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Staff
Reviews 80
Soundoffs 81
News Articles 2
Band Edits + Tags 31
Album Edits 126
Album Ratings 812
Objectivity 62%
Last Active 03-02-23 8:58 pm
Joined 05-29-14
Review Comments 1,271
| best of the 2010s l-s
recs welcome and happy to give them. part 3/4 | | 1 |  | Nujabes
Luv(sic) Hexalogy | | 2 |  | Mssingno
M1 Personal Trainer | | 3 |  | FKA Twigs
Magdalene | | 4 |  | Default Genders
main pop girl 2019 | | 5 |  | Various Artists (Electronic)
Majestic Casual - Chapter I | | 6 |  | Mala
Mala In Cuba | | 7 |  | Anderson .Paak
Malibu | | 8 |  | DJ Alina
Maniax | | 9 |  | M.I.A.
Matangi | | 10 |  | Max Richter
Recomposed: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons | | 11 |  | M.I.A.
Maya | | 12 |  | Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
There's nothing I can say here that anyone reading a list like this won't have read a thousand times already. Easily one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, Fantasy is widely recognized as a powerhouse. It's an album everyone has a take on, and yet, somehow, it is almost universally considered to be great. I don't have a hot take here (except maybe that the Fergie verse in "All of the Lights" is a standout moment) - it really is great. This is the culmination of all of Kanye's efforts up to this point, a combination of College Dropout's lyrical ambition, Late Registration's orchestral maximalism, Graduation's arena-ready sampling, and 808s and Heartbreak's autotuned passion. These efforts and styles are layered on top of each other, creating perhaps the most intentional Kanye album ever, every second painstakingly perfected. | | 13 |  | Lorde
Melodrama | | 14 |  | Les Sins
Michael
Everything about this album is unexpected. When I imagine album covers, no matter the genre, I never imagine them to look like Michael's, an oddly formatted and very empty collage of word art and 12-point font. I don't typically think releases will blend house, trap, and epic prog-style choral + guitar solo outros. I especially don't expect Chaz Bundick, a pioneering figure in a relaxed, lo-fi genre many saw as more of a briefly cool trend than a legitimate style to learn from, to make a fast-paced project that sounds like Baauer feat. 10cc. Lastly, I never suspected it would end up being my favorite thing in his discography. It turns out I can't predict the future. | | 15 |  | Mister Lies
Mister Lies | | 16 |  | Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires of the City | | 17 |  | Moodymann
Moodymann | | 18 |  | Four Tet
Morning/Evening | | 19 |  | Mssingno
Mssingno | | 20 |  | Leon Vynehall
Music For The Uninvited
There are plenty of good house producers, and plenty of people who know how to sequence a cohesive project. What there are not plenty of is people who can do both, and Leon Vynehall is one of those rare specimens. Although he would go on to receive greater fame and acclaim for his later works, this stands as his best, house with jazz and even video game influences. If nothing else, it's responsible for one of the most addictive house tracks in "It's Just (House of Dupree)." | | 21 |  | Kid Koala
Music To Draw To: Satellite | | 22 |  | Arca
Mutant | | 23 |  | Coldplay
Mylo Xyloto | | 24 |  | Charli XCX
Number 1 Angel | | 25 |  | Natalie Prass
Natalie Prass | | 26 |  | Blood Orange
Negro Swan | | 27 |  | Iglooghost
Neo Wax Bloom
Seamus Malliagh is overflowing with ideas. His music reflects this, a hyperactive mix of Aphex-style drill and bass and bubblegum bass (yes, there's a lot of bass) that introduces a new loop about, oh, I don't know, every four bars. If you're reading this list in hopes of finding something exciting and new, this is the way to go. Neo Wax Bloom is a wave - or rather, a series of waves - of fresh sounds, explored within every facet, from glitched out vocals from rapping guest stars to the beautiful background textures. | | 28 |  | Andres (USA-MI)
New For U | | 29 |  | Tinashe
Nightride | | 30 |  | Chris+++
No Lives Matter | | 31 |  | The Range
Nonfiction | | 32 |  | Lana Del Rey
