Gold Medal: Figure 8 by Elliott Smith
Elliott’s name has popped up on this blog many times as he
is one of the artists that I adore like few others. And even after showing
up on just about every era post he qualifies for, Elliott’s Figure 8 album may
be my favorite album of his. Taking the jump from lo-fi to hi-fi, the music
here is bigger and bolder than his previous albums, though it’s still got some
acoustic gems as well. Every note is precise in creating a totally uplifting
album centered around extremely depressing themes. That may be hard to
understand, but once you’ve listened to this, you’ll know what I mean.
Silver Medal: Parachutes by Coldplay
In my eyes, Coldplay’s career trajectory ran the opposite
direction to the quality of their music. As the group grew more and more
popular throughout the 2000s, their music became less interesting. And before
they were mega rock stars, Coldplay was busy working on this album, which is
simply superb. Parachutes is Coldplay
making anthemic choruses before it got old. These tracks are just well-crafted
songs, with tinges of mystery and splashes of clarity. Tracks 2-7 all have
one-word titles, which is appropriate, as here Coldplay was at its most
understated and hence, at its best.
Bronze Medal: Kid A by Radiohead
Here it is. Pitchfork’s Number One album of the decade.
Since Radiohead is my favorite modern artist, this may be a surprise down at
#3. But honestly, Kid A hasn’t shaken me the way some of the bands other work
has. Nonetheless, it’s brilliant and revolutionary. “Everything In It’s Right
Place” is one of the great openers of all time and a great foretaste of the
delicious electronic textures Radiohead would create on this album and many
more to come. The album is inseparable
from its album art, which gives us a view of the bleak, frigid environment
where Radiohead was coming from at this time.
