Favorite Albums from 2011

• The Decemberists – The King is Dead
• Doomtree – No Kings
• The Antlers – Burst Apart
• Jay-Z/Kanye West – Watch the Throne
• R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now
• tUnE-YarDs – w h o k i l l
• Bon Iver – Bon Iver
• The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
• Damn Your Eyes – Damn Your Eyes
• Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

Favorite Album from 2010 that would have topped my list if it had come out in 2011 and not December 2010

• Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Favorite Albums from before 2011 that I didn’t pay attention to until 2011 (Non-Kanye Edition)

• Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
• Michael Jackson – Thriller
• The Long Winters – Putting the Days to Bed
• Ween – Live at Somerville Theater 1997 bootleg
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – The Social Network Soundtrack

Favorite Vinyl Purchased in 2011

• Braid – Frame and Canvas
• Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
• R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
• Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
• Split Lip – Fate’s Got a Driver
• Pixies – Doolittle
• Texas is the Reason/Promise Ring – split 7″
• Jim Croce – Greatest Hits

Favorite Albums from 1997

(As listed in my remembrance of the year in music, 1997)

• Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
• Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good
• Built to Spill – Perfect From Now On
• Get Up Kids – Four Minute Mile
• Guilt – Further
• Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen
• Ween – The Mollusk
• Snapcase – Progression Through Unlearning
• Floodplain – Eightpennygalvinized
• Radiohead – OK Computer

Favorite Hardcore Punk Albums

(As listened to during my hardcore punk renaissance this past summer)

• By the Grace of God – For the Love of Indie Rock
• Snapcase – Progression Through Unlearning
• Quicksand – Manic Compression
• 108 – Songs of Separation
• Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come

Most Disappointing Album of 2011

• Braid – Closer to Closed EP

There’s a reason for that, of course: 1997 was a fertile time for independent records, standing in the middle of music’s last pre-Napster generation, when being independent meant being under the radar and, by association, free from pop-chart co-opting. This was Modest Mouse before “Float On”; post-punk/emo before the skinny jeans; Radiohead before their guitars were stolen on their 1998 World Tour.

(That’s what happened, right?)

For me, 1997 was life changing on an entirely different level. I graduated from high school and went to college. I lived on my own and began to break away. Post-punk wasn’t a secret, by any means, but it was what I used to separate myself from the rest of Marshall’s resident collegians, their country-tinged pick-ups reminding me more of high school than of the rich and storied halls of academia.

So while Puff Daddy made millions on Notorious B.I.G.’s death, I rocked out as some of emo’s most important albums were released: Promise Ring’s Nothing Feels Good, the first Get Up Kids EP Woodson and follow up full-length Four Minute Mile, Cursive’s Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes (a raw and brilliant introduction to Omaha’s finest, I might add). And while Elton John made millions on Princess Diana’s death, I grasped the sudden resurgence of hardcore with 1997’s Further (Guilt), Progression Through Unlearning (Snapcase) and Eightpennygalvinized from Sioux Falls’ own Floodplain.

This was all fine and good. These were the bands I already listened to, the music I brought with me from high school. This was fantastic music, but it was also typical. For me, at least.

See, at some point in high school (as many of us did) I had jettisoned the idea of listening – or liking – anything resembling mainstream.

“NOT cool,” I said.

“NO WAY,” I screamed.

Not a CHANCE you’d walk in and see some point of weakness, as if my chain necklace and Less Than Jake t-shirt refused to hold court next to ANYTHING released on a major label.

And then: OK Computer.

Because, I mean, it was good. It was GOOD.

I heard “Paranoid Android” and fell in love. I couldn’t get enough. The video – THE VIDEO! – was SO good, and I ran to Sam Goody and I bought the SHIT out of that CD and I listened to it and it was all so fantastic and, seriously, I just forgot it all: the chain necklace, the Less Than Jake t-shirt, the reasons behind forging such a singular view of music.

I embraced the mainstream. Kind of. Almost.

