29. Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial
One of the greatest indie success stories of the 2010s, Bandcamp-originating group Car Seat Headrest, helmed by Will Toledo, has portrayed endless ambition in their 12 and a half album releases over the span of 8 years. Teens of Denial is my personal favorite and, in my opinion, their most ambitious. A look at the tracklist and runtime reveals that scarcely even a single song scrapes under the 4 minute mark, with many reaching and exceeding 6 minutes, and a nearly 12 minute epic looming in the last leg. Despite this, not a single track outstays its welcome. Loud/Soft dynamics demand your attention, and the expressive vocals of Toledo hold it there with irresistible lyrical hooks you can’t help but chant along to. It’s a landmark in indie music, and easily one of the most defining albums of the decade.
Favorite Tracks: Ballad of the Costa Concordia | 1937 State Park | Connect the Dots
28. Björk – Vulnicura
Another one of my all-time favorite artists, there was no question that a Björk album was going to make my list, and of the 3 released last decade this was by far my favorite. Vulnicura is a breakup album, yes, but fundamentally it pulls from a different theme pool than your average breakup album. In its lyrics it explores every facet of the relationship’s collapse, starting months before the break and ending well afterwards, in a deliberation over the custody of their daughter. Musically it’s a return to form for Björk, returning to a sound akin to that of Vespertine or Homogenic, with soothing and spacious instrumentation and her signature vocal inflection often cut with piercing jabs of noise akin to modern experimental groups that served as an inspiration. Nobody does music quite like Björk, and this album proves that that isn’t changing any time soon.
Favorite Tracks: Family | Mouth Mantra | Lionsong
27. Brockhampton – Saturation II
The greatest boyband to come from the 2010s, Brockhampton burst onto the scene in 2017 with their Saturation trilogy, three full albums released mere months from each other. It would be easy to place all three on here to fill one spot, but to me the real standout is Saturation II and its back-to-back-to-back bangers. It’s legitimately impressive how much chemistry the massive group of 14 members share, with every song a cohesive piece, and every line piercing like a bullet with an uncountable number of quotable lyrics. With production from member Romil Hemnani, Saturation II goes hard at every moment, and sounds consistently pristine. This is modern West-Coast Hip Hop at its greatest, and the peak in an incredible string of records.
Favorite Tracks: JUNKY | SWEET | CHICK
25. Xiu Xiu – Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
The original soundtrack for Twin Peaks, composed by Angelo Badalamenti, is rightfully hailed as one of the greatest in television history. It is tied to the show at its very core with its haunting juxtaposition of the sinister and the beautiful. Experimental/Art Rock group Xiu Xiu do incredible justice to these themes, but bring them into a new direction in a way that aids it as a standalone experience. Songs that once were merely eerie are made outright terrifying, with loud industrial crashing and harshly dissonant melodies, and slower, softer tunes nearly lose their melody entirely, languishing in an ocean of acid that burns away at them until there is nothing but pure ambience. Truly a one-of-a-kind cover album and a massive display of Xiu Xiu’s unique talent for creating some of the most unsettling music of our time.
Favorite Tracks: Laura Palmer’s Theme | Blue Frank/Pink Room | Josie’s Past
25. David Bowie – Blackstar
Few artists warrant the label of “legend” in the way that the late David Bowie does. Looking back at his discography, his character, and his influence, it’s nearly uncontestable. When news broke that he had passed in early 2016, it was met with universal sadness and support. The most notable aspect of his death, however, is this record, released mere days before his passing. In retrospect, Blackstar is a haunting exploration of the thin border between life and death, from the perspective of someone walking that border, a concept album on the literal death of the artist. Musically it is Bowie at his most experimental, backed by a Jazz ensemble that he specifically instructed not to play Jazz, and produced with influence from modern avant-garde artists like Björk and Death Grips, it all combines as his freakiest, most out-there record of his entire discography. It’s an understatement to say that David Bowie and his contribution to music and art are missed to this day, but I can’t help but feel relieved that even in his death, he got to make an ultimate artistic statement.
Favorite Tracks: Lazarus | Blackstar | Sue (Or In a Season of Crime)
24. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
From the opening moment of Fleet Foxes sophomore album, there is a palpable sense of release. A reverb-laden electric-acoustic guitar soothes with a fingerpicked melody that is met with the beautiful singing of Robin Pecknold, and soon evolves into a luscious soundscape that can only be described as blissful. It is these vast and proud soundscapes that truly display the beauty imbued into everything Fleet Foxes releases. Not a moment ever feels wasted, and while each song retains a consistent style, it all serves to progress a narrative or build a soundscape even greater than the last. The song The Shrine / An Argument is the true standout, doing more in its 8-minute runtime than many Folk albums dare to do in 40, its soaring peaks and gorgeous valleys sweeping across the landscape of sound that is this song, and the album as a whole. Fleet Foxes has proven to be one of the greatest names in modern Folk music, and one to follow wherever they choose to take their beautiful sound next.
