Top 21 Albums of the '00s

21. Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun (2003) Lovely psychedlic lovliness from the New Jersey heros

20. Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (2007) A supremely cool New York romance

19. The xx - self-titled (2009) girl/boy sweet whispering British hypnosis

18. Sonic Youth - nyc ghosts & flowers (2000) Mellow art guitar project gone seriously right

17. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - self-titled (2009) Cuz I love gazing at shoes and twirling around in circles with my arms out

16. Joseph Arthur - Redemption Son (2003) Grand mellowness

15. Cat Power - You Are Free (2003) Groovy downness

14. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) Lovely orchestral rock

13. The Raveonettes - Whip It On (2003) A film noir storybook blazing with attitude

12. Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand (2009) Glorious muck

11. Interpol – Turn On the Bright Lights (2002) Swirly goth-y grandioseness

10. The Night Marchers - See You in Magic (2008) Crunchy naughty Elvis-y awesomeness

9. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time (2006) Cool voice, good songs, interesting instrumentation, and the only band at the ’06 Capitol Hill Block Party to really move me. Occasionally an album of little mini-epics wins me over – this one is nearly perfect.

8. Luna - rendezvous (2004) Critics will likely consider Luna a ‘90s band and Penthouse as their finest. I disagree and feel that they continued to ascend right through to this, their final LP, which is just delightfully chill yet catchy and sentimental and draped in NYC love.

7. The Strokes - Is This It (2001) The hype for The Strokes in ’01 was gigantically ridiculous, but completely warranted. This album propels, start to finish, with tense rhythmic drive and cool New York swagger. Yes, this is it. Rock'n'roll.

6. Girls Against Boys - you can't fight what you can't see (2002) The swan song for the great '90s band, this is their finest album, in my opinion. Every song is a gem; a sad but hopeful gem of hard rock gone super cool and unique and awesome. A mad vogage of cruising around America with lots of love and lots of hate in your heart. An excellent quality recording too, you can really hear into the players' instruments and throats. This is fantastic New York rock'n'roll.

5. The Kills - Keep on Your Mean Side (2002) This scroungy, dirgy, delta-blues-y rock duo makes a perfectly nasty-but-classic racket. I adore all three of their albums, but this, their first, is my favorite - it just manages to totally kick arse as it teeters on the edge of falling apart. And live, Alison Mosshart is a psycho-swirling-stumbling-thrashing skinny rock'n'roll crazoid. The Kills so completely kill it that they make the White Stripes look like a couple of D-bag phonies, to me.

4. The Wrens - The Meadowlands (2003) This, to me, is Emo. These aging New Jersey guys sing (and play) their guts out about the struggles of having a band, working, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, and life. And the instrumentation perfectly matches the moods of the songs. I adore the guitar tones, and they got three different dudes that can actually sing. Amazing live. I think it took them four years of recording in their living room, and it seems unlikely that they'll ever get around to releasing another album, but I'm so happy that they gave us this. It's a heart wrenching record that magically sucks me in to their emotionally wretched world every time.

3. Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood (2003) Though they've broken my heart twice now (lp 3 is spotty, lp 4 is abysmal), I can't forget that KoL ruled the World for about four years. The UK loved these boys from the get-go and they were reportedly big rock stars over there, while in America we got to see 'em perform at places like Easy Street Records and Neumos. I was addicted to this album, their debut, for two years straight - I sang, I played air guitar, I danced around the apartment like an a-hole. Meagan hated it for months - thought it was Southern butt rock and was always telling me to turn it off - but eventually it completely won her over too. I love how it just oozes America. Rock'n'roll. They were like 18-19 years old, but the sounds, cover, and inside photos made me think they'd been playin' music for years. Ah Ha Shake Heartbreak, their 2nd lp which I also adore, went in a more Strokes-y alt-rock direction (fried Southern style), but this one is its own brilliantly unique ass-slaying beast. It charges, teeters, croons, blows off, blows up, and ultimately devastates me. cuz I like dancing around in my high heels, and I almost lost it in Montana. These Tennessee brothers nailed it. This is, by my measure, the greatest Southern Rock album ever.

2. New Wet Kojak - This is the glamorous (2002) Skronking NYC saxaphones bleed tight drum beats across oceans of beautiful floating riffs for supermodel citizens on top of deep bass grooves because the world of shampoo thirsts for a car. Nobody talks to me; I'm not a party person.

1. Hot Snakes - Automatic Midnight (2000) The sun has burned out and I’m being crushed by ultra-deadly riffage. This is the real deal. This is the blood of great rock music makers. Thank you, Rick and John - I love you guys. When I listen to this album loudly I feel as if I might be lost, hurt, or destroyed by what I’m hearing. Automatic Midnight is a constant reminder of why I love rock’n’roll, bashing me over the head relentlessly. It is passionate, aggressive music assembled and played by people who believe in every note, beat, and bead of sweat involved in its creation. That belief, that faith in the power of rock’n’roll, is important to me, and perhaps never has it been as audible as it is here.