Your Personal Top 10 of the 2010s • Page 4

you get my top fifteen bc fuck limits am i right
these write ups are more about what the albums mean to me/what memories i've attached/general context for my love than descriptions of why i love their sonic qualities
in no order

The World Is... - Harmlessness
this album came at a tough time. freshman year of college, first time living alone (or rather with roommates I didn't talk to), hadn't made any new friends, and was basically spending all my time going to class and going back home to do homework. this was one of the first times that music from this realm connected with me due to positivity and not just because i could relate and was commiserating. it was uplifting and a constant companion after it came out, a reminder that shit was bleak but bleak wasn't all it was. i don't listen to it as often because it still has that healing quality to it and i guess im afraid of losing that magic. but it's still there every time, and i still get chills listening to certain songs (namely "rage against the dying of the light" into "ra patera dance"). In my mind it's one of the pinnacle albums of that wave of emo.

Mineral Girls - This Is the Last Time Every Time.
this album came out and knocked me on my ass pretty immediately, and as of today it's the most listened to album on my ipod. it's got almost every single thing i love about emo/indie rock, ranging from weird/off kilter guitar work, songs that switch tones on a dime, excellent balance between melody and math, well written but not stiff lyrics...the list is endless. i drove across state lines to see this band, something i hadn't done alone before, and still remember hearing "the bruise on we." live before the record came out and how it totally floored me. that's how good this album is: it knocked me out before it was even out in the world yet. it also came out when my favorite band released a record, and when that band turned out to be populated by shitheads, i found it difficult to engage with music for a while. this was pretty much the exception to that, and im thankful everyday that it helped me process my own thoughts. hasn't been a whole year yet but a lot of memories attached to it all the same.

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
this is probably the hardest one to talk about and that's because i felt like i had to talk about it in the context of what it means to me, but nah let's flip the script and just say Frank built a world that is endlessly interesting to witness even if it's not one i wanna live in. The world in this album is kind of quietly beautiful in the way that the movie Moonlight is quietly beautiful but you don't wanna necessarily live the life of any of the people in those works of art. The samples and ambient bits give it an intimate, concept album type feel and every time I listen to it with the interludes, it somehow feels like it's including me in the narrative. plus, "Super Rich Kids," the song that hooked me before I ever listened to the album, is genuinely a funny song, but also kind of horrifying and exceedingly sad, and I think that sums up a lot of Frank on this album.

Kanye West - Yeezus
I was in the 10th grade when this came out, i'm pretty sure. maybe the 11th. in terms of rap music, this was like a gateway drug to me; i pretty much only heard what was on the radio for this genre, and my interest in it was minimal at the time, partly due to a lot of my experience with it being a friend who would constantly push eminem as the greatest thing ever. im sure it's easy to see how that'd be a turn off. when i got to this though, this was something special. this was everything i liked about my favorite bands in a completely different genre and it blew my mind that music from someone so famous could sound like this. at this point, it was at least three years after i got introduced to the punk rock that'd change my life via bikini kill, joan jett/the runaways, and other riot grrl type acts with overt politics in their lyrics. listening to this felt like a similar sort of process of unlearning and awe. like, kanye was rapping about the prison industrial complex over beats that sounded genuinely dangerous. i'd never heard a mainstream artist sound as angry as he did, and i'm not sure that i have since. this album blew the door wide open for me in indulging in new genres more openly and with more excitement than i ever had before.

