The 2010s in 10x10

Informative, not authoritative. I much prefer personal lists to those that lay some sort of claim to objectivity. I learn about a lot of great music from them. I hope this does this same for you. I want to read yours.

During this decade, like the one before it, I had a weekly review column in which I discussed approximately 200 albums a year. That’s 2,000 in a decade, not counting music by artists about whom I wrote stories or by whom I was hired to write bios, and not counting music I listened to just for the hell of it. So yeah, I had trouble narrowing a few things down.

This list has nothing to do with any professional obligation, however; it’s personal. It’s a list made by a 48-year-old white dad who lives in Central Canada, so make of that what you will. I don’t feel an obligation to pretend to like Frank Ocean or Taylor Swift or Bon Iver or Lana del Rey or Radiohead or whomever else leaves me cold. I didn’t think I listened to much rock’n’roll anymore, but apparently I listen to a lot more of it than Pitchfork writers do. Because I’m still very much an album listener, there’s nothing here by some decade-defining artists whose singles I love. And there’s definitely no Drake here—because, hey, I’m older than 35 and I’m pigheaded about my emperor’s-new-clothes crusade. The fact that he’s universally hailed as the “artist of the decade” only proves how wrong I am about everything.

So here’s my top 100 of the decade 2010-19. There’s no way I’m going to rank these. I did, however, break it down into a top 20 and the remaining 80, singling out 30 underdogs for discovery purposes. With four exceptions, no artist appears twice. One of these records seems to have been wiped from the internet, and I’m probably one of the only people who’s noticed. All lists arranged alphabetically, except the one off the top that’s not. I’m sure I forgot more than a few things.

If you want to shuffle all these up in your Spotify, there’s a playlist here.

If you just want one sample song from each, that playlist is here.

Here we go:

The top 20:

I wrote year-end lists every year—which made this task a helluva lot easier. Looking back, it’s always interesting (to me) to see what records I still want to listen to, and which merely sounded good at the time. But I’ll stand by my 10 #1 choices: I might not feel, today, that they’re necessarily the best records of that given year, but they’re still favourites that earn an easy pass onto an end-of-decade list. Click for links to the full lists for the years in question.

2010: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

2011: TuneYards – Whokill

2012: Grimes – Visions

2013: AroarA – In the Pines*

2014: Owen Pallett – In Conflict

2015: Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood

2016: Beyoncé – Lemonade

2017: Weaves – Wide Open

2018: U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited

2019: Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Trapline

Here’s the last half of my top 20, absolutely essential records, all—at least to me, if no one else:

Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color (2015)

Eric Bachmann – s/t (2016)

Bonjay – Lush Life (2018)

Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (2018)

Veda Hille – Love Waves (2016)

Kaytranada – 99.9% (2016)

Man Man – On Oni Pond (2013)

Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa (2015)

Robyn – Body Talk (2010)

Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest (2011)

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Stop here if you’re already bored. But of the other 80 records on this list, here are 30 underdogs records that got little or no press, by artists unlikely to fill a venue in English Canada larger than 500 capacity. Again, other than the top 20 listed above, these aren’t ranked; these are just highlighted in the hopes that you make some discoveries here. Broken down by Canada vs. the world:

Canada:

Geoff Berner – Canadiana Grotesquica (2017)

Cadence Weapon – s/t (2018)

Kathryn Calder – Bright and Vivid (2011)

Le Couleur – P.O.P. (2016)

Mark Davis – Eliminate the Toxins (2011)

Dennis Ellsworth – Things Change (2018)

Jim Guthrie – Takes Time (2013)

Hilotrons – At Least There’s Commotion (2013)

Zaki Ibrahim – Every Opposite (2012)

La Force – s/t (2018)

Jean Leloup – À Paradis City (2015)

Michelle McAdorey – Into Her Future (2015)

Scott Merritt – Of (2015)*

Nick Buzz – A Quiet Evening at Home (2013)
Doug Paisley – Constant Companion (2010)*

International:

Africa Express Presents Maison des Jeunes – Various Artists (2014)