1997 was the year that what was once called “alternative” had become too big to contain, its form lurching along as it pulled in sub-genre after sub-genre, like a net overfilled with bottom-feeders. Weighed down by itself, it split. Ben Folds Five released Whatever and Ever Amen and no one knew where it was supposed to go. The Foo Fighters brought us their best in The Colour and the Shape, and we couldn’t figure out if it was rock or alternative or something different.

Mainstream had developed a sub-mainstream – a super-independent track, if you will – that brought to mind the early 80s, with its popular-but-still-quirky new wave and its garage-y Athens bands and its punk flag-wavers, but with an understanding that making it to MTV no longer meant what it used to mean.

It became okay to be independent. It became a goal, not a consequence – enough that even major label bands like Radiohead brought success down to the indie-rock masses.

From this split came music that I didn’t even know about. I was a young pseudo-punker from the Midwest – I had no idea that in the future I’d fall in love with some of the year’s best indie records; that, 14 years in the future, I’d place 1997’s Perfect From Now On and The Lonesome Crowded West in high esteem, or that I’d somehow become some weird Ween fanatic and argue that their 1997 release, The Mollusk, shows the band at the peak of their musical ability.

Some of my favorites were just a year away. Braid had begun recording Frame and Canvas. Jets to Brazil had formed. Sunny Day Real Estate re-formed. The blank recordable compact disc was introduced. Other favorites – Texas is the Reason the most notable – broke up.

The nation’s musical taste even died a little, as we managed to put Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” and Hanson’s “Mmmbop” atop the charts.

In the end, though, it was my musical awakening that contributes to 1997’s importance. It was a fantastic year for releases, but it was also the right time for me to make changes in the way I listened to music.

I was on my own. I was making my own decisions (though I was barely making my 8 am class) I was struggling to find my balance. It was all fueled by music. Music kept me tied to my friends, and my home. It kept me entertained. It kept me on the road, from Mankato to Minneapolis to Omaha, my schedule cleared for nothing but shows and new CDs and a completely open mind.

It’s cheesy to say that music provided the soundtrack to my senior year of high school, or that it helped shape my first year in college.

Still though. That happened. Soundtrack, life shaping, all of it.

And it was all great. All of it.

Favorite Albums From 2010

1. Girl Talk – All Day
2. Sleigh Bells – Treats
3. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
4. Spoon – Transference
5. The New Pornographers – Together
6. Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – Lonely Avenue
7. LCD Soundsystem – London Sessions
8. Various Artists – Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine
9. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
10. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night

Favorite Albums From Before 2010 That I Didn’t Pay Attention To Until 2010

1. Various Artists – I’m Not There (Soundtrack)
2. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
3. Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
4. Jim Ward – In the Valley, On the Shores
5. Fanfarlo – Reservoir

Favorite Old Vinyl From My Parents’ and Grandparents’ Collections

1. Neil Young – Harvest
2. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
3. Various Artists – The Concert for Bangla Desh
4. The Beatles – The Beatles
5. The Beatles – Let it Be

Favorite Old Vinyl Purchased or Received in 2010

1. Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
2. Pink Floyd – Animals
3. Neil Young – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. John Prine – The Best of John Prine
5. Neil Young – Live Rust

Favorite Beatles Songs of 2010

1. “And Your Bird Can Sing”
2. “Dig a Pony”
3. “Something”
4. “Here Comes the Sun”
5. “Sexy Sadie”

Sierra’s Favorite Songs of 2010

1. “Here Comes the Sun” – The Beatles
2. “Particle Man” – They Might Be Giants
3. “Help!” – The Beatles
4. “My Sweet Lord” – George Harrison
5. “Yellow Submarine” – The Beatles

Favorite Albums From A Long Time Ago That I Had Completely Forgotten About

1. Mike Watt – Ball Hog or Tugboat?
2. The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good
3. R.E.M. – Automatically Live (bootleg)
4. P.E.E. – Now! More Charm & More Tender
5. Braid – Frame and Canvas

