Best of the 2000s: Day 4 (Books; Odds and Ends)

Year-end (and decade-end) lists that get published at the end of November/beginning of December irk me.  I understand that most publications take off work during the last couple of weeks, but it just seems wrong.  I used to post my lists (on ye olde Livejournal) in January of the following year to make sure that I wouldn’t miss out on some of the big records that I hadn’t lived with yet or on movies that were late to open in wide release.  Problem is, no one cares once you post that late.  So I’m compromising. This week, December 28-31, I’ll focus on the 2000s.  Each day, I’ll post one-quarter of my Top 100 songs (in convenient download format, if I can pull it together) as well as one general decade-end list (probably albums, movies, TV and books).  On January 1, I’ll follow up the decade lists with a post dedicated to 2009.  As always, this is my opinion.  I’m wouldn’t even want to compose some sort of objective list, even if such a thing were possible.  This is simply the pop cultural detritus that I most enjoyed during the past decade/year.

Top 5 Books of the 2000s

01) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)
02) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2004)
03) The Areas of My Expertise (2005) / More Information Than You Require (2008) by John Hodgman
04) Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2000)
05) I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris (2006)

Hodgman’s books are essentially two volumes of the same work, so they get the combo treatment.

I decided to only do five books – not because I don’t read much, but because a) I didn’t read much published this decade, and b) the books that would finish out the top 10 would mostly be the same as on everyone else’s lists (Cloud Atlas, A Heartbreaking Work, etc.) and I like to pretend to have somewhat original opinions.

It seems my tastes run to invented footnotes (#1-3) and Sedarises (#4-5).

Top 100 Songs of the 2000s: Part 4 (Odds and Ends)

(not in any particular order)

01) data Panik – “Cubis (I Love You)” (2005)
02) Justice vs Simian – “We Are Your Friends (Original Mix)” (2006)
03) Klaxons – “Gravity’s Rainbow” (2007)
04) Sister Vanilla – “Down” (2007)
05) Black Box Recorder – “The Facts of Life” (2000)
06) Air – “Playground Love” (2000)
07) Kate Wax – “Catch the Buzz” (2006)
08) Interpol – “Slow Hands (Britt Daniel remix)” (2004)
09) King Creosote – “Klutz” (2005)
10) Saul Williams – “List of Demands (Reparations)” (2004)
11) LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great” (2007)
12) Teenage Fanclub – “The World’ll Be OK” (2003)
13) Goldfrapp – “Ride a White Horse” (2005)
14) Simian Mobile Disco – “I Believe” (2007)
15) Destroyer – “An Actor’s Revenge” (2004)
16) Broken Social Scene – “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” (2002)
17) Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes” (2008)
18) I Am Kloot – “To You” (2001)
19) The Streets – “Let’s Push Things Forward” (2002)
20) The Knife – “Heartbeats” (2002)
21) M.I.A. – “Paper Planes” (2007)
22) Electrelane – “To the East” (2007)
23) The Postal Service – “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” (2003)
24) Ladytron – “Playgirl” (2000)
25) Marianne Faithfull – “Last Song” (2005)

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I couldn’t decide on exactly what theme I wanted this last set to be, so you get a little bit of everything.

The decade is officially over (culturally, if not scientifically). So is my decade round-up.  Happy new year/decade!

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Best of the 2000s: Day 3 (TV; Album Cuts)

Year-end (and decade-end) lists that get published at the end of November/beginning of December irk me.  I understand that most publications take off work during the last couple of weeks, but it just seems wrong.  I used to post my lists (on ye olde Livejournal) in January of the following year to make sure that I wouldn’t miss out on some of the big records that I hadn’t lived with yet or on movies that were late to open in wide release.  Problem is, no one cares once you post that late.  So I’m compromising. This week, December 28-31, I’ll focus on the 2000s.  Each day, I’ll post one-quarter of my Top 100 songs (in convenient download format, if I can pull it together) as well as one general decade-end list (probably albums, movies, TV and books).  On January 1, I’ll follow up the decade lists with a post dedicated to 2009.  As always, this is my opinion.  I’m wouldn’t even want to compose some sort of objective list, even if such a thing were possible.  This is simply the pop cultural detritus that I most enjoyed during the past decade/year.

