1. The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (2005)
Beginning with the best pop song ever written about a true life suicide attempt with wine coolers and baby Aspirin, The Mountain Goats’ Sunset Tree is singer/songwriter John Darnielle’s autobiographical album about growing up in an abusive home in southern California accomplishes the distinctive feat of self-examination that any listener can identify with. As touching, humorous and sincere as his words may be though, lyrics alone don’t make an album a masterpiece however and near equal credit must go to Darnielle’s mastery of simple and straightforward pop songcraft. Rarely consisting of more than three to five chords, these songs are impressive because of their strict adherence to the pop conventions that Darnielle holds sacred. The production and arrangement, courtesy of indie titan in his own right John Vanderslice, elevate Darnielle’s charming and heartbreaking tunes into something more. Few albums as vividly translate all the joy and pain of the human experience into music and words.

2. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (2008)

3. Kanye West – Graduation (2007)

4. WHY? – Alopecia (2008)

5. Mastodon – Remission (2002)

6. Boris with Michio Kurihara – Rainbow (2006)

7. American Nightmare – Background Music (2001)

8. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)

9. The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (2005)

10. Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)

11. Neurosis – Given To The Rising (2007)

12. Daft Punk – Discovery (2001)

13. Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III (2008)

14. Death Cab For Cutie – Plans (2005)

15. Cursive – The Ugly Organ (2003)

16. Girl Talk – Night Ripper (2006)

17. Converge – You Fail Me (2004)

18. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

19. Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (2006)

20. Venetian Snares – Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett (2005)

21. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)

22. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

23. Arsis – A Celebration of Guilt (2004)

24. Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

25. Alkaline Trio – From Here To Infirmary (2001)

26. Gallows – Grey Britain (2009)

27. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)

28. P.O.S. – Audition (2006)

29. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine (2004)

30. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica (2000)

31. M.I.A. – Kala (2007)

32. Nachtmystium – Assassins: Black Meddle (2008)

33. Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006)

34. Brand New – Deja Entendu (2003)

35. Mastodon – Crack The Skye (2009)

36. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

37. Enslaved – Isa (2004)

38. Jesu – Jesu (2005)

39. The Black Keys – Rubber Factory (2004)

40. Kid Cudi – A Kid Named Cudi (2008)

41. Sigur Ros – Takk (2005)

42. The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)

43. Andrew WK – I Get Wet (2001)

44. The Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (2001)

45. Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004)

46. The Haunted – The Haunted Made Me Do It (2000)

47. Ben Folds – Ben Folds Live (2002)

48. Electric Owls – Ain’t Too Bright (2009)

49. Justice – † (2007)

50. Baroness – Blue Record (2009)

Did we leave some out? Weigh in below in the comments!

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Top Ten of the Decade – #1
Song: Iron & Wine – “Sodom, South Georgia”
Year: 2004
Link: ♫ http://twt.fm/358426
About: Trying to decide on what song would be considered my #1 for the top ten list was like trying to decide on what to name your child. Granted, I’ve never had to do such a thing, but I can imagine it’s a similar experience. The true amount of wisdom that Sam Beam provides with Iron & Wine is mind boggling. His ability to be so utterly descriptive and subtle is as haunting as the stories you hear where some person gained super human strength at the last second to push a car off of the train tracks, right before it was to be destroyed by a freight train. “Sodom, South Georgia” fits that description to the very last detail. Lyrically the song resembles that of a time once known as bittersweet. It garners the fruitful love for one, and tragic loss of another. To add to the musical picture of the south, fallen on hard times, Sam Beam’s deep breathy voice and beautiful guitar playing are top notch.

I really can’t go into too much more detail than I already have. I have a wonderful story behind this song, and how I fell in love with it, but I’d prefer to save it for a time that I might tell you in person. Until then, please sit back and listen to this song. Enjoy the verses, the melodies, the tale of love, and the thought of loss. Hopefully my song selection agrees with your tastes. Cheers.

Papa died smiling
Wide as the ring of a bell
Gone all star white
Small as a wish in a well
And Sodom, South Georgia
Woke like a tree full of bees
Buried in Christmas
Bows and a blanket of weeds

Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, “God is good”
White tongues hang out, “God is good”

Papa died while my
Girl Lady Edith was born
Both heads fell like
Eyes on a crack in the door
And Sodom, South Georgia
Slept on an acre of bones
Slept through Christmas
Slept like a bucket of snow

Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, “God is good”
White tongues hang out, “God is good”

Jamie Dull ends his Song of the Day posts here at The Red Circle today. Please continue to check out his SOTD tweets by following @jamiedull on twitter! Check back for more from Jamie @theredcircle.

