TOP ALBUMS OF THE DECADE - THE 2010's

All year I have been listing my favorite albums by decade....all of those lists working up to this one...my favorite albums of the 2010's. These are the albums that I have come back to and listened to the most over the past ten years.

20. Ulver, The Assassination Of Julius Caesar

I was unfamiliar with the Norwegian band Ulver during their early, dark metal years. I first discovered them with their eleventh album, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. It was one of my favorite albums of 2017 and continues to be a regular listen for me. With influences of Depeche Mode and other pop-synth bands of the late '80's and early '90's, the band officially moved as far away from their earlier music and sound as possible. Yet, they have managed to maintain the dark and doom undercurrent that has always defined their sound and storytelling. 

There are not many bands still together and playing after 27 years let alone pushing the envelope of creativity, but here's Ulver. Fusing rock and electronica sounds into a rich musical soundscape, there is no shortage of music to explore on AOJC. And with each listen you find something new that makes the listening experience that much better. And to me, that's what makes a great album.

19. Alt J, An Awesome Wave

Upon its UK release, the BBC called Alt J's debut album, An Awesome Wave "a stunning and encompassing affair of both innovative and electrifying musicianship and exemplary song writing." The Guardian wrote that "the music is rich and quirky enough to match the imagistic literacy of the lyrics, from the majestic cinematic sweep of 'Intro' onwards." For me, An Awesome Wave hit me like a tidal wave when I first heard it. It's an intelligent, innovative, frisky, and a wildly engrossing album.

18. Hippo Campus, Bambi

Bambi is an album I just can't get out of my head. Marked by a shift in their sound, Hippo Campus embraces a more experimental, synth-driven approach compared to their earlier, guitar-heavy indie rock. The album feels both introspective and restless, with lyrics that explore anxiety, change, and emotional vulnerability. Tracks like Golden highlight the band's willingness to play with unconventional song structures, layering shimmering synths and glitchy beats over heartfelt vocals. There’s a looseness to the record, yet it still carries the sharp melodies and youthful energy that define Hippo Campus. I love how the band continues to evolve, balancing personal reflection with a fresh, dynamic sonic landscape.

   

17. Max Jury, Max Jury

Max Jury’s self-titled debut took me by surprise. Paste magazine wrote that it is 'a winning collection of songs with a lot of heart and swagger that defies his young age." So true. PM added that Jury’s songs bring to mind many classic songwriters of the Laurel Canyon area, as well as musicians such as Billy Joel, Elton John and Carole King." Also true. Most of the songs on this album do have elements of those....dare I say vintage songwriters....yet Jury’s songs feel modern and fresh. This album has been a family favorite since its release in 2016.

16. Noah & The Whale, Last Night On Earth 

Last Night On Earth, Noah & The Whale's third studio album was a loose concept album about....the Last Night On Earth, or not. But as far as concept albums go, this one succeeded by not trying to do too much with it. There is a great mid-'80's rock-anthem feel to these songs, but it never feel like the band was pressing hard to deliver them to be bigger-than-life. Honestly, one song is better than the next and singing along becomes an automatic reflex when the music starts.

                                                            

15. Susanne Sundfør, Music For People In Trouble 

In an interview,Susanne Sundfør talked about living in a time of great changes. "Everything is moving so rapidly, sometimes violently, sometimes dauntingly. I think a lot of people experience anxiety these days."The Irish Times wrote that there is something bewitching about the Scandi brand of sadness. Perhaps it is why I fell so hard for Susanne Sundfør’s sixth album, 'a sweeping, seductive cinematic slice of sorrow.' An album that succeeds at 'reaching out to anxious souls to put them at ease in this turbulent time.'

14. Tool, Fear Inoculum

Tool fans, such as myself, waited 13 long years for the band's follow up to 10,000 days. And now, in 2019, we have Fear Inoculum to consume and ponder. As Sputnik Music wrote, this album is a 'massive, compelling piece of music that unfolds beautifully and balances Tool’s unique style with plenty of rewarding new elements. Any fears that they would not live up to their past can be abated; Fear Inoculum is truly groundbreaking and one of the best albums of the decade.' I agree!

