It also features the truly galaxy-brain closing track “I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral,” which manages to incorporate the lyrical refrains from almost every track on the record into one song. As we reach the halfway point of the decade, let’s take a look back at some of the best musical moments of the last five years! The legendary Scottish band Orange Juice returned to music fans through a comprehensive box set. They do their version of reggae, their version of the 1980s soft-pop ballad. Mitski calls upon the seemingly universal yet unexamined experiences of heartbreak, loneliness, and invisible insecurities of a woman of color in her late twenties, translating it into a masterful piece of art. The best albums of the 2010s, then, not only define the decade, they chart an artistic rebirth. There was no attempt to make another push towards the ubiquity of “1234,” instead crafting rich grower of a record that sounds even better now than it did on its release, with the show-stopping grandeur of “Graveyard” and smokey fragility of “The Circle Married The Line” showing capabilities much larger than iPod commercials.–P.C. Its songs detail, in memorable ways, not just a relationship falling apart, but also the recuperation, contemplation, and moving-on stages. No song showcases Robyn's power better than the endlessly listenable dance bop "Dancing on My Own," a pop song so perfect that Insider named it the best song of the 2010s. Since 2005, the chart has been based on the sales of both physical and digital albums, on the condition that the album was available in both formats. Songwriters like Natalie Mering only come along once in a blue moon. The result is their most consistently playable LP, a seemingly simple collection of songs that reveals new depth with each listen.–S.H. It's not that young music fans are completely forsaking cool and disaffected guitar-rock bands for sensitive and fanciful pop bands, but there does seem some movement in that direction. Again they are pros at playing big, bouncy, shiny music that contains a lot more sadness than you hear at first, and a lot more complexity. As Cotton Candy, Mark Robinson (Unrest) and Evelyn Hurley (Blast Off Country Style!) Songwriter Trevor Powers never quite recaptured the magic of this first album, but his little songs felt like they could move mountains for a brief moment in 2011.–P.C. Here’s a list of the best pop songs from each year, based solely on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 charts. The White Stripes called it quits in 2011; Vampire Weekend spent more than half the decade in creative purgatory; LCD Soundsystem were on hiatus for a good part of it, too. While musically the album seems especially playful, even experimental, their songs carry a heavy weight, projecting an inherent disappointment in life that isn't just about people letting people down, but about the struggles of everyday people to maintain their individuality within cultures that don't value it. Thankfully, pride of Philly Kurt Vile stepped up big time with Wakin On A Pretty Daze, a collection of chilled-out jams in which long, languid solos complement Vile’s laconic truisms about the slow embrace of adulthood.–S.H. 61. It’s endlessly useful.–P.C. Clever, yes, but they also can be rather emotionally affecting. 10 Best Indie Songs of the 2010s. Their streamlined synthpop, featuring the warm vocals of Anna Persson, fills a room with a distinct atmosphere, sweet and melancholy. With 2010’s High Violet, The National made one of their most orchestrated and labored albums, almost tearing themselves apart in the process. We are moving to WordPress and a new host, but we really need your help to fund the move and further development. Why Haven’t You Tried Snoop Dogg’s Impeccably Smooth Cali Red Yet? Though that’s not true for the decade’s most popular young psych outfit, Tame Impala, which evolved from a bedroom pop act to an arena-filling rock behemoth in the 2010s. These artists had the vision, originality, and talent to keep the dance floor filled all decade long. It feels like a leap forward for the band as well. Capitol While the indie pop duo haven't released another song that charted anywhere near as high as "Safe and Sound" (which peaked at No. There's a spirit of inclusive joy that's projected through every song, even the most heartbreaking ones. ... from emo trap to EDM ballads to indie R&B to bedroom pop. Angel Olsen can excel in both the intimate and the expansive, so it’s appropriate that her great new album manages to be both. Classic indie-pop bands like Unrest and 14 Iced Bears reunited for tours. There are few pop bands around as capable of capturing in one moment the giddiness of new love and the monumental weight of heartbreak. “Loveeeeee Song (ft. Future)” – Rihanna 66. On it, West "gets ridiculously maximal, blowing past all the rules of hip-hop and pop," Sheffield wrote of the album for Rolling Stone in 2010. That they also carry inside their songs the serenity of a lake and the wildness of nature, not to mention the fanciful, even silly, demeanor of children's storybooks, makes it no less pop. While singing giddy melodies back and forth from one singer to the other, along with hand-claps, toy keyboards, banjo, cello, or various other instruments, they're tapping into a human's innate desire to create, to make up stories about the world, which is partly what this whole business is all about. Michelle Zauner is a hell of a songwriter. 