Pitchfork's Top 200 Albums of the 2000s

Pitchfork's Top 200 Albums of the 2000s

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200.

October 10, 2006
Critic Score
70
1 review

199.

Deerhoof - Apple O'
March 18, 2003
Critic Score
77
6 reviews
Once again, Deerhoof have released an album masquerading as out-of-the-blue insanity, while cleverly harboring nothing but the most basic, virally contagious pop around.

198.

Boris - あくまのうた (Akuma no uta)
June 6, 2003
Critic Score
86
3 reviews
Where elsewhere they hold back their power, letting it out inch by struggling inch, here it comes on all at once, satisfying every rock/air-guitar urge years of repudiated arena rock might have left unsatisfied.

197.

Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
October 23, 2007
Critic Score
85
17 reviews

This Brooklyn four-piece follows its fantastic single "2080" with a debut packed with similar moments of pan-ethnic spiritualism. Like Midlake, Grizzly Bear, and Animal Collective ... Yeasayer channel both a dystopian science-fiction sensibility and deep appreciation for the natural world.

195.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go
September 19, 2006
Critic Score
80
21 reviews
On his latest record, Will Oldham enlists the help of Faun Fables vocalist Dawn McCarthy to create a record that presents the humor, dread, and resignation that inform his best music in blissfully unfiltered form.

194.

Pulp - We Love Life
October 22, 2001
Critic Score
84
12 reviews

On their seventh album, Pulp have pulled off yet another remarkable reinvention of their sound and outlook, while simultaneously making their most organic album since their full-length debut, It, was released almost two decades ago.

193.

Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing In The Hands
May 4, 2004
Critic Score
82
18 reviews

Rejoicing in the Hands establishes Banhart as a major voice in new folk music ... it doesn't seem like an album so much as a collection of road hymns and journals, and small tributes to smaller pleasures.

192.

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
May 30, 2005
Critic Score
80
19 reviews

As with the best LCD Soundsystem singles, Bang Bang Rock & Roll is at times some of the best music criticism going right now, and far better than our boringly verbose bullshit 'cause you can dance to it.

191.

Air - Talkie Walkie
January 27, 2004
Critic Score
77
19 reviews
The album's chilling resonance is due in part to Godrich's anagogical recording of minimal instrumentation and digitally etiolated detail.

190.

Elliott Smith - Figure 8
April 18, 2000
Critic Score
73
12 reviews

Figure 8 is, without a doubt, another step down from XO in terms of songwriting, even if its production has taken a step in the right direction (that is, away from Michael Penn's house). In the grand scheme of things, however, you only need to hear so much Elliott Smith before you get the point.

189.

Jamie Lidell - Multiply
June 28, 2005
Critic Score
76
16 reviews

Listen to Multiply once and you'll be struck by how reverent it is; listen to it three times and you'll start to notice the microscopic digital artifacts and subtle tweaks that give it personality and pop.

188.

M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
April 14, 2003
Critic Score
77
10 reviews

An album like this extends far beyond your speakers, guiding you through an impossibly rich, detailed world of sound while also giving you room to explore it yourself; you don't listen to Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, you inhabit it.

187.

Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
October 29, 2001
Critic Score
94
4 reviews

In their crowded field, it's hard to say exactly what makes Stars of the Lid so special. It comes to mind that their relentless commitment to subtlety sets them apart, as does their masterful hand with tone. Throughout The Tired Sounds, dissonance is doled out in small portions, perfectly coloring the sculpted fields of sound.

186.

The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
August 22, 2006
Critic Score
79
11 reviews

The Body's story is just vague and gruesome enough to be weirdly terrifying, totally Orwellian, and grander, louder, and more electrifying than anything the Thermals have spit out before.

185.

Scarface - The Fix
August 6, 2002
Critic Score
76
7 reviews
After inspiring a hip-hop movement (the Dirty South), 'Face's tales of ghetto horror and valor now come off redundant. He may play it better than most, but it's still that same old song.

184.