13. Little Cub, Still Life

What a debut album! The Line of Best Fit wrote about Still Life, "Masking our flawed humanity with flawless electro, the South London trio fork over a delicious portion of pessimistic pop, drizzled in scrumptious synths and glorious electronic production, but bypassing a sugarcoating of over-hackneyed hedonism." An album 'brimming with English jest', this is 'a refreshingly honest record that holds a confident consciousness of modern reality.' And while Modern life 'might be rubbish', DIY writes, ' Little Cub makes things seem better.'

12. Barna Howard, Quite A Feelin' 

The songs on Barna Howard’s second album, Quite A Feelin’, ruminate on his relationship with home. Now entrenched in Portland, Oregon, many of the album’s tracks immortalize and reflect on the Eureka he once knew, while others focus on the relationships that define his new home out west. Small town life has long been celebrated in country and folk music, but Barna’s knack for capturing his own deeply personal nostalgia resonates in a rarely universal way. Every track on this album is special and it’s one of the many reasons that I come back to this album over and over again.

11. Arcade Fire, Reflektor

Influenced by Haitian rara music, the 1959 film Black Orpheus, and Søren Kierkegaard's essay Two Ages, Reflektor is an album that 'diverged dramatically from the rock conventions.....and coherent narratives that made the band's 2010, album The Suburbs, so accessible.' (Slant Magazine). That's a good thing. The band takes the listener on an epic journey that Spin wrote, is 'long and weird and indulgent and deeply committed.' But, 'you come to prefer the band's big ideas and grand gestures to almost anyone else's.' From the opener Reflektor to the 11 minute closer Supersymmetry, this album should be savored and celebrated.

10. Arctic Monkeys, AM

When AM arrived in 2013, my son said that it was the band's best album to date. It was hard for me to agree or disagree with him. Comparing AM to the band's earlier albums, especially the first two, was a bit like comparing apples to oranges. I loved the explosive energy and roughness of the band's early albums and I never really wanted their sound to change. Yet as we all know, over time things do change. The great news was that over the years the band's songs and songwriting had grown and matured in all the right ways and with AM they set a new standard for themselves. It is why NME recently named AM the best album of the 2010's.

9. Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Navigator

Alynda Mariposa Segarra, who fronts the band Hurray For The Riff Raff, grew up in the Bronx. Over time, they had become increasingly aware of how gentrification had eroded the Puetro Rican culture which stood in stark contrast to how it continued to flourish in Puerto Rico despite the damage being done to so many communities by the many economic and social challenged that they faced. 

This awareness lead Segarra to conceive of The Navigator, which follow a protagonist named Navita, a 16 year old street kid, who is navigating an over-gentrified city sometime in the near future. With a perfectly formed '70's rock storytelling sensibility, in a similar vain to The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Segarra and the band unfold Navita's story and journey in a wonderful fashion. One which brings understanding to the challenges Navita and community face and inspiration from how they ultimately take back their culture.

8. Jonathan Wilson, Gentle Spirit

Gentle Spirit is an album that completely exudes the groove and warmth that reflects what Wilson described as “that golden late ‘60s, early ‘70s period when rural and urban sensibilities colluded in producing some of rock’s most imperishable recordings.” As a longtime student of Los Angles’ Laurel Canyon, its musical heritage, and its Canyon Culture, Wilson wanted his musical ideas to “echo many of an earlier generation.” Slow burning, mellow, and laidback, Gentle Spirit really does carry you off to another time and place and holds you there through 13 songs that span close to an hour and 20 minutes. 

7. Sandro Perri, In Another Life 

Perri defies logic with In Another Life which he has referred to as an experiment in 'infinite songwriting. The title track, all 24 minutes of it, and the three versions of Everybody's Paris that follow, combine to deliver an ambient pop album that Pitchfork best describes as a masterful, dreamlike world. It's mesmerizing, hypnotic, and absolutely unforgettable.

6. Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate

'By any measure, this is an audacious, startlingly mature and powerful album; the kind singer-songwriters aspire to, but seldom deliver....It's an intimate and sprawling, personal and universal, affectionate and daring. It's also not background music. Sit down in front of your largest speakers, turn up the volume, push play, close your eyes and let Michael Kiwanuka's Love & Hate envelop your senses while taking you on a journey to the sonic expanses of your mind.' American Songwriter 

5. Metronomy, The English Riviera

Back in 2011, The English Riviera was nominated for Britain's The Mercury Prize for best album of the year. In an interview, Joseph Mount, the driving force behind the band, described the album as a kind of love letter to both his hometown of Totnes in Devon, and a romantic fantasy of the title's seaside resort he used to drive around in, blasting Ace of Base as a youth. Eccentric, slightly avant-garde leaning British Pop (Drowned In Sound Description) has always been my thing. And this album is, as Allmusic wrote, an unmistakable English Affair, which is perhaps why I was immediately drawn to it. I just love this one.

4. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

In 2011, James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem played their farewell concert at Madison Square Garden. Seven years later, Murphy had more to say, to share, to question. And so he gave us the gift of American Dream. It's a modern work of art about aging, love, regret, friendship, and ultimately an arduous search for meaning (Paste Magazine). A meticulous sonic architect and exuberant performer (Pretty Much Amazing), Murphy wraps his inner-monologs in "mind-bending knotty, constructs of synth, drum beats, and guitar riffs" that build as the album progresses to epic levels before drifting out in near silence in a fitting tribute to David Bowie (Black Screen). What a return.

3. Damien Rice, My Favorite Faded Fantasy

It had been eight long years between the release of My Favorite Faded Fantasy and Damien Rice's prior album. So where was he? In an interview he did for The Telegraph, he described his self-exile as a time of "transition." One in which he shedded old attitudes to life and explored new ones. "I am really curious about life, about why we are all here. I notice my skin is aging, things are changing, I've seen people dying, so that's the train we are all on. And I would like to figure some shit out before I reach the destination." With this album, Rice takes us into the mind of a man searching and yearning for many answers, but is getting more comfortable with just living the journey.

2. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine

In 2011, Scottish singer-songwriter Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote, and English electro composer and producer Jon Hopkins collaborated to create Diamond Mine, a heartfelt reflection on the town and landscape of Fife, where Anderson lives. This absolutely beautiful and stunning album exemplifies what is possible when two artists marry two very different musical reference points in a cohesive and near perfect way. Together they have created a magnificent and timeless musical space where Anderson's quiet and soulful songs radiate earth, warmth, and richness and perfectly capture his fondness and love for life in this small town. This is a special album.

1. Destroyer, Kaputt

The 9th album from Vancouver, BC native, Daniel Bejar, who records under the name Destroyer, is simply irresistible. Uncompromising, Bejar is one of those artists that seems to change musical direction with each new release. With Kaputt, Bejar creates dreamy-ambient pop songs that pay tribute to the sounds and sensibilities of artists like Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry at their best. The songs here are chalk-full of wonderful musical elements. I love the inclusion of the trumpet, sax, and flute on many of these songs. This album has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it back in 2011. Note: If you can get your hands on it....the European version with the 20 minute The Laziest River is a must! It takes Kaputt to a whole other level.

TOP ALBUMS OF 2019

2019 closes out a decade of music with some of the best albums that I have heard over the past ten years. In a few days I will be posting my 'best of the decade' list. In the meantime, here are my favorite albums of 2019.

10. Mike Posner, A Real Good Kid 

In April, Mike Posner started a nine month walk across the country. In an interview with CBS, Posner said that his hope from the walk was to fall in love with being in the present moment and being perfectly incomplete. Facing the death of his father to cancer, his friend and collaborator Avicii to suicide, and breakup with his girlfriend, Posner's world came crashing down and he found himself pondering life and death, family, friends, and how he had come to define success. On A Real Good Kid, Posner pours his heart and soul into a collection of songs that bring us into the mind of a broken man looking to find a new inner peace and perspective on living. 

9. Peter Perrett, Humanworld

Addiction to Heroin and crack took decades from Peter Perrett, but not his music or musical ideas. Now, at the age of 67, Perrett is making some of the best music of his career. As The Guardian wrote, Humanworld isn't just good by the standards of albums made by people who spent years on hard drugs, or by the standards of late career revivals: it's simply a very good album indeed. It 'manages to avoid both the possible traps: trying too hard to sound current, or trying too hard to recapture past glories. Instead it's clean, and sharp, and melodic guitar rock.'

8. Marillion, With Friends From The Orchestra

I have become a huge Marillion fan over the past few years. It all started when I started spending time with 2006’s Marbles which has since become one of my favorite albums. Once I did, I found myself going down the rabbit’s hole of all things Marillion going back to when Steve Hogarth joined the band in 1989. It’s crazy to think that I had paid them little attention for so long. It’s also crazy to see them still together and sounding as great as ever after 30 years. 

