The Noughties Report(ies): 2008

We're not going to bore you with the 'deets' here. We covered it all last year. Yes! Canst thou believe it? Last year was 2008. And already we're colliding into the next decade with a speed we can only describe as... timely. Anyway if you want a recap of what we thought of 2008's best albums clickst here! Exciting times... (And yes, we're sorry about all these lists. SORRY SORRY SORRY. But they are coming to an end very soon. VERY SOON. As in, within the week. Possibly sooner. So hold tight! Nearly there!)

• Adele - 19
• Santigold - Santogold
• Girls Aloud - Out of Control
• Lykke Li - Youth Novels
• Camille - Music Hole
• Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
• Madonna - Hard Candy
• Joan As Police Woman - To Survive
  
• Lady GaGa - The Fame
• Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2007

It was another stellar all-girl year for our favourite albums (although, to be honest, most years are pretty much all-girl for us). Stephanie Dosen, who for a while was the new voice of Massive Attack, released an album of dreamy, almost minimalist folk sketches; Bat For Lashes introduced her otherworldly mix of Björk, Kate Bush and her own imitable style; Britney Spears may have encountered public meltdown but she put her name to the best album of her career; Björk herself proved she still had it, despite backlash, with an exhilarating and heady alloy of African drums and horns and bright, harsh synths; and Dragonette, Canada's answer to Goldfrapp delivered one of the best synth-pop debuts of the decade.

There was more unfeasibly gorgeous folk from Feist, a sound so unique and exciting it captured the imagination of America's mainstream hip-hop community from M.I.A., Robyn and her multi-faceted, multi-coloured hip-pop-punk started the pop-cool resurgence, and both Róisín Murphy and Siobhan Donaghy, two Irish beauties with wildly differing styles released sprawling and brilliant albums that, let's be fair, didn't get the commercial acclaim they deserved. Oh well.

• Stephanie Dosen - A Lily for the Spectre
• Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold
• Britney Spears - Blackout
• Björk - Volta
• Dragonette - Galore
• Feist - The Reminder
• M.I.A. - Kala
• Robyn - Robyn
• Róisín Murphy - Overpowered
• Siobhan Donaghy - Ghosts
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2006

2006 was an all-female cast of some of the best and most decorated individuals in the business. That year brought us two of the most consistently inventive R&B albums in recent memory with Nelly Furtado and Beyoncé's releases. We were also treated to two beautiful Nordic pop confections: Margaret Berger's Pretty Scary Silver Fairy and Bertine Zetlitz's My Italian Greyhound. Our tour of Scandinavia was made complete with the brilliant and mind-bogglingly-horrifying The Knife and their ultra-special (in the good way) Silent Shout. We also got something we never thought possible: a mainstream-crossover queer empowerment record thanks to the fearless Gossip.

Elsewhere P!nk's comeback proved she was still leader of the pop/rock pack, Regina Spektor finally broke through to a wider audience with the heart-tugging plucks of "Fidelity". There was also musical innovation of the best sort from My Brightest Diamond, with their noire burlesque-cum-folk inventions, and Joanna Newsom released one of the most unconventional and ornately beauteous popular music albums of all time.

• Bertine Zetlitz - My Italian Greyhound
• Beyoncé - B'Day
• Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control
• Joanna Newsom - Ys
• The Knife - Silent Shout
• Margaret Berger - Pretty Scary Silver Fairy
• Nelly Furtado - Loose
• P!nk - I'm Not Dead
• Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
• My Brightest Diamond - Bring me the Workhorse
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2005

2005 was the year we started to sit up and pay attention. No longer did we dabble and dally. We took shit seriously. Madonna's seminal (well, we think so) disco album Confessions... kicked things of nicely, cementing and acting as the catalyst for our love of her. Supernature, by Goldfrapp, a similarly inventive synth-based album and the inspiration for Madge's own glam opus, helped us delve further into the wonderful and glittering forest of pop.

