Your Favorite Artist/Group Circa 2000-2010

okay, you can name three if you want. answers based on output from decade 2000-2010. i'm not starting a poll. just curious.

Ghostface

animal collective
interpol
eric copeland

New Pornographers
Aimee Mann
Sleater-Kinney

(I'm white, btw)

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Ulver
Gotta take some time to think about the third

seconding ulver

can't think of anyone else rn

My usual answers are: Oneida, High on Fire, The Fall, Badu, Gang Gang Dance, Radiohead (but only the first half of the decade)

Sorry for doing more than 3

without putting any thought into it:

excepter
ruff sqwad
skaters/james ferraro/spencer clark

Lhasa

I don't know

brand new, ulver, fall out boy, propagandhi, harvey milk, terius

erykah badu

Destroyer

I might actually have to say Lansing-Dreiden. they still surprise me even now. i would probably have to cheat for a 2 and 3 by saying heavy metal music in general and the kompakt label in general. i STILL play my old kompakt mixes all the time. and still listen to tons of metal CDs from my Decibel years. but that would be cheating.

Stars of the Lid i guess

Vampire Weekend
LCD Soundsystem
Radiohead (maaaaybe)

I'm taking this to mean bands that I really liked for a majority of the decade, so something I listened to a million times during 2000-2 but not much afterward or a really great band I didn't discover until 2008 doesn't count. In that case:

M83
Sigur Ros
Depeche Mode

Dizzee Rascal

disqualifying the bands I was into before 2000, the top three based off of Last.fm stats are:

The Knife
Santigold
M.I.A.

Ghostface
LCD Soundsystem
maybe Akron/Family or E-40 after that

Super Furry Animals
The High Llamas
Clinic

Sun City Girls

Art Brut
Hot Chip
Broadcast

Oh shit Junior Boys should be in there, three just isn't enough.

ooh Broadcast, yeah they just got better and better (RIP Trish :()

Yeah those three albums are just perfect and the compilation was pretty special too.

I dunno man... It's all good.

Favourite rock band in the second half of the decade: Mew

Wolf Eyes

Oneida (always the first to spring to mind, but perhaps not the favorite?)
Moodymann
Six Organs of Admittance

honorable mentions for live performance:

The Dirtbombs
Thee Oh Sees

Charalambides

Fennesz
Kevin Drumm
Theo Parrish

a very wire-y decade for me

dance version

Ricardo Villalobos
Pepe Bradock
Greg Wilson

Going off output in that decade, it's probably:

The Caretaker
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Stars of the Lid

Somehow I forgot that Endless Summer was still 2000s. Yeah, Fennesz might actually take it overall.

he's up there, yeah. my top three were more or less arbitrarily selected from ~20 equally worthy peers.

dance version #2

DJ Harvey
Lindstrom
Carl Craig

xp endless summer is great but i think his output only gets richer from there

converge
spoon
walkmen

outrageous cherry, rainer maria, for against

Caribou? Juana Molina? Nina Nastasia? Owen Pallett?

I hate threads because of this. Now that you mention Molina and Owen P. I think 'fuck yes, them too!'

Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen

After that it's less sure. Honestly, second place would probably be Luny Tunes (as producers, not particularly the music released with them as the main artist)
Boris, even though I discoverd them late in the last decade

Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen

(Who I still think you should like, scott.)

i like crystal castles a lot more than other people seem to like crystal castles. they are probably who i'd pick. "not in love" (alice glass vocals) is really meaningful to me. it's hard though. it probably changes everyday and sometimes based on what i'm listening to. when i am digging something a lot it becomes my favorite song for that moment.

i'm genuinely having trouble thinking of anyone. i listened to lots of music in that time, but i've either gone off it/overloaded on it (animal collective) or i feel that said artist released better music in other eras (tom waits). Elsewhere there's plenty I really like (The Knife, lots of dance music) but I can't really call my FAVOURITE.

caribou
trail of dead
jay z

xp to dog latin, i think every music listener, if they are honest with themselves, will realize that they have 100 favorite songs because it is impossible, really, to pick out which perfect song is best. choosing a favorite is more about posturing/identity construction.

maybe.

