Almost went with Sonic Youth (I like their later period stuff) or Tom Waits (even if it is a junkshop collection), but in the end it’s Neko Case for me.
There’s a lot of very good albums in there, but as much as I love Neko case, I’m going with Arctic Monkeys. Their 2nd album wasn’t as good and I kind of stopped paying attention, but Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is genuinely great all the way through.
Fox Confessor is my favorite Neko Case album, so I’ll go with that. The Gnarls Barkley album would be a close second for me.
To almost quote the OP, “I almost went with Sonic Youth (I like their later period stuff) or Tom Waits (even if it is a junkshop collection),” but in the end it’s the Decemberists for me. (I also considered Joanna Newsom.)
Decemberists for me. Bell & Sebastian would have been my alternate choice.