I know we haven’t made it through 2025 yet, but I’ve had some time on my hands. So, I started thinking about my favorite albums of this millennium, which we are almost a quarter of the way through. So here are my favorite albums of the 2000s (thus far). Again, the caveat is that these aren’t necessarily the best albums, but they are my favorites. As with the these songs could be your life project, I’ve limited things to one album per artist, which I know isn’t necessarily fair, but it keeps the list manageable. I’ve selected 100 of my favorites, which roughly will translate to about four per year, and it’s a nice round number.
I can’t write about all of these because that would take me the rest of the year, but I will quote myself from time to time or add some comments. With that said, let’s go! For more information about a lot of these records, you can check out my usual music posts.
These are listed in alphabetical order rather than as ranked. All album links are to Bandcamp unless otherwise noted.
A
Tunde Adebimpe – The Black Boltz (2025)
The Afghan Whigs — How Do You Burn? (2022) Apple Music Link
This is an excerpt of what I said about this album on 2022 favorites list, and the album has even grown on me more over time.
…How Do You Burn? vibrates with an irrepressible ecstatic energy, which makes for one hell of a return.
…
This is their best album since 1965 or maybe even Black Love, and that includes all the projects in between. This is a band and album that is less interested in living up to expectations by following the script, than it is upending them and charting a sonically familiar but still new course. It doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes a little. “I’ll Make You See God” is the most straightforward rocker since “Honky’s Ladder.” But the album saves a even greater surprise, with the return of Marcy Mays for the song “Domino and Jimmy,” which is sort of like an update to her previous turn on Gentleman’s “My Curse.” This was an unlooked for but welcome in every way.”
Aldous Harding – Warm Chris (2022)
Arctic Monkeys – AM (2013) Apple Music Link.
Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004) Apple Music Link
Perhaps one of the greatest debut from nowhere of this century. No one really saw this one coming. All while Arcade Fire have had their ups and downs since, this and The Suburbs will stand as masterpieces the indie genre.
This sprawling indie rock masterpiece that explores theme of mortality, loss, and resilience. It creates an emotionally charged soundscape that blends orchestral arrangements with raw punk energy, featuring anthemic tracks like “Wake Up” and “Rebellion (Lies).” The album emerged from personal tragedies experienced by band members, particularly deaths of grandparents, creating a meditation on grief and healing.
B
Band of Horses – Everything All the Time (2006)
Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
Beach House – Once Twice Melody (2022)
Beirut – The Rip Tide (2011) Apple Music Link
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night (2010)
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022)
The Black Angels – Passover (2015)
Black Country, New Road – For the First Time (2021)
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (2005) Apple Music Link
This was my favorite album of 2005. People tend to forget just how good it actually is. The following is what I said about it then:
“…When I first made a draft of this list, Bloc Party wasn’t even on it. I had forgotten that Silent Alarm actually came out this year. I’ve been listening to it for so long, I just normally assumed that it came out earlier than it actually did. But it did come out this year, so here it is. Their debut album tops the charts.
I burned this disc up for months upon months…
But Bloc Party is more than just a Gang of Four knockoff, which becomes very apparent listening to the disc by the time you get to “Pioneers”. The difference? The lead singer’s sensibility. This disc will stand on its own for years to come. I look forward to their next (and the one after that). I predict great things for Bloc Party. Standout tracks? All of them.”
David Bowie – Blackstar (2016) Apple Music Link
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot it in People (2002)
Bully – Lucky for You (2023)
C
Camper van Beethoven – La Costa Podrida (2013) Apple Music Link
Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee (2024)
Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (2012)
This was one of my favorite albums of 2012. I still listen to it a lot. The following is what I said about it then:
“Put shortly, I loved every note on this album from start to finish. As the tempo and urgency ebbed and flowed, I went along happily for the ride. Even though it’s only a brief eight tracks (which seems to be a theme this year), I can’t for the life of me pick one above any of the others.”
This album is still relentless, even in 2025. And they’ve followed it up with several great albums, but this is still my favorite.
D
Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism (2003)
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2007) Apple Music Link
Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (2008)
Deerhunter’s follow-up to Cryptograms, which was also excellent, Microcastle/Weird Era Cont., however, is their breakout album. This cemented the Atlanta band’s place and reputation in indie rock. It represents a pivotal moment in the Atlanta band’s evolution, showcasing Bradford Cox and company at their most cohesive and accessible.
Originally conceived as separate releases, Microcastle was their most focused album to date, blending dreamy textures with driving rhythms and Cox’s distinctive vocals. It was merged with the separate Weird Era once Microcastle leaked before its release date, which ultimately cemented its place on this list [ed. note: I realize this may be cheating a. bit].
