another shitty year for music", my reaction is usually "yeah there were TONS of great albums you didn't hear"

but this thread is making me bummed about the oughties

closest I can get to agreeing on is lightning bolt, and even one of those albums is not particularly good

luv the cookbook too

# Miss E… So Addictive (2001)
# Under Construction (2002)
# This Is Not a Test! (2003)
# The Cookbook (2005)

eps count def - an ep is an album theres no real dif - sry whiney yr overruled

― ice cr?m, Monday, September 28, 2009 11:31 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That's fucking bullshit. You're pissing on Stevie's grave and he's not even dead yet.

destroyer

streethawk
this night
your blues
destroyer's rubies

^ pretty solid imo.

This is full of mediocrity.

Ladies and Gentlemen?

This Is Not A Test! sucks dudes. Sucks worse than The Cookbook.

Confield
Draft 7.30
Untilted
Quaristice

Loop-finding-jazz-records
La nouvelle pauvreté
Kosmischer Pitch
Tierbeobachtungen

Deerhoof's been pretty consistent all decade long

agree with destroyer, radiohead, animal collective, mastodon and possibly phoenix. tempted to ride with deerhoof as well, but i'm not a massive fan.

here's one:

oceanic
panopticon
in the absence of truth
wavering radiant

should be able to think of more. i mean if bands like blonde redhead or converge had even put out four albums in the 00s, there'd probably be a good case for them.

Lawrence

2002 Lawrence
2003 The Absence of Blight
2005 The Night Will Last Forever
2009 Until Then, Goodbye

Alasdair Roberts (5!)

2001 The Crook Of My Arm
2003 Farewell Sorrow
2005 No Earthly Man
2007 Amber Gatherers
2009 Spoils

I have no idea of she's "canonical", but I would nominate Meshell Ndegeocello:

Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape (despite the title this is a proper album)
Comfort Woman
The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel
The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams

She's supposed to release a new album this autumn, if it's anywhere as good as the previous two, it might be a 5 album royal flush.

Another great example would be Burnt Friedman:

Con Ritmo (2000)
Just Landed (with The Nu Dub Players, 2000)
Plays Love Songs (2001)
Can't Cool (with The Nu Dub Players, 2003)
First Nigh Forever (2007)

All these are four or five star albums, IMO. During the 00s Friedman's also released three collaborative albums with Jaki Liebezeit and two with Atom Heart, I know some people rate them quite high, but I'm not familiar enough with them to say whether they'd belong on the list.

These two four album runs are in a league of its own as far as the 00s go. Nobody else comes even remotely near them:

* Parachutes (2000)
* A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
* X&Y (2005)
* Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)

# Origin of Symmetry (2001)
# Absolution (2003)
# Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
# The Resistance (2009)

haaaaa

Bollocks to canonical, Juana Molina has been solid in the 00's:

Segundo (2000)
Tres Cosas (2002)
Son (2006)
Un Día (2008)

tbh, though, coldplay/muse hardly more risible than the white stripes, who haven't even had a one-album run.

Oh, didn't get the boldly indicated "canonical" tag in the original post. Of course I just listed favorites :)

xxpost to Tuomas: I heard/loved the first Friedman/Liebezeit album but haven't heard any of the above - what's your favorite, Tuomas? (or: which one of those would you recommend as a first?)

I just want to agree with everyone who said Opeth.

also:

YOB
Catharsis (2003)
The Illusion of Motion (2004)
The Unreal Never Lived (2005)
The Great Cessation (2009)

I guess Opeth & YOB have been covered. Anyway, great bands.

How about this for an incredible run then? I present you William Basinsi:

# 2002: The Disintegration Loops (2062)
# 2002: The River (Raster-Noton)
# 2003: The Disintegration Loops II (2062)
# 2003: Watermusic II (2062)
# 2003: Melancholia (2062)
# 2003: The Disintegration Loops III (2062)
# 2003: A Red Score in Tile (Three Poplars)
# 2003: The Disintegration Loops IV (2062)
# 2004: Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive (Durtro/Die Stadt)
# 2004: Silent Night (2062)
# 2006: The Garden of Brokenness (2062)
# 2006: Variations for Piano and Tape (2062)
# 2007: El Camino Real (2062)
# 2008: Melancholia (2062)
# 2009: 92982 (2062)

lcd soundsystem
introns
45:33
sound of silver

Spoon is the only one I can get behind. I quite like Ghostface I'm just not that into rap so can't say if his 4 album run is better than everyone else's.

i was never even aware of the existence of 'introns' before now. cheers dude.