2005 also gave birth to one of the most criminally underrated pop albums of all time: Juliet's Random Order (also produced by Confessions' Stuart Price), and Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself - an album that carved its own beautiful and unique space out in the pop landscape, despite parodies and backlash galore. As if that wasn't enough, we were treated to one of the best girlgroup pop albums released in living memory: Girls Aloud's tirelessly original and refreshingly odd Chemistry... it was a stellar year for pop.

Elsewhere, the 'French Björk', fabulous and talented Camille, crafted an entire album out of one droned note: Le Fil; Sufjan Stevens made good on all that prodigious promise with an epic and lush paean to Illinois; Laura Veirs made even more impossibly luxurious folk; Antony and the Johnsons won a Mercury Prize for their gorgeous and heart-bruised story of gender dysfunction; and last but most certainly NEVER LEAST: Kate Bush returned after an unbearably long hiatus with an album so expansive, beautiful, ornate and touching, it almost made up for the wait.

• Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
• Camille - Le Fil
• Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
• Girls Aloud - Chemistry
• Goldfrapp - Supernature
• Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
• Kate Bush - Aerial
• Laura Veirs - Year of Meteors
• Madonna - Confessions on a Dancefloor
• Juliet - Random Order

(Fabulousness abounds. Thank you for helping us reach a thousand posts! We're sitting here with full bellies, pondering how much we really care who wins you-know-what, feeling very Christmassy. Have a fantabaloosical Noël if we don't say again closer to the time. We luv u!)

The Noughties Report(ies): 2004

2004 was pretty much all about Britney's "Toxic" for us. We remember dancing to it, working out the string part on the piano, reciting the lyrics after Maths class in our school corridor. Yet unfortunately Ms. Spears is conspicuously absent from this year's round-up. Never mind... for it was a STELLAR YEAR (as most years this decade were). And here are its highlights:

Arcade Fire emerged onto 'the scene' (blergh) with their epic, folk-rock and appealed to pretty much everyone: hipsters, folksters, musos and even the mainstream. Björk crafted her most wild, experimental and creatively satisfying work. Courtney Love proved she had rock clout alone. Gwen Stefani set the template for future popstars with her exquisite brand of off-beat pop. Joanna Newsom introduced the world to her beautiful web of harp and harpsichord and her voice - a thing of unusual beauty. Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of American Idol, proved that you could be a reality tv winner and still churn out accessible yet undeniably strong pop/rock. Laura Veirs continued to take her listeners inside the warped cavern of her music. Sia emerged from Zero 7 to craft a varied and idiosyncratic album of wonderful gems. Rufus Wainwright, produced by Marius de Vries, dreamed up an orchestral and multi-layered treat. And last but CERTAINLY not least: Japanese mega-star Utada worked with Timbaland and others to create one of the most bizarre, genius and inventive pop albums ever.

• Arcade Fire - Funeral
• Björk - Medúlla
• Courtney Love - America's Sweetheart
• Gwen Stefani - Love.Angel.Music.Baby.
• Joanna Newsom - Milk-Eyed Mender
• Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
• Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
• Sia - Color the Small One
• Rufus Wainwright - Want One
• Utada - Exodus
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2003

2003 whisked by, for us, in a blur of early Athlete and a copy of the Rolling Stone's Forty Licks we found in our mum's collection. In retrospect there was a lot of quality music going on. Some real fucking bangers, and a lot of overlooked masterpieces.

Bertine Zetlitz, 'Madonna of Norway' released Sweet Injections, one of her most delicious and cohesive pop confections, Kelis gave R&B a swift kick up the front bottom with her brilliant and odd ode to 'food' (as in SEX: DO YOU SEE), Patrick Wolf launched his deranged genius on an unsuspecting world, Madonna similarly went off on an experimental tangent with brave and underrated American Life and Metric, one of our absolute favourite bands, went all art-rock-power-pop replete with Beach Boys harmonies and some fabulously original lyrics.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs released Fever To Tell, their most successful and critically acclaimed albums of their career, Goldfrapp underwent a spectacular transformation from trippy-noire folksters to full on disco-glam pioneers, Peaches released her (arguably) best work, stunning and career-defining, Regina Spektor proved she wasn't just another anti-folk hipster and Siobhan Donaghy delivered easily the best, most rich and artfully beautiful debut albums post-chart-pop-girl-band, yet seen. A vintage year.