Lana Del Ray – Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019) Apple Music Link
Destroyer – Labyrinthitis (2022)
Doves – The Last Broadcast (2002) Apple Music Link
Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day (2003)
Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams (2011)
E
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (2008) Apple Music Link
Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007)
F
Fanfarlo – Reservoir (2009) Apple Music Link
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) Apple Music Link
Fontaines D.C. – Romance (2024)
This was one of my favorite albums of 2024. I loved their previous album, Skinty Fia, but this one brings everything together and shows a lot more maturity as an act. The following is an excerpt what I said about it then:
“Fontaines DC already had a formidable presence in prvious releases. Their latest effort, Romance though takes an experimental turn for the dramatic. So much so, it rivals some of Radiohead’s work. It’s a continution of the band’s astounding evolution.
…
Awash in existential dread, the songs mix grunge, shoegaze, and thumping hip-hop sounds to display their unmatched ambition. And it produces another brilliant album. They ought to be careful. This is becoming expected release upon release.
Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse (2013) Apple Music Link
G
Grizzly Bear – Shields (2012)
This was one of my favorite albums of 2012. They in my top ten that year, but this album has aged better than most of the albums ahead of it on that list. Here is what I said about it then:
“Grizzly Bear are getting dangerously close to Spiritualized territory [in the consistency of their work. That said, Shields may be their most satisfying album to date. And that’s saying something for the follow up to Vecktamist number 2 on my 2009 list). Its late release date, however, worked against it, as Grizzly Bear’s albums only get better with every listen. When I revisit this list next year, this is a prime candidate to move even further up on any revised lists.”
I think that last sentence really sums it up as I hinted at above. Side A on the album version offers a tour de force of great song after great song: “Sleeping Ute,” “Speak in Rounds,” “Adelma,” and “Yet Again.”;
H
PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) Apple Music Link
The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (2005)
This was one of my top albums of 2003, coming at #3, back when I ranked such things. It’s held up very well. Here’s a taste of what I wrote about it then. It still holds up.
“Whereas many of the top albums … echo the best of the 80s all mashed together, The Hold Steady jump right over that. Instead, they seem to draw inspiration from the 70s, pre-disco, pre-punk. I’m thinking Chiliwack, Bad Company, and Foghat. That said, they don’t sound like a 70s band. They merely take some of the better features of that music and integrate it.
Combine that with some of the smartest stories and interesting delivery that I’ve heard in a while, and you have one great album. Separation Sunday has an epic sweep to it. I can’t decide if it’s flirting with being a concept album or not, but all the songs seem to follow a sort of progression. This is one of those rare albums that really improves a lot when you listen to it in its entirety.
Separation Sunday has a number of standout tracks, including “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” (which had me singing along on my long road trip last week), “Stevie Nicks,” and the last track on the album, “How a Resurrection Really Feels.”
Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance (2022)
Hotline TNT – Cartwheel (2023)
Hurray for the Riff Raff – Life on Earth (2022)
My favorite album of 2023. She has since followed up with the also excellent The Past Is Still Alive, but here is some of what I said then:
“I had never heard of Hurray for the Riff Raff until this year, but grabbed Life on Earth based on a recommendation from Paste. Based on the album cover, I had assumed a Florida connection, but upon a bit of research found out they hail from New Orleans. It kind of makes more sense that way now that I look at it again. Cover aside, I found myself returning to this one again and again (and again).
This is the fifth album for Alynda Segarra and the rotating cast of musicians that make up Hurray for the Riff Raff, and it’s the only one I’ve really listened to [ed. note: at that time]. The marketing materials bill this as “nature punk”. I don’t know what this means honestly. The music does move between quiet and loud pretty effortlessly, while switching tempos as well.”
She has quickly become of one of my favorite artists, and if you haven’t listened, you should.
Jenny Hval – Iris Silver Mist (2025)
I
Idlewild – The Remote Part (2002) Amazon Music Link
Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
J
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee (2021) Apple Music Link
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Southeastern (2013)
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat (2006) Apple Music Link
Joe Strummer & the Mescalero’s – Streetcore (2003) Apple Music Link
Joe Stummer’s third and final album with the Mescaleros is his swan song, being finished in production the year after his untimely death in December of 2002. While all the Mescaleros albums are with listening to on their own (we named our dog after a song on Global-a-Go-Go), very different, merits, this is the one that sees his music return to an urgency not since in him since The Clash (I don’t count Cut the Crap as canonical Clash).
From the open riffs of “Coma Girl” to “Arms Aloft” we see him leading the most rocking music he had in years. But he can slow down too with “Redemption Song” and “Silver and Gold”. He saved the best Mescaleros album to the end.
Also, if you get the chance find and listen to Joe and Johnny cash duet on “Redemption Song,” it is well worth your time.
