A select group of CL music contributors – Eric Snider, Scott Harrell, Joel Weiss, Evan Tokarz and Shawn Goldberg – have helped me put together this well-rounded list of the decade’s best albums from 2000 to the present. So far, I’ve revealed Part I and Part II. Here's the next bunch of 25, in no specific order; our choicest selections will be presented at the climactic end (Part IV) tomorrow. Enjoy! And feel free to offer some of your favorites from the past 10 years in the comments section below..
Click here to read Part I; click here to read Part II.
1. The Ditchflowers, Carried Away (2007) Pinellas County artists Ed Woltil, Brian Merrill and friends collaborated on this remarkable project of heartfelt, thoughtful and catchy power-pop, post-Beatles rock and epic balladry. Grownups making grownup music. –ES
2. Hot Water Music, Caution (2002) They spent five years defining the visceral sonic grit of Gainesville punk 'n' roll, then they spent a couple more expanding on it with the more experimental A Flight And A Crash. The group's penultimate studio release (so far) brought both sides of Hot Water's volatile character together to stunning, anthemic effect. –SH
3. Regina Spektor, Begin to Hope (2006) The Soviet-American songstress dishes out a perfect album of sticky, quirky, piano-driven soul-pop, her fourth studio effort revealing an unselfconscious poet and confident singer with a broad vocal range and an alluring inflection. –LP
Regina Spektor's "On the Radio"
This article appears in Dec 30, 2009 – Jan 5, 2010.