THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE!!!

And so here we are then - the beginning of a new decade. It's incredible to me to think that the 21st Century is already 20 years young - it seems like only yesterday that the world at large was crapping it's collective pants over the Y2K bug and the possibility that the planet might explode. Heady days, eh? Everything turned out fine of course, and since the turn of the millennium there have been some truly staggering albums released and wonderful music of every stripe has burrowed it's way deep down into the No Static At All ear canals. This particular little post will look back at the last decade's worth of releases to choose what I feel are the very best albums that appeared between January 2010 and December 2019. All of the following albums are absolutely exceptional and a fair few are masterpieces for the ages. Eyes down and indulge!

20: BILL RYDER-JONES: YAWN

Magnificent collection of brooding, emotionally charged indie rock from former The Coral guitarist who dealt with the demons swirling around his mind - specifically the tragic early death of his beloved brother - by marrying his heartbreaking lyrics with huge walls of guitars and stunning acoustic interludes. With his hushed vocals drawing you in, listening to this album felt like having a deep, intense conversation with a mate down the pub and was one of 2018's very finest records.

19: R.E.M. : COLLAPSE INTO NOW

From 2011, and the final album released by - for me - the greatest band there has ever been. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills had been coasting for a little bit for the previous couple of albums and by the time of this one, they knew it. The solution? Get back to what made them so tremendous in the first place. This set of songs threw together all the best bits from their imperial phase - the jaunty jangle, propulsive indie-rock, swirling strings, sun-drenched harmonies and choruses to die for - mixed it all up and produced their best album in ages. They then all shook hands and went their separate ways. We will never see their like again.

18: NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS: SKELETON TREE

Written before but recorded after the tragic death of Cave's son Arthur in 2015, this album will obviously always be overshadowed by that horrific event. Whether or not it would have sounded any different if Cave hadn't lost his son we will never know. Cave's songwriting here has never been better - touching on love, loss, faith and the struggle for emotional calm - but his vocals are understandably strained, cracked and forlorn. Combined with the sparse musical arrangements of head Seed Warren Ellis, this was a truly tough but thoroughly rewarding listen.

17: FLEET FOXES: HELPLESSNESS BLUES

Second album of three-part harmony infused modern-day folk-rock glory from the heroically hirsute Foxes. Their 2008 debut was - and still is - one of the best albums ever released as far as I'm concerned, and come the Spring of 2011, I was looking forward to this more than most. I wasn't disappointed. Main man Robin Pecknold had put together an exquisite set of songs fusing together the chiming jangle of that first album with more expansive, Eastern-tinged ragas and acoustic guitar driven grooves, all underpinned by those beguiling harmonies. And the title track is still arguably their finest moment to date.

16: TAME IMPALA: LONERISM

Released in 2012, the second album from Australian psych-rock magus Kevin Parker took the mellow stoner vibes of his 'Innerspeaker' debut to thrilling new heights with forays into thunderous glam, electronica-infused space jams and head-spinning galactic rock and roll that placed him firmly at the top table of modern-day musical explorers. Since this mighty record, Parker has traversed the more melodic electronic pop of his ever-expanding musical map with the globe-straddling 'Currents' and the forthcoming 'The Slow Rush' which - no doubt - will be nestling in the upper reaches of many a Best Of list come the end of 2020.

15: SUFJAN STEVENS: CARRIE & LOWELL

During the early part of the noughties, Michigan born but New York based musical genius Stevens was hell-bent on pursuing a batshit crazy attempt to write and release an album of songs for each state in his native country. And as good as the albums 'Illinois' and 'Michigan' were, it was probably best for his sanity that he abandoned the idea and stuck to releasing straightforward albums of heartbreakingly spectral folk-rock ballads. That's not to say he's veered away from that template over the last decade - the discordant art-rock of  'The Age Of Adz' and his hip-hop inspired 'Sisyphus' collaboration for example - but, for me, it's his softer side that has stuck with me. 2004's magnificent 'Seven Swans' was his high watermark as far as I was concerned until he beguiled me - and millions of others - with this extraordinary collection of plaintive and atmospheric torch songs written in tribute to his parents. Utterly compelling from first to last and - in the frankly magisterial 'Fourth Of July' - he may have written one of the finest songs ever. Divine.

