YEARLY BEST OF LISTS!
Best Independent Rock Albums of the Decade 2000-09
Best Independent Rap Albums of the Decade 2000-09
Best Rappers of the Decade 2000-09
2010
15 Best Independent Albums of 2010
15. The Hot Rats-Turn Ons. (Review)
14. Eddy Current Suppression Ring-Rush to Relax. (Review)
13. First Aid Kit-Big Black and Blue. (Review)
12. Spoon-Transference. (Review)
11. Hollywood FLOSS-House of Dreams. (Review)
10. Nobunny. (Review)
9. Joe Pug-Messenger. (Review)
8. Jason Boesel-Hustler’s Son.
7. Plants and Animals-La La Land. (Review)
6. Bird and the Bee-Interpreting the Masters: Hall and Oates.
5. Gaslight Anthem-American Slang. (Review) And check out a bunch of live covers here.
4. Surfer Blood-Astrocoast. (Review)
3. Haji P-Neighborhood Kid.
2. Portugal. The Man-American Ghetto
1. The Arcade Fire-Suburbs
2009
15 BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUMS OF 2009
15. Various Artists-Guilt By Association Volume 2
14. DOOM-Born Like This
13. Those Darlins-Those Darlins
12. Metty the Dirtmerchant-Fink Ployd
11. Vulture Whale-Vulture Whale
10. The Cave Singers-Welcome Joy
9. Rise and the Avid Record Collector-Risen
8. Super Furry Animals-Dark Days/Light Years
7. Band Of Skulls-Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
6. Hollywood FLOSS-The Art of Fi$cal Intelligence
5. Joell Ortiz-Covers the Classics
4. White Rabbits-It’s Frightening
3. Jason Lytle-Hello Commuter
2. Frank Turner-Love, Ire and Song
1. Sam Baker-Cotton
8. Atmosphere-Leak at Will
7. Vulture Whale-Bamboo You
6. Venice is Sinking-Okay
5. Johnny Polygon-Group Hug
4. Diacon Panthers-Ride Again
3. The Grynch-Chemistry EP
2. Birdmonster-Blood Memory
1. Blitzen Trapper-Black River Killer
Top 10 Albums of 2009 . . . So Far
2008
26 BEST ALBUMS OF 2008 (One for every paycheck!)
1. Frightened Rabbit-Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)
2. Thao Nguyen and the Get Up Stay Down-We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars)
3. Santogold-Santogold (Downtown)
4. Cloud Cult-Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)(Self-released)
5. LoDeck and Omega One-Postcards From The Third Planet (Groove Attack)
6. Gaslight Anthem-The 59 Sound (Side One Dummy)
7. Grand Archives-The Grand Archives (Sub Pop)
8. Hasan Saalam-Children of God (Self-released)
9. Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings)