Mitski - Bury Me at Makeout Creek
this album is one of the encapsulations of an era of music discovery for me from about 2011 to 2015. when i first started listening to things outside the radio, i started with more canonical stuff. as i got older, i craved more contemporary stuff so i could actually see the music i was feeling so much for, and that required more active searching on my part. Mitski was one of those artists that felt like an accomplishment when you found them, and this album played a large part in radically diversifying my tastes. it's an indie rock record, but it's not just an indie rock record, and it was far from what i was expecting after listening to her previous two, more piano driven albums. Mitski's lyrics are affecting, but the delivery of them is what really makes them land, and they land fucking hard. I feel like before Frances Quinlan captivated me with the elasticity of her voice, Mitski was the voice that people couldn't really compare to in my head.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien
Could've easily substituted LOSE as I love both of them about the same, but Lenses has a slight edge on account of being the first album I listened to by them. I bought this album after seeing/hearing them for the first time at a show they played with Brand New and Foxing about a week after my 18th birthday, and I still remember the surprise on Joe's face at the merch table when I asked for LOSE and this one (my thought process was that the bulk of the songs were probably off the most recent works). I didn't love this album on first listen, but that only makes it more special that it kept pulling me in time and time again over the course of years until my love for this album and this band propelled them to one of my overall favorites. "Rifle Eyesight" is one of the best songs this band has written -- I have a whole movie in my head when I hear it -- and the indifference of the album as to whether or not i latch on to the unusual hooks (if you can even call them that) is part of the appeal. I love art that's confrontational and pays off both emotionally and intellectually, and I feel like that's what I get with this album.

Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
they're one of my favorite bands, and this was the first album where i was a fan as part of the album roll out, as well as one of the first albums i ever preordered. Joyce Manor is one type of perfection in songwriting: they know what they're about, which is crafting good ass songs that are there for as long as it takes them to be excellent, and then they move on. they are consistently one of the most impressive bands in their lane, and this is probably the band that opened me up the most in regards to songwriting. I think it was always a given to me that you could have weird long songs, because i was aware of prog rock. i don't think i was aware that you could distill perfection to 20 minutes and call it a day. I really could've easily put any of their albums on here, because they've got one of those discogs that i think is 10/10, but this one feels the most right.

Thursday - No Devolucion
I haven't been a Thursday fan for very long. I remember putting on Full Collapse for the first time while I was cleaning my bathroom in my freshman year of college. But goddamn if this isn't the hardest i fell for a band in the last few years (Cursive might be a contender for the title, too). It's so crazy to me that a band could pull out an album like this this late into their career, continually challenging their fans and their own perception of who they are. the music sounds inviting and foreboding at the same time, the music is accessible without sacrificing intricacy of arrangements, atmosphere, or aggression. if you told me that time i listened to Full Collapse that i'd wind up listening to this as their swan song, I'd have laughed in your face. I would've had no idea they had this in them (as much as I love that album) and this band consistently reminds me of why i love music. a perfect album.

The Hotelier - Goodness
this album served a similar function to what Harmlessness did, just a year later. it's another album that reaffirmed the possibility that positivity could be just as vital and life altering as your normal emo fare. the songs are more expansive, the songwriting continued to be thoughtful, and lyrically they crafted something as literary as the best poetry. this is their Romantic album (note that capital R!! it's important!) and i am here for anything that makes surviving and thriving look and feel like a vital part of existing. The Hotelier took some risks with this album, and that's why they're one of the most exciting bands in indie/emo, imo

Jeff Rosenstock - WORRY.
yo i'm gonna keep this simple: i love jeff rosenstock and he's easily one of this scene's best songwriters and this is certainly in the running for his best batch of songs, and certainly his best post Bomb the Music Industry!. see the light, pls

Brave Bird - T Minus Grand Gesture
I really love when album art matches up perfectly with the music contained within, and this is a perfect case of that. Each song, almost all of them a departure from the mathy, vaguely post rock tinged emo of their album before, emits a warmth that the album cover only begins to convey. these songs are more intimate than their last album, which frequently saw them reaching over and outward for a climactic emotional payoff. that approach served them well, but i think they realized it could only take them so far. here, they stripped down the songwriting to their bare essentials, and it suits them just as well, if not better. Brave Bird broke up too soon and if this was anything to go off of, their next work would've been just as essential. im sad every day that they aren't a band anymore, and i love everything they've ever put out.

