Send-Off

Well here we are, the final day of Rolling Fork countdown! It’s been an awesome experience reliving my favorite albums, responding to Ryan and Steve’s picks, and reading all of your various comments over these past seven weeks. Let’s take one last look at our favorite albums from the past ten years:

PHIL
50. The Darkness "Permission to Land"
49. The Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca”
48. Lupe Fiasco “Food & Liquor”
47. Liz Phair “Liz Phair”
46. The Killers “Sam’s Town”
45. Ghostface Killah “Fishscale”
44. The Distillers “Sing Sing Death House”
43. The White Stripes “De Stijl”
42. Nas “God’s Son”
41. Wilco “A Ghost is Born”
40. Fiona Apple “Extraordinary Machine”
39. Franz Ferdinand “Franz Ferdinand”
38. Clipse “Lord Willin’”
37. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins “Rabbit Fur Coat”
36. 50 Cent “The Massacre”
35. Scissor Sisters “Scissor Sisters”
34. Drive-by Truckers “Decoration Day”
33. Wolf Parade “Apologies to the Queen Mary”
32. T.I. “Trap Muzik”
31. TV on the Radio “Return to Cookie Mountain”
30. The-Dream “Love vs. Money”
29. The Strokes “Room on Fire”
28. The Knife “Silent Shout”
27. Sleater-Kinney “The Woods”
26. Missy Elliott “Under Construction”
25. Coldplay “Viva La Vida”
24. The White Stripes “Icky Thump”
23. David Gray “White Ladder”
22. Talib Kweli “Quality”
21. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead “Source Tags & Codes”
20. Modest Mouse “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”
19. Bubba Sparxxx “Deliverance”
18. TV on the Radio “Dear Science”
17. Jay-Z “The Black Album”
16. Justin Timberlake “FutureSex/LoveSounds”
15. Queens of the Stone Age “Rated R”
14. Arcade Fire “Funeral”
13. M.I.A. “Kala”
12. Radiohead “Kid A”
11. Eminem “The Marshall Mathers LP”
10. Beck “Sea Change”
9. Outkast “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”
8. Loretta Lynn “Van Lear Rose”
7. The White Stripes “White Blood Cells”
6. Wilco “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”
5. Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
4. Jay-Z “The Blueprint”
3. System of a Down “Toxicity”
2. Kanye West “The College Dropout”
1. Damien Rice “O”

RYAN & STEVE
50. Max Richter “The Blue Notebooks”
49. TV on the Radio “Dear Science”
48. Deerhunter “Microcastle”
47. Mogwai “Happy Songs for Happy People”
46. The North Sea “Exquisite Idols”
45. Pocahaunted “Peyote Road”
44. Junior Boys “So This is Goodbye”
43. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds “Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
42. Ultralyd “Conditions for a Piece of Music”
41. Why? “Alopecia”
40. Jay-Z “The Blueprint”
39. Paavorharju “Yhä Hämärää”
38. Panda Bear “Person Pitch”
37. Edan “Beauty and the Beat”
36. Yo La Tengo “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out”
35. Shuttle 358 “Frame”
34. Dizzee Rascal “Boy in Da Corner”
33. Supersilent “6”
32. Beck “Sea Change”
31. Zomes “Zomes”
30. Burial “Untrue”
29. The Knife “Silent Shout”
28. Liars “Drums Not Dead”
27. The Dead Texan “The Dead Texan”
26. Tortoise “Standards”
25. Wet Hair “Dream”
24. Scott Walker “The Drift”
23. Valet “Naked Acid”
22. Lil’ Wayne “Tha Carter III”
21. Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas “II”
20. The Fiery Furnaces “Blueberry Boat”
19. Sigur Rós “( )”
18. Lightning Bolt “Wonderful Rainbow”
17. Low “Things We Lost in the Fire”
16. Interpol “Turn on the Bright Lights”
15. Harvey Milk “Special Wishes”
14. Kemialliset Ystävät “Kemialliset Ystävät”
13. The Blood Brothers “Burn, Piano Island, Burn”
12. Black Dice “Beaches and Canyons”
11. Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
10. Electric Wizard “Dopethrone”
9. Archer Prewitt “Wilderness”
8. Radiohead “Kid A”
7. Sun Araw “Heavy Deeds”
6. Madvillain “Madvillainy”
5. Blues Control “Puff”
4. Giddy Motors “Make It Pop!”
3. The National “Alligator”
2. Earth “Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method”
1. Sunburned Hand of the Man “Fire Escape”

