Electronic artists a presence on ‘best albums of decade’ lists

As the decade comes to a close, we look back to compile lists of the very best highlights. Music magazines have published their “100 Best Albums of the 2010’s” that run the gamut of genres from hip hop to indie, to electronic music. 

This decade marks tremendous defining moments in the electronic music genre and features several spots on the lists for best albums of the decade. Here are some of the standout patterns of the Genius, Vice, Pitchfork, and Billboard lists.

EDM album picks of the decade

Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories album (2013) clung to spots in three of the lists, as the album came to set the scene for so much of the current disco and groove influences in EDM, particularly bass music.

Another work to come out of the 2013 era of the boom of EDM is Disclosure’s Settle. This album skyrocketed in popularity after the two DJs created a new path for house music. The production was well-suited for guest features across the album that launched their own careers–including Sam Smith, London Grammar, and AlunaGeorge.

Other artists that acquired nominations include Grimes’ Visions, Flying Lotus’s Cosmogramma, Kaytranda’s 99.9%, and Arca’s self-titled Arca. These more experimental and hip-hop influenced albums follow the trends of many of the reviewer’s other picks. 

Other genres with notable features

Albums included on every list included Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly, and Tame Impala’s Lonerism. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye and Mac Miller’s Swimming both grabbed nominations as well. Frank Ocean, Rihanna, and The Weeknd’s House of Balloons also hint to the incline of alternative R&B music over the decade. 

With the rise of electronic components in music today, we’d have liked to see more representation for the many electronic music albums from this decade. Namely, Flume’s self-titled album, Skrillex’s Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, and Avicii all shaped the genre throughout the decade.

Combing down the hundreds of thousands of albums released over the past ten years is no easy feat. The next decade will contain more masterpieces as the genres in music continue to blur, and artists push the envelope of production and experimentation.