Music Ramblings: Top 15 Albums of 2010 - 2019

Whoa, did you know that a lot of music albums came out this decade?? Here are 15 of my favorites in alphabetical order by band/artist name because actually ranking them is a stupid exercise in stupidity. You'd actually probably hate all these albums, knowing you. Yes, you. Anyway, here we go:

Battles - Gloss Drop (2011)

Gloss Drop was the first new album I became obsessed with after college graduation, also known as the time of my life when I finally had to actually learn how to grow up and become an adult. Ha! Still haven't done that yet anyway! Take THAT, Life! Anyway, this album very much represents my erratic transition from sheltered college life to equally-sheltered-but-in-a-different-way post-school new-beginnings life in a way that, honestly, feels pretty comforting in spite of it all. Battles sounds like no other band, this album sounds like no other album, and this noisy, zany, electronic hodge-podge of weird, fucked up groove-laden experimental math rock IS the summer of 2011 to me. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)

Courtney Barnett's debut really hit home for me. The Australian indie singer-songwriter is basically having the calmest nervous breakdown ever recorded over 11 tracks, forcing a blasé slacker don't-give-a-shit exterior while covering topics such as depression, anxiety, self-esteem, jealousy, introversion, self-confidence, shame, and disillusionment. All over mostly happy, upbeat, and catchy music! It's like, the only difference between me and her is that she got rich and famous being self-deprecating and I work in a fucking metals testing lab. Life is funny sometimes. Half a decade later this album is still as fresh and relevant to me as it was when I first heard it, which may be good or bad depending on the perspective. Oh well.

Death Grips - Exmilitary (2011)

This mixtape was my gateway to hip-hop. I hated hip-hop until I threw Exmilitary on during the summer of 2013, which I only did because I decided by then it was stupid to hate hip-hop. The funny thing is, Death Grips is not at all representative of the genre as a whole: they're exaggeratedly loud, hostile, angry, abrasive, annoying, immature, ferocious, even pretentious. Exmilitary is a hip-hop record for hardcore punk fans. Exmilitary is a hip-hop record for white hipster doofuses. I love it unconditionally, and I owe it my unending gratitude for extracting the stick out of my ass and motivating me to dig deeper into one of the most diverse and emotionally rewarding genres available. Fuckin' A. Now go listen to some Ghostface Killah.

Fever Ray - Plunge (2017)

Nothing is more attractive to me in my music than a creepy, off-putting persona, and Karin Dreijer is positively gifted when it comes to being off-putting (just Google image search "Fever Ray" for a trove of horrible, horrible photos). Plunge is a thrilling, feminist, sexually terrifying, and ultimately accessible electronic and poppy experience. In short, it's fucking fun to listen to. I was lukewarm on a lot of 2017 releases and this one was like a breath of fresh, weird air. I'm the only person who is going to remember this album in 10 years, but by then Karin Dreijer will have reinvented herself (xemself) 40 times over. Me too if I know what's good for me.

Foetus - Hide (2010)

Speaking of off-putting, Foetus is a solo project by JG Thirlwell, a guy who sounds like raspy Spongebob and basically records albums of himself throwing pots and pans against the wall. Hide is different, though, it sounds more like a creepy industrial off-broadway musical complete with over-dramatic orchestral arrangements, female opera singing, spaghetti western ballads, and somber soundtrack-y sonic landscapes. Plus pots and pans against the wall. Albums like these are exactly my cup of shitty tea.

Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer (2018)

As time went on this decade I became more and more enchanted with Janelle Monáe. While Dirty Computer is likely not her best it was certainly my fast favorite. She stayed relatively guarded on her first two albums where she mostly talks about robots and dystopias and other sci-fi nerd tropes, but on Dirty Computer she weaves the science fiction stuff into a more personal narrative, which ended up being unguarded and vulnerable and cool as shit. Janelle Monáe is cool as shit. I wish I was as cool as Janelle Monáe but since I'm a straight, white guy it will never ever happen, and I have to learn to accept that.

Knifeworld - Bottled Out of Eden (2016)

I was no stranger to Knifeworld in 2016, but Bottled Out of Eden passed under my radar until December of that year, three weeks before the birth of my daughter. My head was a torrent of anxiety and Christmas stress that the British whimsy of Knifeworld's third album was able to quell. Lush, progressive arrangements and odd, angular melodies are married together in a beautiful way that, frankly, bands usually suck at achieving. This is like a Genesis album for people who hate Genesis. I don't like Genesis that much, but I do like Knifeworld. I know you've never heard of Knifeworld before, but you should go listen to Knifeworld. Don't continue on with this page until you've listened to Knifeworld.

LoneLady - Nerve Up (2010)

I'm a huge fan of all things post-punk, from Talkings Heads to Joy Division to The Cure to Siouxsie and the Banshees to The Fall to Wire to Big Black to <insert 900 other forgettable post-punk bands between 1976-2019>. LoneLady's debut album puts together everything I love about the genre and adds some R.E.M.-style jangle pop in the mix as well. I can see you sneering through your fucking teeth right into your screen right now, but this is my list and not your list so go away.

