As we come up on 15 years existing as a blog, we are pleased to present our favorite releases of the decade. When we did this back in 2009 — that list still mostly holds up, with a few exceptions — we got Carles to write the foreword. It's a relic of an era that feels like an eternity ago, but one thing he said still rings true: "We have lived through this. Now we shall reflect upon this".



We're going a little deeper this time around, and we decided to keep it to one release per artist (apologies to Art Angels, Lese Majesty, Picture You Staring, Oh No, Ultraviolence, Channel Orange, all the other Grouper records, et. al.), although multiple projects each from Liz Harris, Daniel Lopatin, and Patrick Flegel did make their way on to the list. Hopefully these choices are somewhat predictable if you’ve been listening to us go on about these artists here or on the radio over the past 10+ years, and please excuse the inevitable recency bias (hello LDR’s NFR!). Thanks for your continued support, enjoy the list and its complementary/mostly comprehensive Spotify + Apple music playlists (shout out to the legend Joanna Newsom for holding out on the DSP overlords), and, as always, show us your lists in the comments below:

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gorilla vs. bear's albums of the decade | 2010-2019

50 HOLY OTHER | Held

49 FKA TWIGS | EP2

48 TWIN SISTER | Color Your Life

47 KING KRULE | The OOZ

46 KERO KERO BONITO | Intro Bonito

45 EARL SWEATSHIRT | Some Rap Songs

44 HELEN | The Original Faces

43 YOUNG THUG | Barter 6

42 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | Replica

41 JULIANNA BARWICK | The Magic Place

40 CLAMS CASINO | Instrumentals

39 A$AP ROCKY | LIVE.LOVE.A$AP

38 YAEJI | EPs

37 KENDRICK LAMAR | Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

36 DJ RASHAD | Double Cup

35 JULIA HOLTER | Have You in My Wilderness

34 CHUCK PERSON | Eccojams Vol. I

33 DEAN BLUNT + INGA COPELAND | Black is Beautiful

32 AMEN DUNES | Freedom

31 WOMEN | Public Strain

30 GAMES | That We Can Play

29 BIG THIEF | U.F.O.F.

28 KELLY LEE OWENS | Kelly Lee Owens

27 ROBYN | Body Talk

26 CHARLI XCX | Pop 2

25 ERIKA de CASIER | Essentials

24 CARLY RAE JEPSEN | E•MO•TION

23 PLAYBOI CARTI | Playboi Carti

22 A TRIBE CALLED QUEST | we got it from here...thank you 4 your service

21 LAUREL HALO | Quarantine

20 FRANK OCEAN | Blonde

19 DANNY BROWN | XXX

18 SOPHIE | Product

17 PANDA BEAR | Tomboy

16 SUFJAN STEVENS | Carrie & Lowell

15 CINDY LEE | Act of Tenderness

14 JESSY LANZA | Pull My Hair Back

13 TOPS | Tender Opposites

12 HELENA DELAND | Altogether Unaccompanied Vol. I-IV

11 TIRZAH | Devotion

10 BURIAL | Rival Dealer

09 D'ANGELO | Black Messiah

08 CHROMATICS | Kill For Love

07 GROUPER | A I A

06 LANA DEL REY | Norman Fucking Rockwell!

05 SHABAZZ PALACES | Black Up

04 JAI PAUL | Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones)

03 BEACH HOUSE | Teen Dream

02 JOANNA NEWSOM | Have One On Me

01 GRIMES | Visions