Favorite Covers Discovered/Embraced This Year

1. “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – Junip (2006)
2. “No One’s Gonna Love You” – Cee Lo Green (2010)
3. “Spanish Pipedream” – The Avett Brothers (2010)
4. “The Times They Are a Changin’” – Mason Jennings (2008)
5. “Take Me To the River” (live) – Talking Heads (1999 reissue)

Favorite Lists From This List of Music Lists

1. Favorite Old Vinyl From My Parents’ and Grandparents’ Collections
2. Sierra’s Favorite Songs of 2010
3. Favorite Beatles Songs of 2010
4. Favorite Albums From A Long Time Ago That I Had Completely Forgotten About
5. Favorite Lists From This List of Music Lists

1. Pink Floyd – Animals
2. Tool – Aenima
3. Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica
4. The Mountain Goats – Sunset Tree
5. Jets to Brazil – Perfecting Loneliness
6. The Hold Steady – Heaven is Wherever

So. Tired.

1. “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight” by R.E.M.

2. “The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)” by They Might Be Giants

3. “Wimoweh” by Nanci Griffith

…

317. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by the Tokens

1. Toryumon
2. Hurricanrana
3. Breaking Kayfabe
4. Tiger Driver ‘91
5. Fire Pro

I used to love this stuff. Would study it like some study roto-league baseball. Was a local expert in the art of Japanese wrestling, technical submissions and the WWF Intercontinental belt. Could not be swayed from thinking Dean Malenko was under-appreciated and deserved a better push.

Sometimes, I miss it – not for the pomp and storylines as much as for the technical and behind-the-scenes aspects of it all: the classification of terms, the organization of skills, the characters fitting together and moving around like party members in a game of Final Fantasy.

Other times, I take a look at that sentence I just wrote and realize how big of a dork I really am.

I suppose Metallica fans and Alice in Chains fans overlap, their catalogs often mixing. But they just seem a little out of character.

And then, sometimes, Genius works wonders.

1. “Swan Swan H” – R.E.M.
2. “Kiss Me on the Bus” – The Replacements
3. “Ana Ng” – They Might Be Giants
4. “A Sort of Homecoming” – U2
5. “Stay Up Late” – Talking Heads
6. “Hesitating Beauty” – Billy Bragg & Wilco
7. “Shipbuilding” – Elvis Costello
8. “No. 13 Baby” – Pixies
9. “I’m Always in Love” – Wilco
10. “I Believe” – R.E.M.
11. “Tomorrow” – U2
12. “Twisting” – They Might Be Giants
13. “Accident Waiting to Happen” – Billy Bragg
14. “Watching the Detectives” – Elvis Costello
15. “Gone Daddy Gone” – Violent Femmes
16. “Alex Chilton” – The Replacements
17. “Jonas & Ezekial” – Indigo Girls
18. “Cuyahoga” – R.E.M.
19. “Cecilia Ann” – Pixies
20. “Two Hearts Beat As One” – U2

It might as well be a dedicated “80s Alternative+Wilco” playlist. It’s making for some great photo editing music, either way, despite the fact that most of these songs were released while I was still in grade school.

(Note: is Genius automatically set to honor the recently deceased Alex Chilton or is that just a happy coincidence?)

“I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” – Stevie Wonder
“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” – Otis Redding
“Save the Children” – Marvin Gaye
“A Change is Gonna Come” – Sam Cooke
“Flash Light” – Parliament
“Sign ‘O’ the Times” – Prince
“That’s the Way of the World” – Earth Wind & Fire
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” – Stevie Wonder
“I Want You (live)” – Marvin Gaye
“Night Time Is the Right Time” – Ray Charles
“Just A Thought” – Gnarls Barkley
“Jungle Boogie” – Kool & the Gang
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – The Supremes
“Mustang Sally” – Wilson Pickett
“Try a Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
“Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” – Marvin Gaye
“Spanish Harlem” – Ben E. King
“You Haven’t Done Nothin’” – Stevie Wonder
“Alphabet St.” – Prince

Conclusion: despite it’s inability to stray too far from convention, sometimes iTunes Genius is pretty great.