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Ancestral Recall (2019)

Gaye Su Akyol – Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir (2018)

Altin Gun – On (2018)

Anna Calvi – Hunter (2018)

Brandy Clark – 12 Stories (2013)

Nels Cline – Lovers (2016)

EMA – The Future’s Void (2014)

Bill Fay – Life is People (2012)

Kikagaku Moyo – Masana Temples (2018)

Nakhane – You Will Not Die (2019)

Sons of Kemet – Your Queen is a Reptile (2018)

Moses Sumney – Aromanticism (2017)

The Thermals – Personal Life (2010)

Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and Rajasthan Express – Junun (2015)

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Looking for more familiar faces? Here’s the remaining 50, featuring somewhat more well-known subjects (though not necessarily, especially if you’re not Canadian):

Arca – s/t (2017)

Arcade Fire – Everything Now (2017)

BadBadNotGood – IV (2016)

Beach House – Teen Dream (2010)

Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love (2010)

Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (2014)

David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)

Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record (2010)

Basia Bulat – Tall Tall Shadow (2013)

Caribou – Swim (2010)

Rosanne Cash – The River and the Thread (2013)

Jennifer Castle – Pink City (2014)

Cat Power – Sun (2012)

Neneh Cherry – Broken Politics (2018)

Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker (2016)

Destroyer – Poison Season (2015)

Beth Ditto – Fake Sugar (2017)

Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles – The Grand Bounce (2010)

Feist – Metals (2011)

Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams (2018)

Lady Gaga – Joanne (2016)

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)

Lee Harvey Osmond – The Folk Sinner (2013)

Low – Double Negative (2018)

Corb Lund – Cabin Fever (2012)

Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer (2018)

AC Newman – Shut Down the Streets (2012)

Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me (2010)*

Orville Peck – Pony (2019)

Perfume Genius – Too Bright (2014)

Robert Plant – Band of Joy (2010)

Jessie Reyez – Kiddo EP (2017)

Rosalía – El Mal Querer (2018)

Santigold – Master of My Make-Believe (2012)

Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love (2015)

Solange – True EP (2012)

Spoon – Hot Thoughts (2017)

Mavis Staples – One True Vine (2013)

Vince Staples – Summertime 06 (2015)

Tanya Tagaq – Animism (2014)

Tracey Thorn – Love and Its Opposites (2010)

Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution (2017)

Tinariwen – Elwan (2017)

The Tragically Hip – Man Machine Poem (2016)

Rokia Traoré – Beautiful Africa (2013)

A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… (2016)

A Tribe Called Red – Nation II Nation (2013)

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

The Weeknd – House of Balloons (2010)

The Xx – I See You (2017)

*Four titles are not available on streaming services

AroarA seems to have ceased their web presence since Ariel Engle launched La Force: you can’t stream or buy this anywhere. I’ve been told In the Pines is about to be reissued in the U.S. on a poetry label out of Portland, Oregon.

Scott Merritt’s music can be purchased here.

Joanna Newsom’s music can be purchased here.

Doug Paisley's music is on Spotify, but curiously his 2010 album Constant Companion is not. It is, however, on Bandcamp here. 

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What’s that? You’re still here? Finally, in the highly unlikely event you’re not already satiated, here’s yet another 50 excellent records I think should also be thrown in the time capsule:

Alvvays – Antisocialites (2017)

Atoms for Peace – s/t (2013)

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think… (2015)

Willis Earl Beal – Nobody Knows (2013)

Geoff Berner – Victory Party (2011)

Jim Bryson – Somewhere We Will Find Our Place (2016)

The Comet is Coming – Channel the Spirits (2016)

Darkside – Psychic (2013)

Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan (2012)

Gord Downie – Introduce Yerself (2017)

Dominique Fils-Aimé – Stay Tuned (2019)

Dr. John – Locked Down (2012)

Kevin Hearn – Days in Frames (2014)

Hidden Cameras – Home on Native Land (2016)

Japandroids – Celebration Rock (2012)