Major Parkinson - Twilight Cinema (2014)

Remember Knifeworld? OK, so maybe you didn't like Knifeworld. Maybe progressive rock isn't your thing. That's fine. It's my thing though, and sometimes even I get annoyed and fed up with the cheesiness of the genre. Prog rock albums are a dime-a-dozen, and it's unfortunate when a really really good prog rock album, one that doesn't succumb to the pitfalls of every other prog rock album, one that could be elevated into mainstream appeal, gets zero exposure. That album would be Twilight Cinema by Major Parkinson. This Norwegian band was my most rewarding discovery this decade. They have four fantastic albums of off-kilter dark pop, humor-laden cabaret, flawless prog rock, beautifully arranged symphonic suites, and a guy who sounds like a manic-depressive Cookie Monster. Twilight Cinema is my favorite album of the decade. Describing it won't do it justice. You'll have to listen to it for yourself and then yell at me for hating it later.

Man Man - On Oni Pond (2013)

Aha, another pivotal-point-in-my-life album! Man Man's On Oni Pond dropped at the precise time that we were moving from our depressing first Chicago apartment and into our slightly less depressing second Chicago apartment! It may not seem that big of a deal, but to me this transition was pretty fucking important. Man Man was one of the first (and few) bands I fell completely in love with after college, so it's only fitting that their fifth album from 2013 was in super heavy rotation at a time when I finally started legitimately loving living in the city.

Ramona Falls - Prophet (2012)

I was almost a year out of college when this album dropped. I was unemployed and living in Chicago with only a few hundred bucks to my name, facing the very likely reality that I would have to pack up and move back home to my parents within a few short months. This sprawling, melancholy album was on constant rotation at the time and it was one of the only albums that helped me feel better during one of the worst periods of my life. Basically, emotionally, this album is the antithesis of the above On Oni Pond by Man Man. I find Prophet tough to listen to now since that wasn't a time I look back at too fondly, but it was once the most important album of my life and its spot on my list is therefore well-deserved. FUN FACT: We did NOT name our daughter after this band, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not even me! But seriously.

Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time (2013)

The only problem with this album is that there are full-blown titties on the cover so I had to find a censored version for my family-friendly blog. However, feel free to search out the full album cover if you wish (the one with the titties on it). Anyway, this album is very important because, as Death Grips' Exmilitary hoisted me out of my bullshit "hip-hop sucks" opinion, Sky Ferreira's Night Time, My Time hoisted me out of my bullshit "female-fronted pop music sucks" opinion and I'm forever grateful for it. This album is criminally underrated and if Ferreira had released it a few years later she would've been completely swept up among the other greats during the pop music craze that started in the late half of this decade. If you like Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Carly Rae Jepsen, Taylor Swift, or Ariana Grande, you'll love Sky Ferreira.

Swans - To Be Kind (2014)

Every album that Swans put out between 2010 and now was incredibly impressive, but their 2014 album To Be Kind is far and above better than the rest. But hey, I'm the kind of guy that can sit through and enjoy a two-hour album of fucked up noise so your own mileage may vary. Massive, drone-y, staggering, abrasive, beautiful, and stunning. There's even a song on here that breaks the 30-minute mark. My favorite song of the decade is "Oxygen", which is 8 minutes of a 60-year-old Michael Gira losing his goddamn mind over the noisiest and intense track you could imagine. It's glorious.

Tub Ring - Secret Handshakes (2010)

Tub Ring is the stupidest sounding band ever, they sound like a bunch of suburban white boys trying to sound weird and cool but they actually just sound like a bunch of suburban white boys trying to sound weird and cool. But enough about my own suburban white boy hangups! I didn't actually get around to listening to this album until early 2012 when I was in the throes of unemployment depression, but Tub Ring was huge for me at the time and this album of twisted, quirky, and ultimately satisfying weirdo pop music was the most fun I ever had during my Ramen-twice-a-day cleaning-dishes-with-cold-water penny pinching days of yore. I'm largely over Tub Ring as a whole, but I can still throw on Secret Handshakes once in a while and have a grand ol' fucking time (unlike that Ramona Falls album, which sends me into a veritable tailspin of panic attacks and self-loathing lol).

Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin (2018)

Ty Segall is a cool dude. Usually he likes to put out album after album of crunchy garage rock, but Freedom's Goblin was one big 75-minute love letter to classic rock and that's awesome if you're into that kind of thing. I very much am. This diverse collection of 19 tracks sounds like everything from The Beatles to David Bowie to T. Rex to Neil Young to Led Zeppelin to Patti Smith to The Who to The Rolling Stones to The Ramones to 100 others that I could bore you tears about if I listed everything. The guy can even sing like John Lennon! It's almost like, instead of being murdered in the '80s, John Lennon is singing through your speakers here in the '10s. What a world that would be!

Whoa, that's a lot of albums! I hope in the next decade I like 15 albums even half as much as I liked these 15! See you on the flipside, nerdmongers! Cowabunga!