AC Newman/New Pornographers
Electrelane
Monolake

pistol annies
Dylan
taylor swift
honorable mentions: todd snider, sleater kinney

of montreal
the-dream

>:{ @ jay-z

I think Harvey Milk might be my third choice as well, actually

^ can't go wrong, really

re eyvind kang: i started with theater of the mineral NADEs way back in '98. it's sketchy, lovely and quite strange, but addictively so. his tzadik albums are uniformly great, imo. really dig virginal coordinates, too. haven't heard 2012's grass, but i'm about to remedy that...

of Montreal
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
the White Stripes

I'm enjoying checking out some Ulver. Really love the music. The vocals/lyrics might have to grow on me a bit.

Bill Dixon:

- Cecil Taylor - Bill Dixon - Tony Oxley (2002)
- 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound (2007)
- Tapestries for Small Orchestra (2009)
- Weight/Counterweight (2009)
- Envoi (2011, recorded 2010)

He made some of (arguably the) best music of his career in his 70s and 80s.

I've been trying to do this, and I just can't think of anyone who has been both consistently great and dear to my heart for the full decade. It does split into early and late '00s, mostly. Much easier to do this with record labels for me...

i cheated and named kompakt label. guess i just could have said michael mayer. but it wasn't any ONE person who blew me away with that stuff. it was all those cats.

Electric Six by a million light years

still probably the greatest gift ILM ever gave me hepping me to that stuff. i am forever grateful. doubt i ever would have heard it in a million years otherwise.

Given my listening patterns over the last 6 years it has to be film score composers or I'm being dishonest.

Alexandre Desplat
Howard Shore
Boredoms (for live performances-- here's a group whose project came to its fullest fruition live, and it's not captured satisfactorily on any release)

Special prize for still kicking my ass after x decades:

The Fall
Sun City Girls (RIP)
Scott Walker

Non-metal favorites not yet mentioned:

Bohren & Der Club of Gore
Dälek
Drive-By Truckers

Metal:

Agalloch
Isis
Mastodon
Opeth
Wolves in the Throne Room

this thread got me started on a list. up to nearly 100. think i could happily listen to nothing but stuff from artists on it for months or even years at a time.

vladislav delay

oh wait i already posted

endless summer is great but i think his output only gets richer from there

I really like all of it (or I obv wouldn't have picked him as a likely winner) but Endless Summer still hits me just a little harder than Venice and Black Sea, especially its first two tracks. I think my second-favourite Fennesz project might actually be Cendre.

Bill Frisell would probably be the closest competition for me, actually. Hm...

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:03 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Love me some Fannesz. Never heard of Bill Frisell. Will look that one up.

I would have to go Fennesz and Radiohead, with a hundreds acts after that tied for third.

^ Didn't quote that right, apologies.

chris weisman (esp. "fresh sip" & "transparency")

bill callahan (esp. "dongs of sevotion", "sometimes..." & "apocalypse")

sam amidon ("all is well" & "i see the sign")

first-time poster, hi all.

re: best Deerhoof album, I'm surprised no one mentioned Reveille. so raw and awesome, I'd put it a hair above milk man and apple o.

yay another smog fan! #sarcasm

but for real: welcome, random dude! you can introduce yourself here but be careful of ned raggett he is a terror when it comes to new posters:

Introduce Yourselves!

I can only think of one at the moment - Jay Reatard.

this is kind of a weird decade. for a lot of the first artists that came to mind, the stuff that i enjoyed most was only at the edge of the decade. for example, Low is great and Things We Lost in the Fire is my favorite release of theirs, but other than that i mainly listen to their 90s stuff.

guess i'll go with the caveat-riddled:

-stars of the lid (even though there are really only two releases from 2000-2009. but shit, they're both double albums and i have listened to them more than anything)
-deerhunter/atlas sound (even though that's really just 2007 on)
-microphones/mt. eerie (but man if he could have skipped everything he released from 2005-2008 and released Wind's Poem, Clear Moon and Ocean roar instead that would have so much better)

Sund4r I could use some 2000 and beyond Frisell tips! I lost touch with him somewhere in the 90s and I kind of forgot how much I love his sound...

generally, I'd say

Jay Reatard
High on Fire
A Frames

but Nina Nastasia, The Bug, Lindstrom, Ufomammut or The Fall could be switch into one of those slots on any given day.

Life Without Buildings
Bloc Party
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Just citing bands I went head over heels crazy for at one point, though some of the passion has been stripped away from two of those three.

pretty shitty decade, huh?

