TWENEEK10s: AOTDs
aww yeeeeeah |
| 100 |  | Tash Sultana
Flow State
4.2 // 2018 |
| 99 |  | The Smashing Pumpkins
Oceania
4.2 // 2012 |
| 98 |  | Tyler, the Creator
IGOR
4.2 // 2019 |
| 97 |  | alt-J
Relaxer
4.2 // 2017 |
| 96 |  | Coldplay
Ghost Stories
4.2 // 2014 |
| 95 |  | Everything Everything
Get to Heaven
4.2 // 2015 |
| 94 |  | Silversun Pickups
Better Nature
4.2 // 2015 |
| 93 |  | Sun Kil Moon
Benji
4.2 // 2016 |
| 92 |  | Shakey Graves
Can't Wake Up
4.2 // 2018 |
| 91 |  | Manchester Orchestra
A Black Mile to the Surface
4.2 // 2017 |
| 90 |  | Glaswegians
severance
4.2 // 2017 |
| 89 |  | Kanye West
Yeezus
4.2 // 2013 |
| 88 |  | Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam
I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
4.2 // 2016 |
| 87 |  | Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
4.2 // 2010 |
| 86 |  | S. Carey
Hundred Acres
4.2 // 2018 |
| 85 |  | All The Luck In The World
A Blind Arcade
4.2 // 2018 |
| 84 |  | Sharon Van Etten
Are We There
4.2 // 2014 |
| 83 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
On Dark Horses
4.2 // 2018 |
| 82 |  | Anna von Hausswolff
Ceremony
4.2 // 2012 |
| 81 |  | Bon Iver
i,i
4.2 // 2019 |
| 80 |  | Goldfrapp
Tales Of Us
4.3 // 2013 |
| 79 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
White Lighter
4.3 // 2013 |
| 78 |  | Field Division
Dark Matter Dreams
4.3 // 2018 |
| 77 |  | Have a Nice Life
The Unnatural World
4.3 // 2019 |
| 76 |  | Blood Incantation
Hidden History of the Human Race
4.3 // 2019 |
| 75 |  | Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 2
4.3 // 2014 |
| 74 |  | Bon Iver
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
4.3 // 2011 |
| 73 |  | Julien Baker
Turn Out The Lights
4.3 // 2017 |
| 72 |  | Haley Heynderickx
I Need to Start a Garden
4.3 // 2018 |
| 71 |  | Ghost (SWE)
Meliora
4.3 // 2015 |
| 70 |  | Miya Folick
Premonitions
4.3 // 2018 |
| 69 |  | Blood Incantation
Starspawn
4.3 // 2016 |
| 68 |  | King Creosote and Jon Hopkins
Diamond Mine
4.3 // 2011 |
| 67 |  | Ben Howard
I Forget Where We Were
4.3 // 2014 |
| 66 |  | Madeline Kenney
Perfect Shapes
4.3 // 2018 |
| 65 |  | Midwife (USA)
Like Author, Like Daughter
4.3 // 2017 |
| 64 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
4.3 // 2015 |
| 63 |  | TV on the Radio
Nine Types of Light
4.3 // 2011 |
| 62 |  | Shannen Moser
I'll Sing
4.3 // 2018 |
| 61 |  | Common Holly
Playing House
4.3 // 2017 |
| 60 |  | Anna von Hausswolff
The Miraculous
4.3 // 2015 |
| 59 |  | The National
Trouble Will Find Me
4.3 // 2013 |
| 58 |  | Danny Brown
uknowhatimsayin¿
4.3 // 2019 |
| 57 |  | Joanna Newsom
Divers
4.3 // 2015 |
| 56 |  | Hail Spirit Noir
Mayhem In Blue
4.3 // 2016 |
| 55 |  | Sturgill Simpson
A Sailor's Guide To Earth
4.3 // 2016 |
| 54 |  | Mount Eerie
Clear Moon
4.3 // 2012 |
| 53 |  | Gang of Youths
Go Farther in Lightness
4.3 // 2017 |
| 52 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Whenever, If Ever
4.3 // 2013 |
| 51 |  | Coldplay
Mylo Xyloto
4.3 // 2011 |
| 50 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
Hunger and Thirst
4.3 // 2010 |
| 49 |  | The Strokes
Angles
4.3 // 2011 |
| 48 |  | Big Red Machine
Big Red Machine
4.3 // 2018 |
| 47 |  | Florence and the Machine
Ceremonials
4.3 // 2011 |
| 46 |  | Citizen
As You Please
4.4 // 2017 |
| 45 |  | Paramore
Paramore
4.4 // 2013 |
| 44 |  | Sharon Van Etten
Remind Me Tomorrow
4.4 // 2013 |
| 43 |  | The Gathering
Disclosure
4.4 // 2012 |
| 42 |  | Swans
The Seer
4.4 // 2012 |
| 41 |  | Algiers
The Underside of Power
4.4 // 2017 |
| 40 |  | The War on Drugs
A Deeper Understanding
4.4 // 2017 |
| 39 |  | Julien Baker
Sprained Ankle
4.4 // 2015 |
| 38 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
Offerings
4.4 // 2018 |
| 37 |  | La Dispute
Panorama
4.4 // 2019 |
| 36 |  | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
4.4 // 2016 |
| 35 |  | Trophy Scars
