After spending the last few months catching up on a bunch of music I'd missed out on from the decade, I've compiled top 10 album lists for every year. I wrote little tidbits about a lot - but not all - of the albums. Sometimes you like an album but just don't have much to say about it.
Keep in mind that these things are always fluid(and that there is still a lot of stuff I haven't gotten around to listening to yet), my opinions my change next year or next week, but this is as it is now.
Cobbler will be happy to know I've finally gotten into LCD and Nick Cave(though, sadly, not The National, despite trying over and over).
Without further ado...
2010
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
3. Beach House - Teen Dream
4. Janelle Monae - ArchAndroid
5. Robyn - Body Talk
6. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
7. Sufjan Stevens - Age Of Adz
8. Eminem - Recovery
9. MGMT - Congratulations
10. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
Honorable Mentions: Black Keys - Brothers, Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
The decade started with one of its stronger years.
The Suburbs is classic - I mean, the title track, "Ready To Start", "City With No Children", "Half Light II", We Used To Wait", "Sprawl II", and more? I miss this Arcade Fire and can't believe how far they've strayed.
I got into Tame Impala with Lonerism, and Innerspeaker is of a piece with that. Currents is good too, but this and Lonerism is the TI that I fell in love with.
Beach House quietly worked themselves into being one of the bands of the decade imo, and Teen Dream is the beginning of a pretty remarkable streak.
ArchAndroid was Monae's first full-length record, right? It's fantastic. She was so wonderfully weird on this record, and the neo-Motown sound she employs filtered through her own offbeat personality is just such an awesome thing to hear. Highlights include "Cold War", "Oh Maker", "Mushrooms & Roses", "Wondaland", "57821", and the closer "BaBopByeYa".
Body Talk is probably still my favorite pure pop record of the decade. From "Dancing On My Own" to "Indestructible" to "Call Your Girlfriend" to "Hang With Me" and beyond, Robyn had a zeitgeist moment here, and this may well be the record she is remembered for the most. Plus, she made a Back To The Future reference in "Time Machine". Win.
For the longest time, I could never get into LCD Soundsystem outside of a few isolated tracks. But I revisited American Dream earlier this year, and it finally clicked for me. I had always been thinking of LCD as an electronic/dance band, but I had a lightbulb moment - and I know I'm late to the party here - that underneath all of that they're really a post-punk band. The influence of Talking Heads, Berlin/Scary Monsters-era Bowie, and stuff like that is pretty common, and pretty obvious, in LCD's stuff, and once that clicked for me, I had a much easier type appreciating them. This Is Happening has some filler, but the high points - All I Want, I Can Change, You Wanted A Hit, Somebody's Calling Me, Home - are good enough to elevate the album. Especially All I Want.
I got into Carrie & Lowell first, so Age of Adz is obviously a lot different, more psychedelic and epic in nature, as opposed to the quiet and intimate nature of the former record, but I found myself really digging it.
I don't have much hip-hop on any of these lists, but Eminem's Recovery is his best work this decade imo and more than worth a listen.
Cee-Lo's record is just a fun, light, bright listen. "Wildflower" is still a song I come back to pretty often.
2011
1. REM - Collapse Into Now
2. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
4. Feist - Metals
5. Radiohead - King Of Limbs
6. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
7. Noel Gallagher - High Flying Birds
8. Adele - 21
9. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
10. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
REM's swan song is a really solid, feel-good record. It's a good musical synthesis of what they were about for 30 years. Stuff like "Uberlin", "Oh My Heart", "It Happened Today", "Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I" sound like the band circa Out Of Time/Automatic For The People; "Mine Smell Like Honey" reminds me of Green; "Every Day Is Yours To Win" sounds like the band circa Up; and the crunchier stuff like "Discoverer", "All The Best", and "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter" harkens back to the band's I.R.S. days. The finale, "Blue", sounds very much like "Country Feedback" in spirit, but it's still a moving, poignant last statement from the band - the moody atmospherics, Stipe's lyrics, Patti Smith's background vocals - it's kind of chilling to be honest. I think it's just a really strong record for such a legendary band to go out on.
Lykke Li is a special, unique artist, and in Wounded Rhymes' beautiful tracks like "Youth Knows No Pain", "Rich Kid Blues", "I Know Places", and the sublime closer "Silent My Song", she sounds like some kind of spirit from another world.
RHCP, as always, is not very popular here in B&C, and this, their first record with Josh Klinghoffer, didn't click with me at the time, but it's grown on me and has some really enjoyable material on it, even if it's not up to the standards they'd set with Frusciante.
