There you go, and I could have included at least another twenty more, including David Gray’s WHITE LADDER. However, while it was at number 11 in UK album sales in 2000 and number 4 in 2001, it was actually released almost a year earlier in 1999. There’s a story behind the album which is worth telling. In 1999 I attended an Irish music festival and during ten days of the most wonderful music I met many Irish music fans who raved about David Gray, who was Ireland’s major selling singer/songwriter. When I returned to the UK I tried to find out more about him and discovered his latest album, WHITE LADDER. It took some weeks for me to acquire a copy for review, but when I heard it I was blown away. It took almost a year for the media at large to hail it and it went on to sell several millions across the world. But my main reason for mentioning this record is that it signalled the beginning of mainstream acceptance in the UK of singer/songwriters, and you know how many populate the industry now..

Another artist who is not included in my list is Carina Round. I first saw her perform supporting Ryan Adams and I was stunned by her raw, passionate and powerful display. THE FIRST BLOOD MYSTERY is her debut record and I believe still her best, but it’s not a full album and so unfortunately cannot be included. I feel sure that 2010 will see fireworks from this distinctive and highly talented artist.

THE LIST

With fifty albums selected I cannot describe each and every one, however, I would like to cover a few of them for reasons which will become obvious. Rainer’s THE FARM is a poignant record that moved me more than any other album I have ever heard. With the dedicated help of his musician friends, Rainer managed to complete this wonderful recording just days before he died of a brain tumor. The record proved to be a challenge for everybody involved, something that becomes obvious when listening to the record. Johnny Cash also released his finest work shortly before his death. THE MAN COMES AROUND is a highly personal record beautifully produced by Rick Rubin and comprising of covers of songs hand-picked by Cash.

Eminem’s MARSHALL MATHER LP was his second release and sold over 1.7 million units in its first week of release. This extraordinary record is funny, poignant and self-effacing. For years the Frames had toiled away producing great albums that the UK media ignored. Glen Hansard decided that the band would take full control of its destiny and record on its own label. FOR THE BIRDS was the first Plateau release and provided the band with its first Irish chart-topping album. The band then toured it across the world and built a healthy fan base. Then in 2007 Glen Hansard teamed up with his friend Marketa Irglova to form The Swell Season and released a self-titled album that year. It included songs written for an independent movie called ONCE. The movie won an award at the Sundance Festival, took many millions at the box office, with one of the songs, ‘Falling Slowly’, beating strong opposition to win the 2008 Oscar for Best Movie Song.  After toiling for almost twenty years, the UK media woke up to Hansard who followed up THE SWELL SEASON (our album of the year in 2007) with 2009’s brilliant STRICT JOY.

Two of the most influential and distinctive bands emerged over the last decade. Grandaddy released its debut album UNDER THE WESTERN FREEWAY in 1997, followed by an equally brilliant SOPHTWARE SLUMP in 2000. Arcade Fire’s debut FUNERAL was released in 2005 (with a fabulous follow-up in NEON BIBLE). Both bands appeared on Jools Holland’s Later TV show which cemented their popularity in the UK.

Rock ‘n’ roll is alive, well and kicking butt! Look no further than My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Nickelback and Shindedown’s brilliant rock releases listed here. On the heavier side, Serj Tankian’s solo album impressed while Thrice released the most adventurous heavy rock albums in 2005. Slovenia’s industrial rockers Laibach released one of the most unusually themed albums I can remember in VOLK, which re-interpreted 14 national anthems - it worked. I discovered the Rollins band very recently and in particular GET SOME DO AGAIN, and was blown. The best blues-rock album released in the last ten years was Doyle Bramhall’s WELCOME which was totally ignored by the media and therefore the public. We loved it and subsequently travelled down to London to catch his live performance which was awe-inspiring. Which leads me nicely onto two live albums which I will now add to my list.

LIVE

Bramhall appears on one of the best live albums ever released. Roger Waters’ IN THE FLESH  is one amazing live recording which includes many Waters’ songs and several Pink Floyd classics. We witnessed this performance live at Liverpool’s Echo Arena in 2008 and it remains my favourite live performance of all time.

Another band who excells in the live performance environment is Ireland’s Frames. In 2004 the band released a ‘best of’ live album called SET LIST which provides a vivid and inspring glimpse of the band at work, and where they prefer to be - in front of their fans. Listen to this album and you’ll understand why I have included it in my list of Best of The Decade…

Five British bands released their best work. Elbow’s SELDOM SEEN KID is the band’s most complete and best release and was justly awarded with The Mercury Music Prize in 2008. The Editors released AN END HAS A START in 2007 and along with Elbow, Archie Bronson Outfit and The Enemy proved that they are world class Indie bands. My Latest Novel topped our 2009 list with their beautiful, moving, distinctive and epic DEATHS AND ENTRANCES, which was largely and unjustly overlooked by UK’s music media.

Two Irish singer/songwriters came to the fore in the last ten years. We discovered Damien Rice through Frames management and secured his album before anybody else in the UK. O was brilliant and followed up be an equally good 9 a few years later. Damien Dempsey appeared on the cover of Ireland’s major music magazine Hot Press on the release of SEIZE THE DAY, a superb social and political musical commentary. Both these artists floored us with their live performances in Liverpool.

USA female singer/songwriters have figured strongly in my list. Ani DiFranco refused to be tempted by record company offers to sign her and instead started her own record label over twenty years ago. She is a formidable writer, performer and producer who has released an average of over one album a year. REPRIEVE is her best in the last ten years. Laurie Anderson is a wonderful performance artist whose album LIFE ON A STRING is at least as good as anything she has released in a long, adventurous and distinguished career. Martha Wainright released a stunning debut album, while Eileen Rose grows with each record, and especially since her return to the USA (Nashville) after spending ten years living in London. Two ‘veteran’ recording artists, Natalie Merchant and Lucinda Williams, released vintage records, while Shelby Lynne’s third album IDENTITY CRISIS went deeply personal, ‘DIY’ and took her to another level. Gillian Welch’s TIME (THE REVELATOR) has been quoted as ‘perhaps the first great American folk song of the 21st century.’ I agree.

Jazz is represented here by America’s queen of jazz Patricia Barber, whose album of classic standards topped our best of year list when released. Canada’s Michael Bublé chose 2009 to release his career best. One UK rap artists towers over the UK scene, in my view. Akala released the highly original FREEDOM LASSO in 2007 which has become my genre reference point for quality - on both sides of the Pond.

Alt-Country is represented by two masterpiece albums. Son Volt’s CENTRAL AMERICAN DUST and criminally neglected Black Rebel Motorcyle Club’s HOWL.

Finally, Australia’s instrumental rockers, the Dirty Three, created one of the most moving albums I have ever heard, and remain well ahead in their particular game. Fiddler extraordinaire Warren Ellis has been heavily occupied working with Nick Cave, but we are promised a new D3 album in 2010. I can’t wait.

It’s been a wondrous decade of music, and it’s already looking like the start of the next ten will be at least as good.

ED

PS. Might sneak a few more in while nobody’s looking…