Soundtrack to a decade of musical highs
The noughties have produced some great music but who stands out from the crowd? Chris Bond picks his top 10 bands and artists of the decade.
THE problem with any list is who to leave off as much as who to include, and to utterly misquote an old saying: "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please them all." With this mind, and having canvassed opinion from fellow musos in the office, I've come up with a list which you'll be happy to hear doesn't include Girls Aloud or Razorlight.
Arcade Fire
Montreal has produced some extraordinary musical talent over the years, including Leonard Cohen, Oscar Peterson and Rufus Wainwright, to which Arcade Fire can now be added. The alt-folk multi-instrumentalists burst on to the scene in 2004 with polyphonic masterpiece Funeral, which was lauded by some critics as the best debut album not only of the decade, but of all time. They followed this up with Neon Bible, cementing their status as a headline act and fans are waiting with bated breath to see what's next.
Arctic Monkeys
From the moment they bashed out the opening chords of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor it was abundantly clear that these four youngsters from the Steel City possessed more than just a sprinkling of stardust. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, causing London's A&R men to leg it up to Sheffield to find their successors. Since then, the Arctics have established themselves as one of the most important British bands of recent years and in the annoyingly-talented Alex Turner they have the lyrical heir to Paul Weller and Jarvis Cocker.
Beyonc
Mrs Jay-Z has come a long way from the precocious teenager who started the decade as a member of Destiny's Child. As well as selling more than 20 million records worldwide, including several number one singles, she's also sung for President Obama and become one of the most marketable artists in the industry. She might still "do a Whitney" and press the self-destruct button, but for the time being she remains a genuine pop idol in a world littered with Jedwards.
Damon Albarn
If there was an award for musical innovator of the decade then Mr Albarn would surely be a contender. While fellow Britpoppers Oasis faded into parody and mediocrity, he has embraced Chinese opera, indie, pop, African-influenced folk, computer-generated dub and hip-hop. He started the decade with Blur and after winning awards and plaudits for musical collaborations such as Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, he's back with the band where it all began.
Eminem
The emergence of Marshall Bruce Mathers III helped elevate hip-hop and rap to an artistic level that hitherto simply didn't exist. While he started out playing padawan to Dr Dre's Jedi he has gone on to outshine his mentor. The Real Slim Shady proved himself to be the real deal amid a sea of one-trick ponies.
Fleet Foxes
This Seattle five-piece proved that you don't have to follow the crowd to be successful. Their blend of alt-folk, rock and pop seemed to come out of nowhere, weaving together folk tales from a bygone era set to a soundtrack that is by turns epic and sparse. They describe their music as "baroque pop jams" while their soaring harmonies have drawn frequent comparisons with Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Beach Boys. They may look like a bunch of 19th Century Nordic woodsmen but their music is both brilliant and timeless.
Jack White
Perhaps the only person who can challenge Damon Albarn for the "music man of the decade" award. As one half of Detroit duo The White Stripes he has breathed new life into the blues. His back-to-basics guitar rock was the perfect accompaniment to the primal thump of Meg White's drumming. In 2005. he co-founded rock super-group The Raconteurs and earlier this year he joined a third band – The Dead Weather. During the past 10 years he's also been a record producer (the Von Bondies), a film actor (Cold Mountain) and penned the best rock song of the decade (Seven Nation Army).
Jay-Z
He might not be everyone's bag but Jay-Z is the undisputed king of hip-hop. He's not only the world's most important rapper, he's a business entrepreneur whose influence on American culture is on a par with Michael Jackson's. The noughties have seen him surpass fellow hip hop moguls Dr Dre and Sean "Diddy" Combs, while his headline slot at Glastonbury was a genuine triumph, making Noel Gallagher's claim that it was "wrong" to have a hip-hop star headline the festival seem laughable.
The Libertines
Pete Doherty spent much of the decade vying with Amy Winehouse for the title of enfant terrible of the tabloids. Which is a shame, because like the Velvet Underground before them, The Libertines inspired kids all over the country to start a band. Not only that, but Doherty and Carl Barat are part of a long tradition of love-hate relationships that have spawned great music – think Brown and Squire, Morrissey and Marr and Sonny and Cher.
Radiohead
Although they first rose to eminence during the 90s, they remain Britain's most important band. Kid A, their follow-up to OK Computer, ripped up the musical rule book, enthralling some and infuriating others. Most recent album In Rainbows was a work of understated brilliance, while their elegiac hymn in memory of the First World War veteran Harry Patch who died this year, was achingly beautiful. There are talented bands and then there's Radiohead.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -8 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
