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. 

Albums of the Decade - 40. Anohni - Hopelessness (2016)

 40. ANOHNI - HOPELESSNESS (2012) 

Still up in here clearing the backlog - but Anohni - formerly of Antony and the Johnsons - made the most direct protest album of modern times, dealing with surveillance, drone warfare and climate change to name but three issues it tackles.

The stellar voice was still there - albeit over more of an electronic backdrop than that of the chamber-pop of yesteryear, but alas, the job was a good'un. It was aural nourishment to have one of the most unorthodox heavyweights land an album of such magnitude, especially with Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke at the production desk.

Anohni, sweet Anohni, where shallst they goeth next? 

Albums of the Decade - 41. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012)

41. CLOUD NOTHINGS - ATTACK ON MEMORY (2012)

"I THOUGHT I WOULD BE MORE THAN THIIIIIIIIIIS!" screams Dylan Baldi on Wasted Days" - a 9 minute epic of feeling deep inside ones own filth - an existential nightmare - a putrid stain on humanity. This is the standout track from one of the bands of the decade - a screechy, kick-up-the-jams punk band with great pop hooks.

"Fall In" - the track that follows it - has a drive that propels it past ska- but makes me wanna do just that - immerse myself in the crash, rattle and roll. This is a proper band that takes influences like Smashing Pumpkins and Thin Lizzy and straps on dynamite, sherbert and apple cider vinegar to explode something that is all at once bitter, dangerous but frothy sweet.

Snotty punk. Dylan Baldi is not a brat. He is just mis-under-fucking-stood, like a lot of us. I never used to like shouty-shout until I witnessed this - now I'm fully on board - I almost went to Berlin a couple of years ago, solely to see them, but instead kicked the can in my dead-end job, only to grow more frustrated, only to play Cloud Nothing more, only to increase their value and effect with no mercy to spare.

Albums of the Decade - 42. Four Tet - Morning / Evening (2015)

42. FOUR TET - MORNING / EVENING (2015) 

Unbelievable E.P. but apparently it's an album. This artist could well and truly have made the album of the decade with one of his other efforts. Let's focus on this one for now - all will be revealed soon.

Morning pays tribute to the artists Indian heritage - with a stunning vocal that comes in over a clementinian beat and lasts 20 minutes. I used to play this track when I DJ'd at Bobwundaye each Thursday in Taipei - it really allowed me to speak to other people and get away from the decks.

Evening wavers organically, recalling Animal Collective, before giving some more mesmerising Indian opera vocals. Consequently, beats come in freeflow like evening rain. Consequently, moreover, furthermore, in essence, on the whole, in a nutball.

Albums of the Decade - 43. D'Angelo - Black Messiah (2014)

43. D'ANGELO - BLACK MESSIAH (2014)

Art. Art. Art. Art. Art.

Was listening to this today and felt svelte. This is smooth rhythm & blues sans thuglife. The song "Back to the Future" will feature on my compilation of the decade that I am soon to make.  A track about going back to how you once were - I've been trying to do that for 10 years now and ironically this list has brought me right back to it.

Maybe my decade best songs list will be a mix, maybe a desert island disk. Maybe a suffusion or deconstruction of all three courses traditionally served over a set meal and then wolfed down like an alligator. Not sure.

One thing I am sure about is how much this artist means to me. I used to borrow CD's from the local library and burn them to Minidisc (if anyone remembers that !?!) when I was 17. In 2000 they had got in Voodoo - at the turn of the decade! Just in time for tastemaking! It was a brand new album among a load of scratchy ones like Moon Safari and OK Computer. I listened and got hooked. Then fourteen years later, cuntwolf follows it up and we're covered in glory again!

Art. Art. Art. Art. Art.

Albums of the Decade - 44. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of The City (2013)

44.VAMPIRE WEEKEND - MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY (2013)

Christmas is inspiring me to bring this album to the fore. Back in 2013, when I worked at a kindergarten, I taught K1, the youngest group at the school. We had to put on a winter performance in an ampitheater to the parents and I went for The Snowman, a timeless animation, but in mine I featured a silly penguin so the kids could do a stupid dance.
And from thereonin, in a posh university came a day with a flaming hangover - but my Canadian boss played Modern Vampires Of The City between the intervals and before the opener, as the parents were arriving - and, suddenly, christmas hit. The timelessness of this album is just timeless. It's the bands third album and certainly hitting "maturity" - there's less gimmicks, about 7 life-affirming tracks - it would be the best album of all time if it had 12/12 - those 7 are that good - but for me this is all about the memory of that kindergarten show we pulled off like whoa.

Albums of the Decade - 45. Cornershop - Cornershop & the Double 'O' Groove Of (2011)

45. CORNERSHOP - CORNERSHOP & THE DOUBLE 'O' GROOVE OF (2011) 

Cornershop gave a great Punjabi album here. It's the best band name in history maybe. Famous for Brimful of Asha in the nineties, I've tried to enthuse to so many people about the validity of the statement that they're one of the best British bands of their generation, but I usually get curried for it.

There is an inherent funk to this LP that has to be span to be experienced. The intensity and then looseness and sheer smorgasbord of colour on this teapot effort sends Darjeeling down my spine. I used to chuck a couple of these cuts on, when DJ'ing in Taipei and it always raised an eyebrow, while it shimmied my hips. I wanted to sway with the yoga teacher after the picnic we'd had - have a red wine and then go back to mine. Of course not gonna bed her to this music or she would've curried me for it.