What Are the Best Records of the Decade?

A bunch of music writers were asked to weigh in with their picks.

Good morning!

To get us over the midweek hump, I thought I’d share something fun, and spotlight some great music writers and their takes on some great records.

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The music critic is dead. Long live the music critic.

We've all read this lament a bazillion times. We've seen it enough that you'd be excused for believing it. The same goes for the death of music magazines, reviews, etc.

We all know that the latter is simply not true. The delivery vehicles may have changed, but the end result has not. Actually, that's not true, either. It has changed, and IMO, for the better. It's all moved back toward indie writers, blog posts, and newsletters.

That's a good thing, IMO. A writer not beholden to ad revenue tends to give much more unvarnished takes than one who relies on record labels to make the revenue.

The other trope is that there's no such thing as good music anymore. People who believe that either have a closed mind, aren't looking hard enough, or both (probably both). If anything, it's just the opposite. There's almost too much great stuff being released. It can all be overwhelming…in all the best ways.

To tie all of the above together, Andrew Belt from the 5-to-9 Blog brought several fantastic writers into the room to share their thoughts on the best music of this decade (so far). I also somehow got an invite.

As I note in my introduction,

That said, anyone saying there's nothing good coming out anymore should stop yelling at clouds and start embracing new methods of music discovery. You can teach an old dog new tricks, and I'm proof of it.

Casey Kasem, magazines, and A & R reps first gave way to social media platforms like Spotify. The sands have again shifted, and the best places to find new music--whether from emerging artists or old favorites- are blogs, newsletters from indie writers, and Discord servers.

At this digital round table, each writer was asked to make their picks and explain why they chose what they did. The top vote-getters will be highlighted in a special upcoming episode.

The disparate picks here reflect the fact that in 2025, there is something out there for everyone—something good. It’s worth noting that all of these categories are appended with “so far.” At the rate we’re going, someone or something might top all of these in the space between my typing this up and it landing in your inbox. Who knows? It’s just been that great of a decade (so far).

Below are each of the writers and each category. The writing is incredible, and the opinions are thought-provoking. All are worth your time. You can also vote for your faves, so if stuffing the ballot box is your thing, share this with a friend or two!

Meet the Panel

Artist of the Decade

Best songs

Best EPs

Favorite LPs

The Moment of the Decade (so far)

If you have some strong thoughts on any of these (or any on the full list), please weigh in! Don’t forget to vote early and vote often! Polls close on June 7th.

Thanks for being here,

KA—

P.S. Huge shout to

Kiley Larsen

of Mama Manana records fame for first connecting Andrew and I!

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P.S. Have you seen Salon Du Monde?