2000-2009:80-71

80) Kathleen Edwards - Failer
Edwards' first full-length commercial release is about as good as debut albums get. Full of fictional (?) first-person accounts and nuggets of what are presumably bigger stories, Failer revolves around Edwards' smokey vocals and songs of personal frustration and human shortcomings.
Kathleen Edwards - One More Song the Radio Won't Like
Kathleen Edwards - Lone Wolf

79) Damien Jurado - Ghost of David
Taking the bleak storytelling a bit further, Jurado, in his minimal folksy way, sings of death, fear, and all that other good stuff. The standout track is "Tonight I Will Retire," a song that is so simple, yet so devastating.
Damien Jurado - Tonight I Will Retire

78) Cool Hand Luke - I Fought Against Myself
The transitional album between their scream-tacular ...So Far EP and the more subdued (though just as passionate) introspective Wake Up, O Sleeper (which set the tone for the remainder of their releases), I Fought Against Myself is full of extremes. It's aggressive, then bare. Obvious, then subtle. Comforting, then convicting.
Cool Hand Luke - Numbing Agent

77) My Hotel Year - The Composition of Ending and Phrasing
Post-power pop, if there is such a genre. In Composition they hit the big chords, but mix it up with starts and stops and time signature changes. MHY were lumped in with all the other faux-emo bands of the late '90s/early '00s, but their tightness and dang-good music separated them from the others.
My Hotel Year - Key Exchange

76) Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance
A bit of a throwback, but still adequately bringing the rock, the music of Ted Leo hearkens back to the times of old-school punk. Sometimes you have to keep it pozzie. (Although "The Gold Finch and the Red Oak Tree" is surprisingly tender.)
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Squeaky Fingers
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Gold Finch and the Red Oak Tree

75) Benoit Pioulard - Précis
Cluttered with sound, though not distractingly so, Précis is an exercise in acoustics and loops, melodies and repetitions. It sounds pretentious and European, but Benoit Pioulard is really just a guy from Michigan. Nothing out of Michigan is too pretentious to enjoy.
Benoit Pioulard - Triggering Back
Benoit Pioulard - Palimend

74) The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Modern prog-rock, yet restrained and catchy enough to thoroughly enjoy. Lots of fodder for SAT word definitions.


73) Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
With elements of Appalachia folk and Americana permeating their music, Grizzly Bear is too hazy and experimental to be either. Imagine guitars and xylophones and autoharps and banjos and ethereal voices all floating in the midst of a looming cumulonimbus cloud.

Grizzly Bear - Lullaby

72) Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
The band's only full-length release (so far, they've been working on a new one for years), Myths is psychedelic, groovy, rockin', and dance-worthy disco fun. Personally, it makes me want to visit other planets, but only if their primary heat sources are glowsticks.

Klaxons - Golden Skans

71) Denison Witmer - Carry the Weight
Witmer has steadily given in to the 70s singer/songwriter influences he always mentions in interviews and live performances. His least whiny album, Witmer channels his inner Jackson Browne and Carly Simon to create a great collection of mellow California-folk tunes.
Denison Witmer - One More Day