As part of an "assignment" from Bret Helm for his excellent Life On This Planet blog, I've created this list of favorite albums of the last decade, from 2010 to 2019. The biggest challenge here was that we were to choose a single album from each year as our favorites. You can check out Decade Top 10s from Bret and his various contributors, including yours truly, right here.
For some years, choosing a single album that rose above all others wasn't too much of a struggle. Other years, it felt like there was so much great music released that choosing only one album was like trying to decided which one of your children you wish to keep. Because of this, I've taken a little liberty with my own blog post and added a couple "honorable mentions" to each year. Of course, if you're interested in more than just a few titles per year, check out any of my other Front Burner posts here on this blog.
For some years, choosing a single album that rose above all others wasn't too much of a struggle. Other years, it felt like there was so much great music released that choosing only one album was like trying to decided which one of your children you wish to keep. Because of this, I've taken a little liberty with my own blog post and added a couple "honorable mentions" to each year. Of course, if you're interested in more than just a few titles per year, check out any of my other Front Burner posts here on this blog.
Without further adieu...
2010: Vampire Weekend - Contra
The best Vampire Weekend album, as far as I’m concerned. Also an album that both my wife and daughter fell in love with, and we’re all still fans to this day. Like many of the albums in the list that follows, I don’t think there's a bad track on this. They were an absolute blast in concert, as well.
2 song suggestions for Spotify playlist (linked below): “Giving Up The Gun" and "California English"
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- Robyn - Body Talk
- The Books - The Way Out
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2011: The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
The band takes a definitive alt-country detour here, with contributions from the likes of Peter Buck, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and the results are absolutely delightful. I loved this band before, with their penchant for sea shanties and murder ballads, but they opened a completely different door here, boldly walked in, and immediately took charge of the room.
2 song suggestions: "Don't Carry It All" and "This Is Why We Fight"
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- St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
- Tom Waits - Bad As Me
- Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
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2012: Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is An Animal
From the moment I first heard “Little Talks” from this Icelandic band’s debut album, I was hooked. What’s odd is that I’m not a fan of some of the bands they have been compared to, like Edward Sharpe & The Magentic Zeroes or Arcade Fire. What really seemed to draw me in was the vocal interplay between singer/guitarists Nanna and Ragnar. The Nordic / pagan / nature themes to many of these songs hit a sweet spot, too. I want to live in the world they create in these songs.
2 song suggestions: "Dirty Paws" and "Little Talks"
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- Shearwater - Animal Joy
- Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
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2013: Jason Isbell - Southeastern
There were once three singer/songwriters in the band Drive-By Truckers. I was always most attracted to the ones by Jason Isbell, although I didn’t know who he was at the time. In 2007, he left that band to pursue a solo career, and I became a fan of the albums he was releasing. Southestern, though, is so good it’s mind blowing. One of those albums where you don’t quite understand how anyone could write songs this good. Perhaps it was his relatively newfound sobriety, but this album is a true masterpiece in any genre.
2 song suggestions: "Relatively Easy" and "Flying Over Water"
ps. 2013 was a very difficult year for me, with spectacular albums from David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Frank Turner, Savages, Frightened Rabbit, Gary Numan, and more. Even with all that competition, I kept returning to Southeastern as my favorite album. It really is that great.
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- David Bowie - The Next Day
- Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
- Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
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2014: St. Vincent - St. Vincent
I first fell under the spell of Annie Clark in 2011 when I was introduced to her third album, Strange Mercy. Shortly after this delightful discovery, she and David Byrne collaborated on an album called Love This Giant in 2012. I saw them on this tour and was blown away that this (relatively) unknown artist was completely holding her own on stage with the great David Byrne. By the time she released this self-titled album, I was completely hooked on her. Not only does she seem as uniquely talented as someone like Byrne, but I now think of her as an artist as singular and visionary as David Bowie or Kate Bush.
2 song suggestions: "Birth In Reverse" and "Regret"
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- Future Islands - Singles
- Glass Animals - ZABA
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2015: Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People
This was absolutely the decade of Frank Turner for me. I was introduced to his magic at a 2013 show during the tour for his Tape Deck Heart album. (That album was a strong contender for my favorite of 2013 but “lost” to Jason Isbell.) Much to my delight his next album, this one, turned out to be as good or better. This guy is a folk singer with a punk aesthetic and a heart of gold. He’s one of the few artists I know that could pull off an album with a theme like this and knock it completely out of the park. Side note: If you have any reservations about the music of Frank Turner , try to see him live. He can turn a room full of strangers into a bouncing, hugging mass of best friends. It’s nothing short of magical.
2 song suggestions: "The Next Storm" and "Glorious You"
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- Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
- Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think ...
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2016: Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow
I’ve been a Shearwater fan since I heard them being mentioned favorably for fans of latter-period Talk Talk, which I adore. This would be somewhere between their albums Palo Santo (2006) and Rook (2008). If I had any complaint about what they were doing it’s that much of it was very quiet and slow. Their sound was gorgeous, but (to me) often lacked punch. Over the course of their next two albums, I started getting my wish, with 2012’s Animal Joy being their most aggressive album to date. Somehow, Jet Plane and Oxbow managed to find the perfect balance of it all. I suspect this album will be a favorite of mine for many years to come.
2 song suggestions: "Radio Silence" and "Pale Kings"
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- Savages - Adore
- David Bowie - Blackstar
- Margaret Glaspy - Emotions & Math
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2017: Gary Numan - Savage
Sounding more like Nine Inch Nails these days that anything he did back in the late 70s and 80s, his 2013 album Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) prompted me to get back on board with this guy. I hadn’t heard much of his stuff since the 80s. By the time he released Savage (Songs From A Broken World) in 2017 I was completely hooked. Both are excellent, gritty, crunchy, industrial-sounding albums, but I feel like Savage has an edge to it that Splinter lacked. Seeing him on tour for this album pretty much clinched it as the standout album of the year for me.
2 song suggestions: "When the World Comes Apart" and "My Name Is Ruin"
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- Jason Isbell - The Nashville Sound
- The Clientele - Music for the Age of Miracles
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2018: Kasey Musgraves - Golden Hour
If there’s one year where I deviated most from the list I created in the year itself, it’s this one. I’m not sure I had heard much from this album by the end of 2018, but I do remember thinking that what I had heard sounded far too poppy and produced for my taste in country music. It wasn’t until further listens in late 2018 and early 2019 that I finally saw the light on this gem and understood what all the critical fuss was about. This might be a lesser achievement without Kasey Musgraves’ gorgeous voice but I understand that she also took a more major role in songwriting and her overall sound in the studio than on her two previous albums. However it worked, it worked!
2 song suggestions: "Slow Burn" and "Space Cowboy"
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- LOCKS - Skeletal Blues
- Frank Turner - Be More Kind
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2019: Audra - Dear Tired Friends
It seems like just last week, I was putting the finishing touches on my Favorite Albums of 2019 list... Oh wait, it WAS just last week! I can’t say much has changed since then. The first album in 10 years from Audra is my favorite album in their catalog and my favorite album of 2019. If you haven’t heard it, get on that! There are nods to the kind of post-punk goth that they we’re working on 10+ years ago but everything — the songwriting, the musicianship, the production — has completely grown up and come into it’s own. Listen to it and see for yourself. You won’t regret it.
2 song suggestions: "Wish No Harm" and "Sliding Under Cars"
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- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
- TOOL - Fear Inoculum
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Each of the suggested tracks mentioned above can be heard here:
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