The 100 Most Underappreciated Albums of the 2010s: 49-26
The 100 Most Underappreciated Albums of the 2010s: 49-26
49. Goat - World Music
There is an irresistible quality about music that creates its own mythos. Goat’s World Music ferociously involves listeners in wild, unhinged rock music that recalls the best psychedelic travellers from across Africa and the Americas.
48. Laura Stevenson - Sit Resist
Like her comrades Bomb the Music Industry!, Laura Stevenson has been utterly mistreated in terms of fawning press. It may have been because she was too late to ride the Shins/Decemberists/Bright Eyes folk-rock wave, but it’s criminal that Sit Resist was ignored when it came out. If you still love optimistic, unwavering indie rock, please, give this record a listen.
47. Gucci Mane - Trap House III
The finest effort of late-era Fat Gucci, Trap House III deserves to be among the pantheon of DatPiff mixtapes. Most rap aficionados would conclude Gucci is on the Mount Rushmore of talent finders in the genre, and this album is the apex of his scouting and synthesis. Rick Ross and 2Chainz at their peaks, Rich Homie Quan absolutely tearing up the game, Peewee Longway an unsung hero, and a nascent Young Thug all appear on the third Trap House. You could put a plethora of 2010s Gucci tapes on here, but Trap House III feels most deserving.
46. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
Okay talk about underlooked, has anyone given props to this album in like 6 years? It feels like a tome that has been buried beneath mountains of books, a forgotten nugget of gold. There’s still the beautiful Panda Bear harmonies, the experimentation forged by his love of genres as disparate as dub and gamelan, the purity of his lyrics. Must be a conspiracy to keep such a solid album down. Shoutout Noah Lennox forreal.
45. Benjamin Brunn - Midnight Fantasies of a Wantless Peacock
An album of pure tranquillity. Immersing yourself into a single modular synth in order to accurately the facets of nature that are most unknowable. Written communication strains to describe such feelings.
44. Dan Warren - Son of Strelka, Son of God
A creation myth using Barack Obama’s voice. You would think it was a cheap gimmick except that it is done so spectacularly well you can’t help but be captivated. Dan Warren’s fascination with Obama’s grandiose cadence comes out superbly as he spins a tale of primordial chaos and mythology. I wish Obama did this instead of drone striking innocent Syrians.
43. Delroy Elwards - Slowed Down Funk Vol. II
A joyous celebration of chopped n’ screwed featuring some of the most competent productions since Screw himself. Edwards realizes that no one will ever topple the Houston icon, so he deigns to even try. Rather, his curation evokes Memphis and the uncanny feelings by which that city’s scene reveled.
42. WU LYF - Go Tell It To The Mountain
Has to be one of the last true buzzbands right? A semi-anonymous, manifesto-driven collective with big ideas and even bigger choruses. There’s a sappy core to this story but it felt true and real, exciting enough to elicit fervor in the way an Odd Future or Arcade Fire would. Choral “heavy pop” produced in a cathedral, with the most gravelly vocals this side of Tom Waits. The hype was truly deserved.
41. Tisakorean - Guide To Being A Partying Freshman
There’s a good argument that Tisakorean is the great class clown of this generation’s rappers. This puts him among such comedians as Slick Rick, Kool Keith, Soulja Boy, and numerous outlandish figures. What separates Tisa is his boundless experimentation and willingness to absolutely go for it, his self-belief on 9000. It’s truly a joy just to watch him act a fool.
40. Summer Vacation - Condition
At first glance, a typical SoCal punk record. Are the lyrics special? Not really. It’s a workingman’s release, a burst of passion that contains nothing less than boundless conviction and delicious hooks. Sometimes you can’t beat simplicity.
39. Lone - Emerald Fantasy Tracks
Bro, I don’t see Matt Cutler missing. And out of all the non-misses from the last decade, Emerald Fantasy Tracks is his most exceptional success. Taking acid house to its absolute limit, tracks like “Cloud 909” and “Re-Schooling” simply goddamn rip. The dude is an absolute technical marvel, a DJ that commands DAWs at his whim. Pure warehouse grooves from one of dance music’s finest.
38. Tony Molina - Dissed and Dismissed
Power-pop is an equation, and Tony Molina solved it. A distillation of what makes the genre so irresistible in under 60 seconds or less, guaranteed. Riffs, short and sweet.