Feist is an often-overlooked artist, but I think she's the real deal. This is a challenging but rewarding listen.
It says something about both the greatness of Radiohead that my least favorite album of theirs in the last 20 years is still my fifth favorite of the year. Honestly, the second half is pretty good and so were the non-album singles that surrounded it. It's just anemic in length, has a couple ill-fitting tracks imo, and lacks the overt emotion that characterizes much of RH's work(even Kid A).
I just got into the High Flying Birds - nothing mind-blowing, but if you like Oasis, this is a very enjoyable pop-rock record.
Adele's record is one of the biggest of the decade, and it's singles are good enough to elevate it for me. I know she's not for everyone though.
2012
1. Tame Impala - Lonerism
2. Beach House - Bloom
3. Grizzly Bear - Shields
4. Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox
5. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
6. Sigur Ros - Valtari
7. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
8. Father John Misty - Fear Fun
9. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
10. Fiona Apple - Idler Wheel
Honorable Mention: Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Lonerism is an all-timer for me. One of those albums that made me flip for an artist right away. Apocalypse Dreams, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Why Won't You Talk To Me, Elephant, it's all so good.
On some days, Bloom might be Beach House's best record.
I am a big Grizzly Bear fan. I love their impassioned yet intimate style. They make such beautiful, melodic, melancholic music. Shields is gorgeous.
I am perplexed at why Bruno Mars' Unorthodox Jukebox doesn't get talked about more. It's not particularly heavy or anything, but he's channeling Off-The-Wall-era Michael Jackson for much of it, and doing it really well. One of the most exciting pop albums of the decade.
Valtari has become one of my favorite Sigur Ros albums - so beautiful and ethereal.
Regina Spektor's record is soulful, kooky, and a lot of fun. Regina is always fun.
I think Laz said once that he respects Fiona Apple's "Idler..." more than he enjoys it, and think I agree with that. I appreciate her artistry, there are certainly a few tracks that I enjoyed the first time through, and the album warrants future listens.
2013
1. David Bowie - The Next Day
2. My Bloody Valentine - MBV
3. John Frusciante - Outsides
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
5. Janelle Monae - Electric Lady
6. Atoms For Peace - AMOK
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm Beside You
8. Justin Timberlake - 20/20 Experience Part 1
9. Queens Of The Stone Age - Like Clockwork
10. Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Honorable Mentions: Arcade Fire - Reflektor, Haim - Days Are Gone, Katie Melua - Ketevan, Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
2013 is, imo, the second strongest year of the decade for music, second only to 2016. One of the few years of the decade where my top 10 is just rock solid top to bottom.
I don't know if The Next Day is Bowie's best late-era album - Blackstar and Heathen are probably greater, more cohesive artistic statements on the whole - but it's the one I come back to the most. It stands out in his late-career, because he was such a forward-looking artist, always trying new things, but this album is looking back. It's the sound of Ziggy Stardust(the persona, not the album) 40 years later. It's like he's trying an old outfit on, seeing if it still fits, if he can still do that thing. And boy does he. "The Stars(Are Out Tonight)", ""Love Is Lost", "Valentine's Day", "I'd Rather Be High", "How Does The Grass Grow"(with its Apaches sample), "Set The World On Fire" are all bangers, and "Where Do We Go" is one of the most beautiful songs he ever wrote.
MBV picked up right where they left off in 1991, and this long-awaited follow-up is an aural feast; transportive, evocative, and powerful. MBV is really a unique group whose work often defies description, so I won't waste too many characters trying.
I know most of you have probably never listened to any of John Frusciante's solo stuff, and Outsides is actually an EP, but screw it, I'm leaving it that high because the 10-minute guitar instrumental "Same" is that fucking good. Seriously, listen to it.
I've been listening to these last three Nick Cave albums, since everyone here's been singing their praises - and I'm really enjoying them...well, Push The Sky Away and Skeleton Tree anyway, Ghosteen is taking a little longer to get into. Anyway, these records are so heavy and dense that I feel like I need to listen to them ten or twenty more times before I can really say anything intelligent about them. Push The Sky Away seems to be the most direct of the three, and it didn't take much effort to get absorbed in it. I particularly like "Jubilee Street", the title track, "Mermaids", and "Water's Edge. Title track is probably my favorite here.
