Features

Frankly speaking, I don’t like lists. It’s bad enough to pick 5 best albums over a year, never mind 50 over a decade. It’s worse to have to almost arbitrarily list them in descending order, but that’s the self-assignment so that’s what I’ve done. While I was already Social Security eligible a decade ago, many people found my behavior to be that of a 4 year old, so perhaps that’s why my pal Malachi, the site’s other “regular writer” and I get along so well. Plus, while I won’t repeat his political comments, we are on the same page there too, though he’s probably slightly to my left. Clearly we diverge somewhat musically, though both of us agree on the #1 record of the past decade and David Bowie is our favorite artist. He’s encouraged me to listen to Kanye and Tyler, the Creator as well as Frank Ocean and I’m glad he did. I turned him on to Gil Evans and he’s glad I did.

While Malachi gave you Tidal and Spotify playlists of his “honorable mentions”, I’ve chosen not to. However, I’ve followed his lead and provided a sampling of my AOTD choices on both Spotify and Tidal—though the chosen tracks differ on the two streaming services.

Honorable Mentions:

21 - Adele (2011)
Once I Was An Eagle - Laura Marling (2013)
Black Messiah - D’Angelo (2014)
Popular Problems - Leonard Cohen (2014)
Tree of Forgiveness - John Prine (2018)
1989 - Taylor Swift (2014)
Bon Iver - Bon Iver (2011)
Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down - Ry Cooder (2011)
Tempest - Bob Dylan (2011)
Fanfare - Jonathan Wilson (2013)
The Voyager - Jenny Lewis (2014)
Southern Blood - Gregg Allman (2017)
High Violet - The National (2010)
Rifles & Rosary Beads - Mary Gauthier (2019)
Carry Fire - Robert Plant (2017)

I spent way more time than I have assembling this list but I’m glad I did. You will see that most of these albums have not been reviewed on this site, though I’ve bought the vinyl versions of most of them. What’s up with that? I felt obligated to review more of the sonic blockbuster reissues most of which I was sent, and fewer of the newer records that I purchased myself. This decade I'll try for a better balance!

50) God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise - Ray LaMontagne (2010)
49) Random Access Memories - Daft Punk (2013)
48)ANIMA - Thom Yorke (2019)
47) This is Happening - LCD Sound Systems (2010)
46) The Nashville Sound - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (2017)
45) Wildflower - The Avalanches (2016)
44) The Harrow and the Harvest - Gillian Welch (2012)
43) Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes (2016)
44) The Epic - Kamasi Washington (2015)
41) Bisch Bosch - Scott Walker (2012)
40) Norman Fucking Rockwell! - Lana Del Rey (2019)
39) Bloom - Beach House (2012)
38) Simple Songs - Jim O’Rourke (2015)
37) The River & The Thread - Roseanne Cash (2014)
36) Syro - Aphex Twin (2014)
35) Metamodern Sounds In Country Music - Sturgill Simpson (2014)
34) Masseduction - St. Vincent (2017)
33) Tell Me How You Really Feel - Courtney Barnett (2018)
32) Boarding House Reach - Jack White (2018)
31) James Blake - James Blake (2011)
30) Wanderer - Cat Power (2018)
29)The Idler Wheel… - Fiona Apple (2012)
28) I’m New Here - Gil Scott-Heron (2010)
27)Divers - Joanna Newsom(2015)
26) Carrie and Lowell - Sufjan Stevens (2015)
25) Post Pop Depression - Iggy Pop (2013)
24) The Life of Pablo - Kanye West (2016)
23)Trouble Will Find Me - The National (2013)
22) Build A Rocket Boys! - Elbow (2012)
21) All Mirrors - Angel Olson (2019)
20) Pure Comedy - Father John Misty (2017)
19) Bad As Me - Tom Waits (2011)
18)Currents - Tame Impala (2015)
17) IGOR -Tyler the Creator (2019)
16) LeNoise - Neil Young (2010)
15) DAMN - Kendrick Lamar (2017)
14)You’re Driving Me Crazy - Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco (2018)
13) Dark Matter - Randy Newman (2017)
12) Blonde - Frank Ocean (2016)
11) The Next Day - David Bowie (2013)
10) Swing Lo Megallan - Dirty Projectors (2012)
9) Stranger to Stranger - Paul Simon (2016)
8) EMANON - Wayne Shorter (2018)
7) Let England Shake - PJ Harvey (2011)
6) Lighthouse - David Crosby (2016)
5) A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead (2016)
4) You Want it Darker - Leonard Cohen (2016)
3) To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar (2015)
2) Dreams and Daggers - Cecilé McLoran Salvant (2017)
1) Blackstar - David Bowie (2016)