Best Albums of the Decade, Part II

Albums Ranked No. 40-31

40. Patricia Barber, Mythologies 2006

Patricia Barber and Cassandra Wilson were the most inventive and imaginative Jazz vocalists of the decade I believe. This album is her musical musical telling of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Yet she does not just tell the stories, she interprets them. Sit down with a copy and read the stories, then listen to the music and let it carry you away to a mythical tales of Icarus, Orpheus, Narcissus and other wonderful tales.

39. Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza 2008

As a young, up and coming singer/bassist, I look forward to what she is going to do in the future, but this is a tremendous sophomore effort.

38. Over the Rhine, Drunkard's Prayer 2005

This is one of the most intimate albums I've ever heard. Soft and tender, Karen and Linford let us into their lives and tell the story of their marriage, hurts, love and healing.

37. Ólafur Arnalds, Eulogy for Evolution 2007

This all instrumental album of post-rock neoclassical music needs to be heard. I don't know how these Icelandic musicians are putting out so many great albums, but they seem to do it over and over. I put him up there with Sigur Ros and Emiliana Torini.

36. Roy Hargrove, Earfood 2008

This is a straight up jazz album, and there's nothing terribly new or inventive about it, but it lives up to its title. It is thoroughly enjoyable food for the ears, beautiful from beginning to end.

35. Cassandra Wilson, Glamoured 2003

Jazz and blues with a twist of African rhythms, this album has it all. This is a great introduction to a magnificent singer.

34. Yo La Tengo, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out 2000

This is probably my favorite Yo La Tengo album since it seems to capture best the spectrum of music that they put out.

33. Cat Power, Jukebox 2008

This is the most soulful of her ablums, which is why I prefer this one to her others.

32. The Weepies, Say I am You 2006

Their catchy folk/pop music will have you hooked the moment you start listening to them. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album--I haven't weeped once, yet.

31. Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters 2007

I have no idea why this album won best album. I'm not saying it didn't deserve it, but there have been several jazz albums in recent years that probably deserved to win even more. Perhaps it's because he brought in pop singers like Norah Jones to sing for him. If you're a jazz fan, don't write this off as a pop effort--this is truly jazz. If you're a pop fan, don't write this off as obscure jazz music--this is a great way to get into a style of music you may be missing.

Best Albums of the Decade

In December, I thought a quick little project I could do would be to create a list of the best (by that I mean, the best I've had the pleasure of hearing) albums of the last 10 years. I figured this would easily be accomplished by early January, when you'd expect to see things like this. However, it's now late February, and I'm just now posting it. There's always another album to find, always a realization that I have to listen to this album or that one more time. But here it is--well, here's the first ten. This is my final list until next month when I realized I got it all wrong.

50. Gretchen Parlato, In a Dream 2009

A relatively new jazz singer, Gretchen Parlato has raised the bar of vocal jazz to a new level. Not content with typical 4/4 or even 3/4 song structures, she has played with numerous time signatures and vocal rhythms to make this a truly enchanting album.

49. St. Vincent, Marry Me 2007

I love the way her sweet voice is often pit against the harsher sound of her guitar. This is a great effort, and with a song title like "Jesus saves, I Spend," you just know it has to be good.

48. Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers 2007

She writes with disarming honesty, there's a genuine sweetness to her voice and an edge to her songs, both musically and lyrically.

47. Don Byron, Ivey-Divey 2004

The clarinet is just not as popular today as it once was. I don't know why, but it seems to have fallen out of favor. Don Byron is probably the best clarinetist around today, and this is arguably likely his best album of the past decade, though Do the Boomerang will give it a run for its money. It's a little on the avant-guard side of Jazz, but very enjoyable.

46. Ray LaMongagne, 'Till the Sun Turns Black 2006

With this album, you may feel you've just heard what Joe Cocker and Van Morrison would sound like if you merged them into one person.

45. Missy Higgins, The Sound of White 2005

I'm not a huge fan of pop music, but Missy Higgins sings with honesty, integrity, and simplicity. As you might be able to tell from the title, this is a no-frills pop album by a great singer-songwriter.

44. Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism 2003

This is their last album before they went on a big record label and adopted a more polished and produced sound. But I think their best sound was right here.

43. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America 2006

Yet another group that channels Bruce Springsteen for nearly every song, they still have a great sound, and the guitar work on this album is pretty great.

42. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johannson, Breakup 2009

This album has been overshadowed by She & Him, and since it was released after their album, it would be easy to conclude that this is another actress trying to cash in on Zooey Deschenel's success. But this album was actually recorded first and released later, and it's thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. Who would have thought that Johannson could sing like that?

41. Avishai Cohen Trio, Gently Disturbed 2008

Avishai Cohen is a master of rhythm. All of albums groove better than just about anything else you're going to hear, and this is no exception. Buy this, turn it up loud and watch your stuff fall off the walls.