20 Best Albums of the Past Ten Years

Originally posted by SPIN:
agreed.

but Tortiose shouldnt be on ANYONES list. They are horrible.
and Nirvana i think won a spot on every list ever made…for some reason.

Millions Now Living… is brilliant. Would be top 20 on my list, for sure.

But Crooked Rain is my numero uno. I'd also have to stick Morphine â?? Cure for Pain, Tom Waits â?? Bone Machine and Bee Thousand in there. And where the hell is Soft Bulletin? Could arguably be #1…

1. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Commatorium
2. Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice
3. At The Drive-In - Vaya
4. Fugazi - Repeater
5. Hot Water Music - Fuel for the Hate Game
6. Liars - They Threw Us in a Trench & Stuck Monument on Top
7. Rocket From The Crypt - Live From Camp X Ray
8. Burning Brides - Fall of the Plastic Empire
9. Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
10. The Catheters - Static Delusions & Stone-Still Days

This list is ridiculous. Not a single Americana/alt-country album (Summerteeth hardly qualifies)? Give me a break.

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
This list is ridiculous. Not a single Americana/alt-country album (Summerteeth hardly qualifies)? Give me a break.

the original list?

If so, what is Calexico then?

Here's the full list of 60.

60. Shins, Oh, Inverted World
59. Grifters, Crappin' You Negative
58. Shellac, At Action Park
57. New Pornographers, Eletric Version
56. JSBX, Orange
55. Pernice Bros., Overcome by Happiness
54. Whiskeytown, Strangers Almanac
53. Wrens, The Meadowlands
52. Helium, Magic City
51. Pulp, Different Class
50. GvsB, Venus Luxure No.1 Baby
49. Jawbox, For Your Own Special Sweetheart
48. Stereolab, Mars Audiac Quintent
47. Urge Overkill, Saturation
46. Idlewild, 100 Broken Windows
45. Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen
44. Air, Virgin Suicides
43. PJ Harvey, To Bring You My Love
42. Unwound, Repetition
41. Bright Eyes, Letting off the Happiness
40. Dandy Warhols, Urban Bohemia
39. Polvo, Exploded Drawing
38. GSYBE!, f#a#8 <– inifinity, you know the stupid cd
37. Sugar, File Under: Easy Listening
36. Beta Band, The Three eps
35. Fugazi, In On the Killtaker
34. Interpol, Turn On the Bright Lights
33. Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
32. Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary
31. Built to Spill, Perfect from Now On
30. QOSTA, QOSTA
29. Spoon, A Series of Sneaks
28. Steve Earle, Transcendental Blues
27. Beck, Mutations
26. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Dirt Road
25. DJ Shadow, Endtroducing. . .
24. White Stripes, White Blood Cells
23. Flaming Lips, Soft Bulletin
22. Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
21. Moby, Play
20. R.E.M., Adventures In Hi-Fi
19. The Strokes, Is This It
18. Dirty Three, Horse Stories
17. Weezer, Pinkerton
16. Mercury Rev, Deserterâ??s Songs
15. Ween, White Pepper
14. Grandaddy, The Sophtware Slump
13. Calexico, The Black Light
12. Elliott Smith, XO
11. Wilco, Summerteeth
10. Tortoise, Millions Now Living Will Never Die
09. Pavement, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
08. The Verve, Urban Hymns
07. Yo La Tengo, I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
06. The Breeders, Last Splash
05. Belle and Sebastian, If Youâ??re Feeling Sinister
04. Radiohead, OK Computer
03. Guided By Voices, Alien Lanes
02. Nirvana, In Utero
01. Neutral Milk Hotel, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

I listened to them once (more famliar with Giant Sand, who I don't like), but this description cites a number of non-Americana influences: Morricone, Portuguese fado (whatever that is?) and Afro-Peruvian music.

My guess is Calexico is more of a hipster hybrid sort of band than an Americana band.


Calexico, a Tucson collective of musicians focused around Joey Burns and John Convertino, forged an eclectic identity through their exploration of Southwestern culture. Composer Ennio Morricone's spaghetti Westerns as well as Portuguese fado; Afro-Peruvian music; and '50s and '60s jazz, country, and surf music all factored into Calexico's music.

Originally posted by Bubba:

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
This list is ridiculous. Not a single Americana/alt-country album (Summerteeth hardly qualifies)? Give me a break.

the original list?

If so, what is Calexico then?

Second Half…
1. And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
2. Black Keys - Thickfreakness
3. Dinosaur Jr. - Hand It Over
4. Murder City Devils - In Name and Blood
5. At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command
6. Nirvana - In Utero
7. Cash - American Recordings
8. Mudhoney - Tomorrow Hit Today
9. Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood
10. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
This list is ridiculous. Not a single Americana/alt-country album.

54. Whiskeytown, Strangers Almanac
28. Steve Earle, Transcendental Blues
26. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Dirt Road
13. Calexico, The Black Light
11. Wilco, Summerteeth

I would have to put Old 97's Too Far to Care on the list, and replace Summerteeth with Being There.

Also, it seems silly not to have Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne on the list, given that most rock critics have hailed them as legends.

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
I would have to put Old 97's Too Far to Care on the list,

That's exactly why they didn't ask for your opinion when they compiled the list.