10. Jedi Mind Tricks-A History of Violence (Babygrande)
11. Sebastien Grangier & The Mountains-s/t (Saddle Creek)
12. C-Rayz Walz and Kosha Dillz-Freestyle vs. Written (Modular Moods)
12. Nobunny-Love Visions (Self-released)
13. Chad VanGaalen-Soft Airplane (Sub Pop)
14. Cold War Kids-Loyalty to Loyalty (Downtown)
15. Future of the Left-Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires (Self-released)
16. Diacon-Panthers-Make it Feel Better (Self-released)
17. Black Mountain-In the Future (Jagjaguwar)
18. Fuck Buttons-Street Horrrsing (Atp Recordings)
19. Blood on the Wall-Liferz (The Social Registry)
20. Elzhi-The Preface (Fat Beats)
21. Joseph Arthur-Temporary People (Fargo)
22. Tilly and the Wall-o (Team Love)
23. Curumin-Japan Pop Show (Adrenaline Records)
24. Weinland-La Lamentor (Badman)
25. Foul Mouth Jerk-Streetlight Music (GFE)
26. Langhorne Slim (Kemado)
THE TOP 5 DEBUTS OF 2008
1. Clock Hand Strangle-Redshift/Blueshift (Team Grizzly)
2. Calvin Badness-Go To Your Room (Milkboy Recordings)
3. Mr. Gnome-Deliver this Creature (El Marko)
4. Pomegranates-Everything is Alive (Lujo)
5. SoloMan Spectrum-Soundtrack 2 Life (Self-released)
THE SIX BEST EPs OF 2008
1. MF DOOM and Trunks-Unicron (unknown) (review).
2. Joseph Arthur-Four EPs (Self-released).
3. Living Legends-The Gathering (Alternative Distribution Alliance) (review).
4. Tulsa-I Was Submerged (Park the Van) (review).
5. Let’s Fucking Wrestle-In Loving Memory Of (Stolen) (review). This entry might surprise you: Frat rock!
6. Radars to the Sky-The Big Bang (self released) (review)
THE TOP 10 MIXTAPES OF 2008
(Go to post, with downloads)
10. A.C.-This is Staten 2
9. Lexington Psalm (various artists)-KYLiens
8. Atmosphere-Strictly Leakage
7. Mike Watt/Ill Roots (various artists)-DOOMED
6. Nicki Minaj Presented by Lil Wayne-Sucka Free
5. Joe Budden-Mood Music 3.5
4. Tanya Morgan-Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group
3. Mark Ronson presents Rhymefest: Man in the Mirror
2. SantoGold-Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub
1. Nas and Green Lantern-The Nigger Tape
Six Albums that Should Have Been On my 2008 Best Lists
The 10 Best and 5 Worst Things About Being a Superhero Fan in 2008
2007
40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007
For my top 40, I include indie and major label, rock and rap, and everything in between. The only requirement is that I have to have heard it. Be warned: Radiohead isn’t here, and neither are many albums you’re gonna tell me I’m crazy to have overlooked. If it ain’t here, I just didn’t dig it enough or I just didn’t hear it.
1. Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga (Year-end post)
2. Amy Winehouse-Back to Back (Year-end post)
3. Brother Ali-Undisputed Truth (Plus bonus disc) (review)
4. Josh Ritter-The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
5. Ghostface Killah-Big Doe Rehab. (Year-end post)
6. Band of Horses-Cease to Begin (Review)
7. Voxtrot-Voxtrot. (review) (YEP)
8. Arcade Fire-Neon Bible (Year-end post)
9. Albert Hammond, Jr.-Yours to Keep (Review)
10. MF Grimm-The Hunt for the Gingerbread Man (review) (year end post)
11. Modest Mouse-We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
12. NaS-Hip Hop…; Jay-Z-Amer. Gangster; Kanye West-Graduation (YEP)
13. Kings of Leon-Because of the Times. (year-end post)
14. Bloc Party-A Weekend in the City (year-end post).
15. Cave Singers-Invitation Songs.
16. Dungen-Tio Bitar (review) (year-end post)
17. Bettye LaVette-Scene of the Crime (Review) (Year-end post)
18. Okkervil River-The Stage Names (year-end post)
19. Kate Nash-Made of Bricks (Year-end post)
20. The Arctic Monkeys-Favourite Worst Nightmare (year-end post)
21. Wu Tang Clan-The 8 Diagrams. (Year-end post)
22. The Deadstring Brothers-Silver Mountain (review).
23. Ryan Adams-Easy Tiger (year-end post)
24. The Foo Fighters-Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.
25. Johnette Napolitano-Scarred (year -endpost)
26. Boot Camp Clik-Casualties of War (year end post)
27. Stephen Marley-Mind Control (year-end post)
28. Hard Fi-Once Upon a Time in the West (review) (year-end post)
29. Soulsavers-It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s How You Land (review) (YEP)
30. Of Montreal-Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (year-end post)
31. Chrisopher Blue-Room Tones (review).
32. Robbers on High Street-Grand Animals (year -end post)
33. Brad Sweitzer-Stove and Taker. (review) (year-end post)
34. The Broken West-I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On (review) ((year-end post)
35. Tripwires-Makes You Look Around (year-end post)
36. Yeasayer-All Hour Cymbals (year-end post)
37. Jason Isbell-Sirens of the Ditch (review) (year-end post)
38. Deep Dark Woods-Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (review) (year-end post)
39. Parkas-Put Your Head In The Lion’s Mouth (review) (year-end post)
40. Blitzen Trapper-Wild Mountain Nation (review) (year-end post)
TOP 10 INDIE DEBUT ALBUMS OF 2007
(read the post!)
1. Marnie Stern-In Advance of the Broken Arm (review).
2. Scissors for Lefty-Underhanded Romance (review).
3. Thailand-Motorcade (review).
4. Y Society-Travel At Your Own Pace.
5. The Blakes-Self Titled
6. White Rabbits-Fort Nightly (review).
7. Bat for Lashes-Fur and Gold.
8. George Byrne-Foreign Water (Review)
9. Eastern Conference Champions-Ameritown. (Review) (Best of 2007 So Far)
10. Vampire Weekend-The Blue CDR. (Review)
BEST EPs OF 2007
(read the post!)