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4. WHY? – Alopecia (2008)
Yoni Wolf has spent over a decade working with his Bay Area partners in the Anticon Collective, one of the most forward thinking labels in hip-hop. As such, it’s no surprise that this Cincinnati-born musician is a gifted wordsmith and technician but Alopecia‘s strength lies in Wolf’s unique ability to apply indie rock’s musical and emotional sensibilities to hip-hop without allowing one or the other to dominate the album. This could be a perilous musical journey, but Wolf’s casual flow guides the listener effortlessly through a sea of chance encounters and subsequent self-discovery. Ruminations on the nature of friendship and inadvisable personal admissions might tempt some to lump Wolf in with some of his indie rap contemporaries, but the album is elevated by the strength and melodies of the songs.

3. Kanye West – Graduation (2007)
Kanye West’s mark is indelibly on the last decade of music. He started the decade as one of hip-hop’s most gifted new producers and ended it as arguably it’s biggest star. While much of that success might seem to exist out of sheer bravado on West’s part, it is West’s odd status as an equally talented rapper AND producer that always guarantees his music will be ahead of the curve. Nowhere is this more evident than on West’s third LP, Graduation. Its thirteen tracks in fifty-odd minutes comprise one of the most brilliant and restrained hip-hop albums of the last decade. Early cut “Champion” is West at his most playful, creating something entirely new out of a split-second of Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne.” “Stronger” transforms Daft Punk’s childish chant into a defiant anthem. Though collaborations with Lil’ Wayne and Mos Def are generally disregarded as mid-album fluff, the former’s unconventional tempo becomes more intriguing with time and the latter’s sing-songy duet with Mos Def on a modified version of Can’s krautrock lullaby “Sing Swan Song” at the very least identifies the depth of West’s musical knowledge and record collection. The back half may not be as musically inventive but West’s skills on the mic shine instead. Graduation marked the point at which West not only grew out of Jay-Z’s shadow but truly began to cast a shadow of his own.

2. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (2008)
Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight is more than a rock record. It’s an indictment and examination of all the conflicting concepts and definitions that we’ve lumped into one word: Love. As cliche as that sounds, these four lads from Glasgow make it work through a combination of clever wordplay, sincere delivery and tasteful playing. Album opener “The Modern Leper” may never quite be matched in pure energy by anything that follows, but the album delivers on so many levels that the track seems like an enthusiastic greeting rather than a bait and switch. Whether it’s “Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms” gentle balladry revealing the desire to kill a former lover’s new beau, the transformative ten minutes between “The Twist” and “Keep Yourself Warm” that reveals the flaws of casual sex or the existential questions posed by the disc’s final three tracks, Scott Hutchison’s words may occasionally border on crying but they inevitably ring true.

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Song: Muse – “New Born“

Year: 2001

Link: ♫ http://twt.fm/358423

About: This was surprisingly a difficult decision to make. I kept finding myself flipping between multiple Muse songs before I could make a choice. Finally I settled on “New Born“. It’s a super dynamic song that offers sheer honesty and passion. It’s not overproduced, nor is it too natural. It’s raw, yet full of life. The amount of drama that can be found is Muse’s music is so impressive that I sometimes wonder if they’ll supply the score to the Apocalypse (assuming we shall be so lucky to see a fairy tale come to life). I settled on this song particularly because it sprouted off of their second album (recorded at Abbey Road studios). The band was still very much in their baby stages, and they were pulling off insane productions like this. In comparison to their newer stuff (which is all really, really great) this entire album decorates a painting on a canvas that is musical genius. Their future was shining ever so brightly once this album came out, and it definitely spoke accurately. Although I can’t say I’m as fond of their newest album, The Resistance, as I was with their last two records, I can say that they have consistently kept their promise of providing scorching guitars over classical piano pieces and rock hard rhythm sections (the bass line to Hysteria FTW!). “New Born” provides light into the dark hallway that becomes Muse’s future. Kudos to them for being able to write songs that make others think, “Hmm… Why didn’t I think of that?“

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7. American Nightmare – Background Music (2001)
One of hardcore music’s best kept secrets for the last ten years has been American Nightmare lyricist and vocalist Wes Eisold. Though that now-classic act only recorded a total of ninety minutes of music, the impact of Eisold’s stunning poetry and sometimes-electric presence has left its mark on the genre. The album begins with the rather melodramatic assertion that “This is the soundtrack to saying goodbye” but by the end of the opener, you’re in for an emotionally draining experience not unlike a My So-Called Life marathon on hard drugs. The absolute manner in which Eisold makes “love” and “hate” interchangeable terms without the ham-handedness and pathetic self-loathing that one might expect. It’s not that the self-loathing isn’t there; In fact, it’s at the core of almost every song and many of Eisold’s other published works. Rather, Background Music‘s music is so aggressive that it proves the lyrics aren’t sad-sack sappiness, they just needed to find the right context. Equally important for fans of more aggressive music is the band’s style and sound that revived many of hardcore’s most obvious cliches as legitimate songwriting tools.

