Halcyon Digest is a tranquil coda to Deerhunter’s lustrous indie … Not only does their style of singing seem unique in music today, it gives the music the impression that these are people singing to the listener the way a friend would talk to you about something, even when they're telling stories. The albums that were the last decade's best. Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop (not including sub-genres); include Live or archival releases. once again demonstrate the flexibility within their distinctly fuzzy style of pop music. Back in 2010, the debut album from New Zealand indie electro-pop group TNAF was just as cool as Urban Outfitters, thanks to shimmering tracks like "Young Blood” and "Punching in a Dream." The revitalized Slumberland, a key indie-pop label from the '90s, seems to get even more attention than they did originally. Under sincere musings, Be The Cowboy lulls between soulful, introspective ballads and eruptions of electric guitar and crashing cymbals.–Carolyn Droke. The album also contains what I'm pretty sure is my absolute favorite song of the year, "Trying to Say I Love You", which sketches out a shy confession of love in so few strokes that it takes my breath away. Katy Perry — Teenage Dream. 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Annie Clark is one of the best at a lot of different things, and she shows much of that off on her commercial breakthrough album. Soft Sounds From Another Planet is just that — otherworldly music that utilizes its expansive sound to illustrate unique landscapes. Though that’s not true for the decade’s most popular young psych outfit, Tame Impala, which evolved from a bedroom pop act to an arena-filling rock behemoth in the 2010s. How Indie Went Pop—and Pop Went Indie—in the 2010s Ten years ago, a collaboration between an indie act and a pop artist was something to marvel over. The Pepperoni Boy from Edmont to the Prince of Indie Rock worldwide. The band’s leader, Kevin Parker, made his greatest breakthroughs on Lonerism, in which he melted minds while also crafting rafters-shaking bangers.–S.H. In the last few years, Phoebe Bridgers has become a central figure in the indie world, thanks to both her landmark solo debut album and her contributions to the Boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center projects. While he still produced strong records, the process of becoming sober — and writing about it with great candor and emotional insight — with Southeastern put Isbell on another level. Since their 2005 debut album, Gothenburg, Sweden's Sambassadeur has struck me as underrated. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s. This is music that isn’t just sweet to the ear. With 2010’s High Violet, The National made one of their most orchestrated and labored albums, almost tearing themselves apart in the process. Here’s a list of the best pop songs from each year, based solely on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 charts. The Best Indie Pop Albums of 2010. Up until this album, Neon Indian was primarily a group riding off the coattails of the late 2000s Chillwave movement, an indie-pop offshoot genre inspired by the sounds of AM radio and groups like MGMT. © 1999-2020 PopMatters.com. 10 Best Indie Songs of the 2010s. “Timber” – Pitbull 67. Breaking down conventions The 2010s were a time of great transition and breaking down of conventions. 10. My favorite ten indie-pop albums of the year include just three debuts, and two of those are by new groups whose members have been around for a while in other bands. Ditching the quips and orchestrations of previous albums, these beautiful songs are direct missives from a dark night of the soul.–S.H. Sprawl II is Arcade Fire’s climax track to one of the best albums of the 2010s, but really it feels like the climax to a trilogy of albums that dominated the indie charts and introduced them to … These artists had the vision, originality, and talent to keep the dance floor filled all decade long. Their third album refines that sound to the point that the change feels revelatory, even though it's not that large of a shift. Clever, yes, but they also can be rather emotionally affecting. Few albums have as many tearjerking payoffs, most notably on “Elephant” and “Cover Me Up.”–S.H. The next time you hear a feisty young punk band attempt to pack a million and one ideas, riffs, lyrics, band members, and everything else in the kitchen sink into one song, think of The Monitor. But for me, I’ll take the glitchy gusto of 22, A Million, an album that wants to dip its feet into many of Vernon’s musical wading pools without getting too wet. On Europe, the idea of struggling in music and in love is juxtaposed by the European financial crisis, resulting in the definitive underrated album of the decade.