List: Best Albums of the Decade 100-91

Part Two of my countdown of the top 110 albums of the decade. You can find 110-101 here. But for now, here's 100-91...

100. Pete Yorn - musicforthemorningafter (2001)

Sometimes you make something so good with your first attempt that you can never hit those high standards ever again. Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly knows what this is all about. As does Pete Yorn. These days he's duetting with Scarlett Johansson and making so-so records. His debut, on the other hand, was a fantastic radio rock album, which leant many of its singles to soundtracks. It's not just a soundtrack album though, like Moby's Play, it has so much more to offer.

99. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (2007)

Wilco are never going to make another Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But the offspring of Uncle Tupelo came damn close with Sky Blue Sky. A much more rounded and polished album, it was their highest ever charting record. It's a much simpler album, much more direct, but is not worse off in any way; 'Impossible Germany' may well be Jeff Tweedy's finest hour.

98. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)

Sigur Rós are another of these acts that'll never match their early work (Ágætis byrjun is a masterpiece, but technically a 1999 release), however they will not cease in trying to be better. Thus their fifth album was yet another change in direction, this one even had a song in English. It charted in the top 5 in both Ireland and the UK, and was much more pop than any of their past efforts. In fact, this was the first fun album Sigur Rós recorded. Yes. It's fun.

97. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (2007)

Will Sheff was always clever. WIth Shearwater he lets his aggression out, but Okkervil River is his best project. The lyrics are intelligent and also funny, but the melodies are what makes the album really shine. No album this decade ends on a higher note, 'John Allyn Smith Sails' is a reworking of the traditional 'Sloop John B' made famous by the Beach Boys, and is every bit as good as Brian Wilson's own.

96. Bruce Springsteen - Magic (2007)

Bruce Springsteen really regained form in the 00s. His 80s output was fantastic, but his 90s work left a lot to be desired. But out of his five albums released this decade, four of them are among his best (the newest,Working on a Dream, is awful). Magic was one of the two upbeat pop ones, less dark than The Rising, and perfect for radio.

95. Ryan Adams - 29 (2005)

The third of Ryan Adams' 2005 trilogy, and his grittiest ever work. It had nine long songs which seeped into your consciousness. A real grower of an album, it's beautiful. There was an article in the Guardian last week saying that a director's minor work - the film that's most different than the rest of their output - is their real best. Many people think this may be the case with Adams. They may well be right.

94. The National - Alligator (2005)

Alligator was the National's third album, but was the one on which they really shone. Filled with bleakly beautiful songs, it was an album which showed its beauty on first listen, but got even better on repeated spins. Interestingly, PopMatters gave it two reviews on its release - the total of which added up to give it 9 (2/10 and 7/10). Bet they're kicking themselves now.

93. Glen Phillips - Abulum (2001)

Toad the Wet Sprocket were much bigger on the other side of the Atlantic than over here. But anyone who doesn't know of them should take notice of their frontman, Glen Phillips's debut solo album. Abulum is like that old warm family friend, filled with curious observations, and a great deal of wit. It's also damn addictive.

92. U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

U2 came out of the blocks this decade with the splendid single 'Beautiful Day', which has soundtracked many a highlight reel since. Every song was a possible single, but it was the slower numbers like 'Walk On' and Bono's tribute to his late friend Michael Hutchence, 'Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of'. 'Peace on Earth' was the only weak point on what is otherwise a marvellous Irish album.

91. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner (2005)

Coles Corner was Hawley's fourth solo album and is named after one of Sheffield's hotspots. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2006 which gained Hawley a much wider fanbase. It contained many gorgeous songs, for example 'The Ocean', 'Hotel Room', and the tremendous title track.

The Countdown continues tomorrow...

Interview: Glen Phillips of Works Progress Administration

he Works Progress Administration is not quite a supergroup (well it, is but...), instead they claim that it's an expandable collective, centred around Glen Phillips of solo and Toad the Wet Sprocket fame, Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, and Luke Bulla who was a member of Lyle Lovett's large band. The WPA also features many other performers, including Sara Watkins (fiddle), Benmont Tench (piano), Greg Leisz (pedal steel), Pete Thomas (drums), and Davey Faragher (bass). The self-titled album also features some of the best album art/liner notes I have ever seen. Here is what frontman Glen Phillips had to say about his latest project.




