My Favourite 40 Albums of the Last Decade (2003-2013)

[METALMAN]

I know I do a lot of list things. I make one post then get bored of it. It's usually because I have an essay to do and am procrastinating. Then as soon as the paper is complete I don't care about it anymore. But maybe this one will be different. I don't have anything due in for a little while after all. I thought it would be interesting to look into my favourite albums of the last decade as this more or less represents the period that I've been following music and keeping up with new stuff. There won't be too many albums from 2013, because I haven't had a chance to properly assimilate them and decide how they compare to the others, but there were quite a few in with a chance.

Anyway, before we get started, these are the albums that I strongly considered, but ultimately failed to chart:

Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004) - lushly produced hip-hop with myriad classic soul samples

Kanye West - Late Registration (2005) - more or less the same

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (2006) - folk rock with a tendency to verge upon Genesis-like prog

Jessie Ware - Devotion (2012) - woozy, wistful R&B

Foster The People - Torches (2011) - immediately catchy pop

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (2008) - dance music with rock instruments

Lloyd Cole - Broken Record (2010) - articulate folk rock

The Libertines - The Libertines (2004) - an endearing ham-fisted racket

Burial - Kindred (2012) - an unnerving picture of East London by night

Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream (2012) - effortless pop, beautifully produced

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke (2008) - 80s infushed guitar pop

Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes (2012) - unpredictable electronic music with jazzy elements

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006) - lush pop; sounds a bit like Gentle Giant in places

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (2011) - former Allman Brothers singer delivers a set of beautifully produced blues covers

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (2008) - wimpy pop-rock

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (2010) - infectious mix of pop and hip-hop with an eclectic cast of guest performers

Rowland S. Howard - Pop Crimes (2009) - bleak music from a dying man

Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms (2009) - psychedelic synthpop

Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003) - Big Boi and Andre 3000 indulge themselves

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (2008) - Shut up. I really liked it. :/

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (2010) - James Murphy goes out at the top

Goat - World Music (2012) - exciting fusion of international sounds from Swedish afrobeat combo (how rent-a-cliché does that come across?)

Youth Lagoon - Year Of Hibernation (2012) - lo-fi dream pop

Yuck - Yuck (2011) - shamelessly imitating the slacker rock of Dinosaur Jr and Pavement.

And now for the actual list. Coming up next...

40. An album that is nearly always prefaced by "glacial" or "icy"

39. A guy from New York that I once saw supporting #38

38. A New York based five piece

37. Another guy from New York that was also on the "almost made it" list.

[SRN]

I bet Cher Lloyd is #1.

[Colly]

Friendly Fires and Ladyhawke would've definitely made my 40, but I'm shit at 'best of' lists...