J Rocc – Some Cold Rock Stuff (2011)

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – Give Them What They Want (2014)

The Julie Ruin – s/t (2013)

Lydia Képinski – Premier juin (2018)

Angelique Kidjo – Remain in Light (2018)

Michael Kiwanuka – Love & Hate (2016)

Pierre Kwenders – Le dernier empereur bantou (2014)

Terra Lightfoot – New Mistakes (2017)

Hubert Lenoir – Darlène (2018)

Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (2011)

Lizzo – Coconut Oil EP (2016)

Lotic – Power (2018)

Brad Mehldau – Finding Gabriel (2019)

Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream (2012)

Tami Neilson – Don’t Be Afraid (2015)

Tunde Olaniran – Transgressor (2015)

Operators – Blue Wave (2016)

Anderson.Paak – Malibu (2016)

Pusha T – My Name Is My Name (2013)

Kim Richey – Edgeland (2018)

Rocket Juice & the Moon – s/t (2012)

The Roots – And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014)

Sagot – Valse 333 (2014)

Sampha – Process (2017)

Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger (2016)

Snowblink – Inner Classics (2012)

Kae Sun – Afriye (2013)

Tobi – Still (2019)

Maylee Todd – Acts of Love (2017)

Two Hours Traffic – Foolish Blood (2013)

Tom Waits – Bad As Me (2011)

Jack White – Lazaretto (2014)

Whitehorse – Panther in the Dollhouse (2017)

Wolf Parade – Cry Cry Cry (2017)

Wye Oak – Civilian (2011)

Apparently I thought 2018 and 2013 were amazing years for music. Breakdown by year:

2018: 21

2013: 20

2016: 19

2017: 18

2014: 14

2015: 14

2012: 14

2010: 13

2011: 10

2019: 7 (I’m less likely to trust my recent infatuations)

Richard Reed Parry - Quiet River of Dust

Richard Reed Parry – Quiet River of Dust Vol. 1 (Secret City/Anti)

If all you knew about Richard Reed Parry was that he was the tall, red-haired multi-instrumentalist in Arcade Fire, this is not the record you’d expect him to make. But if you knew he was raised in a Toronto community of British folk musicians and dancers, and that he later studied electroacoustic composition at Concordia University, or that he co-founded the cinematic instrumental band Bell Orchestre, then Quiet River of Dust starts to make a lot more sense.

Quiet River of Dust is inspired by the British folk music of his youth, the psychedelic, electronic textures of artists like Brian Eno or Caribou, and Japanese folk tales involving the liminal space between life and death. The more you learn about this record, its sources and how it was made, the more interesting it gets. (Full disclosure: I wrote the official bio.) But it’s ultimately about strapping on headphones and becoming lost in a meditative forest of sound, an immersive listening experience that summons synesthesia.

Released on the autumn equinox, its successor, Vol. 2, will come out on, naturally, the spring equinox. Both records feature stacked layers of vocal harmonies, acoustic textures and swirls of otherworldly sounds that spin a magical effect. Guests include Little Scream, members of the National, the Sadies, Blonde Redhead and Cibo Matto.

In November, Parry performed this music at the SATosphere in Montreal, in an immersive 360° visual environment. I was lucky enough to catch it during its two-week run, and it was nothing short of stunning: the visuals (shot by Parry himself), the calibre of the live band (featuring Little Scream and one of my favourite drummers, Stef Schneider), and the entire experience. Fuck Laser Floyd: this is what kind of "rock show" planetariums should be putting on. Sadly, there are not many such venues left, outside of Los Angeles and Berlin, where Parry will be performing this in the new year.  (Oct. 5)

Stream: “On the Ground,” “I Was in the World (Was the World In Me),” “Song of Wood”

Polaris Music Prize 2018, Day 1: Alvvays, Jean-Michel Blais

This year’s Polaris Music Prize is, to these ears, one of the toughest to decide. I’d be completely happy with any one of half the shortlist taking home the final prize, and it’s not like there are any clunkers on the other half, either. Further, there are incredible records released during the qualifying period that didn’t even make the 40-album long list. My annual five-day Polaris preview, examining two shortlisters and two absentees a day, starts now:

