Jeff, thanks so much for commenting, I reviewed one Mountain Goats album for the Beeb, I don’t know this one, but will give it a listen.

Thanks Robin, along with Simon that makes three of us choosing The Drift as album of the decade – it’s a majority vote!

And my other 15 choices in Music of the Decade: Runner-Ups.

Overall, it was a bad decade for visionary and genre-busting music. But I did love sui generis work from the likes of Burial, Outkast, The Ghost Box posse, Newsom, Animal Collective, and, sure, The Drift – alongside key jazz releases by Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn, Steve Lehman, Matt Shipp, etc, etc.

But my album pick is mainly one man and a guitar: The Mountain Goats “We Shall All Be Healed.” It’s a work of whirling and keening contradictions, every line sparking off in several directions at once, Darnielle’s vocals further shading the meanings. In many ways, it’s as terrifying as The Drift, though Darnielle works with a more technicolor emotional palette. Like Steely Dan’s best work, it offers recognizable aural pleasures as a way to disguise the bleakness at its core. Like Dylan’s best work, it insists on its mysteries. It’s the rare album that offers up a different version of itself with every spin.

It’s jungle.

However I can’t deny my true feelings. I have to hold my hand up and admit I am a junglist at heart, as low-brow and simplistic as it may be – it beat off all other competition to win a place in my heart forever. It is a testament to Todd Osborns genius, he took an entire genre and bested it with a short series of 12″s out of Detroit. God bless Rephlex for distilling it onto one CD.

Thanks Stuart, I don’t know Suba at all, but will look for it. I know Richter’s Memoryhouse and 24 Postcards, but not Blue Notebooks.

Robin, if they had been released in the same decade I would choose Tilt over The Drift (yes, Farmer in the City has had the same effect on me more than once), but I believe The Drift is an equally remarkable achievement even as it is entirely less forgiving in its impact.

Ari, I’m most familiar with The Present Lover, but am aware that everyone most rates Vocalcity, more listening to do there!

Sigur Rós’ release of 2002, () has to be well in the running, however. Not just for the transcendent music but the packaging, videos and, finally, for the simple fact of Hopelandic.

I have to agree with the Rhythm & Sound mentions, W/ The Artists is timeless.

The albums that came immediately to mind as giving me the greatest enjoyment during the 00’s were actually recorded in the late 90’s… so strike Bill Frisell’s “Good Dog, Happy Man”, and Lucinda WIlliams “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”.

But, a selection must be made, so here’s mine. Released at the cusp of the new decade: 1 Feb 2000, some 4 months after the artist died in a tragic fire, Suba’s :São Paulo Confessions” is my pick.

I find the blend of Brazilian percussion, electronics and dreamy vocals irresistible. There are hints of raucous anarchy underlying everything, yet there is a veneer of delicate beauty too. Ten years (very nearly) later it a combination that still feels fresh to me.

Max Richter’s “The Blue Notebooks” was a close second.

Taking into consideration the notion of music moving forward, then I don’t think that there were too many contenders for albums genuinely pushing the boat out during this decade, but Nico Muhly’s “Mothertongue” for me showcased someone with enormous talent and a precociousness that ensures we’ll hear a lot more about him in the future. Bjork’s “Medulla” takes some beating as a statement of spirit too.

Scion’s “Arrange and Process” of Basic Channel Tracks was a landmark piece – it ensured mythical status for BC, and it was one of the first albums made using Ableton, a piece of software that utterly dominated electronic music during this decade.

One last thing – nothing to enjoy in The Drift? But what about the lines “As the grossness of spring lolls its bloodied head against the window” and “Neath the bougie a nimble rigger slyly rolls the pea” or the demented Donald Duck voice demanding “What’s up doc?” Great stuff ;-)