With Friends From The Orchestra, the band revisits and reimagines nine songs from their extensive catalog. Was this necessary? I would have said ‘no’ until I listed to them. Now I will say a resounding ‘yes.’ In fact I will say that a few of these new versions are better than the originals including This Strange Engine. Whether you are a fan or Marillion or have no idea who they are….do yourself a favor and spend some time with this album. 

7. Rex Orange Country, Pony

English singer/Songwriter Alexander O'Connor, who records under the name Rex Orange Country closed out the year for me with Pony, his major label debut, which was released a few weeks ago. It was 'that' album that I had been waiting for all year, but did not know it until I heard it. American Songwriter pointed to his 'unique pop prosody and production skills and inventiveness.' Jazz-tinged songs full of catchy hooks and charm, Pony is as NME writes, 'a total delight.

6. FINNEAS, Blood Harmony

Turn your attention away from the hype of Billie Eilish and towards her brother Finneas, the creative engine behind her music. On his short EP Blood Harmony, Finneas is right out in front where he belongs. Best said by Atwood Magazine, 'From the heartbreaking mourning of a friendship lost in “I Lost A Friend”, to the symbiotic, infatuated co-dependency of “Die Alone”. Blood Harmony explores soundscapes that range from radio-ready pop hits to stripped down ballads, never losing its polish or unique cinematic quality, and reveals that FINNEAS is a master at telling stories about those who surround, or once surrounded, him.'

5. The LaFontaines, Junior

Catchy, ballsy, hard edged, melodic, and packing a punch. That is how Rock N' Load Mag described The LaFontaines third album Junior. Fusing Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, and R & B in ways that are both bold and brashy (Bring The Noise), these Scotts grab your attention and don't let it go. This is a killer album that I have not been able to turn away from since its release.

   

4. Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Del Rey’s talent has been misunderstood throughout her career, writes Spencer Kornhaber in the Atlantic, 'but with the freighter-heavy and canyon-gorgeous new album Norman Fucking Rockwell, maybe she’ll be seen for the essential writer of her times that she is.'  

As someone who has not only misunderstood Rey, but has also not taken her seriously as an artist, I approached NFR with skepticism. I can confirm that Kornhaber is 100% on point! Singing 'exquisitely of freedom and transformation and the wreckage of being alive, Pitchfork contributing Editor Jenn Pelly aptly penned that NFR establishes Rey as one of American's greatest living songwriters.

3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ghosteen

How does one grieve over the loss of a child and the endless tidal waves of emotions that overwhelm one's ability to just breath let alone live? Over three albums, concluding with Ghosteen, Nick Cave has been grappling with the tragic death of his teenage son in 2015 which left him utterly broken. 

On Ghosteen, the shock of Cave's son's death has passed, but devastation and isolation have slowly transformed into memories and loneliness and Cave finds himself asking more questions than ever. Now it's on to "what do I do now, where do I go?(Sputnik). There are no easy answers as Tracy Thorn masterfully conveys in her review of the album. “The past with its savage undertow” appears in two songs – in one it lets go, while in another, it will never let go, there is no escape. And you feel that both are true. There is no resolution. Songs hint at the possibility of recovery, then evert to despair. The need for acceptance of loss is in constant tension with the impossibility of acceptance."

Yet, by the end of the album, you get a sense that he has come to terms as he sings "it's a long way to find peace of mind, and I'm just waiting now for my time to come." This is an astonishing album that is a must listen.

2. RPWL, Tales From Outer Space

Tales From Outer Space is a late addition to my list of favorite albums for 2019. I actually discovered this album in April of 2020 when I fell upon RPWL, a band not familiar to me. I was immediate drawn to this German progressive rock band and their extensive twenty year catalog of albums, both studio and live. As a band that started as a Pink Floyd cover band, you can certainly hear the PF influences, especially their later work (think The Division Bell). With this said, this is truly an original album and having listened to most of RPWL's albums, I will say that Tales From Outer Space is one of their best and at least right now, my favorite.

1. Tool, Fear Inoculum

Tool fans, such as myself, waited 13 long years for the band's follow up to 10,000 days. And now we have Fear Inoculum to consume and ponder. As Sputnik Music wrote, this album is a 'massive, compelling piece of music that unfolds beautifully and balances Tool’s unique style with plenty of rewarding new elements. Any fears that they would not live up to their past can be abated; Fear Inoculum is truly groundbreaking and one of the best albums of the decade.' I agree!