Now as another decade ends, there are certain albums from 2010 that seem unfathomably long ago, but more often than not I can’t believe they are that old. The part of me that recalls the aughts ending doesn't at all align with the part that is reflecting on the teens ending now. Time flew by, and it's only now that I realize how short a decade really is.
But I remember all of it, one way or another. This will be the decade I especially remember, the one I "came of age" in, and the one I might turn on the radio to relive in 40 years. For this reason I think it is most worthwhile to reflect on it, not because of what it will say about my favorite albums, but for what they will say about me. I want to document how I experienced these years now, while they are fresh on my mind. My favorites will undoubtedly change. I will listen to things I missed out on. The next ten years will influence how I appreciated the last ten. This is ok, natural even. All that will be captured is a momentary position, with a velocity taking it elsewhere quickly.
 |
100. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) |
 |
99. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (2012) |
 |
98. Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot Flies (2011) |
 |
97. The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth (2012) |
 |
96. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012) |
 |
95. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015) |
 |
94. And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs (2011) |
 |
93. BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation III (2017) |
 |
92. Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface (2017) |
 |
91. Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises (2010) |
 |
90. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. (2017) |
 |
89. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (2016) |
 |
88. Big Thief - Two Hands (2019) |
 |
87. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 (2011) |
 |
86. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 3 (2016) |
 |
85. Jon Hopkins - Singularity (2018) |
 |
84. State Faults - Clairvoyant (2019) |
 |
83. Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered. (2016) |
 |
82. The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011) |
 |
81. The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There (2014) |
 |
80. Jónsi - Go (2010) |
 |
79. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (2010) |
 |
78. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial (2016) |
 |
77. Bomb the Music Industry! - Vacation (2011) |
 |
76. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana (2019) |
 |
75. Death Grips - The Money Store (2012) |
 |
74. Tim Hecker - Virgins (2013) |
 |
73. Home by Hovercraft - Are We Chameleons? (2013) |
 |
72. D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah (2014) |
 |
71. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels (2013) |
 |
70. Okkervil River - Away (2016) |
 |
69. My Bloody Valentine - m b v (2013) |
 |
68. Wilco - Star Wars (2015) |
 |
67. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (2015) |
 |
66. Caribou - Swim (2010) |
 |
65. Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (2018) |
 |
64. John K. Samson - Provincial (2012) |
 |
63. Bomb the Music Industry! - Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited by Nothing!!!!!!! (2010) |
 |
62. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata (2014) |
 |
61. Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest (2013) |
 |
60. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (2010) |
 |
59. Danny Brown - Old (2013) |
 |
58. BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation II (2017) |
 |
57. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (2011) |
 |
56. IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018) |
 |
55. Mae - (e)vening (2010) |
 |
54. Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (2019) |
 |
53. Margo Price - All American Made (2017) |
 |
52. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (2010) |
 |
51. Pusha T - DAYTONA (2018) |
 |
50. The Avalanches - Wildflower (2016) |
 |
49. Women - Public Strain (2010) |
 |
48. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (2012) |
 |
47. Everyone Everywhere - Everyone Everywhere (2010) |
 |
46. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (2019) |
 |
45. mewithoutYou - Ten Stories (2012) |
 |
44. Big Thief - U.F.O.F. (2019) |
 |
43. mewithoutYou - [Untitled] (2018) |
 |
42. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! (2018) |
 |
41. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle (2015) |
 |
40. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever (2013) |
 |
39. The National - High Violet (2010) |
 |
38. Arcade Fire - Reflektor (2013) |
 |
37. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up (2011) |
 |
36. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People (2010) |
 |
35. Ariel Pink - pom pom (2014) |
 |
34. Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (2015) |
 |
33. Crash of Rhinos - Distal (2011) |
 |
32. Grouper - A I A: Alien Observer (2011) |
 |
31. Tyler, The Creator - IGOR (2019) |
