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.

Albums Of The Decade - 85. Vampire Weekend - Contra

85. VAMPIRE WEEKEND - CONTRA 

Another band that have kind of bookended time according to how I see it  - their 2008 self-titled LP came in @ #26 on my top 100 of the last decade. This follow-up released in January 2010, was essentially the first great album to be released in this spout of years, spout of narrative, spout of time.

The vibe here was one of evolution from afrobeat into a stupendously post-modern outfit, with references to horchata, Saudi satellite dishes and a little battered radio  - we had sparse and dense production and auto-tuned vocals - which began a 'deed vs. debacle' debate. Tons of binary oppositions.

Just like the title suggests, you can't take everything at face value. I swallowed this LP with a pinch of salt and a slice of cucumber. He thinks you're a contra. He thinks that you lie. Don't call him a Contra till you've tried. He had a feeling once that you and him could tell each other everything for two months.

Albums Of The Decade - 86. Junior Boys - Big Black Coat

86. JUNIOR BOYS - BIG BLACK COAT

Seldom do I get so vogue. But this is it. Sensitive synth-pop for the lovestruck bachelor. Junior Boys bust onto the scene in 2004 with Last Exit, dropped my fave LP so far by them in 2006 -  So This Is Goodbye, DJ'd out of a clothes shop in Reykjavik in 2008, released the uber-sensitive Begone Dull Care in 2009 and followed me around constantly in car-chases travelling at 20mph.

When they came up trumps in 2016 with Big Black Coat, from the cover I'd thought they had reinvented themselves, and they did in a detective-thriler kind of way, as less of the soft-spots are present hereon in.  There's the high-octane thrill of "What You Won't Do For Love," the brilliant seven minute techy closer of title track "Big Black Coat" and the beautiful career-high ballad of "No One's Business" to contend with - as they shot for multi-layered, techniclored, synthetic, noir-tastic diversity. AKA From Ontario with love (with shouts out to Berlin too) - (Er....better just stick with Big Black Coat  - editors note)

Albums Of The Decade - 87. Beach House - 7

87. BEACH HOUSE - 7

Top of the decade brought the incredible Teen Dream and then Bloom, and with a steady outut since 2006, their seventh album arrived last year. Label it chamber-pop, dream-pop - whatever - it's all good. While the former LP's have particular tracks that froth to the fore, 7 is more of a seamless sparkle. From the opener Dark Spring and onwards, Victoria Legrand has her vocals down in the mix mostly, and the production is the real shim-shim sharee.

It's playing as I write this after I've just worked for 12 hours. I'm flat out on the sofa, and I'd previously considered taking the trash to the store to recycle to get money to buy some sour candy bottles to get an overpowering sensation, but I ate some fromage frais instead. Is my existence really getting to the point where all I have to hope for is a lie down on the sofa? Seems to have brought a new meaning to the word "Couchsurfing" or more like "couch-crashing."