It's almost the end of the 2000s, and aside from a few bands that are gonna try to squeeze in albums before the decade is out, it's safe to say that the nominations are in. Here are a few preliminary lists, followed by some preliminary defense of my evaluations.
I did try to be objective , but there's a degree of subjectivity involved in all this, so sorry to you ultra-Beck or Ben Folds fans, you didn't even make it on the Looked Over list.
Best Bands:
not including leftover bands from the 90s
The Libertines
Gorillaz
The Strokes
The Shins
You might say I overrated the Libertines, and you'd be wrong - love 'em or hate 'em, they were the biggest innovators in post-millenial music. Musically they lose out slightly to the Strokes, who brought back the pop-apathetic rock band by fusing punk and garage rock a couple years earlier.
However, the Libertines were themselves a movement, with complete disregard for the conventions of rock stardom. They used the Internet first - and more impactfully I might add - than Radiohead or Arctic Monkeys by inviting fans to less-than-secret shows in local pubs, then invited everyone back to their apartment, gave out free music and Pete's own diaries, etc.
Pete Doherty is the last great rock star, and I won't add any unnecessary examplage or substantiation to this claim; just open any issue of Clash. Also, there would probably be no Amy Winehouse without Pete Doherty, though I wouldn't give two shits. Pete and Carl's music and lyrics are timeless, epic, poetic, and simply classic. The Libertines are the greatest band of this decade for roughly the same reasons that Nirvana was the greatest band of the last.
As far as the other best bands, the Strokes are the Strokes, the Shins took large steps forward for folk and experimental folk (honorable mention to Zach Braff), and Gorillaz are just fucking awesome when you think about it.
Best Albums:
Kid A
Funeral
Is This It
College Dropout
The Libertines
By the Way
The Eminem Show
Demon Days
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
In Rainbows
Alice
Fever to Tell
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Give Up
Morning View
Typical Cats
Parachutes
Return to Cookie Mountain
Cross
Myths of the Near Future
With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly
O
Third
The Milk-Eyed Mender
Antics
On and On
Most Underrated Acts:
The Clientele
The Fratellis
Jack Johnson
Typical Cats
Final Fantasy
Acts I've Most Blatantly Looked Over:
Wilco
MGMT
Death Cab for Cutie
Lil Wayne
Grizzly Bear
Fatboy Slim
White Stripes
John Mayer
Spoon
Lily Allen
The Decemberists
The Kooks
Of Montreal
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