Lhasa

I don't know

― Pasty, British & Shit (wins),

I am so happy to see her mentioned. I talked with her in spanish 5 months before she died. She was lovely. She's also one of my favorites but I have never met anyone that shares my passion for her, everyone I know hates her albums... maybe too melancholic? I think the first album is great party music... the klezmer bits here and there. I guess it's just me.

Anyways according to my lastfm these are my top 10 artists from the 2000-2010... they're not what I'd call my actual favorite so this can't be right:

Little Dragon
Chromatics
Lali Puna
Devendra Banhart
Tame Impala
Superpitcher
Four Tet
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
M.I.A.
LCD Soundsystem

Superpitcher, Lali Puna, Four Tet are technically 1999...

ADORE The Living Road, Moka.

Lhasa is the absolute best. I know she only made 2 albums in the timeframe we're discussing here. Maybe her career seems more perfect for that reason: 1st album in the late 90s, and she was gone by the end of the 00s :-(

but yeah, such a strong & unique voice from the off

speaking of Tim F, I STILL need to get those Studio CDs that he turned me on to on ilm. I don't know what my problem is. one of my favorite groups from the decade in question and I've only heard them on youtube! that stuff was made for me. west coast, yearbook 1, yearbook 2, those are the ones I need, right?

Yes, although Yearbook 1 and West Coast largely overlap.

actually for my three maybe i'll go Lansing-Dreiden, Studio, Darkspace. with Kompakt being my overall champ.

The Studio didnt release enough stuff for me to go "best of the decade" although what they did release was spectacular. I'd nearly vouch for the Junior Boys but theres only two albums of theirs I really love. Superpitcher is a good call indeed.

not including label generic stuff i.e. kompakt, information.

00's =

lcd soundsystem.

sigue sigue sputnik : piratespace/blak elvis/ultra real

gorillaz.

girls aloud.

rachel stevens.

tldr; I accumulated thousands of items and none of them meant much to me but I spent the decade putting them in alphabetical order.

It was the first decade that I dropped out of buying new music and going to shows. The first half was about being a music lead at Borders and taking home stacks of promos. The cool kids got the indie, and I got everything else.

Hundreds of promo cds - Americana, Blues and Fat Possum, Latin Jazz and Cuban, alt-country, Classical, label samplers

Music Magazine Samplers - Uncut, Carbon 14, any forgotten thing.

I also bought every bargain 90s, classic rock, and jazz from what was left of Columbia House and BMG.

Ordered boxes of cheap sealed cut-out records from catalogs, and 45's from Bomp.

Any interesting used record or cd at half-price books.

I also bought every bargain 90s, classic rock, and jazz from what was left of Columbia House and BMG.

Ordered boxes of cheap sealed cut-out records from catalogs, and 45's from Bomp.

you lucky bastard.

but then you know that ...

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists should get a mention on here, brilliant run of albums. Hidden Cameras, Charlotte Hatherley, Goldfrapp, Sebastien Tellier and Jens Lekman were all pretty consistent for me too.

jack rose
the dead c (still one of the greatest bands of all time imo, their work since 2000 is just as strong as what came before)
bardo pond (see above)

jack was the coolest. it was nice to talk to willie lane a bit about jack a couple weeks back. and it was nice to sit with your helen, ian, and watch willie play. he's really good! i should get one of his records.

i reaaalllly like willie's records. i onyl have the 2nd one. helen has a copy of the first one. he sold records here at one of the WFMU-related record fairs. i bought a bunch of yazoo comps that day from him. cuz i struck out with all the other dealers. super super nice guy.

i only met jack a few times. but the first time was in wisconsin at a hippie music festival on a farm and he was soooo into the oatmeal even though it was actually pretty bad oatmeal.

i knew him in philly. i mostly just saw him around and we would talk. i liked talking to him. i think about him. they've been selling his record collection here at feeding tube little by little and it always makes me a little sad to go through them in the store.

timing is weird. i was sort of turning off indie rock around the beginning of the decade so i deliberately avoided spoon when everyone was getting into them, then i kind of covertly got into them later and would have to count them as my favorite of the decade, just on account of them being basically flawless and my consistently getting a lot of pleasure out of listening to them. it's a pretty undramatic liking of them, though - i never went through much intense interest in figuring them out or great periods of very articulate personal identification with anything in the songs. (which i think makes sense, they're cryptic and easy to feel along with, but they're the kind of feelings that go along with not having much to say.)