L
LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (2005)
MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks (2024)
One of my favorites from 2024. MJ Lenderman goes from strength to strength, whether with Wednesday or on his one. Here’s some of what I had to said about it then:
“MJ Lenderman delivers lyrics with devastating precision. This gives his stories of sad-sacks, losers and egotists either a withering edge or empathetic nuance—sometimes both in the same song. Each snippet is a story unto itself.
He is this generation’s slacker poet laureate.
Manning Fireworks offers up southern-fried Pavement songs with an extra dollop of twang backed by Neil Young and Sonic Youth sounds by way Drive-by-Truckers. It’s Americana as America is, not how we mythologize it. Still, Manning Fireworks is never pessimistic. No matter where his characters find themselves in trouble of some sort, they’re always funny and relatable in a hopeful way.
In the end, you have to root for them.”
Los Campesinos – All Hell (2024)
Loretta Lynn & Jack White– Van Lear Rose (2004) CD link at Amazon
M
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis – The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (2024)
Perhaps my favorite album from last year (I realize a lot of my additional comments have a bit of recency bias). This album has grown on me even more since I first heard it last year. It really fits almost any mood. As jazz, it morphs with each hearing. This is a selection of what I had to say about it on last year’s list:
What happens when you explore the intersection between jazz and punk rock? You get The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis.
Start with the rhythm section from seminal artist Fugazi and pair them…. with lauded jazz saxophonist, James Brandon Lewis. Then magic happens. I’ve never had as jazzy a release on my list before this one, but it also brings the punk energy to the mix too. And it goes together in a way I never would have conceived possible.
…
At this intersection, you get this album, one of 2024’s hardest-rocking records.”
M.I.A. – Kala (2007) Apple Music Link
Mitski – Laurel Hell (2022)
My Morning Jacket – It Still Moves (2003)
N
The National – Boxer (2007)
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006)
The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic (2000)
O
Angel Olsen – Big Time (2022)
Oneida – Rated O (2009)
Outkast – Stankonia (2000) Apple Music Link
P
Panda Bear – Person Pitch (2007)
Public Enemy – Nothing is Quick in the Desert (2017) Amazon Music Link
Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains (2019)
R
Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
This is the record where Radiohead really clicked more me.
Up until this point, I’d never really understood the whole fascination with Radiohead. Until this one, I appreciated The Bends and OK Computer as fantastic albums, but that I’ve never been able to love.
So when this showed up on my end of year list in 2007, it probably surprised a lot of people. Many critics had it as their top album of the year, and it was top 5 for me. It also made me reevaluate Radiohead’s earlier releases, and appreciation turned to love.
Another interesting about this album is how Radiohead saw fit to deliver this album, as a pay-as-much-as-you-want download from their website. This was groundbreaking and it really fueled how Bandcamp works to a certain extent.
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2 (2014)
The Rural Alberta Advantage – Departing (2011)
S
Savages – Adore Life (2016) Apple Music Link
[British] Sea Power – Open Season (2005) Apple Music Link
This record has stuck with me for 20 years now as one of my favorites. I ranked it at #5 in 2005. In retrospect, it should have been higher. The following is an excerpt from what I wrote about it then along with some additional thoughts:
“The sophomore follow up to their debut, The Decline of British Sea Power…. I looked forward to this one a lot [back in the day].
Open Season suffered none of the [inconsistency of their first]. While it lost a bit of the raw edge of the first album, by smoothing down the sharp corners, they achieved a much fuller sound. Many of the albums on this list hearken back to the 80s in their sound…. British Sea Power use a bit of this sound as well, but their sound recalls Echo & the Bunnymen at their height (for those of you that know me, you know that is a high compliment indeed).
The album has a number of outstanding tracks, including the opener “It Ended on an Oily Stage,” and the anthemic “Please Stand Up.” (A backwards homage to James perhaps?) My favorite track on the album, however, is “Oh Larsen B,” which can only be described as a love song to an iceberg.”
Every one of those songs is a do not skip on shuffle to this day. I stand behind everything I wrote then.
Ty Segall – Manipulator (2014)
Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (2008)
Sleater Kinney – The Woods (2005)
Slowdive – Everything is Alive (2023)
The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention (2022)
“It’s difficult at times to separate A Light for Attracting Attention from its Radiohead DNA. Not that that is a bad thing, but you expect it connect those dots. However, The Smile mostly manage to avoid that.
The addition of Sons of Kemet drummer, Tom Skinner, manages to peel away from the expected more often than not. He brings a different rhythm and urgency to the project that you wouldn’t expect to find on a Radiohead release. A Light for Attracting Attention has a spark and a recklessness that hasn’t been so present in decades, particularly on “You Will Never Work in Television Again.” It’s a revelation. It’s Thom Yorke back in rock-star mode with a supercharged delivery and urgency hat you didn’t know you’d sort of missed.