This thread has got me wondering when a new Blonde Redhead record will appear.

I can definitely get behind Neko Case on this one too.

xxpost to Tuomas: I heard/loved the first Friedman/Liebezeit album but haven't heard any of the above - what's your favorite, Tuomas? (or: which one of those would you recommend as a first?)

It depends on what side of Friedman you like. The Nu Dub Players albums are (not surprisingly) dub, with electronics and processed "real" instruments and some guest vocals. First Night Forever takes a similar approach to rnb and soul and rock; almost all the tunes have singing, and there's a lot processed/cut-up "live" playing too. Con Ritmo and Plays Love Songs are more electronic than the other three, so there's less "real" instruments. Con Ritmo is nominally a "Latin" album, but I think that only shows on the percussion side, there's more dub/downtempo than Latin music on it. Plays Love Songs is the odd one, it's basically a theme album on romance and sex, there's several spoken word snippets about those subjects, and the music is almost loungey, though it's arranged in a rather discomforting way, so it's hardly easy listening.

If you liked Secret Rhythms, I'd say check out First Night Forever first. It's the most "rock", the most rhythmically complex and probably the best of Friedman's albums under his own name. If you want to delve into his electronic side, the stuff he released in the 90s as Nonplace Urban Field is also worth seeking out, especially the Raum für Notizen mini LP.

Excellent. Thanks.

the only reason i didn't mention opeth is because i liked them in the 90s that much more.

but yeah, their 00s output still does read extremely well.

The Knife
Deep Cuts
Silent Shout
Fever Ray or the Silent Shout live edition

love all these albums:

four tet:

pause
rounds
everything ecstatic
ringer

and manitoba/caribou:

start breaking my heart
up in flames
the milk of human kindness
andorra

I haven't listened to the new Dizzee yet (I tried reading the thread but it was all about being butthurt about gucci mane or something) but if it's anywhere as good as the other three, he has to be a contender.

One could make a strong argument for Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley:

The Execution of All Things
More Adventurous
Rabbit Fur Coat (Jenny Lewis solo)
Under The Blacklight

The Drive-By Truckers would win the Stevie in a walk if it weren't for their lone clunker, A Blessing and a Curse coming mid-decade and breaking up the momentum. But what rock band has released more good records than they have this decade?

Southern Rock Opera
Decoration Day
The Dirty South
A Blessing and a Curse
Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Lastly, we can't ignore Bruce Springsteen. It's been a great run for The Boss.

The Rising
Devils and Dust
The Seeger Sessions
Magic
Working On A Dream

Special One
Rockford
The Latest
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Live

The Beatles made albums in the 00s?

Come On Everybody Let's Rock through Happy New Year = six of my top ten LPs of the decade. or y'know close enough.

Broken Social Scene
Feel Good Lost (2001)
You Forgot It in People (2002)
Broken Social Scene (2005)
Broken Social Scene Presents...Kevin Drew - Spirit If... (2007)

Skipped Bee Hives as its more a compilation of B-Sides than an actual album.

Gogol Bordello better than most noms on this thread, I'd say:

Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony (2002)
Gogol Bordello Vs Tamir Muskat (2004)
Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike (2005)
Super Taranta! (2007)

(Or subsitute *Volia Intruder* for that first one, if necessary; Wiki says 1999 for that, but my copy says 2002).

And I'd actually be willing to seriously nominate Gore Gore Girls for the decade's best rock-band run if all the songs from their 2004 7-song EP didn't wind up being included on their 2007 full-length:

Strange Girls (2000)
Up All Night (2002)
7 x 4 Gore EP (2004)
Get the Gore (2007)

* Neil Michael Hagerty CD, LP (2001)
* Plays That Good Old Rock and Roll CD, LP (2002)
* Neil Michael Hagerty & the Howling Hex CD, LP (2003)
* All-Night Fox CD (2005)

Xiu Xiu

# 2003 - A Promise
# 2004 - Fabulous Muscles
# 2005 - La Forêt
# 2006 - The Air Force

eps count def - an ep is an album theres no real dif - sry whiney yr overruled

― ice cr?m, Monday, September 28, 2009 11:31 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That's fucking bullshit. You're pissing on Stevie's grave and he's not even dead yet.

