Most Influential Music Figures of The Past Decade

November 5th, 2009    Posted in Best of 2009

Jack White
The White Stripes/The Raconteurs/The Dead Weather

As if trying to achieve world domination with The White Stripes wasn’t enough, White is out to accomplish the same feat with his other two bands. Although his other two bands have a similar bluesy, hard rock sound found in the Stripes, they take that sound to the next level by having more than just the one-two punch of guitar and drums. The Raconteurs features Brendan Benson (who is  also making quite a name for himself) and Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes, who are one of the best things musically to ever come out of the Cincinnati area. Lawrence joins White for the newer project, The Dead Weather, which also features Alison Mosshart of The Kills and Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age. In this supergroup though, White often plays drums, as opposed to the usual distorted and reverb-soaked guitar solos.

Thom Yorke
Radiohead

There’s not many alternative rock bands from the nineties that can say they’re even bigger now than they were ten, fifteen years ago, but Radiohead is undoubtedly the biggest and most beloved of the group. Radiohead hasn’t released a lot of material the past few years, but they kicked off the 21st century with what would become one of the greatest albums in rock history, Kid A. And of course there was the controversial “pay what you want” for their last album, In Rainbows, a couple years back. It actually worked out quite well for the band, as their fans proved to be rather generous. Yorke has also done the solo thing, with the release of his more electro-fueled disc, The Eraser, back in 2006.

Andre 3000
OutKast

Here’s another guy who was also pretty popular in the nineties, but has continued to climb the latter, despite having only a few releases of the 2000’s. He’s also lending his hand to television and film, as well as the creation of his own clothing line, and leading a sober lifestyle. OutKast is one of the few hip-hop groups I can actually stand, and Andre is one of the few rappers I can actually admit to having some form of respect for, unlike some people named Kanye who think they are even bigger than God.

Damon Albarn
Blur/Gorillaz/The Good, the Bad & the Queen

London’s alternative rock band, Blur, rose to fame and hit its peak in the nineties, while Gorillaz achieved success quicker in the early 2000’s, and more recently, Albarn’s musical project has been The Good, the Bad & the Queen, which formed in the mid-00’s. But Albarn is also quite the record producer, by lending his skills to World music and artists like Manu Chao and Amadou & Mariam.  

Danger Mouse
Gnarls Barkley

Danger Mouse (Brian Joseph Burton) first rose to fame with The Grey album, a mash-up of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and The Beatles White Album. He formed Gnarls Barkley in 2003 with Cee-Lo, and is also quite the producer, working with bands like Gorillaz, The Black Keys and Beck, as well as collaborating with MF DOOM and Sparklehorse.

Moby

Here’s another guy who rose to fame in the nineties, but has continued to get even bigger, by kicking off the 21st century with the album 18, which hit #1 in the UK and #4 in the US. He is viewed as one of the most important dance music figures by bringing together mainstream audiences both in the UK and US. Moby has remixed and collaborated with a number of artists including Lou Reed, David Bowie, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and Ken Thomas of Sigur Ros. He also a noted advocate for a number of causes such as MoveOn and the Humane Society.

Elliott Smith
(1969-2003)

As one of indie folk-rock’s first and finest singer/songwriter’s, Smith was never the type seeking out the limelight, although he would find mainstream success with his song “Miss Misery” in the film, Good Will Hunting. Most of his music came in the nineties, as he only had one release in the 21st century, before taking his life in 2003 at the age of thirty-four. But there has since been two post-humous releases, 2004’s From a Basement on the Hill (which he had already started working on) and 2007’s New Moon, which featured twenty-four previously unreleased songs. Think of him as what Kurt Cobain was to grunge and alternative rock. A sad and tragic ending for a man with an exceptional talent.

 

Ryan Adams
Whiskeytown/The Cardinals

In the nineties with Whiskeytown, Adams became an integral part as one of alternative country’s most influential and successful bands, despite not having a consistent band lineup. The 21st century was full of all kind of Ryan Adams albums, whether they be solo or with his backing band, the Cardinals. He has been known for his occasional dramatic outbursts during shows, as well as the loss of hearing he has been undergoing for the past several years due to over exposure to loud music when he was younger. After the Cardinals completed a tour earlier this year, they went on hiatus, as everyone, especially Ryan, felt it was necessary to take some time to do their own thing. Ryan recently married pop star Mandy Moore, and has released a few songs under his black metal moniker, Werewolph.

Conor Oberst
Bright Eyes/The Mystic Valley Band/Monsters of Folk

What Elliott Smith was in the nineties, Oberst has become that of the 21st century. Conor has played in nearly ten different bands, but is best known for his years in Bright Eyes and devotion to Saddle Creek Records and Omaha’s indie music scene. Although the Bright Eyes project formed in the mid-90’s, it wasn’t until their 2002 release, Lifted or the Story…, when they started receiving high praises. Bright Eyes went on to release three more albums, all of which received high praises, before he would drop the name Bright Eyes, concentrating on his solo material and his work with the Mystic Valley Band. His most recent project, Monsters of Folk, dates back several years and features his musician friends like Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis, M. Ward, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket (see below).

Jim James (aka Yim Yames)
My Morning Jacket/Monsters of Folk

Being a Kentucky native, I can’t help but feel proud to know that Jim James and My Morning Jacket are from Louisville. My Morning Jacket has done a lot of genre-crossing since the late 90’s; from quiet, Americana folk-rock, to psychedelic, jamband rock, to elements of hard rock and metal, even expanding to the sounds of reggae, dub, R&B and dance, Jim James and My Morning Jacket have found the perfect concoction of nearly every style of music, which is creating one of the most devoted fanbases of the 21st century by bringing together music fans of all walks of life. His most recent project, Monsters of Folk, is seen as one of the greatest supergroups since Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.