Music: Top 3 Albums Of The Last Decade

On the surface, it appears to be a simple question: What are your top 3 albums of the last decade? In reality, not so simple. Some, and I shan’t point any fingers – cheated (you know who you are). Nonetheless, there are some interesting choices by the Trespass Team – Olivia Hambrett, Lin Tan, Beth Wilson, Kudrat Singh and Romy Grbic. Feel free to scrutinise, poke fun at, share your own and laugh with the Team as they share their top 3 favourite albums of the last decade.

Liv Hambrett

This is an entirely unfair task, so I’m going to be a bit of a cop out and say here are three OF my top albums of the decade. A decade ago I was fourteen, and although music had always been an intrinsic part of my growing up, I was beginning to make my own choices in music (some inexplicable, many questionable) and truly enjoy the role it played in both creativity and emotion. Some cracking albums have come out over the past decade and to choose just three is sacrilegious. Not one to shy away from sacrilege, I’ve chosen three regardless, but know they are three of many and in no particular order and probably tomorrow my top three would be completely different.

John Mayer – Room For Squares (2001)

How can you go past this guy’s debut? I remember way back in 2000/early 2001, a Canadian friend of mine emailed me about an ‘amazing’ gig he’d been to, of a ‘little known American musician’ … who turned out to be one of the most influential of his generation. A truly brilliant album.

Maria Mena – Cause & Effect (2008)

This album from Norwegian songbird Maria Mena, had an enormous effect on me this year during one of my more intense periods of writing. Her melodies and iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove vocals make her one of my favourite singer-songwriters out there, and this album gets better with every track.

Paolo Nutini – These Streets (2006)

Like Room for Squares, These Streets was one of ‘those debuts’ – when a new artist with nothing to lose or prove puts their heart and soul into an album and produces track after track of beauty. It’s a stunning album, not to be glossed over for the overplayed Last Request, but to be enjoyed in quiet with just your thoughts and some wine.

Notable mentions (I know, it’s cheating)

Amy Winehouse – Back to Black, Robyn – Robyn, Britney Spears – Britney

Lin Tan

Maxwell – Now (2001)

I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers. With tracks like For Lovers Only, Lifetime, and a reworked version of Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work, ‘Now’ is a classic neo-soul/R&B album by one of the finest male vocalists out there – the beautiful, Maxwell. This year, after a 7-year hiatus, Maxwell released, BLACKsummer’snight, which is also worth a listen. What can I say, he’s a favourite. I’d definitely bring him to a dessert island.

M.I.A. – Arular (2005)

I first saw M.I.A. live at a teeny underground bar in Munich shortly after the release of ‘Arular’ – she was phenomenal. I managed to climb over a few audience members to catch a bottle of water she threw into the crowd. It’s my inner loser. Having burst into the music scene in 2005 with her own lingo, and beat it like a wing yo – you know no one can stereotype her thing yo. Aside from her suspect attempts at rhyming couplets, M.I.A. brought a fresh, gritty, dance-worthy sound into the music world. This year, Time Magazine placed M.I.A. in their Top 100 list of ‘World’s Most Influential People” for her global influence on issues like poverty and violence in Sri Lanka. “From being a refugee to being whoever you want to be”, M.I.A. told Time Magazine she hopes to bring hope.

Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005)

After juggling between Feist, Missy Elliott, The Streets, Damian Marley, Me’shell Ndegéocello and Common, I decided on Canadian-based Wolf Parade’s debut, ‘Apologies To The Queen Mary’. I’m also cheating by name-dropping. Whilst all the aforementioned artists have come out with albums I can listen to over and over again, it’s Wolf Parade’s I’ll Believe In Anything that stands out as one of my favourite (love) songs of all time (Warning: the video is lame). One of. Favourite songs we’ll leave for another list. Overall, this album is brilliantly anthemic, dark, and enchanting. Other stand-out tracks include, This Heart’s On Fire, and Shine A Light.

Kudrat Singh

Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

What’s not to love about this album or the band? I don’t think any good music list would be complete without Chris Martin and the gang. This album brought to us Clocks and The Scientist; songs which are instantly recognisable and entirely stunning in their production. The last decade has been heavily influenced by Coldplay’s ability to be considered an alternative rock band whilst simultaneously topping the pop charts and winning a bucket load of awards. They made nerds the world over cool – they made pop stars want to play actual musical instruments.

Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004)

Okay, okay, so this is a complete personal favourite and I had to include it because for me, it was one of the best rap albums released this decade. This album was a breath of fresh air, breaking away from the thug-centric rap albums which preceded it. With a great sense of humour and altogether too much confidence, Kanye West’s breakthrough and debut album made us laugh and sing along, all the while sneaking in heavy messages concerning racism and bigotry. A brilliant balance of sarcasm and raw emotion, this is one for the ages. With songs like The New Workout Plan, All Falls Down and Breathe In Breathe Out – there’s plenty for everyone on this one.

Backstreet Boys – Millennium (1999)

Hell Yes! Come on, show me one person who doesn’t know at least one lyric from this album. Yes they are pop, yes they are a boy band, and yes they wore all white and danced with jazz hands. But, they also brought us timeless hits like I Want it That Way and Larger Than Life. They sold over 11 million copies of this album, selling 500,000 in its first week alone. They set the bench mark for the Britneys and the Justins of the world, thus setting the tone for the pop music scene over the last 10 years. Times Square had to be shut down when they appeared on MTV’s TRL because of the unexpected fan overload – now come on, tell me they don’t deserve to be in the top 3!

Romy Grbic

The Gossip – Standing in the Way of Control (2005)

This album is freakin’ amazing. Every single song makes you want to rock out and go crazy. Highlight of my musical life was seeing The Gossip live at the end of last year.

Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008)

I don’t think one could write up a best of the decade in music list without mentioning The Lady herself. Gaga is a genius, and there’s absolutely no arguing with that. Her voice live is incredible (look her up in the Live Lounge on Youtube if you haven’t already) and her videos make me want to don a leotard and strut around in some Alexander McQueen jeweled shoes.

Florence and The Machine – Lungs (2009)

Possibly the best album I have ever heard. This is one of those albums that would get me excited about driving in my car, as I knew I would get to listen to it. Absolute gold. I am so excited to see these cats live at the Laneways Festival in February!

Beth Wilson

Music video by the fantastic Wong Kar-wai

Too Many DJs- As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 (2002)

The brother of a girl in one of my tutorials at University, tried to pass this off as his own work, he was unsuccessful because everyone in my course already had this CD. As Heard on … will always remind me of being at University. I’m a sucker for a mash-up, the sublime collage of combining a few mediocre/good songs together and that equalling one great one- inspired. This CD is the ultimate getting ready to go out mix. Favourite song on the album- Destiny’s Child Independent Woman/10cc Dreadlock Holiday

Kasabian- Kasabian (2004)

I love a British indie band, deciding which one to pick for this list was excruciatingly difficult. Kasabian won out in the end, not due to musical merit but my fond memories of singing tracks like Reason is Treason over and over again, driving to a friend’s boyfriend’s 21^st in rural NSW. My lovely friend, Alice (who almost never complains that I don’t have a driver’s licence) drove the whole way there and back, my contribution- providing the music. We may have sung very loudly and out of tune- but it was done with complete conviction and love for the cocky Manchester influenced band. Favourite song on the album- Club Foot

Image credits: Mayer, Nutini, Maxwell, M.I.A., West, Backstreet Boys, The Gossips, Florence, 2 Many DJs