Journal

...Into which I put little to no thought, providing no critical commentary, and using seemingly significant, but ultimately arbitrary ordering. And in which the same artists appear a ridiculous number of times. Simply because I like lists.

If an album is not on here, I have either enjoyed it, not enjoyed it, been bored by it, despised it or not had it grace my ears.

So:


15. Lord T & Eloise - Chairmen Of The Bored


14. Why? - Alopecia


13. Peter and the Wolf - Mellow Owl


12. Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress


11. French Quarter - French Quarter


10. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday


9. Pants Yell! - Recent Drama


8. The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me


7. Fosca - On Earth to Make the Numbers Up


6. The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America


5. Joanna Newsom - Ys


4. The Mountain Goats - The Coroner's Gambit


3. Lifter Puller - Fiestas and Fiascos


2. Pants Yell! - Alison Statton


1. Fishboy - Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State With the Power of Rock and Roll


I am saving 85% of the Mountain Goats discography for better/worse/different days.

10) Liars - They Were Wrong So We Drowned
9) Aereogramme - Seclusion
8) The Arcade Fire - Funeral
7) The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
6) The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
5) Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
4) Biffy Clyro - Infinity Land
3) Sluts of Trust - We Are All Sluts of Trust
2) Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine
1) The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?

It wasn't until the magazine I write for asked for my three favorite records of the decade that I realized that the zeros are going to end soon. I can hardly believe ten years have passed since the millennium bug failed to show up at New Year's Eve.

So much has happened in between. Many good things and some bad things, but always there was music. Great music.
For the magazine I had to limit myself to three records, but here I'd like to list twelve records that for me personally capture the decade between 2000 and 2010, musically. These are not necessarily what I consider the best records of the decade, but they are the ones that I love most.

In alphabetical order:



The Decemberists - Picaresque (2005)
Kathleen Edwards - Failer (2003)
Laïs - Douce Victime (2004)
Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season (2000)
Jason Mraz - Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002)
Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)
Beth Orton - Daybreaker (2002)
Josh Rouse - Nashville (2005)
Ron Sexsmith - Cobblestone Runway (2002)
Rosie Thomas - These Friends of Mine (2007)
Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman’s Woman (2005)
Train - My Private Nation (2004)

So, as always... I'm suming up what this year was for me... musically speaking, I couldn't care less if these songs are as old as my grandma - or more - the thing is that they must have had some kind of meaning this year (either that or they just obsessed me). So, here I come, these were my "meaningful" songs this year... for one reason or another.

Special mention (for old time's sake): Tori Amos - Give

Runner-up: Pink Martini - Où est ma tête?

30. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
29. Pete Yorn - Lose You
28. Juana Molina - Un Día
27. Carla Bruni - Péché d'envie
26. Ricardo Arjona - Que Nadie Vea

25. Andrea Bocelli & Martha Sánchez - Vivo Por Ella
24. Charles Aznavour - For Me Formidable
23. Alif Tree - Belle
22. Maria Taylor - Cartoons and Forever Plans
21. Alphaville - Forever Young

20. Au Revoir Simone - Trace a Line
19. Oquestrada - Oxalá te veja
18. Cuentos borgeanos - Té Verde
17. Russian Red - Gone, Play On
16. Manu Chao - Me llaman calle

15. Jóhann Jóhannsson - The Sky's Gone Dim And The Sun's Turned Black
14. Lhasa de Sela - Mi vanidad
13. Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama Out
12. CocoRosie - Turn Me On
11. Édith Piaf - Hymne à l'amour

10. Lily Allen - Tie: Not Fair/The Fear
09. Martha Wainwright - Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu?
08. Yael Naïm - Paris
07. Olivia Ruiz - Tie: Les Crêpes Aux Champignons/Belle à en crever
06. Rammstein - Frühling in Paris

05. Emily Loizeau - Jalouse
04. Brigitte Bardot - Moi Je Joue
03. Louise Attaque - J'T'Emmène Au Vent
02. Röyksopp - The Girl And The Robot
01. Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear


Goodbye 2009.

