Top Albums of the 2000s - Honorable Mentions

I just fiddled with my top 10 albums of the 2000s for an hour, and have a list, but I don't know if it is in the right order, so I'm going to drag this out and count this puppy down one or 2 albums at a time, but first, here are a bunch of honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions
Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica (2000)
I am not unbiased. How I feel about a group today influences how I'm ranking albums here, and today, I don't like Modest Mouse much at all. But I can't deny that I loved this album when it came out back in 2000. I've started listening to it again recently, and it's still pretty damn good.

Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it People (2002)
I decided to only allow one album per band, so a band like Iron and Wine or the Decemberists with 3 or 4 albums that I loved gets bumped up a few spots, while Modest Mouse who only had the one album and then sucked a lot, loses a few spots and ends up in the honorable mentions. Broken Social Scene has two albums that I really like and listen to pretty much interchangeably (this and the self-titled album from 2005). I'm not sure either one of them alone warrants an honorable mention, but as a band they warrant a mention, so here they are.

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
This album was right up there with Moon and Antarctica on the initial impression scale. Five years ago, I'm pretty sure I would've given it a 10 out of 10 and put it right at the top of the list for the first half of the decade, but the long awaited follow-up album (Wincing the Night Away in 2007) was just so damn painful that it's taken some of the shine off of this album as well.

John Vanderslice - Time Travel is Lonely (2001)
Mountain Goats - Talahassee (2002)
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (2007)
I consider these guys to be amongst my favorite artists and listen to absolutely everything they put out, but no single album is strong enough to reach the top 10. Talahassee is damn close though. You can call it #11 if you're so inclined.

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004)
Jay-Z vs Dangermouse - The Grey Album (2004)
Aesop Rock - Labor Days (2001)
Blackalicious - Nia (2000)
Jurrasic 5 - Quality Control (2000)
Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
As you can see, my hiphop knowledge has faded in recent years, but these albums were a big part of my rotation for the first half of the decade (and beyond for The Streets), and I still listen to at least a few tracks from each regularly.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer (2009)
I didn't care for their first few albums, but Dragonslayer has come out of nowhere to become my favorite album of 2009 (so far). No idea how it will hold up down the road, but I still thought I'd give it a quick mention.

OK, I think that is more than enough mentioning honorably. Tomorrow, we head to last year for #10.