(could say smog/bill callahan for sort of similar reasons, except that i always found his records less flawless even if i stayed constantly interested in his whole career and went back and forth as i got into newer records. and far more emotional/personal attachment. one of the few acts i saw live in the latter half of the decade, and more than once. 'river' was a key part of my life.)

(which reminds me, i wonder if i had liked early joanna newsom i might have put her on this list instead, or been more committed to 'have one on me', which really floored me as an achievement.)

(and in a similar way, lcd soundsystem, but even though i played the shit out of them i only came to them after the second album, and was pretty cool toward the last one. it seems more like they could just become part of my past as i age, rather than still seeming like part of my present.)

after that, maybe panasonic, even though i sort of skipped out on aaltopiri after getting into 'a', so it was really 'kesto' and then the followups that made me permanently impressed with them. i haven't listened to them nearly as much as other things from the decade, i just feel like they were defining about it in some way for me.

i might list luomo for related reasons, but more as a proxy for all the dance music i also got into contemporaneously with him. it may be that in retrospect he just proved to be more interesting to me across the whole decade - i played 'convivial' a lot and was very interested in 'paper tigers' when everyone else seemed to be bummed by it.

i would also consider putting mf doom just on the strength of 'madvillainy', since it got me into other records of his but i'm not even sure it would matter to me if i could only list that one.

i listened to '69 love songs' (1999) long enough into the decade that i could have easily chosen the magnetic fields if their later albums hadn't turned me more and more off. was disappointed to see what felt like their npr-ification.

"paper tigers" is a masterpiece, there's not a bad second on that record - i don't know why it's so underrated. i hesitated between ripatti and bill callahan up there, both have made "flawed but interesting" and absolutely flawless albums during the decade, i think that's just a risk you run if you try to break new ground personally and not make the same record over and over again. i do think ripatti is still going to make something as amazing as the heady 2005/2006 run of tulenkantaja/paper tigers/four quarters/the dolls

if i had even been listening to delay during the decade that probably would have helped firm up his support from my base, i only really have in the last couple years since 'vantaa' got me paying attention.

i didn't listen to a lot of r+b at any point during the decade, most probably toward the earlier half in connection with rap, but around the time of 'paper tigers' i was kind of feeling it and that must have connected the record up to more stuff for me. maybe more experienced listeners didn't hear it that way. ('no more limp wuv songs, more choons!')

Jon: I've really liked
Unspeakable (a little more 'groove'-oriented for Frisell, brings back some of the guitar noise on some tracks, plenty of spacy ambience still, wasn't that well-loved on ILM iirc but I was mad for it when it came out; Grammy-certified at least!)
The Intercontinentals (features more 'world' influences, some really beautiful intricate moments)
Richter 858 (a different sort of project: with violin, viola, and cello; musical interpretations of Richter paintings; gets pretty intense and noisy)
Blues Dream (the most blatantly 'Americana' of these; deeper blues and country influences, still approached in Frisell's cinematic, dreamy manner; just very enjoyable imo)
East/West (excellent live album; the interpretation of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a highlight, coming from a Dylan non-fan)

Although it's from 2012, I highly recommend John Zorn's Gnostic Preludes, a Frisell-led project, also featuring Kenny Wollesen on vibes and Carol Emanuel on harp.d

Eyvind Kang plays on Unspeakable and Richter 858 btw.

musicfanatic: I wouldn't really say that Frisell is similar to Fennesz, although you might still find his work appealing. He's generally classified as a jazz guitarist but I'd take that classification with a grain of salt. He does take a somewhat ambient approach to guitar sound within that context. A very good player and composer with a taste for resonance, ringing harmonics, and electronic processing of his instrument. Aesthetically, he fuses jazz elements with pop/rock, blues, country and American roots music, and contemporary classical and the avant-garde, to varying degrees on different projects.

To expand a bit, Unspeakable was his soul/Motown/funk-influenced album but I actually like that it sounds very much like Frisell thinking about soul (while seated in front of an effects rack) as opposed to actually e.g. grooving like James Brown.

The Innocence Mission, Nick Lowe, Sam Roberts.

The Clientele
Low
Gillian Welch

Patrick Wolf
of Montreal
Lindstrom

but also:
Britney Spears
Owen Pallett
Radiohead

Thanks sund4r. All of those are on spotify so I have some exploring to do.

Oh Gillian Welch, she's sure up there.