Electric Lady is the album that got me into Janelle, and I think her neo-Motown wearing-the-Stevie-Wonder-and-Diana-Ross-influences-on-her-sleeve sound on a lot of it is on-point, she's got a lovely voice, and the songs just work. "Look Into My Eyes", "Ghetto Woman", "It's Code", "Sally Ride", "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes", among others, are killer.
I always loved the Atoms For Peace album. I think Flea and Waronker's presence gave Thom's stuff a liveliness that is sometimes lacking in his solo stuff. "Ingenue", "Default", and "Reverse Running" are favorites of mine.
I'm Beside You is technically a compilation of b-sides from the I'm With You sessions, but it's really a distinct album in its own right, and it contains some of RHCP's best work with Josh - "How It Ends", "Pink As Floyd", to name a couple.
It's possible that 20/20 Experience Part 1 could go down as Timberlake's greatest solo album. B&C is usually not big on him, but this album definitely made some noise here. "Mirrors" is one of the biggest singles of the decade, and other favorites include the Marvin Gaye-ish "That Girl", the atmospheric "Blue Ocean Floor", the latin-flavored "Let The Groove Get In", and "Pusher Love Girl".
Queens Of The Stone Age, like Foo Fighters, carry a torch for mainstream rock music in these times. "Like Clockwork" is a thoroughly enjoyable, refreshing rock record. The single "My God Is The Sun" and the closing title track are highlights.
Kveikur shows a harder, darker, more rock side of Sigur Ros, as opposed to the previous year's Valtari, which was much more ambient and atmospheric. It's really impressive that Sigur Ros can do both things and make them both so distinctly Sigur Ros. "Brennisteinn" is a highlight here, it's incredible.
2014
1. U2 - Songs Of Innocence
2. Beck - Morning Phase
3. Lykke Li - I Never Learn
4. John Frusciante - Enclosure
5. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
6. Ryan Adams - Self-titled
7. D'Angelo - Black Messiah
8. Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear
9. St. Vincent - Self-titled
10. War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Honorable Mention: Sun Kil Moon - Benji
Yes, I have SOI #1. Look down on me all you want. I've loved the album since the day it came out, and taken with non-album tracks like "Crystal Ballroom" and "Invisible", I still think it might be their best work of the 21st century.
I am not familiar with much Beck has done since his 90s/early 00s heyday, but I always heard good things about Morning Phase, so I gave it a try a few months back when I had started this project. You were all right, it is fully deserving of the praise. I was surprised at the, sort of, earnestness of it. Beck was never as emotionally naked as he is here. It's a really beautiful album.
I Never Learn is, imo, Lykke's best work to date. Perhaps her most emotionally direct as well. Stuff like "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone" and "Gunshot" are songs I will always come back to.
Enclosure is another Frusciante solo effort - this time is a full LP, and probably his best, most complete release post-RHCP departure. Would rank this high for "Cinch" alone.
I'm still bummed Ryan Adams turned out to be a creep. This is still a really solid record that I found by way of the song "I Just Might", a brooding, moody, tension-building rock song that is still my favorite on the record.
Black Messiah is a really good, interesting record, and "The Charade" is certainly one of the decade's more memorable singles, but it never reached the top echelons for me the way it did for others. Still good though.
Sia is one of my favorite pop artists of the decade, just a really unique, authentic voice and some huge, unforgettable zeitgeist singles.
2015
1. Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
2. Beach House - Depression Cherry
3. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterly
5. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
6. Tame Impala - Currents
7. Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool
8. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
9. Joanna Newsom - Divers
10. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
Honorable Mention: Adele - 25
Like I said before, Beach House has quietly been one of the bands of the decade, having crafted a totally unique sound, accentuated by her vocals which act more as an additional instrument rather than a vehicle for lyrics, similar to MBV. It is perhaps symbolic of how their stature had increased by 2015 that they felt confident enough to put out two albums in one year. I prefer Thank Your Lucky Stars to Depression Cherry - and "Elegy To The Void" is one of their very greatest songs - but both albums are beautiful additions to their legacy.
Sufjan had been a favorite here for many years, but I'd never really gotten into him. Several years ago, I gave C&L a listen based off your recommendations. TBH, it didn't really do much for me the first time through, until the very last track, "Blue Bucket Of Gold". That one floored me and stayed with me enough to give the rest of the album another try earlier this year, and this time the album as a whole clicked for me. A beautiful, almost painfully honest and intimate portrait of grief. I sometimes felt like I was intruding on someone's therapy session.