2010 was a great year for indie-pop, with an assortment of new bands making an impression by putting a fresh new stamp on old sounds. Whether it’s campfire folk, winter trail post-rock, or collective experimentation, Justin Vernon has you covered. Other No. The Pepperoni Boy from Edmont to the Prince of Indie Rock worldwide. The band’s leader, Kevin Parker, made his greatest breakthroughs on Lonerism, in which he melted minds while also crafting rafters-shaking bangers.–S.H. While Big Thief absolutely dominated 2019 with two LPs, their 2017 effort Capacity cannot be overlooked as one of the most beautiful of the decade. Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop ; include Live or archival releases. On Contra, Ezra Koenig and company continued to develop their afro-pop-influenced indie sound, and they did so so effectively and idiosyncratically that nobody has really been able to replicate it.–D.R. The decade’s defining Americana artist was in a personal tailspin before Southeastern. As the 2010s come to a close, the importance of the trajectory of indie music in the 2000s has become increasingly clear and undeniable. For Gigi, he teamed with producer Colin Stewart and a host of guest vocalists and musicians, for a spiritual tribute to the Brill Building era that benefits from the witty, sad love songs and the singers' skill at singing them. While it’s easy to simply call her a millennial Joni Mitchell and leave it at that, there is a wryness and mysticism to Mering’s work that catapults it even beyond that comparison, and Front Row Seat To Earth is the first album where she got the measurements exactly right.–Caitlin White, Mitski’s Be The Cowboy ushered in sold-out arenas and magazine cover shoots. The UK Albums Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) that calculates the best-selling artist albums of the week in the United Kingdom. No Cities To Love features some of the catchiest songs in the band’s catalogue, while also showcasing their unique and powerful musical prowess throughout.– Z.G. Join us all month long as we celebrate the best music, film, and television of the decade.After revealing our Top 100 Albums of the 2010s, we’re … Is indie-pop hip now? The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s Pop felt more ambitious than ever, voices from the margins broke through in every genre and great records kept coming at us from every direction. 1. “Back to Back” – Drake 68. The album has an overriding theme of moving forward and putting troubles of the past beyond you. Instead, it’s a party you never want to leave.–S.H. There were riches aplenty. 2010s Indie: Alternative & Indie-Pop Sounds Of The 21st Century By NBHAP. Since 2005, the chart has been based on the sales of both physical and digital albums, on the condition that the album was available in both formats. Here – after much debate – are the 100 very best songs of 2010s. Music sites are as likely to celebrate a new band of shy melody-makers as they are some new 'primitive' experimentalists. A little more focused than My Woman and a lot more sonically adventurous than her early work, All Mirrors arrived to paint Olsen as an artist that’s impossible to pin down, whose best work might still be in front of her.–P.C. Each song quickly gets to the point, whether it's to have a laugh at the whole nature of show business or to ponder how love changes over time. But for me, I’ll take the glitchy gusto of 22, A Million, an album that wants to dip its feet into many of Vernon’s musical wading pools without getting too wet. Since their 2005 debut album, Gothenburg, Sweden's Sambassadeur has struck me as underrated. The act’s first EP released in 1999 is a mere five songs but teased the potential of this brainy indie-rock band, which blends emo and rock masterfully. Just as Lost In The Dream built on the breakthroughs of 2011’s excellent but meandering Slave Ambient, A Deeper Understanding represented a new pinnacle for Adam Granduciel’s unique, modernist/traditionalist take on American rock and roll. The sophomore album from The Hotelier exploded onto the “emo revival” scene in 2014. Hanlon uses his well-established wit in moving ways; jokes and worries are part of the same act of making sense of life. <a href="http://elefantrecordsclassics.bandcamp.com/album/a-coming-of-age">A Coming Of Age by LUCKY SOUL</a> Their natural Michigan environs and the way they carry that into their music means The London band Allo Darlin' is about as cute as pop bands come, with spunky little pop songs that say witty things about love, using Woody Allen as a reference point and weaving the chorus of a Weezer song into the fabric of their own song, via its characters singing it together on a ferris wheel. On the one hand, pop as we know it ceased to be the dominant genre in the mainstream, and was instead overthrown by the new wave of trap-leaning hip-hop. While the indie world produced fewer massive stars in the 2010s than in the previous decade, the recorded output was as strong as ever. Up until this album, Neon Indian was primarily a group riding off the coattails of the late 2000s Chillwave movement, an indie-pop offshoot genre inspired by the sounds of AM radio and groups like MGMT. Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop (not including sub-genres); include Live or archival releases. It’s wrought with lyrics that describe Grace’s massive life changes, full of impressive songwriting throughout. All rights reserved.PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated. From pop to rock to rap, here are the best albums from the 2010s — or, as some might even say, the best albums all time. It’s worth noting that the earliest track from this list of the The next time you hear a feisty young punk band attempt to pack a million and one ideas, riffs, lyrics, band members, and everything else in the kitchen sink into one song, think of The Monitor. 10. These are notable albums, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. Their third album refines that sound to the point that the change feels revelatory, even though it's not that large of a shift. <a href="http://theradiodept.bandcamp.com/album/clinging-to-a-scheme">Clinging to a Scheme by The Radio Dept.</a> This article was originally published on 7 December 2010. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), it's easy to see why this 2011 synth-pop track had such an immense reach. Since their debut, Beach House have proven themselves to be one of the most consistent forces in all of indie, pumping out great album after great album. In 2010, the past never seemed far away. That’s one of the reasons why this decade’s pop music has been so hard to pin down. You don’t need to know the story of a college student facing his own mental health demons while recording to appreciate how fully-formed the songs appear. Under sincere musings, Be The Cowboy lulls between soulful, introspective ballads and eruptions of electric guitar and crashing cymbals.–Carolyn Droke. But before we embrace the new, let’s look back at the best in pop, rock, country, hip-hop and R&B over the last 10 years. For additional information for deaths of musicians and for links to other music lists, see 2010 in music 's The Adventures of Bobby Ray, Godsmack's The Oracle and not one, not two, but three separate Glee Cast soundtrack albums. Adrianne Lenker’s vocals feel like they’re straight out of the classic New York folk scene, while also carving their own lane into something uniquely modern. Justin Vernon wandered a lot creatively in the 2010s, whether it was with his most famous band, Bon Iver, or in a variety of side projects. The times change, but psychedelic rock bands always seem to stay the same. Those songs commingle with songs that take an equally incisive look at the entire process of finding a home in the world. Bolstered by albums like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, hip-hop continued to rediscover both its conscience and its voice in the 2010s, while artists like Robyn and Katy B proved that even when dance-pop is pushed to the margins, as it was after the EDM explosion of the late aughts, it will always find its groove. Soft Sounds From Another Planet is just that — otherworldly music that utilizes its expansive sound to illustrate unique landscapes. That’s why we all weren’t surprised when she announced her first book earlier this year. 2010s Indie: Alternative & Indie-Pop Sounds Of The 21st Century By NBHAP. Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop ; include Live or archival releases. A throwback throughout the decade: Mac DeMarco, Boy … A Coming of Age pushes their sound in some new directions, with arrangements that are by turns dense and spare, matching the emotions of each song well. "Safe and Sound" was released on January 6, 2011. The 2010s was the era where nothing got left out. Following a decade with two landmark creations — her lush album as Antony And The Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now, and her disco-fueled collaboration with Hercules And Love Affair — she drone-bombed the music world with the politically-charged opus Hopelessness in 2016. “Timber” – Pitbull 67. Custom chart of the greatest albums of all-time, as voted by RYM users; including genres Indie Pop (not including sub-genres); include Live or archival releases. Join us as we count down the best albums of 2010, as picked by the Guardian's crack team of music critics 16 December 2010 Albums of 2010, No 1: Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) 30 Best Indie Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked Music Annie Clark is one of the best at a lot of different things, and she shows much of that off on her commercial breakthrough album. The melodies are deceptively sophisticated, the lyrics vivid and evocative. Now, it’s just how things are. The year 2009 was a defining one for all the indie rock (and non-rock) that had bubbled up over the preceding decade. With production from Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never, Anohni pulls no punches as she sings of fish boiling in the sea, giving voice to a planet on the verge of destruction.