00's Superlatives

i brought this up in the '09 albums thread and i think it deserves its own …. so we're in the last year of the decade, what kind of superlatives can we throw around?

seems like these type of things are always fraught with defining the bounds of consideration ("Artist/Band of the Decade" v. "Rock Band of the Decade"), so please include some kind of a description of what you're thinking about if it's not obvious … for example, any "Artist/Band of the Decade" (in my mind) would almost certainly be a rapper (probably Jay-Z) … similarly, i think calling someone the "Best Artist of the Decade" is hugely different than "Artist of the Decade"

Rock Bands of the Decade
Coldplay: see Mitch Benn, "Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now"
The Strokes:  reignited NYC rock, the dominant sound of the decade
The White Stripes:  put out 5 pretty fantastic albums, enormous breadth of listeners

Best Rock Bands of the Decade
Arcade Fire
Drive-By Truckers
The Walkmen

Best Pop/Rock Songwriters of the Decade
Carl Newman
Jens Lekman
Ted Leo
John Darnielle
Matt Pond
Brendan Benson
John Vanderslice
M. Ward

Instead of the normal ten years why not go back eleven… that would be one better

I'll be glad to post my thoughts sometime around Dec 31. I'll even give you my top 100 of the Decade list that I've been compiling for years. But not until then.

Good thread, something interesting (and actually music-related) to discuss and argue about.

The thing is, it?s hard to gauge the band of the decade because are we talking mainstream, indie, critical/cred, popular, classic, etc. ? It?s also more challenging now because the music business has changed so much. You don?t have any more albums selling 10 million copies, and I?d venture to guess we never will again until some form of anti-pirating technology or format comes along.

I think outside the U.S., the band of the 00s is Muse. Started right at the end of the 90s and built themselves into a massive operation on the strength of quality, popular records and an almost universally recognized reputation as a great live act. They can sell out arenas of 100k+, plus their albums have pretty much all received high critical acclaim and sold well. They?re popular with a lot of hipsters and the general public (outside of the U.S. at least). They?re expected to release another album this year. If it has a ?Wonderwall? type single on there that resonates here, they will become the biggest band in the world, on the level of Oasis in 1996.

In terms of influence, Arcade Fire seems like a candidate for being one of the more influential bands. They?ve only put out 2 records, but I can totally hear their sound and vibe in a lot of the new bands out now and some more established ones.

Queens. Best everything ever.

Not so much with Paul Rogers.

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:
Queens. Best everything ever.

Remind me again who Muse is? I saw one of their videos once, they appeared to me doing a really bad Queen impersonation.

Nah, they'd just go over your head, stick with Patty Loveless or whatever the hell it is you play on your crank-up hi-fi

nothing says the decade like devendra.  nothing.

worst comeback of the decade - duran duran

crappiest album of the decade - tie : pat boone's "in a metal mood"  limp bizkit's "chocolate starfish …"

best live show of the decade - flaming lips

biggest music dick of the decade - lars

So which countries have you personally travelled to this decade and observed their greatness outside the U.S.?

Relaxer wrote:
Nah, they'd just go over your head, stick with Patty Loveless or whatever the hell it is you play on your crank-up hi-fi

Well, despite being tremendously well-traveled, I've not personally observed their greatness outside of the U.S. But there are these neat new things called magazines and they feature what are called articles and photographs, that are able to summarize and depict an event or phenomena for an interested observer without that person actually having to attend said event. It's really nuts. I keep hearing this technology is going to be available over a typewriter-television but I'll stick with my magazines and afternoon paper, thank you.

muse? are you kidding?

maybe if it was for "14th best laser show of the 00s" they could be in the conversation.

otherwise, puh-leeze.

Good argument

Relaxer wrote:
Good argument

sorry dude. sometimes there's not much to argue. i really think muse is the kinda like the nickelback of alt-rock, or whatever genre they are part of. i see/hear nothing but bombast and some decent technical proficiency without any actual songwriting chops. let's distract 'em with bright lights and neat sound effects!

I wouldn't say they were the best band of the decade, but they've had the most impressive trajectory of any band out there, in terms of what they've accomplished. And again, I hedged my original post by saying they're the biggest band outside of the U.S.

Speaking of which, you've done a lot of whining here today. How about offering up something. Who do you nominate? Puh-leeze?

Relaxer wrote:
The thing is, it?s hard to gauge the band of the decade because are we talking mainstream, indie, critical/cred, popular, classic, etc. ?

Yeah, that was my disclaimer in the OP…

You could have bands of the decade for all of those categories.  I think "Band of the Decade" encompasses little bits of all of those.  It has to capture the zeitgeist in some crucial way, while also being widely listened to and appreciated.

i really haven't done too much whining, just about muse, who i have an admittedly strong adverse reaction to.

if the criteria calls for big popularity as part of the equation then probably radiohead, white stripes, kanye are near the top, as predictable as that may be.

if you want to go down a tier then i could make varyingly successful arguments for the hold steady, my morning jacket, the new pornographers/destroyer/ac newman crew, spoon. and jay reatard, obvs.

some more bands/artists that would be in the conversation:

Beck
Wilco
The Flaming Lips
The Killers
Outkast (but more like 95-05)
The Roots

Death Cab for Cutie
The Decemberists
The Shins
The National
Broken Social Scene (and crew, including Feist, Kevin Drew, etc.)
LCD Soundsystem/DFA/James Murphy
Of Montreal
Daft Punk
TV on the Radio
Animal Collective (+ Panda Bear)
Okkervil River
Neko Case
Conor Oberst / Bright Eyes (vomit)

I rather agree with the idea that Muse have a shot at band of the decade, given their rise to popularity and the quality of their albums and live show.  BookerT, I can sympathize, I was a slow convert to Muse, because their bombastic-ness (even a word?) was almost too over the top for me.  But if you take it a little less seriously and just approach them as a balls to the wall rock show, then you gotta admit they do that amazingly well. 

Decemberists could be considered for a lot of the same reasons.  Their debut EP came out in '01 I believe, and with each album have steadily gained followers and embraced new ideas, yet remained fairly true to their schtick and their vision.  Last I heard they hope to release their next album this March.  If it is a wild success, then that would pretty much cap off a heck of a decade for them. 

I'm curious who you guys would nominate as the most relevant male and female musicians of the 2000's?

I guess my criteria for this would be someone who has managed to maintain a steady stream of influence and buzz around them, primarily for their music.

I *would* nominate Amy Winehouse, but it's really no longer about her music, is it?