14: RADIOHEAD: A MOON-SHAPED POOL

Dropping out of nowhere onto the internet in late 2016, Oxfordian art-rock polymaths Radiohead's 9th long-player of oppressive, doom-laden but ultimately euphoric indie-rock was one of their finest albums. Embracing the widescreen, atmospheric sound of guitarist Jonny Greenwood's recent soundtrack work with frontman Thom Yorke's love of electronica, these songs meshed and melded those influences with glorious aplomb. From the spiky, angular strings of  'Burn The Witch' to the hushed and fragile beauty of long-standing fan fave 'True Love Waits' via the post-rock soundscapes of 'Daydreaming' and 'The Numbers', this was Radiohead at the absolute peak of their powers.

13: DAFT PUNK: RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES

In 1997, a pair of Parisian dance DJ's by the names of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter got together in a recording studio, put their heads together, wrote an astounding debut album of squelchy club bangers, put on a couple of motorcycle crash helmets and the legend of Daft Punk was born. Since that monumental and game-changing 'Homework' album, the duo have become worldwide superstars simultaneously releasing more incredible albums - like the scintillating 'Discovery' from 2001- as well as producing music for the likes of  LCD Soundsystem, N.E.R.D., Sebastien Tellier and Kanye West. Then, in 2013, came this - the amalgamation of all the DP influences and production techniques spliced together on one almost faultless album. The gargantuan worldwide smash 'Get Lucky' - featuring Pharrell Williams and the godly Nile Rodgers - was the obvious calling card, but greater jewels lie within. The 'other' Rodgers track - 'Lose Yourself To Dance' - was arguably even better, and alongside the mind-bending space-funk of 'Contact', the sublime easy-listening infused soul of 'The Game Of Love' and the scuzzy NYC art-rock of 'Instant Crush' there was the glorious hip-shaking rush of 'Giorgio By Moroder' and the mind-expanding pomp-rock of  'Touch'. The album hoovered up awards by the truck-load and the duo have been conspicuous by their absence ever since. Frankly, after such a phenomenal record, who can blame them?

12: SUN KIL MOON: BENJI

If I'm honest, considering the mighty Mark Kozelek's outrageously prolific output over the past decade, I could have filled this entire list with albums by the great man. As it is, I've got to give other acts a fair shake so - for now - it's just this one under his Sun Kil Moon moniker from 2014 that makes the cut. Since 2010, Ohio native - although he's been based in San Francisco for half his life - Kozelek has released around 20 albums of material under his own name, as SKM and in collaboration with other artists. I've written before on this blog - a fair few times - that all of his records are superb, but in terms of accessibility this is one of the best places to start. The fact that it is also one of his greatest collections of songs is a happy accident. As has become his songwriting norm, 'Benji' covers a myriad of topics that on paper at least, come across like diary entries or mumbled ramblings. In fact, the songs here couldn't be more heartfelt or emotionally uplifting. Whether it be the desperately sad tale of a forgotten relative in 'Carissa', the hilarious litany of his formative sexual experiences in 'Dogs', the anger and desperation in the shout-out to gun control that is 'Pray For Newtown' or the goosebump-inducing beauty of 'I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love', this was Kozelek firing on all cylinders. As a postscript, it was about as close as he's ever come to breaking through commercially but - as is his ornery wont - Kozelek turned away from the massive critical acclaim 'Benji' recieved and turned inward once more with the more strident and fan-scaring 'Universal Themes' the following year. Glorious.

11: FUCK BUTTONS: SLOW FOCUS

Bristolian electronica duo Fuck Buttons - formed in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin Power - released their third album of mind-expanding techno-frazzled brain-freeze in 2013 and promptly turned my cerebellum into mush. Whereas their first two albums - 2008's 'Street Horrrsing' and the following year's 'Tarot Sport' - blended together a disparate mix of psychedelia, drone-rock, avant-garde noise and tribal drum patterns that brought to mind the napalm scene in Apocalypse Now crossed with an illegal rave, there were moments on 'Tarot Sport' in particular that hinted at a more full-blown dance sound that 'Slow Focus' certainly ran with and then some. Coming across like a John Carpenter soundtrack with an Uzi pointed at it's head, the 7 gigantic tracks on this album ebbed, flowed, built, dropped and exploded in ways nobody has really come close to attempting since. Thunderously exciting and as much fun as you can have with your clothes on, if I ever hear better dance tracks than 'The Red Wing', 'Stalker' and the utter eye-gouging wonder of 'Hidden XS' then I'll be a very lucky bunny indeed. Time for album number 4 though, eh chaps?

