It's kind of hard for me to believe that another decade has gone by. Or maybe it's not, considering I was in fourth grade at the turn of the century. I feel like I was older, but math doesn't lie.

The 2000's were a strange decade music-wise. By the beginning of 2000, the internet was already considered a force to be reckoned with in music. Personally, I feel that the advent of the internet has changed popular music forever. We used to talk about certain cities having certain sounds. It's still true to some degree (New York still sounds different from L.A.), but the internet has made it harder to differentiate. Information travels faster. Word-of-mouth is a blog post. Influences bleed into each other almost as fast as they crop up. Self-releasing is not only painfully easy, but has actually become a fairly feasible avenue these days. Whether you make any money off of a self-release is a different story, but if you're good, and a little savvy, you will get heard. We used to talk about artists building a live following, and now we talk about them building an internet following. I'm not idealizing some golden-age that never was. It's not necessarily better or worse. Just different. I won't waste any time pontificating on the "purity of music" because music hasn't really been pure since people learned how to write it down.

In the year 2000, my music taste basically revolved around whatever was playing in the house. I enjoyed the Backstreet Boys, Caedmon's Call, Lifehouse (there was a time when No Name Face was the best album I had ever heard... I still think it's good), The Beatles, and whatever I heard on 104.1 at night. Within a year, I was introduced to Led Zeppelin and Rush, which led me to bands like Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins, all of whom I was convinced were the greatest bands on earth, at one time or another. Between seventh and eighth grade, I "discovered" indie music, and I quickly (dutifully) became a little music-snob in training. I heard Death Cab For Cutie, Arcade Fire, The Format, and even Waco-boyz Ethan Durelle around that time. My cousin introduced me to Nickel Creek and Bright Eyes, and I found Ryan Adams and Sonic Youth on my own. At every turn, I thought I had finally found the sound I was looking for. But, of course, there are always new things.

Over the past few years, I've reverted back to older things as I've soured somewhat on indie music. I'm more interested in Pop and older folk music than most new bands, but every once in a while, something really good comes out.

The body of music itself has been hum-drum. Some great stuff came out in the first half of the decade. Most of what's come after 2005 hasn't been very spectacular. With Pitchfork and Stereogum hyping something new every day, it's hard not to get bored.

Still, some great albums, and since I don't really forsee anything blowing my mind in the next month, I figured I'd make a list of my favorites. They aren't the best, maybe, but they're my favorites. So, here you go:

1. Love is Hell - Ryan Adams

Just a stark, cold statement of misery. I remember the first time I listened to it. I still listen to it, often. It's frozen in a moment, and I can't really put my finger on why it's so good. Some of the lyrics are silly (Ryan Adams has a way of making silly lyrics fit perfectly, though), the songs aren't all great, and some of the songs are depressing to the point of being nearly unlistenable. I've seen it panned by a lot of people. Something about it grabbed me though, and never let go.
Key Tracks: "English Girls Approximately", "Love is Hell", "World War 24"

2. A Ghost is Born - Wilco

In my opinion, this album sounds better than anything I've ever heard. The engineering is flawless. The guitars are unbelievable. 1998's Summerteeth is my favorite Wilco album, but this is a close second.
Key Tracks: "Hell is Chrome", "Theologians", "At Least That's What You Said"

3. Hot Fuss - The Killers

I love this band because they don't pretend like they aren't trying to be the biggest band in the world. This album, their first, had a lot to do with my more recent obsession with pop music. Their latest albums have been good, but nothing like this one. Not even close.
Key Tracks: "Andy, You're a Star", "Smile Like You Mean It", "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine"

4. A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay

In 2003, U2 was on hiatus, and Coldplay took their cue. Parachutes was a pretty brilliant debut, but they made an album here that they'll never be able to equal. And, for my money, "The Scientist" may be the best song written in the last ten years.
Key Tracks: "The Scientist", "Politik", "Amsterdam"

5. Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol

Another record soaked in misery. Probably the coolest album on this list. Not the best, but definitely the coolest. Something about that New York snarl. Recently, Interpol has done a great job of being Interpol, but when this thing came out, there wasn't any context for it. It didn't hurt that they had one of the best rhythm sections out there anchoring everything.
Key Tracks: "Stella Was a Diver and She's Always Down", "Leif Erikson", "Untitled"

6. Rise Above - Dirty Projectors

A covers album that's completely original. Based on Black Flagg's Damaged, this is Dave Longstreeth's re-imagining of Henry Rollins' angst. He turns the punk slugfest into a lonely, quiet affair, while somehow not losing any of the aggression.
Key Tracks: "Rise Above", "Depression", "Thirsty and Miserable"

