{"id":17829,"date":"2019-12-31T05:30:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T10:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17829"},"modified":"2019-12-31T07:54:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T12:54:01","slug":"my-best-of-the-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/31\/my-best-of-the-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"(My) Best of the Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-14502\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/wilson_rare_birds.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/wilson_rare_birds.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/wilson_rare_birds-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/wilson_rare_birds-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17833\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sw_raven.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sw_raven.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sw_raven-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sw_raven-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17834\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/db_falling.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/db_falling.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/db_falling-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/db_falling-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17835\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/grandhotel.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/grandhotel.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/grandhotel-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/grandhotel-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Like many critics and serious followers of music, from time to time I compile my own \u201cpersonal bests\u201d lists. Almost exactly a decade ago today \u2013 this blog&#8217;s been around a long time \u2013 I wrote an entry called \u201cMusoscribe&#8217;s Best of the Naughties.\u201d Looking back at that list, I see albums that today I&#8217;d place in one of three categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Albums that I haven&#8217;t played in nearly a decade<\/strong>, and may well have forgotten about. Those probably wouldn&#8217;t stay on any list I made of favorites of that decade now. That Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, Sufjan Stevens <em>Illinois<\/em> and (sigh&#8230;) Paul McCartney&#8217;s <i>Memory Almost Full<\/i> are examples. Good, but&#8230;y&#8217;know.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Albums I haven&#8217;t played in awhile but am absolutely sure I&#8217;d still enjoy<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/09\/brain-wilson-critics-pet\/\">Brian Wilson<\/a>&#8216;s <i>SMiLE<\/i>, Jamie and Steve&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2009\/12\/17\/interview-jamie-steve-jamie-hoover-steve-stoeckel\/\"><i>English Afterthoughts<\/i><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2008\/01\/03\/brothers-and-sisters-sunshine-y-day\/\">Brothers and Sisters&#8217; <i>Fortunately<\/i><\/a> are among those.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Albums I still play often<\/strong>. This list is longer than I might have guessed before refreshing my memory as to what I wrote ten full years ago. The <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2008\/01\/16\/flaming-lips-the-sound-of-success\/\">Flaming Lips<\/a>&#8216; <i>Yoshimi<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2009\/11\/09\/interview-dennis-diken-ear-candy-that-matters\/\">Dennis Diken&#8217;s sole solo album<\/a>, a couple of <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/10\/05\/interview-kt-tunstall\/\">KT Tunstall<\/a> albums, a few <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?s=porcupine+tree\">Porcupine Tree<\/a> releases, Zero 7&#8217;s <i>Simple Things<\/i>, the stunning <i>Colonia<\/i> from a Camp, a sadly-never-equaled <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/03\/30\/interview-king-khan-and-the-shrines\/\">King Khan and the Shrines<\/a> album, a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/23\/concert-review-dungen-9-june-2016-asheville-nc\/\">Dungen<\/a> album, a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/01\/interview-the-residents-sort-of\/\">Residents<\/a>(!) album, Knight Area&#8217;s superb <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2009\/10\/23\/album-review-knight-area-realm-of-shadows\/\"><i>Realm of Shadows<\/i><\/a> and a true obscurity, Randy and the Bloody Lovelies&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/02\/12\/heres-one-you-missed-randy-and-the-bloody-lovelies-lift\/\"><i>Lift<\/i><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>So What About This Decade?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the years that followed, I put together a best-of list each December. And looking back at the <b>new release<\/b> category, I still see some favorites, some records that \u2013 for me, at least \u2013 have stood the test of time. Here&#8217;s a list of 20 selected titles from the past ten years, with links to what I&#8217;ve written about them. I recommend <strong>all<\/strong> unequivocally.