6. Boris with Michio Kurihara – Rainbow (2006)
Japan’s stoner chameleons followed up their highly acclaimed Pink with Rainbow, a collaboration with psychedelic guitar legend Michio Kurihara of Ghost. Never an artist to rest on one sound for too long, this album finds them exploring both the acid rock stylings of their collaborator and the dreamy/abrasive rock of Sonic Youth or Blonde Redhead. There are a few mellow cuts and even a Pink-styled barnburner, but the real joy of Rainbow lies in discovering just how the layers and layers of distortion and sonic manipulation build upon one another to stunning crescendos or unfold to reveal the band’s more delicate touches. Searing leads are both pushed to the forefront and dragged underneath the rest of the band in the album mix, lending the entire affair a genuine psychedelic edge in an age where artists attempting the style are a dime a dozen.

5. Mastodon – Remission (2002)
It’s extremely difficult for a legitimate metal band to become bona fide rock stars but Mastodon has done just that over the last decade. While Leviathan might have delivered the crossover mainstream success, Remission laid the groundwork that established them as an epic metal band. So ambitious that it defies definition, Mastodon’s marriage of sludgy stoner doom, prog and southern rock and thrash is still among the most original and unique sounds in all metal. Virtuoso play from each of the band’s members appears throughout the album but the drum work is as immediately identifiable as that of Rush’s Neil Peart. Dailor’s ability to adapt beats on the fly is the glue that holds together each disparate concept of the band’s style, best evidenced here throughout the song “Ol’e Nessie” as the guitars waver between soft and loud. This record made an artistic leap so profound from the metal status quo that it was instantly recognized as a classic. Remission was without a doubt the defining metal album of this decade.

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Top Ten of the Decade – #3

Song: David Gray – “As I’m Leaving“

Year: 2001

Link: ♫ http://twt.fm/358418

About: I’m not sure if this is technically cheating, but I’m going to run with it. This song was originally written sometime between 1995 and 1998, but wasn’t released until 2001. For anyone who knows me or follows my SOTD Tweets, you’ll understand that I am a phenomenally huge David Gray fan. As a musician, he’s principally one of my biggest influences, if not the biggest. I knew that somehow I had to include David in my top ten songs of the decade list because, well, he deserves it. Hell, I could have easily chosen multiple songs that could fit into this list, but then I would be just acting biased. Anyway, personally I have a special connection to David’s music. I originally wanted to select David’s song “Freedom” to take the #3 spot, however I had already used it up in my SOTD tweets earlier this year. So, I had to choose another. “As I’m Leaving” has a raw emotion element to it that has clearly been absent in over 90% of music that has existed within the last 10 years. I find that when songwriters are able to tell stories through their instruments rather than exclusively through lyrics, the soul behind the song is much brighter. David has the talent of knowing how to pair lyrics to sounds. It’s almost like every song is a soundtrack to a lost film. “As I’m Leaving” speaks oceans of brilliance.

I’m leaving my explanation of this song a little shorter than usual because I know that I could end up typing out a novel of why I love it. I hope you enjoy it.

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10. Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)
Like the terror attacks that shook the nation on the day of its release, Jay-Z’s The Blueprint was less an album than a force that changed the world on September 11th, 2001. Hov proved on that day that not only was he one of the best rappers alive but also a brilliant artist and businessman. Kanye West and Just Blaze provided most of the album’s brilliant beats, which almost all repurpose classic soul and R&B music. While West might have transformed The Doors’ “Five To One” into a monster beat, it was Jay-Z’s rapping that makes it arguably the best diss track of all time. Written, memorized and recorded in under two weeks, The Blueprint’s lyrics represent Jay at his peak both creatively and quantitatively; the only guest spot on the album is by Eminem who delivers two solid verses over a beat of his own creation. Jay-Z’s tough-guy posturing on tracks like “The Takeover” and “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Live)” makes his vulnerability on “Song Cry” that much more appealing. Though the self-proclaimed Jay-Hova never again hit such a creative high, it’s no wonder an album this good spawned two sequels.

