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1. The Shins, Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop). A dream that all of this might be worth believing.
2. Destroyer, Streethawk: a Seduction (Misra). New Pornographers' songwriter makes urgent, elegiac legends out of mere myths.
3. Les Savy Fav, Go Forth (Frenchkiss). Like watching a French film with Japanese subtitles, listening to a tragic opera, reading crime fiction, hydroplaning down a rainy interstate, and chewing gum all at the same time.
4. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry). Nobody writes songs this good for their sister; that's all I'm saying.
5. Flaming Stars, Ginmill Perfume: The Story So Far 1995-2000 (Alternative Tentacles). What Elvis was to cool, what Shane McGowan is to drunken eloquence, what the barroom floor is to the garage door.
6. Love as Laughter, Sea to Shining Sea (Sub Pop). Ballsy and sprawling, or in other words, true to form. It could've just been called Destination 2001.
7. Clinic, Internal Wrangler (Domino). The soundtrack for deciding that you don't give a shit.
8. The New Year, Newness Ends (Touch and Go). Close your eyes and pretend that it's the follow-up to Seam's Pace is Glacial.
9. The Clean, Getaway (Merge). New Zealand's olde-time indie-pop zealots defy the odds of diminishing returns.
10. Love, Forever Changes—2001 deluxe edition original recording remastered with extra tracks (Rhino). "I could be in love with almost everyone" -Love, 1967.
Laura Learmonth
1. Rocket from the Crypt, Group Sounds (Vagrant). Completely unforeseen, 180-degree turnaround for James Brown's bastard offspring.
2. Rainer Maria, A Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl). Criminally underrated trio has squeezed pretense out of poetry for years.
3. Thursday, Full Collapse (Victory). Perfect hardcore marriage of accessibility and discordance; it'll hurt when they blow up next year.
4. Curve, Gift (Hip-O/Universal). Toni Halliday's eye snot is sexier than anything about Shirley Manson.
5. New End Original, Thriller (Jade Tree). Aorta and ventricles all over the sleeves, but incredibly fun.
6. Minus The Bear, This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic EP (Suicide Squeeze). Anti-emo tribute to naughty tavern Betties, complete with staggering breakdowns.
7. Juno, A Future Lived in Past Tense (De Soto). More explosive short stories from a band that could kill you in a small room.
8. Vaz, Demonstrations in Micronesia (Load Records). Two-man Minnesota noise-core wrecking ball.
9. Tool, Lateralus (Volcano). Soundtrack to a state-pen shower room obliterates all mainstream metal challengers but can't trump Aenima.
10. Le Tigre, Feminist Sweepstakes (Mr. Lady). Kathleen Hanna's Lateralus; poignant disco swagger is so-so only among her own collection.
Andrew Bonazelli
1. The Shins, Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop). Simply perfect—or at least as close as anything got this year. If "New Slang" doesn't blow your socks off, you don't deserve to have ears, period. We will never doubt New Mexico's musical value again.
2. Sigur Ros, Aegatis Byrjun (Pias). Not quite the Second Coming it was deemed to be, but once the initial disappointment wears off, an album of shimmering, otherworldly beauty emerges, and dumb hyperbolists are forgiven.
3. Beta Band, Hot Shots II (Astralwerks). They seemed to have dropped off the cool radar since their 3 EPs glory days, but Hot Shots should have received way more attention for its ability to make tweaked-out folk-hop a viable genre.
4. White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry). Resistance is futile. As visceral, heart-pounding, and hip-shaking as anything to come out of a Detroit garage (or proximity thereof) in who knows how long. Plus, they're even better live.
5. Club 8, Club 8 (Hidden Agenda). Salty tears never tasted sweeter. So quiet it's almost a whisper, this Swedish duo's heartbreaking collection is tailor-made for those with suicidal tendencies—and that's a compliment.
6. Trembling Blue Stars, Alive to Every Smile (Sub Pop). A companion piece to Club 8 (see above), except British. Not too many smiles to be had, but the frowns are so much better, you won't care.
7. Bj�/B>, Vespertine (Elektra). A slow grower. Its delicate, ice-crystal beauty took a while to seep in, but this most personal and subdued Bj�release yet is a quiet treasure.
8. Solex, Low Kick and Hard Bop (Matador). A total child's play beats fun house from the girl with the best record collection in Amsterdam. Not the deepest release of 2001, but proof that pastiche still has plenty of life in it.
9. Incredible Moses Leroy, Electric Pocket Radio (Ultimatum). Why did no one buy this record? Total pop/rock/electro/R&B abandon, without falling into any of the usual traps that follow rampant genre mixing. The most buoyant and goddamn catchy record since whenever, and you missed it.
10. For standout single, a four-way tie among Aaliyah's "We Need a Resolution (Aaliyah, Blackground); Daft Punk's "One More Time" (Discovery, Virgin); Outkast's "So Fresh So Clean'" (Stankonia, LaFace); and Ludacris' "Southern Hospitality" (from Back for the First Time, Def Jam).
Honorable Mention: Built to Spill, Ancient Melodies of the Future; Spoon, Girls Can Tell; Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor; the Strokes, Is This It; Carissa's Wierd, You Should Be at Home Here; Sparklehorse, It's a Wonderful Life; Zero 7, Simple Things; Destiny's Child, Survivor.
Leah Greenblatt
1. Kleenex/ Liliput, Kleenex/ Liliput (Kill Rock Stars). The reissue of the complete works of these underheard Swiss girl punks easily ranks as the year's happiest surprise.