We all have.

In the long time I’ve been listening to music, one thing has stayed constant: my favorite songs sound different from your favorite songs. The notes land in our ears with different expectations. Tastes differ. Qualities change. And, much like we never know exactly how color looks in the eyes of another, music isn’t analogous between listeners.

Still, we insist on ranking them. The top this. The best that. The essential whatever.

Which is why I wanted to look at things differently. These aren’t the top 100 songs of the 2000s (a decade that ended a month ago, granted). But they are my favorite 100 songs of the 2000s. They display my taste, showing how those notes landed on MY ears and what my expectations were.

With that disclaimer, a few more ground rules. I did not allow for more than three songs per artist, hopefully saving you from 50+ Modest Mouse and Cursive songs. I did not allow covers to be counted, knocking Jose Gonzalez’s “Heartbeats” and Ben Folds’ “Bitches Ain’t Shit” off the list. And I present the list in three parts for brevity’s sake: 100-51 are simply listed; 50-21 come with a brief statement; 20-1 arrive with full reasoning and the track itself.

To hear all of the 100 songs (minus five that weren’t supported), check out the Black Marks on Wood Pulp 100 Favorite Songs of 2K playlist at Lala.com.

This is how I saw the decade in music. Enjoy.

The Really Good Songs: #100-51

100. “Who Could Win A Rabbit” – Animal Collective, Sung Tongs (2004)
99. “Oceanbound” – 764-HERO, Nobody Knows This Is Everywhere (2002)
98. “Until 6pm” – Office, Q & A (2005)
97. “It Was There That I Saw You” – …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead, Source Tags & Codes (2002)
96. “The Crystal Lake” – Grandaddy, The Sophtware Slump (2000)
95. “Don’t Panic” – Coldplay, Parachutes (2000)
94. “Skinny Love” – Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
93. “Heavy Metal Drummer” – Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
92. “Last Night” – The Strokes, Is This It? (2000)
91. “Quality Control” – Jurassic 5, Quality Control (2000)
90. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” – LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem (2005)
89. “California” – Phantom Planet, The Guest (2002)
88. “Album Of The Year” – The Good Life, Album Of The Year (2004)
87. “When The Sun Goes Down” – Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006)
86. “You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son” – Wolf Parade, Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005)
85. “Choked And Separated” – Hot Water Music, A Flight And A Crash (2001)
84. “Mind The Gap” – The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Behind The Music (2001)
83. “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1″ – The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)
82. “What Else Would You Have Me Be” – Lucero, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers (2006)
81. “Singer Songwriter” – Okkervil River, The Stand-Ins (2008)
80. “A Praise Chorus” – Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (2001)
79. “(Drawing) Rings Around The World” – Super Furry Animals, Rings Around The World (2001)
78. “Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)” – Monsters Of Folk, Monsters of Folk (2009)
77. “Take Your Mama” – Scissor Sisters, Scissor Sisters (2004)
76. “Black River Killer” – Blitzen Trapper, Furr (2008)
75. “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” – The Soggy Bottom Boys, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2002)
74. “Oxford Comma” – Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend (2008)
73. “When The Night Turns Cold” – Tobias Fröberg , Somewhere In The City (2006)
72. “Section 12 (Hold Me Now)” – The Polyphonic Spree, Together We’re Heavy (2004)
71. “Lukewarm” – New End Original, Thriller (2001)
70. “I Will Possess Your Heart” – Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs (2008)
69. “Even If You Don’t” – Ween, White Pepper (2000)
68. “Young Folks (w/ Victoria Bergsman)” – Peter, Bjorn and John, Writer’s Block (2006)
67. “Punkrocker (w/Iggy Pop)” – Teddybears, Soft Machine (2006)
66. “Avantcore” – Busdriver, Fear of a Black Tangent (2005)
65. “The D in Detroit” – The Anniversary, Designing a Nervous Breakdown (2000)
64. “Sixteen Military Wives” – The Decemberists, Picaresque (2005)
63. “Calm Americans” – Elliott, False Cathedrals (2000)
62. “Oxygen” – Willy Mason, Where The Humans Eat (2006)
61. “Black Swan” – Thom Yorke, The Eraser (2006)
60. “The Deeper In” – Drive-By Truckers, Decoration Day (2003)
59. “Mothership, Mothership, Do You Read Me?” – Cursive, Burst and Bloom [EP] (2002)
58. “Paper Planes” – M.I.A, Kala (2007)
57. “Two Weeks” – Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (2009)
56. “The Way We Get By” – Spoon, Kill The Moonlight (2002)
55. “So Soon” – Seven Storey Mountain, Based On A True Story (2000)
54. “Oh, Angelina” – The Impossibles, Return (2000)
53. “Fidelity” – Regina Spektor, Begin To Hope (2006)
52. “Long Distance Call” – Phoenix, It’s Never Been Like That (2006)
51. “Hey Ya!” – Outkast, Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (2003)

