2000-2009:70-61

70) Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
More Canadians! Electronic music always seems best when it is composed by duos. While techno, house, and trance have a tendency to lull its listeners into a... trance, Junior Boys music is captivating and groovylicious.
Junior Boys - In the Morning

69) Sigur Ros - Takk...
Sigur Ros's second-best full-length album, Takk... displays more of the magnificent instrumental and vocal arrangements that make the band so wondrous. Always needing to be different, the CD packaging itself is awkwardly sized and sticks out funny on my shelf like an extended middle finger amongst all the other jewel cases.

Sigur Ros - Gong

68) The River Bends - And Flows Into the Sea
A collaboration with One Star Hotel, The River Bends is Denison Witmer backed by (gasp) a full rock band. Though several of the tracks sound more robust than Witmer's solo work, each tune is vintage Denison in its introspection and perfectly placed hooks.
The River Bends - Are You Lonely
The River Bends - 22

67) Ladytron - The Witching Hour
The Witching Hour, when it was released, was a severe departure from the group's cutesy minimal-retro electro-synthpop. The one-dimensional boops and beeps that harmlessly led the listener on were replaced with heavily layered waves of sound crashing rhythmically about. Ladytron, in one album, had turned from a novelty to something positively dangerous. "Destroy Everything You Touch" is a tremendous track.

Ladytron - Beauty*2

66) Mogwai - Rock Action
Murky without being muddled, triumphant without being celebratory, Rock Action is a bipolar musical exploration.
Mogwai - Dial: Revenge

65) Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Living With the Living
Until The Brutalist Bricks is released in March, Living With the Living is Ted Leo's most recent full-length album. I had previous noted that it wasn't quite as good as his previous releases, but I now see the error of my ways.
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - A Bottle of Buckie
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.

64) Envy - All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead
Old pros, Envy does epic the way epicness is supposed to be done. The songs are dense, go soft-to-loud (or loud-to-louder), and the vocals are passionately SCREAMED in Japanese.
Envy - Farewell To Words

63) Desaparecidos - Read Music/Speak Spanish
It's Conor Oberst, and he's mad at suburban America. Raging like a teenagers who just learned about the evils of corporations and consumerism, Oberst plugs in his guitar and plays some serious rock 'n' roll.
Desaparecidos - Man and Wife, The Latter (Damaged Goods)

62) Death Cab For Cutie - The Photo Album
More Death Cab goodness full of smirk-worthy lyrical wit and structure. The music, even when conveying severe agitation, is smooth. The hooks are hooky. The Photo Album is a Death Cab classic.
Death Cab For Cutie - We Laugh Indoors
Death Cab For Cutie - A Movie Script Ending

61) Cat Power - The Greatest
Bluesy, mellow, and solid. Chan Marshall's smokey vocals mesh perfectly with her backing ensemble. I guess you're allowed to name your album The Greatest if it really is the greatest.
Cat Power - The Greatest