Creative Loafing's 100 Best Albums of the Decade, Part II: Kings of Leon, The Mars Volta, Spoon, U2, Common, The White Stripes and more

[image-1]4. Bettye LaVette, I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise (2005) After spending decades on the R&B fringes, the singer finally broke out with this set on Anti- that showcases tunes by woman songwriters (Sinead O’Connor, Lucinda Williams, Dolly Parton). LaVette’s heated, sandpapery vocals are aptly backed by organic arrangements. –ES

5. Peter Bjorn and John, Writer’s Block (2006) A perfect Swede pop album with moments that rock with fuzzed out appeal and moments that stick to your brain like cotton candy, like the song with the whistle heard ‘round the world, “Young Folks.” –LP

6. Bright Eyes, Lifted or The Story is in The Soil, Keep Your Ear to The Ground (2002) Purists will call an earlier, more lo-fi work Conor Oberst's best, and '05's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is probably better known to a larger cross-section of fans. But Lifted seems like the place where everything fell into place for the young Nebraska bard. The wide variety of instrumentation and arrangements shows his songwriting ideals in a new light, yet never overwhelms the bare-nerve simplicity that serves to connect Oberst so strongly to everyone from die-hard followers to casual listeners. –SH

7. Madvillain, Madvillainy (2004) A collaboration between two titans of underground hip-hop – producer Madlib and rapper MF Doom – Madvillainy is a true head-trip. Madlib’s sonic ruckus mashes together arcane samples and collage-style beats, complemented by Doom’s tongue-twisting lyrics and smoky flow. –ES

8. Lemon Jelly, Lost Horizons (2002) A bright and shimmering mid-tempo electronica album recorded with a full suite of session musicians who bring a richness to the sonicscape of tracks, their instrumentals interspersed among samples, loops, electro beats and other programming techniques. –LP

The video for "Nice Weather for Ducks"

[image-2]9. Feist, The Reminder (2007) With this album, the Canadian singer/songwriter went from best-kept-secret to star. The disc has a quirky, whimsical flavor that never undercuts its status as serious, original art. Her airy vocals project a poignant vulnerability and wide emotional range. –ES

10. The Mars Volta, De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) When the gentle escalation of “Son Et Lumiere” explodes into “Inertiatic E.S.P.” at the outset of Mars Volta’s first album, I was won over immediately. Who knew post-hardcore and prog-rock, in the right hands, could coexist as the sonic equivalent of peanut butter and jelly? –JW

11. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005) The self-released debut by Brooklyn indie fivesome Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is not only an internet success story – the band sold 125,000 copies with no PR or label support – but a fun and charming pop sensible rock record featuring a lead singer with the delivery style of David Byrne. –LP

[image-3]12. U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004) The venerable Irish quartet stayed relevant in the 2000s, never more so than on this visceral disc that showed a renewed vigor in the band’s songwriting and performance. “Vertigo” is one of the punchiest and most durable rock songs of the decade. –ES

13. Spoon, Gimme Fiction (2005) The Austin (now Portland) rock 'n' roll chameleons, led by head lounge lizard Britt Daniel, hit their stride with this impeccably stylish mash-up of Stones swagger and Beatles melody. Gimme Fiction shakes, rattles and rolls like a course in surefire rock tropes--with labs in riffs, rhythm and charisma--yet still manages to come off as completely original. –SH

14. The Album Leaf, In a Safe Place (2004) Album Leaf frontman Jimmy LaValle records with lovely Icelanders múm, Amiina and Sigur Rós on this unforgettable album of soothing ambience. –ET

15. Sufjan Stevens, Come on Feel the Illinoise aka Illinois (2005) Lush and dense symphonic climaxes crash against melancholy acoustic ballads in the eccentric singer-songwriter’s concept album about Illinois, which is filled with long-winded but charming song titles like “To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament” and “A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons.” –LP

Here's "Chicago" set to a very nice Sufjan Stevens photo montage.

[image-4]16. Bob Dylan, Love and Theft (2001) The second in a trilogy of albums that returned Dylan to top form, Love and Theft covers the roots waterfront (blues, swing, country, rockabilly, folk) in a set of songs that is at turns wry, bitter and fun-loving. Dylan’s ravaged pipes take some getting used to, but the playing is both concise and relaxed. –ES

17. Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago (2008) One man’s yearning and sorrow retains a warm sense of intimacy while somehow reflecting the austere Midwestern landscape where the album was recorded. The pinnacle of sensitive, bearded, singer-songwriter fare, even surpassing Iron & Wine in its heart-squeezing beauty. –LP

18. Dashboard Confessional, The Swiss Army Romance (2000) Say what you will about Miami native and scene vet Chris Carrabba, this album singlehandedly made it acceptable for hardcore kids to turn their acoustic B-sides into rep-making singles, an interesting and now-vital current of the punk-culture t[image-5]ides. Sure, it's directly responsible for your having heard "Hey Delilah" approximately 7,443,081 times, but "Screaming Infidelities" sure did sound marvelous after a bad breakup and eight or nine Natty Lights. –SH

19. Los Lobos, The Town and the City (2006) The veteran East L.A. avant-roots-rockers got stuck in label (and thus commercial) limbo in the 2000s, but they released several fine albums, the best of which is this one, a signature blend of R&B, rock and Tex-Mex, ranging from smoldering ballads to stomping blues. David Hidalgo remains one of rock’s best singers. –ES

20. The White Stripes, Elephant (2004) Moments of exquisitely earnest melody are scattered throughout the dark and heavy album, bluesy garage rock given tasteful treatment by charismatic multi-instrumentalist singer, producer and creative train conductor, Jack White. –LP

The popular video for "Seven Nation Army"

21. Common, Like Water for Chocolate (2000) The Chicago rapper’s commercial breakthrough exquisitely [image-6]balanced his penchants for anti-bling, positive messages and experimentalism, while remaining connected to the street. Producer J Dilla’s tracks provide optimum flow. –ES

22. At the Drive In, Relationship of Command (2000) Go put it on, right now. It's just as frenzied, uncompromising, evocative, unsettling and out-and-out weird as it was nine years ago. The band is long gone, splintered into declining alt-rock combo Sparta and self-indulgent mess The Mars Volta, but its final album still sounds like it's from the future. Punk-rock balls and art-rock vision might never coexist so easily again. –SH

23. The Brazilian Girls, The Brazilian Girls (2005) The playful, intoxicating debut of the NYC indie group mixes the vibrant sounds of house, acid jazz, reggae, lounge, tango, chanson and samba music; no Brazilians in the band, the only female is sultry-voiced multi-lingual lead singer Sabina Sciubba, and she delivers languid or demanding or matter-of-fact lyrics in English, [image-7]French, Italian, German and Spanish. –LP

24. Tom Waits, Alice (2002) Released in companion with the far more out-there Blood Money, Alice is mostly low-key and introspective, with moments that could even be described as pretty. Vestiges of Waits’ twisted wit are still evident, as are the post-vaudevillian touches and weird instrumentation, but Alice is about as conventionally listenable as anything Waits has done in two decades. –ES

Here's the official MTV video for "Golden Age"