A Tribe Called Quest, “We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service” (2016) – I worried about this one being way too sentimental or self-aware; a group resting on their laurels of being the best (by FAR) socially conscious jazz-rap bunch of all time. I shouldn’t have worried; this album bangs whether you’ve just heard of ATCQ or waited 18 years to hear it. -C 
Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs” (2010) – Still the template for festival-sized indie pop a decade on, and the record Arcade Fire’s career arc hinges on. And still a great listen. Shoo-in for lists like this. -h 
Autolux, “Pussy’s Dead” (2016) – Next-level musicianship – I’m talking Radiohead, here – that transcends guitarist/bassist/drummer while keeping grounded and maintaining some kind of thread throughout. A follow-up would be incredible. -h 
Bon Iver, “Bon Iver” (2011) – Justin Vernon took a zag into yacht rock and never really looked back to the cabin his debut was recorded in (though he continues to zig, in smaller doses). -h 
Brittany Howard, “Jaime” (2019) – Howard stands on the shoulders of others, from Sly Stone and Prince to her sister in whose memory the album is named, and carries them forward into her own vision of soul, and truth, and living in 2019. Immediate classic, and I can’t wait to hear what she does next. -h 
Carly Rae Jepsen, “E mo tion” (2015) – I’m always searching for pop perfection, and with this album, I found it. Synths, ’80s funk guitar, big beats, even bigger melodies. Look down at your person while listening and you will discover that you are dancing. -C 
D’Angelo, “Black Messiah” (2014) – Have you listened to this album lately? It remains as deep, mysterious, and vital as ever. Arguably the best album of the decade. -h 
Dark Satellites, “Be Still” (2016) – Even after accounting for my bias, Drew’s transformation this decade from Rent Money Big and Mars Lights riff-writer and noise-shredder to a dude who created songs like “Flyover” and “Noflakes” from bottom to top is a phenomenal artistic achievement. “Be Still” is his best to date (emphasis on “to date”). -h 
Derek Jennings, “Bummertown EP” (2014) – I can’t believe this guy. This is the kind of folk record you listen to and feel affirmed, inspired, heartbroken, in love… the whole thing. All the while, you can’t believe these timelessly perfect songs haven’t been around for 50 years; it feels like they’ve always been with you, just waiting to be sung aloud. -C 
Ex Hex, “Rips” (2014) – My favorite power pop record. Maybe ever. Absolutely unbeatable for any mood, any surroundings, and any company. “Rips” is the understatement of the 2010s. -h 
Fleet Foxes, “Helplessness Blues” (2011) – If you thought their self-titled was a rich tapestry of profound wisdom, harmonies, and stories told in ancient sounds, “Helplessness Blues” will kindly put you into space. -C 
HAIM, “Days are Gone” (2013) – Time to face facts: An exceptionally talented power-trio of Jewish sisters from LA gave us the ballsiest (and most fun) rock and roll record of the decade.They filled Laurel Canyon with gated reverb and made a glorious noise. -C 
Julianna Barwick, “Nepenthe” (2013) – About the catchiest ambient music you’ll ever hear, nothing sounds quite like Julianna Barwick’s layers of looped vocals, strings, and reverb. If a dream was a friend who was an autumn afternoon turned into a sculpture, that might be this record. -h 
Kanye West & Jay-Z, “Watch The Throne” (2011) – As a complete work, this record is more rewarding than the bulk of Kanye’s solo discography from the last decade. Kanye’s production is on point as always, but something about Jay-Z’s presence makes him a better (and much more likable) MC. Plus, it introduced the world to Frank Ocean and quoted Blades of Glory. -C 
Kendrick Lamar, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) – Innovative, challenging, poetic, abrasive, intoxicating, haunting, demanding. This is the funkiest weirdest rap album of the decade and it’ll be years before anyone else catches up. -C 
Kurt Vile, “B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down…” (2015) – The spacey fever-dream of a down-home folk singer related through ghost-stories, waking dreams, and reverb. And so catchy! -C 
Major Games, “Major Games” (2015) – Loud, weird, melodic, and like nothing else; Major Games hits every vulnerability I have at once. Prospects of more music from the band appear dim, but there will always be this flawless LP. -h 
Mitski, “Be the Cowboy” (2018) – A pop record that effortlessly and fluidly encompasses disco, folk, torch-singing, and punk through songs you’ll have in your head for roughly 30 years. Even putting the brilliant production choices aside, the songwriting here is next-level; no one does it like Mitski. -C 