But back to "Blue Bucket Of Gold" - I honestly think "Raise your right hand/Tell me you want me in your life/or raise your red flag/just when I want you in my life" might be the most emotionally affecting musical moment of the entire decade(in popular music, anyway). Literally breath-taking.
TPAB is obviously the most important hip-hop record of the decade, and for good reason. Kendrick's lyricism against the jazz and art-rock flavored musical backdrops make for a potent and engaging listen. By far his best work imo.
Kamasi is just a really enjoyable, accessible, super-talented jazz artist. This album is a bit over-long and bloated, but the high points are many.
Even though I prefer their earlier, more psychedelic stuff, Tame Impala does well in their new dance-oriented direction on Currents. I need to be in the right mood, but if I am, it really works.
Wolf Alice seems like a pretty solid up-and-coming rock band; this record got a lot of buzz around here back then.
Joanna Newsom is crazy talented, and Divers must be the most lyrically dense album I've ever come across, by anybody. This record is an adventure that requires 110% of your attention. It is NOT background music.
CRJ's Emotion isn't as good as Robyn's Body Talk imo, but it's a surprisingly enjoyable pop record. I wasn't expecting anything good after "Call Me Maybe", so, yeah, I was surprised. The title track, "Making The Most Of The Night", and "Favourite Colour" are favorites.
2016
1. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
2. David Bowie - Blackstar
3. Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evoulution
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway
5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
6. Solange - A Seat At The Table
7. Lady Gaga - Joanne
8. Norah Jones - Day Breaks
9. Angel Olsen - My Woman
10. Metallica - Hardwired To Self-Destruct
Honorable Mention: See at the bottom of this 2016 section...
Like I said before, this is the strongest year of the decade. I give 2016 the edge, because I think it has two things going for it: a transcendent top two, and stupid depth.
The Radiohead and Bowie albums are top-five-of-the-decade material as far as I'm concerned. A Moon Shaped Pool is an astounding bounce back after the relative disappointment of King Of Limbs, the combination of Greenwood's cinematic string arrangements, beautiful melodies, and probably the most emotionally naked set of lyrics Thom has written making for an absolutely stirring listen.
Blackstar, meanwhile, remains one of the most poignant career-enders we're likely to see, Bowie's writing about his own mortality scored by the fantastic jazz band he employed. Getting these two albums in one year was just very, very special.
Moving on elsewhere, Emily's D+Evolution is the record that got me into Esperanza Spalding. She is ridiculously talented, and songs like "Unconditional Love", Elevate or Operate", and "Ebony and Ivy" show her gift for combining elements of jazz, rock, and pop into something totally unique.
Lady Gaga went in a new stripped-down direction starting with "Joanne"(and continuing two years later with "A Star Is Born"), and I much prefer it to her earlier pure pop material. She's a tremendous vocalist, and songs like "A Million Reasons", "Joanne", "Angel Down", "Diamond Heart", "Sinner's Prayer", "Come To Mama", and the outtake "Just Another Day" allow that voice, as well as some great songwriting, to shine.
RHCP's The Getaway was an improvement over I'm With You. More sonically expansive, It felt like there was an album-wide focus that was lacking on its predecessor. "Dark Necessities" is a genuine RHCP classic, but the rest is good too. From the balladry of "The Longest Wave" to the reggae influence of "Sick Love" to the pop of "Go Robot" to the psychedelia of "This Ticonodrega", it's a solid record throughout. As excited as I am to have Frusciante back in the band, this album had encouraged me about what they could do with Josh going forward.
Again, as with his previous record, not close to ready to say anything too deep about Skeleton Tree, except that it's really good, it musically seems like a bridge between the direct nature of Push The Sky Away and the ambient nature of Ghosteen, and "I Need You" fucking slays me. Maybe my single favorite track of his so far.
Solange just made a great soul record with A Seat At The Table. I just listened again, and this stuff - "Cranes In The Sky", "Don't Touch My Hair", "Where Do We Go", "FUBU", "Scales" - holds up. The combination of her voice, the atmosphere that permeates the record, and the authenticity and relevance of the lyrics makes for a record that will be remembered. I said then and I'll say it now - I think it's better than anything Beyonce has done.
Not too many metalheads here - I wouldn't even call myself one - but Hardwired is Metallica's best record since the Black Album. Perhaps that's not saying much, but a lot of this record is really good. There are moments of 80s Metallica here, moments of Black Album Metallica, and moments of Load/Reload Metallica but, save for a few clunkers, it's as solid as anything they've done in a long time, even if doesn't really get close to their peak work.
