Albums of the Decade - 33. James Blake - Overgrown (2013)

 33. JAMES BLAKE - OVERGROWN (2013) 

This was a coming-of-age album for the artist, who collaborated with RZA of Wu Tang, on one of the tracks of the decade -  "Take A Fall For Me" - about unrequited love, that packs the biggest punch, as does "Digital Lion" - another laser shredding track that is out of this macrocosm, an outlier of suspense.

This sophomore album from James Blake - I saw it on tour when he came to Taipei - was a mix of angular trajectories, piercing shreds and harsh realities. To absorb it up at Legacy in Huashan Arts Park feels like a yesterday ago and now I got the new me.

Still, though I got the new me, the old me was still grooving and getting pumped full of electrolytes when I saw this live. Holy ghost. Fucking pup.

Albums of the Decade - 34. My Bloody Valentine - MBV (2013)

 34. MY BLOODY VALENTINE - MBV (2013) 

Ear shredding

Base of a shoegaze

Of a cavity

What goes up

Grinder can

Pump me full of smoke

Ending up on your back laying sideways

Ending on your own - lieing - cryways

You popped it of your own accord

To fathom or try and cobble some kind of target together

But that ain't your reckoning

At least not for another year

Albums of the Decade - 35. Kind Midas Sound - Solitude (2019)

 35. KING MIDAS SOUND - SOLITUDE (2019)

This would've been perfect for the pandemia of 2020, but nevertheless, contrarily on the other hand -  and anyone who's been through a break-up will feel the bare-bones poetry spoken over spare, instrumental soundscapes and dub.

This album was an ogre; a brutal sense of discordance and disassociaton - the feeling when you're flummoxed when they're gone, when you can't eat, but you force-feed yourself and you bring it up anyway; the details are raw and the truth of falling out of love is as valid as the on-boarding process - a utensil in it's own right.

Listening to Solitude is best done in exactly this context; I wouldn't bang this on at a dinner party - unless you are a fan of an atmosphere of grizzle come swiftly and I know you're not a big fan of that as you're speading posh lard on your rye bread, doing vodkas and eyeing up caviar.

Albums of the Decade - 36. Amen Dunes - Love (2014)

 36. AMEN DUNES - LOVE (2014) 

Burned some candles last night after work, turned off the main lights and just slumped out to "Lonely Richard" - one of this band's best tracks - Damon McMahon is one of the most unique (warbling but resolute) voices in contemporary folk music.

Popped open a pack of blueberries just after finishing a short 4km jog and quickly getting in at home to wash the dishes. Amen Dunes' 2018 follow-up to this Freedom - was soundtracking my workout and that LP also gives an artistic stride to the beginning of the day.

Just pressed a coffee and the lyrics of "Splits are Parted:" 

"Moved to free house with violent people

Roam the streets at night
Born to love your jagged sound
Sing a decent dime
Oh, I could love you

Oh, I could make it easy"

So, all in all - stunning with candles, berries and coffee - any tme of day. Roger that.

Albums of the Decade - 37. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (2018)

 37. YOUNG FATHERS - COCOA SUGAR (2018) 

The grooves behind this thing are utterly shuffletonic and razorwired. It's a bizzare suffusation of TV on the Radio and Cypress Hill, mixed with a glass of tropicana. When this actually came out, I'd just moved to Vilnius, Lithuania to start a new life and would often blast it on, on bar speakers galore - it always went down with mixed results as it seemed like noone really knew what it was, or was ready for it. After all, I wouldn't have guessed Edinburgh for the origin - but life is indeed strange.

If this kinda hybridized funk, soul, punk-hop had been released a decade back, it would have been met with absolute mega-critic praise, but as it stands - Young Fathers remain a below the radar, tucked-under-the-bonnet kind of band which suits them quite nicely, but it still feels like they're just one album away from absolutely clearing up an end-of year Metacritic list if they just got the praise across the board.

Albums of the Decade - 38. Caribou - Our Love (2014)

 38. CARIBOU - OUR LOVE (2014) 

What's not to love about Dan Snaith, who has had a glittering career, who started out making "folktronica," who dazzles in kaleidoscopic tropes. who hushes-fizzes then grooves then syncopates? Who had five stunning albums before this? Who keeps getting better and better no matter? Caribou.

As I played DJ sets in Taipei for a few years in the mid-crunch of this decade, some of the tracks from this tapestry went down an absolute treat, gems like 'Can't Do Without You," "Your Love Will Set You Free" and "Julia Brightly" flowed into four hour showcases like olive oil flowing into my roast onion and pepper soup. Sometimes with butter.

In a similar way tthat Daft Punk absolutely revoluted last decade with "Discovery" - here Caribou autumnalized a good head of six years with the delicious Our Love - an ode to one of the gooeyest, yet sweetest feelings known to man - and the tunes never sound sickly. Honestly, if you haven't, get this Spotified quickly.

Albums of the Decade - 39. Sun Kil Moon - Amongst The Leaves (2012)

 39. SUN KIL MOON - AMONGST THE LEAVES (2012)

Perfect time to post this, as autumn flows and dark nights go noir. Leaves are everywhere and no local municipality can sweep them away.

This singer-songwriter was an absolute treasure find last decade, with this essentially a double album full of cultivated wonders that this listener can really mellowly harvest.

Amongst the Leaves is a lot more understated than the much more commended follow-up Benji - this one floated my boat a bit more due to its length and breadth - it is a double disc, if I can use that term any more.

Moaning about touring the UK, through typical Yankee eyes, gushing over street-cats and lambasting poor journalism - this album has it all for a top chestnut of observational folk music.