― bantos party hoos (Whiney G. Weingarten),

No idea if the "Stevie" in question is Wonder (1972-76); but if it is, then your own "no EPs" rule is invalid

yeah innervisions is an ep

Another great country one; Brooks & Dunn:

2001 – Steers & Stripes
2003 – Red Dirt Road
2005 – Hillbilly Deluxe
2007 – Cowboy Town

And another real good country one; Gary Allan:

Alright Guy (2001)
See If I Care (2003)
Tough All Over (2005)
Living Hard (2007)

xpost - no, but if you're gonna match formats exactly, then they go: LP, LP, LP, double-LP-plus-bonus-EP.

(And add another LP to the beginning if you think Music Of Your Mind is good enough)(I do)

a double LP is an LP, come the fuck on now.

We're supposed to be seeing who can carry stevie's legacy not brag about how we like it when Fiery Furnaces fart out 4 songs and call it an EP

otm: Mastodon, Stars, Low, Weezy, Kanye

I'd nominate Blonde Redhead if they could eke out another album before decade's end & I'd nominate Super Furry Animals if the albums did not have to be in chronological sequence.

White Blood Cells
Elephant
Get Behind Me Satan
Icky Thump

see here's where the decade thing is too bad, because if you were gonna put together a 4-album white stripes run, surely it would not be these 4. or if i were going to, anyway.

yeah, I'd say the same thing about SFA. If we could do Radiator - Rings Around the World, they'd easily be my top pick.

De Stijl was 2000, and it seems kind of odd to exclude the album that was kind of the beginning of them becoming a big deal. (xpost)

i'd definitely include that, but for me their real 4-album run goes back to the first album. anyway. not to quibble with whiney's rules. just sayin.

I second Low + The Clientele (who actually have a great 5-album streak thanks to their new, and apparently last, one)

Xiu Xiu

# 2003 - A Promise
# 2004 - Fabulous Muscles
# 2005 - La Forêt
# 2006 - The Air Force

― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre)

You don't like Knife Play?? That's my favorite! Trouble with these albums is I hardly ever feel compelled to listen to them anymore.

No you are right, Knife Play ranks higher than Air Force, so it should shuffle back one album.

The only Xiu Xiu I don't care for is La Forêt, which screws up their streak for me.

I think it's the weakest of their first 4 albums but it has some excellent tracks. The Air Force is the one never clicked for me at all.

Do live albums count? If so:

At Dawn (2001)
It Still Moves (2003)
Z (2005)
Okonokos (2006)

No.

also: those four albums Acid Mothers Temple released the first two months of 2002

Rhythm & Sound
W/ the Artists
The Versions
See Mi Yah

(2009) Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas - II
(2008) Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
(2006) Lindstrøm - It's a Feedelity Affair
(2005) Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas - L&PT

Have it your way, Whiney, it's your thread. I was just a little annoyed by your arbitrary "NO personal pet favourites" rule right off the top

THE 2009 STEVIE AWARDS - THE POLL

I mean, sorry if it came off a little dickish. But sometimes I want to have a conversation about the canon as opposed to just listening to people spout off why they like Miss Kittin And Thee Hacker

OK, I guess you demonstrated your point since, I have no idea who the hell that is. :)

And you think "High on Wire" or "Yob" are part of the canon?

(x-post)

R. Kelly

Whatever High on Wire is, it doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page, unlike Miss Kittin.

They do if you get the name right.

Whoops, my bad. Still, I assume a lot more people here have heard of Miss Kittin than High on Fire.

Never knowingly heard Miss Kittin.

But sometimes I want to have a conversation about the canon

Ugh. Your canon? Whose canon? This is just patently ridiculous.

Hoos Mrs Kitten, anyway?

I'm honestly not sure how you'd even determine what's wound up as part of the "canon" in the '00s. How do bands get there? By placing in the top ten of a couple Pitchfork or Pazz & Jop lists, or what? (Sounds like I'm being snippy, but I'm not; I really don't know what the answer would be. For instance, pretending Animal Collective or Spoon -- and probably even White Stripes, or Ghostface solo albums -- are part of some canon in the way that, say, Stevie Wonder or the Stones or Neil Young were in the '70s is kind of ridiculous. There's not even much of a consensus anymore to go on anymore. I can see, maybe Radiohead, Outkast, Kanye in the '00s. If them. But that's about it.)