Hop Along - Get Disowned
"Tibetan Pop Stars" GOAT song, Frances Quinlan GOAT vocalist. I could've subbed in Painted Shut as I love them about equally, but something about the dusky world of Get Disowned keeps me coming back time and time again. The songwriting is a little more idiosyncratic here than on Painted Shut an equally impressive album, and it took work to have this album click as hard it did. I think the effort put into getting as familiar with it as i am is a contributing factor, but the interplay of the band here feels so intuitive that it's almost otherworldly. Hop Along is the best band, yes

Places to Hide - Almost Nothing
I saw this band live with Joyce Manor, Des Ark, and the Exquisites in September of 2014 in a tiny art gallery. I was there primarily for Joyce Manor, but this local band was incredible. I remember everyone crowding to buy merch from Joyce Manor and the frontman for this band standing around looking kinda bummed out, so i went and bought their album to hopefully brighten up the dude's night. he was surprised, but probably not as surprised as i was when i listened to the record and fell head over heels. the songwriting on here is what i think of when i think of slacker rock as opposed to, like, pavement or something. the melody's seem effortless, the vocals couldn't be more emotionally disaffected if they tried, and the lyrics were exciting and intensely relateable in a way they probably shouldn't have been for a 16 - 17 year old kid. this was maybe THE band that felt like it was my secret, and i loved that. it's not perfect music, but it also kind of is. RIP Places to Hide. "Punk rock will never die (hey don't be so predictable)".

Told Slant - Still Water
this album always takes me back to searching endlessly through bandcamp for music, and i probably could've put a bunch of their peers in this place (other epoch bands, any of the orchid/bird tapes bands...they're all brilliant to varying extents). but the nexus of slowcore, bedroom pop and emo that Told Slant hits with this album is about as affecting as they come, and while it'll always remind me of watching one of my best friends struggle through gender dysphoria, that's a positive thing. when they couldn't always articulate to me what they were feeling, this album helped me understand what was going through their head, as well as opened up what songwriting could be for me.

Vince Staples - Summertime 06
this might be my favorite rap album full stop. Vince just has a way of words that i'd kill for, and he delivers them like lyricism like his is nothing special. he dishes out observations like they're obvious to anyone with eyes and the coldness of the production is, to me, an artistic triumph (it's probably not a coincidence that it reminds me of Joy Division, and that definitely works in Vince's favor). There's really not a lot to say about this one that isn't better just listening to it, it's easily the best double album ever. all killer, no filler.

edit: i could've made this list fifty albums, lot of hard cuts

 

Wait Ellie Goulding Halcyon is on my list too!

 

Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Robyn- Body Talk (2010)
Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion (2015)
Beyonce- 4 (2011)
Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe (2013)
Florence And The Machine- Ceremonials (2011)
Lana Del Rey- Born To Die (2012)
Rihanna- Anti (2016)
Lorde- Melodrama (2017)
Grizzly Bear- Shields (2012)

I'm almost certainly forgetting something

 

i read this and thought myself yeah fuck 2014
i really wanna listen to melodrama more, i feel like i haven't had time to love it the way everyone else does

 

fine Taylor Swift-1989 (2014) if that makes you feel better, I was just thinking off the top of my head I'm sure there's more 2014 albums haha

 

i was just kidding lol i have no attachment to the year but not a bad choice. wanna check out chvrches and grizzly bear

 

baby

also did you know I premiered the closer on that places to hide album on my first site? lit right??

 

I wanted so badly to include Brave Bird and Mitski.

 

The 1975 - I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unawares of it
Marinas trench - ever after
Kanye West - my beautiful dark twisted fantasy
There will be fireworks- the dark dark bright
Vince Staples - big fish theory
Every time I die - from parts unknown
Bon Iver - 22, a million
Turnover - Peripheral Vision
Bring me the horizon - sempiternal
Solos - first day back
Dawn Richard- blackheart

These are not objectively what I think are the best 10 albums of the last decade. But if you want the soundtrack to the last 8 years, this is as closer as you can get

 

yeah, actually, I think you mentioned it when we were talking about Art School Jocks, and it is v lit. still waiting eagerly for ASJ to release an album, and I hope every day that Kyle gets into another band I hear about

 

I forgot chumped and tbh strongly wanna add them in

 

I had my perfect list set, now I gotta try to fit these two albums in lol

 

Close Your Eyes – Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts

I listened to this a ton in therapy. Brought me out of a pretty dark place.

