out of curiosity, I used Henrik's method to see what the best album artists of the past 20 years were. I was curious to see how Bob Dylan, U2, R.E.M., Sonic Youth and other artists who had high ranking album runs prior to 1991 scored:


Top album artists 1991-2009:

01. Radiohead- 9.28268466
02. Nirvana- 10.4910681
03. Beck- 10.8011024
04. PJ Harvey- 10.9073561
05. Bjork- 10.9161968
06. Wilco- 10.9741284
07. R.E.M.- 11.0438177
08. Massive Attack- 11.189543
09. Blur- 11.2583052
10. Pavement- 11.3182092
11. The White Stripes- 11.3463374
12. Portishead- 11.3507972
13. Bob Dylan- 11.379331
14. Oasis- 11.3897612
15. The Flaming Lips- 11.4393804
16. OutKast- 11.4450745
17. Arcade Fire- 11.4519113
18. Animal Collective- 11.4932499
19. Pearl Jam- 11.5371096
20. Nick Cave- 11.5534664

as you see, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan still come out very strong based on their last 20 years worth of output, despite it being veiwed as inferior to their previous runs. Nick Cave drops very little, but lost ground based on his 3rd and 4th highest albums.

U2, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and others come in the top 30-40.

Cool thread. This is gonna be tough, but here we go:

1. Radiohead
2. The Cure (my favorite band. I really love Wish and Bloodflowers, and b-sides from this era are some of my favorite songs ever)
3. Autechre
4. Elliott Smith
5. Sigur Ros
6. Sonic Youth
7. Belle & Sebastian
8. Portishead
9. Teenage Fanclub
10. Fugazi
11. Reigning Sound
12. PJ Harvey
13. Deerhoof
14. Yo La Tengo
15. Animal Collective
16. Bjork
17. Thrice
18. Modest Mouse
19. Mogwai
20. The National

I'll be pretty impressed if everyone can hold in their anger at my #1:

1. Dave Matthews Band
2. Arcade Fire
3. Radiohead
4. Belle & Sebastian
5. Lupe Fiasco
6. Jay-Z
7. Kanye West
8. Spoon
9. Free Energy
10. Luna
11. The Shins
12. Wilco
13. Milkman
14. J. Cole
15. The Strokes
16. Super Mash Bros.
17. Fleet Foxes
18. Pavement
19. Beck
20. LCD Soundsystem

I wouldn't place DMB at number 1, but I do appreciate many of their songs.

I am not so familiar with the following performers from your list:
9. Free Energy
10. Luna
13. Milkman
14. J. Cole
16. Super Mash Bros.

Perhaps you recommend a song or two for each of these performers for the uninitiated to enjoy.

My favorite Free Energy song is probably Wild Winds, general consensus is probably Bang Pop. They put out their debut album last year, but it's in my top five or ten all-time so I had to put them high.
Luna is the band that Dean Wareham started after Galaxie 500 folded. Try out California (All the Way) or Buffalo Boots.
J. Cole is a rapper who's put out three really, really strong mixtapes over the past few years. Lights Please and Home for the Holidays are probably his best, and Who Dat is the lead single for his next album.
Milkman and Super Mash Bros. are mashup artists in the vein of Girl Talk. I'll go with Let's Go for Milkman and Meet Me at Fantasy Island for Super Mash Bros. You can get most of their music for free at their websites.

I had a huge DMB phase a couple years ago and I suspect I'm still in the process of growing out of it.

1. Radiohead
2. Nirvana
3. Pearl Jam
4. Blur
5. Beck
6. Smashing Pumpkins
7. The Arcade Fire
8. Pulp
9. REM
10. Animal Collective
11. Wilco
12. Sigur Ros
13. Pavement
14. PJ Harvey
15. Belle and Sebastian
16. Elliot Smith
17. Spiritualized
18. The Verve
19. U2
20. Flaming Lips

1- Grizzly Bear
2- The Velvet underground
3- Sufjan Stevens
4- Radiohead
5- Bill Callahan
6- Animal Collective
7- Tortoise
8- PJ Harvey
9- Deerhunter
10- Elliot Smith
11- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
12- New Order
13- Arcade Fire
14- Nirvana
15- TV On The Radio
16-Joanna Newsom
17- LCD Soundsystem
18- Flaming Lips
19- Women
20- Pavement
21- Beck
22- Sonic Youth
23- Wilco
24- Yo La Tengo
25- Beach House

1. Tindersticks
2. Radiohead
3. Soul Coughing
4. Four Tet
5. Sufjan Stevens
6. Swell
7. Portishead
8. Pavement
9. PJ Harvey
10. The Beta Band
11. Björk
12. Nick Cave
13. Tarwater
14. Miossec
15. The Fall
16. Alain Bashung
17. Nirvana
18. TV on the Radio
19. The Knife
20. Noir Désir

1. newsboys
2. Radiohead
3. Arcade Fire
4. U2
5. Coldplay
6. Paul McCartney
7. The White Stripes
8. Oasis
9. Kanye West
10. dc Talk
11. Moby
12. Beck
13. Jars of Clay
14. Sloan
15. R.E.M.
16. Red Hot Chili Peppers
17. Nirvana
18. Gorillaz
19. Green Day
20. Eminem

Honorable Mentions:
Lily Allen
Antony & The Johnsons
Audio Adrenaline
Barenaked Ladies
Belle & Sebastian
Blur
Björk
The Cranberries
Sheryl Crow
George Harrison (only one album, but I love it)
MGMT
Mika
Alanis Morissette
No Doubt
Sixpence None the Richer
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Strokes
Switchfoot
tobyMac