The Best of the '00s

MUSIC NOTES Josh Tremill

The Best of the ’00s As we wrap up the first decade of the new millennium, it occurs to me that we might counteract what some of us were doing 10 years ago — cowering in our basements surrounded by a year’s supply of bottled water and creamed corn and waiting for the Y2K disaster to hit — by celebrating the best music of the decade.

Here’s my overtly subjective list of what I will still dare to call the top 10 albums of the ’00s. #10:Andrew Peterson, Love andThunder (2003). Okay, so the guy sounds like Kermit the Frog, but the beauty and tightness of his lyrics coupled with his pared-down folk musicality more than compensate for the nasal singing. One of the few CCM artists who offer lyrics of profound faith that don’t sound cliché or insincere, Peterson covers everything from the beauty of human creativity to the basics of grace to the reality of suffering and the hope of redemption. If you think CCM is beyond hope, this is worth a listen.

Pauline”), Case spends the bulk of her album probing the relationships between romantic love, death, nature, and the divine.

Her by-and-large haunting melodies and psychedelic guitars lend themselves well to her tightly crafted, poetic lyrics. And “John Saw That Number” is one of the best songs to rock out to, period. #8: Iron & Wine (Sam Beam), The Shepherd’s Dog (2007). This album did for Sam Beam what Graceland did for Paul Simon. Already known for his homespun, wispy, guitar-driven folk, Beam built on some of the percussive elements he introduced on his Woman King LP to create a work of art that combines his airy vocals and combinations of acoustic and steel guitars with a heavy dose of hand drums.

The end result is a rhythmically eclectic album with the thoughtful meditations on love, God, and death that Beam’s fans have come to expect from him.

#7: Nickel Creek, This Side (2002).

One of the most tragic band casualties of the ’00s, Nickel Creek left its listeners with a solid trio of albums. Of the three, This Side best captures the talent and potential of the band’s bluegrass/rock fusion sound.

While maintaining the tight harmonies and heavy use of acoustic guitar and mandolin from their first album, their second is a mix of traditional bluegrass #9: Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the and guitar — and, yes, violin-driven rock.

Flood (2006). With one of the best set of Their cover of Carrie Newcomer’s “I pipes in the music industry, Case brought Should’ve Known Better” epitomizes their her powerful vocals and vintage rock sound virtuosity. Rhythmically grounded in to bear on her strongest album to date. choppy chords and riffs from guitar and Establishing her usual dark, contemplative mandolin, the song features Sara Watkins’ mood on the first track (“Margaret vs. rich crooning and an occasional burst of

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violins.With such a diverse, high-quality sound, one can only hope for a Nickel Creek reunion in the ’10s. #6: Beck, Sea Change (2002). Beck had made a name for himself with his unique rock/rap/trip-hop sound, so the pensive, pared-down folk of his fifth album was, in fact, a “sea change” in his musical career. Driven by slow acoustic guitar and haunting synthesized sounds, his songs brood on lost, hopeless loves and a deep, personal sense of emptiness — a far cry from the playful absurdity of his previous work. One of the most beautiful albums of the decade, Sea Change stands as a testament to Beck’s personal depth and versatility as an artist. #5: The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love (2009). Continuing to draw from the folk ballad tradition that inspired the bulk of their earlier albums, Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy spun a folktale of his own and turned it into a rock opera.

And boy, does it rock. Instead of sticking with the mainly acoustic folk/ rock sound of their previous work, this album has songs that range from slow, guitar-/accordion-driven love ballads to hard and heavy guitars riding on power chords.

Top all this musical virtuosity off with the band’s usual tight archaic lyrics and some powerful guest vocals from Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, and you’ve got a masterpiece. #4 Kanye West, The College Dropout (2004). The relative sexism of “The New Workout Plan” withstanding, this is an extremely creative and thought-provoking

album. The sheer variety of beats on cal parameters of a Sufjan Stevens album.

Dropout is mind-blowing. From the syn- On Illinoise he brings his eclectic craft to copated drum machine behind “Get ‘Em bear on the 21st state of the Union in an High” to the guitar/beatbox combo of album full of humor, beauty, and diversity.

“All Falls Down” to the haunting chant The songs range from pared-down finger that drives “Jesus Walk,”West manages to picking, to rollicking power chords, to keep his rhythms hopping and varied. And repeating recorder melodies, and all are in spite of the album’s exaggeration of the full of Stevens’ well-crafted poetic lyrics. “uselessness” of college degrees to blacks, One of the most unique and musically West makes many poignant critiques of satisfying albums of the decade, it leaves how the American education system has listeners hoping Stevens will make a song failed the black community. The content about their state. and the music reward multiple listens. #1 Andrew Osenga, Photographs (2002). #3 Wilco, A Ghost Is Born (2004). This Who? What? I know, I know — unless album captures Wilco at their most exper- you’ve been following indie CCM for the imental — and, I would argue — their best. past decade, you’ve never heard of the Building on the progressive rock trends guy. But trust me, this album’s fantastic. of their 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Using an array of guitars and synthesized A Ghost Is Born continues to toe the fine sounds, Osenga has shaped a multi-textured line between rock standards and exper- pensive work of art. His textual painting imental rock but makes better use of their is spot on — from the rolling guitars and talented cadre of instrumentalists. Not choral sounds in his first track, capturing only does the band give more leeway to the essence of the river near his homeits guitarists, but it also does a better job town, to the crashing symbols and wailing of utilizing their keyboardist by includ- guitars that accompany his tale of a heeding a couple piano-driven songs, even less romp in Vegas.This thoughtful musibringing out a hammer dulcimer on a cality, along with his poignant lyrics on few tracks. While their experimentation life, love, and faith, lend the album such does go a bit too far during the ear-grat- artistic weight that it remains one of the ing screeching sounds of the last few few CCM records that’s actually accessible minutes of “Less Than You Think,” the to people who don’t identify as Christians. overall payoff — from the slamming bass It really is this good — I promise. and guitar sounds on “Kidsmoke” to the beautiful dulcimer work on “Company in So, wanna come over for a listen? I still have My Back” — makes the occasional mis- some creamed corn left in the basement that we could break into. step well worth enduring. #2 Sufjan Stevens, Illinoise (2005).

Combine folk, rock, and Philip Glass, and you’re getting pretty close to the musi-

Josh Tremill is a freelance writer and an active part of Reconciliation United Methodist Church in Durham, N.C.

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