–Philip Cosores. But while many bands might phone it in for an easy cash grab, Sleater-Kinney returned in bigger and better shape than ever. There might not be a better songwriter to emerge this decade, a master of turning the specific into often touching and resonant universals. Here comes the 2020s. “Work (ft. Drake)” – Rihanna Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop ; include Live or archival releases. <a href="http://elefantrecordsclassics.bandcamp.com/album/a-coming-of-age">A Coming Of Age by LUCKY SOUL</a> Their natural Michigan environs and the way they carry that into their music means There is a lot of uncertainty, even fear, running through the album, apropos of our time. The pop landscape changed significantly during the 2010s. Justin Vernon wandered a lot creatively in the 2010s, whether it was with his most famous band, Bon Iver, or in a variety of side projects. Whether it’s campfire folk, winter trail post-rock, or collective experimentation, Justin Vernon has you covered. They continued to do so on their latest, but it also marked a development of their sonic palette, as it features some of the most dynamic and adventurous music of their tenure thus far.–Derrick Rossignol. 's The Adventures of Bobby Ray, Godsmack's The Oracle and not one, not two, but three separate Glee Cast soundtrack albums. On the one hand, pop as we know it ceased to be the dominant genre in the mainstream, and was instead overthrown by the new wave of trap-leaning hip-hop. Ask a group of music fans who the defining indie rock group of the 2000s was, and more than a few of them will say Vampire Weekend. They do their version of reggae, their version of the 1980s soft-pop ballad. We are moving to WordPress and a new host, but we really need your help to fund the move and further development. As one of the greatest pop albums of the 2010s, Teenage Dream epitomized the best of the genre … PopMatters have been informed by our current technology provider that we have until December to move off their service. There were riches aplenty. Alternately diaristic, journalistic, and motivational, their songs pack an unexpected dramatic punch for such quiet music, one that hits close to home. “Back to Back” – Drake 68. Sing along, clap along, and dance around your room, but as these things go, soon you'll realize how much sadness there is in these songs, that many of the people in the songs are poor, lonely, and feeling lost, stumbling through life like we all do. This section will be updated periodically throughout the end of the year. In 2010, the past never seemed far away. A Coming of Age pushes their sound in some new directions, with arrangements that are by turns dense and spare, matching the emotions of each song well. Here are our Top 25 Pop Albums of the 2010s. Meanwhile, bands on their second, third, or fourth albums took their sound and refreshed it. Even outside of the new-album world, there were significant releases: the Lucksmiths' farewell 7"; the great series of 3" CDs on the WeePop label; Bart and Friends' first EP in a long while; Girls' EP follow-up to their 2009 debut LP; CD reissues that introduced the Wave Pictures to the US. The second LP from Seattle's Math and Physics Club follows up on their excellent 2006 debut with a similar mix of pop punch and storytelling, delivered in a streamlined way that keeps the emphasis on those strengths, without any unnecessary fluff. The best albums of the 2010s, then, not only define the decade, they chart an artistic rebirth. Since 2005, the chart has been based on the sales of both physical and digital albums, on the condition that the album was available in both formats. “Me, Myself & I” – G-Easy & Bebe Rexha 70. There were new albums this year by many of the bands that influenced the indie-pop of today: Magnetic Fields, Belle and Sebastian, Vaselines, Jonathan Richman, Teenage Fanclub. The UK Albums Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) that calculates the best-selling artist albums of the week in the United Kingdom. The rest of the decade saw Katie Crutchfield expand her sonic capabilities and improve her fidelity, but this remains a snapshot of a perfect moment of songwriting genius.–P.C. Other No. Written during a six-week period when he was living in a hotel, and estranged from his wife and muse, Emma, Father John Misty’s fourth studio album is an expression of pure romantic anguish with virtually no artifice. As Cotton Candy, Mark Robinson (Unrest) and Evelyn Hurley (Blast Off Country Style!) Angel Olsen can excel in both the intimate and the expansive, so it’s appropriate that her great new album manages to be both. The credits include 40 people. <a href="http://aweather.bandcamp.com/album/everyday-balloons">Everyday Balloons by A Weather</a> While taking Darren Hanlon's songwriting to the next level of focus and variety, I Will Love You at All also reinvents the break-up album. Within this collection of bittersweet pop songs lies an epic dialogue about hypocrisy and repression, about trying and failing to connect with other people in a way that would build something beautiful in the face of so many broken promises. Join us all month long as we celebrate the best music, film, and television of the decade.After revealing our Top 100 Albums of the 2010s, we’re … It's an album about death as much as life, a perhaps literal reminder that we're always dancing with the Grim Reaper. It’s worth noting that the earliest track from this list of the Lucky Soul's second album expands on the pop-and-soul sound, rooted in the 1960s, of their first. The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s. Thankfully, pride of Philly Kurt Vile stepped up big time with Wakin On A Pretty Daze, a collection of chilled-out jams in which long, languid solos complement Vile’s laconic truisms about the slow embrace of adulthood.