Musicwhore.org Music and memory

A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.

2015 started strong with the return of Sleater-Kinney, and it stayed strong all the way through the release of the Hamilton cast recording. That said, the list goes through quite a number of changes, consolidating some stragglers and bouncing a few titles off.

1. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: An American Musical
2. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
3. Sleater-Kinney, No Cities to Love
4. Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free
5. Torche, Restarter
6. Björk, Vulnicura
7. Deebs and Jarell Perry, Shift
8. Steve Grand, All-American Boy
9. Janet Jackson, Unbreakable
10. Gaytheist/Rabbits, Gay*Bits

Other favorites from the year:

• Software Giant, We Are Overcome
• Miguel, Wildheart
• Madonna, Rebel Heart
• Duran Duran, Paper Gods
• Enya, Dark Sky Island
• The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
• Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
• ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Wonder Future
• Andrew Norman, Play
• Troye Sivan, Blue Neighborhood

The Favorite 10 sees one title switched out — Gaytheist and Rabbit’s split EP for Miguel’s Wildheart. Father John Misty, Takaakira Goto, Seattle Symphony and Kronos Quartet make way for Andrew Norman, Troye Sivan and Software Giant.

Eight years into 2010s, 2015 is so far turning out to be my favorite year for the decade. The hierarchy of the list gives a false sense of preference — some of the albums outside of the Favorite 10 got as much play time as those at the top of the list.

Duran Duran and Enya could have occupied spots in the Favorite 10 if the field weren’t so crowded.

Tags: andrew norman, asian kung-fu generation, bjork, courtney barnett, deebs, duran duran, enya, favorite edition, gaytheist, jarell perry, jason isbell, kendrick lamar, lin-manuel miranda, madonna, miguel, rabbits, rewind, sleater-kinney, software giant, steve grand, the weeknd, torche, troye sivan