The Better Songs: #50-21

50. “From A Balance Beam” – Bright Eyes, Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (2003)
My first Bright Eyes experience, in which I realized he wasn’t simply a Dashboard Confessional knockoff.

49. “Sea Legs” – The Shins, Wincing The Night Away (2007)
I didn’t care at all about The Shins until this song hit heavy rotation. Sorry, Garden State.

48. “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z)” – Kanye West, Late Registration (2005)
An extended version that adds one of my favorite Jay-Z performances.

47. “Garden Of Simple” – Ani DiFranco, Reveling: Reckoning (Disc 1) (2001)
Most of my favorite Ani stuff is from before 2000. Then again, “Garden of Simple” could easily have been on Little Plastic Castle.

46. “Kids” – MGMT, Oracular Spectacular (2008)
You know, there are four songs from this album that I love equally. This one represents the lot.

45. “Since I Left You” – The Avalanches, Since I Left You (2000)
Not one to rock the “electronic” movement, I always loved The Avalanches as solid background music.

44. “Non Photo-Blue” – Pinback, Summer In Abaddon (2004)
“Hey, this sounds like a raw version of Modest Mouse,” I thought at the time. I was wrong, but the song stuck with me.

43. “Hotel Yorba” – The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)
The whole album, really. For as much as I like them, The White Stripes are an album-based band to me, and therefore didn’t make much of a showing here.

42. “Oh My God” – Kaiser Chiefs, Employment (2005)
Lily Allen’s cover is also really good. But remember? No covers, dude.

41. “Come on! Feel the Illinoise!” – Sufjan Stevens, Illinois (2005)
For some, it’s “Casimir Pulaski Day,” while others choose “Chicago.” I always liked this song.

40. “Wake Up” – The Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004)
I grew to love this song not so much for the album version, but for this fantastic live “Neon Bible/Wake Up” video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-5XK-2Ufd4

39. “Idioteque” – Radiohead, Kid A (2000)
The best song off of Radiohead’s third-best album, but since it was the best album they released in the 2000s it automatically made everyone’s #1 spot.

38. “This Year” – The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree (2005)
Childhood angst, booze, video games, learning to drive, and the world vs. John Darnielle.

37. “Rough Gem” – Islands, Return to the Sea (2006)
A constant Left of Center standard, “Rough Gem” was infectious enough to make it onto several “Springtime Mix” CDs.

36. “The Trench” – Chuck Ragan, Gold Country (2009)
Formerly of Hot Water Music, Chuck takes the energy of the punk arena and funnels it into his acoustic guitar.

35. “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All)” – Ween, Quebec (2003)
Ween’s been down more than it’s been up since the turn of last decade, but sometimes they’d cook up brilliance.

34. “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” – Bright Eyes, Cassadaga (2007)
To those who would rather listen to “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning,” I have to respectfully disagree. That album doesn’t have this song.

33. “Fred Jones, Part 2″ – Ben Folds, Rockin’ The Suburbs (2001)
About Schmidt has nothing on Ben Folds’ tale of an old man whose industry has passed him by.