Maybe Jay-Z too, I guess. (If you're setting youself up against '70s Stevie, popularity/radio play/mass appeal/chart success has to somehow figure into it, unless you're the Velvet Underground. Even the White Stripes seem like a stretch on those terms. And I like them a lot!)

i just assumed that by "canon" we're talking about the (album) artists ilx deemed "important" this decade.

Will rep for Spoon, New Pornographers, and Phoenix. Deerhoof might be my #1 choice, though.

flood
heavy rocks
akuma no uta
boris at last - feedbacker

Cosign.

Charalambides (major albums on Kranky, not counting all the CDr stuff):

Unknown Spin
Joy Shapes
A Vintage Burden
Likeness

Six Organs of Admittance (likewise, the major Drag City releases):

School of the Flower
The Sun Awakens
Shelter from the Ash
Luminous Night

Cannot believe no one has mentioned Basement Jaxx:

Rooty
Kish Kash
Crazy Itch Radio
Scars

not MY canon tuomas -- i put them in the poll because they were repped for MANY TIMES in this thread

James Blackshaw:

O True Believers
The Cloud of Unknowing
Litany of Echoes
The Glass Bead Game

Califone:

Roomsound
Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
Heron King Blues
Roots and Crowns

(many xxxxposts)

yeah, i know they're not stevie or neily young, but seriously if you can't admit why Ghostface or Spoon may be at the very least SOMEWHAT more canonical or iconic than Goslings, I have some harsh realities for you

Om:

Variations on a Theme
Conference of the Birds
Pilgrimage
God Is Good

Fennesz:

Endless Summer
Venice
Cendre (yeah yeah shut it)
Black Sea

Grouper:

Way Their Crept
Wide
Cover the Windows and the Walls
Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill

Black Sabbath was not canon in the 70s. But no one would argue that it is now. Same with the Stooges or the Velvets.

But it's easy to speculate that YOB and High on Fire will be eventually... based on the respect each has received within the metal scene and beyond it.

The Twilight Singers:

Twilight
Blackberry Belle
She Loves You
Powder Burns

xp Not that easy. At least Sabbath sold records.

xxp Well, I've never even heard of Goslings, so you have a point there. But it still doesn't give any indication where you draw the liney, Whiney. I mean, the Liars were never even that big a deal among most rock critics. (But anyway, my point wasn't so much about this thread; more about the whole idea that there's an '00s canon in the first place.)

Tim Hecker:

Radio Amor
Mirages
Harmony in Ultraviolet
An Imaginary Country

J Dilla:

Donuts
The Shining
Ruff Draft
Jay Stay Paid

(Is this chronological? Not sure when that original Ruff Draft EP was released...)

its clear now no one ever makes 4 good albums in a row - delete thread

xxpp And the Velvets and Stooges were already pretty canonical in the '70s, actually. At least by the late '70s.

haha I dare someone to try this w/Madlib

The Unseen
Shades of Blue
Champion Sound
Madvillainy

Stereolab:

Sound-Dust
Margerine Eclipse
Fab Four Suture
Chemical Chords

Yo La Tengo:

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Summer Sun
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Popular Songs

seems a bit of a shame that YLT released their three worst albums this decade

nonsense! (I'll give you Summer Sun, tho)

will there be any bands left once ilxor is done?

xhuxk,

you're right in that there isn't really a canon, but i think it's safe to assume some artists have a better chance of being in it 10 years down the line than others. even if ilxor insists on bringing twilight singers into this

Things We Lost in the Fire
Trust
The Great Destroyer
Drums and Guns

pretty sure this has not been said:

original pirate material (2002)
a grand don't come for free (2004)
the hardest way to make an easy living (2006)
everything is borrowed (2008)

The College Dropout
Late Registraton
Graduation
808s & Heartbreak

THE 2009 STEVIE AWARDS - THE POLL

Pffft. Rhythm & Sound, R. Kelly and The-Dream were all great, great shouts. Certainly better than at least three-quarters of that poll.

