Thanks to my post-beatnik mother, I fell in love with music in the car's back seat. A younger version of myself started singing along to a handful of cassette tapes that repeatedly played in the stock stereo system in a strawberry-red Plymouth Horizon. Neil Young's Unknown Legend and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were my three-year-old self's favorites. I would demand those tapes be played while my hippie mom and I would sing the lyrics together. Five years later, I had started to develop my taste, which in retrospect was one of the first and perhaps most important steps into my self-identity and personal individuality, with the allowance purchase of an Abby Road on CD.
My ninth birthday life changed immensely as I was gifted a Sony boombox complete with AM/FM, Cassette, and CD, with about 15 Beatles CDs and a Jimmy Buffett greatest hits album. After some juvenescence deep in the throws of Beatles academy, I found my way to popular contemporary acts of the era: Tool, Korn, Marilyn Manson, and Sublime, all of which were exalted by the monochrome and strictly prohibited parental advisory decal. My appetite for the art of music had been awakened, and I indulged in the gluttony. I spent every last dollar on CDs and tapes, carefully avoiding cashiers who tried to enforce the parental advisory sticker and cleverly rearranging the packaging to hide the forbidden stamp from my mother.
In 1999, a monumental change came into my life with the birth of Napster and an internet-connected family computer. My scope and music consumption exploded with the plethora of available content and my introduction to hip-hop. I rode the Bermuda sloop, flying my jolly Rodger flag well into my 20s, spending almost no money on physical media each year, listening to more music than I had the year before, opening my ears to new genres, new ideas, and occasionally falling into the Dunning Kruger traps of becoming an arrogant music snob.
Fast forward 12 formidable years, overwhelmed by the magnitude of music, I began keeping a written record of the music I had consumed, a habit that has since become my life's work. The very same year, deep in the depths of a long depression, I was given an object of significant value. An object belonging to my mother that had been obtained 33 years earlier with saved High School graduation money and loved intensely through her formidable years, bringing her joy and getting her through periods of sadness. A Technics SL-D2 turntable and a collection of about 100 LPs that had been carefully hidden away from 20 years of dust, my humble return to the consumption of physical media. In 2013, needing a defining characteristic of my personality and 25-year-old self-identity, I challenged myself by listening to 365 albums, carefully documenting each with a rating from 0-10. This challenge persists now ten years and several thousand albums later.
All of us who deeply enjoy music have found our way to the things we love, partly by the people who inspire us, those who help us find our way to the music we love. I would not be where I am without the influences that have helped show me the way, that has laid the path, muses perhaps. Mom, Grayson, Lore, Bill, Jake, Sam, Alex, Tam, Kenzie, Charles, and Craig, I love you all; thanks for the inspiration.
So many things have changed in the last ten years, from the introduction of widespread music streaming to the revival of vinyl records, The end of genres, and the beginning of others. I decided to review some of my top albums from the past decade because I feel old and will soon lose all vitality when understanding and appreciating contemporary music.
While my entire list can be found here, I wanted to share some of my favorites from the last decade:
2013:
Arcade Fire - Reflector
Kanye West - Yeezus
Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
Darkside - Psychic
Death Grips - No Love Deep Web
James Blake - Overgrown
Atoms For Peace - Amok
Devendra Banhart - Mala
Queens Of The Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
Junip - Junip
Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - We The Common
2014:
Wild Beasts - Present Tense
Young Fathers - Dead
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Adult Jazz - Gist Is
Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
Chet Faker - Built On Glass
FKA Twigs - LP1
Clipping - CLPNG
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Shake Graves - And The War Came
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long I'll See You Tomorrow
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witnesses
Kishi Bashi - Lighght
Strand Of Oaks - Heal
Primus - Primus And The Chocolate Factory
2015:
Joanna Newsom - Divers
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
Alex G - Beach Music
Modest Mouse - Strangers To Ourselves
Youth Lagoon - Savage Hills Ballroom
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
Tame Impala - Currents
Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
Dan Deacon - Glass Riffer
Dawn Richard - Blackheart
Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight
Mac Miller - Good AM
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear
Until The Ribbon Breaks - A Lesson Unlearnt
2016:
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo
Adult Jazz - Earrings Off
Childish Gambino - Awaken My Love
Anderson. Peak - Malibu
Bon Iver - 22 A Million
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
David Bowie - Blackstar
Devendra Bandhart - Ape In Pink Marble
Cate Le Bon - Crab Day
Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being
James Blake - The Colour In Anything
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailors Guide To Earth
Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat
Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate
2017:
Kendrick Lamar - DAMN
Fleet Foxes - Crack Up
Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
Vince Staples - The Big Fish Theory
Feist - Pleasure
Big Thief - Capacity
Rostom - Half-Light
St. Vincent - MASSEDUCATION
Chad VanGalen - Light Information
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid
Brockhampton - Saturation 1,2,3
Blackbear - Digital Druglord
Mac Demarco - This Old Dog
Perfume Genius - No Shape
Back - Colours
2018:
Janelle Monet - Dirty Computer
Son Lux - Brighter Wounds
J. Cole - KOD
Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of
LUMP - LUMP
Tierra Whack - Whack World
Rainbow Kitten Surprise - How To: Friend, Love, Freefall
Young Fathers - Coco Sugar
Nas - Nasir
Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile
Rosalia - El Mal Querer
Leon Bridges - Good Thing
JUNGLE - For Ever
Superorganism - Superorganism
2019:
James Blake - Assume Form
Orville Peck - Pony
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Jamila Woods _ Legacy!Legacy!