Holy Vacants
4.4 // 2014 |
| 34 |  | American Football
American Football (LP3)
4.4 // 2019 |
| 33 |  | The Afghan Whigs
Do to the Beast
4.4 // 2014 |
| 32 |  | Foxing
Nearer My God
4.4 // 2018 |
| 31 |  | Palehorse/Palerider
Burial Songs
4.4 // 2017 |
| 30 |  | Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
4.4 // 2010 |
| 29 |  | Copeland
Blushing
4.4 // 2019 |
| 28 |  | mewithoutYou
[Untitled]
4.5 // 2018 |
| 27 |  | Beyonce
Lemonade
4.5 // 2016 |
| 26 |  | Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid
4.5 // 2010 |
| 25 |  | M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
4.5 // 2011
Containing the very best song of all time — “Wait” — the reason that it’s as low on this list as it is is simply because of the amount of filler here. There’s some redundancy to the tracks and interludes, but when you’ve got tracks like “Midnight City” and “Steve McQueen” rounding out the top 3, it’s impossible to ignore the sheer amount of emotion and bad-assery on display from head-to-toe on this record, no matter how overwrought it might be at times. |
| 24 |  | Queens of the Stone Age
Villains
4.5 // 2017
The oft-maligned successor to …Like Clockwork’s throne certainly doesn’t recapture the godly grace of what came before, but could anything? A capable redirection to their dance-rock roots, this is perhaps the most plainly enjoyable album that the band has put out. From the electrifying opener to its emotional closer, it cycles through several of the sounds they’ve added to their repertoire since forming, and condenses them into a still unique and vibrant sound. Thus, this might just be the most Queens of the Stone Age-sounding Queens of the Stone Age album yet. |
| 23 |  | Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Skeleton Tree
4.5 // 2016
While this one cooled off a bit for me since I was walloped by its emotional immediacy on first listen, it remains a wholly cathartic and disturbing listen. Topped only by perhaps A Crow Looked at Me in terms of being uncomfortably close to a tragedy, this album combines that feeling with a brisk but layered sonic palate, perhaps none as affecting or terrifying as it’s opener, “Jesus Alone.” |
| 22 |  | Thom Yorke
Anima
4.5 // 2019
ANIMA‘s screen counterpart filled in the alien soundscapes of the record with images of apocalyptic cityscapes and rhythmic dancers, all moving in a mechanic synchronicity reminiscent of the 21st century hell Yorke’s band Radiohead have been warning us of for decades now. And while this is unquestionably a dark record, it offers far more instances of hope than the majority of their offerings; the aptly titled “Dawn Chorus” serves as such a beautiful sonic sunrise that it’s near-impossible to escape its unnerving mix of warmth and coldness. This record gets under your skin. Not just through its eerily noirish tones, such as on the brilliant closer “Runwayaway”, but also through its bittersweet message: yes, our lives are hellish loops that we’re doomed to repeat for eternity, but we’re given meaning through our friendships and relationships. And that even when those falter, they’re the closest thing to a purpose that we’ll ever have. And that has to be enough. |
| 21 |  | Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas
Mariner
4.5 // 2016
While this is another record I haven’t spent nearly enough time with, it’s hard to not be entranced by its massive, spacey sound. These huge riffs and atmospheres compared with the dynamic vocals of Julie Christmas, it’s essentially metal heaven for me. There's such a depth and scope to everything delivered here that it's impossible for me not to love it with all of its unbelievable heights. |
| 20 |  | Desert Sessions
Volumes 11 and 12
4.5 // 2019