The shortlist:

Alvvays – Antisocialites (Royal Mountain)

The album:

This is a monstrous pop record, with insanely catchy melodies that are still stuck in my head more than a year after I first heard them. If there’s any knock against this record at all, it’s that it’s retro: there’s little here that doesn’t sound like some of my favourite records made 20 years ago or more. I don’t listen to a lot of music like this these days, but it’s no surprise at all that this band has made such a big international splash with indie rockers old and new.

My review for the Waterloo Record from Sept. 7, 2017:

No sophomore slump here. Everything that was merely promising or undeveloped or somewhat uneven on the 2014 debut by this Toronto band of transplanted Maritimers has been transformed into a triumph. Singer Molly Rankin used to write melodies slightly outside of her range. Here, she’s no longer a newbie straining to hit the high notes while guitars swirl around her; she’s a singer who walks the precious line between introversion and complete confidence, once again writing melodies that are instant earworms, not unlike their breakthrough single “Marry Me, Archie.” Guitarist and co-songwriter Alec O’Hanley (Two Hours Traffic) also did a lot of recording and mixing this time out, following initial sessions with L.A. producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado). In his hands, every one of this band’s strengths comes into full focus in ways it didn’t on the washed-out debut: the guitars of O’Hanley and Ranking shimmer with colourful textures, and blend beautifully with Kerri MacLellan’s Farfisa organ. Bassist Brian Murphy is a melodic player and drummer Sheridan Riley hits hard enough to ensure the band doesn’t drift away on a sea of twee. After dreadful new albums by the War on Drugs, Grizzly Bear, the National and LCD Soundsystem, Alvvays is a rare bright light for indie rock in 2017.

The chances:

Slim, for entirely political reasons. This is a nice band with a nice record that sounds like a lot of your other favourite records—and that combination has never won a prize from critics hard-wired to reward the new and innovative. None of that should detract from its excellence; it completely deserves to be on this list, and if you haven’t heard it yet, you should.

Jean-Michel Blais – Dans ma main
(Arts and Crafts)

The album:

One of only two instrumental records to ever make the Polaris shortlist; the other, by Godspeed You Black Emperor, took home the prize in 2013. (One could also argue that Tagaq’s non-verbal Animism, the 2014 winner, also belongs in this category.) It’s somewhat astounding that an album this intimate, sparse, and based on classical music could squeeze onto a Polaris shortlist, but here we are. Between Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds and others—not to mention Chilly Gonzales, who just released his third Solo Piano record—it’s a good time to be a solo pianist. There are certainly similarities with the Jeremy Dutcher record—two pseudo-classical albums on the list in the same year!—but where that high-concept record relies heavily on Dutcher’s operatic vocals, Blais’s appeal lies entirely, well, dans ses mains.

My May 25 review for the Waterloo Record:

Jean-Michel Blais is a Montreal pianist whose debut album topped classical charts with his original compositions and minimalist approach. On Dans ma mains, he expands his sonic palette to include electronic textures and occasional drum machines—a far cry from the sound of one man alone in his apartment, which is what comprised the debut. The change is more than welcome: Blais is no one-trick pony, and elements of Tim Hecker and Sigur Ros work seamlessly with his natural talent. The only time the album stumbles is when he ventures into Moby territory on tracks like “Igloo,” which are fortunate outliers on an otherwise consistently pleasing album—one that you’re likely to hear soundtracking tear-jerking moments on screen in the next couple of years, but works just fine on its own.

The chances:

Slim. Again, I’m pleasantly surprised this made the shortlist, for the reasons outlined above; a win would be downright shocking.

The shoulda, woulda, coulda:

Arcade Fire – Everything Now (Sonovox/Sony)

The album:

I love this record. I love everything about it. Not a dud track on it. Of this band’s five albums, I’d put it in the top three. So there.