Danny Brown - ?uknowwhatimsayin?
Sudan Archives - Athena
Tei Shi - La Linda
Vagabond - Vagabond
Big Thief - UFOF / Two Hands
Alex G - House Of Sugar
Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO
Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA
Devendra Banhara - MA
Flume - Hi This Is Flume
Clipping - There Existed An Addiction To Blood
2020:
Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
070 Shake - Modus Vivendi
Glass Animals - Dreamland
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Adrianne Lenker - Songs / Instrumentals
Moses Sumney - Grae
Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open
Son Lux - Tomorrows 1,2,3
Childish Gambino - 3.15.20
D. Smoke - Black Habits
Nas - Kings Disease
Fleet Foxes - Shore
Slyvan Esso - Free Love
Laura Marling - Songs For Our Daughters
Lianne La Havas - Leanne La Havas
2021:
Spellling - The Turning Wheel
Low - Hey What
Darkside - Spiral
Lump - Animal
Dave - We're All Alone In This Together
Jorja Smith - Be Right Back
(—-__—___) - The Heart Pumps Cool Aid
Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth
Arca - Kick 1-5
James Blake - Friends Who Break Your Heart
Injury Reserve - By The Time I Get To Pheonix
Tyler The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
Royal Canoe - Sidelining
Sturgill Simpson - Dude And Juanita
Floating Points / Pharoe Sanders - Promises
2022:
Alex G - God Save The Animals
Big Thief - New Warm Mountain, I Believe In You
JID - The Forever Story
Nilüfer Yanya - PAINLESS
070 Shake - You Can't Kill Me
Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness Heart Aglow
Back Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers
Terence Etc. - VORTEX
Jakob Banks - Lies About The War
FKA Twigs - Caprisongs
Billy Woods - Aethiopes
On Man - On Man
Steve Lacey - Gemini Rights
Obongjayar - Some Nights I Dream Of Doors
2023:
Overmono - Good Lies
Kelela - Raven
Oneohtrix Point Never - Again
James Blake - Playing Robots Into Heaven
P.J. Harvey- I Inside The Old Year Dying
Lil Yachty - Let's Start Here
Christine & The Queens - Paranoïa, Angels, True Love
Lankum - False Lankum
Current Joys - Love And Pop
JPEGmafia & Danny Brown - Scaring The Hoes
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Slausen Malone 1 - Excelsior
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Anna B. Savage - in/FLUX
I need to take a moment to segue from the central theme of this piece and mention that this year I listened to not 365 albums but 500, and wanted to share an individual and deeply personal review of my favorite album of the year:
Lonesome Dialtones
I fought the idea of this being my #1 despite my love calling it early on in my deliberation. It was hard to admit because I was part of this music and didn't want to shamelessly promote myself or my best friends. But the truth is that despite my involvement, it's something I absolutely love and the album that touched me the most this year. I feel weird about reviewing such an album, but here we go:
The bandleader and primary songwriter, Grayson Low, captured an entire era of feeling and being in the 2020 pandemic era, to the point where it's hard to indulge in this music without transcending to a much darker time and tone of this young decade.
The production is second to none on the Lonesome Dialtones. Young Blake applied a fresh, dynamic, and immensely flavorful approach to the recording of this outstanding album. Taking all of the unique and, at times, subtle contributions of the collective and depicting each member with the utmost fidelity.
The percussion from a brilliant Colorado drummer turned educator, Sam, is phenomenal, playing on a limited set with minimal miking. Sam is also a prevalent writer of some of the songs on the album.
The backing vocals from Bessie are the most haunting and beautiful things a person has laid their delicate ears upon. Dancing beautifully with the vocal melodies of Grayson and bringing the tone and depth of this music to another level.
The synthesizer bits and interludes are something to behold, thanks to Jake and myself, who make Øidwar. The synthesizer's presence cuts through and sets this album aside from many of its kind, reminding the audience that this isn't generic or name-brand but something else.
Most of this heartwarming, honest, and soul-crushing album was written in lockdown and recorded in seclusion in mosquito-ridden mountains of southwestern Colorado, in the unique and self-governed community of Crestone.
Each song consists of a heartfelt story of a dear friend or a painfully honest perception of the tangible reality of love and loss. Likely, my implicit bias makes this music ride so heavy on my soul, but it's worth a serious listen. It is unique in every aspect and, without question, my #1 after a decade of intense study.
Ten years later, a dichotomy of loving and hating my journey plagues me with overwhelming questions about myself. Am I forgetting every piece of music that moved me over the last decade because I move so quickly from one album to the next? Am I buying a vinyl record to only spin once before filing it away on my Ikea cube shelf, bolstering my ever-growing collection? I'd like to know if I can listen to my entire physical collection before I die. Is there still merit to my self-imposed journey that has taken the driver's seat to my entire life and consumed most of my waking thoughts? Is my love of music still as it was, or have I become jaded by overexposure? These bedeviling questions live in my psyche as I peer backward into the infinite abyss of the thousands of albums I have loved and consumed like a glutton.
I don't want to discount my journey; I'm very proud of the remarkable feat of the last ten years. I have an acute understanding of music trends and the evolution of music. I am well-versed in a wide range of music genres, artists, and styles. And while I couldn't see my Fridays without spending hours digging through releases and reading stacks of reviews, I wonder if this will eventually end. I wonder when I will resign to exclusively listening to the music that brings nostalgia. I don't know where to go from here; I suppose I keep going….