What I am most proud of about Rolling Fork is how different Ryan and Steve’s list is compared to mine. Hip hop composes nearly a third of my countdown while there are just a handful of rap albums to be found on Ryan and Steve's. Conversely, there’s not a single voiceless album on my list while over 20 albums on Ryan and Steve’s have little to no vocals. It’s what makes discussing and sharing music so wonderful and fascinating – that a record which does nothing for one person still has the power to completely captivate and thrill another.

As we close the book on this wonderful decade of music, let’s share with each other albums Ryan, Steve, and I may not have included in our countdown but deserve to be remembered going into the 2010s. We’ll be checking back into the blog throughout the day and are eager to hear your final thoughts!

Thank you everyone – I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our blog as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together. As a gift, here's a link to download a free Rolling Fork Greatest Albums playlist, created by our very own Steve Rosborough: http://www.mediafire.com/file/d0nyzzr2tny/Rolling%20Fork%20Compilation.zip

Here's to a new and exciting decade of music ahead of us!
-Phil Welsh, Rolling Fork

#1 - Phil

Damien Rice

O

2003

So here it is – my #1 Album of the Decade! And for those of you keeping track at home, yes, this is the NINTH album from 2003 to appear on my countdown, the greatest musical year of the last ten in my opinion. Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter who got his break when he sent a demo to his second cousin, producer David Arnold, and impressed him so much that he bought Rice a mobile studio to record his debut album, O – the most tenderly beautiful collection of songs I’ve ever heard.

If one were to evaluate O’s production from a traditional standpoint, there could be lots of criticisms made. Rice’s vocals move from extreme ends of soft and harsh volumes, and the strings often come in quite jarringly. But for this album, it works astonishingly well. Rice has a really authentic and vulnerable voice; it’s not one you could hear in the background and not be distracted by. However, the passion of his voice gorgeously complements the powerful strings and percussions that enter his songs, creating intensely romantic pieces that seem as though Rice is sharing his most personal feelings with all who wish to listen.

I’m very much a person who stresses the “bookends” of albums, and so it’s no surprise that my two favorite songs on my favorite album this decade are the first and the last. The opener, “Delicate,” is the album’s most acoustic track, featuring just Rice’s vocals, his guitar, and an accompanying cello. It’s a beautiful song that any girl alive would wish her lover could write for her. The final track, “Eskimo” is my favorite closing song of all-time. Rice opens the song with a set of dark, introspective lines: “Tiredness fuels empty thoughts / I find myself disposed / Brightness fills empty space / In search of inspiration.” As strings enter, the song steadily grows to marvelously epic heights, culminated by an opera singer repeating the line “I miss my Eskimo friend.”

No album this decade has connected with, moved, or inspired me more than O has. And that is why it's the one I'm sharing with you all on this final day of the Rolling Fork countdown. Simply magnificent. -P.W.

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have listened to O. This was literally one of the first ten CDs I ever purchased once I got into the indie realm of music. So, this album definitely reminds me of the emotional highs and lows of a typical teenage high schooler. O is very melodramatic and a bit cheesy at times. But Damien Rice is, nonetheless, a talented song writer. Once again, I’m surprised this is being ranked so high amongst the decade’s best albums so I’m assuming this has some very special personal relevance for Phil. - Ryan

A deeply confessional and heartfelt record, "O" is a good album that suffers a bit from Rice's melodramatics. Aside from some of the intrusive string elements, I tend to forgive the overt sentimentality with melodies and songs as engaging and tender as these. The contemplative, gradual progressions of the songs give them a sense of space and grandeur that isn't easy to attain with such meager means. Worth checking out to at least understand a little piece of Phil. - Steve

