The list seems wholly unnecessary, but people love anything on the web that features a number followed by an item as evidenced by the popularity of sites like BuzzFeed. Pitchfork’s Top 100 Albums of the decade so far isn’t a bad list-it would’ve made more sense to wait until 2014 is over to put it out, but that’s neither here nor there. My biggest problem with it is the redundancy factor. A lot of artists made the list multiple times, taking up spots that should really go to bands that aren’t featured on the list at all (Kanye gets 2 spots in their top 10, plus another for Watch The Throne). So here’s my list. I’ve kept the doubling down to a minimum, but it does happen a couple times. And yes, Kanye makes the list twice just not nearly as high.
100-Flying Lotus-Until The Quiet Comes
99. Hot Chip-One Night Stand
98. Wolfgang Jay-And We Move
97. Patrick Watson-Adventures In Your Own Backyard
96. El-P-Cancer For The Cure
95. Andrew Jackson Jihad-Knife Men
94. Big Boi-Sir Lucius Leftfoot
93. Dastardly-Ballads In Blue
92. Bright Eyes-The People’s Key
91. The Canoes-Slim Century
90. M.I.A.-Matangi
89. The All-About-Winter Pop
88. Gorillaz-Plastic Beach
87. The Elected-Bury Me In My Rings
86. Ezra Furman & The Harpoons-Mysterious Power
85. Empires-Garage Hymns
84. Fort Frances-The Atlas
83. Nik Freitas-Saturday Night Underwater
82. Beirut-The Rip Tide
81. The Great American Novel-Kissing
80. Heidi Spencer & The Rare Birds-Under Streetlight Glow
79. Adam Arcuragi-Like a fire that consumes all before it
77. Kno-Death Is Silent
77. Kurt Vile-Smoke Ring For My Halo
76. Fiona Apple-Idler Wheel
75. Bhi Bhiman-S/T
74. The Congregation-Right Now Everything
73. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti-Before Today
72. Lupe Fiasco-Lasers
71. Portugal. The Man.-In The Mountain In The Cloud
70. Jason Collett-Reckon
69. Emily Wells-Mama
68. Charles Bradley-Victim Of Love
67. J. Cole-Born Sinner
66. Brian Wilson-Smile Sessions
65. The Joy Formidable-Wolf’s Law
64. Wilco-The Whole Love
63. Chaperone-Cripple King
62. Deltron 3030-The Event II
61. The Mountain Goats-Transcendental Youth
60. Free Energy-Stuck On Nothing
59. Stars-The North
58. We Were Promised Jetpacks-In The Pit Of The Stomach
57. Perfume Genius-Put Your Back N 2 It
56. Arcade Fire-The Suburbs
55. Abigail Washburn-City Of Refuge
54. Killer Mike-R.A.P. Music
53. Bruce Springsteen-Wrecking Ball
52. Conor Oberst-Upside Down Mountain
51. Ghostpal-Nathan Jones Is Dead
50. Rob-Maniac OST
49. Shovels & Rope-O Be Joyful
48. Janelle Monae-ArchAndroid
47. Slothrust-Of Course You Do
46. Pusha T-My Name Is My Name
45. Laura Veirs-July Flame
44. Arctic Monkeys-Suck It And See
43. Islands-A Sleep And A Forgetting
42. Shabazz Palaces-Black Up
41. First Aid Kit-Lion’s Roar
40. Los Campesinos!-Romance Is Boring
39. Mister Heavenly-Out Of Love
38. John Grant-Queen Of Denmark
37. Drake-Thank Me Later
36. Spider Bags-Frozen Letter
35. Josh Ritter-So Runs The World Away
34. Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
33. The Chromatics-Kill For Love
32. Gloom Balloon-You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Disaster
31. Childish Gambino-Camp
30. Tom Waits-Bad As Me
20. The Decemberists-The King Is Dead
28. The Wonder Years-Suburbia I Have Given You All And Now I Am Nothing
27. Broken Social Scene-Forgiveness Rock Record
26. The Tallest Man On Earth-The Wild Hunt
25. St Vincent-Strange Mercy
24. Hurray For The Riff Raff-Look Out Mama
23. Avi Buffalo-S/T
22. Watch The Throne
21. Dum Dum Girls-Only In Dreams
20. The Felice Brothers-Celebration, Florida
19. Bill Fay-Life Is People
18. Willis Earl Beal-Nobody Knows
17. Okkervil River-The Silver Gymnasium
16. Mavis Staples-You Are Not Alone
15. Japandroids-Celebration Rock
14. Of Montreal-False Priest
13. Run The Jewels-S/T
12. Girls-Father Son Holy Ghost
11. The Antlers-Burst Apart
10. The Vaccines-What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
9. Smith Westerns-Dye It Blonde
8. Justin Timberlake-The 20/20 Experience pt 1
7. Otis Redding-Live From The Sunset Strip
6. LCD Soundsystem-This Is Happening
5. Frank Ocean-Nostalgia, Ultra
4. Ezra Furman-The Year Of No Returning
3. Frontier Ruckus-Eternity Of Dimming
2. Sons Of An Illustrious Father-One Body
1. Titus Andronicus-The Monitor
Awesome! I actually haven’t heard any of your top 4. I’ll be checking them out immediately as it looks like we have similar taste.
I discovered your blog after doing a similar post of my own: http://veryfriendlylighthouses.blogspot.ca/2014/08/not-pitchforks-top-100-albums-of-2010.html
Checked out your list. Similar tastes indeed. Thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoy those records in my top 4. If you get a chance, check out a Titus Andronicus live show. It’s the sweatiest, rowdiest fun you can have at a concert.