Songs of the 2010s

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[30] @mannequinpussy - "Drunk II" (2019)
The band's explosive introduction of their bigger sound, "Drunk II" is a powerhouse punk song that dynamically drags us from the height of Marisa Dabice's fury to the depths of her vulnerability.https://t.co/VmQbYIPvnr

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 1, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[29] @vampireweekend - “Hannah Hunt” (2013)
Irreverent hipster favourites show their earnest side and it’s a gloriously written & produced ode to love’s ability to carry you through the tough years. Best crescendo they’ve ever written. https://t.co/FgogugCWBR

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 2, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[28] Mitski - "Your Best American Girl" (2016)
The tension between sexual desire & familial expectation is electrifying in this sharp account of modern romance, leading expertly to thunderous release in the cathartic, heartbreaking peak.https://t.co/NqYBboTfNb

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 3, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[27] Weyes Blood - "Wild Time" (2019)
At the end of this decade we can no longer ignore the terrible things happening globally, but Natalie Mering approaches the complexity of our mental struggles with gracious compassion in this stunnerhttps://t.co/FyMc6aM4Lh

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 4, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[26] Majical Cloudz - "Bugs Don't Buzz" (2013)
The piano clangs like death knell throughout this one, but what starts out like a fatal march transforms into a song of profound resilience and overcoming - "just like the roaches", indeed.https://t.co/uUnUMome57

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 5, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[25] Angel Olsen - "White Fire" (2014)
Proving that all she needs is guitar and voice to set the world ablaze, Olsen formidably observes life's burdens, deciding all is secondary to her art and expression -"burn your fire for no witness"https://t.co/8UgL9ukKxy

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 6, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[24] Frank Ocean - "Nights" (2016)
This experimental RnB tune casts Frank's mind back over a relationship that provided blissful escape by evaporating his soul in a haze of substances and sex, that soon implodes to an exhausted come downhttps://t.co/NQ0AwZsLlv

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 7, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[23] Grouper - "Clearing" (2014)
On this delicate bearing of her heart, Liz Harris' piano ushers us into a mental cloister where memories flicker like reflections in a fine mist and wounded emotions teem out of her in faint susurrations.https://t.co/eOdpSOZOE0

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 8, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[22] Flying Lotus - "Never Catch Me" (ft Kendrick Lamar) (2014)
On this cut from his death album, FlyLo picks the perfect collaborator in K., whose psychedelic flow bursts into the afterlife with thrilling lyrical and spiritual abandon. https://t.co/cqcGBqROSf

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 9, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[21] Fleet Foxes - "If You Need To, Keep Time On Me" (2017)
Although inspired by the 2016 election, it resonates much deeper & beyond. Piano twinkles as Pecknold unfolds his commitment to being someone's rock during life's relentlessness https://t.co/pzKmmXr7iF

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 10, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[20] Snail Mail - "Pristine" (2018)
Lindsey Jordan unveiled the fullness of her talent with this sublimely produced alt-rock landmark that's filled with depressed dedication; an infinite anthem of longing, boredom & self-dissatisfaction.https://t.co/T3e8NRlMTc

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 11, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[19] Los Campesinos! - "Glue Me" (2013)
Fatal levels of dejection & misery wrapped up with ham-fisted wordplay and a smattering of football references; pretty much the quintessential song by these perennially underappreciated cult heroeshttps://t.co/zakF0GmucW

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 12, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[18] Car Seat Headrest - "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" (2016)
Will Toledo's internal lament widens to give empathy to the entire planet, apexing in a moment of pure gut-curdling, lung-bursting catharsis:
"IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS" https://t.co/C48yNAJm5Q

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 13, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[17] Wild Beasts - “Mecca” (2014)
A stunning and sultry ode to the pleasures of physical love with your betrothed. Hayden Thorpe’s voice and poetry, with the gorgeous musicianship, adds up to a heady and dazzling song of carnal devotion.https://t.co/ALXhtRsE6N

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 14, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[16] Kendrick Lamar - “These Walls” (2015)
Ostensibly a sex jam, K. uses the funky Thundercat-assisted framework to bounce heatedly through passion, jealousy, betrayal, manipulation & paranoia in ways only he can; a true tour-de-force.https://t.co/xKr9SVaTyr