Top 15 TV Shows of the 2000s: Narrative

01) The Office (UK)

02) The Wire

03) Peep Show

04) Veronica Mars

05) Arrested Development

06) Life on Mars (UK)

07) House

08) The Mighty Boosh

09) Flight of the Conchords

10) Carnivàle

11) Dexter

12) Extras

13) Law and Order: Criminal Intent

14) The Office (US)

15) Futurama

Omissions: I just started watching Lost, so I’m only in the first season.  It’s still a bit early to add it to my list. I never got super-into The Sopranos and Deadwood, but I’m willing to go back and try again.  And, despite it being seemingly tailored to my interests, I hate Mad Men.

And you know what? Criminal Intent is great.  I won’t apologize.

Top 5 TV Shows of the 2000s: Non-Narrative

The Daily Show / The Colbert Report

Top Chef / Project Runway

The Soup

How can I rank them? They’re all so awesome.

Top 5 TV Movies, Mini-Series and Specials

01) Viva Blackpool (BBC America, 2005)
02) Little Dorrit (PBS, 2009)

03) No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (PBS, 2005)

04) ShakespeaRe-Told: Taming of the Shrew (BBC America, 2006)

05) Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak (HBO, 2009)

Remember when BBC America used to actually be good?

Top 100 Songs of the 2000s: Part 3 (Album Cuts)

(not in any particular order)

01) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “There She Goes, My Beautiful World” (2004)
02) The New Pornographers – “Jackie, Dressed in Cobras” (2005)
03) The Clientele – “Since K Got Over Me” (2005)
04) Sons and Daughters – “Johnny Cash” (2004)
05) Frog Eyes – “The Oscillator’s Hum” (2004)
06) Wilco – “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” (2002)
07) Patty Griffin – “Making Pies” (2002)
08) Cat Power – “Speak for Me” (2003)
09) The Magnetic Fields – “I Thought You Were My Boyfriend” (2004)
10) Pulp – “Weeds” (2001)
11) The Shins – “Saint Simon” (2003)
12) Joanna Newsom – “Peach, Plum, Pear” (2004)
13) The Decemberists – “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect” (2002)
14) Elliott Smith – “Happiness” (2000)
15) Spoon – “Don’t You Evah” (2008)
16) Jarvis Cocker – “I Will Kill Again” (2006)
17) Graham Coxon – “You & I” (2006)
18) Belle & Sebastian – “The Wrong Girl” (2000)
19) Arab Strap – “The Shy Retirer” (2003)
20) Brakes – “Heard About Your Band” (2005)
21) Arcade Fire – “Rebellion (Lies)” (2004)
22) The Go! Team – “Huddle Formation” (2004)
23) Vivian Girls – “Where Do You Run To” (2008)
24) Sonic Youth – “The Empty Page” (2002)
25) Songs:Ohia – “Farewell Transmission” (2003)

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You know when was a really good time for indie music? The middle of the decade, apparently.

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Best of the 2000s: Day 2 (Movies; Rock Singles)

Year-end (and decade-end) lists that get published at the end of November/beginning of December irk me.  I understand that most publications take off work during the last couple of weeks, but it just seems wrong.  I used to post my lists (on ye olde Livejournal) in January of the following year to make sure that I wouldn’t miss out on some of the big records that I hadn’t lived with yet or on movies that were late to open in wide release.  Problem is, no one cares once you post that late.  So I’m compromising. This week, December 28-31, I’ll focus on the 2000s.  Each day, I’ll post one-quarter of my Top 100 songs (in convenient download format, if I can pull it together) as well as one general decade-end list (probably albums, movies, TV and books).  On January 1, I’ll follow up the decade lists with a post dedicated to 2009.  As always, this is my opinion.  I’m wouldn’t even want to compose some sort of objective list, even if such a thing were possible.  This is simply the pop cultural detritus that I most enjoyed during the past decade/year.

