Decade: Albums
woo boy, what a trip this has been. the confounding continued existence of sputnik is a great source of pain and relief for me. this list jettisons the pretense of objectivity and is meant to portray the decade as it was (the wall-to-wall music, earmarked albums putting numbers on the board), not as i would like it to have been. go gentle. goodbye |
| 100 |  | Gas
Rausch |
| 99 |  | Korallreven
An Album By Korallreven |
| 98 |  | Sufjan Stevens
The Age of Adz |
| 97 |  | Kayo Dot
Hubardo |
| 96 |  | PJ Harvey
Let England Shake |
| 95 |  | Shugo Tokumaru
In Focus? |
| 94 |  | Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Skeleton Tree |
| 93 |  | Danny Brown
XXX |
| 92 |  | Big Thief
U.F.O.F. |
| 91 |  | Ariadne
Tsalal |
| 90 |  | Towers
Bel Air Highrise Plantation |
| 89 |  | Tim Hecker
Ravedeath, 1972 |
| 88 |  | Afrikan Sciences
Circuitous |
| 87 |  | Jai Paul
Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) |
| 86 |  | Beyonce
Beyonce |
| 85 |  | Bjork
Vulnicura |
| 84 |  | Blood Cultures
Happy Birthday |
| 83 |  | Chris Reimer
Hello People |
| 82 |  | Deerhunter
Fading Frontier |
| 81 |  | Joanna Newsom
Have One on Me |
| 80 |  | Friendzone
Collection 1 |
| 79 |  | Lorde
Melodrama |
| 78 |  | Ex Eye
Ex Eye |
| 77 |  | Fever Ray
Plunge |
| 76 |  | Swans
The Seer |
| 75 |  | George Clanton
100% Electronica |
| 74 |  | Geotic
Abysma |
| 73 |  | Yellow Swans
Going Places |
| 72 |  | St. Vincent
Strange Mercy |
| 71 |  | Mounika.
How Are You? |
| 70 |  | Holly Herndon
Platform |
| 69 |  | Low
Double Negative |
| 68 |  | Mica Levi
Under The Skin OST |
| 67 |  | Julia Holter
Ekstasis |
| 66 |  | The Caretaker
An Empty Bliss Beyond This World |
| 65 |  | Colin Stetson
New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges |
| 64 |  | Skee Mask
Compro |
| 63 |  | Perfume Genius
No Shape |
| 62 |  | The Men
Open Your Heart |
| 61 |  | Atlas Sound
Bedroom Databank, Vols. 1-4 |
| 60 |  | Gorillaz
Plastic Beach |
| 59 |  | The Avalanches
Wildflower |
| 58 |  | The Books
The Way Out |
| 57 |  | Yo La Tengo
There’s A Riot Going On |
| 56 |  | Nicolas Jaar
Sirens |
| 55 |  | Mount Eerie
A Crow Looked At Me |
| 54 |  | Adult Jazz
Gist Is |
| 53 |  | Fiona Apple
The Idler Wheel... |
| 52 |  | Earl Sweatshirt
Some Rap Songs |
| 51 |  | A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Sea When Absent |
| 50 |  | Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour |
| 49 |  | Pop Winds
Earth To Friend |
| 48 |  | Robyn
Honey |
| 47 |  | The Tallest Man on Earth
The Wild Hunt |
| 46 |  | Jessica Pratt
On Your Own Love Again |
| 45 |  | Pregnant
Duct Tape |
| 44 |  | Main Attrakionz
808s and Dark Grapes II |
| 43 |  | Helen
The Original Faces |
| 42 |  | Nujabes
Spiritual State |
| 41 |  | Thou
Heathen |
| 40 |  | DJ Koze
Amygdala |
| 39 |  | ANOHNI
HOPELESSNESS |
| 38 |  | The Knife
Shaking the Habitual |
| 37 |  | Ian William Craig
A Turn of Breath |
| 36 |  | Julia Holter
Aviary |
| 35 |  | Cut Copy
Zonoscope |
| 34 |  | Kendrick Lamar
DAMN. |
| 33 |  | Matana Roberts
COIN COIN Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres |
| 32 |  | Avey Tare
Down There |
| 31 |  | Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid |
| 30 |  | The Field
Looping State of Mind |
| 29 |  | Krallice
Years Past Matter |
| 28 |  | Frog Eyes
Paul's Tomb: A Triumph |
| 27 |  | Beach House
Depression Cherry |
| 26 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
R Plus Seven |
| 25 |  | James Blake
James Blake |
| 24 |  | Jenny Hval
Innocence Is Kinky |
| 23 |  | Alvvays
Antisocialites |
| 22 |  | DJ Healer
Nothing 2 Loose |
| 21 |  | D'Angelo
Black Messiah |
| 20 |  | Danny Brown
Atrocity Exhibition
Every individual component of this album is unspeakably ugly, but to Danny Brown’s immense credit, he fashions it all together in a way that is purposeful and rewarding. There is no question of Brown’s prowess as a storyteller, and Atrocity Exhibition becomes a concept album through the sheer force of its execution, in how the lyrics inform Brown’s performance and the dark psychosis of his warped music bed. It is the rare instance of an artist satirizing the culture that exasperates rockstar narratives like his own without losing himself to irony or self-deprecation, mapping his sins with a fierce awareness that translates with crystal clarity. |
