As one would imagine, this was a bit of a hefty project, coming up with a ridiculous amount of music from 10 years gone by and putting it on a digestible list. I don’t know if I actually accomplished that goal, but after dividing it into two parts (2000-2004 and 2005-2009), it does look impressive, if I don’t say so myself.
2000-2004 Overview
In the first half of this decade, I dug everything from nu metal (Disturbed, System Of A Down, Slipknot) retro synth-pop (The Killers) and electronica (Royksopp) to the garage rock revival, led by a bunch of “the” bands (i.e. The White Stripes, The Strokes).
Veterans like U2, Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Filter, Joe Satriani and supergroups of sorts like Broken Social Scene, Audioslave, A Perfect Circle, Velvet Revolver and Zwan were also exciting to follow well into the new millennium - and BSS still is. But it was indie rockers like Death Cab For Cutie, Pinback and “m” bands like Matt Pond PA, Minus The Bear and Modest Mouse that I started listening to and seeing live more and more as the years went by.
There’s music for all moods and seasons in here, whether it’s feel-good hip-hop from Outkast, a metal masterpiece like “Stick Figure” by West Virginian group Byzantine, or more mellow music like M83, Blur’s Cocteau-Twins-esque “Battery In Your Leg,” and Sigur Ros. So yes, as if you couldn’t tell, I like a variety of music, to say the least. The amount of it is insane, I know.
It’s nearly impossible to do a meaningful ranking of all these songs, so here now, in alphabetical order are the 120 songs I remember listening to time and time again that came out during the first five years of the 2000s. Part II, the other 89 favorites from 2005-2009 will be published soon.
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Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Of course, you do know that by including Bruce's "Sunny Day," you'll never hear the end of it from Hathaway, don't you? If not, consider yourself warned.
-Glen
2 - Charlie Doherty
Josh is actually looking forward to this list, so thanks for the "warning," even though he damn well knows it's a great song, sick of hearing/seeing it live as he might be :)