Norman Fucking Rockwell! | | 33 |  | Shamir
Northtown | | 34 |  | Lapalux
Nostalchic | | 35 |  | DJ Healer
Nothing 2 Loose | | 36 |  | A. G. Cook
Nu Jack Swung | | 37 |  | Nicolas Jaar
Nymphs | | 38 |  | Baths
Obsidian | | 39 |  | Jessy Lanza
Oh No | | 40 |  | Sophie
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides | | 41 |  | Sophie
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (Remix Album) | | 42 |  | Danny Brown
Old | | 43 |  | Swarms
Old Raves End | | 44 |  | Uppermost
One | | 45 |  | Malibu
One Life
Something I've noticed with ambient music is that it often stretches the time out. It's generally terrible music to listen to when you're bored or wanting the days to just end. But that's not the case with Malibu's stunning debut One Life. When I look back at my phone to check what track I'm on, it's always farther than I think. These beautiful textures are ones that help the time go on when you just can't bear it anymore, and that deserves commending. | | 46 |  | waiai
OTNJ_B
It's hard to predict what paths we take to find new music. For example, I would never have found OTNJ_B if 16-year-old me didn't try to find any PWYW music on Bandcamp. This led to me listening to a lot of really, really bad music - and waiai (FKA _yi). An obvious labor of love, his music (besides his soundtrack for The Stanley Parable) is a sample-heavy fusion of J-Pop and electro house, a real blast to listen to. otnj_b is his best project, a perfectly paced mix of fun ("sugar rush," "how crazy r u") and peace ("hello," "irasshai_bye_bye"). Somewhere between music libraries, I made the mistake of losing it, and finding it again was wildly rewarding. | | 47 |  | Caribou
Our Love | | 48 |  | matthewdavid
Outmind | | 49 |  | Hoodboi
Palm Reader | | 50 |  | PC Music
PC Music Vol. 1 | | 51 |  | PC Music
PC Music, Vol. 2 | | 52 |  | Lorenzo Senni
Persona | | 53 |  | A. G. Cook
Personal Computer Music | | 54 |  | Freddie Gibbs and Madlib
Pinata | | 55 |  | Nicki Minaj
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded | | 56 |  | Playboi Carti
Playboi Carti | | 57 |  | Charli XCX
Pop 2 | | 58 |  | Cashmere Cat
Princess Catgirl
Cashmere Cat had one of the most subtly successful decades of any artist. By the end, he had scored hits for Halsey, Tinashe, Ty Dolla $ign, Ludacris, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, and Kanye. With such a stacked production discography, he finally had all the practice, financial security, and potential to make a definitive statement like his early EPs. So he did, and it was a complete success, and nobody cared. He streamlined every single one of his strengths - gorgeous vocal manipulations, audio trinkets bubbling and sparkling, and EDM cliches twisted into something equally addicting but infinitely more fulfilling. His wide-ranging appetite for pop music comes in strong here too, with samples from Xtina and X, all in a runtime of less than half an hour. Princess has my vote for most overlooked music of the decade, and Cashmere most overlooked artist. | | 59 |  | King Carter
Prisoner of Mind | | 60 |  | Sampha
Process | | 61 |  | Sophie
Product | | 62 |  | Skylar Spence
Prom King | | 63 |  | Darkside
Psychic | | 64 |  | Lorde
Pure Heroine
People love punching down. Lorde, born in 1996, singing in 2013 about how she felt lonely and hyperreal over minimal synthpop, was an easy target. Pure Heroine got mixed reviews from critics and mainstream online music discussion, with a general "meh" sent across the board. But if you dug a little deeper, you could find an active, thriving, growing fanbase who were in love. Since this tumblr/twitter/instagram/reddit-centered base was primarily composed of teenagers, some of us heard the praise a lot more easily. I was born in 1997, so my friends all loved it, and thanks to their enthusiasm, I did too. Now, seven years later, we're all adults, just old enough to make our opinions known. It's now one of the most well-beloved albums of our generation, and for good reason. It was an underdog, the people's champion. | | 65 |  | Laurel Halo
Quarantine | | 66 |  | DJ Sprinkles
Queerifications & Ruins
