2. The Moon & Antarctica (2000)

If Modest Mouse’s move to major label Epic caused panic among the Modest Mouse faithful (by now, a sizeable army), the resulting album quickly put any misplaced ‘sellout’ fears to rest. Though The Moon & Antarctica is hardly business as usual, it finds the band not making the expected concessions and compromises, but growing stranger and more indulgent. The album is the sound of a band taking full advantage of the increased recording budget to widen their sonic landscape, making these dense songs about planets and frosty wildernesses seem all the more starry and vast. Despite hiring a decidedly indie producer in Red Red Meat’s Brian Deck, the album practically gushes with the conceptual density of ’70s rock. The well-traveled characters in Brock’s songs have also expanded their scope considerably, explaining on “3rd Planet” that “the universe is shaped exactly like the Earth/ if you go straight long enough you end up where you were,” and wondering on “Stars Are Projectors,” “where do circles begin?” Where songs formerly dealt with deserts, diners, and interstates, on The Moon & Antarctica , Brock has grown downright celestial. “3rd Planet” is one of the band’s absolute best — as far as panoramic opening statements go, it shares qualities with Spiritualized’s similarly spacious “Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space.” Elsewhere, “Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes” is almost Beefheartian in its foolhardy surrealism, while the rustic moaning on “Perfect Disguise” recalls some of Beck’s more compelling songs circa Mellow Gold. With swathes of reverb and lyrics full of the sort of profound non-facts that occur to you on LSD trips (dude … stars are projectors!), The Moon & Antarctica is an almost overwhelming feast of noise and ideas, proving that Kid A was not the only major label album released in 2000 to seriously bring the weird.