25. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend

This album was like a breath of fresh air to the whole indie scene. A sound so fresh that it came to define an entire summer for me.
Favourites: “M79” and “Oxford Comma“.

24. Death From Above 1979- You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine

This album grabs you and kicks you in the face multiple times and I love that.
Favourites: “Black History Month” and “Little Girl“

23. The Go! Team- Thunder, Lightning, Strike

How can I describe Thunder, Lightning, Strike? If life were a video game, all music would sound like this. Cheerleader hip-hop mixed with indie rock? Awesome.
Favourites: “Huddle Formation” and “The Power Is On“

22. Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand

Classic british indie rock.
Favourites: “Take Me Out” (of course) and “Jacqueline“

21. Sage Francis- Personal Journals

What I wish hip-hop would strive to be. Dark, poetic, beautiful, tragic.
Favourites: “Crack Pipes” and “Broken Wings“

20. Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

The original MySpace Cinderella story. Went from nothing to everything in a few months. A hell of an album.
Favourites: “A Certain Romance” and “Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But…“

19. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois

Sufjan’s masterpiece. With old folk tales and stories of horrifying criminals, Sufjan took us on a memorable journey.
Favourites: “Chicago” and “Casimir Pulaski Day“

18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever To Tell

Like DFA1979’s album, Fever To Tell kicks you in the face. However, this album had depth. One word: Maps.
Favourites: read previous sentence.

17. Metric- Old World Underground, Where Are You Now

Take the depth of Fever To Tell and multiply it by a factor of 1.5. That is this album. Emily Haines shines.
Favourites: “Combat Baby” and “Hustle Rose”

16. The New Pornographers- Twin Cinema

To me, this is one of the defining albums of Canadian indie rock.
Favourites: “The Bleeding Heart Show” and “Stacked Crooked”

15. The Postal Service- Give Up

Give Up takes me back to my first year of university. We would share burned copies and would marvel at how cool it all sounded. Paired with the bips and bleeps were some great lyrics from Ben Gibbard.
Favourites: “Such Great Heights” and “Brand New Colony”

14. The National- Alligator

This album grows on you like a fine wine. Not everyone’s favourite but for me, the last third of Alligator cannot be beat.
Favourites: “City Middle” and “The Geese of Beverly Road”

13. OutKast- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Does this need an explanation?
Favourites: “Hey Ya” and “Prototype”

12. Madvillain- Madvillainy

MF Doom and Madlib took hip hop and turned that shit upside-down and inside-out. So fresh, like nothing I had ever heard before.
Favourites: “ALL CAPS” and “Accordion”

11. Kanye West- The College Dropout

Not only did this put Kanye on the map, but it also did so much for artists like Mos Def and Common. Now I understand if you don’t like him and Imma let you finish but Kanye West had one of the best albums of this decade.
Favourites: “Two Words” and “Through The Wire”

10. The Killers- Hot Fuss

Nothing, and I mean nothing, gives me more nostalgia than blasting “Believe Me Natalie” and “Smile Like You Mean It” on my car stereo. Hot Fuss was that summer before university, hell, it was the summer after first year too.
Favourites: see above

9. The White Stripes- Elephant

This album blew me away. It was like Rock in its prime. Rock as it should be.
Favourites: “Ball and Biscuit” and “Little Acorns”

8. Bloc Party- Silent Alarm

I have never listened to an album as many times consecutively as I have Silent Alarm. Period.
Favourites: “This Modern Love” and “Positive Tension”

7. Radiohead- Kid A

How does a band follow an album that is widely-regarded to be one of the best albums of all time (OK Computer)? Change your style completely and knock it out of the park!
Favourites: “The National Anthem” and “Motion Picture Soundtrack”

6. Arcade Fire- Funeral

A step above Twin Cinema, this took Canadian music as a whole to an entirely new level. Awe-inspiring.
Favourites: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, “Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)”, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”, “Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)”, “Wake Up”, “Rebellion (Lies)”

5. Kings of Leon- Aha Shake Heartbreak

Before they were all polished and pretty, Kings of Leon was a bunch of southern rockers with a weird-sounding lead-vocalist, nonsensical lyrics and awesome riffs. I miss that.
Favourites: “Taper Jean Girl” and “The Bucket”

4. Broken Social Scene- You Forgot It In People

I’ve talked a lot about defining Canadian albums. This BSS album took some of the most talented Canadian musicians out there and put them all together to make a masterpiece.
Favourites: “Almost Crimes” and “Cause = Time”

3. Iron & Wine- Our Endless Numbered Days

Some folksy dude singing a bunch of songs that all sound the same. And it’s fucking incredible.
Favourites: “Naked As We Came” and “Sunset Soon Forgotten”

2. The Strokes- Is This It

The album that introduced me to indie rock.
Favourites: “Is This It”, “Barely Legal”, “Someday”, “Last Nite”, “Hard To Explain”

1. Coldplay- Parachutes

Hard to believe that Coldplay didn’t exist before this decade. The biggest band in the world had its humble beginnings in Parachutes, released in 2000. Simple songs about love and the world. No Gwyneths, no weird baby names, no multi-million dollar tours, no sexiest vegetarian awards, no making trade fair, no apple commercials, no frills. Just an awkward-looking dude singing about a colour, walking on a beach as the sun rose. Wonder who’ll start from such beginnings next year?