Left on the wayside in the rush to the future, let us pause for some great records the decade forgot:
Johnny Boy 'S/T' (2005)
A delectable pastiche of girl group harmonies, sampledelic production and C89 attitude. It's like 'A Different Class' meets Comet Gain at the chip shop of heaven.
DJ Signfy 'Sleep No More' (2004)
Halfway between trip hop and dubstep, with stacks of sinister samples, murky beats and Canada's Buck 65 in full carnivalesque serial killer verbal regalia.
Soaud Massi 'Deb' (2003)
Swoony Franco-Algerian coffee house music with bits of fado, folk, flamenco, etc. North Africa's riposte to Norah Jones and Francoise Hardy.
Circlesquare 'Pre-Earthquake Anthem' (2004)
Always felt this album nailed the spirit rather than just the sonics of postpunk bands like Joy Division. Icy, precise and desolate as hell frozen over. Released on Trevor Jackson's late lamented Output imprint.
Howlin Rain 'Magnificent Fiend' (2008)
Unabashedly retro hairy-chested swaggering boogie rock that transcends its influences by sheer force of will.
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore 'Black Earth' (2002)
The best metal album of the decade sounds like David Lynch's idea of jazz played by the Southern Lord allstars. Sax solos never sounded heavier or more portentous.
Jai-Alai Savant 'Flight Of The Bass Delegate' (2003)
It's the Police shot with a dose of post-hardcore alienation, a world-beating reggae punk glory of a record that made no impression on anyone anywhere whatsoever.
Elvis Costello 'North' (2003)
Costello in full crooner jazz bloom, freshly wed to Diana Krall and still deeply under the spell of his Bacharach collaboration. Stripped down and spare with gently chiming pianos and strings, 'North' is shivery solid gold schmaltz.
Luke Hess 'Light In The Dark' (2009)
A late entry in the micro/minimal sweepstakes but one of the best. In a year when the Kompakt crowd went all arty and ambient (see The Field, Matias Aguayo, Luciano, Moritz Von Oswald, Monolake), this record was refreshingly sleek and functional.
Vincent Gallo 'When' (2001)
Barely-there lo-fi noodlings from a guy who sells his sperm online. Megalomania never sounded so slackadaisically compelling. (No stream available.)
