100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 10. Manchester Orchestra – A Black Mile to the Surface Genre: Indie Rock // Released: 2017 I remember things that I have business remembering. I remember things that are strangely specific and serve no purpose other than adding another aspect to a memory. It might be that it helps […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 30. Sun Kil Moon – Benji Genre: Indie Folk // Released: 2014 Death sucks.  That goes without saying, especially now, yet we never seem to grow tired of those artists who explore the topic, at least where broached with due care and respect.  Those aren’t words I would typically […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 50. Swans – To Be Kind Genre: Noise Rock/Post Rock/Experimental  // Released: 2014 I’d bet Michael Gira still cracks a good chuckle every now and then when recalling that time he tried to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for eternal inspiration and unbridled creativity, and the […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 75. Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog Genre: Indie Rock/Folk // Released: 2018 There’s a case for any Hop Along album to be placed here, but Bark Your Head Off, Dog stands out as their most accessible and most innovative work. It saw them shift from releasing […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 100. Thrice – Major/Minor Genre: Alternative/Post Hardcore // Released: 2011 The version of Thrice that made Major/Minor was an enviously well-oiled machine, a savvy group of veterans effortlessly creating some of the best rock music of the decade. A natural conclusion to the band’s sonic transformation, in some alternate universe […]

The Weeknd – “House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls” This is one party that I wish I wasn’t so late to. Hell, by the time I got there the party was over. I discover The Weeknd when “Can’t Feel My Face” hits the airwaves in 2015, which I think is a catchy tune so […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 10. Jenny Hval – Viscera [Spotify] // [Review] Can desire best be described as a train running into a tunnel? In popular culture, desire is rarely written with the nuance (or maybe, the trepidation) it deserves, reduced as it is to the slickest surface of its skin […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 30. Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle [Spotify] // [Review] It’s strange that a twenty-year-old has seemingly been through it all. Julien Baker sings and plays with such confidence and writes about such harrowing circumstances that it’s easy to forget she was barely out of her teens when […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 50. Fair to Midland – Arrows and Anchors [Spotify] // [Review] One of the graver losses of the 2010s, Fair to Midland outdid themselves with sophomore (and ultimately final) album Arrows and Anchors. While the band have straddled genres from alternative, metal, folk, and prog throughout debut […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 75. mewithoutYou – [Untitled] [Spotify] // [Review] Over the past two decades mewithoutYou have been ever present, but not necessarily in the foreground, in comparison to their peers. However, unlike many of the bands they have played alongside, mewithoutYou are more relevant than ever, even as they […]

100-76 | 75-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 100. The Menzingers – On the Impossible Past [Spotify] // [Review] The urge to repost lyrics in lieu of a blurb? Strong. (In all caps, obviously.) Maybe italicised, maybe emboldened, undoubtedly justified. That’d require, though, some prior knowledge of the album, its melodies; and as much as […]

Cursive – “Noble Soldier/Dystopian Lament” Lost in the wave of protest songs that washed over us from 2016-2019 is perhaps one of the most important messages to come out of the entire decade. “Noble Soldier/Dystopian Lament” is the curtain call and thematic crux of 2018’s Vitriola – an album whose overarching themes damn both politics […]

Julia Holter – “I Shall Love 2” When I first reviewed Aviary, I surmised: “At fifteen tracks, each hovering in the six-to-nine minute range, Aviary presents a daunting task. It’s a world that requires dedicated immersion; a commitment to its unwieldy time length but also a staunch distancing that allows you to engage its thousands […]

FKA Twigs – “Fallen Alien” Magdalene is backloaded with some of FKA Twigs strongest individual tracks to date. ‘fallen alien’ is a career highlight and immediate song of 2019 contender, possessing one of the most rhythmically complex and aesthetically rich atmospheres that she’s ever crafted. The track commences with gentle piano notes and electronic effects […]