Norah Jones returned to her piano pop-jazz roots on Day Breaks, and she's just really good at that. "Day Breaks", "Burn", "Flipside", and "And Then There Was You", among others, show her gifts for this genre.
Angel Olsen's My Woman is home to classic tracks like "Sister", "Woman", and "Shut Up Kiss Me" as well as personal favorites "Pops" and "Intern". She alternates effortlessly between quiet, vulnerable vocals and more direct, aggressive rock vocals, which results in a dynamic record. Still, I think I'm in the minority in that I think the follow-up, All Mirrors, tops this as an artistic statement. More on that later.
Outside my top ten, 2016 also produced:
The Avalanches' "Wildflower"
Bat For Lashes' "The Bride",
Rihanna's "Anti"(the last three tracks are career-best work for her),
Carseat Headrest's "Teens Of Denial",
Tribe Called Quest's "We Got It From Here..."
Wild Nothing's "Life Of Pause",
Sia's "This Is Acting", the follow-up to "1000 Forms Of Fear",
Crying's "Beyond The Fleeting Gales",
Beyonce's "Lemonade", and
Frank Ocean's "Blonde"
Bruno Mars' 24K Magic
You can arguably go 20 deep in quality albums in 2016. The year of the decade.
2017
1. Esperanza Spalding - Exposure
2. Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
3. Torres - Three Futures
4. Foo Fighters - Concrete & Gold
5. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
6. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Who Built The Moon?
7. Slowdive - Self-Titled
8. U2 - Songs Of Experience
9. Lorde - Melodrama
10. St. Vincent - Masseduction
Honorable Mention: Kendrick Lamar - DAMN, War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Most Disappointing: Arcade Fire - Everything Now
While not reaching the heights of 2013 and 2016, 2017 was a very good year as well.
Esperanza Spalding conducted an experiment where, starting with nothing, she livestreamed herself and her collaborators writing, arranging, and recording the album "Exposure" over a three day period. That she created something so beautiful from nothing in such a short period of time is jaw-dropping. Unfortunately, as part of the experiment, only 7,777 copies of the album were ever released(and it was never released to streaming services), so the only way to get it legally is to pay hundreds of dollars on eBay or elsewhere. But you can still find it online if you know where to look. I think two or three of the tracks are on YT. Here's the best song on the album, "Heaven In Pennies":
Again, I'm a big Grizzly Bear fan, and I think this record might even be better than Shields. "Morning Sound", "Neighbors", and "Sky Took Hold" have permanent places in my heart.
I knew nothing about Torres when "Three Futures" came out, but I liked the album right away, and coming back to it earlier this year after some time away, I fell hard for it. She has a unique, slightly off-kilter voice that I dig, and the way she comes up with these infectious hooks amidst sparse instrumentation just works for me. The title track, "Righteous Woman", "Greener Stretch", "Bad Baby Pie", and "Concrete Ganesha" are all favorites. LOVE this record.
Foo Fighters aren't for everyone, but I love them. There previous two albums in the decade were both solid, and they made my lists, but this is the best album they've made in a long time. It's paying homage to classic rock in a way they never have before - the Beatles and Pink Floyd influences are everywhere, especially in "The Sky Is A Neighborhood", "Arrows", "T-Shirt", and "Concrete & Gold". "Happily Ever After" is a rare acoustic number from Grohl and Co. and it's beautiful.
LCD hadn't clicked with me yet the first time I listened to American Dream. But months ago, when I started the process of catching up, I kept reading peoples' old posts here singing its praises. So I gave it another shot, and the album and band finally clicked with me. It's a great record. Again, the influences are obvious and lovingly paid tribute to. "Call The Police" is a highlight and is wearing "Heroes" all over itself. "Change yr Mind" is another highlight and I can hear some old-school U2 - i.e. Achtung - influence here, the guitar tone is very reminiscent of The Fly imo. Said influence is also present in "I used to", and I even hear just a little "Zoo Station" towards the beginning of "Call The Police". And of course the Talking Heads influence is everywhere. Other highlights include "oh baby", the title track, and "emotional haircut".
Who Built The Moon is perhaps Noel Gallagher's best solo work so far. Not really any new ground or anything, but just a really, really enjoyable, vaguely psychedelic in parts, rock record.
The Slowdive record is a great shoegaze record. The only record of theirs I've heard thus far, I didn't think it was as special as some of you did, but it's great, evocative soundscape-y music. It just starts feeling a little same-y after awhile. I had the same issue with Explosions In The Sky. Fortunately, the record is concise and doesn't drag too long. Good stuff.
