Quick Poll: AMF Greatest Artists of the 2010s (So Far)

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:51 am

After all those elimination games from a variety of Greatest Artists lists (Rolling Stone, DDD, etc.), filled with weighty historical names in music (and the fierce discussions that come along with it), how about returning to the present tense and doing a quick artists poll about the current decade?

The rules:

List your 5 favorite artists from the 2010s (2010-2013).

I know you guys love all kinds of complicated rating systems but mine is very simple: The number one on a list receives 5 points, number two gets 4 points, number three 3 points, number four 2 points, number five only 1 point.

As said earlier it's a quick poll, so I will keep this open just for one week, until the 19th of june.

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:52 am

OK, I'll start:

01. James Blake
02. Kanye West
03. Tame Impala
04. Janelle Monae
05. Nicolas Jaar

Jirin · Post by **Jirin** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:19 am

It's hard to say because there's so few artists who have released more than one album so far.

I'll say:
1. The National
2. Anais Mitchell
3. Janelle Monae
4. Tom Waits
5. Gang Gang Dance

HRS · Post by **HRS** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:31 am

1. Joanna Newsom
2. PJ Harvey
3. Swans
4. TUNE YARDS
5. Fiona Apple

No big surprises here, just the artists I've connected most with.

acroamor · Post by **acroamor** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:31 am

1. Kanye West
2. Japandroids
3. M83
4. Frank Ocean
5. Death Grips

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:12 am

1. Kanye West
2. Beach House
3. Frank Ocean
4. LCD Soundsystem
5. Vampire Weekend

slick · Post by **slick** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:17 am

1. M83
2. The National
3. Vampire Weekend
4. Daft Punk
5. Tame Impala

Post by **Henrik** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:31 am

1. The Black Keys
2. PJ Harvey
3. Beach House
4. iamamiwhoami
5. Daft Punk

antonius · Post by **antonius** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:57 am

1.The National
2.James Blake
3.Tallest Man on Earth
4.The Roots
5.Frank Ocean
...as they have all made 2 albums that I both like in the 2010s.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:13 am

1. Kanye West
2. The National
3. The Black Keys
4. Arcade Fire
5. Ondatropica

6. Ry Cooder
7. The Roots
8. Lykke Li
9. Beach House
10. Joanna Newsom
11. James Blake
12. Janelle Monae
13. Fleet Foxes
14. PJ Harvey
15. Frank Ocean

Stephan · Post by **Stephan** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:11 am

Tricky; I think in two years or so this'll be a lot easier since most artists will have released at least two albums in the 2010s.

1. The National
2. The Tallest Man on Earth
3. Beach House
4. Angus & Julia Stone
5. Josh T. Pearson

Otisredding · Post by **Otisredding** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:11 am

1 Kanye West
2 Frank Ocean
3 Bon Iver
4 James Blake
5 Joana Newsom

Michel · Post by **Michel** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:44 am

1. Fauve (the French band, not the Swiss guy)
2. Deerhunter
3. Battles
4. The Fall
5. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
6. PJ Harvey
7. The National

Nassim · Post by **Nassim** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:17 pm

1. Kanye West
2. Frank Ocean (actually more for Nostalgia, Ultra than channel ORANGE)
3. Sufjan Stevens
4. El-P (both as artist and producer)
5. Burial

I considered Four Tet, Low, the Roots and Swans too for having 2 releases I enjoy.

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:02 pm

Stephan wrote:Tricky; I think in two years or so this'll be a lot easier since most artists will have released at least two albums in the 2010s.

Yes you're absolutely right. However, let's not forget that we're already three and a half years into the 2010s. It will be interesting to compare the results of this humble poll with the end of decade lists we'll (hopefully) get in the future. My prediction is that many artists who established themselves in the last decade by then have kinda vanished from memory and replaced by typical 2010s favorites.

Bruno · Post by **Bruno** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:58 pm

1. Kanye West
2. Frank Ocean
3. Adele
4. Daft Punk
5. The Arcade Fire

Chilton · Post by **Chilton** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:11 pm

1. Laura Marling
2. The Black Keys
3. Balthazar (the Belgian band)
4. The National
5. James Blake
(6. Amatorski, another Belgian Band)

TimmyWing · Post by **TimmyWing** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:02 pm

Okay this took a lot of narrowing down. Tried to judge it on continued output throughout the decade so far, rather than just a solitary good album or something.

1. Kanye West
2. Bon Iver (exception to the rule - Bon Iver, Bon Iver was just too good)
3. Frank Ocean
4. Death Grips
5. Jai Paul

Honorary Mention:
6. Miguel (so sorry!!)

Chris K. · Post by **Chris K.** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:02 pm

1. Vampire Weekend
2. James Blake
3. The National
4. Deerhunter
5. Frank Ocean

Romain · Post by **Romain** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:31 pm

1. Portugal! The Man
2. The Black Keys
3. Asaf Avidan
4. Anna Calvi
5. Beach House

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 4:19 am

I really like the idea of this poll, Mindrocker. It really got me thinking about what artists I liked best right NOW and who is really moving music forward. I had a heavy bias for artists who have already had multiple releases this decade, though I haven't listened to too many 2013 albums, so this is mainly a 2010-2012 list.

