Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
The Dandy Warhols
2000 [Capitol]

With Thirteen Tales Portland's the Dandy Warhols hit the perfect groove that allowed them to remain alternative while toying with the mainstream. Repetitively named frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor struts his influences with pride, the most obvious reference point being Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground. Terrifically trashy.

Kid A
Radiohead
2000 [Parlophone/Capitol]

After the mega-success of OK Computer (1997) Radiohead managed to polarise critical opinion and alienate many of their fans by taking a left-turn deep into avant-garde electronica. With hardly a guitar in sight the band does techno with intelligence and, somewhat surprisingly, turns it into a commercial winner. An all-time classic mindbender.

B.R.M.C.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
2001 [Virgin]

Difficult to categorise San Francisco outfit now based in LA. There are elements of white noise, garage, 'shoegazing', space rock, blues and post-punk. Regardless, it's all done with a level of creativity that has these guys in the upper echelons of their stylistic influences. Perhaps 'Whatever Happened to My Rock n Roll (Punk Song)' says it all.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
2002 [Nonesuch]

With their label disinterested Wilco organised a get-out deal and streamed this album to the world. The rest, as they say, is history… the great irony being that the record was picked up by another Warner subsidiary. With little evidence of their alt-country background, the album is a sonic pop delight that stands up to repeated listenings.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
2002 [Warner]

With The Soft Bulletin (1999) this outstanding band had made a noticeable move towards the mainstream without ever compromising their artistic integrity. It all came to full fruition with Yoshimi, as the group showed they could pull off a combination of computers and electronica that could please critics and fans alike.

Now Here Is Nowhere
Secret Machines
2004 [Reprise]

With a punk heritage, this Dallas trio specialises in combining the history of psychedelia into a pleasing pop pastiche. Although describing themselves as practitioners of 'space rock', there is way too much blistering psych guitar work here to ever fit in with the ozoners. Unfortunately, the follow-up Ten Silver Drops was a disappointment.

Astronomy for Dogs
The Aliens
2007 [EMI]

Rising from the ashes of the trip-hopping Beta Band, the Aliens play an evocative style of pop psych that finds its roots firmly in the 60s. The standout track here is the magnificent 'I Am the Unknown', but there is plenty to like about the rest of the palette. The band occasionally struggles with frontman Gordon Anderson's poor health.

Oracular Spectacular
MGMT
2008 [Red Ink]

With Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev producer Dave Fridmann on board this band had a handy head start, with Oracular Spectacular debuting to a wave of critical fanfare. The music is a modern blend of psychedelia and electronica accentuated by some clever lyrical content courtesy of the Ben Goldwasser/Andrew Van Wyngarden songwriting team.