My Favorite Albums of the 2010s

While not a remarkable year outside of the obvious things (like how everything is on fire), I can’t help but look back at the prior decade. With that in mind, I looked at some of my favorite albums from 2010 to 2019 and wrote notes about what makes them important to me. Lists are imperfect and so am I. Please don’t take anything too literally and let’s all try to carry some optimism and empathy into this upcoming year.

20 | Mom Jeans — Best Buds

The Berkley band made some big waves in the emo scene with their release of Best Buds for good reason. The pop-punk trappings took their emo infused lyrics and style to a new level, bringing some wonderful anthems from describing a fun-loving relationship in “Edward 40hands” to not knowing how to act around your crush in “Vape Nation”. It is an ultimate roll-the-windows down, feel-good album and I’ve found it to work for me with just about every mood.

19 | Tierra Whack — Whack World

With Whack World, Tierra Whack limited herself to 1-minute songs, yielding a project with a grand total runtime of 15 minutes. Grabbing inspiration from various influences within R&B and rap, Whack created a fresh sound that is uniquely and definitively her own. In these 15 minutes, she explores infectious melodies, poignant lyrics, and playful jabs that make you want more. Honestly that, or just the desire to play it again right away.

18 | Alex G — Beach Music

Alex G grew more and more recognition with Rocket and House of Sugar. However, within Beach Music, he found some of his best melodies. There are some standout tracks here like the fun-loving “Brite Boy” and the hazy and introspective “Station”. I loved being taken on a journey through Alex G’s world where I can turn this record on, let it play, and space out, imagining I’m lying in sand as the waves go back and forth.

17 | Freddie Gibbs & Madlib — Piñata

Piñata sees Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, who both have seen their share of critical praise, at potential career bests. With Madlib’s mesmerizing beats that Gibbs effortlessly flows over, the record paints a picture that hardly ever loses your attention. There are many great features on tracks as well, such as Danny Brown in “High”, Raekwon in “Bomb”, and the star-studded title track. This album gives you a glimpse into Gibbs’ life and you don’t ever want to look away.

16 | Patchymate — Primary

From Temple University, Patchymate is a part of the Anything Could Be Here group with Ryan Lehan, Abbot, and Gordon Snyder. While certainly some raw talent here, I fell in love with the lyrics, earnestness, and catchy hooks of this record. There are themes of coming-of-age, falling in love, sexuality, and more told over hypnotic synthesizers, guitars, and drums. I often found myself listening to tracks on repeat, having beats be unable to leave my head for entire days on end.

15 | Isaiah Rashad — Cilvia Demo

Undoubtedly an overshadowed labelmate of TDE, but undeservedly so. Cilvia Demo proved Isaiah Rashad can mix his southern heritage with west coast sensibilities to considerable effect. For the summer of 2015, I would consistently roll my windows down, turn the record on, and find myself listening straight through during my morning commute. There are obvious highlights here, such as “Heavenly Father”, but also some great songwriting and hooks throughout.

14 | Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp a Butterfly

Kendrick’s epic weaves through powerful statements on race, relationships, self-love, police brutality, and more. To Pimp a Butterfly is quite understandably Kendrick’s masterpiece and as relevant as ever as time progresses. There are obvious influences here from funk, R&B, and spoken word. However, that doesn’t prevent Kendrick from effortlessly flowing and laying down verse after verse of intricate and profound wordplay.

13 | Oso Oso — basking in the glow

At a time when I found myself drifting towards negative emotions more often than not, Oso Oso released their second album, Basking in the Glow. While keeping their pop-punk and emo roots, the lyrics moved more towards promoting optimism, compassion, and empathy. Jade Lilitri made a natural progression of Oso Oso’s initial sound and kept the same aspects of head-banging and catchy hooks. However, adding in affecting themes and lo-fi elements helped skyrocket this record into a personal and rather moving listen.

12 | The Hotelier — Home, Like Noplace Is There

The Hotelier’s Home, Like Noplace Is There is incontestably one of the main reasons for the emo-revival movement. The band takes everything that makes emo special and condenses it into an all-killer-no-filler 36 minutes. There are plenty of highlights here, from the fully belted out chorus of “The Scope of All This Rebuilding” to raging guitars on “Life in Drag”. This record makes you want to do nothing but scream at the top of your lungs along with it. It’s all too happy to oblige.

11 | Roy Blair — Cat Heaven

The genre of Roy Blair is hard to pin down specifically. However, there are elements of indie pop, rock, and hip-hop. Despite this, he successfully proves, if anything, that he can masterfully wield and blend these genres. There are full-on raps, such as “Switchblade”, and then twee guitars as on “Alex”. Despite the mixture, all of it just works and manages to feel cohesive. On top of an exceptional sonic experience, Roy Blair is also a charismatic songwriter with a lot to say about his experiences. He can create and layer on vibes of being in the city, finding love in a park during summer, and more that you can’t help but feel engrossed in.

10 | Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour

From heartbreak to co-dependence, you get the feeling that Kacey Musgraves has been around the block a few times. With that in mind, her terse lyrics work along surprisingly well with her gentle voice. There’s just the right amount of southern twang to both the words and instruments. The pop-country blend produces some insanely catchy hooks, such as “Velvet Elvis”, while also creating wonderfully slow and emotive pieces like “Mother”. When it comes to singer-songwriters, the instrumentation should serve the purpose of propelling the lyrics and singer to the foreground. Golden Hour accomplishes exactly that and promotes Musgraves’ beautiful voice and moving lyrics.