32. “The Funeral” – Band of Horses, Everything All The Time (2006)
Haunting? Yes. Awesome? You bet.

31. “Vaka” – Sigur Rós, ( ) (2002)
I still remember hearing this for the first time in the radio booth at KCFS, my mouth agape.

30. “Guns and Cigarettes” – Atmosphere, Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP’s (2000)
My official introduction to the idea of indie hip-hop. That he hails from Minneapolis was an added benefit.

29. “All Nightmare Long” – Metallica, Death Magnetic (2008)
Corey at 15 years old approves of the inclusion of this song on the list. And, oh man, it’s fun on Guitar Hero.

28. “There Goes The Fear” – Doves, The Last Broadcast (2002)
Brit pop, except without all of that stupid Oasis/Blur cheekiness. So, I guess, not Brit pop at all.

27. “10001110101″ – Clutch, Robot Hive: Exodus (2005)
I saw Clutch once at The Pomp Room in Sioux Falls. They opened for Marilyn Manson. I don’t know which is weirder – that Clutch opened for MM or that MM played at a dive bar.

26. “Girl” – Beck, Guero (2005)
Still stands as my favorite cell phone ring for Kerrie.

25. “Delicate” – Damien Rice, O (2003)
Great chorus, though it hasn’t aged well. It was in the top 20 of my favorite songs of all time just a few years ago.

24. “A Fond Farwell” – Elliott Smith, From A Basement On The Hill (2004)
A post-death release that hauntingly predicted his own suicide. Also: beautiful.

23. “Artificial Light” – Rainer Maria, A Better Version of Me (2000)
The jangly open. The fantastic opening beat. The iconic emo-when-emo-still-ruled voice of Caithlin De Marrais. I keep thinking I should have bumped this song higher.

22. “Always Coming Back Home To You” – Atmosphere, Seven’s Travels (2003)
He talks about MPLS as home, but the second “hidden” song mentions my life’s two home bases: Sioux Falls and St. Cloud.

21. “Barnacles” – Ugly Casanova, Sharpen Your Teeth (2002)
I feel fortunate that I can add this song. It’s like I got to cheat and add an extra Modest Mouse song.

The Absolute Best Songs, Hands Down: #20-1

20. “Stronger” – Kanye West, Graduation (2007)
I didn’t know shit about Daft Punk – still don’t, to tell you the truth – but I do know they make for a hell of a backing track for The Artist Now Reviled as Kanye West. That Kanye West landed two songs in this list isn’t a testament to his talent as much as his ability to adapt to different genres. He sounds bored, and the idea that anyone can be bored while rapping is so foreign to me that it’s endearing. I know. Weird, huh?

19. “Spitting Venom” – Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (2007)
Modest Mouse had two “Best Albums Ever” in a row: The Lonesome Crowded West and my personal favorite The Moon and Antarctica. Then, they embraced popular radio and wrote good albums that disappointed only because two “Best Albums Ever” preceded them. Oh, but wait. Here’s something awesome: “Spitting Venom,” a callback to the long, rambling, stonerific Modest Mouse epics of old. And suddenly, just like that, I had something that reminded me of those “Best Albums Ever.”

18. “Trouble” – Ray LaMontagne, Trouble (2003)
If only because of a sultry voice and a look that betrayed his Bonnaroo sensibilities, I spent a good few months wondering just how much more awesome a person’s image could get. Here’s Ray LaMontagne (a name I still can’t help but pronounce incorrectly), mountain man ruggedness mixed with a soulful sound you’d expect from the gravel washed backwoods of Tennessee, and he’s got this song about heartbreak and hard times and all of that. And even though I sometimes hear about it and think of that commercial with the dog who wants to hide his bone where no one can find it, it’s still a great song.