Top 30 Movies of the Decade

01) High Fidelity (2000)
02) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
03) Best in Show (2000)
04) A Serious Man (2009)
05) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
06) Memento (2000)
07) Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
08) In the Mood for Love (2000)
09) Mulholland Drive (2001)
10) Hot Fuzz (2007)

11) I’m Not There (2007)
12) The Proposition (2006)
13) The Life Aquatic (2004)
14) Zodiac (2007)
15) Superbad (2007)
16) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
17) My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
18) The Prestige (2006)
19) In America (2002)
20) Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

21) Amélie (2001)
22) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
23) Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
24) No Country for Old Men (2007)
25) About a Boy (2002)
26) Pride and Prejudice (2005)
27) Milk (2008)
28) Grindhouse (2007)
29) Head On (2004)
30) 24 Hour Party People (2001)

-I will not argue that High Fidelity is a masterwork that should be studied by film classes for decades to come.  However, there has been no other movie that captured everything I liked and felt at the point of time that I saw it that that movie did.  It’s easily the movie I’ve seen the most of this list. It’s compulsively rewatchable.

-Likewise, Best in Show seems a slight choice for #3.  But never in my life have I laughed as hard as while I watched it for the first time.  Actually, I may have seen this even more times than High Fidelity.

-So many of the decade-end lists I’ve seen are lacking in comedies. I took it upon myself to rectify this.  Also, Hot Fuzz is pretty much perfect.

–High Fidelity may be my favorite Nick Hornby-related movie, but About a Boy is actually my favorite Hornby novel.  The film adaptation takes some liberties (and cuts out a major plotline), but it’s actually very good – much better than any movie starring Hugh Grant has a right to be.

-Likewise, Pride and Prejudice was better than you’d expect from a Jane Austen adaptation starring Keira Knightley.  I’d place it second behind the 1995 BBC miniseries.

-I had There Will Be Blood on this list for a while, but ended up dropping it at the last minute.  I liked it a great deal, but I think I missed out by not seeing it in theaters.  I promise to watch it again.

Top 100 Songs of the 2000s: Part 2 (Rock Singles)

(not in any particular order)

01) Art Brut – “Formed a Band” (2004)
02) Franz Ferdinand – “Take Me Out” (2004)
03) 1990s – “You’re Supposed to Be My Friend” (2006)
04) Maxïmo Park – “Apply Some Pressure” (2005)
05) The Rapture – “House of Jealous Lovers” (2002)
06) Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows” (2002)
07) TV on the Radio – “Wolf Like Me” (2006)
08) Test Icicles – “Circle. Square. Triangle” (2005)
09) At the Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor” (2000)
10) Mclusky – “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues” (2001)
11) White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun” (2009)
12) Tom Vek – “C-C (You Set the Fire in Me)” (2005)
13) The Walkmen – “The Rat” (2004)
14) Arctic Monkeys – “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” (2005)
15) The Raconteurs – “Steady, As She Goes” (2006)
16) Electric Six – “Danger! High Voltage” (2003)
17) The White Stripes – “Fell in Love With a Girl” (2002)
18) Noisettes – “Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)” (2007)
19) Kaiser Chiefs – “I Predict a Riot” (2004)
20) Clinic – “Walking With Thee” (2002)
21) The Dandy Warhols – “We Used to Be Friends” (2003)
22) Beck – “Think I’m in Love” (2006)
23) Ted Leo/Pharmacists – “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?” (2003)
24) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Maps” (2004)
25) Death Cab for Cutie – “I Will Possess Your Heart” (2008)

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For some artists (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), I didn’t go with my favorite song but with the one that was most iconic  For some artists (Beck, Death Cab, Dandys, Clinic), I disregarded the obvious choices in favor of the songs I liked most.  Some songs aren’t going to win me cool points.  I don’t care. (I was totally into hardcore/emo for about a month in 11th grade!)

