Though it seems the good people in the United States mainstream would be happy with swimming in the mediocrity that is radio pop, there is a growing undercurrent that has spawned some of the greatest talents since the ’60s and ’70s.
Here is a list of the 21 best records of the 21st century from these talents, hand-selected by a panel of people who really know music, complete with a buyers’ guide of sorts to help you choose the record that is right for you.
Check the box beside the albums that best describe you.
1. The Faint – Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if you sometimes like to take Ecstasy and play with Glowsticks in the dark.
2. Ryan Adams – Everything . no, seriously (Heartbreaker Bloodshot 2000, everything else Lost Highway 2001-2005)
q These albums will appeal to you if you or someone you know has ADD or ADHD. You will also like these records if you have ever f***** up multiple relationships and don’t really regret it.
3. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch 2002)
q This album will appeal to you if you went to art school and sometimes drive a tractor.
4. Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade 2003)
q This album will appeal to you if you enjoy laughing at funerals.
5. The Strokes – Is This It (RCA 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if you sometimes enjoy not washing your hair and wished that The Velvet Underground was still together.
6. Muse – Absolution (Warner Bros. 2004)
q This album will appeal to you if you wish Radiohead weren’t so damned artsy.
7. Death Cab for Cutie – The Photo Album (Barsuk 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if you want to bitch slap Chris Carrabba for being such a wanker.
8. Q and Not U – No Kill No Beep Beep (Dischord 2000)
q This album will appeal to you if you have any outstanding warrants for your arrest or if you have joined your local militia or have ever read Mein Kampf.
9. Bright Eyes – Fevers and Mirrors (Saddle Creek 2000)
q This album will appeal to you if you have appeared on MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 but wished it had been Cribs.
10. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (Dreamworks 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if your idea of a good Friday night is watching teen movies at a slumber party.
11. Blink-182 – s/t (Geffen 2003)
q This album will appeal to you if you ever grew up and then wondered why.
12. Radiohead – Kid A (Capitol 2000)
q This album will appeal to you if you wish Muse were more artsy.
13. Copeland – Beneath Medicine Tree (Militia Group 2003)
q This album will appeal to you if your girlfriend or boyfriend constantly ignores you.
14. The Cure – Bloodflowers (Fiction/Geffen 2000)
q This album will appeal to you if taking drugs never made you happy.
15. Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel the Illinoise (Asthmatic Kitty 2005)
q This album will appeal to you if you ever wondered what would have happened if Brian Wilson had not gone completely insane.
16. Whiskeytown – Pneumonia (Lost Highway 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if you get drunk at concerts and yell out requests for songs the artist did not even write.
17. The Get Up Kids – On A Wire (Vagrant 2002)
q This album will appeal to you if you like to go camping by the lake with a group of friends while listening to the Grateful Dead.
18. Sigur Ros – AgÔtis Byrjun (Play It Again Sam Us 2001)
q This album will appeal to you if you have ever dozed off in a Pentecostal and/or charismatic church.
19. Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (Sony 2000)
q This album will appeal to you if you are a pretentious music nazi who likes to stare into the void.
20. Secret Machines – Now Here Is Nowhere (Warner Bros. 2004)
q This album will appeal to you if like watching History Channel war documentaries.
21. Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation In the Backyard (Capitol 2005)
q This album will appeal to you if you generally like good things.

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