Of course, I feel like one of the only music critics in the world who thinks this. I wrote extensively about it here, which was one of my most-read pieces on the blog in 2017 (second only to a post related to my Tragically Hip book; in third place was a takedown of the hideous new U2 record—so yes, I have standards).

One of my fellow jurors wrote that “if you voted for Arcade Fire, you’re a cop.” Which—I don’t even know where to begin with that one. Thanks for coming out.

The live show was astounding—the best I’ve ever seen them (and I’ve seen them a lot). The episode of Song Exploder that dove into “Put Your Money On Me” inspired some second thoughts in some circles. My guess is that this material will age a lot better than it’s being given credit for right now.

Why it didn’t make the shortlist:

That’s obvious, for all the reasons listed above, as well as the fact that there’s no doubt a general fatigue for a band that’s won both the regular Polaris and the Polaris Heritage Prize, and has been shortlisted two times beyond that. I was frankly shocked Everything Now even made the longlist, considering the antipathy out there; there was more public love declared for fellow 2004 vets Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade, neither of whom made the longlist. I didn’t even vote for it, to be honest, because I figured it didn’t have a chance. And it made the long list without even my help. So obviously I’m not as alone as I think.

Geoff Berner – Canadiana Grotesquica (Coax)

The album:

I’ve been a huge fan of this artist for the last 15 years. Not every record hits, but his live show has moved me to tears of joy and sorrow on at least a dozen occasions. He has a deep well of songs that nail their targets to the wall; some songs on this new record have been floating around for years, even covered by his peers before the man himself got around to it (“Prairie Wind”). Canadiana Grotesquica is perhaps his strongest work yet—it’s certainly his most accessible, both musically and lyrically, which made it somewhat shocking that he was ignored yet again by the Polaris jury.

Also: In yet another year of forest fires and pipeline politics, I’ve had the chorus of one song on this album in my head almost every time I turn on the news, from “Super Subtle Folk Song”: “And while the fire’s still burning, let’s make a lot more gasoline.”

An excerpt from my review for the Waterloo Record, Oct. 12, 2017, which can be read in full here:

On his seventh album, Berner shifts away from his klezmer escapades and taps Neko Case guitarist Paul Rigby to make something approximately a country record, filled with the kinds of songs that made him a favourite cover choice for his friends the Be Good Tanyas and Corb Lund. It’s the most musically conservative album he’s made in years, but it’s by no means meant to be easy listening. It opens with “The Ghost of Terry Fox,” one of the most tragic tales in Canadian celebrity: the story of Steve Fonyo, the cancer-stricken amputee who actually completed Fox’s mission, but suffered from second-banana syndrome in the eyes of an indifferent public, racked up several criminal convictions, was stripped of his Order of Canada, and was the victim of a home invasion in Surrey, B.C. Fonyo was the subject of a 2015 Alan Zweig documentary, and a musical by Berner, from which this song originates. Berner takes a similarly biographical approach to “Gino Odjick,” a song about the Vancouver Canucks’ “Algonquin Assassin,” an on-ice enforcer and residential school survivor who, along with other prominent Indigenous Canadians, met the Pope to hear an apology from the Catholic Church. On a lighter note, Berner mocks southern Ontario country singers who articulate with a “Phoney Drawl,” and warns his peers “Don’t Play Cards For Money With Corby Lund.” “Hustle Advisory” references Leonard Cohen, Jesus, and Justin Trudeau, and features Frazey Ford on backing vocals. There’s no surer sign of Berner’s continued songwriting strength than “Super Subtle Folk Song,” one of the catchiest melodies on a record full of earworms ensures that the message sinks in. More important, for a man who has often used a blunt hammer to make his point, titling a track “Super Subtle Folk Song” may be a self-deprecating jab, but it also proves that Berner is stronger when he’s subversive.

Why it didn’t even longlist:

He’s a satirical and political Vancouver songwriter who plays accordion. Enough said.

Tomorrow: Daniel Caesar, Jeremy Dutcher, and two more shoulda-coulda-woulda.