Hey everyone!

We are the AIRHeads authoring group, consisting of: Yaniv, jphn, Kamotch, Bat Ramps, TheOreo, EdTanguy and BornGamerRob. And we are delighted to announce the first release of the mega-project we’ve been working on for the past year!

It all started when Yaniv and jphn started working on a sequel to this previous project. While the original pack has covered indie and alternative artists from the 70’s to the 90’s, the sequel would cover the year 2000 onwards. Quickly, this project has grown out of control, with more and more authors joining, more songs authored, a new authoring group formed, until it became the mammoth you see here today, which will see more than 120 (!) songs released in this project!

So, AIRHeads proudly presents: Indie of the 21st Century!

This mega-project will be released in three parts in chronological order. All three will be released during Chart-a-thon. This is part one, and it will cover the years 2000-2006.

The only rule: one song per artist!

We have a lot of music ahead, so year by year, let’s go!

Year: 2000

We start with the first year of the new millennium, and we’ve got some great tracks for you to kick off! Go to a “Pool Party” with the Aquabats, in this upbeat and fun ska-punk tune! Or get nostalgic for a youth “Weekend” with the slick synth-pop group Black Box Recorder. Rock out with indie certified legend PJ Harvey and her raucous “Good Fortune”, rock out in an even noisier way with noise-rock cult band Shellac and their “Prayer to God”, or go the slower (and still noisy) route with Duster’s short and sweet “Me and the Birds”.

Year: 2001

Leading the lineup for 2001 are the legendary Radiohead, with single “Knives Out” from their classic “Amnesiac”. If you wanna rock out, there’s plenty of options – the very high tempo “Parallel or Together” from the great Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, genius math-rock of the Dismemberment Plan with the “Following Through”, Pavement frontman and indie hero Stephen Malkus with an absolute banger in “Jo Jo’s Jacket”, experimental dance-punkers Liars with the great “Mr Your on Fire Mr”. Elsewhere, the great Spoon brings their classic and charming “Everything Hits at Once”, while PJ Harvey makes her second (and counting) appearance in this pack, guesting with the Sparklehorse (led by the late great Mark Linkous) on their phenomenal “Piano Fire”.

Year: 2002

Another great year for alternative rock and another great 5 songs awaits. On the noise front, noise-rock newcomers mclusky bring the brilliant “Day of the Deadringers”, while noise-rock veterans Sonic Youth with their great “Karen Revisited” (and without the 8 minute noise outro). On the more traditional rock front – London indie rockers The Libertines have taken the indie world by storm, and we bring you their classic “Time for Heroes”, while the infamous Weezer – maybe past their prime, but can still rock out – bring the groovy and fun “Burndt Jamb” with some epic guitars. On the ballad front, New York newcomers The Walkmen – currently enjoying a successful reunion tour – with one of the finest indie ballads of the era, “We’ve Been Had”, complete with some nice honky tonk piano.

Year: 2003

This year brings us an eclectic mix of songs! The beloved Death Cab for Cutie rocks out with “The Sound of Settling”, from their masterpiece “Transatlanticism”. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cat Power brings the great “He War”, with no other than Dave Grohl on drums. Latin/American outfit Calexico make their Rock Band debut with their immigration ballad “Across the Wire”. Gothic husband and wife duo The Handsome Family brings their beautiful “Far From Any Road”, which – 11 years after release – will be used as the opening track of “True Detective” and become a major hit. And if you just wanna rock out – The Exploding Hearts brings some old-school punk in the brilliant “I’m a Pretender”,  from their brilliant first and last album, as the band would disband in tragic circumstances just 3 months after release.

Year: 2004

A busy year ahead! Some classic alternative figures bring some great tunes to this pack. Legends The Cure with “Us or Them”, one of the most aggressive songs in their catalog. The Smiths frontman Morrissey brings “Let Me Kiss You”, a love song mixed with his signature style of self-loathing and dark humor. While the legendary Tom Waits brings the beautiful tragic ballad “Dead and Lovely”, with some amazing guitar playing by Marc Ribot.
On the younger front, some new hot indie bands emerge – Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand rock out with “Michael” from their debut album, Bloc Party – yet to release an album at this point – bring “Skeleton” from their early EPs, while another debut album – from The Zutons – bring their melodic and charming “Havana Gang Brawl”.
Elsewhere, punk rock outfit Reigning Band bring a punk ballad with an epic chorus called “Funny Thing”, Canadian band Stars brings a lovely and emotional breakup duet with “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”, renowned and well known weirdos They Might Be Giant do their thing with the excellent “Experimental Film”, while grunge veteran Mark Lanegan brings the powerful “Hit the City”, featuring – once again – PJ Harvey on backing vocals.

Year: 2005

Moving up to 2005, more indie bands emerge! Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, with their debut album and their Rock Band debut, “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth”, while Kaiser Chiefs show up with their hit-filled debut album, here represented by “Modern Way”, and Team Sleep – electronic/shoegaze influenced side project of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno –  release their debut (and only) album, and the great “Ever (Foreign Flag)” which is authored here.

In the more established front, synth pop legends Depeche Mode bring “Precious”, one of the most beloved tunes of their later years. Ex-britpop (Longpigs and Pulp) crooner Richard Hawley release his soulful “Coles Corner” with the beautiful and romantic “Hotel Room”, and The Mountain Goats – led by songwriter John Darnielle, known for his witty and cryptic lyrics – bring the weirdly-optimistic “This Year”.

Year: 2006

Last year for part one and another eclectic mix! The debut album from Canadian band Islands brings the groovy “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby”, Australian outfit Eskimo Joe brings “Black Fingernails, Red Wine” with a rousing chorus, Scottish chamber pop classic band Belle & Sebastian with the smooth “The Blues are Still Blue”, while Razorlight brings a tight drums and bass groove in their classic jam “In the Morning”.
In weirdo corner, punk-cabaret piano/drums duo The Dresden Dolls, led by the brilliant Amanda Palmer, brings the entertaining and slightly-insane “My Alcoholic Friends”, while New Zealand born gothic rockers The Veils are represented with “Calliope!”.
Finally, we close this pack on two major indie names: Placebo with the title track of their album “Meds” featuring Alison Mosshar (of ​​The Kills and The Dead Weather), and finally, The Strokes – one of the biggest names in indie rock – with the fan favorite “Vision of Division”.

Phew… so that’s it for today! Overall, that was 44 magnificent songs done by our crew. If you’ve got some listening to do, you can check them (well, almost all of them) in this Spotify playlist:

And remember, this is just part one out of three! Stay tuned for the next part, covering 2007-2016, which will arrive in the coming days. And enjoy the songs!

Next up, our very own Bat Ramps with a great pack from great alternative legends!