This list represents the best discographies or bodies of work we heard in the past decade. A best albums list will follow. We chose to put artists on one or the other list, so don’t freak out that some of the top artists of the decade aren’t here.
Howie highlighted 19 artists with impeccable bodies of work; Cory went in-depth on his top three.
When I (Howie) sat down to write a few sentences about these artists, I struggled. Many of their records have already been on my best-of-year lists. I thought instead about what it means to create a strong series of works.
If you’re curious about any of these artists, go to your favorite streaming service (Spotify’s free tier is a decent option) and find their top tracks; it’s not like you can go wrong.
If I could earn a spot on a list like this, or a best albums list, I’d choose this one. These are the albums I reach for more often than not. These are the artists I trust to get me through an entire day. Brilliance is undoubtedly brilliant, but when you combine it with craft, and evolution, and call-and-response, you get something more.
These artists are doing what I aspire to do.
Aesop Rock, “Skelethon” (2012) / “The Impossible Kid” (2016) 
Alessandro Cortini, “Forse 1” (2013) / “Forse 2” (2013) / “Sonno” (2014) / “Forse 3” (2015) / “Risveglio” (2015) / “SPIE” (2016) / “Avanti” (2017) / “Volume Massimo” (2019) 
Baroness, “Yellow & Green” (2012) / “Purple” (2015) / “Gold & Grey” (2019) 
Beyonce, “4” (2011) / “Beyonce” (2013) / “Lemonade” (2016) 
Cosmic Ground, “II” (2015) / “III” (2016) / “The Watcher” (2016) / “Live” (2017) / “IV” (2018) / “Relics vol. 1” (2018) / “Relics vol. 2” (2018) / “Relics vol. 3” (2018) 
Craig Finn, “Clear Heart Full Eyes” (2012) / “Faith In The Future” (2015) / “We All Want The Same Things” (2017) / “I Need A New War” (2019) 
Dessa, “A Badly Broken Code” (2010) / “Castor The Twin” (2011) / “Parts of Speech” (2013) / “Chime” (2018) 
Doomtree, “No Kings” (2011) / “All Hands” (2015) 
Elder, “Dead Roots Stirring” (2011) / “Spires Burn / Release” (2012) / “Lore” (2015) / “Reflections of a Floating World” (2017) 
High On Fire, “Snakes For The Divine” (2010) / “De Vermis Mysteriis” (2012) / “Luminiferous” (2015) / “Electric Messiah” (2018) 
Janelle Monae, “The ArchAndroid” (2010) / “The Electric Lady” (2013) / “Dirty Computer” (2018) 
Jessie Ware, “Devotion” (2013) / “Tough Love” (2014) / “Glasshouse” (2017) 
Ka, “Grief Pedigree” (2012) / “The Night’s Gambit” (2013) / “Days With Dr. Yen Lo” (2015) / “Honor Killed The Samurai” (2016) / “Orpheus vs. the Sirens” (2018) 
Radiohead, “The King Of Limbs” (2011) / “A Moon Shaped Pool” (2016) / “NOTOK” (2017) 
St. Vincent, “Strange Mercy” (2011), “Love This Giant” (with David Byrne” (2012), “St. Vincent” (2014), “Masseduction” (2017) 
Tame Impala, “Innerspeaker” (2010) / “Lonerism” (2012) / “Currents” (2015) 
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Volume 1” (2010) / “Blood Lust” (2012) / “Mind Control” (2013) / “The Night Creeper” (2015) / “Wasteland” (2018) 
Wye Oak, “Civilian” (2011) / “Shriek” (2014) / “Tween” (2016) / “The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs” (2018) 
Yob, “Atma” (2011) / “Clearing The Path To Ascend” (2014) / “Our Raw Heart” (2018) 
Honorable mention:
Aleph Null
Big K.R.I.T.
Goya
In Solitude
J Mascis
LCD Soundsystem
Mastodon
The New Pornographers
P.O.S.
Spoon
Torche
Kacey Musgraves – With the advent of streaming, I rarely listen to the radio. It only happens when I’m stuck in a musical rut and need to shake things up.
That’s what happened for me during a morning commute in 2013, when I randomly tuned the FM dial to the local country station just in time to hear the beginning of “Merry Go Round,” Kacey’s single from debut “Same Trailer, Different Park.”
I remember being shocked that something this good was on the radio, and on the pop-country station to (cowboy) boot! With each passing lyric and transition, I kept getting nervous that the other boot would drop, and it would go into a shitty modern faux-nky-tonk bridge… but it never happened, and I was bowled over. I was also late to work, because I had to listen to the full song in my car first.
Once I got to my desk, I Googled the lyrics to find the name of the song, and I listened again immediately. I loved it even more, and gave her whole album a shot, and my heavens, what an absolute gem of a pop-country record. And I don’t mean pop music dressed up like country; I mean actual country music possessing actual choruses a la Patsy Cline or Willie Nelson or whomever else you want to name to sound hip.
Since that time, she’s just gotten better. She’s also been fully accepted and lauded by every type of music fan, a rare feat. “Golden Hour” turned her into Pitchfork’s Twangy Pet AND won her the Grammy for Album of the Year.
This proves how much Pitchfork has changed, but more to the point, it illustrates just how universal Kacey’s music is. She’s managed to speak to every soul in the world! Except for Howie because he does not feel, and because he has a complicated history with chaps and lassos.
Run The Jewels – Everything about this group is an anomaly, and everything about their success makes perfect sense.
I’d heard them referenced plenty of times without paying much attention, as much of the new (even critically praised) hip-hop in 2013 didn’t do it for me. How many times did Pitchfork trick me into listening to Lil’ Wayne before they became The Boy Who Cried “Dope”?
It was actually Howie that finally convinced me. He was visiting and said “Look up the video for ‘Run the Jewels’ (song) right now.” We did, and two things happened. One, I fell in love. Two, I realize that these weren’t new rappers at all. They were two middle-aged rappers with a lot of cred but nothing more than a cult following to that point. I would have said that individually, each had already peaked. But something about them trading verses over El-P’s production is lightening in a bottle.
Seven years and three monstrously powerful albums later (with a fourth dropping any day now), RTJ has established themselves as perhaps the most important “new” hip-hop duo so far this century. It’s heartening to know that such previously underground mainstays still have something new and exciting to say, AND that people were able to get on-board, zero hesitations, with two middle-aged regular-looking MCs who bear zero resemblance to anyone else on the charts. It makes no sense and perfect sense at once.
Surfer Blood – I love pop songwriting, an art that’s a lot more discerning than it gets credit for. You have to do something highly interesting in about three minutes, without overstaying your welcome, being TOO weird, or sounding trite. Really, it’s almost impossible to do with any regularity.
That’s why Surfer Blood is, no-question, my band of the decade. Album after album, they put out grunge-surf rock that recalls weirder and less commercial influences while exhibiting the same level of pop melody and sensibility that made Foo Fighters and Weezer famous. There’s something about power-chords, reverb, vulnerable lyrics, and driving rhythm sections that gets me every time, and no other band has done it better.
They’ve also defied some serious challenges, including original guitarist Thomas Fekete’s untimely death in 2016 from cancer. Few bands survive something like that; of the ones that soldier on, most of them sound watered-down, like they’re going through the motions. Surfer Blood went on to put out one of the more experimental and profound albums of their career with 2017’s “Snowdonia.”
I have no idea what the future holds for Surfer Blood. What I do know is that JP Pitts’ songwriting hasn’t faltered yet, and I feel only joy when I hear their music. For my money, no other band has given us this many records at this level of quality this consistently in recent memory.