What you're going to read is a subjective list, my favorite music albums of this decade.

This decade had been so interesting for the music industry. The full-length physical release is becoming vintage. My consumptions of music heavily relied on Spotify, YouTube, Deezer, Soundcloud, and other digital sources. It's fascinating. The digital platform helped a lot in discovering music suited to my taste. So without further ado, here is the list (in no chronological order):

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1. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (2011)

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I've been a fan of M83 since their "Saturdays = Youth", their heavy synth sounds and powerful drum were intense, gave a maximum pleasure to ears. In "Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming", they did it again, only with a much better approach. This is their best work to date. The sounds were big and very 'cinematic'. The intro of 'Midnight City' was haunting. The arrangement of 'Reunion' was perfect! The touch of retro and modern at its best.

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2. C2C - Tetra (2012)

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These 4 DJs from Nantes, France are so cool! Seeing their live concert is one of my wishlists. C2C members were regular winners on the DMC World DJ Championships. What makes C2C distinguished from other acts, for me, it's their styles to treat each turntable as a vintage musical instrument.

In Tetra, we could hear this combination of analog and digital a lot. It so balanced, they succeeded to get the 70s sound they were after.

My favorite song in this Album was F.U.Y.A where they perform some cool descending chopping sounds. But here I will pick "Down the Road" since the video is cool and the vintage sample is pretty much describing the mood of the whole album.

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3. Tame Impala - Lonerism (2012)

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Many will say that the best Tame Impala's album of this decade should go to Currents (2015). But to me, Lonerism describes Tame Impala better as a rock band. In Lonerism, they keep the psychedelic sound from the previous album and featuring fewer guitars and more synthesizers and samples. The drummer did a great job! While the guitar effects and synths were building such a psychedelic atmosphere, the drum sounds give them a 70s feel. Nice touch!

"Be above it" as the first song is a great pick. That is how opening track should be. Giving the audience anticipation of what to expect of the album. With the whispering backing vocals keep repeating "Gotta be above it" throughout the song, and my ears can't get enough of it.

As for one song to show from this album, of course, I'll choose 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards'!

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4. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

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To be honest, I wasn't listening to Vampire Weekend before this album came out. I found they are too experimental, and I couldn't grasp the ideas of their music. But this album is different. It's so mature.

I remember when I heard 'Obvious Bicycle' for the 1st time I was like, "Hey, this is nice!". The smooth piano sound, and the choirs, it was so good! Many have said that This album also proving that Vampire Weekend was better at writing lyrics too. But I'm no lyrics guy, so I wasn't aware of any of that. Then the 2nd track 'Unbelievers', it showed that Vampire Weekend playing on more major chords tunes. I liked that.

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5. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising (2019)

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Many of my Spotify friends will easily notice this. Yeah, I listened to Weyes Blood a lot this year. Along with 'Half Waif' (I think I will put them right after this one), this is the music I hear in 2019.

My God, Natalie Mering is so beautiful! Many compared her to Karen Carpenter (which is unfair IMO, because Karen Carpenter is irreplaceable). Maybe people are just stunned by her looks and vocals (and talents), and yes, kinda reminds us of Karen Carpenter.

The 70s pop harmonics is pretty dominant on this album. I'm a sucker for such retro things, so I easily fell in love with it.

There so many tracks I love from this album. If I gotta choose one, I'd choose this one (as it showed Natalie Merning talent in directing video).

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6. Half Waif - Lavender (2018)

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I have much love for electronic pop music. Something like what Ben Gibbard did with The Postal Service. Not a heavy upbeat electronic music, but more pop with nice vocals in it. And Half Waif is giving us just that.

Nandi Rose Plunkett's voice is so great and fitted well throughout the complex systems of beats and instruments layered behind it. Nandi Rose's arrangement is so unique that I could feel her India's heritage even when the notes and tones were not hinting at any Hindustan tones at all. Probably because of her singing techniques or the vowels, it did a great job of giving such accents and nuances.

"Lavender Burning" is my most favorite track of the album. It feels sad and lonely (again, I'm not a lyrics guy), but the emotions reaching out via the music.

For one song to pick, I'll pick 'Silt', since it showed Nandy Plunkett's voices fitted well with the complex layered instruments.

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7. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (2010)

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I like Deerhunter with their bedroom and amateurish recording feels. It was so raw, vintage, and weird. In this album, they play a lot with backward loop and ambient that make their sounds wider. 'Earthquake' did great as a track opener. 'Revival' did great as a track that you don't want to end. But the best of this album would be 'Helicopter' where they delivered the ambient, the tingling guitar sounds and mixing so many-layered elements that make this song felt so satisfying.

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8. Destroyer - Kaputt (2011)

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This is the album that led me to go deeper into the '80s era. I loved retro things, but more like the 90s, 70s, 60s, or 50s songs. There was something off about the '80s. I don't know. Perhaps because of the fashion or majority of the pop songs were lame (I'm thinking about True by Spandau Ballet when typing this line).

This album by Destroyer offered something like a combination of soft rock, smooth jazz, and new romantic pop. Completed with reverbed trumpets and saxophones. It turned out great. It feels corny at 1st, but when we let the tunes flow, it went so smooth. Beautiful and weird at the same time.

I have to admit, it was this disturbing music video that made me listen to this album.

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9. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (2013)

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When the promo video for this album was released, I remember one comment for that video was: "God has return to save music!". I was laughing so hard reading that comment. I agree! 2012-2013 wasn't so great. Of course, we needed this robot duo to do some magic. And they did!

This album offered many things: funk, pop, prog, new wave, soft-rock, ballad, all in a Daft Punk way (meaning: Super Fun!). This album production feels more ambitious though. I mean look at those big names involved. And the session players they were working with. To me, this album still offers Daft Punk playfulness but escalated it into a more serious manner. The result was superb: easily one of the best albums of the decade.

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10. Arcade Fire - The Suburb (2010)

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I've been listening to 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire, one of the beautiful records of the 2000s. The Suburb was highly anticipated. This album had a classic touch in it, some kind of rock revival.

Win Butler himself said that he wanted the album to sound like "the bands that I heard when I was very young and wondered what those crazy noises were".(source)

Just like any Arcade Fire album, I think we need to hear them as a whole album, and not a single track shuffled with other albums. I don't know why but I think their albums always have this good sequence between the songs. Like a complete story (or a letter according to Win Buttler) from the suburb. IMO this album also served as a good sequel for such songs like 'No Cars Go', it carried the same energy, only with much better production and greater sounds.

( This song/music video somehow reminds me of the movie 'Boyhood' by Richard Linklater, don't ask me why :D )

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That's it, my top ten favorites music albums of the decade. I hope you enjoy this list.

Let me know if you're also creating a list like this one!