Whenever people say this year/decade's music sucked, I think either they don't listen to that much music, or their standards have risen too high for enjoyment.

Let's talk about last year's albums. My list weighs heavily toward genres I prefer, which shows I'm missing out on a lot. There are albums lower down the list that I listen to much more than ones higher; in this sense, it's a little less subjective. EPs are included.

  1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
  2. Wild Beasts – Smother
  3. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Departing
  4. 65daysofstatic – Silent Running
  5. Parts & Labor – Constant Future
  6. The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
  7. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
  8. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – Don't Say We Didn't Warn You
  9. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – Tao of the Dead
  10. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
  11. Destroyer – Kaputt
  12. Future Islands – On the Water
  13. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
  14. Skinny Puppy – HanDover
  15. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
  16. Mogwai – Earth Division
  17. of Montreal – thecontrollersphere
  18. Steven Wilson – Grace for Drowning
  19. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
  20. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital
  21. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
  22. Justice – Audio, Video, Disco
  23. Nils Frahm – Felt
  24. The Antlers – Burst Apart


Usually people list only their favourites, but then you have no idea what those are relative to, and you have to ask whether they've heard such and such. Here are the albums I found mediocre to poor:

Spoiler