To end another wonderful decade of great music, I’m going to write about ten albums from each of the last ten years, that are either great, or hold some sort of personal significance. A musical kiss off to 00s.

2004 – #6. Wilco – A Ghost Is Born
(Nonesuch)

With some years passed, it’s easier to see the faults on A Ghost Is Born. At the time, coming off the brilliant Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco could do no wrong.

It is here that the guitar noodling really starts for Wilco. And in many ways, the next two albums have been variations on this one. On this very long album, they pushed the boundaries of what Wilco could be. Sadly, they have stayed well within that boundary ever since.

That aside – there are many Wilco classics on here. Handshake Drugs, Theologians, Late Greats, At Least That’s What You Said… to name a few. It’s an album that still looms large in a current Wilco setlist.

Oddly, for one of my favourite bands, I am personally quite unconnected with this album. I used YHF like an old pair of jeans – I wore them often, they lived my life with me. This one didn’t have that for me.

So why is this record on the list? Well, because it’s still a very great record. And I have odd relationships with favourite artists, and their not-so-favourite albums. I still love them, I still know them inside out, but they are not everything I know they can be.

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