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Best of the 2000s: Day 1 (Albums; Chart Pop)

Year-end (and decade-end) lists that get published at the end of November/beginning of December irk me.  I understand that most publications take off work during the last couple of weeks, but it just seems wrong.  I used to post my lists (on ye olde Livejournal) in January of the following year to make sure that I wouldn’t miss out on some of the big records that I hadn’t lived with yet or on movies that were late to open in wide release.  Problem is, no one cares once you post that late.  So I’m compromising. This week, December 28-31, I’ll focus on the 2000s.  Each day, I’ll post one-quarter of my Top 100 songs (in convenient download format, if I can pull it together) as well as one general decade-end list (probably albums, movies, TV and books).  On January 1, I’ll follow up the decade lists with a post dedicated to 2009.  As always, this is my opinion.  I’m wouldn’t even want to compose some sort of objective list, even if such a thing were possible.  This is simply the pop cultural detritus that I most enjoyed during the past decade/year.

Top 20 Albums of the Decade

01) Spoon – Kill the Moonlight (2002)
02) The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
03) TV on the Radio – Dear Science (2008)
04) Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)
05) Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not (2006)
06) Spoon – Gimme Fiction (2005)
07) Songs:Ohia – Didn’t It Rain (2002)
08) Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock and Roll (2005)
09) The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
10) Destroyer – Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)

11) TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
12) The Shins – Oh Inverted World (2001)
13) Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
14) Jarvis Cocker – Jarvis (2006)
15) Sons and Daughters – The Repulsion Box (2005)
16) Spoon – Girls Can Tell (2001)
17) Magnolia Electric Co. (2003)
18) Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007)
19) The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006)
20) Cat Power – You Are Free (2003)

-That’s right, 20% of the list is Spoon records.  What ya gonna do about it?
–The Repulsion Box is pretty much just an arbitrary choice.  All of Sons and Daughters’ albums (well, both … and a half) are high quality – just not quite high enough to clog up the top 20, a la Spoon.
–You Are Free is really the only Cat Power album I’ve been able to get into, but it’s a good one (except “Names” – some say heartbreaking, I say maudlin).
-Remember how I said that I wasn’t trying to be objective? I’ve been listening to The Decemberists since Castaways and Cutouts (well, since it was reissued on Kill Rock Stars) and I can objectively state that The Crane Wife is their best album.  The first three have some great songs, but they also have a lot of filler.  I do like The Hazards of Love a lot, but the songs aren’t as individually strong as on The Crane Wife.
-Secretly Canadian promoted Magnolia Electric Co. as a Songs:Ohia album when it was released, but Jason Molina has since said that it considers it the first (self-titled) release by the band Magnolia Electric Co. I’ve decided to remain neutral.  Also, Magnolia would probably rank higher than Didn’t It Rain if Molina sang “Peoria Lunchbox Blues” and “The Old Black Hen” himself.  The demos he did for those tracks are far, far better than the versions with guest singers featured on the actual album.
–Jarvis is the best Jarvis Cocker-associated album since Different Class.  Arguments?

Top 100 Songs of the 2000s: Part 1 (Chart Pop)

(not in any particular order)

01) Amerie – “1 Thing” (2005)
02) Rihanna – “Pon de Replay” (2005)
03) Lily Allen – “Knock ‘Em Out” (2006)
04) Sugababes – “Freak Like Me” (2002)
05) Beyoncé ft Jay-Z – “Crazy in Love” (2003)
06) Kelis – “Trick Me” (2004)
07) Amy Winehouse – “You Know I’m No Good” (2007)
08) Estelle ft Kanye West – “American Boy” (2008)
09) Rachel Stevens – “Some Girls” (2004)
10) Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For?” (2004)
11) Gorillaz – “Clint Eastwood” (2001)
12) Outkast – “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” (2000)
13) Natasha ft Clipse – “So Sick” (2007)
14) Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx – “Gold Digger” (2005)
15) Jamelia – “Beware of the Dog” (2006)
16) Lady Gaga – “Poker Face” (2008)
17) Nelly Furtado – “Say It Right” (2006)
18) Leona Lewis – “Bleeding Love” (2008)
19) Jordin Sparks ft Chris Brown – “No Air” (2008)
20) Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” (2006)
21) Destiny’s Child – “Say My Name” (2000)
22) Taylor Swift – “Should’ve Said No” (2008)
23) KT Tunstall – “Other Side of the World” (2005)
24) Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind” (2009)
25) Richard X ft Kelis – “Finest Dreams” (2003)

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