Yes, SOE is on my list. I don't like it as much as SOI, but its highlights - "Little Things", "Summer Of Love", "Landlady", "Love Is Bigger", etc, are enough to rank it for me.
I was never a fan of "Royals" and still haven't listened to her first record, so I went into Lorde's Melodrama with low expectations. It's consistent, but there are a handful of memorable tracks here - "Green Light", "Liability", "Writer In The Dark", "Perfect Places", "The Louvre", "Sober II(Melodrama)". I see some similarities with the Torres record in terms of pop hooks played against sparse instrumentation. She surprised me.
Masseduction is a frustrating record for me, because I think half of it is so good and the other half does little for me. I love the softer stuff - "Hang On Me", "Happy Birthday, Johnny", "Savior", "Slow Disco", "Smoking Section", and the best track on the record, the absolutely gorgeous "New York". But the louder stuff, like "Pill", "Los Ageless", just isn't as good, at least not to my ears. Still, the half of the record that's great is absolutely some of the best music of the year.
I know some of you rank DAMN much higher than I do. It's a good record, one of the best hip-hop records of the decade probably, but it just never wowed me the way TPAB did. Still very good though. "DNA" is killer, and "Duckworth" is one of his best tracks, full stop.
2018
1. Beach House - 7
2. Lady Gaga - A Star Is Born
3. Kamasi - Heaven And Earth
4. Thom Yorke - Suspiria
5. Paul McCartney - Egypt Station
6. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
7. Robyn - Honey
8. Esperanza Spalding - 12 Little Spells
9. MGMT - Little Dark Age
10. Lykke Li - So Sad So Sexy
Beach House continues their streak, and solidifying their place as one of the important acts of the decade, with 7. It's sort of a grower, but still quintessentially Beach House. "Lemon Glow" in particular is a highlight.
With "A Star Is Born", Gaga continued the stripped-down phase she started with Joanne, and to great effect. "Shallow" is a fantastic song, and her vocal delivery is phenomenal. But it's not the only thing there - "Always Remember Us This Way", "Look What I Found", "Is That Alright", "Before I Cry", and "I'll Never Love Again" are great Gaga showcases as well. She's an incredible voice and I really hope she continues down this road and doesn't go back to the overproduced pop she was making before.
On "Heaven And Earth", Kamasi picks up where The Epic left off. I don't listen to enough jazz, but man this guy is good. "Street Fighter Mas" is my favorite thing here.
I read an article where someone said that if you took the six tracks from Thom Yorke's Suspiria where he sings, they'd make a killer EP. I agree with that - the title track, "Unmade" "Open Again" among others are gorgeous. Outside of the vocal stuff, the record takes some patience, but it's rewarding more often than not. Haunting, absorbing, stuff. Probably Thom's best solo effort imo.
Egypt Station is Macca's best work of the decade, another late-career highlight. "I Don't Know", "Happy With You, and "Hand In Hand" are just a few examples of tracks that add to his legend.
I didn't love Dirty Computer as much as Janelle's previous offerings - I felt like this was more streamlined, more mainstream - but she still creates some beautiful pieces - the title track featuring the legendary Brian Wilson and "I Like That" are gorgeous ambient pieces, "Screwed" and "Don't Judge Me" are quality pop songs, and "So Afraid" has a killer grove and might be favorite track on the record. I don't much care for the single "Django Jane" though.
Robyn's Honey is MUCH different from Body Talk, not at all what I was expecting when it came out, and it took me awhile to adjust to it. Pretty chill and enjoyable record. "Because It's In The Music" and "Missing U" are highlights.
Esperanza Spalding is there out of respect because I love her previous two albums so much and I feel like I should give this one some more listens, but so far, it hasn't clicked with me as much.
The Lykke Li record is alright, but not as strong as her previous efforts imo.
2019
So as not to duplicate text, see my post
here.
To finish, I thought about doing a top songs of the decade, but it's just too hard, so instead I'll do a list of my top 10 favorite zeitgeist, i.e. huge hit, singles of the decade:
1. Lady Gaga - Shallow
2. Robyn - Dancing On My Own
3. Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
4. Pharrell Williams - Happy
5. Sia - Chandelier/Elastic Heart/Big Girls Cry
6. Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky
7. Adele - Rolling In The Deep
8. Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven
9. D'Angelo - Charade
10. Haim - The Wire
, but I thought it was a good list and represented the decade of indie rock pretty well.