House music is made for dancing, ambient is to relax. These two opposites find connections throughout this mix, a gorgeous blend of some of the best the genres have to offer. Through her flawless beatmatching, subdued pace, and drop-dead-gorgeous atmosphere, he reminds us that there's more than just getting excited or falling asleep. It's not that there's so much in common between ambient and house (although there is) but that there's very little distance between dancing and relaxing. For the original house scene, it was never about getting pumped for an exciting night out - it's about the feeling of peace they could find as they separated themselves from a cruel, chaotic world. | | 67 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
R Plus Seven | | 68 |  | DJ Haram
RA.694 | | 69 |  | Kornel Kovacs
Radio Koko | | 70 |  | Shamir
Ratchet | | 71 |  | Rei Brown
raybaboon | | 72 |  | Girls Rituals
Reddishness | | 73 |  | Arcade Fire
Reflektor | | 74 |  | Lemaitre
Relativity 3
Their early work, while certainly dance-inspired, was created for home listening more than anything else. Finally though, the third and final Relativity EP stops winking at festivals and arenas and starts staring them in the face, setting the stage for their future. Bubbly basslines, flirty horns, and the essential fuzzy synths all work together to create the most infectious EP of the decade. | | 75 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
Replica | | 76 |  | Burial
Rival Dealer | | 77 |  | Darius (FRA)
Romance | | 78 |  | Dj Quik and Problem
Rosecrans | | 79 |  | Sigur Ros
Route One | | 80 |  | Grouper
Ruins | | 81 |  | Ryan Hemsworth
RYANPACKv.1
If you want to know what it felt like to be interested in music in 2013, listen to this. This compilation of remixes has an understanding of the common musical zeitgeist like nothing else. From Beyoncé to Que, almost every track stands out even today, and these edits tap into a gorgeous current they all share. In particular, “Ribs (Let’s Have A Sleepover Edition)” and “Honest (Post-Rock Tears Edition)” find the pure melancholy so many artists from the decade circle around. | | 82 |  | Yves Tumor
Safe in the Hands of Love | | 83 |  | Kacey Musgraves
Same Trailer Different Park | | 84 |  | Koan Sound and Asa
Sanctuary | | 85 |  | Hudson Mohawke
Satin Panthers | | 86 |  | Rubblebucket
Save Charlie | | 87 |  | Daphne and Celeste
Daphne & Celeste Save the World | | 88 |  | Disclosure
Settle | | 89 |  | Floating Points
Shadows | | 90 |  | The Knife
Shaking the Habitual | | 91 |  | Body-san
Shining the Money Ball | | 92 |  | Jon Hopkins
Singularity | | 93 |  | Deakin
Sleep Cycle | | 94 |  | New Dreams Ltd.
Sleepline | | 95 |  | Delroy Edwards
Slowed Down Funk Vol. 3 | | 96 |  | SOB x RBE
Gangin | | 97 |  | serpentwithfeet
soil | | 98 |  | Iglooghost
Solar Church
When I heard this for the first time, I was way more excited by the release format - an internet puzzle that eventually led to a pastebin with a bunch of bandcamp codes to download this otherwise inaccessible album - than the music itself. Over time, I began to really, really appreciate it. It's the background ambience behind all of his music, easily overlooked behind all the craziness of everything else. Don't make the same mistake I did, this is sublime drone with pop structure and alien aesthetics. | | 99 |  | DJ Paypal
Sold Out | |
granitenotebook
10.20.20 | wow it feels good to have incredibly good taste | SteakByrnes
10.20.20 | righteous stuff brother | Ryus
10.20.20 | 67 is my aotd yeaaa
| Ryus
10.20.20 | you may have heard some of thest but check
pospulenn–sun people sleepwalker
al-90–code-915913
christopher rau–asper clouds
| granitenotebook
10.20.20 | @octagon, i'll have to check out post-Shining body-san. and thanks, appreciated.
@ryus, i've heard al-90 but not the rest, i'll look them up. thanks. | bigguytoo9
10.20.20 | Got to see Disclosure live for the debut album at a really small club just before release day and it was hype. | parksungjoon
09.24.21 | better than most sput lists |
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