10: ARCADE FIRE: THE SUBURBS

Back in 2005, just after the release of their still astonishing debut 'Funeral', I was lucky enough to see arty Canadian baroque-pop maestros Arcade Fire at the late and lamented London venue The Astoria. It is still - to this day - one of the most tremendously exciting gigs I've ever witnessed and for about a year there in the mid-noughties they were far and away my favourite band in the universe. They dropped the ball a little with 2007's slightly underwhelming and - whisper it - a little bit dull 'Neon Bible' but, possibly a little chastened by the general shrug that their second album had been met with, by 2010 they were back with all guns blazing on this terrifically entertaining third opus. A concept album of sorts and a love letter to childhood and growing up outside of the big city, 'The Suburbs' was Arcade Fire in excelsis - huge, stadium-friendly choruses, expansive instrumentation, sublime, swooning soundscapes and tunes from the gods. Frontman Win Butler and his wife and co-vocalist Regine Chassagne are both on incredible form throughout with their singing on 'Ready To Start', 'We Used To Wait' and 'Sprawl 11' in particular standing out, but the rest of the band do more than their fair share of heavy lifting too with the likes of the outstanding title track and 'Rococo' raising the rafters. 'The Suburbs' was the must-have album of 2010, winning multitudes of awards and turning Arcade Fire into world-beaters. The band have continued making superb music since with their albums 'Reflektor' and 'Everything Now' maintaining their stadium level success, but this will always be their masterpiece.

9: MIDLAKE: THE COURAGE OF OTHERS

Oh, what an album this is and oh, what a lost opportunity Midlake were. Back in 2006 - right in the middle of the new freak-folk explosion best personified by acts like Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Devendra Banhart, My Morning Jacket and, later, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes - Texan combo Midlake released their second full-length opus 'The Trials Of Van Occupanther' to almost universal acclaim. A beautiful warm hug of a record, 'Van Occupanther' melded together the relaxed country-rock of the band's youth with the more modern folk-rock stylings of the day, which - coupled with the delightful harmony vocals of principal songwriters Tim Smith and Eric Pulido - made them come across like The Eagles or Fleetwood Mac mixed with R.E.M. and Counting Crows. Basking in the success of a hit record, the band decamped back home to record the follow-up. And then the problems started. By the time of it's release in 2010, it was common knowledge that 'The Courage Of Others' would be the final album by Midlake as we knew them. The shift in musical differences between Tim Smith and the rest of the band was now too big to ignore and he left the group after touring the album. A massive shame because, quite frankly, this album is as good as anything any other act in the folk-rock area has released over the last 30 years or so. An utterly bewitching and all-encompassing suite of pastoral folk - heavily influenced by bands like Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull - but with it's own identity and shot through with songwriting nous and an emotional heft that few have mastered. 'Acts Of Man', 'Winter Dies', 'Core Of Nature' and 'In The Ground' give you an idea of where Smith's head was at and it's been no surprise to me that he's basically disappeared from view since leaving the band. I have visions of him living off the grid like the protagonist in that 'Into The Wild' movie. Pulido took up head-honcho duties for 2013's 'Antiphon' but - as good as that album was - the spark had gone. This was Midlake's moment and it fizzled out before it had even begun. But, for the total and utter majesty of the track 'Children Of The Grounds' I will be forever grateful. Oh, what an album this is.

8: SPAIN: THE SOUL OF SPAIN

Formed in the early 90's by Los Angeles native Josh Haden, Spain are a jazz-influenced and blues-flecked Americana band who - despite a fabulous bunch of records - have never quite broken through to the wider consciousness. A travesty obviously. When even the godlike genius of Johnny Cash covers one of your songs - 1995's heartbreaking 'Spiritual' - it must stick in Haden's craw that lesser talents like Ed Sheeran sell trillions of records all over the galaxy. If it doesn't, then he's a better man than I, as it certainly sticks in mine. However - I digress. Haden wound Spain down in the early noughties after a raft of excellent albums failed to find an audience. After years as a session player in a multitude of jazz bands - Haden is a sublime bass player - he reactivated the group in 2009 and the first fruits of his new labours was this stunning album of mellow country rock and jazz-inflected slowcore from 2012. Also embracing jangle-drenched indie and plaintive folk ballads, this was as good as Haden had ever been - his deep, mellifluous vocals holding everything together quite beautifully. There's been a bunch of decent albums since but nothing has really come close to this one. But maybe nothing needs to.