| 19 |  | Arca
Arca
RIYL: Björk, Aphex Twin, falsettos to cut a diamond, the way a fire encroaches upon a lone cottage |
| 18 |  | Animal Collective
Centipede Hz
Animal Collective are my favorite band. They had as perfect a decade run as any indie band borne of the new millennium’s technological advancements, rewarding a loyal fanbase with subverted expectations at each new release while telegraphing the blurred distinction between underground trends and mainstream successes. Centipede Hz continues the trend of retooling the sound to create something unique within their discography. Yet it is bogged down in an alien production that absorbs the blows of its clutter, the four-piece opting for a maximalist rock album that accentuates its lyrical fixation on fading frontiers and hyper-connectivity, the fear of our body aging faster than our sensibilities. Therein lies the key to the collective’s success, in their peculiar way of creating great art reflecting the very life for whom it was created. With growing pains and fresh anxieties, Animal Collective again telegraph something curiously obtuse about our modern obsessions and inadequate solutions. |
| 17 |  | The Knife
Tomorrow, In a Year
With the help of Planningtorock, Mount Sims, and the operatic vocal stylings of their Danish and Sweden collaborators, The Knife write the best songs of their careers, totaling something grand and explicit about the process of evolution and the capabilities of sound structure to define it. The whole is a glorious, pretentious something and, especially in its first half, almost flagrant in alienating; connective tissue between the primordial and us, at the height of it all: eating, fucking, gawking and, privy to our inexorable species, creating. |
| 16 |  | Grimes
Art Angels
The divisive “REALITi” is a good start. The fan-favorite demo is something of a calling card, the moment in which her bedroom sound transcended the soft blur of its lo-fi roots through sweeping, crafty pop hooks. It practically didn’t need to be touched. And yet… Grimes picks a telling track to retool for her AAA title, an album where she grapples with the consequences of perspective and autonomy, or lack thereof. There is a level of control across the album that speaks to her talent as a synthesist, trading the molten genre electro-pop of her breakthrough Visions for explicit detours and roadmaps that turn over with the ingenuity and inexplicable simplicity of a pop-up book. That “REALITi” works in both contexts speaks to the way in which the incredible pop music on Art Angels warps our understanding of the Earthbound observations of a woman already tending to her garden on Mars. |
| 15 |  | Burial
Tunes 2011 to 2019
Burial said trans rights! |
| 14 |  | Braids
Native Speaker
Native Speaker has been the salve applied to so many wounds since its release that it should repulse me; “better” albums have fallen to such associations, and feel forever linked to memories to make a stomach churn on impact. But Native Speaker is different: Braids have written songs that speak to those formative experiences that illuminate the questions you should be asking in the wake of consequences defined by the answers you sought. It is, ah, an album of many wrinkles, lush, colorful and grand-scaled, but the blocks are simple and well-defined, built up and then dismantled in plain, evocative ways. It is an album I will understand differently as I grow, that rare album of post-adolescence that ages more gracefully than we do. |
| 13 |  | King Krule
The OOZ
tfw ennui but make it post-punk masterpiece |
| 12 |  | Destroyer
Kaputt
Something like an Americana classic, a damning love letter to the excesses of toiling romance and shady desires, of spoiled dilettantes and passionate vagabonds, set against a twinkling backdrop of sophisticated new age indie rock and a saxophone so delicious it teeters on blasphemy. America walks away bruised and delirious, and we dance with bloody feet on the remnants of her once-majestic disco ball. |
| 11 |  | Grouper
A I A
Grouper is too pure for our hype cycles, so bless the stacked year that saw this ambient twofer slip between the cracks and into our sleepy subconsciouses. This one deserves a pillow and the aurora borealis of a closed eyelid. |