–P.C. Seriously.—Z.G. Dear Science by TV on the Radio Note: These are albums that missed the cut on our general Best Albums Of The 2010s list, which you can find here. “Poetic Justice” – Kendrick Lamar 65. The Best Indie Pop Albums of 2010. The best Hip Hop albums of the 2010s ... but the rest of the album is great too. The following is a list of albums that were released during 2010.These are notable albums, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. While Titus Andronicus has never been a mainstream band, any lover of heartfelt, big-ideas rock has a special place in their heart for this concept record about the Civil War and being a loser in the middle of New Jersey.–Steven Hyden. But perhaps no line cuts harder than on the track “Paralytic States” when Grace sings, “Standing naked in front of that hotel bathroom mirror / In her dysphoria’s reflection, she still saw her mother’s son.”—Z.G. Few albums have as many tearjerking payoffs, most notably on “Elephant” and “Cover Me Up.”–S.H. play pop music as Pop Art, mining the world of radio and TV commercials for both inspiration and actual material. We begin our recap of the best entertainment of the 2010s with two lists of the decade's best albums, representing views from different vantage points in time. If you don’t see your fave, it might be on the general list. The album also contains what I'm pretty sure is my absolute favorite song of the year, "Trying to Say I Love You", which sketches out a shy confession of love in so few strokes that it takes my breath away. Lucky Soul's second album expands on the pop-and-soul sound, rooted in the 1960s, of their first. What made the 2010s so interesting is that a lot of the indie bands who dominated the discussion around the genre in in the 2000s were, for the most part, out of the picture. Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. It has the unity of theme and diversity of voice that made Stephin Merritt's Sixths project so enjoyable, but to that, it adds the warmth and collective energy of an ensemble project. The best indie music seems to capture a specific moment, a heightened creative spark in the studio or the bedroom, and that’s exactly how the breakthrough for Waxahatchee feels. Even if there are some moments where the album’s pop-sensibilities seem blatantly intended for mainstream appeal, ... the debut LP from Epic Beard Men, is an indie-rap tour de force by two of the underground’s finest; Sage Francis and B. Dolan. Here are our Top 25 Pop Albums of the 2010s. Our Year in Music 2010 coverage has featured our Top 100 Tracks, Top Music Videos, the Year in Photos, our Best of Pitchfork.tv, the Best of Pitchfork News, and the Worst Album … This time, he cut down on the atmospherics and focused on the songs, buffing them into perfect and timeless statements.–S.H. Capitol Records. Here comes the 2020s. The result was a record that felt both reassuring and forward-thinking.–S.H. To that end, the most impressive releases of 2010s came from across the ever-increasing spectrum of the indie world, from the dirty blues of The Black Keys, to season-driven contemplative genius of Bon Iver, to the devastating punk rock of The Wonder Years and The Hotelier. Right about when indie rock was getting a little too arty and intellectual, these screamingly earnest Canadians burst through the door like a leather-clad Kool-Aid Man to remind us about the joys of drinking, smoking, and rocking. European began the year with this widescreen dose of hopefulness. While he still produced strong records, the process of becoming sober — and writing about it with great candor and emotional insight — with Southeastern put Isbell on another level. There were new albums this year by many of the bands that influenced the indie-pop of today: Magnetic Fields, Belle and Sebastian, Vaselines, Jonathan Richman, Teenage Fanclub. https://www.popmatters.com/best-indie-rock-albums-2010-2496104316.html The 50 Best Albums of 2020 By Paste Staff November 30, 2020 Legend of Zelda Christmas Album, A Merry Hyrule Christmas , Is Releasing Today By Nicolas Perez December 15, 2020 Through Bridgers eyes, the listener doesn’t just see the artist’s point of view, but gains an empathetic and insightful vision of everything from death to love. It is one of the best underground pop albums of the decade. Breathe Owl Breathe likely get tagged as "folk", but on an essential level, this is playful creative pop music. Big questions are probed within bouncy pop songs that tap into Jonathan Richman and folk-music traditions alike. But while many bands might phone it in for an easy cash