Say what you will about the 2010s, but at least the decade brought us a wealth of great music.
While lists are a dime a dozen these days, I thought it would be appropriate to show our appreciation of what musically defined the last ten years for me. Plain and simple, these are my top 100 personal favorite records released between 2010 and 2019, in no particular order.
Compiling this list was extremely difficult, so I tried to narrow it down a little by excluding reissues, compilations, EPs and singles, and split-releases. With that being said, I know I must have missed some other heavy hitters. Let me know some of your favorite records of the last decade in the comments below!
100. Nowhere by Masaki Batoh99. Divers by Joanna Newsom98. Hair by Ty Segall and White Fence97. Standing Still by Ruby Amanfu96. Thunderbolt of Wisdom by Plastic Crimewave Syndicate95. Primrose Green by Ryley Walker94. s/t by Hills93. Give The People What They Want by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings92. Lonely and Blue by Tyler Higgins91. Paradisiacal Mind by Dire Wolves (Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band)90. Foreign Being by The Royal They89. All You Need is Love and Fucking Peace by Frankie Teardrop Dead88. The Epic by Kamasi Washington87. All That Remains by The Left Outsides86. Manual by Boogarins85. A Pine Tree Shilling’s Worth of Willie Lane by Willie Lane84. Bad as Me by Tom Waits83. Sun Cycle/Elk Jam by Elkhorn82. Living on a High Note by Mavis Staples81. Cosmic Cash by Garcia Peoples80. The Time to Come by Eli Winter79. Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett78. Vanishing Point by Mudhoney77. Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen76. Ghost Forests by Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore75. Cycles of Existential Rhymes by Chicano Batman74. Spectral Domain by Dead Sea Apes73. Enter the Stream by Prana Crafter72. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling71. Full Communism by Downtown Boys70. Simultonality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society69. The Whole of Each Eye by Abronia68. Volume 1 by Naujawanan Baidar 67. Coming Home by Leon Bridges 66. Heartleap by Vashti Bunyan 65. Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band by Khun Narin 64. The Center and the Fringe by Matt Lajoie 63. Con Todo El Mundo by Khruangbin 62. Entrance Level by Osmium House 61. Fuzzweed by MV and EE 60. Intuition by Kendra Amalie 59. Chinese Fountain by The Growlers 58. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter by Margo Price 57. Primus and The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble by Primus 56. You Never Were Much of a Dancer by Gwenifer Raymond 55. Third World Pyramid by The Brian Jonestown Massacre 54. Dear Mark J.Mulcahy, I Love You by Mark Mulcahy 53. Changes by Charles Bradley 52. Träden by Träden (Träd Gräs Och Stenar) 51. Goodbye Bread by Ty Segall 50. My Garden State by Glenn Jones 49. Natural Facts by Garcia Peoples 48. Sock It to Me by Colleen Green 47. Pilgrim Chants & Pastoral Trails by Sharron Kraus 46. No Waves, Just Sharks by The Mad Doctors 45. Moonlust by The Holydrug Couple 44. The Tree of Forgiveness by John Prine 43. Desire Path by One Eleven Heavy 42. Non Ex-Orbis by Karl Hector and The Malcouns 41. Dreams in the Rat House by Shannon and The Clams 40. The Unseen in Between by Steve Gunn 39. Road to Nowhere by Tommy Guerrero 38. Land of Plenty by Ryley Walker and Bill MacKay37. Worse Things by The Rizzos36. Nothing is Wrong by Dawes35. Grow Towards The Light by Dire Wolves34. Home Again by Michael Kiwanuka33. Modern Country by William Tyler32. Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels31. All Time Present by Chris Forsyth30. Soul Power by Curtis Harding29. Preserves by Matt Valentine28. Black Moon Spell by King Tuff27. s/t by Heron Oblivion26. Sound and Color by The Alabama Shakes25. s/t by Rose City Band24. s/t by Fuzz23. Over and Even by Joan Shelley22. Circles by Moon Duo21. Ugly by Screaming Females20. Bodhi Cheetah’s Choice by Prana Crafter19. Freedom Highway by Rhiannon Giddens18. Livin’ The Die by Wet Tuna17. s/t by The Brian Jonestown Massacre16. The Two Worlds by Brigid Mae Power15. Idle No More by King Khan & The Shrines 14. Up On High by Vetiver 13. Papa Cremp by Cherry Glazerr 12. Masana Temples by Kikagaku Moyo 11. Peace on Venus by Bardo Pond 10. Asleep On The Floodplain by Six Organs of Admittance 9. Street Venom by Death Valley Girls 8. V by Wooden Shjips 7. I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill 6. Murder of The Universe by King Gizzard and His Lizard Wizard 5. July by Marissa Nadler 4. s/t by Daniel Bachman 3. s/t by L.A. Witch 2. A Song for Paul by Ghost Funk Orchestra1. One Step Behind by Garcia Peoples
Here’s hoping that we’ll be seeing just as many killer records, if not more so, in the 2020s.
Keith Hadad, the creator and manager of RCU, has been a contributing writer to Elmore Magazine and Thewaster.com and maintains a regular column, “Keith Hadad’s Choice,” in Blicker magazine. His writing has also appeared in the Smithsonian Folkways' Guest Blog and the Optical Sounds Fanzine.
Also, please check out the blog's super-active Instagram account, @recordcratesunited for daily blurb-styled music reviews.
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