Vitalic - OK Cowboy
April 4, 2005
Critic Score
77
12 reviews

The long-awaited debut LP from Frenchman Pascal Arbez includes three-fourths of the seismic electro/techno Poney EP, which sits beautifully alongside his less dancefloor-friendly, album-oriented material.

183.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
January 23, 2006
Critic Score
83
26 reviews
At times charming, oddly affecting, and certainly promising but understandably something less than life changing.

182.

Max Tundra - Mastered by Guy at the Exchange
November 12, 2002
Critic Score
84
3 reviews
This record shows the breadth of his creativity, yet it's accessible, catchy and brilliantly simple. A massive achievement.

181.

Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
February 8, 2005
Critic Score
81
13 reviews
Andrew Bird's latest retains his sense of songcraft but eschews straightforward storytelling, opting instead for wordplay and imagery.

180.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
September 20, 2004
Critic Score
85
21 reviews
At least here Cave's missteps occur when his reach exceeds his grasp, and the songs that fail manage to do so dramatically rather than boringly.

179.

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
June 6, 2006
Critic Score
72
21 reviews
On its third album, the Scottish indie pop group parts with band member John Henderson and continues to distinguish itself the old-fashioned way-- with memorable melodies and engaging lyrics.

178.

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II
December 6, 2005
Critic Score
80
8 reviews
Veteran rapper breaks from Mannie Fresh and grows up quickly, displaying a flexible flow and more layered lyrics.

177.

Broadcast - The Noise Made By People
March 20, 2000
Critic Score
83
7 reviews

For all the sound and song, Broadcast's vision seems relatively narrow, and several ideas are spread a bit too thinly across the album's length.

176.

The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
November 5, 2002
Critic Score
77
10 reviews

While Tallahassee, as literature, is richly detailed, even stunning on occasion, Darnielle's apparent phobia for full-band arrangements prevents the music from keeping pace with the storylines. It's an admirable experiment, but not one that will likely find its way to the podium come election time.

175.

Various Artists - Total 3
July 31, 2001
Critic Score
90
1 review

174.

Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
April 5, 2005
Critic Score
79
14 reviews
Okkervil's newest batch of songs create a roomy and natural showcase for Will Sheff's high-wire vocals.

173.

Herbert - Bodily Functions
June 5, 2001
Critic Score
84
8 reviews

Bodily Functions so effectively destroys every house music cliché, from which ever school, that my Romantic self wishes just to call this album "high art." Bodily Functions is far and away the only jazz-informed house music album you'll ever need.

172.

Constantines - Shine a Light
August 19, 2003
Critic Score
74
11 reviews
Though not quite the slap in the face issued by their debut, even this album's very worst song shines a light on what's wrong with our landscape. Find it and follow.

171.

The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
September 13, 2004
Critic Score
82
18 reviews

Their debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, is a hazy blend of nostalgia, evoking that period through a melange of action hero theme songs, early hip-hop (from 1979-82, in particular), and traces of 70s sunshine funk.

170.

Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors
May 29, 2000
Critic Score
76
6 reviews

It's a record that can be enjoyable in select places and definitely shows signs of potential, yet falls victim to mediocrity when held against the work of truly developed musicians.

169.

Common - Like Water for Chocolate
March 28, 2000
Critic Score
79
10 reviews

Like the Roots' Things Fall Apart and Mos Def's Black on Both Sides, this record is certainly the product of much thought and work, but it's a labor of love.

168.

Califone - Roots & Crowns
October 10, 2006
Critic Score
76
14 reviews
It is one of the most quintessentially American records imaginable.

167.

Annie - Anniemal
September 28, 2004
Critic Score
85
15 reviews

Whether due to Annie's backstory or not, there's a palpable sense of melancholy permeating this album. She's at her most confident while dispensing romantic advice to herself on the playful, wobbly Richard X collaboration "Chewing Gum".

166.

November 20, 2001
Critic Score
79
8 reviews
The result is a shockingly insightful and resonant look at the workings of a musician generally more given to hiding behind absurdly twisted turns of musical phrase than letting us in on the inner-workings of his mind.

165.