grab, Sleater-Kinney returned in bigger and better shape than ever. There might not be a better songwriter to emerge this decade, a master of turning the specific into often touching and resonant universals. The decade in music was wrought with boundless experimentation, from the cyclical redefinition of popular music to the increasingly convoluted labeling of genres. At the same time, it seemed a year of refinement, where bands on their second, third, or fourth albums took their sound and refreshed it. This section will be updated periodically throughout the end of the year. This is music that isn’t just sweet to the ear. "Some of the best music from artists like Janelle Monáe, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande bears the mark of Robyn's signature 'poptimism.'" Within this collection of bittersweet pop songs lies an epic dialogue about hypocrisy and repression, about trying and failing to connect with other people in a way that would build something beautiful in the face of so many broken promises. Breaking down conventions The 2010s were a time of great transition and breaking down of conventions. The following is a list of albums that were released during 2010. Katy Perry — Teenage Dream. The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s. And the success is well deserved. 2010 was a great year for indie-pop, with an assortment of new bands making an impression by putting a fresh new stamp on old sounds. A furious selection selection of the songs and artists that shaped independent music between 2010 and 2019, featuring indie pop/rock, post-punk/ new wave, neo-folk, synthpop, dream pop, chillwave and more, compiled by NBHAP.com Separate playlists for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are also up. Bon Iver has an album for everyone. once again demonstrate the flexibility within their distinctly fuzzy style of pop music. Albums released between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019 with 15 or more reviews in Metacritic's databas… Oh, the 2010s. Against Me!’s sixth full-length is a document of frontperson Laura Jane Grace’s struggles with gender dysphoria and the ensuing transition she began after coming out in the pages of Rolling Stone in 2012. Halcyon Digest is a tranquil coda to Deerhunter’s lustrous indie … Orange Juice - Coals to Newcastle. The record quickly engaged new fans with its ultra-confessional lyrics and relatable, at times discomforting, stories of overwhelming grief, like when frontperson Christian Holden sings, ”I called in sick from your funeral / The sight of your body made me feel uncomfortable.” It’s heavy stuff, but also managed to make a whole generation of punk kids feel a little less alone.–Z.G. It's an album about death as much as life, a perhaps literal reminder that we're always dancing with the Grim Reaper. Travel Writers Tell Us The American Small Towns They Can’t Wait To Visit Again, A Whisky Writer Names The Best Bottles Of Single Malt Scotch He’s Ever Tasted, Damian Lillard Talks About The Blazers Offseason And Why Being Self-Critical Is The Key To Getting Better, Kyler Murray Tells Us Which Teammates Love ‘Warzone’ Like Him And Breaks Down That Miracle Hail Mary, Hasan Minhaj Wants You To Buy Sneakers Without Getting Scammed, Talib Kweli & Busta Rhymes Talk ‘Extinction Level 2’, J Dilla, Q-Tip, Kendrick, Yung Bleu Croons ‘You’re Mines Still’ Solo For ‘UPROXX Sessions’, From ‘GTA’ To ‘Cyberpunk 2077,’ ‘Recon’ Is Here To Explore The Best Of Open-World Gaming, Obsessed: ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘WandaVision,’ And More Must-See Winter Watches, expression of pure romantic anguish with virtually no artifice, Adam Granduciel’s unique, modernist/traditionalist take on American rock and roll, All The Best New R&B From This Week That You Need To Hear, All The Best New Indie Music From This Week, All The Best New Pop Music From This Week, All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear. When all is said and done, Big Thief are sure to be remembered as one of the most impressive indie acts of the era.–Z.G. <a href="http://aweather.bandcamp.com/album/everyday-balloons">Everyday Balloons by A Weather</a> While taking Darren Hanlon's songwriting to the next level of focus and variety, I Will Love You at All also reinvents the break-up album. Cotton candy, Star Wars bedsheets, the booming voices of used car salesmen... these are memories, building blocks of people. These lists will be updated frequently throughout the coming weeks, when we will also be unveiling similar lists of the best movies, TV shows, and games of the decade. The album that turned The Black Keys into arena and festival headliners, Brothers features some of the duo’s biggest hits to date, including “Tighten Up” and “Howlin’ For You.” It’s a stomping onslaught of bluesy garage rock that the world was begging for at the top of the 2010s, taking up the mantle left behind by The White Stripes.