Müscle Wörship, “Müscle Wörship LP” (2013) – Some kind of sideways post-punk with incredible Jazzmaster vibrato abuse, I played this a bazillion times over the past six years and it never got stale. -h 
The National, “High Violet” (2010) – Equal to if not the band’s best ever, though it would have been heresy to say it at the time of its release following “Boxer” and “Alligator.” I’m a whole-album guy, but “Bloodbuzz Ohio” gets me going no matter what context I hear it in. -h 
Nine Inch Nails, “Hesitation Marks” (2013) – I keep telling people NIN is an Upside Down version of a soul band, and I feel like no one’s listening. This, Reznor & Co.’s most purely enjoyable record, remains vastly underrated. -h 
Pallbearer, “Sorrow and Extinction” (2012) – Pallbearer got me through a terrible year; these five eternal slabs of down-tuned existential despair let me feel like I wasn’t alone. Things are better, and “Sorrow and Extinction” remains just as great as always. -h 
Phases, “For Life” (2015) – A super-group that’s actually super! Alexander Greenwald from Phantom Planet, Z Berg from The Like, Jason Boesel from Rilo Kiley, and Michael Runion from… Buena High School in Ventura. Big ’80s pitch-shifting synth-pop with songs about dumb ex-boyfriends, convertibles, and havin’ fuuuuuuuuun! -C 
Quilt, “Plaza” (2016) – This is a classic bedroom-pop record that could have come from just about any decade. Like their name implies, their sound is warm and comforting, like your super smart friend from school who wears oversized sweaters and makes collages. Hearing it always makes me think, “Dang it, I need to start a band like this!” -C 
Real Estate, “Days” (2011) – A bunch of introspective sensi-jams bundled together, dipped in a dreamy batter, and fried whole in reverb-coil oil. Delicious. If you need to gaze out an airplane window and wonder where you’re going to land, this is your soundtrack. -C 
Robyn, “Body Talk” (2010) – Club banger after club banger, with twists of whip-smarts and a welcoming kind of gender and sexual openness; Robyn’s heart is on her sleeve, and she’s ready to grind you into the dirt with her heel at the same time, and you’re here for all of it. Undefeatable. -h 
The Roots, “How I Got Over” (2010) – Does anyone else love this record? It seems to exist in a forgotten interlude between their late-aughts barn burners and the more recent experimental stuff. It’s grown-as-hell rap and I think it slays (maybe because I’m grown as hell). -h 
Sheer Mag, “Compilation (I, II, & III)” (2017) – Sounding like a bunch of punks beating up Thin Lizzy in a dirty alley, Sheer Mag’s initial EPs captured lightning in a bottle of Schlitz and never let go. Beneath the scuzz, these are brilliant musicians doing brilliant work, but don’t tell them we noticed. -h 
Susanne Sundfør, “Ten Love Songs” (2015) – If you’re feeling TOO wistful when you hear this, you will likely drive into the country twilight while sighing heavily with remembering. Her voice soars and makes your heart ache. Plus, there are harps and weird Scandinavian pronunciations. -C 
TV On The Radio, “Nine Types Of Light” (2011) – I loved this record hard for several years, and while I don’t play it as often any more it still surprises me with its emotional warmth when I do. Who would have thought Brooklyn’s Radiohead had a song like “Killer Crane” in them, except I guess it makes all the sense in the world. -h 
Vampire Weekend, “Contra” (2010) – From the opening “In December, drinking horchata…” to the final “I think ur a Contra…” this album is flawlessly what it means to be, down to every polo button and Rostam overdub. -h 
Vhol, “Vhol” (2013) – What if some friends tossed of a prog-thrash record? Sounds terrible. But what if their day jobs were in Yob and Hammers of Misfortune?!? Sounds like one of the best metal records of the decade. The effortless beginner’s-mind, fuck-it-do-whatever vibe is key; yeah, it’s harsh at points, but it’s never not *fun*. -h 
The War On Drugs, “Lost In The Dream” (2014) – On paper, revisiting the post-“Born In The U.S.A.” heartland-rock-plus-synths sound doesn’t seem like a formula for emotional weight and resonance, but Adam Granduciel and his band transcend anything specific I can say about this music and make a whole that’s much greater than the sum of its references. -h 
Wavves, “Afraid of Heights” (2013) – Punk rock for the modern age. These songs are self-involved, self-loathing, self-explanatory, and they are SO BIG AND HOOKY! These power chords are monstrous and the lyrics are about weed! -C
Honorable mention:
Bully, “Feels Like” (2015)
Bummer, “Holy Terror” (2018)
Hiss Golden Mmessenger, “Hallelujah Anyhow” (2017)
Sleigh Bells, “Treats” (2010).
Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014)
Weedpecker, “II” (2015)