#1 - Ryan & Steve

Sunburned Hand of the Man

Fire Escape

2007

Sunburned Hand of the Man are a Massachusetts collective of revolving musicians who've been releasing a plethora of music since their 1994 inception. As their frontman, John Moloney has shaped Sunburned's sound by working almost entirely via free improvisation, working with psychdelia, noise, free-folk and shambled-jazz. They have some unbelievably great and transcendent recordings ("Headdress", "Jaybird" & "The Pegadrift" immediately come to mind) but they've also put out their share of throwaway CD-r schlock. It simply comes with the territory when a band attempts to perpetually progress publicly by releasing the entirety of their musical output. The group hit their popularity peak in 2003 when covered by Wire magazine dubbing them one of the leaders of the so-called "New Weird America".

So what makes this record especially unbelievable was the inclusion of Kieran Hebden (of Four Tet & Fridge fame) as producer and facilitator of musical ideas. Working with Hebden, Moloney and Sunburned were able to hone and control the experimentation, first and foremost by shortening the compositions when they began to drag and extending the jams when the grooves aligned. Beyond just compositional aid, Hebden was also there to expand the sonic palette of Sunburned beyond trippy and fuzzed-out acoustics and into the otherworldly noises from Hebden's live electronics. His inclusion certainly adds to the eclecticism of "Fire Escape".

"Fire Escape" is a free and loose record with an unapologetic freedom and fervor for new sound. The second track here, "Nice Butterfly Mask" rides along its quick groove of bass and drum as horns blare atop and guitar rumbles up from beneath. After a one-minute atonal electronic-noise bridge, the song returns into a noisy and fiery free-folk version of something off of the Stooges "Fun House". The next song, "What Color Is the Sky in the World You Live In?" is a soft, delicate and traditionally beautiful song of piano balladry, swarms of flutes, toy woodwinds and bells. Overall the songs here bounce and play relentless, rarely resting and forever innovating. It's an album that simply has no time for stagnation. Impossible to define and undeniably fresh, "Fire Escape" is an unparalleled creative success and one of the best records of the naughts. -S.R.

I only need one word to describe this album… badass! As soon as the second track, “Nice Butterfly Mask” begins, you’ll feel like you’re starring in the best gangster flick you’ve ever seen. And that mood just continues all the way to the record’s finish. This band does not care about consistent length for its songs – they range anywhere from 45 seconds to 15 minutes – but they do know how to make kick-ass music that’s unlike anything you’ve probably heard before! - Phil

#2 - Phil

Kanye West

The College Dropout

2004

My favorite rap album of the decade and the most well-produced record I have ever heard, Kanye West’s The College Dropout is a testament to years of dedication and hard work. After growing up in my birth city of Chicago, West got his big break when he met Jay-Z and was asked to help produce Jigga’s hip hop classic, The Blueprint. West’s work on the record garnered him an incredible amount of respect, leading to some of the biggest hip hop and R&B artists requesting his services. In fact, EIGHT of the albums on my countdown West has had a hand in producing! Combine this with his gigantic solo career, and one could make a very convincing argument that no person has had a greater impact on pop music this decade than Kanye.

With The College Dropout, West took every image, every stereotype, and every assumption of what a black rapper should look and sound like and buried it away in his funny-looking backpack. The songs address subjects such as working at the Gap, making fun of weight-watching women, and praising Jesus – not exactly the most gangster album pumping through your speakers. Even West admits he’s a softie, though he uses this image to sometimes make fun of general hip hop trends: “First nigga with a Benz and a backpack / Ice chain, Cardi lens, and a knapsack / Always said if I rap I’d say something significant / But now I’m rapping ‘bout money, hoes, and rims again.”

