this is a mix-DVD that i made for family/friends (replete with pithy descriptions) ... this list would be better titled "Best Accessible-Yet-Slightly-Edgy Pop/Rock Albums of the Century"
2000
The Apples in Stereo ?? ??The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone? (fractured 60s psych-pop)
Modest Mouse ?? ??The Moon & Antarctica? (edgy heart-on-sleeve indie rock)
The New Pornographers ?? ??Mass Romantic? (sticky-sweet power pop)
Radiohead ?? ??Kid A? (genre-busting electronic pop)
Ryan Adams ?? ??Heartbreaker? (70s throw-back singer/songwriter)
The Strokes ?? ??Is This It?? (dirty, ironic NYC rock)
Yo La Tengo ?? ??And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out? (culturally-literate gauzy dream-pop)
2001
Belle & Sebastian ?? ??I??m Waking Up to Us? / ??Jonathan David? (scottish twee pop)
Beulah ?? ??The Coast Is Never Clear? (sunny california power pop)
Bob Dylan ?? ??Love & Theft? (bob dylan)
The Dismemberment Plan ?? ??Change? (splintered DC indie rock)
Drive-By Truckers ?? ??Southern Rock Opera? (ironic Skynyrd wannabes write New South manifesto)
Explosions in the Sky ?? ??Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever? (anthemic post-rock soundtrack)
Röyksopp ?? ??Melody A.M.? (late-night chilled electronica)
Ryan Adams ?? ??Gold? (alt-country singer/songwriter goes pop)
The Shins ?? ??Oh, Inverted World!? (beautiful northwest folk-pop)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists ?? ??The Tyranny of Distance? (better than elvis costello)
2002
Against Me! ?? ??Reinventing Axl Rose? (anarchist floridian folk-punk)
Beck ?? ??Sea Change? (haunting soul-baring folk masterpiece)
Broken Social Scene ?? ??You Forgot it in People? (artsy canadian indie rock)
The Decemberists ?? ??Castaways and Cutouts? (hyper-literate victorian sea shanties)
The Flaming Lips ?? ??Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots? (futuristic psych-pop)
Interpol ?? ??Turn on the Bright Lights? (brooding NYC post-punk)
Iron & Wine ?? ??The Creek Drank the Cradle? (spare acoustic folk)
Johnny Cash ?? ??American IV? (covers from the man in black)
Wilco ?? ??Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? (alt-country stalwarts get ambitious)
2003
Death Cab for Cutie ?? ??Transatlantacism? (earnest indie pop)
The Decemberists ?? ??Her Majesty? (more hyper-literate victorian sea shanties)
Explosions in the Sky ?? ??The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place? (hypnotic sprawling post-rock anthems)
Fountains of Wayne ?? ??Welcome Interstate Managers? (quirky cubicle -pop)
Josh Rouse ?? ??1972? (rootsy 70s singer/songwriter fare)
Lucero ?? ??That Much Further West? (everyman country-rock)
M83 ?? ??Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts? (hyper-driven ambient synth pop)
The New Pornographers ?? ??Electric Version? (exuberant supergroup power-pop)
The Postal Service ?? ??Give Up? (plaintive electronic synth pop)
The Shins ?? ??Chutes Too Narrow? (lush timeless folk-pop)
Sufjan Stevens ?? ??Greetings From Michigan ?? The Great Lakes State? (chamber-pop postcard homage)
The White Stripes ?? ??Elephant? (dirty riff-heavy blues-rock)
2004
A.C. Newman ?? ??The Slow Wonder? (freewheeling hooky summer-pop)
Annie ?? ??Anniemal? (scandanavian bubble-gum pop)
Arcade Fire ?? ??Funeral? (passionate post-apocalyptic talking heads followers)
Brian Wilson ?? ??SMiLE? (the lost beach boys masterpiece)
DeVotchKa ?? ??How It Ends? (haunting eastern-european gypsy folk)
Drive-By Truckers ?? ??The Dirty South? (more post-skynyrd ironic dixie rock)
Franz Ferdinand ?? ??Franz Ferdinand? (brash post-punk-revivalist britpop)
The Futureheads ?? ??The Futureheads? (playful new wave guitar-pop)
The Go! Team ?? ??Thunder, Lightning, Strike? (rambunctious day-glo cheerleader pop)
Green Day ?? ??American Idiot? (punk-pop stoner underachievers get political)
Modest Mouse ?? ??Good News for People Who Love Bad News? (major-label sheen on fractured indie rock)
Rilo Kiley ?? ??More Adventurous? (hooky and sardonic girl-rock)
Stars ?? ??Set Yourself On Fire? (charismatic canadian chamber-pop)
2005
Bloc Party ?? ??Silent Alarm? (viscerally volatile art-punk)
Brendan Benson ?? ??The Alternative to Love? (classic power-pop gem)
Death Cab for Cutie ?? ??Plans? (cleaned-up heart-on-sleeve alt-pop)
The Hold Steady ?? ??Separation Sunday? (lapsed-Catholic pub rock)
Jens Lekman ?? ??Oh You??re So Silent Jens? (terribly witty swedish singer/songwriter)
Josh Rouse ?? ??Nashville? (intelligent mellowed-out adult-pop)
My Morning Jacket ?? ??Z? (reverb-drenched alt-country)
The New Pornographers ?? ??Twin Cinema? (canadian power-pop supergroup hit apex)
Sigur Rós ?? ??Takk? (ethereal icelandic space-rock)
Sufjan Stevens ?? ??Illinoise? (chamber-pop ode to the land of lincoln)
2006
Camera Obscura ?? ??Let??s Get Out of This Country? (broken-hearted scottish girl-pop)
The Decemberists ?? ??The Crane Wife? (yet more hyper-literate victorian sea shanties)
Destroyer ?? ??Destroyer??s Rubies? (ambitious poetic art -pop)
The Essex Green ?? ??Cannibal Sea? (cheerful psych-pop throwbacks)
Girl Talk ?? ??Night Ripper? (giddy ritalin-laced mash-up mix)
The Hold Steady ?? ??Boys and Girls in America? (rowdy freewheeling springsteen lovers)
Islands ?? ??Return to the Sea? (whimsical psychedelic indie pop)
Neko Case ?? ??Fox Confessor Brings the Flood? (evocative alt-country torch singer)
Phoenix ?? ??It??s Never Been Like That? (dancy french guitar-pop)
Silversun Pickups ?? ??Carnavas? (gauzy alt-rock smashing pumpkins throwbacks)
TV on the Radio ?? ??Return to Cookie Mountain? (ambitious genre-busting brooklyn art-rock)
Voxtrot ?? ??Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives? (small slice of pop perfection)
