Top Five Albums of the Past Decade (2003-2013)

I am of the opinion that most music today sucks. It lacks the depth, meaning, effort and even talent that comprised music as little as twenty or thirty years ago. So understand that making this list was not easy and understand the merit that I find in these albums is based largely on the merit that I find in "old" music. That said:

5.) WOLF- Tyler, The Creator

          By seeing this as the first entry on the list, you may think that I am an ignorant cretin, like many of the young white males who like this album. You may think that because I've chosen a quasi- mainstream album (there are more to come) that I’m not a cultured music enthusiast. If you think that, then we have a problem. The stigma that we have that all mainstream or popular music is bad, unrefined or unoriginal is killing music. Sure, music like this is popular among cretins, and like I said before, I think most new music, mainstream or not, is abominable.

         But, we must still give it a chance. This album may come across as unrefined at times, and there’s no doubt that it’s rude and offensive (things that you could hear from any Passion Pit fan or your mother.) Honestly though, listen, and you may just see past that. There is real talent here. The music, which at times transcends the label “beats” is original, creative, and offers hope that rap may be taken in a new direction from where it has long been stagnant. 

4.) X&Y- Coldplay

                You can’t deny it. You’ve cried like a little baby at least once to Fix You. “Whoa! Critical fallacy, Graham! One song doesn’t make the whole album good.” You’re right! You’ve just never really listened to the other songs. While on a few of the less bearable tracks, all you can think about is Chris Martin’s infamous “greatest band in the world” comments (What If, Twisted Logic), on some other tracks, the comments become bearable, on other tracks, you forgive him for it, and on most of them, the complex melodies of the music and subtle sensitivities in his voice force you to agree with him.

               

                That is, of course, until the song ends. At that point, you’re left strangely unimpressed, except for Fix You, which makes up for a lot where other songs last in this category. After many listens, I think I’ve pinpointed the problem. The album is too mellow at times. To be good, an album must function as a work of art altogether, not by just by the quality of the individual songs. X&Y doesn’t provide quite enough to contrast and give special value to its mellow parts. The album however, has mastered the art of being mellow.

3.) There's No Leaving Now- The Tallest Man on Earth

               Kristian Mattson is only 30, and this is his third sixth release (counting EP’s.) By listening to his albums in sequential order one notices how rapidly his voice, his songwriting ability, and most of all his treatment of self have evolved one comes to understand the full potential of this man. Today, album that has this much sincerity is considered the artist’s masterpiece, and it’s almost as if everyone, including the artist themselves sense this and never endeavors to make anything better. This is not the case here- not by a long shot. There are many, many good things to come from him and you can hear that he knows that in his voice. He has confidence where he had insecurity. His music is now more full- bodied, while keeping every bit of that organic quality that is so attractive. Yet, this album is decidedly a ”grower” and not a “show-er.” In light of all this, it’s almost necessary to have listened to his prior work to "get" this one.

2.) War Elephant- Deer Tick

                John McCauley III has way too much in common with Bob Dylan for you not to have heard of him, even if one of the principle similarities is that you have to get used to their voices before you can appreciate them. Beyond that, that trait is reconciled by both men in the same way- through intense creativity and dangerous individuality. While McCauley is never going to lead a cultural revolution, he expresses defiance in other ways. For one, like Dylan, he exercises total control of his music in this album. For starters, he wrote, recorded (every instrument) and produced the entire record by himself at the age of 21.

                
                Do not listen to what any critic tells you about this album. Anyone who would criticize this album for being too sophomoric has missed the point entirely. That would be like criticizing the Sex Pistols for their lack of technical ability. McCauley has been to dark, dark places and at rare times, some very happy ones, all by the ripe age of 21 and he wants to tell you all about it as quickly as he can. There is beauty in that and it gives this album has something that we so desperately need nowadays: soul.

1.) Modern Vampires of the City- Vampire Weekend

                Take a few minutes to get all of the anti- hipster hate out of your system before you read this. You good now? Great. Let me start off by saying that the worst type of artist is one who tries to sound tortured; the best is one who simply creates, and as it just so happens, is tortured. The whole album is Ezra Koeing’s reflections on faith. What makes them so poignant, and one of the reasons that he is so tortured by his thoughts is that he realizes the gravity of his faith choice (or lack thereof). But most importantly, he is not so fanatical to be a forgone Jew and not so arrogant as to be a forgone atheist. It gives his arguments for both sides legitimacy and it gives his music soul. Everything comes from his soul here- not traditional soul (although it evokes the same emotions) rather, Koeing has taken all that is right and justifiable from the gaudy mess that is modern music, and gives it something to work for: meaning. It is no ordinary man that can handle that task. It takes a genius.