Showing off Homme at his most eclectic and collaborative, it’s an engaging and hilarious mix of tunes ranging several tones, genres, and vocalists. While some may have worried about this project’s return after 16-odd years, Desert Sessions has proven to be one of Homme’s most enduring projects, and also one of the very best. Oh, and this record kicks an unbelievable amount of ass. |
| 19 |  | Bon Iver
22, A Million
4.5 // 2016
It’s a familiar story. This album started as my least favorite Bon Iver album (though I believe it was my first, actually), and since then each song has bloomed and blossomed into something far more organic and moving than ever before. What initially felt artificial and opaque is still revealed new favorites to me, like the gospel-tinged “8 (circle)” and heart-stopper “33 - God.” While certain production techniques here may be more alienating than need be, whatever anyone had to go through to make a song as exquisite as “666 upsidedowncross,” they were worth it. And goddamn is the rest incredible too. |
| 18 |  | The Voidz
Tyranny
4.5 // 2014
This bizarre post-Strokes offering from Julian Casablancas slowly but surely became one of my favorite things of the decade. It’s absolutely off the chain ine very way possible, and yet every experiment and musical detour pay offs exponentially—the weakest tracks here are the ones that simply don’t go as far as the rest. “Human Sadness” is one of the strangest and most moving songs ever, and tracks like “Crunch Punch” and “Dare I Care” show off effortless muscle even through their bold experimentation. |
| 17 |  | Jonsi
Go
4.5 // 2010
This is a glowing, glittering masterwork of hope and happiness. As weird and surreal as these soundscapes are, they’re always just as comforting as they are challenging, and they channel a huge amount of creativity into their sound. But basically the reason why I love this is because it makes me feel so goddamn good and it’s just goddamn beautiful. |
| 16 |  | The Afghan Whigs
In Spades
4.5 // 2017
From top to bottom this is some of the most assured rock music released this decade. While it’s not totally reinventing the wheel, there’s a huge amount of creativity infused into its alternative roots, blossoming into something that both huge and intensely emotional. This is by far the strongest album that Dulli and Co have released yet, and considering they’ve been getting stronger with every release, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. |
| 15 |  | Common Holly
When I say to you Black Lightning
4.5 // 2019
Common Holly has managed to go beyond her singer-songwriter folk roots and expound on them in a way so delirious and delicious that it’s impossible to resist. The psychedelic guitar work and oppressive and dark atmospheres that flood this album are a breath of fresh air for the genre, and Naggar’s vocals mix beautifully with the music. This is a must-hear album of the decade for you that have been sleeping on it. |
| 14 |  | Avenged Sevenfold
The Stage
4.6 // 2016
Updating themselves with a sound decidedly more mature (but equally as ridiculous), Avenged Sevenfold managed to stay current with my tastes even as I graduated high school and decided that maybe I didn’t love their old albums as much anymore. Keeping the variety of sounds as crazy as ever, they managed to weave a cohesive feel through this entire record, keeping things interesting as well as sounding more confident and capable than ever. Even as much as I love their earlier work, I think this very well might be their strongest album yet. |
| 13 |  | David Bowie
Blackstar
4.6 // 2016
A fitting requiem for a legend, Blackstar was actually my main introduction to Bowie’s music, aside from a song here or there. Needless to say I was immediately captivated by the strutting, at times violent mix of jazztronica and alternative rock, especially on the massive title track and hugely moving “Lazarus.” This is certainly an album for the ages, and pushed me to look into his discography even further. |
| 12 |  | Kairon IRSE!
