June 25, 2020
jmunney
Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Music
Adele, Ariana Grande, Beck, Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Beyoncé, Carly Rae Jepsen, Charli XCX, Childish Gambino, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Hans Zimmer, Janelle Monáe, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Kendrick Lamar, Kesha, Lady GaGa, Lana del Rey, Lizzo, Lorde, Major Lazer, Miguel, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Sia, St. Vincent, Tame Impala, Taylor Swift, Tegan and Sara, The Black Keys, The Weeknd, Tove Lo, Vampire Weekend, Weird Al Yankovic
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots
One more list! One more list!
My Best of the 2010s list-making journey has finally come to a close! (Or has it? … For now, it has at least. The future will come as it may, and it may just surprise you, and me.) All this week, I’ve been posting my rankings of a few categories that I was inspired to put together after submitting them to a Best of the 2010s polls that I’m participating in with some of my fellow cultural aficionados. To wrap it all up, I guide you along to the realm of music and lyrics, as I present the Best Musical Artists of the 2010s.
My criteria was similar to that of my choices for Best Film Directors. I considered a combination of how much I enjoyed their musical output as well as how much – and how well – they influenced the industry at large.
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April 16, 2020
jmunney
Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Music
Adele, Ariana Grande, AWOLNATION, Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Beyoncé, Carly Rae Jepsen, Childish Gambino, Daft Punk, Disclosure, DJ Snake, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Kendrick Lamara, Kesha, Lana del Rey, Lil Jon, Lorde, Miguel, Miley Cyrus, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Sia, Tame Impala, Taylor Swift, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, Tove Lo
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots
Of all the pieces of art and entertainment that I’m ranking for the decade, songs are probably the most personal. Yet somehow I feel compelled to consider how they affected the world at large moreso than all the other categories. The tunes that I value the most aren’t just the ones that make my own heart sing but also the ones that draw all of us closer together. So as I assembled this list, I asked myself both, “What has made me dance these past 10 years?” and “How would I like to dance with everyone else?” Here’s what that playlist looks like.
(I aimed to stick only to songs that were released as singles, as opening this to deep album cuts would’ve made things so overheated.)
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April 2, 2020
jmunney
Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Music
A Seat at the Table, Audio Video Disco, Avicii, Awaken My Love!, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Best of the Decade, Beyoncé, Black Messiah, Blackstar, Brothers, Childish Gambino, Circuital, D'Angelo, D'Angelo & the Vanguard, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Disclosure, Duck Sauce, Justice, Kanye West, Lana del Rey, Lemonade, Lonerism, Lorde, Miguel, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, My Morning Jacket, No Geography, Norman Fucking Rockwell, Pure Heroine, Quack, Random Access Memories, Settle, Solange, St. Vincent, Strange Mercy, Tame Impala, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, True, Wildheart
One of the big themes about entertainment in the past decade is the incomprehensible explosion of available content in every medium. While this may be a recent development in cinema and television, it’s been the case for music for centuries, or even millennia. Since humans have been banging on rocks and clapping their hands, really. Of course, it was a little more recent than that when recorded music became readily available.
This is all to say, I of course haven’t listened to every album of the past ten years that made its way onto SoundCloud or Spotify, or even all the Billboard chart-toppers. But I did listen to enough of them to be able to assemble a vibrant and varied soundtrack of my life in the 2010s. Here are the musical collections of the era that I just haven’t been able to stop pushing play on.
[4/2/20 2:00 PM UPDATE: This post originally mistakenly included Justice’s †, which came out in 2007.]
