Jeff Weiss

5. Dungen-Tio Bitar Dungen did not tour this record in America. This is because the band's mastermind, Gustav Estjes was rumored to be alone in the snowy Swedish hinterlands, ingesting enough hallucinogens to give Hunter S. Thompson pause, and trying to untangle the beautiful mess of sounds stampeding inside his......

10. Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Sasha Frere-Jones is a joke and Spoon can prove it. I mean, if all I had to judge indie rock on was the Arcade Fire and the Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens (all acts I like), maybe I might come up with something as hackish......

15. The White Stripes-Icky Thump Icky Thump is the sound of Jack White remembering how to have fun again. Get Behind Me Satan was cool and all but let's get real, no one really wanted to hear melancholy piano ballads and acoustic love-lorn laments that may or may not have......

20. Jens Lekman-Night Falls Over Kortedala On first listen, Jens Lekman reminds you of Morrissey. Like the ex-Smith's frontman, the 26-year old Swede's got a rich baritone warble, a sly wit and a penchant for moony-eyed romanticism. But that's where the similarities stop. Lekman's the sort who'd write a song......

25. Wu-Tang Clan-8 Diagrams 8 Diagrams is east coast hardcore rap that doesn't sound like it was made on the east coast. It was recorded in LA but it doesn't sound like LA either. considering it isn't loud, it isn't flashy, and it certainly couldn't soundtrack a barbeque unless Jim......

30. Jay-Z -American Gangster Is American Gangster that good or was Kingdom Come that mediocre? They're suprisingly surprisingly similar when you think about it--a handful of absolutely great songs coupled with some average tracks (by Jay-Z standards). But it's undeniably more exciting to hear mediocre songs in the vein of......

35. Wilco-Sky Blue Sky When music critics scoff that Wilco are "dad-rock," they're absolutely right. Sort of. My dad only listens to sports radio and Israeli gypsy pop, a genre that sounds like a hybrid between Gogol Bordello and a cat slaughterhouse. Wilco are actually my mom's favorite band. She's......

40. The Twilight Sad-Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters Take note Bloc Party. This is how you do histrionic, nostalgic and bombastic arena rock for indie kids without coming off like total fucking pussies. A Weekend in the City wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either, and by the end of......