Okay, so here it is. The list I've been planning for about a year now, but didn't actually compose until I sat down a few nights ago. The toughest process is ranking these records. I love something about every single one here. My list isn't as varied as magazine or online polls, so you're likely to see a lot of artists or bands appear more than once. But then it is just me and all of the albums here have been listened to in a rather ridiculous amount.

This list isn't biased or innaccurate, but I surprised even myself. For example, Radiohead feature more frequently and at higher positions than I would've expected. Also, the number one choice was obvious for me.


100. Amanda Palmer – Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
99. Joni Mitchell – Shine
98. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
97. The Knife - The Knife
96. Röyksopp - Melody A.M.
95. Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi
94. Tori Amos - Midwinter Graces
93. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
92. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
91. Kylie Minogue - Fever
90. Destiny's Child – Survivor
89. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
88. Madonna - American Life
87. Gwen Stefani - Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
86. M.I.A. - Arular
85. The Killers - Hot Fuss
84. Alicia Keys - The Diary Of Alicia Keys
83. The Knife - Deep Cuts
82. Róisín Murphy - Ruby Blue
81. Basement Jaxx – Rooty
80. The White Stripes - De Stijl
79. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
78. Hot Chip - The Warning
77. Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
76. Beck - Guero
75. The Strokes - Is This It
74. Björk - Selmasongs
73. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
72. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
71. Coldplay – Parachutes
70. Goldfrapp - Supernature
69. Damien Rice – O
68. Björk - Volta
67. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
66. Justice - Cross
65. Missy Elliott - Miss E... So Addictive
64. Santogold - Santogold
63. Nelly Furtado - Folklore
62. Florence + The Machine – Lungs
61. Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way
60. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
59. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
58. Bat for Lashes - Fur And Gold
57. Emilíana Torrini - Fisherman's Woman
56. Junior Boys - Last Exit
55. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
54. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
53. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
52. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
51. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
50. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
49. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
48. Nelly Furtado – Loose
47. Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor
46. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
45. Lady GaGa - The Fame
44. José González - Veneer
43. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
42. M.I.A. – Kala
41. Daft Punk - Discovery
40. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
39. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
38. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
37. Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender
36. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
35. Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
34. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
33. Radiohead – Amnesiac
32. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
31. Britney Spears - Blackout
30. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
29. Portishead - Third
28. PJ Harvey - White Chalk
27. Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk
26. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
25. Sigur Rós - Takk...
24. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
23. Kate Bush – Aerial
22. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
21. Animal Collective – Feels
20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
19. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
18. Róisín Murphy - Overpowered
17. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
16. The White Stripes - Elephant
15. The Knife - Silent Shout
14. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
13. Björk - Medúlla
12. Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor
11. Feist - The Reminder
10. Radiohead - Kid A
9. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. Sigur Rós - ( )
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
6. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
5. Björk - Vespertine
4. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
3. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
2. Joanna Newsom - Ys
1. Arcade Fire - Funeral

So, having consumed my first of three Christmas dinners this weekend (without being a little too disgusting, the quotient of stuffing being consumed will probably be ending up tearing a new aperture in my posterior if I'm not careful!), I thought I'd better carry on with my 2009 chart sooner rather than later... So here are positions 60-41 (Doi!)...

60. Inside Your Guitar by It Hugs Back

Pitchfork: "Cuddling is out of the question, as the record's overwhelmingly melancholy tone suggests consolation rather than romantic bliss ... Even when It Hugs Back seem to hold us close, the intimacy in their music seems hollow, impersonal, and anonymous." Link
TinyMixTapes: "The further you get into this album, the more you realize that this 11-song LP actually only has three songs ... In a world where the business side of music has permeated all its other aspects, if not eradicated them entirely, this album will destroy a solid fraction of whatever idealism you may have left." Link
What I Said: "Buzzes from the speakers with all the grace of a lumbering, giant fuzzy monster waddling patiently towards you for a warm embrace ... Dynamism and cockiness are nowhere to be found here, just slightly discontented malaise delicately whipped into a gossamer-light broth."

