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#20 Brian Wilson - SMiLE (2004)

With its near religious following, it seems odd to have SMiLE on any list without it being at the top. Wilson's thirty-seven year old epic isn't the masterpiece to end all masterpieces, as some would claim, but simply an excellent slice of creative surf-pop that was kept in storage for far too long. The songs on SMiLE stand the test of time incredibly well, and even listeners who don't identify as Beach Boys fans will find it hard to resist his undeniable charm. The songs are derived from the old but recorded in the new, so album highlights such as "Heroes and Villains," "Cabin Essense" and the great reworking of "Good Vibrations" end up sounding timeless.
#19 Amon Tobin - Supermodified (2001)

Swing & bass? Drum & swing? Whatever you may decide to label it, Tobin's amalgam of the D&B standards of jazz beats & fat basslines, with the catchy rhythms and instrumentation of swing music is something you're unlikely to hear from anyone else. Tobin has been doing this sort of thing since 1997's Bricolage, and he still seems to be the only person occupying his as-yet-unnamed genre. Supermodified is an exceptional work, striking a perfect balance between catchy, memorable tunes and eccentric, creative touches, allowing him to appeal equally to fans of the tame and the insane. With all the critical praise he's received, it's a wonder that the hordes of imitators still haven't appeared.
#18 Sleater Kinney - One Beat (2003)

Sleater Kinney's songs are always clever and well-written, but the thing that makes them such a great band to listen to is their infectious energy and enthusiasm. One Beat is the sort of album that just grabs you and won't let go, as Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein's immense guitar riffs rock out in the most collossal of ways, while Tucker's thrashy, grinning vocals make every track catchier than possible. Picking highlights is difficult, because the moment you feel like you may have heard a potential favourite, the next track has exactly the same effect. It all feels impossibly huge, as though Sleater Kinney just decided that as long as they were going to rock out on One Beat, they might as well make the whole thing really, really big.
#17 Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

If only more artists posessed folkster Sam Beam's level of self-control. If he wanted to, Beam could overload his albums with the most theatrical of flourishes, but he never goes any further than is really necessary, and Our Endless Numbered Days is all the better for it. Beam's songs often contain clever and complex arrangements, but with their sparse guitar/banjo backing, soft vocals and total lack of artistic indulgence, they come across deceptively simplistic. Beam's down-to-Earth style gives the album a sort of humble honesty, and the result is a genuinely intimate collection of gentle, charming folk songs, which are as relaxing as they are enjoyable.
#16 The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed (2004)

With some of the best songs they'd recorded so far in their career, it didn't really matter that The Mountain Goats' followup to Tallahassee was a significantly less ambitious album. John Darnielle's trademark rapid-fire strumming is at its catchiest on We Shall All Be Healed, and his vocals are more charismatic than ever, making him one of the most enigmatic and fascinating frontmen in music today. His lyrics are laced with the same brilliant wit as always - when he barks "I can remember when we were in highschool / Our dreams were like fugitive warlords / Plotting triumphant returns to the city / Keeping TEC-9s tucked under the floorboards," it's near-impossible to not laugh. Album highlights "Letter From Belgium," "The Young Thousands," "Home Again Garden Grove," "Cotton" and "Against Pollution" are easily amongst his best work.
#15 Jackie-O Motherfucker - Fig 5 (2000)

When it comes to pure, post-rock bliss, few albums have surpassed Jackie-O Motherfucker's first CD release. Fig. 5 is the quintessential "New Weird American" album, a relatively recent sub-genre which combines the exploritory feel of post-rock with the soulful twang of Southern folk (several imitators have popped up, most notably The No-Neck Blues Band, but none have quite measured up). The album is driven along primarily by multiple guitarists, with touches of banjo, varying percussion, harmonica, free-jazz and even some sparse sampling. Songs can last anywhere up to 25 minutes, and at it often feels as though the band are simply letting the music channel through them, until it runs its natural course. As such, there's a particularly improvisational feel at work, and at times JOMF sound like an Americana orchestra in the process of warming up. Every song manages to find its mark, though, and when the entire group (all eleven of them) come together, the results are amazing.
#14 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

A moral tale about the preciousness of life hidden underneath a psych-rock concept album about a girl named Yoshimi and her Power Rangers-style mission to protect her city from the invasion of the evil pink robots? Sounds like The Flaming Lips to me! Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots would be a great album one way or the other - either a zany anime-themed concept album, loaded with zaps, kapows and laser effects, or a souls-bared continuation of The Soft Bulletin's dark themes of mortality contrasted against the importance of making the most of life while it's still there. That it manages to be both without either half losing any impact is outstanding.
#13 Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Yr skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! (2000)

Godspeed You Black Emperor! are the best space-rock band in existance, bar none. They're a pretty obvious group to like by now, and you won't gain any indie-cred points by listening to them, but when you're being swept away by the enourmous crescendo five minutes into "Storm" such things become less than irrelevant. Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!, in addition to having one of the coolest album titles in history, sees the band taking the brooding, dramatic soundscapes they displayed on F#A#Infinity and perfecting them through the addition of more complex arrangements, additional musical styles and (of course) those wonderful, floor-shifting crescendos. Seriously, nobody can nail a crescendo like Godspeed. Oh, those lovely, lovely crescendos...
#12 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O (2002)

Godspeed shift the exclamation point and release another masterpiece. Almost nothing separates these two albums, but Yanqui U.X.O manages to come out on top by the smallest of margins. Yes, the crescendos are still there, but I'll try to contain myself. Besides, the best Godspeed crescendo is still the one at the start of Lift Yr Skinny Fists. The reason Yanqui U.X.O is a better album is because of its amazing degree of focus - for the first time the group feel totally cohesive, and the album has a far more natural progression from beginning to end. It's incredibly satisfying to realise that at no point does Yanqui U.X.O feel like eight people jamming, regardless of how well they may have jammed before.
#11 Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 (2001)

Deltron 3030 are arguably the best thing to happen to rap so far this decade. Each member of the trio handles his role admirably, especially Del the Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator, who are obviously so comfortable working together that it's tragic they don't do so more often. A genre as strongly driven by lyrics and sampling as hip hop lends itself so perfectly to the concept album, and the futuristic theme is the icing on the cake, allowing Del to reference anything his SF-polluted mind can conjure. The album highlights, such as "3030," "Things You Can Do" and "Battlesong" are great fun, but only when listening to the entire album, uninterupted, can you fully appreciate Deltron 3030's incredible attention to detail.

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