Most lists like this give me headaches, but I am pleasantly surprised here. I agree with the omission of Interpol. What else? The only thing I can think right now is Blur’s Think Tank. And Bright Eyes I”m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. And some Rilo Kiley and Le Tigre. I’ll stop now.

No Spoon, National, and M Ward is hard to swallow. Gold in front of Up The Bracket? Naming one of the weakest RA albums in the list, and putting it ahead of the Libertines best, is pretty questionable. And where is Radiohead? No Elliott Smith either…yikes. Moon and Antarctica should be on there. The Hold Steady is missing. Sufjan is missing. Postal Service could probably sneak on there as well. Maybe Clap Your Hands too.

Off the top of my head that no one has mentioned yet, where’s the Sigur Ros?

Nice one, not bad, alsmost on the money.
Some good choices

frances the mute, but no de-loused in the comatorium? that’s absurd. and they should have included amputechture. it’s far better than frances the mute ever thought of being.

definetley agree with jon, de-loused in the comatorium is essential…where are the shins?radiohead?

Come on, De-loused is soo much better than Frances the Mute.

Regina Spektor’s Soviet Kitsch should be essential.

this is probably the worst compilation of music

this list is awful…
not that most of the albums are awful… but the omissions are insane and the order is terrible…

though some albums are just plain terrible, Delivery Man??? seriously? any one who says they enjoyed that is just in denial… Elvis Costello, like the Rolling Stones should just stop…

Joe Strummer??? Look I know he died but we don’t have to lie to ourselves.

PJ Harvey???

and considering the omissions the fact that 3 white stripes albums, 2 my morning jacket, 2 new pornographers, and 2 steve earle albums is insane

neither steve earl album belongs here, get behind me satan in crap

Frances the mute is crap.

where is Radiohead? The Wrens? Interpol? Spoon? Bright Eyes? Hold Steady? Sufjan? Broken Social Scene? TV on The Radio? Jay Z? The Rapture? MadVillain? Fiery Furnaces? Streets? Dizzee Rascal? Ghostface? Animal Collective? LCD Soundsystem?

crap.

Ok, points for including The New Pornographers, but it’s “Electric Version”, not “Electric Vision”. If you’re going to write a (poor) list of essential albums, you should at least read it over before you publish. Jesus christ man.

Jurassic 5 – Power In Numbers

Is anyone else mad at the fact that not only is Arcade Fire on this list, but that they are number 1?

Damn, this is depressing. I have a bunch of these “top 50″ and they’re all pretty forgettable — I hadn’t put it together till I saw this list.

My sister gave me that “Arcade Fire” CD for Xmas and I can barely listen to it. What happened to the music scene???

Essential? Feh… there isn’t one CD on that list that you could pay me to listen to, much less even one that I would buy.

Say Anything – …Is/Was A Real Boy

ain’t got none of ‘em. ain’t gonna get none of ‘em. ain’t ever gonna get anything connected to the riaa/mpaa. ain’t ever gonna listen to music till the riaa is dead.

Audioslave’s debut album didn’t make the list?

thank you for recognizing Antony and the Johnson’s I am a Bird Now, an important yet often overlooked, except for the Mercury Prize in Britain,

Whoever wrote this list is retarded in some way shape or form, these are definately not the 50 most essential albums of the last five years

um, Guster, hello? TKK? the illegal downloads of Smash-up Derby?

Interestimg list with some diverse choices. I’m not sure if the current decade has thrown up any true classic albums thus far.

http://www.besteveralbums.com is a good resource for the best albums of all time.

Very one-sided list…

I’ll name some I liked that didn’t make it to your list.

Coldpay?
Arctic Monkeys?
The Killers?
Jimmy Eat World?
Eyedea?
Sage Francis?
The Faint?
Scisor Sisters?
Common?
Talib?
John Legend?
Weezer?
DJ Shadow?
Eminem?
Pherell?
Luda?

This list makes no sense at all.

see arcade fire live.

realize, they’re a studio band only.

realize, they’re not that good.

i was ok with this list til i saw #1. Now i reject it totally.

joanna newsom. they forgot joanna newsom.

Green Day’s “American Idiot” missing??!

Frances over de-loused is ridiculous. Frances is only really an album for serious prog fans while De-Loused is essential for just about anyone that appreciates music played at the appropriate level.

@Rant
Weezer and Shadow definately have not released their best stuff in the last 5 years (Private Press was 2001), they would both be in the top 10 of my 90’s list though.