59. Wild Young Hearts by Noisettes

Pitchfork: "If Noisettes' goal for the album was to be better and more adventurous than the debut while retaining the awesomeness of their meal ticket frontwoman, they nailed it ... No one's perfect, I guess, especially when they're trying to go from one-note to every note in the space of a single record." Link
TheTimes: "The album fizzes with energy, huge and undislodgeable pop hooks and choruses that fall over themselves ... Shoniwa and her band mates, Dan Smith and Jamie Morrison, have dusted themselves down, remembered what they love about music, and written a brilliant pop-soul album." Link
What I Said: "Straddles the line comfortably between indie, pop and soul ... with a voice both youthfully fresh and rustically soulful when it wants to be, and most of the tunes found on the CD better the single in terms of being elegantly funky slices of indie pop."

58. The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A.
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Single/Video Of The Year
Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year
Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "It would be nice if The Spirit of Apollo had a compelling reason to exist beyond just showing off these guys' Buddy Lists ... But when your idea of creating community is to mush artists of different genres together into a character-free paste, all you're really doing is making a good argument for genre xenophobia." Link
PopMatters: "They say too many chefs spoil the broth, but this is a little ridiculous ... The obvious complaint will be that some of the artists involved are either underused or overused." Link
What I Said: "Whilst the guest list is undeniably impressive, and the results even more so ... the whole thing coheres more like a compilation than an album. No doubt this was exactly the intention of Clean and Zegon, but it does present a slightly disjointed listen."

57. Turning The Mind by Maps

NME: "What is it at the moment with all this half-arsed, evangelical Christian hymn-aping synth music masquerading as dream-pop or screen-gaze? If I wanted to go to church I would do." Link
BBC: "The only thing more tedious than people on drugs is people who used to be on drugs talking about how they’re not on drugs anymore ... it’s a shame, because he’s still bashing out some fearsome pop songs." Link
What I Said: "Embraces elements of rock, house, trance and pop to create a nebulous whitewash of at-times inspired electro symphonies ... For those who are a little dismayed by how perky and bright most of the electropop this year has been, this one is most certainly for you."

56. Yours Truly, The Commuter by Jason Lytle
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Sounds an awful lot like a Grandaddy album-- not just another Grandaddy album, though, but a really good one ... Such care and attention show through in these songs, which generally sound a little spacier and synthier than the band's records." Link
TheIndependent: "It's hard to understand why he split up the band, so closely do these tracks follow the Grandaddy formula of folksy guitar-rock glazed with electronic washes and fronted by Lytle's fragile, reedy vocals." Link
What I Said: "Those expecting a change of meter from Lytle on this disc though will be quite disappointed, as Commuter very much plays like vintage Grandaddy, all subtle electronica mixed indelibly with slow acoustic alt-rock and Lytle’s breathy vocals awash with detached melancholy that are hard not to fall for as ever.."

55. Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

Allmusic: "Michaelson is no longer a part-time waitress with a songwriting habit; she's a seasoned road veteran, acutely aware of what it takes to invest her audience ... Rarely does an independent album sound so assured, so polished, and so agreeable." Link
ConsequenceOfSound: "Throughout the album’s 12 tracks, strings, layered guitar, and acoustic rhythm piano dance with double-tracked harmonies, expanding the singer’s sonic palette ... confident and assured in both her singing and songwriting, expanding her sound, but maintaining her indie spirit." Link
What I Said: "Now, with this fourth album charting respectably in the Top 20 in the US, it would appear Michaelson’s finally ready to breakthrough properly; she’s certainly not hampered by a lack of bustlingly enjoyable ditties ... it’s hard to not be taken in by her charms."

