Albums of the Decade - 78. Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool

78. WOLF ALICE - MY LOVE IS COOL

Sometimes there's a time and place for an LP. This was the summer of 2015. I had a trip to a surfers beach in Taiwan and drank a lot, a lot of whiskey and played this in the boiling, boiling heat, before trying to fight my friend in the station on the way back.

Oh
Jump that 43
Are you wild like me
Raised by wolves and other beasts
I tell you all the time
I'm not mad
You tell me all the time
I got plans

Upon first listen, I felt like this was a precocious debut, but it's like a well sugared meal; a pinch of castor brings out all the other ingredients a treat. It's like twelve different bands have been put on a mixtape - much messier, but more fun than their refined follow-up, which actually took more plaudits.

The crowning moment has to be on "Silk" which provided the apex to Trainspotting 2, the excellent follow-up to the first Glaswegian saga. The track suits Mark Renton more than anything else in musical history, as he battles to protect himself constantly.

Just looking for a protector
God never reached out in time
There's love, there is a savior
But that ain't no love of mine

My Love it kills me slowly
Slowly I could die
And when she sleeps she hears the blues
Sees shades of black and white

Albums of the Decade - 79. Moon Duo - Mazes

79. MOON DUO - MAZES

Tonight is Moon Duo night, continuing the cosmos theme after my last Bowie post. Moon Duo are one of the most underrated bands of the last decade - producing psychedelic space-rock in the same vein as Spacemen 3 or My Bloody Valentine. Prolificacy is the key, as they have put out seven albums in eight years.

I have picked their debut album from 2011 as their go-to though, as it sets the tone for their irresistable pulse. Scuzzy as a fuzz. Less fussy than your cuz. Dress-uppy and plus plus plus. Scrappy and the band. Bandwidth and truck temptation. Drive and speed-up a degree. Go up the gears and feel like you just turned twenty-three. <3 p="">

Albums of the Decade - 80. David Bowie - Black Star

80. DAVID BOWIE - BLACK STAR

The cultural significance of this one propaply deserves to place this one higher up the listathon. I was sitting in Lee's Sandwiches in Taipei talking about his new LP on the day it came out and the fact that he was in bad condition, and then hey two days later he gone :(

It has to be one of the biggest exits in art history, never mind things like Nevermind, the sheer proximity of hello new record and goodbye world made me twitch and talk. I'll leave this one at that. No more to say. He's a black star.

Albums of the decade - 81. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse

81. BILL CALLAHAN - APOCALYPSE 

"Yeah it's all coming back to me now
My apocalypse, my apocalypse
The curtain rose and burned in the morning sun"

...so it goes on "One Fine Morning" - the sumptuous, but harrowing closer of this majestic album from 2011. I actually caught him live in a church in Brighton in 2008 and it was one of the most hushed, graceful, well-executed concerts a young man could wish for.

Apocalypse, in my opinion, is this singer-songwriters best work. It might not get his best score on Metacritic or whatever, but for the most part, it's his most impactful and demonstrating the broadest range. The urgent march of "America," the sputtering-smoothness of "Baby's Breath" and the lyrical overlaps of "Riding For The Feeling" - c'est aperetive.

The perfect follow-up to 2009's Sometimes I  Wish We Were an Eagle, which was hella hush-hush - he's been slowly building up quite a name as a lo-fi, organic folk hero, separate to his output as Smog - a whopping 13 albums! - and now 6 under this name - we can add hashcakes of #prolific #consistent #worldly #instabill #callahan4eva #americasnexttopcrooner

Albums of the Decade - 82. The National - High Violet

82. THE NATIONAL - HIGH VIOLET 

Controversial winners of the list from the last decade with Boxer, ahead of Kid A, though that's debatable now, The National brought this record out at the top of the decade. It also, like Boxer, came at a really critical part of my life, as I upped sticks and went to study an intensive teacher-training course in Budapest for a month, in May 2010.

Songs like "Terrible Love," "Sorrow" and "England" were massively flooding me with affectation, as I was walking the streets of the brand new Central European city with coffees, beers and palinkas. Studying and not studying. Falling in and out of love. Coming to terms with my mid-twenties and feeling lost and found.

As one decade ends and another is set to begin, this band remain a special entity. They have evolved into a spellbinding institution, one that explores, delves deeper and enthralls. A full-bodied evolution after Boxer; this band are the crème de la creme. Stirred, not shaken plz.

Albums of the Decade - 83. Bullion - You Drive Me To Plastic

83. BULLION - YOU DRIVE ME TO PLASTIC  

Jamming in at just over 20 minutes, this is technicallly an EP, but there's about two albums worth of ideas in this superlative mixtape from 2011. Starting off with a space shuttle oddyssey type jam and then getting as funky as a chicken with the sublime "Magic Was Ruler" at just three minutes in - it recalls my favorite club night ever - Beats In Abundance,at which once I cycled on a bike and powered an amp.:- https://www.beatsinabundance.com/.

Funk, soul, samples and electronica forge the ticket here, recalling The Avalanches, Hudson Mohawk and J Dilla. I am typing this in one spurt, as I get lost in the jam before heading out for a beer degustation. I would rather step out the door right now than stay home and think about Trump cancelling his meeting with The Taliban. Maybe if I hash-stamp his name, I will get more likes, either that or I buy some.

Albums of the decade - 84. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer

84. JANELLE MONAE - DIRTY COMPUTER 

Finally woke up to her. This album begins like Prince and kicks up the jams like something you'd simply wanna wake up to. My door is always open to any artist - for example I only very recently realized that I like a few Limp Bizkit Songs.

Janelle Monae is nothing like Nu Metal however, instead she brings the funk and quality R & B to what could be her most poppy album. I am typing this from my phone as this list is a big commitment and I'm catching what could be the last night of summer. I didn't take my laptop out, instead I had 2 chicken and mushroom cutlets / kievs - whichever way you wanna spin it and just headed out after work.

Dirty Computer also has an accompanying film with it, which is brilliant in terms of costume and set design.  Recently cleaned the house to the new Lana Del Rey album. Might be getting more cheesy, but it's a nice antitdote to Kanye West - who, sorry for the spoilers - won't feature on this list. However, some hip-hop will and here's one of the best sugary caramel albums of the decade.