Hot Sauce

How have 10 years gone by so fast? Wasn’t it just last week that we were stashing away emergency rations in our basements, getting all ready for the apocalypse (aka Y2K)?

This past decade was an interesting one for me because 2000 marked the actual year that I really began my increasing transition from guitars to beats and brass. That year, I found myself in London UK, living out of a suitcase and backpack, with the vast majority of my music collection back home in Toronto (MP3s weren’t really common yet!). Limited computer access, limited budget in a big budget city and minimal living got in the way of purchasing much new stuff.  I felt generally out of the loop about new releases and new bands. I started going to London bars and clubs where beats played more of a prominent role. When I returned to Toronto a year later, I realized that I was feeling bored of the music I used to love and thought I would love forever, and found myself gravitating more towards the side of music I always did like but never pursued as much as I pursued indie rock and punk/hardcore. Guitars still have a (small) place in my music collection, but definitely not as much.

The past decade also saw my taste in music expand towards more open-minded pastures. No longer do I know a lot about one or two genres of music, but now I know a little about many different genres. Sometimes I miss being an ‘expert’ but I think I’d much rather have these broadened horizons and access to so much good music in all genres!

Anyway, more lists to come but for now, here are my top 25 albums of the decade. The list is heavily skewed towards the earlier half of the decade because I find I tend to pick up more EPs and individual tracks these days rather than entire albums. I’m not entirely sure why, but I can try to blame it on a couple of factors: DJing (which I started doing around 2003), the rise in popularity of digital culture, the internet allowing me to sample albums before deciding which tracks I like and therefore want to buy, my increasing interest in dance music which favours singles and EPs over albums… and this year, Serato.

I resolve to try to buy more albums in 2010.

UP, BUSTLE AND OUT – Rebel Radio Master Sessions 1 (Ninja Tune, 2000)

VARIOUS – Solesides Greatest Bumps (Quannum, 2000)

PREFUSE 73 – Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives (Warp, 2001)

THE AVALANCHES – Since I Left You (Modular, 2001)

HOOD – Cold House (Domino, 2001)

RJD2 – Dead Ringer (Definitive Jux, 2002)

AKUFEN – My Way (Force Inc., 2002)

ORCHESTRA BAOBAB – Specialist In All Styles (Nonesuch, 2002)

THE ROOTS – Phrenology (Geffen, 2002)

METRO AREA – s/t (Environ, 2002)

FOUR TET – Rounds (Domino, 2003)

MADLIB – Shades of Blue (Blue Note, 2003)

CEDRIC IM BROOKS & THE LIGHT OF SABA – s/t (Honest Jons, 2003)

RHYTHM & SOUND – With the Artists (Burial Mix, 2003)

OUTKAST – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista, 2003)

BLONDE REDHEAD – Misery is a Butterfly (4AD, 2004)

MADVILLAIN – Madvillainy (Stones Throw, 2004)

QUANTIC – Mishaps Happening (Tru Thoughts/Ubiquity, 2004)

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE – Jupiter (‘green album’) (self-released, 2005)

J DILLA – Donuts (Stones Throw, 2006)

QUANTIC – An Announcement to Answer (Tru Thoughts/Ubiquity, 2006)

BURIAL – Untrue (Hyperdub, 2007)

AMON TOBIN – Foley Room (Ninja Tune, 2007)

DEADBEAT – Roots and Wire (Wagon Repair, 2008)

MULATU ASTATKE – The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (Strut, 2009)

The ‘Honourable Mention’ albums that made it to the finals but didn’t make the cut:

• THEO PARRISH – Parallel Dimensions (Sound Signature, 2000)
• POETS OF RHYTHM – Discern/Define (Quannum, 2001)
• BONOBO – Animal Magic (Tru Thoughts/Ninja Tune, 2001)
• THE POSTAL SERVICE – Give Up (Sub Pop, 2003)
• ARCADE FIRE – Funeral (Merge, 2004)
• THE BUDOS BAND I (Daptone, 2005)
• M.I.A. – Arular (Beggars Banquet/XL, 2005)
• ALOE BLACC – Shine Through (Stones Throw, 2006)
• DEEPCHORD PRESENTS: ECHOSPACE – The Coldest Season (Modern Love, 2007)
• MOODYMANN – Det.riot ’67 (KDJ, 2008)

There’s a semi-finals list too but I’m not gonna mention it. Yes, this process is tough and serious business! Stay tuned for my and Shingo’s Best of 2009 lists…

-MissRuckus