david k frampton

I debated whether to do a list this year. Lists usually imply some kind of knowledge or deeper understanding of culture made by critics who have to keep some kind of status quo for the publication. A decade where I became increasingly sceptical that there was in fact ‘good’ or ‘bad’ music, just response and feeling. Where any album can make you feel so alive and good. A decade where I learnt that a Beyonce album could stir my heart as much as the latest Big Business, where the Curious Mystery could blow me away on an icy walk to the coast or Richard Ashcroft could rouse me as much as touted genius Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy on a stroll through the locks of Oxford. A decade where Unsane could tear my face off and Low could stitch it back on. A loss of bodily functions to the music of Plastician, falling asleep to the lucid thrills of Sa-Ra Creative Partners. In any place, I discovered, any album could leave a mark, any musician. But then I realised that there in fact 10 statements this decade, albums that were so vast, so over-powering that they stood apart. 10 albums that represented themes and ideas executed with a sense of absolute perfection. Sure they can all do that, and they all do, no-one is wrong, but this 10…well each one has a personal story..a personal love affair. So this is it, the DKF top 10 of the decade!

1) D’ Angelo- Voodoo (2000)
2) Frida Hyvonen- Silence Is Wild (2009)
3) Burial- Untrue (2007)
4) Melvins- A Senile Animal (2006)
5) PJ Harvey- White Chalk (2007)
6) Neil Michael Haggerty- Introducing The Howling Hex (2003)
7) Calvin Johnson- Before The Dream Faded…(2005)
8) Spiritualized- Songs In A+E (2008)
9) Autechre- Confield (2001)
10) Helmet- SIze Matters (2004)