54. Lungs by Florence + The Machine

Pitchfork: "Instead of giving this gothically pale 22-year-old with megaphone vox some classy pop-soul to work with à la Duffy or Adele, Lungs takes the smorgasbord approach. Welch bursts mouth wide wide over garage rock, epic soul, pint-tipping Britbeat, and-- best of all-- a mystic brand of pop that's part Annie Lennox, Grace Slick, and Joanna Newsom." Link
NME: "[The hype] all sets up the most hyped and derided singer of the year’s debut album to be the biggest love-or-loathe opinion-divider since Jigga bought his wellies for Worthy Farm. Which makes it so surprising
that Lungs is so distinctly… OK." Link
What I Said: "Welch’s hype is somewhat justified on her major label debut disc, convincingly veering between indie anthems of earthy rock bohemia, evocatively simple moments of tender admission and dreamy cosmic balladry ... Even if it doesn’t quite supersede the comparisons to Kate Bush or the relentless PR 'machine' charting her meteoric rise."

53. Thunderheist by Thunderheist
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "On their first full-length, the duo still can't hone a shtick of their own, relying instead on a bland mix of homage and innocuous one-liners ... you'd have to get pretty smashed to ignore the album's missing spirit and just dance, which, sadly, may be the point here." Link
NME: "Isis’ talk of jerking it off, jailbait, bending over and tapping the booty just aren’t clever, surreal, skewed or, disgraceful enough to provoke the same kind of amused grimace that Ghostface Killah, the ex-imprisoned one from Yo Majesty or Thunderheist’s ace labelmates New Flesh might." Link
What I Said: "Chock full of Diplo-style cuts brought to the next level of danceability with some inspired performances from Isis. Taking in hip pop criticism and borderline creepy horniness, there’s no reason why this duo can’t break it big this year."

52. Sounds Of The Universe by Depeche Mode

Pitchfork: "If the album as usual seems to have little or no bearing on anything outside the group's own, um, universe, the wheels and gears are definitely still turning and churning in the Depeche Mode machine ... Sounds Of The Universe concludes anticlimactically, an echo of its promising start." Link
DailyTelegraph: "The sonic vista of rock remained static throughout the Nineties, even regressing slightly with Britpop. Depeche Mode's electro arrangements, every sound altered and treated to create a unique sonic palette, shows up the imaginative constraints of most guitar-based rock." Link
What I Said: "The one grind against this album that can be said is that it is typical Depeche; miserable, angular, sublime and such a lovely downer that it makes arriving back to hell from a glowing paradise seem almost like a glorious homecoming."

51. Grammatics by Grammatics

NME: "A bold, ambitious and diverse collection of songs ... it seemed like Grammatics had too many ideas, they couldn’t quite decide who they wanted to be. In the end, they just decided to be themselves, and the result frequently approaches bona fide genius." Link
AbsolutePunk: "Grammatics is one of the few albums released in the last couple of years that I can actually deem "unique" ... They seem like they're ready for the spotlight and ready to go on to become something great." Link
What I Said: "Some may be affronted by the self-importance adopted by lead man Owen Brinley (trilling effeminately in an affected manner) and his less-than-merry band, yet there is still something to be said about their ability to traverse heartfelt indie balladeering and ethically ambiguous rabble rousing so confidently and sincerely."

50. Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best

Pitchfork: "Their enthusiasm is contagious ... In drawing lines between older African genres, like highlife, and newer ones, like kwaito, and then linking those to international pop styles of various eras, Warm Heart of Africa pictures a glittering web of connectivity where national and cultural boundaries dissolve." Link
Guardian: "The problem with hearing so much music is it gets harder to be surprised. But this album defies all preconceptions and never settles into a genre that you could name and locate on the shelves or download menus." Link
What I Said: "It knocks several shades and teeth out of most pop music around today, infusing the warm harmonies and buoyant instrumentation and arrangements found in Mwamwaya’s traditional Malawi roots with beauteous pop hooks and effects to make a truly refreshing combo."

49. Introducing Dionne Bromfield by Dionne Bromfield
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Loft965:
Motown for children.
Introduce little Winehouse,
Feels good and sounds good.
What I Said: "Bromfield and her team have done well to transport her straight into the old-soul aesthetic with some carefully chosen classics, primarily because her voice, for a 13 year-old girl especially, is truly something to behold."

48. Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse: Present Dark Night Of The Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "Dark Night Of The Soul has been pitched as a marquee collaboration without precedent, which makes the mundane EMI copyright baloney that scrapped the project all the more depressing ... an album on which a group of musical actors present his [Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous'] work while he stands off to the side in the shadows." Link
PopMatters: "Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process ... It’s no exaggeration to say Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse have crafted a near-masterpiece." Link
What I Said: "The album confounds, enthrals, offends and entertains in equal measure, taking in moments of rough-hewn alt-rock, distortedly ravaged beauty and discordant sound design, alongside the more melodiously tuneful compositions; in short, it makes a thoroughly convincing first stab for Curio Of 2009."

47. Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird and the Bee
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Pop Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Like a Mojave Desert mirage shimmering tantalizingly before disappearing, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is ultimately left little more than a string of sweet nothings, there for your fleeting pleasure. It's a pop tease." Link
PopMatters: "As the songs tumble over jazz changes and through curtains of digital sparkles and effects, George is confident and on point. Kurstin fills each construction with the just the right amount of layers, balancing space-age (i.e. a ‘60s definition of “space-age”) bleeps and blurps with subtler swaths of organ to support George’s lines." Link
What I Said: "Their latest work features all kinds of delightful electro-jazz numbers, with George's aloof yet chirpily sweet vocals effortlessly gliding along the duos melodies ... it is also a credible evolution from the quaint loveliness of their first effort."

46. Songs About Dancing And Drugs by Circlesquare

Pitchfork: "Ultimately, the album is about the value of participating in culture through the communal aspects of art and music, which is sort of ironic given that this is a record best suited to being heard alone, with a good set of headphones." Link
ResidentAdvisor: "Circlesquare's third LP is a tremendous comedown record, but not in the therapeutic sense, because it sounds actually too much like a comedown to help you forget your own ... the dancing and drugs are gone, having taken all the pleasures of the night with them." Link
What I Said: "This isn’t a happy, summery dance record, as its sonicspace traverses minimal electro and spaced out eeriness to summon up the darker side of dance culture, i.e. the dreaded comedowns, the aimless conversations and aching worthlessness. And you certainly cannot fault Shaw and company for following through on their singular trajectory based on artistic merit."

45. Octahedron by The Mars Volta

Pitchfork: "The Mars Volta's specific brand of bombast may remain an untranslatable language for those rooted in a DIY-scaled world, or committed to the shiny three-minutes-and-change tidiness of the charts. But if you're fiending for the musical equivalent of an epic, partially incoherent battle between good and evil in IMAX 3D, you could do a lot worse." Link
DrownedInSound: "If they’d only crack a smile in the studio once in a while, like they do when recalling scenes from their favourite (wickedly dark) comedies, who knows what The Mars Volta could achieve, as there are flashes of true brilliance on this LP that, with just a little more cultivating, could combine to comprise the band’s greatest album yet." Link
What I Said: "It stops just short of being one of the better rock albums to be released this year, laden with enough languid psychedelia, hard rock-chord chaos and blistering vocals from Bixler-Zavala."

44. Why There are Mountains by Cymbals Eat Guitars

Pitchfork: "What's most admirable about this sophisticated self-released debut is Cymbals Eat Guitars' willingness to think big with gestures that shouldn't fly in the hands of a young band, instrumentally or thematically ... here, the journey is the end not the means; fortunately, that gives Why There Are Mountains astounding replay value." Link
SputnikMusic: "If this isn’t the debut album of the year, it’s going to take a pretty bold effort to top what Cymbals Eat Guitars have created ... Open up that damaged part of your heart that you closed up when Modest Mouse started to suck. Indie rock got good again." Link
What I Said: "One band that they incidentally mirror also released their debut early this year, them being Grammatics, who happen to compose songs that explore different depths of feeling within the same piece and not just being content with your typical slow burn release of other bands. Their UK counterparts though inhabit a more refined and artier soundscape then these rough-and-ready rabblers, which happens to make their effort that much more powerful."

