List: Best Albums of the Decade 110-101

I had planned a top 100 albums of the naughties/noughties/00s, but that got a little out of hand, so it's now a 110 albums list. The more the merrier though, right?

110. Gorillaz - Demon Days (2005)

With his second album as Gorillaz, Damon Albarn really stepped out of Blur's shadow. He showed that while Oasis might have won the battle of the 90s, the 00s definitely belonged to Albarn. Gorillaz' second album featured a whole host of guest stars, but none who worked better than Shaun Ryder on the fantastic 'DARE'. And who can forget the opening of 'Feel Good Inc'?

109. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004)

Named after the man responsible for beginning World War I, this Scottish band brought the rock of the Strokes to the far side of the Atlantic. The songs themselves had marvellous videos, and the album contained an untold amount of treasures. There's even a hidden backwards message in 'Michael'. Go on, try it.

108. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)

While The Shins didn't actually change my life (or yours for that matter), their second album improved many. While many prefer the debut, Oh, Inverted World, with the stand-out 'New Slang', Chutes Too Narrow is definitely a more cohesive and consistent album. There's no stand-out songs, because they're all great.

107. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Proving that Parachutes wasn't just a fluke, Chris Martin and his band of merry men went back to the studio to make a more polished record, which was bigger and better in every way. It also moved them out of small venues and into arenas, marking them out as the decade's new U2.

106. N*E*R*D - In Search of... (2001)

Pharell Williams is not just a fantastic producer, he is a wonderful musician in his own right. Instead of having everything "featuring the Neptunes" or the like, the debut album from N*E*R*D was a brilliant fusion of pop, rock, hip-hop, and R&B. Their second may have had 'The Way She Moves', but this one had many more great singles: 'Lapdance', 'Provider' and 'Rockstar'. Just don't watch the NSFW 'Lapdance' video at work!

105. Damien Rice - 9 (2006)

It took Damien Rice a long time to record a follow-up to O, and many people thought that it may never happen. When it did, it was somewhat anticlimatic. It was not as good as his debut. But after you got over that initial reaction, and let the album settle, it revealed itself to be a gorgeous album. Lead single '9 Crimes' remains the best thing on the album, and showed the last glimpse of the beautiful Rice-Hannigan interplay.

104. Feeder - Echo Park (2001)

Pop-rock is frowned upon by a lot of my peers, and by a lot of critics. They dismiss it as having no content other than being friendly enough to play on the radio. While Feeder may have been more edgy, and thus more unknown, in their earlier records, what self-respectable artist wouldn't actually want to have a song like 'Buck Rogers' under their belts? The rest of the album was great too, aside from the singles, there was plenty here to savour. Just have a listen to 'tell All Your Friends' if you don't believe me.

103. Nickel Creek - This Side (2002)

All three Nickel Creek albums could definitely have made this list, but the title track on their second proper (adult) album guarantees its place. Produced by legendary bluegrass star Allison Krauss, and containing a magnificent cover of Pavement's 'Spit on a Stranger', This Side was a fantastic album combining instrumental tunes with the beautiful melodies of Chris Thile and the siblings Watkins.

102. Jesse Malin - The Fine Art of Self Destruction (2002)

When I heard Ryan Adams was producing an album for his protege (and fellow musician in the faux-punk band The Finger), my interest was captured. The album itself almost lived up to Adams' own early output, and showcased Malin's excellent gruff New York voice. There may not be a better song this decade than 'Wendy'.

101. The Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers (2005)

Sadly one of the greatest fatalities of the decade was the end of the Silver Jews. (None of the members died, by the way, David Berman just gave up making Silver Jews records.) Tanglewood Numbers was their fifth and penultimate album, and features some of Berman's best ever lyrics. 'Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed' is just as good as the name suggests. Hilariously brilliant

The Countdown continues tomorrow...

Setlist: Franz Ferdinand, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 1 March 2009

Their new album is so much better than the new U2 it's unreal. But that said the new album isn't a patch on their debut. Says a lot about the quality of the new U2. The Franz Ferdinand show on Sunday night though was very, very good.

# Come on Home
# No You Girls
# Do You Want To
# Walk Away
# Bite Hard
# The Fallen
# Take Me Out
# Turn It On
# 40'
# Live Alone
# Michael
# Ulysses
---
# Darts Of Pleasure
# What She Came For
# Outsiders
# This Fire

'Take Me Out' from the Olympia:

Yesterday I listened to... #1

New feature time. I'm fascinated by a topic called "Today I listened to" on a message board I use, so I thought I'd let you guys know what I'm listening to. Abuse my ears if you like, or chime in with a "Hey great album, I must listen to it". It all helps. I love the comments. So add as many as you can.

Also, check out Red for something similar:
http://theredscrapbook.blogspot.com/


Franz Ferdinand - Tonight Franz Ferdinand


Franz Nicolay - Major General


The White Stripes - White Blood Cells


The Whitlams - Torch the Moon

Yesterday I was in an alphabetic kind of mood. Starting off with the new Franz Ferdinand record, which gets better with each listen. It's still not a patch on their debut. Probably as good as the second one though. And 'Ulysses' has some wonderful lyrics.

This led perfectly into Franz Nicolay's debut record. The moustachioed keyboard player in the Hold Steady has gone solo and made a glorious record that so far is one of the best of the year. Opener 'Jeff Penalty' is as good as anything the Hold Steady have done, but the album as a whole sounds nothing like its parent band. It's kind of like a mix between The Mountain Goats, Gaslight Anthem and the Silver Jews.

I wanted to go old school next, and thus chose the White Stripes breakthrough. It's not as good as I used to think. or did I ever really love it? For me, Get Behind Me Satan is their best work. Maybe I should've listened to that instead.

Going to bed, I wanted something light, and Australia's Whitlams served that up perfectly. They're light pop-rock, but no Matchbox Twenty. But for me, their finest moment will forever be covering Divine Comedy's stellar 'Your Daddy's Car'. Unfortunately, there's no video on YouTube for the track. If anyone can point me to it, I'd be extremely grateful.

Album News: Franz Ferdinand - Tonight Tracklisting

A full tracklisting for the upcoming anti-Franz record has been announced. It features some songs which have been played live recently, such as 'Lucid Dreams'.

‘Ulysses’
‘Turn It On’
‘Kiss Me’
‘Twilight Omens’
‘Send Him Away’
‘Live Alone’
‘Bite Hard’
‘What She Came For’
‘Can’t Stop Feeling’
‘Lucid Dreams’
‘Dream Again’
‘Katherine Kiss Me’

Watch/listen to 'Lucid Dreams':

Album News: Franz Ferdinand - Tonight

People who've spoken to me in real life will know how I've given out about Franz Ferdinand's second album. It's nothing to do with the quality of the record, in fact it's all about the fact that they didn't go with their original idea of calling the record Franz Ferdinand like the first, and just giving it a different colour scheme. This would have made it far more interesting for me, and much more Led Zeppelin!

You've probably already heard that the new record will be called Tonight, as in Tonight: Franz Ferdinand! Clever, but I still would've preferred this to be Franz Ferdinand III or the Blue Franz Ferdinand.

The album will be released January 23rd, 2009 in Ireland. (26th and 27th in the UK and USA), and will contain a song called 'Ulysses'. Whether that's anything to do with Joyce or Homer, I'm not sure.