Alcachofa (2003)
Thé au harem d'Archimède (2004)
Achso (2005)
Fabric 36 (2007)
Bonus: Vasco (2008)

Damn.

not MY canon tuomas -- i put them in the poll because they were repped for MANY TIMES in this thread

High on Fire was repped in this thread exactly twice, and the second of those was by you.

oh brother...so start your own damn poll, dude!

I totally forgot to nominate Nação Zumbi, who are certainly in my top 5.

mass romantic
the electric version
twin cinema
challengers

agree but

Mass Romantic
The Electric Version
The Slow Wonder
Twin Cinema

cosign this.

moonchild
astronome
six litanies for heliogabalus
the crucible

I'd cosign Opeth, Sonic Youth, Fiery Furnaces, Missy Elliott, New Pornographers - would probably agree with Destroyer but I haven't heard all of those albums.

For a jazz artist, I'd pick Mihaly Dresch:

Quiet As It Is (2001)
Hungarian Bebop (w/ Archie Shepp) (2002)
Egyenes Zene (Straight Music) (2004)
Argyelius (2006) (I haven't heard this one but how could it not be great?)

Also if Nellie McKay's new album is any good, she'll be a contender:

Get Away From Me (2004)
Pretty Little Head (2006)
Obligatory Villagers (2007)
Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day (2009) (*Haven't heard)

pretty sure this has not been said:

original pirate material (2002)
a grand don't come for free (2004)
the hardest way to make an easy living (2006)
everything is borrowed (2008)

There's a good reason that hasn't been said. The first two are fan-flippin'-tastic records and the last two are various degrees of suck.

Pffft. Rhythm & Sound, R. Kelly and The-Dream were all great, great shouts. Certainly better than at least three-quarters of that poll.

― Goethe*s Elective Affinities, Wednesday, September 30, 2009 1:26 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

T-D was a total rules-bending bullshit suggestion, and the person that brought up Kelly seemed pretty noncommittal about it.

and Rhythm & Sound was half remix records.

http://wiki.ytmnd.com/images/1/18/Lose.jpg

good day, sir

hahaha

Also if Nellie McKay's new album is any good, she'll be a contender:

Get Away From Me (2004)
Pretty Little Head (2006)
Obligatory Villagers (2007)
Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day (2009) (*Haven't heard)

― o. nate, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 20:48 (Yesterday)

uh, no she won't

because...?

because as some people have mentioned earlier:

Ghostface Killah ,Sonic Youth, White Stripes, Animal Collective, Spoon, Mastodon, Boris and Kanye West at least have all released more consistent albums than her. just a matter of opinion i suppose.

That makes sense. Thanks.

Pffft. Rhythm & Sound, R. Kelly and The-Dream were all great, great shouts. Certainly better than at least three-quarters of that poll.

― Goethe*s Elective Affinities, Wednesday, September 30, 2009 1:26 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

T-D was a total rules-bending bullshit suggestion, and the person that brought up Kelly seemed pretty noncommittal about it.

― http://www.bootleg.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/wank.gif (some dude), Wednesday, September 30, 2009 3:51 PM (Yesterday)

and Rhythm & Sound was half remix records.

― weirdo shippers (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, September 30, 2009 4:01 PM (Yesterday)

good day, sir

― weirdo shippers (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, September 30, 2009 4:02 PM (Yesterday)

Point taken with The-Dream -- although to dismiss Rhythm & Sound for being "half remix records" betrays a total ignorance about versions and dub music. And I'd stand by R. Kelly as a stronger pick than, say, Ghostface Killah, Sonic Youth, White Stripes, Animal Collective, Spoon, Mastodon, Boris and Kanye West.

Having said all that, if it'll help feed your evident need for self-affirmation, I DL'd a copy of that Bulletproof Wallets promo with the uncleared samples, and if we're counting unreleased albums (so much for "rules-bending bullshit"), Ghostface would definitely make my top three.

Agree that if not for Blessing and A Curse, Drive-By Truckers would take this.

I vote Hold Steady with runners-up: Kanye, Jay Reatard, White Stripes, Ghostface, Sonic Youth.