Ricardo Villalobos - Alcachofa
September 19, 2003
Critic Score
91
2 reviews

Throughout the record, Villalobos seems to be seeking comfort and finding it in small moments, in the nooks and crannies of the sound rather the more traditional heart-pumping moments explored by many tech-house producers over the past year or so. Instead, at Alcachofa's heart beats a more steady rhythm, pumping out fragile melodies painted with small yet precise brushstrokes.

164.

Les Savy Fav - Emor: Rome Upside Down
July 18, 2000
Critic Score
86
3 reviews

Rome (Written Upside Down) presents this Providence, Rhode Island four-piece with a beautiful future-- one in which their records present an experience which, though an alternate dimension away from their live shows, is every bit as fascinating.

163.

DJ /rupture - Uproot
October 7, 2008
Critic Score
80
7 reviews
Clayton's resurrection of it here, in turn, speaks to another key reason his mixes are special; he's in the rare category of DJs who gives the impression that he is not just wading through music, but correcting it by building his own canon, and constructing an alternate history. It's a place you would want to live.

161.

Air France - No Way Down
June 26, 2008
Critic Score
74
9 reviews

Air France's No Way Down ... conjures an idyllic world similar to the one on the Avalanches' dazzlingly great Since I Left You, another record that finds wide-eyed delight in sincerity and beauty.

160.

Deerhunter - Cryptograms
January 29, 2007
Critic Score
76
13 reviews
This Atlanta five-piece's shimmering Kranky debut is alternately murky and ethereal, drawing equal influence from classic shoegaze, early Factory Records LPs, and the enigmatic ambient recordings with which it shares a label, shifting between impressionistic, reverb-saturated reverie and psych-heavy pop gems.

159.

Girl Talk - Night Ripper
May 9, 2006
Critic Score
70
12 reviews
Pittsburgh-based Girl Talk absolutely detonates the notions of mash-up, cramming this 40-minute mix with layered samples from more than 150 uncleared top 40 pop bangers, electro anthems, indie classics, yacht rock flashbacks, 80s metal cuts, and more.

158.

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
February 21, 2006
Critic Score
85
16 reviews

Encapsulating and elevating the best of Destroyer's back catalog, Destroyer's Rubies serves as a potent reminder that the intelligence of Bejar's songs has never obfuscated their emotional weight.

157.

Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow
March 4, 2003
Critic Score
84
8 reviews

Lightning Bolt have gone even artier on us with Wonderful Rainbow, and by balancing their strong-armed aesthetic with unexpected dynamics, they're now proving themselves as artists with actual range, a band that can deliver beyond the novelty that got people talking; perhaps for the first time on a broad scale, Lightning Bolt will have them listening instead.

156.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
March 22, 2005
Critic Score
79
22 reviews
This is a solid, intelligent album that a lot of people will love-- one that'll slot onto indie-crossover CD racks right beside the debuts from Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, and the Futureheads.

155.

Clipse - Lord Willin'
August 20, 2002
Critic Score
64
5 reviews

154.

Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album
April 20, 2004
Critic Score
80
11 reviews

All things considered, Pretty Toney far surpasses 2001's Bulletproof Wallets, finally finding the missing link between street cred and commercial respect.

153.

Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
October 9, 2007
Critic Score
80
16 reviews

Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman returns for his genre-conquering second album, encompassing baroque pop, Northern soul, and Swedish beach-party disco.

152.

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
May 15, 2001
Critic Score
86
9 reviews

The Cold Vein is like a musical negative, an inverse reflection of hip-hop history, full of everything DJ's cast aside, from Sega sound effects to electro-industrialism, gear-work grooves malfunctioning, synthesizers belching, a menagerie of digitalia.

151.

The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
February 3, 2004
Critic Score
73
14 reviews

Each of these songs displays a mastery of craft rarely heard, and while not all strike with the same immediacy of its two unbreakable watersheds, each quickly reveals itself as equally forcible and infectious. Beyond this, no grandiose claims warrant stating; Bows and Arrows states them itself.

Original Source: http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7706-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-200-151/
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