Best Albums of the Decade, 79-70

Before you read any further, make sure you’ve caught up with the first parts of the countdown!  Click to see 101-90 and 89-80.

79. Robbie Fulks, Georgia Hard (2005)
This guy is a veteran alt-country prankster, but this was the first time he really seemed to integrate his funny stuff — “I’m Gonna Take You Home (And Make You Like Me),” “Countrier Than Thou” — with some more introspective material. Probably the pinnacle of a certain kind of style; best when drunk or driving, but not both.

78. Dubchek, Down Memory Gap Lane (2001)
There was a time when techno dub stuff like this seemed like the future. That time lasted about three months, and it was back in 2001, and it’s never coming back, and that’s okay. But this endures as a great example of what two guys in love with computers and marijuana can do: “My momma told me Lee Perry / Was my daddy.”

77. Heart, Jupiter’s Darling (2004)
This came out of nowhere, because who the heck thought Heart still had anything in the tank? The album hearkens to their commercial peak in the mid-1980s with strong power ballads, but also spends a fair amount of time essaying their early days as rock and rolling folkies, all with up-to-date recording and some fancy new touches.

76. Hiromi, Brain (2004)
Japanese jazz piano prodigy Hiromi Uehara is sometimes more style than substance…but what style! The opening cut, “Kung Fu World Champion,” is the craziest workout of the decade, a funky breakneck race where she plays about ten different keyboards. But slower songs like “Legend of the Purple Valley” are what brings this one home.
Other albums that might have gone here: Spiral (2006), Time Control (2007)

75. UGK, Underground Kingz (2007)
It kills us to put this amazing double-album here, because it’s so powerful and so historically important. There is no better feeling than rolling into a new town on a roadtrip with this on in the car, rocking “International Players Anthem” or “Trill Niggaz Don’t Die.” But it’s just exhausting to try to absorb all the pain and anger in it, innit.

74. The Noisettes, Wild Young Hearts (2009)
I liked What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf? just fine, but this new one has completely blown me away this year with its huge Wall-Of-Sound-Slash-New-Wave-Disco production, its generous hooks, and the maturation of Shingai Shoniwa as a vocalist and songwriter of a lot more depth than she’s ever shown us before.

73. Say Anything, In Defense of the Genre (2007)
This double-CD emo blowout sounded like a victory lap when it hit a couple of years ago; Max Bemis’ songs were angrier, funnier, and weirder, and the plethora of musical guests showed how thick the roster of usual suspects ran. Raw nerve, ballsiness, slashing noises, ridiculousness both intentional and unintentional…love this thing.
Other albums that might have gone here: …Is a Real Boy (2004)

72. Nellie McKay, Pretty Little Head (2006)
And yet another overreaching double-CD! No one ever said that Nellie wasn’t bright, funny, or engaging, but she had a little trouble finding her tone in her much-ballyhooed debut. But this one was a lot closer to her Real True Self, indie to the core but with big huge ideas and a well-thumbed thesaurus. Also: her rap flow ain’t no joke.
Other albums that might have gone here: Get Away From Me (2004), Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day (2009)

71. Paulina Rubio, Pau-Latina (2004)
Here seems about right for the best album from Mexico’s crazy/beautiful pop diva. She drinks tequila and shoots handguns in her videos, her ballads fail to suck, she has legs for days and riffs for weeks, so nothing not to love. Comparable: I don’t know, I guess Mariah Carey or someone. But I prefer Paulina because she’s tougher, cooler.
Other albums that might have gone here: Paulina (2000), Border Girl (2002), Ananda (2006), Gran City Pop (2009)

70. Beenie Man, Art and Life (2000)
This record hits so hard you could call it Manny Pacquiao. Beenie gets some help from his friends (Wyclef, Mya, Kelis, Neptunes) but the real core of the record comes all from his unreal skill on the microphone and the massive choruses on every song; sometimes there is no melody at all, and you don’t even notice.