| 10 |  | Flying Lotus
Cosmogramma
king shit |
| 9 |  | Charli XCX
Pop 2
A fraught utopia of progressive queer inclusion and the careening emotional free fall of drug-induced euphoria and until-I-come love. Smart and frank exploration of workaholic neuroses and the necessary heartbreak of the rich and famous. Incredible production choices for 41 straight minutes. Ten of my favorite pop songs, period. |
| 8 |  | Frank Ocean
Blonde
Many college students have gone to college and gotten hooked on drugs, marijuana, and alcohol. Listen, stop trying to be somebody else. Don't try to be someone else. Be yourself and know that that's good enough. Don't try to be someone else. Don't try to be like someone else. Don't try to act like someone else. Be yourself, be secure with yourself. Rely and trust upon your own decisions, on your own beliefs. You understand the things that I've taught you. Not to drink alcohol, not to use drugs. Don't use that cocaine or marijuana because that stuff is highly addictive. When people become weed-heads they become sluggish, lazy, stupid and unconcerned. Sluggish, lazy, stupid and unconcerned. That's all marijuana does to you, okay? This is mom. Unless you're taking it under doctor's, um, control. Then it's regulated. Do not smoke marijuana, do not consume alcohol. Do not get in the car with someone who is inebriated. This is mom, call me, bye. |
| 7 |  | Women
Public Strain
Don’t pant and we’ll go unseen. |
| 6 |  | Sophie
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
Sophie’s proper debut already feels like a landmark album, an iconoclastic blast of pop confetti and battering rams that draws lines as thick and textured as concrete slabs between synth-pop and industrial club music. Each song rings distinct in her oeuvre despite the precedents, and yet for all its whiplash segues and structural oddities, it hangs together with a purpose that mends the sharp edges into one cosmic, miraculous whole. What once scanned as well-crafted but ironically-distanced “deconstructed” pop (bolstered by her connections with the still-divisive PC Music) is now rendered vividly, achingly more-than human, a template not just for pop’s further exploration through genre boundaries but for the queer expression it galvanizes. “It’s okay to cry,” Sophie tells us; not exactly radical, but then, when was the last time someone told you that while they were laughing, sparkling, iridescent? |
| 5 |  | My Bloody Valentine
m b v
she found now |
| 4 |  | Shabazz Palaces
Lese Majesty
Lewis: The album sounds like to me a watercolor painting. Like how it should look, where one must really concentrate to understand how the colors and shapes come together. It is a very satisfying experience sonically.
Ishmael: [laughs] Yeah. That's interesting about the watercolor though, because every time we make a record, we always call and say it was mixed in, like say, "power glow," or you know, "mixed elixir log," which is like the overlying, or overriding philosophical approach sonically. And so, this one, we call it "pluvial" because pluvial is like a word that means "water-soaked" or "rainy," which I started thinking about how a moist atmosphere, how that geologically plays into sound and sonics. It must add a gravity, you know what I'm saying? Like if you soaked something in water, it's a little bit heavier, it's a little bit deeper, a little bit warmer, you know what I mean? And how sound plays out when you're deep underwater, too. I like that, too. |
| 3 |  | Julia Holter
Have You In My Wilderness
This stands, so many listens later, as Holter's crowning achievement thus far: ornate, sun-bleached strings and rhythms that vibrate with an intensity that creates cacophony even in stillness. Holter brings her impressionistic bedroom synth-pop to full-tilt symphony with a flair that would consume egos twice her size. Have You In My Wilderness remains a stunning listen so many revolutions later, the premier work of one of the decade’s great artists. |
| 2 |  | Jenny Hval
Viscera
[review pending] |
| 1 |  | Teebs
E S T A R A
I hope everyone has one album that makes them feel the way E S T A R A makes me feel. |
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