Dozens of „best of the decade“ lists have been popping up all over the internet, many of which are quite inspiring. I just came across this one in a video by English music fanatic Oliver aka „Deep Cuts“. Oliver has been very actively publishing highly inspiring, extensive and knowledgeable „A Guide to …“ videos on lots of different bands‘ and musicians‘ discographies – Swans, David Bowie, Eno, Autechre, King Crimson, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Aphex Twin, and many others. Usually they result from a lot of research and attentive listening, like his most recent one on Miles Davis, which I haven’t finished watching/listening.
He presents a very nice and interesting list and overview, and I like his comments on some of the albums, even though quite a few of them would not be my own choices. I think it’s great that in his selection Oliver has been looking out for and choosing music and artistic views that are really contemporary and reflect on the present of the 2010s – instead of choosing music for some sort of hipness value or based on the respective musicians‘ work in the past. I can find my own opinion reflected in several of his selections, but I am severely missing the two albums that come into my mind instantly when thinking about the best records of 2010 to 2019: Poliça’s debut Give You The Ghost and Algiers‘ The Underside of Power. Two other albums without which a top 50 list of this decade would not be complete in my opinion are PJ Harvey’s Hope Six Demolition Project – her very best album among many great ones – and Low’s masterpiece Double Negative. Both of them are very much product and reflective of the cultural landscape of the past ten years.
Obviously this list does not care for anything jazz-related or „contemporary classical“, but I don’t consider that a downside. For jazz-related „best ofs“ The Free Jazz Collective’s Top 101 Recordings Of The 2010s is a good starting point. They actually include four albums by Wadada Leo Smith („It is the combination of innovative music, its creativity combined with its deep soul and universality, with the humanistic approach and human rights appeal that lift this album to a level that few albums can achieve.“), which I think is a great thing to do. So here are the best albums of the decade by Deep Cuts:
50. Oceansize – Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up (2010)
49. Greg Ward – Touch my Beloved’s Thoughts (2016)
48. Mitski – Be the Cowboy (2018)
47. Death Grips – No Love Deep Web (2012)
46. Blood Orange – Freetown Sound (2016)
45. Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising (2019)
44. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead (2014)
43. Sophie – Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-insides (2018)
42. Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion (2015)
41. Ghostpoet – Dark Days + Canapés (2017)
40. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)
39. Japandroids – Celebration Rock (2012)
38. Pinegrove – Cardinal (2016)
37. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (2012)
36. Beach House – Teen Dream (2010)
35. The National – Sleep Well Beast (2017)
34. Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution (2016)
33. Portico Quartet -Portico Quartet (2012)
32. Jlin – Black Origami (2017)
31. Deafheaven – Sunbather (2013)
30. Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory (2017)
29. Jeff Rosenstock – Worry (2016)
28. Jessy Lanza – Oh No (2016)
27. Alex Cameron – Forced Witness (2017)
26. Aphex Twin – Syro (2014)
25. Xiu Xiu – Forget (2017)
24. Swans – The Seer (2012)
23. William Doyle – Your Wilderness Revisited (2019)
22. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica (2011)
21. Nick Cave – Skeleton Tree (2016)
20. Mica Levi – Under the Skin OST (2014)
19. The Field – Looping State of Mind (2011)
18. Scott Walker – Bish Bosch (2012)
17. Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition (2016)
16. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact (2011)
15. The Armed – Untitled (2015)
14. David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)
13. The Caretaker – Everywhere at the End of Time (2019)
12. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
11. King Krule – The OOZ (2017)
10. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me (2010)
9. Oxbow – Thin Black Duke (2017)
8. Autechre – NTS Sessions (2018)
7. FKA Twigs – LP1 (2014)
6. Frank Ocean – Blonde (2016)
5. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath 1972 (2011)
4. Somi – Petite Afrique (2017)
3. Sun Kil Moon – Benji (2014)
2. Björk – Vulnicura (2015)
1. These New Puritans – Field of Reeds (2013)