Best one unmentioned:

Reigning Sound:
Break Up, Break Down
Time Bomb High School
Too Much Guitar
Love and Curses

possibly the best one not mentioned yet

patton oswalt

feelin' kinda patton
222
patton vs. alcohol vs. zach vs. patton EP
werewolves and lollipops
my weakness is strong

I second reigning sound

Also, Hidden Cameras:

The Smell of Our Own, 2003
Mississauga Goddam, 2004
Awoo, 2006
Origin:Orphan, 2009

Wino, w/two different bands (the first LP w/Spirit Caravan, the other three The Hidden Hand):

Elusive Truth
Divine Propaganda
Mother Teacher Destroyer
The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote

hold steady easily wins this imo

xpost Goethe's did the one you DL'ed have pretty shit sound on the OG versions of Flowers and Forest? Mine did and I'm wondering if there's a better link out there.

I though the "lost" version of Bulletproof Wallets simply had a different track order + "The Sun". AFAIK all the other tracks appear on both versions, they're just in different order. Is there some difference between how the tracks sound on the "lost" version and the "official" version?

I still think the "official" Bulletproof Version is pretty dope, definitely better than Supreme Clientele. (Yeah, I know nobody shares this view, but I prefer the smoothness and crispness of BW over the irritating anxiety and muddy beats of SC.) It's a pity that "The Sun" was lost, but that doesn't make it into a weak album.

i mean if bands like blonde redhead or converge had even put out four albums in the 00s, there'd probably be a good case for them.

Jane Doe
You Fail Me
No Heroes
Axe to Fall

not THE BEST but surprised among all these suggestions that Elbow haven't been mentioned

Asleep In The Back
Cast of Thousands
Leaders of the Free World
The Seldom Seen Kid

is consistently great

If, as seems reasonable, the minimum criterion is that all four be 4-star albums, then my answer is No One.

o rly

(Deerhoof presumably ruled out on account of their 5-star achievements.)

Tell me which of the lists above doesn't have at least one obvious weak link.

Agreed on Spoon, The Hold Steady, The Clientele and Tim Hecker.

Everyone Who Pretended to Like me is Gone
Bows + Arrows
A Hundred Miles Off
You and Me

for me, it's the mountain goats

all hail west texas
tallahassee
we shall all be healed
the sunset tree

Folktronic
Oskar Tennis Champion
Otto Spooky
Ocky Milk

lol

Sparks

2000-Balls
2002-Lil' Beethoven
2006-Hello Young Lovers
2008-Exotic Creatures Of the Deep

The last three are so good they make up for Balls being a bit average.

Four Tet, narrowly missing the 2009 cutoff:

Pause (2001)
Rounds (2003)
Everything Ecstatic (2005)
There Is Love in You (2010)

Of course, dude’s released a shitload of excellent material in between these “proper” Four Tet albums – four collaborative albums with Steve Reid, remixes/reinterpretations (many of which are on his Remixes 2xCD set), a couple EPs (Paws, Ringer, Everything Ecstatic 2xCD bonus tracks), a LateNightTales catalog entry, among others – so perhaps the 2009 vs. 2010 thing is overly restrictive in his case?

OOIOO just made my top ten after finally getting their early albums this weekend.

2000 Gold And Green
2002 Kila Kila Kila
2006 Taiga
2009 Armonico Hewa

Can't believe I didn't think of SFA.

2000 Mwng
2001 Rings Around the World
2003 Phantom Power
2005 Love Kraft
2007 Hey Venus!
2009 Dark Days/Light Years

Bonnie Prince Billy
2001 - Ease Down the Road
2003 - Master and Everyone
2006 - The Letting Go
2008 - Lie Down in the Light
(I skipped the Greatest Palace Music reinterpritation record)

as i was saying:

2002 Aldhils Arboretum (Kindercore)
2004 Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl)
2005 The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl)
2007 Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)

and yes this is their last great album:

2008 Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)

whiney repped for the white stripes? guess i missed the 10th anniversary oral history of elephant

2000 Ágætis byrjun (UK/US release dates)
2002 ( )
2005 Takk
2008 Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

for me, it's the mountain goats

all hail west texas
tallahassee
we shall all be healed
the sunset tree

― kaygee, Saturday, January 23, 2010 10:14 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao @ whiney insisting spoon are part of the canon (and that the canon matters)

since this thread ended we have:

mama's gun (2000)
worldwide underground (2003)
new amerykah part one: 4th world war (2008)
new amerykah part two: return of the ankh (2010)

(yes i know you have to squint a bit to include 2000 and 2010 as part of the same decade but really it's a very arbitrary thing to demand in the first place)
(man i wish circus wasn't as mediocre as it is otherwise britney would walk this)

i vote for erykah too (though part two was pretty patchy) though kanye is the first one that came to mind.

