The end of another decade is upon us, and it was a goddamn weird one. At least in America. Though PHW has been dormant for most of the decade, I poke my head out every once in a while to shout into the void. Here are my favorite records of the past 520 weeks:
1. WAXAHATCHEE / Out In The Storm (2017)
Not Katie Crutchfield's most critically revered album, but the one that resonated most with me. She blasted her music into high definition on this one and blew me away.
2. FRANK OCEAN / Blond (2016)
A staggering work of genius from Frank, whose subtle melodies and raw emotion gradually revealed themselves to me to the point where I can hardly go a week without listening.
This is cheating because it's a compilation compiled from a handful of releases but whatever - this is the greatest collection of buzzing, ramshackle indie-pop of the decade by a city mile.
4. TITUS ANDRONICUS / The Monitor (2010)
Though shrouded in Civil War imagery and blood & guts bravado, The Monitor is simply another rock record about a girl who's gone. Patrick Stickles makes us rally around his monumental gloom; shout along with his despondency. After 10,000 years, it's still us against them.
5. KENDRICK LAMAR / To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
Kendrick Lamar tapped into the heart of a tumultuous American decade more vividly than any other artist, and nowhere is his presence more vital than this magnum opus. As if Bringing It All Back Home and It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back got together and birthed a savior.
6. DESTROYER / Kaputt (2011)
Dan Bejar's sound + vision was never greater these past 10 years than on Kaputt - an unstoppable album overflowing with enigmatic lyrics and an 80s sheen.
7. THE WAR ON DRUGS / A Deeper Understanding (2017)
Few mine the history of rock & roll as gorgeously or in such a forward-thinking manner as Adam Granduciel. This is his masterstroke - 10 towering songs that throw off electric sparks.
8. VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
This is a great band at the height of their powers - young enough to resonate but wiser than their first two records. I played "Step" for a few of my 8th graders once and they were floored, played "Ya Hey" for my own children when they were toddlers and it became a sing-along. This record has something for everyone, and still manages to be everything all at once.
9. PROTOMARTYR / Under Color of Official Right (2014)
Welcome to the brutal world of Protomartyr, the decade's most underrated rock band. These songs seethe, bristle, and snarl. Loud guitars and a singer who means it.
10. TIM HECKER / Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
There were countless late nights over the past 9 years where the lights went off, the headphones went on, and for 50+ transportive minutes time and space didn't exist.
11. BEACH HOUSE / Bloom (2012)
12. DEERHUNTER / Halcyon Digest (2010)
13. THE MEN / Leave Home (2011)
14. TY SEGALL BAND / Slaughterhouse (2012)
15. BEACH HOUSE / Teen Dream (2010)
16. PINEGROVE / Cardinal (2016)
17. BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS / Rot (2017)
18. BIG THIEF / Capacity (2017)
19. BON IVER / Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011)
20. YOUNG FATHERS / Cocoa Sugar (2018)
21. DEAFHEAVEN / Sunbather
22. KENDRICK LAMAR / good kid, m.A.A.d city
23. ANGEL OLSEN / My Woman
24. BON IVER / 22, A Million
25. THE NATIONAL / Trouble Will Find Me
26. SOLANGE / A Seat At the Table
27. SPOON / They Want My Soul
28. KANYE WEST / My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
29. THE MEN / Open Your Heart
30. HALLELUJAH THE HILLS / Have You Ever Done Something Evil?
31. BEYONCE / Lemonade
32. LOW / Double Negative
33. THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH / The Wild Hunt
34. SHABAZZ PALACES / Black Up
35. AMEN DUNES / Freedom
36. THE WALKMEN / Heaven
37. BIG THIEF / Two Hands
38. FRANK OCEAN / Channel Orange
39. THE WAR ON DRUGS / Lost In A Dream
40. DEAFHEAVEN / Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
41. WAXAHATCHEE / Ivy Tripp
42. DAMIEN JURADO / Maroqopa
43. FROG EYES / Paul’s Tomb; A Triumph
44. WILCO / Ode to Joy
45. RUN THE JEWELS | RTJ2
46. ANGEL OLSEN / Burn Your Fire For No Witness
47. EARL SWEATSHIRT / Some Rap Songs
48. JAPANDROIDS / Celebration Rock
49. SUFJAN STEVENS / Carrie & Lowell
50. FUTURE ISLANDS / In Evening Air
50. FUTURE ISLANDS / In Evening Air
51. FLYING LOTUS / Cosmagramma
52. RADIOHEAD / A Moon Shaped Pool
53. GIRLS / Father, Son, And Holy Ghost
54. PHOSPHORESCENT / Muchacho
55. BIG THIEF / Masterpiece
56. PURPLE MOUNTAINS / Purple Mountains
57. THE HOTELIER / Home, Like NoPlace Is There
58. THE NATIONAL / Sleep Well Beast
59. THEE OH SEES / Putrifiers II
60. MOUNT EERIE / A Crow Looked At Me
61.
62. ARCADE FIRE / The Suburbs
63. TIRZAH / Devotion
64. PROTOMARTYR / The Agent Intellect
65. WOMEN / Public Strain
66. PUSHA T / Daytona
67. THE RADIO DEPT. / Clinging to a Scheme
68. ALVVAYS / Antisocialites
69. KELLY LEE OWENS
70. EARL SWEATSHIRT /
71.
72. MOGWAI / Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
73. WILCO / Star Wars
74. SNAIL MAIL / Lush
75. BON IVER / i,i
76. KING KRULE / The OOZ
77. D'ANGELO / Black Messiah
78. ROYAL HEADACHE / Royal Headache
79. WOODS / Bend Beyond
80. FLEET FOXES / Crack-Up
81. ICEAGE / You’re Nothing
82. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM / This Is Happening
83. BEACH HOUSE / Depression Cherry
84. NO AGE / Everything In Between
85. JOANNA NEWSOM / Have One On Me
86. KENDRICK LAMAR / DAMN.
87. GROUPER / Ruins
87. GROUPER / Ruins
88. FATHER JOHN MISTY / I Love You, Honeybear
89. HAMILTON LEITHAUSER + ROSTAM / I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
90. DINOSAUR JR / Give a Glimpse Of What Yer Not
91. FKA TWIGS / Magdalene
92. WAXAHATCHEE / American Weekend
93. CAR SEAT HEADREST / Teens of Denial
94. ALISON CRUTCHFIELD / Tourist In This Town
95. BIG THIEF / UFOF
96. BEYONCE / Beyonce
97. THE HOTELIER / Goodness
98. COURTNEY BARNETT / Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit
99. JEFF TWEEDY / Warmer
100. MOSES SUMNEY / Aromanticism
100. MOSES SUMNEY / Aromanticism
BURIAL / Rival Dealer EP
IRON & WINE / Beast Epic
SPIDER BAGS / Shake My Head
SPIDER BAGS / Shake My Head
WAXAHATCHEE / Cerulean Salt
FLYING LOTUS / Until the Quiet Comes
GREAT ELK / Star Stuff
SHABAZZ PALACES / Lese Majesty
GREAT ELK / Star Stuff
SHABAZZ PALACES / Lese Majesty
SLOW COUNTRY / The Late, Great Slow Country
BOOMGATES / Double Natural
THE TOUGH SHITS / The Tough Shit
THE TOUGH SHITS / The Tough Shit
FLASHER / Constant Image
PARQUET COURTS / Sunbathing Animal
PARQUET COURTS / Sunbathing Animal
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