Welcome to The Whole Brevity Thing.

Tag, you're it.

Uh oh. What? That's right, listeners. We're gonna have a little blog fun here. Here's what you do, if you're game. You do listen to music, don't you? Most people do. Think back through your iPod and CD collections over the last ten years. Go ahead then, write down a couple of them. Good. Now the goal is to list ten: ten albums you think were the greatest ten albums of the last ten years.

Just to get yourself thinking: were you thrilled by Radiohead's new sound when Kid A came out? Were you skeptical about Justin Timberlake when he went solo? Did you already know about the Roots before Phrenology, or Jay-Z before the first The Blueprint disc? Did Jack and Meg White totally rock your stereo, or was it Queens of the Stone Age, when they streamed Lullabies to Paralyze in its entirety on MySpace back in 2005? Did watching the movie Garden State turn you on to the Shins in time for Chutes Too Narrow? Did you think American Idiot was the best thing that happened in the last ten years, or the worst... or did you totally forget about it? Is Iron & Wine your volume level, or do you prefer System of a Down? How about it, Franz Ferdinand or The Killers? Would you pick Coldplay over Nickelback, or do you think they're both horrible? How about that crush you had when you first heard Norah Jones's Come Away With Me, or Alicia Keys's Songs in A Minor, or Feist's The Reminder?

See? You've gotta have at least ten albums that shaped your last decade. Maybe just one album for each year; the hard part will be limiting it to just ten! Maybe write a little bit about each of your ten favorite albums, if you want, and tell your readers why you think they're good, or why they're your favorites. Post them to your blog, and I'll recommend your post, and give you some credits. I have a ton. Then I'll feature your list on my blog, and we can all read each others' lists.

Remember, a good song doesn't make a good album. Some albums only have one or two good numbers on them. (And the albums should have been released between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009.)

Five years ago The Whole Brevity Thing asked readers what were their favorite albums of all time. The resulting mixture of responses [link] was gratifyingly diverse, though it could have been moreso. Still, It represented one of the strengths of the internet's influence on music: you can like whatever you like without some radio DJ telling you otherwise. That made this decade distinct from all the other decades. Just think, it wasn't that long ago you had a Walkman and iPods didn't exist yet. We've loved so many songs since then!

You're In!

• Make a list, and share it with us. Post it on your blog, let me know, and I'll post it here.
• Recommend this post, and other peoples' lists. We'll have a big blog music party.