 |
30. Joyce Manor - Joyce Manor (2011) |
 |
29. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music (2012) |
 |
28. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011) |
 |
27. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints (2011) |
 |
26. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019) |
 |
25. Origami Angel - Somewhere City (2019) |
 |
24. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain (2011) |
 |
23. Kanye West - Yeezus (2013) |
 |
22. Deafheaven - Sunbather (2013) |
 |
21. Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy (2017) |
 |
20. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010) |
 |
19. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) |
 |
18. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse (2011) |
 |
17. The National - Trouble Will Find Me (2013) |
 |
16. Everyone Everywhere - Everyone Everywhere (2012) |
 |
15. The National - I Am Easy to Find (2019) |
 |
14. Sun Kil Moon / Jesu - Sun Kil Moon / Jesu (2016) |
 |
13. Preoccupations - Viet Cong (2015) |
 |
12. The State Lottery - When the Night Comes (2010) |
 |
11. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (2010) |
10. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
When I heard Ravedeath, 1972 in 2011 I had never listened to ambient music before. It introduced me to a new type of music, and now many years later I still return to it and find myself more amazed than ever before. It is endlessly nuanced yet loose, frigidly cold and deeply morose. In truth, it’s hardly an accurate representation of ambient music at all, especially since much of it was recorded live. The most reasonable comparison is probably avant-garde compositions like The Disintegration Loops in both sound and theme, but it is (comparatively) less conceptual and has intentional “writing”. It would be easy to call Ravedeath droning as well, but it’s really not—once cracked, it is completely riveting.
9. The Men - Leave Home (2011)
Some albums have second winds - this one had like 10 with me. There were hardly any this decade which continuously drew me back like Leave Home, incrementally revealing it always had something else I had grown to love. At the time I first heard it I thought it was "ahead of its time"—in retrospect it isn't at all, and instead is more an amalgamation of everything which came before it. Leave Home is a raw, vicious strike of noise punk, every bit as dramatic as it is dissonant. Few albums inspired me (read: got me hyped) the last ten years like this one.
8. The Brave Little Abacus - Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright (2010)
The holy trinity of Midwest emo albums is Diary, American Football, and Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright. Diary started the first wave, and it all built up to American Football. While Discomfort wasn’t the first emo revival album, it is still the gold standard that no album since has been able to compare. All of the traits that characterize 2010’s emo are here: soft/loud dynamics, self-deprecating yet encouraging lyrics, whiny vocals, spastic song structures, pop culture samples, all packaged together like it was recorded on a $500 budget. It’s exhausting and exhilarating, and no one has done it better since.
7. black midi - Schlagenheim (2019)
Whenever I read anything on Schlagenheim it usually centers around how much potential it shows for Black Midi going forwards. People fixate on how talented they are, how much they love the creativity, the clear influences (but also how unique they sound!), and then they slap it with a 3.5/5 with a note to keep an eye on them going forwards. I am quite perplexed by the “up and coming guitar rock” takes. What more could you want from Black Midi? If this is the best we ever hear from them, then they have already left their mark. There is nothing more to ask, and they have already arrived fully developed. Schlagenheim is as good as almost any of the albums it is compared to, from Deceit to Leaves Turn Inside You to Relationship of Command. If anything I am left wondering if I should have placed it higher.
6. Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves (2012)
In 2018 I spent a lot of time in Europe. I was traveling for work, which as it turns out can be a very lonely thing to do. In the time leading up to recording Among the Leaves, Mark Kozelek was also traveling about Europe for work, albeit in a different capacity, but he also was very lonely. This is the subject matter which is typical of Among the Leaves, his first album to depart from the early Sun Kil Moon indie folk style towards more personal and direct songwriting. In a lot of ways it is a prototype for the much more renown Benji, but the difference in quality between the two albums frankly isn’t that great. It also is a precursor to the honorific songs of more recent Sun Kil Moon albums, which tell the story of a minor person in Mark Kozelek’s life in great detail (compare “Song for Richard Collopy” in 2012 to “Butch Lullaby” in 2017). Most importantly, it is the transitional pivot album from “pretty Kozelek” to “honest Kozelek”, and remarkably it is both styles simultaneously at full strength.
5. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo (2016)
When Yeezus released it was polarizing, with many writing it off almost entirely, but its stans confidently said time would absolve them. Now it’s pretty clear time did absolve them, and Yeezus is considered perhaps Kanye’s most visionary album. When The Life of Pablo released it was widely written off as well, however I believe it too will get its due some day. TLOP easily has several of Kanye’s best songs (“No More Parties in LA”, “Real Friends”,“Wolves” to name a few), and while it’s true it isn’t as consistent as some of his other albums, this reputation has been overdone. Even its worst songs are cram-packed with fun ideas, and there are so many underrated gems (“30 Hours”, “Feedback”, “FML”, and “Saint Pablo” are all amazing, among others). At a minimum, The Life of Pablo takes you closest to the unfiltered mind of Kanye, in all its struggles, fears, and bombast.
4. Sun Kil Moon - Benji (2014)
I wrote several years ago about the influence Benji had on me, but I do not think it has been adequately recognized the influence Benji has had on songwriting in general. There have been a number of songwriters to adopt Mark Kozelek’s straightforward, unstructured, and verbose style. Two clear examples are Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked at Me and Bill Callahan’s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest. Both of those artists were already somewhat similar to Sun Kil Moon, so a more interesting example might be “Not In Kansas” off of The National’s I Am Easy to Find. “Not In Kansas” has one of the longest lyrics sheets of any National song, and Matt Berninger touches on: growing up in Ohio, Trump-era political events, the music he listened to as a kid, his aunt, his dad… so basically it’s any 2010’s Sun Kil Moon song.
3. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
Kendrick Lamar received a lot of credit for his storytelling on good kid, m.A.A.d city, and to be honest any amount of praise given in this respect is not enough. Good kid, m.A.A.d city raised the bar for "the album" as a biography and narrative. He calls it a short film, but honestly it’s so much more than that. Many "story" albums fail because either they're so detailed you need a lyrics sheet in hand to have any idea what's going on, or the "concept" is so half-baked it sounds like the publicist came up with it after recording was finished. You don’t have to catch every word on good kid to fully understand the plot and the story, but it takes dozens of listens to understand everything happening below the surface.
2. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (2010)
I am of the opinion that Sufjan Stevens is a good songwriter, but a master arranger and producer. He is basically the indie version of Kanye West (probably my hottest music take). The Age of Adz is his "magnum opus" in this regard - it is dense, vivid, and completely without unnecessary excess. Every bleep, bloop, and autotune is carefully crafted, yet maddening. The genius is not in the songwriting (again—it’s very good!) but in the maximalist walls of sound which support it. There is nothing like The Age of Adz, and I suspect there never will be again.
1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
It was roughly my 3rd or 4th time listening to To Pimp a Butterfly after it released that I realized it would never be forgotten. It was a humbling feeling, as I knew that I was hearing essentially the birth of a cultural touchstone on par with an Ok Computer or Dark Side of the Moon. It is the only album I have ever experienced in this way. Everyone near me had heard it, but no one really wanted to talk about it. It felt too precious to discuss. That was what made it clear how big of a deal it was: it made everyone shut up and listen, because it was just that indisputably good. It released at the exact time it was needed too, less than a year after the death of Michael Brown. I was a college sophomore in St. Louis. I remember seeing it as the wallpaper background on people’s laptops in the dining hall. It was on the news, being sung and chanted at protests. At a time when nothing made sense, To Pimp a Butterfly had all the answers.
I wrote previously about the dying breed of universal acclaim. To Pimp a Butterfly is the exception. It was the album of the times, and the best album of the times. It belongs in the most inner circles of music history and among the most important albums ever recorded.
Thanks for reading! If you want to checkout any of these albums, the playlist below has a song from each appearing (except m b v and An Empty Bliss Beyond This World). You can also read my thoughts on "best of " lists in general here.