When I see the swan, my eye drifts past its beak to those pillowy white feathers, recalling the plushness and warmth of a down comforter. Despite her reputation for flamboyance and silliness, the Icelandic empress achieved a shocking level of intimacy and tenderness with this folktronica gem. Forget the collective shriek of a thousand red-carpet fashion know-it-alls. And what a great time to be covering it all.Įven though its slender white neck figures into Vespertine’s cover artwork, forget about the swan-dress sideshow for just one moment. What a great time to be a fan of thoughtful, engaging and original entertainment.

More than trying to create a canon for the ’00s (that’d be so last millennium), we’re just hoping you use these lists to reflect on some of the artists who shaped your decade and discover others that will change how you look at the next. We’ll be bringing you each of the resulting lists, plus the best comedians, best documentaries, best movie soundtracks, best album covers and more throughout the month of November. We had dozens of critics vote for the best new albums, movies, TV shows games and books, and then we argued some more until we’d focused our spotlight onto the very best pop culture created during the aughts-whether it was wildly popular or is still waiting to be discovered by the masses.

There hasn’t been a new album Paste has covered that wasn’t eligible for our “Best of the Decade” consideration. So looking back over the first 10 years of the 2000s feels like looking back over our own history. When this decade began, the Paste website was barely a year old, and the magazine was still a twinkle in its daddies’ eyes.

Best metal albums of 2000s