Favorite Tracks: The Shrine / An Argument | Helplessness Blues | Lorelai
23. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
What are we? It can be easy to dismiss the question but, when you start to think about it, it makes no sense. The human condition is seemingly thrown together purposelessly and sloppily, with our species rising to the top of the food chain simply because we were slightly less flawed than the others, and slightly more ambitious. Father John Misty dives into the question headfirst in the context of our modern tech-obsessed world, bluntly tearing apart every concept that humanity holds constant, criticizing our nature, our society, and even our species’ features. Nothing is free of scrutiny and, with incredible detail and humorous delivery, each element is poetically exposed in a beautifully pretentious way that never feels unrelatable. Musically the Elton John influence is obvious, but there is an echo to the production that makes the whole thing feel like it’s submerged in a laboratory a thousand miles under the sea, where Father John Misty is working to create the perfect human with an analysis of the current human’s flaws. The ranting of a pretentious hipster has never sounded so good, and never been more pertinent to our times.
Favorite Tracks: Total Entertainment Forever | Pure Comedy | Ballad of the Dying Man
22. Kanye West – Yeezus
I struggle to find an artist with a more consistently stellar discography than Kanye West. From his remarkable debut The College Dropout in 2004, to his opus in 2010 (more on that later,) and even his gospel album last year, Jesus is King which, while definitely his weakest, is still an engaging piece. 2013’s Yeezus is easily his most experimental, though. The instant you hit play, a wave of harsh synths cut to your brain, with a beat that replicates the sense of panic when you realize you left your wallet at home and need to rush back to get it. The opener, On Sight is the perfect representation of the album ahead, the deciding factor between loving or hating the record. Violent production is paired with absurd, potentially offensive lyrical Kanye-isms that are consistently confrontational and never let up for even a second. If you aren’t already a Kanye West fan, you are not likely to enjoy it, but it’s Kanye at his most angry, and at his most ridiculous, and I love it for that.
Favorite Tracks: Blood On The Leaves | Black Skinhead | New Slaves
21. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Dance-Punk has never sounded this ambitious. LCD Soundsystem started the decade strong with a groovy sound clearly inspired by post-punk acts like The Talking Heads, but with a very digital-leaning production style made for the dance floor. The tracks are long, drawn out, and uncut, and they explore every nook and cranny of the sounds they’ve created, never satisfied until every potential direction has been shown off. Unlikely frontman James Murphy wields such charisma and a knack for gripping delivery that never ceases to entertain, and he uses it to consistently hook the listener on these epic journeys through the DIY dance music on display. He’s ironic and funny, and while he occasionally drops a line that’s existential in nature, it hardly distracts from the sheer amusement the band seems to get from creating such fun and energetic music. The gargantuan song lengths (nearly every track is well over 6 minutes) and unabashed Talking Heads inspiration may run the risk of being off putting to some, but in my book those, paired with incredible songwriting and production, lead to one of the most danceable albums of the decade.
Favorite Tracks: Drunk Girls | Pow Pow | Dance Yrself Clean
20. 100 gecs – 1000 gecs
If the culture and collective sense of humor of the internet could be condensed into 23 minutes, this album would be the result. 100 gecs is a project born of the internet, inspired by the internet, and residing on the internet. This album is the amalgamation of every trend born from both music and the internet, combined with an abundance of irony to create the ultimate monster of bass boost memes, dubstep, ska, death metal, and ridiculous autotune. There really is no way to critically describe the concept of this album without being pretentious, and maybe that’s the point. This album is all about completely unbridled fun, and taking music wherever you want, and somehow it managed to not only avoid sounding like a failed experiment, but it’s the most addicting album I’ve heard in years, and one to return to if ever in need of a refresher of what the 2010s were all about.
Favorite Tracks: money machine | stupid horse | ringtone
19. Kendrick Lamar – good kid m.A.A.d city
We’ve seen film adaptations of countless pieces of media, of books, comics, video games, and more. The album, however, seems to be generally avoided. There are notable exceptions of course, 1982’s The Wall and 1978’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, even last year’s short film Anima by Thom Yorke, but that’s about it. If there was ever an album to nominate for such a position, I strongly believe it would be this one. With his breakthrough album, Kendrick Lamar created an experience that can only be described as cinematic, with a gripping story aided by both Kendrick’s unparalleled lyrical mastery and some of the greatest skits I’ve heard on a record. It tells a semi-fictional story of a childhood growing up in Compton, with gang violence, drugs, and murder around every corner. None of these are new topics for hip hop, they’re imbued in the very roots of the genre, but Kendrick’s use of these topics to display the death of his innocence ground them, and they end up cutting way deeper as a result. On the topic of the sound, it admittedly sounds like some concessions were made, but it’s clear that if Kendrick was going to make songs that would give him broad appeal, he was doing it on his own terms, and the unique quirks and delivery definitely show that. This is not my favorite Kendrick Lamar record, but it is undeniably a fantastic stepping stone to the sound he would later perfect, and an incredible standalone project as well.
