Dr. Dre 2001: I think this one kind of speaks for itself. If you don’t know Dre, you are lost and alone in the world. I consider this the best hip hop album since the Chronic and probably will be until he finally drops Detox.

Missy Elliott Under Construction: This album is packed with party jams. This is dance hip hop. Looking back at groups like Run DMC, JJ Fad, MC Lyte and electro influences she digs into some of my favorite material.

M.I.A. Kala: The beats on this album make me want to puke with joy. When the beat in “Bamboo Banga” finally drops, that might be my current favorite musical moment.

Gary Wilson Mary Had Brown Hair: Gary Wilson gets freaky. I love that this album sounds like it could have been something he recorded in the ’80s. I mean “6.4 = Make Out”? That is gold.

Quad Muth Selfsleeving Driftlimb: The first time I heard Quad Muth I was really upset because they were breaking up, and they were playing music I thought had only existed in my mind. Their disjointed garble of “bleaummghelhg eeakk ahkkkko okkk okkk mareug” that is totally danceable set up the framework of a Minneapolis music culture that would understand that noisy doesn’t equal boring.

[This list was compiled by Jason Powers of the Minneapolis-based band Slapping Purses]

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Also: More from Culture Bully’s Best of the Decade