2000-2009:40-31

In this ten:
3 Canadian-based bands
1 Brazilian-based band
2 Japanese front-women
1 pair of Italian twins
1 Swede
The rest are just American leftovers.


40) Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Listening to Crystal Castles is like watching a Nintendo have a grand mal seizure at a warehouse rave. I kinda like it. A more direct description, Crystal Castles drops percussion on a bed of 8-bit audio smeared by edgy distorted chick vocals. There are a lot of ways to describe this duo, but none of it will make sense until you let them abuse your eardrums.

Crystal Castles - Untrust Us

39) Blonde Redhead - 23
Released in 2007, this is their latest full-length release (though apparently the band is working on a new one). Poppier than their previous albums (or "more accessible," whatever you want to call it), 23 still delivers Kazu Makino's ghosty vocals and the Pace twins' haunting melodies. But rather than being hypnotized by the music, you will probably find yourself doing some toe-tappin'.


38) Wintersleep - untitled
Everybody likes Welcome to the Night Sky, released in 2007. It's okay, but their 2005 release is where it's at. Not necessarily a self-titled release (they already had one of those in 2003), this album picks out the best elements of dour post-grunge to bring forth excellent and surprisingly explosive moody alt-rock.

Wintersleep - Insomnia

37) Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors
Released in May of 2000, Fevers set the tone for super-sensitive neo-folk. Lots of angsty late-teenage introspection, as Conor Oberst was 19 when he recorded these songs. What sets him apart from the other whiny nonsense is his ability to convey these heavy emotions sincerely without any sense of irony (which makes the mock interview found on the album all the more hilarious).
Bright Eyes - Something Vague

36) Christian Kjellvander - Songs From a Two Room Chapel
There might be something about the northern snowy desolation of Sweden that intrisically causes its musicians to produce bleak and soul-bendingly sorrowful music. This perspective also allows the Swedes to write and perform Americana better than the Americans. Anyway, meet Christian Kjellvander, the Swedish Richard Buckner.

Christian Kjellvander - Allelujah

35) CSS - Cansei de ser Sexy
Slightly snotty, fairly reprehensible, and mostly electro-funky. Like everything that displays youthful exuberance through loud fashion and mild crassness you'll find CSS (both the band and the album) either cool or annoying. As we're so far down the list you can correctly postulate where I stand.

CSS - Alala

34) Hopesfall - No Wings to Speak Of
Under twenty-minutes in length, this four-song EP is completely and wholly glorious, displaying Hopesfall at their musical apex. Epic, melodic, passionate, and, when appropriate, brutal. Line-up changes soon after No Wings was recorded ensured music like this would never be heard again.
Hopesfall - The End of an Era

33) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
The highly-anticipated follow-up to Funeral is a little bit more serious yet is just as catchy and even a bit more fun. There's lots of social/political/religious commentary (mostly sarcastic criticisms) but the moderate tempo keeps the album from being too heavy-handed. "Intervention" makes me want to physically explode, spontaneous combustion-like.
Arcade Fire - Intervention

32) Deerhoof - Apple O'
Insane and/or ingenious. Either way, the music is spastically delightful and, in its own special way (and I do mean special), quite beautiful. Fun if you like bursts of atonality, a mashed sense of what rock 'n' roll should be, pandas, and very short Japanese women.
Deerhoof - Sealed With a Kiss
Deerhoof - L' Amour Stories

31) Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlantacism
My favorite Death Cab album. Songs revolve around themes of travel and love and departed loves and weepy things like that. The tracks meld nicely into each other, but naturally stand strongly on their own.
Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year