Copeland – Ixora

My favorite album ever. I don’t think this CD has left my car CD player for two years. Never ceases to chill me out and make me hopeful.

Emarosa – 131

Lyrics are great on this but this is one where I think the production and vocal delivery really shines over the lyrics.

Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle

I feel like everything’s been said about this album on this site. The way she weaves her faith through her pain is incredibly captivating.

The Mezingers – After the Party

Almost nothing in this album applies to my current life situation, but it resonates just the same for some reason.

Modern Baseball – You’re Gonna Miss it All

My go-to late night drive album where I yell every word until my lungs give out.

Pianos Become the Teeth – Keep You

Two Words, “Late Lives”.

Pianos Become the Teeth – Wait for Love

I openly wept the first time I listened to this front-to-back.

Sorority Noise – Joy, Departed

I can’t remember the last album that I fell in love with this much on the first listen.

The Story So Far – Under Soil and Dirt

Probably my most listened to album on the list, I listened to it non-stop for all my high school years.

 

Cutting The Hotelier was painful (Home,...).

 

Definitely gonna go through a lot of these and listen. I’ve been really terrible at listening to newer music.

 

My list in alphabetical order:

All The Colours - All The Colours Vol I (2014)
A Melbourne band that would see a lot at small bars around town. Their debut album blew me away. They describe their sound as 'the soundtrack to a Tarantino film that hasn't been made yet.' That's pretty on the money.

Brian Fallon - Painkillers (2016)
This record helped me through a pretty difficult period in my life. As with nearly all of Fallon's music, it's great for road-tripping.

Ceres - Drag It Down On You (2016)
Criminally underrated album. Immaculately crafted. 'Choke' is one of the best songs I've ever heard.

The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten (2012)
Though not as acclaimed as other Gaslight records, I am extremely fond of Handwritten as it was the soundtrack to my last year of high school - the year I also turned 18 and got my first car.

Go Radio - Lucky Street (2011)
Probably the best record to come out of the pop rock/pop punk scene. Love Jason Lancaster's voice.

Hockey Dad - Boronia (2016)
A brilliant surf rock record from a band from Windang - a tiny coastal town in Australia (population 2,656).

The Maine - Pioneer (2011)
This is The Maine's most unique and ambitious album. It features their most diverse range of songs as well as their most dynamic guitar playing.

The Menzingers - On The Impossible Past (2012)
Not much to say about this record that hasn't already been said on this site. A classic.

The Smith Street Band - Don't Fuck With Our Dreams (2013)
Just an EP but still the best damn EP I've ever heard. Wil Wagner's a lyrical genius.

Wil Wagner - Laika (2013)
Speaking of which, this solo effort from the Smith Street Band singer is deeply intimate and touching. I don't think I've heard a more honest songwriter.

 

Mine is probably something like:

Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Bomb the Music Industry - Vacation
The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace is There
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
The Front Bottoms - The Front Bottoms
Hop Along - Painted Shut
Joyce Manor - Joyce Manor
The Menzingers - On the Impossible Past
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
PUP - The Dream is Over

This was just from me doing a very quick scan of my library I’m positive I’ve forgotten something and I only really considered “punk” albums. But when I think about adding anything else and dropping one of these I cannot imagine which of these I would drop.

 

I might add that latest Lawrence Arms album

 

thinking about what a fuckin great year for music 2013 was. broadway calls, captain we're sinking, elway, laura stevenson, waxahatchee, twiabp, like ten different infinity crush eps, julia brown, twy, un-p4k-ified diy scene

edit: the swellers

 

laments pitchfork somehow killing diy while praising not-good scene pop-punk

 

o shit

 

I did it. R.I.P. Spraynard.

 

I could say some things but yr rxn was 10/10 so we'll leave it at that

 

for the record I'm mostly just playin'

 

Luv the p4k-ified diy scene