43. Beast Rest Forth Mouth by Bear in Heaven

Pitchfork: "Mostly made up of textural, spacious three- to four-minute pop anthems with towering choruses, BRFM is a welcome reminder that an album doesn't have to be bombastic to feel huge and important. Take out the earbuds and let it fill a space: This is music that's bigger than your iPod-- music you'll want to feel all around you." Link
Allmusic: "An idea that this is as far as the band can either get, or is willing to get -- an extension of past sounds instead of fully engaging with the musical lingua franca of now. Not too surprising given rock's endless possibilities for self-regard, but even so, a little frustrating somehow." Link
What I Said: "One could accuse it of never really announcing its presence and going for the rockier jugular compared to other electro-flavoured indie releases this year, but that shouldn’t detract from what is at times the most thoughtfully calibrated pop release of the year, making up for a lack in passion, perhaps, with plenty of intelligence."

42. Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Electronic Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "one of the pleasures and frustrations of Immolate is how subtly it similarly exploits the nearly invisible barrier separating song from simple synth sketch ... For all the pleasant stops along the way, the album hasn't come full-circle so much as spun its wheels in place." Link
Guardian: "If you're seeking an album to keep out the winter chill, you could do worse than to wrap yourself up in Telefon Tel Aviv's sumptuous head music ... It may be more frosting than cake, but there is an addictive comfort to its richness." Link
What I Said: "Their third LP is really quite a sublime surprise; a tormented mix of hip-hop beats, ambient electronica and house-dance mechanics, with ominous vocals coasting throughout the violent soundscapes as if at they’ve reached the end of an epic search for humanity that has finally yielded fruitless results."

41. Tale to Tell by The Mummers

BoomKat: "Few debuting bands pull off the feat of inhabiting their own unique musical idiom so comprehensively and convincingly as The Mummers ... It's hard to know where The Mummers are likely go next after such a singularly grandstanding, archly portentous debut, but it'd be worth sticking around to find out." Link
Guardian: "It's opulent stuff ... this music, all strings and brass and careful detail, feels like being locked in a dark parlour draped with thick velvet, incense turning the air heady." Link
What I Said: "Raissa along with her newfound friends may finally be able to strike it big with this rather lovely foray into baroque-lite pop, managing to convey wistful fancy and detached worldliness; a highly promising start for the trio then, not to mention a fine showcase for Raissa’s heavenly voice."

So, now we're over the hump, and quite a few nominees have been revealed... what will positions 40-21 bring? Find out next week...