9 | BROCKHAMPTON — SATURATION TRILOGY

Approaching a point where I felt a lot of modern hip-hop was beginning to feel a little stale, BROCKHAMPTON presented itself. A product of a dozen, if not more, people, the boy-band created a wonderfully powerful and enthralling trilogy of records in 2018. Beginning with Saturation, the band managed to find its footing and voice before moving on. This maturation resulted in each album being better than the last, with all of the records having their highlights. A lot of credit should go to the producers, Romil and Q3, for creating layered and infectious beats without ever feeling stale or banal. Each member has their niche, with many tracks seeming to bring the members together like their own individual jigsaw puzzles.

8 | Bon Iver — Bon Iver

In the wake of For Emma, Forever Ago, I found Bon Iver’s self-titled effort to further the band’s sound. While For Emma was a folk album through and through, Bon Iver maintains what made the first album special. However, he was also able to add in other elements from disparate genres. Every song works well and Justin Vernon’s accomplishments as a songwriter were only further proven. Each listen brings me into the world of being in the mountains, sipping on coffee, and reminiscing on life.

7 | Lorde — Melodrama

As far as breakup albums are concerned, this is a damn good one. The follow-up to 2013’s Pure Heroine, Lorde only further solidified herself as one of the best working pop artists. You need not look far to see her influence on the current soundscape of pop. Melodrama features some of her best choruses as well as some engaging production. On top of this, she grapples with ex-lovers, moving on, and becoming your own person. It is undoubtedly a powerful and inspiring record for me, providing new perspectives on each listen.

6 | Mac Miller — Circles

After he passed in 2018, Mac Miller’s friends, family, and peers came together to honor his legacy and release Circles. While his untimely death was deeply shocking to me, I also can’t help but feel upset that he never got to hear the finished work. It is especially painful, because I believe Circles to be his best album. Many of Miller’s familiar themes of his later work, self-care, getting over exes, and more are here. The live instrumentation and the added context appreciably increases the impact. I can’t help but travel to a different plane of existence whenever a track from Circles comes on. I can only help but appreciate the incredible outpouring of love after his death and the expanded acknowledgment of his ability as an artist.

5 | Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

From my perspective, Kanye West was always that Kanye. The one that wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, despite the consequences. The one with the ego the size of his adopted home of Wyoming. Look no further than Dave Chapelle’s anecdote about meeting Kanye in 2003. With that in mind, he was in a place to think about the artist he wanted to be and where he wanted his vision and voice to be. With the implications of his ego in lyrics, Kanye also began experimenting with his sound. Having already created the highly influential 808s and Heartbreak, he moved on with Twisted Fantasy to build a more elevated, grandiose, and downright grimy sound. While creating arena-ready anthems in “POWER” and “All of the Lights’’, he also was able to create deeply personal retrospectives in “Runaway”. On top of all of this, the 35-minute visual accompaniment to the album serves as a wonderful way to establish the dark world the album is meant to reflect. Kanye is a polarizing figure. However, his abilities as a producer and visual artist are undeniable and the reasoning behind why this my favorite rap record of the decade.

4 | Guster — Easy, Wonderful

To add some context, I grew up around a family that loves Guster. I have seen them live on about eight occasions. While the band has been around for decades, they have come back with fresh creations and interesting sonic change-ups. What struck me most, however, was the leaps and bounds made in songwriting on Easy, Wonderful. Having a career spanning decades means being reflective about one’s faith, hope, and your own legacy. Because of this, I found many elements of Easy, Wonderful to be profound in addition to the already catchy and poppy tunes Guster has become known for. I believe “Architects and Engineers” to be my favorite song. It seemingly is always able to promote introspection on who and where I want to be in life. For music to consistently accomplish that, it has to be something pretty great.

3 | Frank Ocean — Blond(e)

While channel ORANGE helped me through some rough times in high school, Blonde has helped me come to terms with growing up. Sonically, there is a hypnotic way Frank can use his voice and production to produce luscious soundscapes. Soundscapes that perfectly set and depict the moods he is setting out to create. His ability as a rapper, singer, and songwriter are also profound and unquestionable. Frank has proven himself to be an industrious person with a singular vision that comes through loud and clear with Blonde. There is a lot to unpack throughout the record, but much of it offers some earnest and intense contemplation.

2 | Pinegrove — Cardinal

When Pinegrove released Cardinal, I was helping a friend move from Atlanta, Georgia to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the summer. I grabbed a few albums I had heard some small buzz about and let them play through my car stereo as I made the several hour road trip. One of those albums was Cardinal. From the first track, I hadn’t heard anything like it at the time. I found myself mesmerized not only by Evan Stephens Hall’s voice, but also the way the harmonies, guitars, and intricate drumming all worked in perfect stride. The 30-minute runtime made it easy enough for me to listen to it straight through. By the end of the round-trip, I had probably listened to the album a dozen times. Pinegrove as a band has understandably become a polarizing presence in the emo and indie community. However, I can say that I find myself to be on their wavelength and see so much of my life, outlook, and perspective within the lyrics of the band. They have a lot to say about past mistakes, relationships, and having support from friends. It gives me the feeling I’m not alone, which has helped a lot in particularly arduous times in my life.

1 | Sufjan Stevens — The Age of Adz

The Age of Adz is an immensely personal and impactful album for me. Sufjan Stevens switched up his sound increasingly to become more electronic, industrial, and powerful. With that, the songs became grandiose and layered and create a unique juxtaposition between Stevens’ voice and backing sounds. There are wildly obtuse and haunting electronic clips and horns on the title track right alongside stripped-down songs like “Futile Devices”. The entire album takes you on a journey through unrequited love, bettering oneself, and working things out in relationships. The album concludes with the 25-minute “Impossible Soul” and it’s hard for me to think of a much more epic and ambitious record. While the runtime is quite long, I have never found myself bored nor do I feel there is a skippable song here. I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand The Age of Adz. That’s okay though because it’s nice to have a reason to continually come back to it.

As a final note, thank you for reading, please stay safe and take care.