• Bertine Zetlitz - Sweet Injections
• Kelis - Tasty
• Patrick Wolf - Lycanthropy
• Madonna - American Life
• Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
• Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
• Peaches - Fatherfucker
• Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
• Siobhan Donaghy - Revolution in Me
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2002

We can't even remember what music we were into in 2002. One thing's for sure, we'd never heard of ANY of the above artists. Except for Christina that is. Oh and ['the'] Sugababes. We suppose we may have been vaguely aware of Missy Elliott, but overall the year of 2002 was more about Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever", and the world-shaking significance of Avril Lavigne's debut than any 'serious' music.

Anyway here, above, are our 10 fave albums of that year. They include: Christina's most interesting and varied effort, Common delving into the world of philosopy and neo-soul, Missy Elliott's retro-flavoured Aaliyah-dedicated minor masterpiece, a gorgeous and much underrated self-released Regina album, the Sugababes at their most relevant and 'edgy', Tori's epic paean to America, Vienna Teng's melancholy glassy debut, the best musical episode of a TV series ever, Lauryn Hill's mind-bogglingly good MTV Unplugged album and an unusual and brave little singer/songwriter effort from Nina Nastasia.

• Christina Aguilera - Stripped
• Common - Electric Circus
• Missy Elliott - Under Construction
• Regina Spektor - Songs
• Sugababes - Angels with Dirty Faces
• Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk
• Vienna Teng - The Waking Hour
• The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling
• Lauryn Hill - MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
  
• Nina Nastasia - The Blackened Air
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2001

Again, 2001 is not a year we remember particularly well in terms of music. We were 11 at the time and as of then, not aware of any single one of those albums above (except Survivor: Destiny's Child have been with us since the beginning). 2001 not only yielded Björk's best critically received album, Vespertine, and Tori Amos' high-concept cover album, but one of the most beautiful and listenable movie soundtracks this decade, a haunting and cohesive Radiohead opus, the real birth of a pop superstar (P!nk's), an American jock-rock alternative band, Incubus, at their most creative and worthy works by two talented male singer/songwriters: Ben Christophers (now playing in Bat For Lashes), and opera-wielding Rufus Wainwright.

• Destiny's Child - Survivor
• Incubus - Morning View
• Björk - Vespertine
• Rufus Wainwright - Poses
• Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls
• Yann Tiersen - Amèlie
• Radiohead - Amnesiac
• P!nk - M!ssundaztood
• Missy Elliott - Miss E... So Addictive
• Ben Christopers - Spoonface
  

The Noughties Report(ies): 2000

Just like everyone else, we're going to do a look-back at the past decade and reminisce. Basically, for most of the past 10 years we were teenagers, and therefore far too busy indulging in TERRIBLE TEENAGED MUSIC TASTE (like Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight etc.) but now that we have amazing grown up taste (LEAVE IT!) we're going to tell you our top 10 albums for each year, as they stand now. So here goes. First up: 2000.

2000 gave birth to what is arguably PJ Harvey's best album, Madonna experimenting with country music, Radiohead's full-on descent into the weird (and wonderful), Erykah Badu ruminating on heartbreak, Björk's beautiful and controversial musical soundtrack, the Spice Girls' first and last album as a four-piece, a lengthy Marilyn Manson concept piece, and the birth of three fantastic new music artists: Goldfrapp, Peaches and Antony Hegarty and co.

• PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
• Madonna - Music
• Radiohead - Kid A
• Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
• Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
• Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
• Antony and the Johnsons - Antony and the Johnsons
• Björk - Selmasongs
• Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches
• Spice Girls - Forever