50. The Notwist- Neon Golden- Maybe the most melancholy electronic record I own, really movie-soundtracky stuff. Try "Pick Up the Phone"; it's not sad, so much, it's just so melancholy.
49. Interpol- Turn On the Bright Lights- Tracks like "Obstacle 1" and "Obstacle 2" prove that Interpol was really only a great band when they were writing songs with "obstacle" in the name (but boy do they dress snazzy!).
48. Outkast- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below- "Hey Ya!" may be the best song released in my lifetime. These guys are the Beatles, or at least the U2, of hip-hop.
47. Orbital- the Middle of Nowhere- This CD alone got me started into serious techno. Thanks, Magma Books in London, for playing it. If you think techno is all blips and bleeps with no soul, listen to "Otono" or "Nothing Left" off this album.
46. The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- Thank you to my friends for helping me realize that the Beatles are not just another oldies relic, and that they make some of the best music ever. "A Day in the Life" may be the best song not released in my lifetime.
45. Tally Hall- Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum- much as I will talk about these guys as the next Beatles, this record isn't there yet. It's too patchy and boy-band-ish. But it totally deserves this spot for memories of many Tally Hall concerts, and all my friends like them.
44. Tegan and Sara- the Con- Catchy and innovative pop sung by two girls. How could I NOT like it?
43. Sufjan Stevens- Come On Feel the Illinoise!- I don't like folk, I don't like neo-folk or alt.country or singer-songwriter or anything without some sort of electronic amplification, but I mean Sufjan is just so dreamy.
42. Grand Buffet- Five Years of Fireworks- Not so much for the CD, as these guys are terrible recorded, but incredible live. I have many happy memories of Grand Buffet concerts. This may also be the only place that Will's, Sarah's, and my musical tastes overlap.
41. The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots- A concept album that doesn't suffer from concept album syndrome or from Flaming Lips syndrome. Every song is solid, dystopic, sci-fi, and yet very human.
40. The Beatles- Rubber Soul- Maybe the most consistently good Beatles album, because the only songs I ever skip are "Michelle" and "Girl".
39. The Beatles- Revolver- I'm so divided on this album. Huge highs! Eleanor Rigby, And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman! But also Yellow Submarine? Come on, guys!
38. Sonic Youth- Daydream Nation- Finally finally got into these guys and claimed a bit of indie cred (and shared taste with my Uncle Jim) right before I saw them play this album in Barcelona. If you're a child of the 00's, think of them as the pre-Broken Social Scene and listen to this album five times and maybe the whole fuzzy thing will sink into your head as it has mine.
37. Los Campesinos!- Hold On Now, Youngster- The last good pop record I've picked up, it's full of yelps, but worth your time anyway.
36. The Knife- Deep Cuts- If it were just "Heartbeats" fifteen times, this disc would still be worth the money. As it is, it also includes "You Take My Breath Away", as well as bits of icy weirdness like "You Make Me Like Charity" and (lol) "Hangin' Out."
35. Radiohead- In Rainbows- Here is the one part in my list where I cheated, I left
34. Radiohead- Kid A- three Radiohead albums in a row to avoid actually
33. Radiohead- OK Computer- categorizing or work in this arbitrarily constructed ORDERS OF ORDERS WHAT IS THIS MONUMENT we are all organized Vaguely ominous PORTENts masking ambiguous CONtent we hope that you choke
32. Talking Heads- Remain in Light- Well I love these guys, David Byrne's voice is singular, their jerky style is just how I dance, they're nerds but quality musicians, Pitchfork says this is their best album, and it contains cool rhythms AND "Once in a Lifetime".
31. Junior Boys- So This Is Goodbye- Speaking of icy techno, these guys are too cool for school. Oddly, they remind me of lazy warm Maastricht days.
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