Dear Discorder
Lists. Most music nerds love making them. They are always indulgent and subjective. Is one band really better than another or is it just a matter of personal preference? While it’s easy to say that the Beatles are better than my buddy’s bar band, are they better than Throbbing Gristle or are they just different?
Still certain bands and albums always seem to rise to the top. Obviously, we think lists are important. We made this issue all about a list. We asked a jury of our peers to make their own lists of the best local bands of the decade and they all sat down and agonized over who they thought deserved their votes. We wanted to honour the heroes of our scene. It’s a list for someone who loves Vancouver and the bands that make our scene great. We focused it on the bands themselves and not albums because we wanted to keep the options open, but this list didn’t do two things which are also important (though a bit less important in our pages given the mandate of the magazine). The first is that it does not recognize the album and secondly it doesn’t recognize people from out of town. The following list attempts to make up for this. This is what I think are the best albums of the past decade. Maybe you won’t love all of them, but if you love music you should probably have an opinion on each one. They’re in alphabetical order.
Cheers,
Jordie Yow
Arcade Fire – Funeral
The Avalanches – Since I Left You
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Broken Social Scene – You Forget It in People
Crystal Castles – s/t
Death From Above 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
Destroyer – Notorious Lightning & Other Works
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Girl Talk – Night Ripper
The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
The Hood Internet – The Mixtape Vol. 1
Kanye West – Late Registration
The Knife – Deep Cuts
LCD Soundsystem – Sounds of Silver
M.I.A. – Kala
Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
The Postal Service – Give Up
Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
Radiohead – Kid A
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