1. Atmosphere-Sad Clown Bad Summer (Review).
2. New York Fund-Guns (Original review).
3. Black Kids-Wizard of Ahhhhs.
4. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Is is.
5. Illinois-What The Hell Do I Know? Review.
6. The Features-Contrast (Review).
BEST REMIXES AND REISSUES (read the post!)
BEST AND WORST DISTRIBUTION PLANS (read the post!)
TOP TEN POLITICAL SONGS(Read the post!)
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2007 (AND WHAT TO BUY INSTEAD)
TOP 20 SONGS OF 2007 (Read the Post)
brian replied:
clock hands strangle – redshift/blueshift
March 23, 2008 at 5:30 am. Permalink.
davidaarong replied:
got an EP that you should check out:
http://www.myspace.com/thelongdivisionband
Band Name: The Long Division
March 30, 2008 at 8:14 am. Permalink.
JoseAndres replied:
Have you not heard the side project of Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of The Rascals!? http://www.theageoftheunderstament.com it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in a while.
March 31, 2008 at 4:34 pm. Permalink.
JoseAndres replied:
sorry the actual link for the first single is http://www.theageoftheunderstatement.com
March 31, 2008 at 4:36 pm. Permalink.
DudeAsInCool replied:
M83s Saturdays = Youth should be on that list.
April 30, 2008 at 9:11 am. Permalink.
andy replied:
M83 Saturdays = Youth is more about electronic stuff, and ekko hate electronic stuff he said.
May 3, 2008 at 12:41 am. Permalink.
Peter Lamar replied:
Lil’ Wayne doesn’t honor any of his empire mixtapes, they’re not official, as if your cousin made a mix of songs he likes and called it a comp.
also, where is Title Fight – Kingston 7″ on this list?
June 4, 2008 at 5:29 pm. Permalink.
ekko replied:
Does that mean his mixtapes aren’t any good?
June 5, 2008 at 8:46 am. Permalink.
Amit Kshirsagar replied:
Addendum To Liverpool 8- By Ringo Starr
I got in trouble with my friend John
We didn’t know which drugs we were on.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
Had helped us to take a stand
For whatever we had at hand
We knew we had to disband,
But, we didn’t want it to end
Liverpool, I left you
Cause, I couldn’t stick around
I always followed my heart
But, I never let you down
July 15, 2008 at 11:22 am. Permalink.
ody replied:
You can check out my Top 30 albums of 2008 so far here
July 23, 2008 at 12:26 pm. Permalink.
thaddeus something replied:
Rural Alberta Advantage make me like Canadians. Great job throwing them in the mix. You guys who praise alex turner are so ridiculous. He’s so fictitious and immature that it’s gross that he’s got such a huge following. There’s nothing original about they’re lyrics. All his music is like, habitual ever day pop with a 10 year olds guitar riffs and one string bass line. Over rated if ever there was a reason for the word.
August 26, 2008 at 10:53 am. Permalink.
erin replied:
just because it’s indie doesn’t mean it’s good.
i am unimpressed with this list.
January 5, 2009 at 3:03 pm. Permalink.
ekko replied:
You got it right that indie doesn’t = good. Where’s your list of your favorite albums from last year?
January 6, 2009 at 4:57 am. Permalink.
Berkeley Place » COULDA SHOULDA WOULDA BEEN THE BEST OF 2008 replied:
[...] 2008-Best [...]
January 9, 2009 at 4:50 am. Permalink.
God replied:
You like horrible music
February 25, 2010 at 12:03 am. Permalink.
ekko replied:
Ain’t it the truth!
February 25, 2010 at 1:04 pm. Permalink.
Berkeley Place » Blog Archive » GASLIGHT ANTHEM-American Slang replied:
[...] ANTHEM-American Slang Posted on May 3rd, 2010 by ekko In 2008, I said that The 59 Sound was the 6th best album of the year. Looking back now, I’d rate it [...]
May 3, 2010 at 1:04 pm. Permalink.
Berkeley Place » Blog Archive » ONE EYED KINGS-In the Land of the Blind Man (EP) replied:
[...] Salaam and hit the link as fast as possible. Salaam’s “Children of God” was one of the top 10 albums of 2008, and he’s earned my ears in a major way. True, he’s only one one of the cuts of One [...]
February 6, 2011 at 7:34 pm. Permalink.