17. “Two” – The Antlers, Hospice (2009)
I started compiling this list in November, which is to say I had narrowed the songs down to about 300 and had begun the process of sniping them off, one by one. Then I found Hospice, causing me to wonder aloud if it’s okay to catapult an album to greatness after only a month of listening. In this case, yes – The Antlers provide the soundtrack to an agonizing death that is both beautiful and introspective, and this song serves as a sing-along, head-nod, brilliantly worded highpoint. The most difficult part was ranking it, and I surprised even myself by landing it this high.

16. “Rebellion (Lies)” – The Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004)
So, you remember back in 2004, when The Arcade Fire suddenly blew up all over the indie rock landscape and they were hailed as the greatest band ever and a lot of “Best Albums Of All Time Ever” lists had them a lot higher than they should have been (because, let’s be honest, Funeral is a fantastic album but it has a long way to go to beat out even The Beatles’ worst albums) and then you kinda got burned out on them – not because they were mainstream but because they had absolutely saturated the scene? That was me, too. Except, after a year or two of ignoring them, I listened to some of their songs in preparation for this list. And they’re good. REAL GOOD.

15. “Crazy” – Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (2006)
Dude, that guy was in the Goodie Mob? And the other guy did the Grey Album? So, let me get this straight – two underground-as-underground-gets guys get together and record the first song to ever hit #1 on the charts via mp3 download? Let’s say another thing about how unlikely – and awesome – it was that “Crazy” became as big as it did: my boss used to whistle it as he was getting ready for meetings. Fifty years old. Whistling Gnarls Barkley. Because not only was it accessible, it was catchy as all hell and doubly as inspired.

14. “Trusty Chords” – Hot Water Music, Caution (2002)
Hot Water Music loves its music and its whiskey, and that love combines on this song: hangovers, hating where you are and a few great guitar chords. As a play-pretend Jameson fan (because, let’s be honest, I can’t drink whiskey without cringing and, really, that doesn’t seem like a productive way to enjoy alcohol) I love the constant references.

13. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” – The Postal Service, Give Up (2002) The bleeps and bloops of technology enveloping the scaled back tone of early Death Cab for Cutie. Well, naturally, I suppose – this IS the voice of Death Cab. And though other parts of this album were co-opted by long-haired hippies in UPS commercials, the album (quickly becoming dated, but in a good way) still has one of the best opening songs on record. At the time, it seemed so foreign. Now, it just seems awesome.

12. “The Mountain” – Mason Jennings, Birds Flying Away (2000)
The scene: First Avenue in Minneapolis. The show: Modest Mouse, shortly after “Float On” became a major hit and the kids from Kidz Bop sang it and it ended up in a Ford commercial. The opening act: Mason Jennings, Minneapolis legend and acoustic triviality to a room filled with anxious Modest Mouse fans. The song: His first of the night, a seemingly mellow number with a groove that erupted into a frenzy by the end. “The Mountain.” I’ve been a fan ever since.

11. “Late” – Ben Folds, Songs For Silverman (2005)
“This song is for a friend of mine, Elliot Smith.” It was an Augustana College-sponsored Ben Folds concert at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, and it was one of the most tender moments I’ve seen at a live show. Still, today, the song – and, naturally, Ben Folds’ treacly piano lines – make for a powerful and memorable song about a friend. A friend who just so happened to specialize in soul-bearing songs himself.

10. “Sierra” – Cursive, The Ugly Organ (2003)
I learned of the name “Sierra” from this song. But, no, my daughter’s not named after the song. After all, the song – about Tim Kasher’s fictitious yet probably very auto-biographical protagonist’s realization that he’s ready to settle down if only his significant other hadn’t already gotten married and had a child with someone else – is a little dark for little Sierra’s disposition. That being said, it’s a song steeped in the Cursive brand of pain: anger, realization, and too-late repentance.

9. “Daylight” – Aesop Rock, Labor Days (2001)
The top rated hip-hop track on this list isn’t so much a song as it’s a chronicle of amazing rhymes and fast-paced chaos. Case in point: even with the words in front of me, I quickly abandoned the idea of performing this song at Hip-Hop Karaoke. Not with those turns of phrase, the words fitting together perfectly but still so angled they cause instant confusion. An amazing track, and even more great when coupled with its bizarro version, “Night Light.”