Favorite Tracks: m.A.A.d city | Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst | Art of Peer Pressure
18. Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
This may be a contender for the album cover that most accurately describes the album it’s attached to. Atrocity Exhibition is dark, warped, terrifying, freaky, and mildly humorous in a way. Danny Brown has what may be the most unique voice in modern experimental Hip-Hop, it’s manic, sarcastic, and violently in-your-face, and he uses it to deliver harrowing lyrics deep diving into the mentality of drug addiction. Brown’s rapid-fire panicked flow is masterfully delivered over some of the darkest, freakiest beats I’ve heard in years, with creepy dissonant melodies, blaring horns, sparse rhythms, and an overall air of intense discomfort and urgency. It never ceases to amaze me how consistently Danny Brown blows his contemporaries out of the water on every single track here, and when he does feature other artists, they are carefully selected like on the team-up trap Really Doe with an all-star cast of Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt, each bringing a flawless verse to the track. I sometimes wonder if Danny Brown will ever reach a creative peak this high again, but what I do know is that the promise shown on this record has been enough to bring me back to every consecutive project for as long as he continues in the industry.
Favorite Tracks: Really Doe | Ain’t it Funny | When It Rain
17. Behemoth – The Satanist
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of metal music and have been for a long time, well before I started getting into music seriously, and while I must admit that my interest in the genre has waned slightly in recent times, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for it. With that I would like to present to you my favorite metal album of the decade, the one that I think is the absolute pinnacle of metal in the 2010s. The Satanist is an absolutely seamless combination of Black and Death metal that is so perfect, it’s as if those two genres have always been one and the same. The guitar tones are absolutely crushing, like a hundred pound weight pulling you down by the neck, as the drilling bass pulls it forward at a hundred miles an hour. The drums sound crisp and clean, and have an unmatched sense of both aggression and groove to keep every track engaged and unrelenting. It’s hard to put words to the vocals on this record, every syllable is drenched in grime, but it retains such a strained, bestial aggression that is some of the most unrelentingly pummelling I’ve heard in either Death or Black metal. While heaviness is definitely a core component on this record, the melodic elements are equally important, and retain the speed and aggression that is sometimes lost on your typical Melodic Death Metal record, with some incredibly tasteful solos that never seem out of place, an occasionally difficult task in Death Metal. Overall I love every single second of this record, and it makes me incredibly happy to be able to place a metal album so high on my list.
Favorite Songs: Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer | Furor Divinus | Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
16. Charli XCX – Charli
If I had to place bets on which of these albums will have the biggest influence on the future of its respective genre going forward, it would be this one. Charli XCX makes fantastic strides forward towards a groundbreaking sound that I can’t help but see being the standard of pop production within the next few years. With every song, Charli pushes and molds the edges of Pop music as far as they can go without ever breaking them, each song remaining undeniably “poppy” while retaining the riveting and creative personality that drips from every moment of production. Repurposed elements of Bubblegum Bass and Deconstructed House build some of the catchiest hooks of the decade, and most alluring songwriting in recent pop music memory. A slew of featured artists build the character of Charli immensely, and while not everyone gets the same level of spotlight, a clear chemistry is shared with each one and Charli. If there’s one theme to take from this album, it’s that pop music is ready to evolve, and is more than capable, so what’s stopping us? Pop music can be a little freaky sometimes, and a future with freakier pop music is one I can’t wait to live in.
Favorite Tracks: Click | Gone | White Mercedes
15. Sun Kil Moon – Benji
There is no experience more universal than death. We all have and will experience it throughout our entire lives, until eventually it happens to us too. The concept of death brings forth an abundance of emotions, grief being the most prominent, but a slew of other feelings can also take hold, and one is left only to sort through said feelings. Benji is Mark Kozelek sorting through these feelings on tape, making strange anecdotes and tying life events, related or not, to each other under the unifying theme of death. His delivery over a singular guitar is that of a storyteller first, a singer second. There is tonality to his voice, but the words do not rhyme, and the melodies are not meant to hook the listener. The real draw of Benji is the stories Kozelek tells about his life, and the feelings attached to the memories he expresses in his matter-of-fact demeanor. Carissa and Truck Driver are about his uncle and second cousin who were both killed in similar freak accidents, but the majority of those songs’ content takes place in his childhood before those events, with memories that tie together in satisfying but depressing ways as the tracks close. Pray for Newtown and Richard Ramirez both tie to more violent and intentional deaths, talking about the public personas of killers and criminals in the media, those being some of the darkest songs on the record. Throughout its entire runtime, the uniquely touching experience of Benji demands your undivided attention, but trust me when I say that the final product of that dedication is well worth the effort.
Favorite Tracks: Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes | Micheline | Carissa
Writing About Music and Games Sometimes 