Although I will admit that this is easily Kanye’s strongest album lyrically, what makes it my second favorite hip hop album of all-time (just behind Biggie’s Ready to Die) is its conceptual cohesion. A common knock on rap albums is their use of skits, but West uses each of his to brilliantly emphasize his theme of college being unnecessary: “These guys are making money all these ways, and I’m spending mine to be smart. You know why, buddy? ‘Cause when I die, you know what’s going to keep me warm? That’s right - those degrees!” A flawless debut. -P.W.

Right off the bat I have to say that I prefer Late Registration. But, The College Dropout is an excellent album from the now seemingly universally hated producer and MC. After several high profile guest appearances and being able to produce tracks for several big names (such as his friend Jay-Z), West burst onto the hip-hop scene with an amazing debut highlighted by his not-so-surprising ability as a producer. However, it was his lyricism that was unforseen. “Never Let Me Down” is still one of my favorite rap songs of all time. Late Registration was a phenomenal follow-up. I was so excited to see him complete his trilogy of records with Graduation, only to be disappointed by more than a few missteps. He was perfectly capable of recovering from Graduation, but instead decided fall further down that slippery slope. Regardless of where his career goes from here, The College Dropout will always remain as part of our modern hip hop canon. - Ryan

While I'll still mention the excessive length and the occasionally eye-rolling skit, this record is a lot of fun to listen to. Sure, Kanye isn't an especially skilled emcee, but his consistently engaging production and his varied songwriting gives the album a smooth flow and a beautiful cohesion. An excellent album that only furthers my disbelief that "808 and Heartbreak" was made by the same man. I suppose celebrity like that does do its damage. - Steve

#2 - Ryan & Steve

Earth

Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method

2005

Earth started their career in the early '90s creating monolithic doom metal. Dylan Carlson, frontman and only constant member, was once a good friend of Kurt Cobain as they were both from the northwest, Seattle and Olympia. This connection gave Earth a segue for putting out their debut EP, "Extra-Capsular Extraction" on Sub Pop records. While they never made much of splash during the first half of their career, fourteen years later the band has experienced a resurgence in popularity and accolades due to their modern influence on slow, plodding stoner/doom metal. In the wake of this, Earth reform and release "Hex: Or Printing In The Infernal Method", their new vision of doom.

While the riffs aren't as sonically huge or over-amplified as they once were, the songs have instead found a comfortable niche in the slow, brooding Western-tinged mood on display. At once sounding like the bloody wind-dusted shoot-off and the imminent funeral procession. The command and the restraint over the course of these carefully selected 46 minutes is what especially shines, as the songs build and the tension grows, we find release through lap-steel soaring highs and carefully crafted melodic resolution. About two and a half minutes into "An Inquest Concerning Teeth" the lap-steel kicks in alongside a quiet organ and sustained guitars recreating a religious-epiphany of a sound. It's beautiful, life-affirming music of the highest order. And while it's certainly not a record for the impatient, its gloomy stasis can be transportive and transcendent. An unclassifiable record that forms the bridge between Neil Young's "Dead Man" and the plodding riffage of Sabbath. Essential listening. -S.R.

To say that this album has a consistent sound would be a gross understatement. Earth opens the album with some really cool guitar lines that seem primed to take the listener to an epic climax. But it turns out there is no climax – the album never goes anywhere else. I’m all for a cohesive atmosphere, but there is little to no change from song to song in its instrumentation or even its key. The result is a long, drawn-out, boring album that makes me completely forget how great it sounded at its start. - Phil

#3 - Phil

System of a Down

Toxicity

2001

“They’re trying to build a prison / For you and me to live in!” Just one week before Jay-Z’s The Blueprint was released, Toxicity – the second album from the California heavy metal group System of a Down – hit the shelves. The record received mass acclaim for its progressive sounds and political themes, being named Album of the Year by Spin Magazine. Only 15 at the time, I had never been exposed to intense hard rock before listening to this album. But after hearing lead singer Serj Tankian’s operatic voice sing those opening words at the start of this paragraph, I was instantly drawn to the band’s fearless “Fuck You” message towards the U.S. government.