37. Mac Demarco - Live at Russian Recording
Look, let’s get facts straight. Mac Demarco is one of the best guitar artists of the last decade. You don’t have to like it, just accept it. And if you don’t get the hype, Live at Russian Recording probably won’t help, as it’s Mac in his element, goofball antics and jangle-pop goodness aplenty. Full disclosure, I’ve seen him twice live, and both times were just as raucous and infectious as this record sounds. Definitely one of the best live records by an artist from this generation.
36. Chief Keef - Back From The Dead 2
To a certain subset of people, this tape isn’t underrated at all. In fact, you could say none of Chief Keef’s tapes are. People just love the guy that much. But compared to Finally Rich or Almighty So or even the first Back From The Dead, there hasn’t been as much love collectively for such a great Keef record. Although Faneto is on this, so there will always be a reminder that Keef can make world-bending hits, he just chooses not to.
35. Ventla - fansubbed last words
Wraps you in a warm hug and never lets you go. To be fair any of Ventla’s work could have gone in this spot, but fansubbed last words grabbed me in a way that his longer pieces haven’t. “young executive forum” is a perfect song, full stop.
34. INTERNET CLUB - MODERN BUSINESS COLLECTION
Truly experiencing this is imbibing every Youtube video accompanying each song. Robin Burnett immaculately selects an image that represents a modern mood, an encapsulation of the uncanny memoria so embedded in our psyches. Purely delicious hypnagogia fostered by the numerous Weather Channel reruns we’ve all consumed.
33. Leon Vynehall - Rojus
Some of the most expansive and life-renewing dance music last decade. Vynehall’s compositions burst and grow, leaving us invigorated as only the most sumptuous of grooves can.
32. Anthony Shakir - Frictionalism 1994-2009
A contemporary of Carl Craig and Derrick May that has never received his due credit. Just like most of the Detroit house legends, his style is unique and unreplicable, jazzy in a way even his peers couldn’t match. In a scene that was so replete with talent, songs like “Arise” and “Get a Feeling” are absurd, glorious displays of brilliance.
31. Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure
Daniel Lopatin has played in 80s pastiche and production his entire career, but Channel Pressure (along with Games’ That We Can Play) is the one time he delivered results without a shadow of irony. He and Joel Ford’s team-up relishes in the wider MIDI world, from the bouncy Roland synths to the Joe Satriani-tinged guitar, crafting plastic moods straight out of Memphis Group wallpapers. “Too Much MIDI” remains Lopatin’s crowning achievement melding pop with the avant-garde.
30. Glass Bones - Seasons
Acoustic screamo could easily come off as a gimmick, yet in Glass Bones’ hands, it makes for a truly singular experience. Max Adams’ guitar playing is immaculate, with intensity and acuity rarely seen from an acoustic guitar, while Eddie Gancos’ vocals brim with captivating emotion. They even make a Bukowski spoken-word intro rock. Truly no small feat.
29. Anamanaguchi - Scott Pilgrim OST
As I typed this, Anamanaguchi announced a tour playing the original Scott Pilgrim OST, and they also did a live Twitch stream of the full album. So possibly, this record isn’t as underrated as I previously thought. Yet, music publications didn’t take Anamanaguchi seriously at the time, so its re-evaluation feels only just. Chiptune has lost its quirky, Topatoco sheen from the early 2010s, but listening to the Scott Pilgrim OST always makes me remember how much I banged it on my iPod classic in sophomore year of high school.
28. Juana Molina - Halo
One of the great guitar albums of the 2010s. Juana Molina’s growth as an artist culminated in this mind-melting record, full of textures and tones that are entrancing. Halo has a constant impish, winking presence, catapulted by Molina’s expert use of overdubs and shrewd melodies. It’s as though her music holds unknowable secrets by which she slips hidden messages, making it that much more bewildering.
27. FRIENDZONE - DX
This came out long before James Laurence passed, but it is the perfect tribute and recollection of what made the Bay Area wizard so special. FRIENDZONE is one of the pillars of cloud rap, short-lived yet effervescent in its impact. The maximalist styles of today—plugg, tread, hyperpop, HexD—all owe a debt to what tapes like DX and others crafted when the Tumblr rap scene was in its heyday.
26. Girlfriends - Girlfriends
Technically came out December 19, 2009 but we’ll let it slide. Blows most of its Midwest-chant emo ilk out of the water, delicious harmonies and some of the sickest guitar tones abound. Jerry Joiner has an immaculate sense of what draws people into the genre, and almost every song has inventive licks punctuated by sing-along melodies. The only black mark is the painfully 2009 song titles.
Down to the final 25, if you’re here thanks for reading :)