What about Billy Bragg & Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue albums? Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising or Devils and Dust? Johnny Cash and American IV? The Old 97’s?

an interesting selection, not quite to my personal taste, which some of the nay sayers here seem to not quite grasp the concept of, but I can definately see where you are coming from. And if I may offer a suggestion that may be minimally tangential, I’d say you should try out Mike Doughty’s “Haughty Melodic”, or if you feel like hopping in the wayback machine, Soul Coughing’s “El Oso”

“The 50 CDs that some asshole thinks qualify as ‘most essential’ just because they represent his poor taste, narrow album collection, and lack of creativity/musical breadth.”

Where’s the rock? This is like pitchfork all over again…none of this is above 5 on the ol spinal tap guitar amp.

The-50-most-essential-cd’s-since-2001-in-the-alternative-section-of-HMV-and-who’s-Thom-Yorke?

Haven’t even heard of most of these people, too much rap, no rock. Worst list ever.

Not bad, not bad at all

Between Eastcoast and Westcoast there ain’t Beirut. Their (his) sound is to be included

Death From Above 1979- You’re a Woman, I’m A Machine. I thought that it rocked like no other

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus???

Thom Yorke – The Eraser?

Tool – Lateralus?

this list is a fraud. the only reason these albums came up is because the stores can’t get rid of them so they need to make a list of the 50 most essential cds to get rid of since 2001.

The list is so predictable it hurts.

it screams pitchfork.

Nice to see that Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros on the list – “Streetcore” is brilliant.

Another nod to “American Idiot.” Excellent work. I’m surprised to see Iron and Wine but no Calexico.

Yet another vote for Green Day’s “American Idiot”!

Say “No” to Greenday always. How about Pinback, Deadboy and the Elephant Men, Jimmy Eat World, Sigur Ros, Ben Harper, Ben Kweller?

Half of your list was the ACL Fest lineup, you should have been there if you wern’t.

Mad props tho on Neko Case and The Arcade Fire! I cannot stop listening to Fox Confessor.

dont see how you can be upset that the arcade fire is on there. it’s not a completely horrible list, but it seems like they went from the extreme end of the alternative side of the spectrum to the name-dropping-side of the progressive spectrum..

i haven’t read any of these comments, but this list is such shit i can’t even take it. Ryan Adams “Gold”?? The Arcade Fire at #1?? the council of concerned citizens on indie rock affairs should pull out an assault weapon and shoot harp for publishing this incoherent list filled with replicated artists, completely ignoring some of the truly best out there.

there’s no bright eyes or even desaparecidos, there’s no sigur ros, no sign of elliott smith, no sufjan fucking stevens?????? no jurassic 5, no gorillaz or gnarls barkley (which by now we can establish as an essential record of THIS YEAR ALONE). if i really spent some time, i could pick this list apart in about 50 different ways. perhaps this should be called “the 50 most essential CDs since 2001 that tasteless white people who don’t change it up can’t dance should own”.

but what’s most disappointing is that it comes from harp magazine. cancel my subscription, please.

The real mistake here is assuming there has been 50 essential albums since 2001.

agree with above comment 100%`

It’s cute that people thing Weezer has made an essential album since 2001. And Jimmy Eat World! That’s simply fucking adorable.

You must be very cool, being into all of those bands that no one has ever heard of.

ryan- “too much rap, no rock. Worst list ever.”

Seriously??? you shouldn’t have printed that considering the preceding statement is
“Haven’t even heard of most of these people,”

one of the big problems is NO rap.
theres Kanye and Missy, outkast & the roots.. MIA is barely rap.
so 4 maybe five out of 50??
I can think of a few, Ghostface – Fishscale
T.I. – King, Camron – Purplehaze, Common – Be, Young Jeezy – Thug Motivation 101, Jay Z – Black Album, Dizzee Rascal – Boy in the corner, Madvillain – Madvillainy, El-P – Fantastic Damage, Mr. Lif – I Phantom

… yep I really kinda feel its missing some…
I re-iterate… crap.

But at the same time everyone is bitching about how there favorite album/aritst is missing. Few of the the albums are even noticable ecept by fanbois, now really cutting edge, none changing an out look on music.

I give T.I.’s, common’s, Jurrasic 5, dialate peoples, Gorillaz, Scissor sister and Green Day made really good and cutting edge albums for what they are, they shoudl be there

people that list coldplay, well ok basically this list
Coldpay?
Arctic Monkeys?
The Killers?
Jimmy Eat World?
Eyedea?
Sage Francis?
The Faint?
Scisor Sisters?
Common?
Talib?
John Legend?
Weezer?
DJ Shadow?
Eminem?
Pherell?
Luda?

most of the albums are crap that are listed, Talib will never be an essential album no matter how good he is, the faint album was comlpete crap, killers although good is nothing more than synth rock,l eminem only cause he is white, there are so many better white rappers than him, and nothing he does is so amazing, mostly really irritating and sound the same

So ahh…where’s the torrent?

Harp’s an alt-countryish mag which explains many of the choices. Springsteen’s ‘The Rising’ clearly overlooked.

You missed probably the greatest band to come around since Pink Floyd which would be Tool.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . . What about Radiohead ? ?

My music folder on my hard disk is up to about 90Gb now, and I don’t have any music from any of these artists.

The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Say Anything – Is a Real Boy

these two records should be in the top ten.

its funny to see so many people take this shit so seriously…everytime a list like this is released everyone gets there panties all knotted up.

Scary how many of the artists mentioned had better times before 2001 rather than after it. Hasn’t *anything* new appeared since 2000 or are we still rehashing the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s? Again, and again, and again, and…

61. CDS. spot on.

Wot no Ninjatune? No Chillout/Trip-hop/Downbeat/Acid Jazz? Where’s Blackalicious and Atmosphere? At least somebody up there mentioned DJ Shadow and Madvillain.

Here’s just one essential album post 2001. “Man with a Movie Camera”, Cinematic Orchestra.

@ #26 – arcade fire is a studio band

I saw them play Coachella last year and they literally stole the festival. Many people agreed. Had that monster crowd eating out of the palms of their hands.

Maybe you saw an off show or I saw an on, but they weren’t a studio band that day.

Essential to who? If Nomeansno isn’t on the list, it’s not worth looking at.

I’d like to thank Jack Black for so perfectly capturing the top 50 critics/posters above in “High Fidelity”. I love the “you’re an asshole for even putting together such a list”, “you’re a dick for omitting an album that changed my life” mentality (10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 32).

Pretty decent list, by my reckoning, although I definitely have some albums on high-rotation, which may not be revolutionary, that were cut (Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Walkmen, Stars, Pete Yorn, Killers-Hot Fuss, Sounds, Broken Social Scene, Arctic Monkeys, the Bravery, Spoon). The Streets should have made it.

Your subjective opinions are wrong and make you a terrible person. My musical tastes are the only valid ones.

look at pitchfork’s best albums of the year list over the past three years. take top 10 albums. put on your site. arcade fire at the top? really?

where’s phoenix? some good picks on here, but terribly predictable. M. Ward hurts too.

No Tool? One of the most influential bands of our generation? Lateralus should be in there for sure. The music industry and the mainstream crap is disgusting.

Modest Mouse.

It’s comments make this a great list.

What? “Get Behind Me Satan” ranked better than “Elephant”?

I suppose it speaks of how old and useless I am, but I don’t own a single one of these CDs. I have bought exactly one non-gospel/non-jazz CD in the last one year. And that was 4th Avenue Jones.

I guess it could be worse. At least I’ve heard of some of the people on this list.

Barring M.I.A.’s Arular, there is not a single mention of electronic music. Arular is barely electronic. It is a melange of genres that resists easy classification. For that reason, I agree with its inclusion. Notably, where is Squarepusher’s Ultravisitor, that strange mix of jazz and electronic that defies description? Where is Shpongle, twisting the boundaries of world music and psychedelia? Or for that matter, what about electroclash? There’s a genre that’s brand-spanking new, cutting edge, and shunned entirely.

This list is very biased against non-lyrical music. Poduction skills are being devised, tested, and proven in non-lyrical music. Genres are being blended like a fine coffee. Nonetheless, many seem to think it is fine to completely disregard music that simply lacks lyrics. It is truly a shame that people are so shortsighted that they overlook such a broad category of music.

music sucks anyways they should have made a 50 esseential fuckups of the bush administration since 2001. at least there would be more agreement on the content of that.

This is a stupid thing to argue. YOU’LL NEVER AGREE WITH A TOP ____ ALBUMS LIST UNLESS IT IS YOUR OWN!!!!! STOP CRYING ABOUT IT….

…but…

And any list of top albums since 2001 that does not include Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a sin against all common decency. Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the best album of 2004, and the best rock album of the new millenium.

“most important”? are you kidding?

this list is a cliche of all that’s wrong with music today. it’s hipster-wannabee-earnest crap. almost every single one.

good job not deviating from the mainstream. at all.

Sleater-fucking-Kinney? for those of us over 30 that grew up in the Northwest having to listen to them, they’re screeching self-indulgent nonsense.

“most important”? are you kidding?

this list is a cliche of all that’s wrong with music today. it’s hipster-wannabee-earnest crap. almost every single one.

good job not deviating from the mainstream. at all.

Sleater-fucking-Kinney? for those of us over 30 that grew up in the Northwest having to listen to them, they’re screeching self-indulgent nonsense.

no heart, no soul, no message in any of the above, just corporate approved noise coming soon to an elevator near you

I HATE lists…and as an ancient music junkie (EXTREME Elvis Costello and Clash fan) I am offended they are added to this list just to be on it. I like Delivery Man, but it is NOT an essential album as far as EC’s catalog is concerned. Same for the Joe Strummer thing. This is just to add some kind of iconic cred to this lame list.

Certainly Spoon,Sufjan Destroyer, Cat Power should be on list list (disclaimer: I work with all those artists), but I would definitely add Arctic Monkeys, Jenny Lewis (I love that record, haters), White Stripes Elephant (their best),Radiohead, Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Beck, The Dears, His Name is Alive, Rufus Wainright, Seu George, Feist and SO many others.

I DO agree with New Pornographers Electric Version (a fave of mine).

WTF is up with this pointless list? how is ANY of this music “essential”? it’s not like any of the bands on this list are even on the same caliber as the beatles, jimi hendrix, and all others that came before them that kicked their collective asses looooong before their parents even thought of giving birth to them. as a couple of people have said, what about coldplay? what about, oh I dunno, U2? or how about dave matthews? what the hell happened to listing artists that do music that can be listened to loooooong after they are gone? i honestly can’t say that i would even BEGIN to listen to any of the bands on that list, and that is mainly because i don’t listen to crap when it comes to music. and throwing bob dylan in the mix isn’t going to make me want to listen to the other “artists” on it, especially sure as hell not kanye “bitch ass” west. that guy is one hell of a freakin’ whiner. as others have said before, lists like this are totally pointless, because there are those of us out there in internetland that DO know what good music is, and the majority of the bands on this list are not good enough to be on an “essential music” list. at best, they’re average.

wheres muse??

Essentially disposable. Harp magazine’s use of “most” is almost meaningless when coupled with “essential”. Aside from the absence of non-pop/rockschlock/rap and non-English language works, a “most essential” list which ignores Richmond Fontaine, The Jayhawks, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Thea Gilmore,James Blood Ulmer and Connie Lingus is provincial, addled and contingent.

are you kidding? this list sucks … none of my personal favorites are on here … and I am positive that my favorites will match those of everyone elses favorites, so they should totally be on there… why aren’t they on there? I’m so mad, this list is stupid… my list rocks it’s full of totally less obvious bands like Coldplay, Jay-z, U2, and a plethora of other bands that are hip…

props to the person who said Rufus W. and Regina Spektor…

…sigh…

P.S …just because an artist released an album prior to 2001 does and should not make it eligible for this list so before you go saying “what about Weezer? What about this White Stripes? What about Green Day? … just because these people are still regretfully making music, that does not make them an automatic on the list … and nor should it …

but don’t get me wrong I think this list is terrible hah

“no heart, no soul, no message in any of the above, just corporate approved noise coming soon to an elevator near you”

How is this list corporate approved? How many of these artists listed actually gets played on the radio?

considering that you can never be even 75% in agreement with one of these lists, i actually think this is a good one. obviously there are things left out: spoon, cursive, trail of dead, sigur ros, radiohead, idlewild (most people will not agree with me here), etc. but all in all it’s a good list. then again, i own 2/3 of this list, most of them being in the top 25 here. oh well, it’s not really worth any harsh critiquing, it’s just some dude and his opinions

Out (for sure)-
The Strokes (never could get into these guys)

Brian Wilson (if you’re going to put a 60’s guy up there on reputation, you should have gone all out and went with Scott Walker)

Same goes for Dylan

I think you only need one NP’s album and Twin Cinema does just fine. You could probably also yank A Ghost Is Born, since YHF is so superior.

In (for sure)

Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (should be real close to the top)

Leslie Mayes, nee Feist – Let It Die.

Jay-Z/Danger Mouse – Grey Album
(don’t hold against it all the future piss poor mashups it inspired)

Decemberists?

Sufjan?

If a record released by your “fave” band wasn’t included in the list, well, who cares?

There’s a multitude of records I would deem essential to my own listening. Would I expect others to share the same opinion? No, of course not. But their opinions are no less valid.

Relax.

Where is Elliott Smith on this list?

Absolutely pathetic list! So many bland, obvious choices in there, complete lack of variety, whole genres of music overlooked.

No point saying what I think should be in there, but there could have been more of an effort to make this list a bit more eclectic. Do we really need THREE White Stripes albums on there? About half the albums are dire, blandrock.

Lame.

okay. well my Number 1 albumn would have been 100 Broken Windows , Idlewild. Where is that?