Although System of a Down was certainly not the first band to challenge authority, they were one of only a few to do so this heavily while obtaining massive pop radio exposure. Toxicity’s lead single, “Chop Suey!” is one of the decade’s most surprising radio hits, a screaming song explicitly about suicide that you can hear today on your child’s Rock Band video game: “Well I don’t think you trust in my / Self-righteous suicide / I cry / When angels deserve to die!” Suicidal and drug-infested themes can be found all over this record, such as my favorite track, “Needles”: “I’m sitting in my room with a needle in my hand / Just waiting for the tomb of some old dying man,” followed by John Dolmayan’s stabbing drum line and Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian’s repetitious chant “Pull the tapeworm out of your ass – HEY!”

Every time I play this record I feel a little bittersweet, as one of the decade’s greatest and most influential rock bands agreed to go on an indefinite hiatus three years ago. While I truly believe they will eventually reunite, there are hardly any guarantees in this industry. The one guarantee I do have is that Toxicity will always be regarded as the pinnacle of nu-metal and one of the most important rock albums of the 2000s. -P.W.

Interesting choice for Phil’s list. Toxicity is probably an album that the rest of the nu metal bands of the time wished they could make. In fact, as I’m thinking about it, System of a Down could possibly be the best thing to come out of nu metal (not that that’s a particularly impressive accomplishment). Their fast-paced political/social commentary is especially biting and the stuff revolutions are made of. While an excellent hard rock record, I have a hard time viewing this as one of the best albums of the decade. - Ryan

I gotta say I love this album too. It's something of a nü-metal Zappa with an extra dollop of metal's patented self-seriousness. Tankian politics might be a little simplistic, all of his maddening shouts are at least soundtracked by varied and progressive riffing and of course an ample amount of angst. It's a fun album from a band that can somehow get away with chanting "Pogo/pogo/pogo-pogo-pogopogopogo" "BOUNCE!" - Steve

#3 - Ryan & Steve

The National

Alligator

2005

When Steve and I were putting our list together, he sent me the first draft of his own rankings. When I looked at the top 10, they mostly made sense to me and I agreed with the choices for the most part. However, now that we’ve been writing about these records for over a month, I’m looking at album #3 of the decade and I’m a little surprised. This isn’t an album that has reached some sort of musical milestone. It will not shock you with bizarre soundscapes or mind-bending experimentation. It doesn’t necessarily try to be progressive within the genre of rock. Instead, the only reason this album could possibly be agreed upon in the lofty #3 position is because how deeply personal this record is to both Steve and myself.

This album is full of powerful twilit melodies constructed by the highly technically proficient Dessner and Devendorf brothers. Laid overtop are the haunting gossamer vocals of Matt Beringer. While these are generally superficially simple songs, they have immense emotional depth to them. Not that other artists don’t give their all in their music, but when I listen to Beringer, I am completely convinced by his raw passion. Alligator is full of mellifluous and hungover brooding that has been the soundtrack of stressful summers, failed (or ill-conceived) relationships and emotional struggles.

This band is able to translate their emotive songs into their live performances as well. My most moving concert-going experience was three years ago. The National was in a middling position on the bill at the Pitchfork Music Festival that year. They were one of my most anticipated bands to see live that summer and they delivered. Their set was so moving I got choked up during their renditions of “Abel” and “Mr. November.” Just this last summer, The National was able to play the Pitchfork Festival again. This time they headlined one of the nights and proved that they are very capable of adapting to a more arena rock atmosphere. This band is going places and despite my mixed feelings about altering their sound for larger venues I’m glad to see these guys getting some much deserved success. -R.C.

I try not to compare bands’ albums when reviewing, but it’s hard not to in this case. Compared to Boxer, the National’ s most recent album, this record has a lot of things going for it: it’s more varied, it paces itself well, and, above all, its production decisions are much stronger. But, as a whole, the lyrics are not nearly as smart as those on Boxer, and most of the melody lines are just ok. The extremely strong production makes this an album that I like listening to… but it will never be an album that I LOVE listening to. - Phil