Take care... xxx

1. Slow Club – Christmas TV
2. Jaymay – Gray or Blue
3. Mika – Toy Boy
4. Diana Krall – Walk On By
5. Alexandrina Hristov – Avionul de aur
6. Joanna Newsom – Sadie
7. Alanis Morissette – Simple Together
8. Ruth Notman – Billy Don't You Weep For Me
9. Sheryl Crow – Strong Enough (feat. Dixie Chicks)
10. Bob O'Donnell – The Green Fields of France
11. Blue October – Razorblade
12. Alternosfera – Columb
13. Seven – Inger de piatra
14. Alison Krauss – Down To The River To Pray
15. Frank Sinatra – Glad to Be Unhappy
16. Nicu Alifantis – Decembre
17. Sinéad O'Connor – War (SNL)
18. Rhonda Vincent – Christmas Time At Home
19. Johnny Flynn – The Box
20. Bob Dylan – Must Be Santa
21. Melody Gardot – Your Heart Is As Black As Night
22. Vârf Carpatin – Ninge
23. The Script – The Man Who Can't Be Moved
24. Lady GaGa – Poker Face
25. Ducu Bertzi – plecarea
26. Katie Melua – Ghost Town
27. Poesis – Aiurit si aburit
28. Diamond Rio – Beautiful Mess
29. Kelly Clarkson – My Life Would Suck Without You
30. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
31. Soap&Skin – Im Dorfe
32. Amy Winehouse – Love Is A Losing Game
33. Belle and Sebastian – Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
34. Dixie Chicks – Not Ready To Make Nice
35. David Cook – Light On
36. Kings of Leon – Closer
37. Antony and the Johnsons – I Fell in Love With a Dead Boy
38. Rascal Flatts – Fast Cars And Freedom
39. Panic at the Disco – Camisado
40. Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek
41. Louis Prima – (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby
42. Rufus Wainwright – Going To A Town
43. Laura Marling – You're No God
44. The Pogues – Fairytale of New York
45. Kid Harpoon – Stealing Cars
46. Florence + The Machine – Kiss With A Fist
47. Scissor Sisters – Land of a Thousand Words
48. Forgive Durden – Life Is Looking Up
49. Bobby Darin – Dream Lover
50. David Archuleta – Crush
51. Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah
52. Relient K – Deathbed
53. Quincy Jones – Moody's Mood for Love
54. Gabriela Kulka – Spitting Image
55. The Crickets – You've Got Love
56. Camera Obscura – Teenager
57. Lamb – Gabriel
58. Jeremy Warmsley – Dirty Blue Jeans
59. Lemar – Wait Forever
60. Patrice – Soulstorm
61. MGMT – Time to Pretend
62. Jason Mraz – Wordplay
63. The Postal Service – Against All Odds
64. The Dresden Dolls – Coin-Operated Boy
65. Lily Allen – The Fear
66. Jennifer Hudson – If This Isn't Love
67. Fall Out Boy – Thnks fr th Mmrs
68. Maria Radu – Pasari albe
69. Ella Fitzgerald – My One And Only
70. James Morrison – Please Don't Stop The Rain
71. Kate Nash – Mariella
72. Duffy – Hanging On Too Long
73. Ada Milea – Topoare la popoare
74. John Legend – Green Light (feat. Andre 3000)
75. George Michael – Careless Whisper
76. The McClymonts – Finally Over Blue
77. The Avett Brothers – Shame
78. Enigma – Snow of Sahara
79. Kat Flint – Anticlimax
80. Boy Eats Drum Machine – The Crack in the Sea
81. Britney Spears – If U Seek Amy
82. My Chemical Romance – Famous Last Words
83. Gil Dobrica – Banalitate
84. Daveigh Chase – The Happiest Girl
85. Enik – Why Do You Love Me
86. Corina Chiriac – Pe tine n-am sa te pot uita
87. Manic Street Preachers – AutumnSong
88. Robbie Williams – Something Beautiful
89. The Killers – Read My Mind
90. Inara George – No Poem
91. Cartel – Wasted
92. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Pull Me Back
93. The White Stripes – You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)
94. Bright Eyes – Sunrise, Sunset
95. Garbage – Cherry Lips
96. Omul cu Sobolani – nu incerca asa ceva acasa
97. Cristian Buica & Tatiana Stepa – Destin cand vine toamna
98. Weezer – Troublemaker
99. 8mm – Forever And Ever Amen
100. Stefan Hrusca – Deschide Nana Usile

