Items38The creator’s order
  1. 1Is This It (2001)Is This It (2001)Released Jan 1, 2001The Strokes (2001) On “Someday,” the two guitars pass little pieces of the tune back and forth while Julian Casablancas sings as though he’s telling you about the night after it’s over. Start there for the ease that makes these short songs worth coming back to. The more closely you listen, the…0
  2. 2The Moon & Antarctica (2000)The Moon & Antarctica (2000)Released Jan 1, 2000Modest Mouse (2000) “3rd Planet” opens with a guitar figure you can settle into before Isaac Brock starts singing about a world coming apart. The sounds around him grow stranger, yet the guitar still gives you something to return to. That balance makes a good way into an album that can go from a…0
  3. 3Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2003)Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2003)Released Jan 1, 2003Wilco (2002) The little turn in Jeff Tweedy’s voice at the start of “Jesus, Etc.” is worth listening to twice. The strings almost finish the thought for him. In an album full of voices and instruments coming through static, this song makes the writing easy to hear before you move on to the more…0
  4. 4Oh, Inverted World (2001)Oh, Inverted World (2001)Released Jan 1, 2001The Shins (2001) “Caring Is Creepy” has a warm keyboard wash, a busy guitar part, and a melody that seems to take a slightly different route every time it turns. The singing has an air of secrecy even when the tune is easy to remember. Start here if you want the bright surface and the uneasy edge…0
  5. 5The Glow Pt. 2 (2001)The Glow Pt. 2 (2001)Released Jan 1, 2001The Microphones (2001) “I Want Wind to Blow” begins with acoustic guitars that seem to trip over each other just enough to stay interesting. Hold on to their pattern when the noise comes in. The contrast makes this a good first stop on an album that can go from a barely raised voice to a wall of…0
  6. 6Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)Released Jan 1, 2002Interpol (2002) Put on “NYC” and follow the guitar answer that keeps recurring under Paul Banks’s voice. The pulse is patient enough that small changes in the playing make the song feel larger. It’s a good way into the record if the sharper, faster songs have always made Interpol sound more severe…0
  7. 7White Blood Cells (2001)White Blood Cells (2001)Released Jan 1, 2001The White Stripes (2001) The chords of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” arrive in loud bursts around a lyric about wanting to be home. Start there to hear how little the White Stripes need to give a song both force and tenderness. The quiet space between the chords is part of what lets the words…0
  8. 8You Forgot It in People (2003)You Forgot It in People (2003)Released Jan 1, 2003Broken Social Scene (2002) On “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl,” one phrase keeps returning while the instruments around it slowly change. Follow the strings when the words begin to blur into a rhythm of their own. The album has busier, louder songs, but this is the one that makes the band’s…0
  9. 9Give Up (2003)Give Up (2003)Released Jan 1, 2003The Postal Service (2003) “Such Great Heights” sounds like two people trying different ways of carrying a melody. The electronic figures keep chiming around the beat while Ben Gibbard sings directly enough to make the song feel like a message for one person. This is the album to reach for when you…0
  10. 10The Execution of All Things (2002)The Execution of All Things (2002)Released Jan 1, 2002Rilo Kiley (2002) “The Good That Won’t Come Out” begins with Jenny Lewis singing about the things she can’t bring herself to say. As the song moves on, the percussion and electric instruments give that hesitation more weight. Try this one for the way the album lets a very plain sentence and a…0