written by Michael Owino (@mikoniablogs)
The new millennium has expanded the mind-set of new and old musicians, synthesizers have been put to the test and the art form has unlocked the gate to new foundations of music. It was tough to decide on where to rank the respective albums yet at long last here it is. Here are my personal top 3 favourite albums from 2000-2007.
2000-2007
2000
3rd place: PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Forthrightly her greatest album to date, engaging a unique style of rock n roll, its damn near impossible to avoid any of the tracks.
2nd place: Radiohead – Kid A
Radiohead continues to illustrate why they’re the most influential band in music today.
- 1st place: OutKast – Stankonia
Straight from the A-town OutKast outdone Aquemini to release possibly hip hop’s most diverse album of all time.
2001
3rd place: The Avalanches – Since I Left You
This Australian-based group accomplished to assemble over 3,500 samples thus mixed down to give confinement to an instrumental stroke of genius.
2nd place: Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Hov at long last released a record on par with Reasonable Doubt…or superior?
- 1st place: The Strokes – Is This It?
Not one album comes close to The Strokes’ debut record which is considered by publications a landmark in the musical industry.
2002
3rd place: The Roots – Phrenology
The Legendary Roots crew reconnoitre new sounds from their 5th studio album to create something quite distinctive here.
2nd place: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Very few indie rock albums can validate what Wilco managed to achieve with Yankee Foxtrot Hotel.
- 1st place: The Streets – Original Pirate Material
London’s very own Mike Skinner incorporates a characteristic lyrical flow to label the harsh realities of London.
2003
3rd place: The White Stripes – Elephant
For first time listeners it’s a rather extraordinary occasion from start to finish. Very well-articulated piece of work from the duo’s forth LP.
2nd place: Four Tet – Rounds
After his first two records, Rounds takes some of the characteristics to produce easily his best work.
- 1st place: OutKast – Speakerboxx/The Love Below
A runaway leader in an exceptional year of music. Double albums don’t come any better than what OutKast distributed in the follow up to the remarkable Stankonia. Bearing in mind its Hip-hop’s best-selling album of all time.
2004
3rd place: Kanye West – The College Dropout
It would be a crime to not include a game changer from Chi-Town’s Kanye West. The long awaited debut reinvigorated the genre.
2nd place: Arcade Fire – Funeral
Arcade Fire within its first week of release were heavily gossiped on becoming a major influence in indie rock. The impact from Funeral is second-to-none.
- 1st place: Madvillain – Madvillainy
The beauty of the eardrum comes at times like this when abstract Hip-hop reaches its absolute peak and to takes listeners to a musical journey like no other.
2005
3rd place: M.I.A. – Arular
Dance hall, reggeaton, punk rock and electronic hip-hop all moulded into a singular craft bursts M.I.A to stardom.
2nd place: Kanye West – Late Registration
In my opinion Kanye went one better with his sophomore project. It makes his debut seem as though it’s a mere draft for what’s to come in future.
- 1st place: Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
The 21st century had seen a dramatic surge in new elements of music nonetheless Sufjan Stevens released arguably the greatest folk record known to date.
2006
3rd place: Joanna Newsom – Ys
The most slept on record on my list is Joanna’s second album. Certainly an avant-garde for her contribution to music is no doubt heard within her 5 songs.
2nd place: Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
First of two coke-rap albums comes from the Shaolin where Tony Starks gives us a lesson or two on why he’s Wu-Tang’s finest artist.
- 1st place: Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
The honour will go to the cleverness on the unparalleled wordplay the Clipse possess whilst tackling such impeccable beats however let’s not forget The Neptunes’ heavily dense production proving ground-breaking in respect to rap music.
2007
3rd place: Radiohead – In Rainbows
Thank god for artist such as Radiohead captivating music to another level and In Rainbows humbly revises my statement on the importance of the Oxford born group.
2nd place: Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Animal Collective’s Panda Bear third solo project was a disbelief to his fans on how much he’s becoming a prominent figure in the group.
- 1st place: Burial – Untrue
A nostalgic, atmospheric post-garage magnum-opus done with true integrity and a benchmark to the level of ambition signifying how far music has evolved in such a short space of time.
Watch out for Part II (2008-2013) very soon.
@mikoniablogs 