8. “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” – Against Me!, The Acoustic EP (2001)
An acoustic version of one of Against Me!’s most anthemic songs, “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” combines sing-along lyrics with an unrelenting acoustic lick. Pints of Guinness? Makes sense: there are few songs that make me want to head to the nearest pub, and this is one of them. One part sad story, one part drinking anthem, one part awesome, uncategorizable punk-hybrid, it’s proof that acoustic songs most likely outperform their electric counterparts.

7. “Life Like Weeds” – Modest Mouse, The Moon And Antarctica (2000)
For a while, this was the #1 song on my list. It’s the most epic song from my favorite all time album, and it best sums up the album’s apparent theme: “The Meaning of Life According to Modest Mouse.” And then I played my list to Kerrie. And about halfway through the song, she looked at me and said, “Really? This is number one?” Despite my own doubts leading up to the song, I thought I had made the right choice. It took another voice to prove that, while it may be one of the better Modest Mouse songs, it’s not even the most defining song on the album, let along the entire decade. So it fell six spots. Rick Dees would be proud.

6. “Crawl” – Alkaline Trio, From Here To Infirmary (2001)
They can’t write an album anymore that sounds anything like this. Alkaline Trio, that is – former emo-punk pioneers and drinking champions, currently slumming the big time with forgettable pop punk. “Crawl” is from the end of the “Alkaline Trio has an edge” era, before they slicked up the sound, started wearing suits and generally forgot the music that made them who they are. Regardless of what they are now, “Crawl” is a masterpiece in punk.

5. “The Radiator Hums” – Cursive, Domestica (2000)
I honestly didn’t even realize this album was released in 2000. Like The Moon and Antarctica, Domestica rocked at the beginning of the century and has continued to shine. If I’d have ranked all of my favorite albums and not just ONE of them, it would have been #2. I think. That being said, “The Radiator Hums” is a bright spot on an otherwise dark album, though the lyrics continue the same brutalness that comes from Tim Kasher’s typical “marital strife” prose.

4. “The Underdog” – Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007)
It begins with a flurry of acoustic guitar and continues on as my favorite song of the second half of this decade – really, my favorite song of the Vilhauers’ Sirius Satellite Radio era. While Spoon always stood off to the side as a respected but not fully embraced band – I loved a lot of their stuff, but never chose to listen to them, if you know what I mean – “The Underdog” pushed them into “trusted to always be good” category.

3. “The Frequency” – Jets To Brazil, Perfecting Loneliness (2002)
Oh, man. I don’t even know how to explain this song. It’s epic, it’s filled with fantastic lyrics, it’s Jets To Brazil’s greatest creation, and it’s generally unknown. Which is disappointing. Because it’s simply wonderful.

2. “3rd Planet” – Modest Mouse, The Moon And Antarctica (2000)
We all have that one album that, even though we don’t listen to it every day, instantly brings back a flood of memories, the first notes rushing into our brains with nostalgia and wonderment and an appreciation for great music. And from the first notes of 3rd Planet, the first song on my favorite album of all time forever and ever amen, those memories flood in. So, yeah, it’s only #2 because it has the audacity of being released at the same time as #1. Too bad, Modest Mouse. You lose.

1. “Cursing Concrete” – Rumbleseat, …Is Dead (2005)
Simple, raw and powerful. It’s the type of song that makes me want to learn guitar. To be in a band so I can cover it. It’s the song I want played at my funeral. Really. And that’s about as much of a recommendation as I can muster.

• Snow-packed hills
• Local Hardee’s franchises
• Universities I’ve attended
• Available bladder room
• Cities named after legendary Native Americans
• Trucks that don’t look like they should be running at all, let alone on a highway going 55 miles per hour
• Cenex stations

Things that fly by on a four-minute drive down Division Street in St. Cloud, Minnesota

• Patience
• Your life, before your eyes
• Red Lobster

Things that DO NOT fly by on a four-hour trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota

• Time