mi-yu-'s The Top 100 Albums of the 2000's (^O^)/

01 - Radiohead / Kid A (2000)
02 - Björk / Vespertine (2001)
03 - Radiohead / In Rainbows (2007)
04 - Sigur Rós / ( ) (2002)
05 - The Postal Service / Give Up (2003)
06 - Arcade Fire / Funeral (2005)
07 - Animal Collective / Feels (2005)
08 - PJ Harvey / White Chalk (2007)
09 - M.I.A. / Arular (2005)
10 - Amiina / Kurr (2007)
11 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)
12 - Mew / Frengers (2003)
13 - Bat for Lashes / Fur & Gold (2007)
14 - Sigur Rós / Takk... (2005)
15 - Röyksopp / The Understanding (2005)
16 - Coldplay / Parachutes (2000)
17 - The Strokes / Is This It (2000)
18 - Juana Molina / Son (2006)
19 - múm / Summer Make Good (2004)
20 - The White Stripes / Elephant (2003)
21 - Battles / Mirrored (2007)
22 - Gregory and the Hawk / Moenie and Kitchi (2008)
23 - Gang Gang Dance / Saint Dymphna (2008)
24 - Thom Yorke / The Eraser (2006)
25 - Snow Patrol / Eyes Open (2006)
26 - Radiohead / Amnesiac (2001)
27 - Fleet Foxes / Fleet Foxes (2008)
28 - Joanna Newsom / Ys (2006)
29 - Arcade Fire / Neon Bible (2006)
30 - Tyondai Braxton / Central Market (2009)
31 - Cat Power / You Are Free (2003)
32 - Fennesz / Endless Summer (2001)
33 - Antony and the Johnsons / I am a Bird Now (2005)
34 - Múm / Finally We Are No One (2002)
35 - Bon Iver / For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
36 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Fever To Tell (2003)
37 - Sufjan Stevens / Illinois (2005)
38 - Kings of Leon / Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
39 - Justice / Cross (2007)
40 - Coldplay / Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (2008)
41 - Mika / Life In Cartoon Motion (2007)
42 - The Libertines / The Libertines (2004)
43 - The Music / The Music (2002)
44 - Kasabian / Kasabian (2004)
45 - Primal Scream / Xtrmntr (2000)
46 - The Gossip / Standing In The Way Of Control (2006)
47 - PJ Harvey / Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)
48 - Grillaz / Demon Days (2005)
49 - LCD Soundsystem / LCD Soundsystem (2005)
50 - Portishead / Third (2008)
51 - The Kills / Midnight Boom (2008)
52 - Radiohead / Hail To The Thief (2003)
53 - CSS / Cansei De Ser Sexy (2006)
54 - The Go! Team / Thunder, Lightning, Strike (2004)
55 - !!! / Myth Takes (2007)
56 - Travis / The Invisible Band (2001)
57 - Super Furry Animals / Rings Around The World (2001)
58 - Franz Ferdinand / Franz Ferdinand (2004)
59 - Death Cab for Cutie / Plans (2005)
60 - PJ Harvey & John Parish / A Woman A Man Walked By (2009)
61 - M83 / Before The Dawn Heals Us (2005)
62 - Sonic Youth / Sonic Nurse (2004)
63 - Keane / Hopes And Fears (2004)
64 - Dirty Projectors / Bitte Orca (2009)
65 - Rilo Kikey / The Exectution of All Things(2002)
66 - School of Seven Bells / Alpinisms (2008)
67 - Bat for Lashes / Two Suns (2009)
68 - The Killers / Hot Fuss (2004)
69 - Duft Punk / Discovery (2001)
67 - Grizzly Bear / Veckatimest (2009)
68 - The Mars Volta / Frances The Mute (2005)
69 - Beck / Sea Change (2002)
70 - Blur / Think Tank (2003)
71 - Boards of Canada / Geogaddi (2002)
72 - Muse / Origin Of Symmetry (2001)
73 - The Flaming Lips / Embryonic (2009)
74 - M.I.A. / Kala (2008)
75 - Björk / Medulla (2004)
76 - Rodrigo y Gabriela / Rodrigo Y Gabriela (2006)
77 - Antony and the Johnsons / The Crying Light (2009)
78 - Kings of Leon / Only By The Night (2008)
79 - Ellen Allien & Apparat / Orchestra Of Bubbles (2006)
80 - Coldplay / X&Y (2005)
81 - Animal Collective / Strawberry Jam (2007)
82 - Sonic Youth / The Eternal (2009)
83 - Modeselektor / Happy Birthday! (2007)
84 - Red Hot Chili Peppers / By The Way (2002)
85 - MGMT / Oracular Spectacular (2007)
86 - Beck / Modan Guilt (2008)
87 - Interpol / Antics (2004)
88 - TV on the Radio / Dear Science (2008)
89 - The Kooks / Inside In / Inside Out (2006)
90 - The Album Leaf / In A Safe Place (2004)
91 - Coldplay / A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
92 - Sigur Rós /Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (2008)
93 - The Kills / No Wow (2005)
94 - Björk / Volta (2007)
95 - Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)
96 - Jóhann Jóhannsson / Dís (2004)
97 - Vampire Weekend / Vampire Weekend (2008)
98 - My Morning Jacket / Z (2005)
99 - Foo Fighters / One By One (2002)
100 - Spiritualized / Songs In A & E (2008)