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January 31, 2020
jmunney
Best of 2019, Best of Music 2019, Music
Ariana Grande, Beck, Best of 2019, Billie Eilish, Brittany Howard, Camila Cabello, FKA Twigs, Harry Styles, Lana del Rey, Lizzo, Sleater-Kinney, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, Tyler the Creator, Vampire Weekend
It’s been a few years since I’ve made an Albums of the Year list, but I really felt compelled to make one for 2019. Here are the audio compilations from the recent past that really made an impact on me:
14. Camila Cabello, Romance – Fun and bouncy.
13. Harry Styles, Fine Line – I like where Harry is headed.
12. Beck, Hyperspace – Reliable Beck.
11. Brittany Howard, Jaime – Great, big rockin’ voice goes solo.
10. The Black Keys, Let’s Rock – They never stopped rocking.
9. Ariana Grande, thank u, next – Lots of adventure from Ari.
8. Sleater-Kinney, The Center Won’t Hold – Band broke up, music’s still great.
7. Tyler, the Creator, IGOR – I feel so comfortable inside this album.
6. FKA Twigs, MAGDALENE – FKA reminds me of Bat for Lashes.
5. Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride – Those Vampire Weekend guys have still got a hold on me.
4. Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell! – What a soundscape!
3. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Just plenty of fun.
2. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You – I love you, too!
1. The Chemical Brothers, No Geography – Apocalyptic concept album.
June 28, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Annabelle Comes Home, Fred Savage, Let's Rock, The Black Keys, What Just Happened??!, Yesterday
CREDIT: Pamela Littky/FOX
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Annabelle Comes Home (Theatrically Nationwide)
–Yesterday (Theatrically Nationwide) – Beatles Content
TV
–What Just Happened??! Series Premiere (June 30 on FOX) – Fred Savage hosts fake-recap show.
Music
-The Black Keys, Let’s Rock
May 11, 2014
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Charlize Theron, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 39, SNL, SNL Season 39, The Black Keys
Do you know where Arbalato Street is?
A Mother’s Day Message from Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton
Vanessa has got Hillary’s vibe down, but the voice isn’t really close. Sasheer’s Michelle was decent. The back and forth of the tension was solid. Hillary having not yet decided if she will run for mother of the year was a clever way to do an obvious joke. B-
Charlize Theron’s Monologue
I thought this was aiming to be a meta takedown of how so many SNL monologues are singing bits, and maybe it was, but it didn’t really work that way, instead being just another singing SNL monologue that kind of joked about how it was a bad idea to do that yet again. Charlize’s line about men still liking her despite her height was worth a laugh, though, with Beck playing that moment well. C+
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December 5, 2011
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37, Steve Buscemi, The Black Keys
Cold Opening – A Message from the President of the United States
Interestingly enough, while I did think that this was one of the better message from the president cold opens in a while, I noticed what a lot of viewers have been saying lately: Fred’s Obama is getting worse. This had the feel of a Wayne’s World top ten countdown. Obama didn’t quite have the energy that Wayne and Garth have, but he did have something. And points are deserved for all of the comments being right on target. B
Steve Buscemi’s Monologue
The problem with this monologue wasn’t so much that it was it was one of those “I’m going to explain to the audience my most notable characteristic, even though they already know that about me” monologues, it was that the character actors who were asking Steve for advice were playing too-specific characters. Steve’s oeuvre of creepy roles show a greater range than a series of sassy black judges, or rapping grandmas, or even clumsy best friends from romantic comedies, and that dissonance was too great to overcome. C+
Frozen Mexican Dinner
Fish can help with constipation? B-
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January 9, 2011
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Jim Carrey, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 36, SNL, SNL Season 36, The Black Keys
Cold Opening – A Message from Michael Bloomberg
The humor of snow bamboozlement is long overdue. There were several individual items in this sketch that were funny, but the list format rendered matters a little stale overall. This is a rare example of a sketch that was “too New York.” Fred’s Bloomberg impression may have been accurate, but I don’t really know. Bloomberg just isn’t as well-known outside of New York as, say, Giuliani was. B
Jim Carrey’s Monologue
This is exactly the sort of positive energy we could hope for when Jim Carrey hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE! And Lisa Loeb’s sister sure is cute. Too bad she’s taken. B+
Bosley Hair Restoration
Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again. Original Grade: B+
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