 | Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $3.20 My favorite of the decade. This album was a grower but once it grew on me, I was hooked. AC Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar and the gang have yet to match this (even though Challengers came close). Every song is great - the harmonies, songcraft and instrumentation are top notch. The NPs are the best band in the world right now in my opinion.
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 | CHUTES TOO NARROW by THE SHINS
Buy new: $11.38 / Used from: $9.99 The Shins create perfect pop music. This album is the best example of this, although they have yet to put out a weak one. James Mercer is one of the best songwriters of the decade, and only good things are destined to come from this band.
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 | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $2.50 1999's the Soft Bulletin was their masterpiece, but in 2002, the Lips followed it up with yet another masterpiece. Combining the grand melodies of the Soft Bulletin with electronic textures and dense production, this is truly a headphone classic.
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 | In Rainbows by Radiohead
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $4.10 Radiohead's 1990's output is some of the best music of all time. However, I was unenthused by their work in the early 00's, longing for a more song-driven album. In Rainbows was the first name your price download and that made headlines more than the music itself, which in my opinion, consisted of their best songs since OK Computer.
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 | Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie
Buy used from: $11.45 DCFC took awhile to grow on me, but Transatlanticism came out - revealing a collection of songs which wouldn't remove themselves from my head. I then fell in love with this album and Ben Gibbard's songwriting. I discover new things with each listen and the absolutely perfect flow from song to song truly proves the art of the album is alive and well.
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 | American Idiot by Green Day
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $1.13 In 2004 Green Day defied their stoner punk label with a truly intelligent and masterful concept album (with great hooks) about disillusionment with the country's paranoia and fear-based agenda. Green Day's best work ever.
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 | Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $3.65 Like Janis Joplin, her self-destructive private life overshadowed her absolute brilliance. This album blew me away. Her voice, the classic R&B hooks, the neo-soul production of Mark Ronson... all so good. I just hope she has more of this in her.
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 | Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $6.25 This is the decade of Neko Case. She can really do no wrong. Her work with the New Pornographers and as a solo artist are both truly astounding (although quite different). Neko's country-tinged tunes are one of a kind - and that voice.... wow.... Hard to pick my favorite, but her latest is where it all comes together for me.
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 | Vespertine by Björk
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $1.00 Bjork is a true musical innovator who never produces the same album twice. Her first work of the 00's was astounding, using both organic and electronic instrumentation to create a mesmerizing musical experience.
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 | White Blood Cells by The White Stripes
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $5.40 This album simply rocked. The White Stripes came out in 2001 when rock music needed people who actually rocked and kicked things back into gear. Jack White is the coolest rock star around right now.
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 | Destroyer's Rubies by Destroyer
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $2.29 Like his New Pornos cohort Neko Case, Dan Bejar produces music on his own that has a sound all its own. Bejar's lyrics don't make a lot sense most of the time, but the music on this sprawling album is top notch - The musicians in Destroyer create a gorgeous soundscape of acoustic and electric guitars and piano.
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 | Challengers by The New Pornographers
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $4.37 I said they were the best band around and I meant it. Their entire output is brilliant, but Challengers is aptly named since it is their most challenging album. Less hook-oriented than their first two and taking Twin Cinema's versatility one step further by introducing even more acoustic and intimate songs, Challengers is their most diverse and most complex album.
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 | Castaways and Cutouts by The Decemberists
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.99 The Decemberists are a highly literate and skillful band. Colin Meloy's songwriting and vocalisation is amazing. While they didn't really produce anything sub-par in this decade (their latest the Hazards of Love is a work of brilliance), their first album is still the one I find that moves me the most.
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 | Parachutes by Coldplay
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $3.49 When this album came out in 2000 I thought these guys would be the band of the decade. However, the follow-ups became gradually more commercial, overproduced and less interesting. However, this album is simply beautiful sounding from beginning to end.
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 | Actor by St. Vincent
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $11.83 Annie Clark is a young woman who is truly a genius. Actor to me is an album which sounds like nothing I've heard before. This music sounds like 2009. Layered electronic orchestration, combined with organic woodwinds, and Annie's own guitar playing which can go from beautiful hooks to abrasive solos in the same song - not to mention her beautiful voice - define her music and it is amazing.
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 | All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $0.39 U2 started off the 00's with their best album since Achtung Baby. They went back to their roots a little on this one, however songs like Wild Honey and New York showed them continuing to evolve their sound as they continued for another decade with very solid music.
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 | The Odd Couple by Gnarls Barkley
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $1.56 Gnarls Barkley's first album St. Elsewhere had "Crazy" - one of the most brilliant singles of the decade but although it had its moments it didn't match the brilliance of the single. With the Odd Couple, they got the album right. This is a much better collection of funky, strange and funny songs, defined by Danger Mouse's intricate sample-based instrumentation and Cee-Lo's classic R&B voice.
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 | The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $5.40 Belle and Sebastian continued to amaze in the 00's with this album, a relative departure from their work in the 90's. By the middle of the decade, B&S began to embrace glam rock and R&B while still retaining the lyrical elegance that makes them one of the best bands of all time.
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 | Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $9.89 Sam Beam's lo-fi acoustic brilliance is on center stage here. His haunting voice, songwriting and Nick Drake-influenced open tuned guitar style make Iron & Wine one of the best folk groups of the 2000's.
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 | Set Yourself on Fire by Stars
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $6.08 An album that kicks off with the brilliant "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" - already a good sign. It helps that the rest of album contains other classics buoyed by the vocal harmonic perfection of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan.
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