So Elizabeth Dillow posted a list of Paste magazine's top 50 albums of the decade, with the one's she owns in bold. It's kind of a hipster list, so I had to see how the Zielske family stacks up. (And yes, the ones we own are also in bold.)
50 Björk - Vespertine (Elektra, 2001)
49 Libertines - Up The Bracket (Rough Trade, 2002)
48 Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope, 2004)
47 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Domino, 2006)
46 Once - Music From The Motion Picture (Columbia, 2007)
45 Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-released, 2007)
44 The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music (Lost Highway, 2003)*
43 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian, 2007)
42 Jay-Z - The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella, 2001)
41 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Capitol, 2007)
40 TV on the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope, 2006)
39 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge, 2007)
38 Gentleman Jesse - Introducing Gentleman Jesse (Douchemaster, 2008)
37 Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop, 2004)
36 Pedro The Lion - Control (Jade Tree, 2002)
35 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino, 2009)
34 Various artists - O Brother Where Art Thou? (Mercury, 2001)
33 Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Capitol, 2002)
32 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Warner Bros., 2002)
31 Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism (Barsuk, 2003)
30 Damien Rice - O (Vector, 2003)
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar, 2008)
28 Paul Westerberg - Folker (Vagrant, 2004)
27 Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day (New West, 2003)
26 Over the Rhine - Ohio (2004)
25 Sigur Rós - Med ud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL, 2008)
24 The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop, 2003)
23 Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (Bloodshot, 2000)
22 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (Capitol, 2006)
21 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL, 2008)
20 The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet, 2007)
19 Beck - Sea Change (Interscope, 2002)
18 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (Universal Republic, 2007)
17 Kanye West - The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella, 2004)
16 Rufus Wainwright - Want One (Dreamworks, 2003)
15 Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses (ATO, 2002)
14 The Strokes - Is This It (RCA, 2001)
13 Josh Ritter - The Animal Years (V2, 2006)
12 Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (Merge, 2002)
11 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant, 2006)
10 M.I.A. - Arular (Interscope, 2005)
09 The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You (Columbia/American, 2009)
08 OutKast - Stankonia (Arista/LaFace, 2000)
07 Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (Acony, 2001)
06 The White Stripes - Elephant (V2, 2003)
05 Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (Saddle Creek, 2005)
04 Radiohead - Kid A (Capitol, 2000)
03 Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge, 2004)
02 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch, 2002)
01 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty, 2005)
•Even though we do not own this record, Dan was promoted to be a cook at Cafe Global in 1988 because Mark Olson of the Jayhawks, who also worked at Cafe Global, left to go on tour.
A few notes:
• Yes, we do have the top five records in our collection and it makes me feel cool. Although I can only confess to personally listening to two of them (and liking them): Bright Eyes (which took me a looooong time to get), and Radiohead (which also took me a looooong time to get.)
•Of all the albums from the list that we own, the only ones I truly love are the soundtrack from Once and Radiohead "In Rainbows".
• The fact that American Idiot was left off makes me question the integrity of the list makers. Sorry. It just does. I mean, was it just too successful for a list like this? Seriously. I am surprised at the omission.
• Not one of the records on this list would I consider to be in my personal top 10 because none of the band names begin with "Journey."
• We have several Sigur Ros records other than the one on the Paste list, and though I cannot pronounce the names of any of them, I can attest that they are all magical.
• This list has led me to discover the music of Patty Griffin. Wow. How did I miss this?
There are a lot of these Best of Decade lists around right now. I find them all interesting to look at. Rolling Stone has a few more records on their list that I at least know:
Rolling Stones Top 100 albums of the decade
I have decided that in 2010, I'm going to hip-ify myself musically by making a point of only listening to 89.3 The Current in my car and at least a few days a week in my office, streaming through my iTunes. Now you local yocals know, this is a very hip station. Most of the time though, it has been TOO hip for me. Call me old fashioned, but I enjoy hearing a song I actually know every so often on the radio. On The Current, it's all hip all the time and I have NO CLUE what they're talking about.
In fact, sometimes I want to scratch at my ears and scream: ALRIGHT! ENOUGH WITH THE COOL!
But much like choosing a New Year's diet plan, sometimes we have to do things that might not feel so good in the beginning yet hold a promise of untold riches and rewards somewhere down the road.
I just need to broaden my musical horizons a titch.
Don't worry. It won't stop me from repeatedly emailing them requests for "Stone in Love." On that, you can bank.