Gravity (2001)
Cinemascope (2001)
Momentum (2003)
Polygon Cities (2005)

there ain't no insisting about it, spoon are part of the canon

happens when all you do is release classic records

I was listening to "The Complete Recollection" just the other day and thinking that this:

If It Was You (2002)
So Jealous (2004)
The Con (2007)
Sainthood (2009)

and then Heartthrob (2013)

Is a pretty amazing run. They're all great, and they also progress pretty logically towards the commercial breakout. It's like a throwback to the way artists used to develop.

I second Converge. A run of greatness that's still ongoing.

Think of all the ways Whiney would call somebody a Brony if they started this exact thread today

Trouble Over Bridgwater
Cammell Pairs Social Club
Achtung Bono
CSI: Ambleside

*Laird, fucken autocorrect

Hardly anyone outside American indie fans gives a shit about Spoon, but as they're pretty much the only people who care about canon these days they might as well let anyone in no matter how insignificant in the wider world.

Autechre a good shout too tho I need to get into Quaristice

This is actually really hard because hardly anyone releases four albums in a row without one of them being underwhelming at best - ie I would have thought the YYYs were nailed on for this but then Mosquito happened.

Like it's really annoying that Paper Tigers exists because Vocalcity -> The Present Lover -> something better than Paper Tigers -> Convivial would equal pretty much any artist of the 00s.

Porcupine Tree:

In Absentia
Deadwing
Fear of a Blank Planet
The Incident

really? The Incident was post-2009 anyway

I tell a lie. But still.

Think of all the ways Whiney would call somebody a Brony if they started this exact thread today

― some dude

lol at first i thought it was a joke thread and stevie meant 'steve hyden'

to help prove that Spoon is the best band from this last decade:

Our top overall artist of the decade: Spoon

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-music-of-the-decade

settled

lock thread

lol, not saying that but some people is this thread are dismissing them. i wanted the counter argument and hey i was able to back it up.

spoon are classic, fuiud

DJ Quik

Balance & Options (2000)
Under tha Influence (2002)
Trauma (2005)
BlaQKout (2009)

oh shit

Influence is kind of the weak link but still

yeah obv but still awesome

This kind of cheating but I'd like to add The Go-Betweens.

The Friends of Rachel Worth (2000)
Bright Yellow Bright Orange (2003)
Oceans Apart (2005)
The Evangelist (2008)

The last one was obviously a Robert Forster solo album but it did feature contributions from Grant and was a tribute to him so I'm counting it. Really great set of albums that are not far off the quality of the run they had in the 80s.

I guess i need to hear Convivial.

certainly

paper tigers is unaccountably disfavored, too

Yeah I never got why paper tigers was so bad and hated

one touch (2000)
angel with dirty faces (2002)
three (2003)
taller in more ways (2005)

sung tongs
feels
strawberry jam
merriweather post pavilion

Wussy deserve some mention here even though the last one came out in 2011.

Funeral Dress 2005
Left for Dead 2007
Wussy 2009
Strawberry 2011

If you add the last two Ass Ponys albums from 2000 and 2001 Chuck Cleaver has a Stevie and a half going.

lambchop

Is a woman
Aw cmon/No you cmon
Damaged
Ohio
Mr. M

i still think EPs (or mini-albums or whatever you wanna call them) should count for this especially if they are considered among the artist's strongest output (like "Young Liars" for example) and especially if the EP was crafted by the artist as a self-contained sequence of music (as opposed to b-sides collections like "Airbag/How Am I Driving" or remix albums like "Further Down The Spiral"). within certain contexts, i think this exception makes perfect sense.

my reasoning is that the initial stevie wonder 4-in-a-row that inspired this idea was built from 4 consecutive releases without EPs or shorter releases scattered in between. and plus they were all released within a 4-year span as opposed to getting spread across all 10 years of the 70s like many of the 2000s artists mentioned in this thread. (stevie had 8 albums throughout the 70s.)

Would be interested in a 90s version of this.