7: W.H. LUNG: INCIDENTAL MUSIC

 The most recent album on this list and - subsequently - one I won't go into too much detail about. The more eagle-eyed amongst you will have figured out that if this particular record is so high up in this list, then it stands to reason that it more than likely is riding very high indeed in my forthcoming Top 50 Albums of 2019 list. And you'd be bang on. There will be a more fulsome review of this absolute corker of an album within that post, but suffice to say, for now I can safely suggest that these eight very, very special songs by this very, very special band are as good as anything I've heard in years. Splicing together a monumental melange of synth-pop, electronica, motorik rhythms, driving funk, sweeping dance beats and pure euphoria-inducing joyful abandon, if this album doesn't get you dancing around in your front room like a loon, then you have cement in your veins and a breeze-block for a heart. Wondrous in every single possible way.

6: THE WAR ON DRUGS: LOST IN A DREAM

By some considerable distance, this was the finest album released in 2014. Adam Granduciel and his War On Drugs collective had piqued my interest with their previous two albums - especially the drifting melancholia of 2011's 'Slave Ambient' - but if I'm honest, nothing prepared me for the quantum shift of musical brilliance that this album ushered in. Recorded at his home studio as ostensibly a solo album, Granduciel then expanded his live band from a scrappy trio into a full-blown rock outfit including synths, horns and a multitude of percussion, musically blasting the new songs onto another level. Embracing Granduciel's childhood love of widescreen 80's American rock and modern-day melodic indie and fusing it with electronic textures and Krautrock-inspired rhythms, tracks like the outstanding 'Under The Pressure' and the gloriously uplifting 'An Ocean Between The Waves' belied the fact that the lyrical themes of the album touched on the lonliness and despair of Granduciel's post-touring life whilst recording the record. Indeed, songs like 'Suffering', 'Disappearing' and the pure, unadulterated pain of 'Eyes To The Wind' drive straight through to the depression that he was feeling. A huge critical and commercial success, 'Lost In A Dream' turned Granduciel's life around leading to 2017's almost as good 'A Deeper Understanding', worldwide arena tours and armfuls of awards. Even if he never scales these heights again, he's made an album for the ages. And in the utterly magnificent 'Red Eyes' - Tom Petty flying a rocket off his tits on MDMA - he's written the song of his life.

5: DAVID BOWIE: BLACKST*R

What more can be said about this extraordinary last will and testament from the greatest pop star the universe has ever produced? Written and recorded under the shadow of the Grim Reaper, Bowie's 25th and final album was released on his 69th birthday in 2016. Two days later, the legendary rock and roll chameleon left us to shower his gifts upon another realm. The shock was palpable - Bowie had kept his illness secret from the world - and the distress and despair from fans acute. But what an incredible legacy the man had left us. And with this final album, he may very well have topped the lot. Touching on all the best parts of his previous recorded works - pounding rock and roll, glitzy glam, free-form art-rock, sax-laden discordia, electronica-infused bangers - this was mighty fare. The clues were all there of course with allusions to death peppering the lyrics and the pre-album release of the videos to the epic title track and the spine-tingling 'Lazarus' basically spelling it out for you. But the few days we were given between the album's release and the great man's death was just not enough time to decode it all. And, quite frankly, the thought of Bowie dying was absurd. However, as befitting the theatrical, art-loving polymath, his passing was timed to perfection - one final 'Exit: Stage left' for his devoted following. Four years on though, it still hurts. Rest in peace, Starman.

4: ANGEL OLSEN: MY WOMAN

Released in the summer of 2016, this third album by Missouri-born folk-rock singer/songwriter Olsen flew under my radar for a little while after it came out, before I was struck dumb one afternoon in my local record emporium upon hearing the opening strains of the first track 'Intern' emanating from the store's speakers. I knew who Olsen was - I'd bought her second album 'Burn Your Fire For No Witness' a few years previous - but, as much as I'd liked that collection of sparse folk and crackly Americana, these new tracks I was hearing in that shop were a different beast entirely. A breathtaking shift forward from her earlier work, 'My Woman' quickly became my favourite record of the year. Charting the breakdown of a relationship as well as the emotional upheaval of touring, travelling and being apart from loved ones, this album showed that Olsen was to be taken very seriously as a modern-day songwriting great. Musically, the songs run the gamut from eerie synth-pop, gnarly surf-rock, classic indie, late-night torch songs and  epic, widescreen country-rock ballads - with the astonishing title track and the utterly gorgeous 'Sister' stealing the show. Olsen toured the album solidly for 18 months - I saw her live twice during that period and she and her band were on fire on both occasions - and it also garnered much critical acclaim. Hugely justified too, as it is quite simply a masterpiece. And the fact that she's almost bettered it with her latest album 'All Mirrors' is just showing off really. Fantastic. 