7. She Must and Shall Go Free - Derek Webb

I grew up on the first two Caedmon's records. Derek Webb has done good things since this record, but there was something about it that makes me think he was possessed by something else when he wrote it. Incredible album.
Key Tracks: "Lover", "She Must and Shall Go Free", "Beloved"

8. The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me - Brand New

Brand New is a no-no for indie folks, but I think they're a really incredible band. I saw them in Dallas a month ago, and they put on one of the tightest, most aggressive performances I've ever seen. This album kind of proves Jesse Lacey's brilliance to me. Something about this album vindicates a lot of the earlier pop-punk stuff they did (all the stuff that put them on the indie black list). And, as the title suggests, there's a real sense of spiritual urgency on this record (and not at all self-righteous), and that's always cool with me.
Key Tracks: "Jesus", "Limousine", "You Won't Know"

9. Boxer - The National

I get the sense that they're probably not very nice people (at least, I don't think they'd hang out with me), but they write consistently good stuff. I can tell they spent a long time on this record.
Key Tracks: "Apartment Story", "Star a War", "Squalor Victoria"

10. Gold - Ryan Adams

I really hated this album for a long time. I thought it was too flashy, too polished (in other words, it was nothing like Love is Hell). But I was wrong. It's got some of his best songs on there, and the performance is just brilliant. It was recorded almost entirely with a full band on analog tape. As a friend once said to me, "It sounds clean and polished because it is clean and polished." This is the album where critics began to turn on Ryan Adams. It's a shame.
Key Tracks: "When the Stars Go Blue", "Nobody Girl", "Firecracker"

11. Time (The Revelator) - Gillian Welch

David Rawlings is a genius. Any of Gillian Welch's first three albums could have gone on here, but this was the only one released this decade. This album completely ruined me for contemporary folk music, but I think I'm better for it anyways.
Key Tracks: "I Dream a Highway", "Elvis Presley Blues", "Revelator"

12. Funeral - Arcade Fire

Like I said above, this band kind of introduced me to indie. This is probably one of the only albums that I loved immediately and still love just as much. Bombastic and overwrought, yes. Great? You bet.
Key Tracks: "Une Annee Sans Lumiere", "Rebellion (Lies)", "Tunnels"

13. Kid A - Radiohead

I shouldn't even comment on this one. I never loved this album. I still don't. It's too distant, too unsettling. But I can't get over how good it really is.
Key Tracks: "Idioteque", "Motion Picture Soundtrack", "National Anthem"

14. All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2

I'm to the point where I can't take people who hate U2 seriously (not dislike, but HATE). Seems silly to me. This album was their "return" to the roots they had dug up on Achtung Baby. Whatever.
Key Tracks: "Grace", "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Kite"

15. Gulag Orkestar - Beirut

I could say a lot about how pretentious I think Beirut is. But I can't deny the fact that they are really good at what they do. This album was more Balkan influenced than the stuff that came after. Something about those Eastern European modes makes my skin tingle.
Key Tracks: "Scenic World", "Rhineland (Heartland)", "The Canals of Our City"

16. Viva La Vida - Coldplay

I really hated X&Y for some reason, so it took me a while to hear this one. It almost made me want to give X&Y another look. Almost.
Key Tracks: "Lovers in Japan", "Yes", "Viva la Vida"

17. Soviet Kitsch - Regina Spektor

Quirky, spunky, odd, colorful, etc. Regina's great, both as a songwriter and performer. This is her at her most idiosyncratic and most confident. I get the sense she had a lot of fun making this record. In any case, I always have fun listening to it.
Key Tracks: "Ghost of Corporate Future", "Poor Little Rich Boy", "Us"

18. Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams

The first, and the only one that's widely accepted as a really good album. And it is. This is the one you show girls if you want to hold their hands.
Key Tracks: "Call Me on Your Way Back Home", "Bartering Lines", "Oh My Sweet Carolina"

19. Young Machetes - The Blood Brothers

In terms of punk, this was probably the only thing I really thought was worth listening to this decade. Pure, raw aggression, coupled with a surprisingly good ear for melody. What a freaking swan song.
Key Tracks: "We Ride Skeletal Lightening", "Set Fire to the Face of Fire", "Spit Shine Your Black Clouds"

20. Last Man on Earth - Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright has it pretty good. He's so funny and satirical most of the time, that people really tend to listen when he gets sincere. This was written after the death of his mother, and it's a great tribute.
Key Tracks: "White Winos", "Surviving Twin", "Missing You"

Honorable Mention - ( ) - Sigur Ros, Murray Street - Sonic Youth, Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors, Deja Entendu - Brand New, Crimes - The Blood Brothers, Girls Can Tell - Spoon, So Jealous - Tegan and Sara