By this point, Pitchfork has stated, listed and ranked its preferences so many times that there weren't too many surprises left for the site's Top 200 Albums of the 2000sapparently they're fans of Radiohead, M.I.A. and Animal Collectivebut that doesn't make the list any less of a joy to read; it's as loving a recap of the decade in music as I've seen yet (though no doubt, there will be many more in the coming months). It was also assuring to see that indie-rock's most powerful taste makers haven't turned on the early classic's of this decade, that a black lash never emerged against Radiohead's Kid A or Arcade Fire's Funeral, that Wilco's downward spiral after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot doesn't tarnish that album's greatness, and that Modest Mouse's chilling masterpiece The Moon and Antartica still has the critical support it always deserved.
Of course, some albums have fallen out of favor with the times. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes, despite recieving a perfect 10.0 rating upon release, was burried halfway down the list, behind albums by, uh, Mclusky and 2 Many DJs (yikes); and The Microphones' The Glow Pt. 2, Pitchfork's top album of 2001, wasn't given much love, either.
Most disappointingly, Unwound's epic Leaves Turn Inside Youthe fourth best album of 2001, according to the sitedidn't make the cut at all. That isn't too suprising, since the band broke up shortly after its release and hasn't exactly stayed on the tongue the way Radiohead has, but if there's one site that could actually save Unwound's forgotten masterpiece from the dustbin of history, it's Pitchfork.