9. The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (2005)
The Hold Steady have been one of the most notable and polarizing acts of the last decade, with Craig Finn’s spoken word vocal delivery at the center of most arguments for or against the group. For those that embrace his idiosyncratic singing, the group’s 2005 album Separation Sunday, a complex, winding triptik that follows a misguided woman named Holly and her sometimes-lover-sometimes-pimp Charlemagne through a tumultuous cycle of sex, drugs and redemption. The band expertly executes a brand of classic rock unheard since the days of the early E street Band or T.Rex and Finn immerses himself in the subject as the album’s narrator. While steeped in Biblical allusions and metaphors, Separation Sunday avoids the typical male Madonna-Whore complex by inhabiting the space in between, eschewing judgement on even Holly’s most morally questionable decisions and casting shadows of doubt upon her purest. Separation Sunday is the spirit of beat poetry set to the musical soundtrack of the generations it inspired and applied to a timeless tale of post-teenage angst.

8. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)
The Arcade Fire’s emergence as ambassadors of a certain sort of “indie rock” to the otherwise uninitiated masses was an organic build based on strong word of mouth and critical acclaim for their 2004 debut. Neon Bible‘s debut at #2 on the Billboard Album charts might not seem as remarkable in the light of Modest Mouse’s #1 debut weeks earlier but in contrast. Arcade Fire had no charting single, no radio airplay to speak of and no corporate support. Win Butler and company ratcheted up the already grandiose nature of the group’s arrangements, recorded most of the album in a renovated church and employed the talents of a Hungarian choir and orchestra. Each carefully chosen and arranged piece of this puzzle fits together into a broad brushstroke reimagination of American music and culture that benefits from the group’s Canadian point of view. The detached earnesty of Butler’s lyrics match the impatient pleading of his vocal perfectly and complete an album that undoubtedly would have wound up crushed under its own moderately pretentious weight in less capable hands. The songs have grand aspirations and in every case, they reach or surpass them. Springsteen worship, pipe organs and thousands of cubic feet of reverb might be the album’s most commonly recurring musical motifs they’re definitely only a few of the band’s tricks. Neon Bible proved to be one of the decade’s most remarkable albums because the Arcade Fire worked so much harder than everyone else.

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Top Ten of the Decade – #5

Song: Between the Buried and Me – “Selkies: The Endless Obsession“

Year: 2005

Link: ♫ http://twt.fm/358416

About: Dude, seriously. This band is in-fucking-credible. I had the pleasure of seeing them right when they released their Colors album (which they played from front to back without a break between songs). They actually closed with this song, and it was just as epic live as it is on record. The amount of crazy ass time signatures, polyrhythms, and shredding solos mixed with insane chord progressions and metal drum work makes this song one of the best to be released within the last twenty years, seriously. And we haven’t even gotten to the unbelievable outro that is Metal’s answer to Clapton’s “Layla“, yet. Once you get through the madness that is the first few minutes (which WILL melt your face), you are met with the embrace of the most glorious outro of outros. Dueling solos, a brilliant key change, and a super tight rhythm section take this song to a level that is rarely seen in prog metal today.

Oh, I forgot to mention, this is the same band that covered Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart“, Metallica’s “Blackened“, Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them“, Counting Crows‘ “Colorblind” AND Queen’s “Bicycle Race” on their 2006 cover album The Anatomy Of, which I strongly recommend listening to. Anyway, BTBAM is literally one of the tightest bands I’ve ever heard in my life, and their musical ability is not unlike early Meshuggah (who were well ahead of their time when they first started in the 80′s). I hope this band sticks around.

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Song: Death Cab for Cutie – “Transatlanticism”
Year: 2003
Link: ♫ http://twt.fm/358547
About: Ben Gibbard has the ability to inspire others one note at a time. I listen to this song and I feel nothing shy of bliss. The first time I ever heard this track, I felt motivated to make changes within my life. I imagine that this happens to most people who listen to Death Cab. You’ll also probably notice that I have a love for epic songs that turn into giant masterpieces. The fact that this song sets confidently at 7:54 makes me happy. I’m all about the big productions. The addition of the powerful piano and huge chorus lines towards the end, mixed with the repetitive quarter note drum tracks force this song to forge ahead like a beautiful storm just hitting land. I hope you feel as inspired after listening to this song as I do.

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“Father Christmas” is a 1977 single by English group The Kinks. While it failed to make the charts, it is popular even today, especially around Christmas time.

It ostensibly tells of a department store Santa Claus who is beaten up by a gang of poor kids who tell him to give them money instead of toys, as toys are impractical; and asks that the toys are given “to the little rich boys.” At one point, a child asks the narrator to give his/her father a job for Christmas.

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