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 15, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[15] Deerhunter - "He Would Have Laughed" (2010)
Dedicated to the late Jay Reatard, this hallucinogenic two-parter shows the band's glistening craft, from tautly-built start to floating finale, we feel our bodies' irrevocable degradationhttps://t.co/cOSIVklH0n

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 16, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[14] Grimes - "Oblivion" (2012)
Inspired by her assault on a dark night, Grimes' trademark song is her vivid aural processing. Neon-cloaked & alien-synth'd, every element interlocks perfectly to glide through trauma into a hopeful futurehttps://t.co/ZtSRylEML8

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 17, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[13] Caribou - "Sun" (2010)
Pretty much the ur-tech-house/indie crossover song, Dan Snaith here with the ultimate proof that little can go a long way. Elastic beats, zippy synths & ritualistic repetition of the title, it's pure hypnosishttps://t.co/j4xn9wItvu

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 18, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[12] Tame Impala - "Apocalypse Dreams" (2012)
This psych-pop soufflé perfectly captures the conflicting bliss & disorientation of a world that never catches its breath, where you remain transfixed, feeling it could all end at any momenthttps://t.co/Dkw3EtH5sw

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 19, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[11] Ought - "Habit" (2014)
One of the most rousing, inspirational and simply addictive songs of the decade, Darcy's sing-speaking over quietly coiling post-punk builds self-belief and grandly expounds on the importance of communication https://t.co/jGi22UfOmn

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 20, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[10] Merchandise - “Become What You Are” (2012)
This two-parter starts as a lovelorn tale of coming of age against one’s will, yearning to escape back to youth; then shifts into paranoid post punk, just wanting to escape from everything
https://t.co/gFTYavijql

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 21, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[09] Sharon Van Etten - "Your Love Is Killing Me" (2014)
The sound of victim staring down attacker, pushing all the pain back onto them, growing into a much stronger person, launched like a landslide in SVE's incomparably fearsome voicehttps://t.co/j7d7hu6Mfj

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 22, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[08] Iceage - "The Lord's Favorite" (2014)
Incendiary punks combine their intoxicating histrionics with ridiculously fun cowboy stylings. Listening to this bouncy self-obsessed and god-fearing romp makes you feel like Queen of the Rodeohttps://t.co/XeV4YYmPue

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 23, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[07] Mount Eerie - "Ravens" (2017)
The harshest point of Elverum's processing & mourning; seeing omens in everything, flipping between memories just before & just after Geneviève's death, not omitting any of the brutal yet poetic detailshttps://t.co/VC8A6eTIkY

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 24, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[06] Andy Stott - "Numb" (2012)
From the sample's opening breaths, into the way the skyscraper-sized bass rolls in, to the way the beat wriggles together in perfect unison, this is a song that stretches & bursts the boundaries of technohttps://t.co/50akxuFCCd

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 26, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[05] Deafheaven - “Baby Blue” (2015)
A behemoth that encircles everything that these heroes do well: melodic beauty, tidal patience, swelling tension and ultimately a thunderous raining down of pure excoriating and life affirming sound
https://t.co/kE9juobeTd

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 27, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[04] Real Estate - "Green Aisles" (2011)
This revisits a feeling of carefree youth, when nagging feelings of real life were peripheral. We drift through endless scenery, converse inconclusively & never feel time slipping away -pure blisshttps://t.co/y5C8jfrQnt

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 28, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[03] LCD Soundsystem - “Home” (2010)
Over 10 years home is many different people, places & times. LCD capture that transience in this ode to mindfulness in good times, offering: “look around you/you’re surrounded/it won’t get any better”https://t.co/FTkwYWiguV

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 29, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[02] Big Thief - "Mary" (2017)
A gorgeous lullaby full of spellbinding imagery threaded together in Lenker's inimitable style, with organ hovering behind her tumbling words. A captivating pagan-like love song of picture perfect romance.https://t.co/pDbpfUCRYf

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 30, 2019

SONGS OF THE 2010s
[01] Jenny Hval - “That Battle Is Over” (2015)
This idiosyncratic Scandinavian’s synth think-piece is a cathartic, ironic & eloquently melodramatic diatribe about information overload, its myriad interpretations & the mental implications https://t.co/Bgvz6vQzq9

— Rob Hakimian (@_robhak) December 31, 2019