Ujubasajuba
4.6 // 2014
A brilliant blend of post-rock and shoegaze (and even some jazz??), this is guitar music firing on all fucking cylinders to deliver a grand and exciting album. There's a massive amount of talent going on in these structures and melodies, each song prancing through trance after trance and each growing from the last. The only downside is that some moments are clearly more effective than others, but each song delivers overall in such a large quantity it's easy to forgive. The fact that the opener, which is an absolute BANGER, is the weakest song here simply because it never goes beyond itself is a testament to this album's quality. |
| 11 |  | Swans
To Be Kind
4.6 // 2014
While I haven’t spent quite enough time with this album yet to warrant it a spot on my top ten, and it’s quite a burdening experience to jam it all the way through, I’ll gladly say that this album knocked my socks off and pushed me in new directions I never expected. This turned up the dark a few notches compared to The Seer, but also the melody, crafting some massive, almost bluesy numbers which never felt too long despite their girth. |
| 10 |  | Anna von Hausswolff
Dead Magic
4.6 // 2018
Aside from being perhaps the most terrifying album I’ve ever heard, Dead Magic also manages to be consistently exciting and listenable, making you come back time and again to its disturbing curses even though you know for the sake of your mental health you might be better off not. Between the sprawling, awe-inspiring “Ugly and Vengeful,” to the violent battlecry of “The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra” (with one of the most monumental codas in history), it’s a wonder it hasn’t climbed higher up the list, though it must be admitted that the other tracks don’t wholly live up to the hype of these giants—though they certainly do little to detract from their glory. |
| 9 |  | Hop Along
Bark Your Head Off, Dog
4.6 // 2018
From the opening note of this album, it teeters on the edge of several emotions, hope, love, sadness, and joy, without ever fully giving way to any of them. Outside of having perhaps the most perfect bookends of any on this list, there’s simply no weak links here. Each track is catchy and moving to the point where I’ve gone back and relistened to this thing and been like “Why am I not listening to THIS track more?” It’s a perfect blend of folk, rock, and pop notions in one dense and exciting package, and that alone deserves its spot this high on the list. |
| 8 |  | Regina Spektor
Remember Us To Life
4.7 // 2016
Regina did exactly what I always hoped she would do on this album, she got weirder and even more confident than before. The pure balls that come with some of these songs is matched only by the broken beating heart at the center of them, as this album is at once the most personal and political thing she’s ever put out. It’s a monumental and exciting balancing act that only astounds more and more over time. Outside of the slight misstep of the opening track, this album might deserve a spot even higher on this list just for how many times its managed to bring me to tears during several of its tracks. |
| 7 |  | Phoebe Bridgers
Stranger In The Alps
4.8 // 2017
Here’s an album that creeps up on you. When I first heard it, I was wrapped up in its folk-pop tendencies and enjoyed the catchy hooks and relatable lyrics, but I never thought it would end up being this for me. Something about it (I think it was “Scott Street”) kept pulling me back to it, and over time it seemed like every month a different song off of this finally clicked. The hidden layers and depth of the production (I mean just look at “Georgia”) hit me slowly over time, and now it’s become one of the most important albums I’ve ever heard. In the couple short years since its come out, this album has gotten me through a lot, and I cannot fucking wait to hear what she’ll put out next. |
| 6 |  | Linkin Park
A Thousand Suns
4.8 // 2010
A gigantic spoiled heap of a concept album, A Thousand Suns is also by far the most assured and cohesive album the band ever released. A mish-mash of ideas incorporating industrial, electronic, rock, and hip-hop sounds and forcing them together under the umbrella of the album’s loose apocalyptic themes, the whole thing comes together far more smoothly than one might expect. It’s a constantly engaging listen, and this just might be the middle-schooler in me, but it’s still one of the most moving and exciting pieces of music I’ve ever heard. It may all depend on how much you can tolerate the discordant sounds and self-seriousness (and I can’t say that it hasn’t worn off a bit for me in time), but if you can stomach it, it’s a near-religious experience. |