3: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: AMERICAN DREAM

Well, this was a real turn-up for the books. Back in 2011, after a mammoth world tour for the previous year's album 'This Is Happening', LCD head honcho James Murphy - who was pushing 50 and suffering physically after years of DJ-ing, partying and making utterly incredible music with his band - decided to park the Soundsystem bus and let the new breed of dance music heroes have a go. He made an extraordinary fly-on-the-wall documentary which followed the group as they played their final gig at Madison Square Garden, before then showing Murphy lost and rudderless at home, playing with his dog, bursting into tears and wondering if he'd made the right decision. For a while there, it seemed he may have got used to his new life but - after feeling the itch and with his great friend David Bowie's words ringing in his ears: "If it feels right, just do it" - he shouted down the naysayers, reactivated the band and regaled the faithful with this absolutely transcendent collection of euphoric synth-laden art-rock mixed with glittering club beats, jerky punk, superlative dance grooves and sumptuous string-laden come-downs. When it hit my stereo for the first time in late 2017, I didn't play anything else for about a month. I couldn't get over the fact that, considering it was the fourth album by a group who hadn't released anything in 8 years, it sounded so fresh, joyful and full of life. If you're new to the LCD party, start with this album and if your cranium hasn't split open with wonder by the time the HUGE sounding synth beats kick in halfway through the monumentally magnificent 'How Do You Sleep?' then there's absolutely no hope for you.

2: ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER: HOPE DOWNS

 There's not much more that needs to be said about this combo to be honest with you. Aside from the previously mentioned Mark Kozelek, I think I've written more words on this blog about this delightfully monikered quintet from Melbourne than anyone else. Their first two EP's made Number 2 in my Albums Of 2017 list and the 5 times I've seen them live over the last couple of years are 5 of the best gigs I've ever seen. So, it was no surprise that this tremendous debut of rollicking jangle and shuffling indie-rock shot straight to the top of my fave albums of 2018 when it was released in June of that year and never even came close to relinquishing that position. There's not an ounce of chaff in anything they've released so far and to say I'm champing at the bit for this year's follow-up is an understatement to say the least. If they come even remotely close to writing songs as joyful and life-enriching as 'Talking Straight' and 'An Air-Conditioned Man' then I can die happy. What. A. Band.

1: MARK KOZELEK & JIMMY LAVALLE: PERILS FROM THE SEA

Well, I did tell you Mr. Kozelek would probably pop up again. And how. Throughout his mighty career, Kozelek has made nary a duff album and many a masterpiece, with some of his work as Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and as a solo artist touching on pure greatness. However, nothing he has recorded before or since this sublime collaboration with electronica instrumental composer Lavalle has touched me as deeply or as strongly. The total crystallisation of Kozelek's songwriting power and ear for a melody, the 11 stunning tracks on this album can - for me - easily lay claim to be one of the greatest collections of songs ever written. At once heartbreaking, hilarious, spine-tingling, shocking, profoundly moving, personal, warming and wise, these songs look back at his life and regale the listener with the moments that matter the most to Kozelek. From the desperate scramble to replace a beloved family heirloom in '1936' to the shattering denoument in the otherwise folksy tale of Kozelek's immigrant handyman in 'Gustavo'. From the plaintive paeans to adult domesticity in 'Ceiling Gazing' and 'Caroline' to the devastating sense of loss in 'He Always Felt Like Dancing'. Kozelek's songs here draw you in, intent and focused, desperate to find out what happens to this remarkable cast of characters. To top it all off, Kozelek ends this exceptional suite of songs - all backed by Lavalle's calming downtempo folktronica - with possibly the greatest song in his canon. There may be finer songs out there in the universe than the staggeringly beautiful 'Somehow The Wonder Of Life Prevails', but I very much doubt it. Just an absolutely extraordinary record.