–S.H. These are notable albums, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. That they also carry inside their songs the serenity of a lake and the wildness of nature, not to mention the fanciful, even silly, demeanor of children's storybooks, makes it no less pop. Its songs detail, in memorable ways, not just a relationship falling apart, but also the recuperation, contemplation, and moving-on stages. The times change, but psychedelic rock bands always seem to stay the same. The following is a list of albums that were released during 2010.These are notable albums, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. Animal Collective finally had their moment in the sun, sun, sun with Merriweather Post Pavilion, the most acclaimed album of the year.Blissful tunes like "Summertime Clothes" could be found at the summit of this long-beloved band's career. It also features the truly galaxy-brain closing track “I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral,” which manages to incorporate the lyrical refrains from almost every track on the record into one song. "Some of the best music from artists like Janelle Monáe, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande bears the mark of Robyn's signature 'poptimism.'" Each song quickly gets to the point, whether it's to have a laugh at the whole nature of show business or to ponder how love changes over time. There was always going to be a gap between Feist the pop sensation and Feist the indie darling, but Metals let her audience know exactly where she stood in 2011. The result was a record that felt both reassuring and forward-thinking.–S.H. The following is a list of albums that were released during 2010. This created some room for other acts to filter into the cultural conscience and lay their claim as vital parts of the puzzle. The result is their most consistently playable LP, a seemingly simple collection of songs that reveals new depth with each listen.–S.H. Strange Mercy is full of baroque pop and experimental indie rock, the song that best represents both sides of that coin being the undeniably catchy and adventurous single, “Cruel.”— D.R. For Gigi, he teamed with producer Colin Stewart and a host of guest vocalists and musicians, for a spiritual tribute to the Brill Building era that benefits from the witty, sad love songs and the singers' skill at singing them. It feels like a leap forward for the band as well. Whereas Alabama Shakes’ debut Boys And Girls was a rather basic display of no-frills, rock-band competence, Sound + Color represented a quantum leap forward for the southern band, conjuring a mix of psychedelic hard-rock and paisley-patterned soul that sounded like OutKast covering Physical Graffiti. Right about when indie rock was getting a little too arty and intellectual, these screamingly earnest Canadians burst through the door like a leather-clad Kool-Aid Man to remind us about the joys of drinking, smoking, and rocking. The legendary Scottish band Orange Juice returned to music fans through a comprehensive box set. ... from emo trap to EDM ballads to indie R&B to bedroom pop. The 2010s was the era where nothing got left out. 2010 was a great year for indie-pop, with an assortment of new bands making an impression by putting a fresh new stamp on old sounds. The decade in music was wrought with boundless experimentation, from the cyclical redefinition of popular music to the increasingly convoluted labeling of genres. The melodies are deceptively sophisticated, the lyrics vivid and evocative. 1 albums that year included B.o.B. But perhaps no line cuts harder than on the track “Paralytic States” when Grace sings, “Standing naked in front of that hotel bathroom mirror / In her dysphoria’s reflection, she still saw her mother’s son.”—Z.G. Bon Iver has an album for everyone. <a href="http://darrenhanlon.bandcamp.com/album/i-will-love-you-at-all">I Will Love You At All by Darren Hanlon</a> On their third album, the Radio Dept. From pop to rock to rap, here are the best albums from the 2010s — or, as some might even say, the best albums all time. Big questions are probed within bouncy pop songs that tap into Jonathan Richman and folk-music traditions alike. (Note that some songs charted in more than one year-end list.) 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