In the end, The Smile use this record to stand on their own feet even though one of the most recognizable bands in the universe always lurks in the background.”
This album remains the high point of The Smile’s discography, even after two succeeding albums.
Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much to Love (2005)
Snail Mail – Valentine (2021)
Snowden – Anti-Anti (2006)
Soccer Mommy – Clean (2018)
Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems (2022)
Speedy Ortiz – Major Arcana (2013)
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light (2012)
Spoon – Gimme Fiction (2005)
Spoon have been so consistently good for so long that you start to take them for granted. Britt Daniel and company really haven’t put out a mediocre album, but some just rise above the others a bit. This one rises above all the others, and I think it’s the high point (thus far) of their discography.
I stand behind my brief write up of the album in 2005 (where it landed at #6):
“I can’t believe this isn’t a top five album still. This was the toughest decision that I had to make on this entire exercise. Any other year, it could be the best or second best of the year. But that is the nature of such lists. With Gimme Fiction, Spoon continues to deliver the goods. I think this album even improves on their last, Kill the Moonlight. “Sister Jack” may be the best driving song of the year, and who could resist the swagger of “I Turn My Camera On.” There’s really not a weak link on the entire album. “
In retrospect, it certainly should have been near the top, but 2005 was such a great year for music, as evinced by this list.
Stars – Set Yourself On Fire (2004)
The Strokes – Is This It? (2001) Apple Music Link
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
Sprawling. Epic. Immense. These are the words that come to mind when. I think of Illinois. Yet another album from 2005.
I didn’t have much to say about this album in 2005, but it was in my top 10. Back then, people sort of believed that Sufjan would carry through at least a few more states. But, there really was no where to go but down after this one.
There are so many good songs to fit so many moods on this album, from the cautious optimism of “Chicago” to the sweet sadness of “Casimir Pulaski Day.” A special place in my hear remains for “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!” because I associate that with my first trip to Michigan with my now wife (Greetings from…).
This album is where most of us first heard of St Vincent as well.
Superchunk – I Hate Music (2013)
T
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Shake the Sheets (2004) Apple Music Link
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor (2010)
Another sprawling, epic, immense album. These are the words that come to mind when. I think of Illinois. Yet another album from 2005.
A concept album about a breakup using the Civil War as the backdrop? Who would ever have though it would work, but work it does. Very well. Energetic, driving, and finally sad in the final song, “The Battle of Hampton Roads,” this is among the finest albums of this quickly aging century.
If hard pressed, I would say this album is probably easily in my top three on this list.
Using Whitman and Lincoln’s words, sometimes voice by Craig Finn from the Hold Steady, it holds even more relevance today. The introduction to “A More Perfect Union”:
“From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some transatlantic giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe and Asia could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio River or set a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we will live forever, or die by suicide.”
TV on the Radio – Dear Science (2008)
V
Sharon van Etten – Tramp (2012)
Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze (2013)
W
The Walkmen – Heaven (2012)
The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream (2014)
Wet Leg – Moisturizer (2025)
Jack White – No Name (2024)
The White Stripes – De Stijl (2000) Apple Music Link
The Wrens – The Meadowlands (2003)
Wednesday – Rat Saw God (2023)
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Oh Wilco. I thought A.M. was a lot of fun in an alt-country vein, but not too serious. I loved how Being There (which still has some of my favorite live Wilco songs) was a sprawling mess of a masterpiece. And I anticipated Summerteeth more than I had any album in years when it came out.
Then there was a long gap, perfectly explained by I Am Trying to Break Your Heart – A Film About Wilco, but I had no idea at the time the drama that would go into what would become Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Twenty three years old, and I still think this is probably the best album of this century. The way the band evolved into something entirely new and even more interesting never ceases to amaze me. So much of this is prescient even (“Ashes of American Flags” was written well before 9/11).
To me, this is when Wilco became the American Radiohead, at least for a couple of albums before their restlessness took them elsewhere. Excellence in experimentation cannot be sustained forever. It took The Smile to take parts of Radiohead back to those heights of OK Computer and Kid-A. But at least we have Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born to hold on to.
Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary (2005)
Y
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell (2003)
The inevitable playlist
As usual, I’ve created a playlist to accompany this list (unfortunately on Spotify). It features a song from each of these albums, save the Cindy Lee and Loretta Lynne albums, which are not available. Instead, I’ve added a couple of bonus songs that are great, but whose albums didn’t quite make this list. Enjoy!
Breakdown by year
The following chart breaks down this list by year. Clearly 2005 and 2022 have the majority of my favorite albums. 2020 was a very odd year. It features albums by a lot of artists on this list, but they weren’t my favorites by them. It does sort of stick out like a sore thumb though.