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2010: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/02\/16\/album-review-nick-curran-reform-school-girl\/\">Nick Curran \u2013 <i>Reform School Girl<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2010: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/01\/20\/album-review-the-orange-peels-2020\/\">The Orange Peels \u2013 <i>2020<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2010: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/10\/06\/album-review-spocks-beard-x\/\">Spock&#8217;s Beard \u2013 <i>X<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2011: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/13\/album-review-dc-fontana-la-contessa\/\">DC Fontana \u2013 <i>La Contessa<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2011: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/02\/17\/album-review-agony-aunts-greater-miranda\/\">Agony Aunts \u2013 <i>Greater Miranda<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2011: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/04\/album-review-dennis-coffey-dennis-coffey\/\">Dennis Coffey \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/04\/album-review-dennis-coffey-dennis-coffey\/\"><i>Dennis Coffey<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2011: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/23\/album-review-blackfield-welcome-to-my-dna\/\">Blackfield \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/23\/album-review-blackfield-welcome-to-my-dna\/\"><i>Welcome to My DNA<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2012: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/16\/the-explorers-club-a-five-star-hotel-part-one\/\">The Explorers Club \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/16\/the-explorers-club-a-five-star-hotel-part-one\/\"><i>Grand Hotel<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2012:<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/18\/that-time-is-now-a-conversation-with-the-dbs-peter-holsapple-part-one\/\"> The dB&#8217;s \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/18\/that-time-is-now-a-conversation-with-the-dbs-peter-holsapple-part-one\/\"><i>Falling Off the Sky<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2013: Steven Wilson \u2013 <i>The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)<\/i><\/li>\n<li>2014: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/10\/everything-comes-together-the-paul-john-interview-part-one\/\">The Paul &amp; John \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/10\/everything-comes-together-the-paul-john-interview-part-one\/\"><i>Inner Sunset<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2014: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/09\/album-review-sloan-commonwealth\/\">Sloan \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/09\/album-review-sloan-commonwealth\/\"><i>Commonwealth<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2015: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/16\/album-review-jd-mcpherson-let-the-good-times-roll\/\">JD McPherson \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/16\/album-review-jd-mcpherson-let-the-good-times-roll\/\"><i>Let the Good Times Roll<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2015: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/08\/album-review-the-mavericks-mono\/\">The Mavericks \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/08\/album-review-the-mavericks-mono\/\"><i>Mono<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2016: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/02\/esperanza-spaldings-musical-evolution-or-devolution-part-one\/\">Esperanza Spalding \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/02\/esperanza-spaldings-musical-evolution-or-devolution-part-one\/\"><i>Emily&#8217;s D+Evolution<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2016: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/01\/mike-mills-rock-orchestral-hybrid\/\">Mike Mills \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/01\/mike-mills-rock-orchestral-hybrid\/\"><i>Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra<\/i><\/a><i> <\/i><\/li>\n<li>2016: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/21\/album-mini-review-those-pretty-wrongs\/\">Those Pretty Wrongs \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/21\/album-mini-review-those-pretty-wrongs\/\"><i>s\/t<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2017: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/09\/album-review-jean-michel-bernard-plays-lalo-schifrin\/\">Jean-Michel Bernard \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/09\/album-review-jean-michel-bernard-plays-lalo-schifrin\/\"><i>Plays Lalo Schifrin<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2018: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/02\/album-review-jonathan-wilson-rare-birds\/\">Jonathan Wilson \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/02\/album-review-jonathan-wilson-rare-birds\/\"><i>Rare Birds<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>2018: <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/15\/fantastic-negrito-we-can-turn-it-around-part-1\/\">Fantastic Negrito \u2013 <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/15\/fantastic-negrito-we-can-turn-it-around-part-1\/\"><i>Please Don&#8217;t Be Dead<\/i><\/a><i> <\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And my best-of for 2019 is <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/25\/musoscribes-best-of-2019-new-music\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like many critics and serious followers of music, from time to time I compile my own \u201cpersonal bests\u201d lists. Almost exactly a decade ago today \u2013 this blog&#8217;s been around [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of-list","cat-8-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17829"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18018,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions\/18018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}