It seems Americans have a fascination with FDR and his programs, Jason Isbell/Drive-By Truckers have 'Thank God for the TVA', and you've named yourself after the Works Progress Administration, why do you think this is? Has Obama's presidency invigorated Newer Deal thought, or is there a more personal reason behind the name?
I think people appreciate the idea of a nation seeing itself as a great community, as opposed to a collection of consumers. The US has confused democracy with unfettered capitalism over the last few decades. The New Deal was based on the idea that our individual labors had worth and dignity, and that our spirit and creativity mattered more than our incomes and possessions. I know that's a fairly basic concept in the rest of the world, but it's become revolutionary in America. I think Obama was voted in with great hopes for a return to those values, but I'm not sure how much change we'll really get. It would be an amazing step for us to get just get back to where we were under Clinton, but that's not quite the same as moving ahead.

When working in a collaboration like this, how do you decide who does what? Take the album for example, how was it decided what songs would appear on it? And when playing live, who orders the setlist? Is it arranged so everyone gets a turn?
Song selection was surprisingly democratic. The writers (Sean, Luke and I) brought in songs we thought would work for the project. We worked on the ones everyone favored. If someone thought something wasn't up to snuff it was shelved. There weren't any hurt feelings in the process. Ideas for covers would come from anybody who had a suggestion.
The three of us all chip in for set lists.

Is it easier to record an album without record company pressure? How does it differ from the usual process?
It's great recording without a company (aside from the lack of funds)- the musicians just choose the best songs and get them the way they want. Then again, I haven't been on a label for a long time, so for me, it's pretty standard. Back with my old band, Sony allowed us to do what we wanted. I didn't realize how unusual that was until later. The idea of signing a writer to a contract and then not trusting them to do good work is bizarre to me. Not that there aren't talented A&R people with good ideas and taste. I just trust musicians more to know what they're doing. We produced this as a group, and managed to put the record together with just 3 days of rehearsal and 5 days of recording. We re-recorded a couple lead vocals and overdubbed some harmonies, but what you're hearing is 99% what came out of us live.

Many of you have had solo careers alongside being in a band, has that helped you all bring something different to this record?
I suppose...I think the group's breadth experience has shown us all that there's no one way to do things, and that we can trust our instincts to lead us where we need to go. The focus is always on the song itself - nobody was concerned about how big their piece of the pie was, so people worked more to create space instead of filling it up. If everyone was showboating, it would be cacophony with eight people wailing away. By always keeping the song in focus, we were able to lay back and keep things from getting too dense.

And how is this record different than the Mutual Admiration Society album that some of the members made a few years back?
First of, Chris Thile isn't a part of it. MAS was Nickel Creek plus me, while this is a completely different monster. With WPA there were eight people with equal power in the studio, multiple lead singers, many more instrumental textures. There's also a lot more energy - MAS was a beautiful record, but a little sleepy. WPA drives a lot harder.

There's some cover tunes on the album, how did these come about?
Some of the covers had been played at Watkins Family Hour shows for a while, others we just picked up along the way.


Who are your main influences on the album?
Each other. The songs cover a lot of ground stylistically, and by sticking to the attitude of being individually minimal but large as an ensemble we fell into our own sound pretty quickly. There's influences from XTC to Hank Williams, Dylan to Radiohead. We're pretty omnivorous.

Do you feel that the WPA is a one-off, or should we expect future albums and tours after this one?
We'd like to do more records. The next one will likely have a slightly different lineup. We've been touring as a five piece, due to a combination of logistics and finances, and have been having a blast. We'll see how things evolve. This has been a real labor of love, and we'd like to keep it going. We'll all be getting back to other projects, but I think there's more to come.

You can find out more about WPA, as well as download their album here:
http://www.wpamusic.com/

Stream the album here: