Top bands of the 00's

Liars: Basically, they owned the decade. Their first album both started and finished off an entire genre (dancepunk), then they put out three more albums, two of which will be influential for years. A fifth album (which is completely MASSIVE) is also coming out just a few weeks into 2010. They've been totally inscrutable - it took me a couple weeks to figure out They Threw Us All in a Trench, but four years to figure out They Were Wrong...

Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall Into The River, Just Like That [They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top, 2001]

Broadcast: I may have listened to Broadcast more than anyone else. Tender Buttons in particular really grew on me - my pick for "most underrated album of the decade."

Broadcast - Corporeal [Tender Buttons, 2005]

Akron/Family: The most exciting band of the decade, and they're still getting better.

Akron/Family - Dylan Part II [Akron/Family and Angels of Light, 2005]

MF DOOM: Operation: Doomsday! was 1999 but Madvillainy and tons of other solid albums/projects (MM..Food? was ignored for some reason) are more than enough to put DOOM here.

MF DOOM - Hoe Cakes [MM..Food?, 2004]

Tom Ze: On this list for Estudando o Pagode. It seems appropriate to make blustery proclamations here, so: best album of the decade.

Tom Ze - Mulher Navio Negreiro [Estudando o Pagode, 2005]

The Fall: I think the 90's weren't very kind to The Fall but they put out three really good albums in the 00's - Real New Fall LP, Fall Heads Roll, and Reformation TLC.

The Fall - What About Us [Fall Heads Roll, 2005]

British Sea Power: their first album is still their best, but despite "getting bigger" their newer albums are still good. A lot of reviewers mentioned Echo and the Bunnymen when they first came out, I think that's still a good comparison considering their popularity/ability to stay somewhat "true" to their music.

British Sea Power - Remember Me [The Decline of British Sea Power, 2003]

Honorable Mention:

Out Hud - real sad they broke up, I'll be first in line to buy tickets for their money-grubbing reunion tour after the hot dance producers of 2040 champion them as pioneers ahead of their time ["How Long"]
Brightblack Morning Light - my favorite hippies of the 00's ["All We Have Broken Shines"]
Count Bass D - so underrated as a producer and rapper it hurts ["Antemeridian"]
Skygreen Leopards - great under the radar California jams ["Belle of the Woodsman's Autumn Ball"]
Mclusky - "Collagen Rock," among others, made Do Dallas an essential... well... college-rock listen ["Collagen Rock"]