| 5 |  | Damien Rice
My Favourite Faded Fantasy
4.9 // 2014
Rice’s magnum opus is a bit less wide-eyed and far more personal than the likes of what Howard and Hansard came out with after him, but it makes this record not any less powerful for it. Focusing questions inward at his own relationships and failures, he manages to create a dynamic and vast sound, where each of the song’s 8 tracks manage to build into a distinctive and monumental climax, making each song a unique favorite in its own way—I’ve heard people argue over which is the best and worst here since I first checked it out. Maybe it’s that personal touch that makes this true, everyone reacts to different things, and while this is truly a break-up album for the times, everyone will find something else to love about this record to help carry them over the next step. |
| 4 |  | Ben Howard
Noonday Dream
5.0 // 2018
Another fascinating example of post-folk, Ben Howard takes his folk roots and expounds on them in ambient and layered direction. From the alternately beautiful and fearful “Nice Libres at Dusk” to the oppressive chug “The Defeat,” this is a largely original work with wide variety of sounds and feelings that somehow come together to provide a moving portrait of a life in flux. These wide soundscapes are intricately crafted and a bit abrasive—there’s something a bit off about all of them. It’s not a world that you’d want to spend the rest of your life in, but it’s one that’s necessary to visit from time to time. While Howard struggles to make sense of the world around him, he takes you along for the ride. And while things don’t seem to resolve for him, you’ll end up a bit more sure at the end of it. |
| 3 |  | Glen Hansard
This Wild Willing
5.0 // 2019
To see all the pleasant contentedness of Hansard’s previous album (released little more than a year prior) washed away and replaced by such a vast, aching album as The Wild Willing was somewhat astounding and a little bit frightening. Yet for every restless, violent explosion of sound, there’s an answer to be found later on in the record, proving a great amount of its worth to its otherwise more traditional-sounding back-end. It engages, enrages, calms, then carries us into a blissfully warm finale; most importantly, it’s a gorgeous and thrilling offering from an artist I was convinced was past his prime. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Glen. |
| 2 |  | Brand New
Science Fiction
5.0 // 2017
Certainly, this is the only other album that’s ever come close to knocking the king off the top of the pedestal as my favorite album. This one isn’t quite as immediate, it sinks its claws in and makes you uncomfortable, almost shameful for enjoying it so. Even after the confirmed allegations surfaced and clouded this album’s history forever, it didn’t necessary take away from this album as much as it colored it. So many references to regret, shame, ending, and Lacey’s own feared lack of humanity are spotted throughout, that once the context was added, it only made a sad amount of sense. The thematic overture of an artist giving up on his art is wholly unique and poignant, and musically they lean on all eras of their sound for something a bit more cohesive and layered, yet with a wonderfully intense variety. Overall, this is a foreboding album, coming to terms with the end of a band that ended in the worst possible of ways. It seems to have known what was coming all along. |
| 1 |  | Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork
5.0 // 2013
This has been my favorite album for years now, since I first started getting into music by digging into the bands I spent hours pouring over songs of in middle school. Who really knows why it’s dug into my heart and furiously never let go of its No. 1 spot. Maybe it’s so entrenched in nostalgia and memory now that it’s particularly hard to dispell, maybe its my own personal fascination with Homme’s struggle with the band’s emphasis on masculinity—when does it become a shell that stops you from letting out emotion in a healthy way? For this album certainly matures from the rip-roaring stoner rock from before, and manages to sound the more vulnerable and kick-ass the band has ever sounded. It’s the emotion here that makes it stick, I think. And that it was able to come from the most unlikely of artists to deliver crushing and life-affirming blows such as the monumental “I Appear Missing.” This album is one for the history books. |
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