# So the two best records of the decade are out. (Magnetic Fields and Mountain Goats)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 21, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396 "2008-01-21T18:35:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396/1 "2008-01-21T18:35:31Z")

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The Magnetic Fields’ _Distortion_ came out last week, and I’m willing to declare it the finest album of this decade thus far. And then the Mountain Goats’ _Heretic Pride_ has leaked, and it’s easily #2 if not tied for #1, the finest record of John Darnielle’s career, which is saying _quite_ a bit.

Has anyone heard either? Thoughts?

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**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396/2 "2008-01-21T18:43:46Z")

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I love _Distortion_. Definitely my favorite thing Merritt has done since 69LS.

Haven’t heard the new Mountain Goats yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I usually fall in love with one or two songs on each of his albums–not that the rest aren’t great, it’s just that one or two stand out.

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**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396/3 "2008-01-21T21:25:12Z")

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I’ve been a big fan of John Darnielle since about 1996’s _Nothing For Juice_. I loved the lo-fi ghetto blaster recordings of the early Mountain Goats, and I have enjoyed the gradual evolution up to _Get Lonely_, but I really really really loved the (fairly) recent _Babylon Springs_ EP. I hope the new one has more songs along the lines of that EP.

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**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-two-best-records-of-the-decade-are-out-magnetic-fields-and-mountain-goats/434396/4 "2008-01-21T23:25:36Z")

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The most acclaimed albums of the decade are  
White Stripes - Elephant  
The Strokes - Is This It

([http://acclaimedmusic.net](http://acclaimedmusic.net))

I have a guess that M.I.A. - Kala might be too, once the lists get in.

If we are being subjective, the best album is Tool - Lateralus.