–Zac Gelfand, Allo Darlin’ was never a household name, but their first couple albums presented a thrilling vision indebted to the C-86 sound, by way of R.E.M., that still holds up perfectly. How Indie Went Pop—and Pop Went Indie—in the 2010s Ten years ago, a collaboration between an indie act and a pop artist was something to marvel over. The year in indie-pop, then, had a lot going on. “Believe Me (ft. Drake)” – Lil Wayne 69. The pop landscape changed significantly during the 2010s. In the last few years, Phoebe Bridgers has become a central figure in the indie world, thanks to both her landmark solo debut album and her contributions to the Boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center projects. If these guys didn’t believe in the power of guitars and power chords so fervently, Celebration Rock would devolve into self-parody. Meanwhile, bands on their second, third, or fourth albums took their sound and refreshed it. The revitalized Slumberland, a key indie-pop label from the '90s, seems to get even more attention than they did originally. As one of the greatest pop albums of the 2010s, Teenage Dream epitomized the best of the genre … Sing along, clap along, and dance around your room, but as these things go, soon you'll realize how much sadness there is in these songs, that many of the people in the songs are poor, lonely, and feeling lost, stumbling through life like we all do. <a href="http://merch.breatheowlbreathe.com/album/magic-central">Magic Central by Breathe Owl Breathe</a> Nick Kgrovich (No Kids, P:ano) has a keen ear for melody, informed by music history, and a sharp songwriting pen. My favorite ten indie-pop albums of the year include just three debuts, and two of those are by new groups whose members have been around for a while in other bands. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group. Mixing sugary pop songs of their own in with them singing the "Beef, It's What for Dinner" jingle and "Clap on, Clap Off" (the Clapper) might seem incongruous, but it's all part of the same pop-culture fabric, tied in with feelings from childhood, wonder, mystery, and naiveté. This created some room for other acts to filter into the cultural conscience and lay their claim as vital parts of the puzzle. “Me, Myself & I” – G-Easy & Bebe Rexha 70. The way Aaron Gerber and Sarah Winchester sing back and forth to each other emulates conversation. The UK Albums Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) that calculates the best-selling artist albums of the week in the United Kingdom. There were outstanding debut LPs from Allo Darlin' (London), Magic Kids (Memphis), Standard Fare (Sheffield), One Happy Island (Boston), and the School (Cardiff) among others. The credits include 40 people. Last update: January 4, 2020 These albums have the highest Metascores out of all new albums released from 2010-19. Emerging out of a home studio in Idaho, The Year of Hibernation is a rare work whose small scale elevates the collection to greater heights. For additional information for deaths of musicians and for links to other music lists, see 2010 in music . Math and Physics Club - I Shouldn't Look As Good As I Do [Matinee] Animal Collective finally had their moment in the sun, sun, sun with Merriweather Post Pavilion, the most acclaimed album of the year.Blissful tunes like "Summertime Clothes" could be found at the summit of this long-beloved band's career. Sprawl II is Arcade Fire’s climax track to one of the best albums of the 2010s, but really it feels like the climax to a trilogy of albums that dominated the indie charts and introduced them to … With 2019’s i,i however, Vernon showed that he was still capable of producing emotionally direct songs that hit with the power of folk ballads, no matter their prog-Americana trappings.–S.H. 1 albums that year included B.o.B. There was always going to be a gap between Feist the pop sensation and Feist the indie darling, but Metals let her audience know exactly where she stood in 2011. “Love Yourself” – Justin Bieber 62. “Work (ft. Drake)” – Rihanna With Trouble Will Find Me, they committed to making some of their most stripped-down music since the mid-’00s. A furious selection selection of the songs and artists that shaped independent music between 2010 and 2019, featuring indie pop/rock, post-punk/ new wave, neo-folk, synthpop, dream pop, chillwave and more, compiled by NBHAP.com Separate playlists for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are also up. From alternative rock’s surprising reign to R&B’s resurgence, to pop’s continued evolution, here are the 100 best songs of the 2010s… so far! There is a lot of uncertainty, even fear, running through the album, apropos of our time. Strange Mercy is full of baroque pop and experimental indie rock, the song that best represents both sides of that coin being the undeniably catchy and adventurous single, “Cruel.”— D.R. It does seem like indie-label music fans are embracing pop sounds more than they did a few years ago, with bands like Best Coast, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Dum Dum Girls getting raves from Internet tastemakers. 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