1. Swans (#1 album of 2012, #1 album of 2010)
2. Actress (#3 album of 2012, #3 album of 2010)
3. Andy Stott (#9 album of 2012, #2 album of 2011)
4. The Roots (#5 album of 2011, #4 album of 2010)
5. Peaking Lights (#13 album of 2012, #4 album of 2011)
---
6. Liars
7. Burial
8. Julia Holter
9. Tame Impala
10. Four Tet
11. Kendrick Lamar
12. Flying Lotus
13. Fucked Up
14. Janelle Monae
15. PJ Harvey

Post by **Honorio** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 6:00 am

1. Kanye West
2. The Black Keys
3. Daft Punk
4. PJ Harvey
5. The National

Henry · Post by **Henry** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 6:13 am

1. Arcade Fire
2. LCD Soundsystem
3. Janelle Monae
4. Silversun Pickups
5. Beach House
6. Wilco
7. Vampire Weekend
8. Black Keys

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 2:03 pm

1. Within Temptation
2. Chromatics
3. Arcade Fire
4. John Talabot
5. Silversun Pickups

6. Crystal Castles
7. Grimes
8. The National
9. Foals
10. Wadada Leo Smith

PlasticRam · Post by **PlasticRam** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 4:02 pm

1. Kanye West

The only artist that could crack the top 100 on Acclaimed Music with his 2010s work alone, correct me if I'm wrong.

Chilton · Post by **Chilton** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 11:37 pm

Apparently there's little love for Laura Marling, despite three fantastic albums already

whuntva · Post by **whuntva** » Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:37 am

1) Swans (One of my favorite bands ever. Only got better with age.)
2) Black Keys (Knew them before, love them now)
3) Deftones (Two solid albums this decade.)
4) The National (Best new discovery. not a new
5) Janelle Monae (Okay, why isn't she more popular?)
6) Kanye West (would I get shot here for calling MBTF "overrated"? I don't hate it, but it's not his best)
7) PJ Harvey (LES Best album of 2011.)
8) Kasabian (Velociraptor! is a masterpiece.)
9) Arcade Fire (Suburbs was decent enough. Let's hope the bells of "Sell-out" don't ring)
10) Daft Punk (I like their new albums alright)

Maschine_Man · Post by **Maschine_Man** » Sun Jun 16, 2013 8:55 am

1. Joanna Newsom (Have One On Me is my #10)
2. St. Vincent (Strange Mercy and her work with David Byrne)
3. Janelle Monae (I have been in love from the first time I saw the Many Moons video)
4. Little Dragon (Machine Dreams wasn't released until late 2010 in Australia, so yeah)
5. Gorrilaz (I saw the Plastic Beach tour for my 19th birthday, it was pretty amazing)

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:12 pm

Not sure if I have the time today to do the balloting, so this poll will stay open one more day.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:30 pm

1. Beach House
2. Arbouretum
3. The Men
4. Swans
5. Tame Impala

Thanks!

BleuPanda · Post by **BleuPanda** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:35 pm

1. Kanye West
2. James Blake
3. Frank Ocean
4. LCD Soundsystem
5. Arcade Fire

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:33 pm

Pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of artists mentioned in this poll. Three black artists in the top 10, plus 3 female (or female-fronted) acts in the upper ten.

Okay, here are the results:
(In case of same amount of points, the artist with the highest individual ranking by one of the voters gets the edge).

01. Kanye West (54 points)
no.1 one votes: Acroamor, Nick, Dan, Otisredding, Nassim, Bruno, TimmyWing, Honorio, PlasticRam, BleuPanda

02. The National (30) no.1 votes: Jirin, Antonius, Stephan
03. Frank Ocean (25)
04. Black Keys (24) no.1 vote: Henrik
05. James Blake (20) no.1 vote: Mindrocker
06. Beach House (17) no.1 vote: Brad
07. Swans (15) no.1 votes: Jackson, Whuntva
08. The Arcade Fire (12) no.1 vote: Henry
09. Janelle Monae (12)
10. Joanna Newsom (11) no.1 votes: HRS, Maschine_Man

11. PJ Harvey (10)
12. Vampire Weekend (9) no.1 vote: Chris K.
13. M83 (8) no.1 vote: Slick
14. LCD Soundsystem (8)
15. Daft Punk (8)
16. Bon Iver (7)
17. Tallest Man On Earth (7)
18. Deerhunter (6)
19. Fauve (5) no.1 vote: Michel
19. Laura Marling (5) no.1 vote: Chilton
19. Portugal! The Man (5) no.1 vote: Romain
19. Within Temptation (5) no.1 vote: jamieW

The winner was of course predictable (although The National initially displayed fierce competition, later on they fell behind). But there are a couple of surprises in the list. Didn't expect the high ranking of Frank Ocean. Also, the no.5 spot for my beloved James Blake is a satisfying result. The Swans (30 years into their professional career) at no.7 is not bad either. Others fared less though. Sufjan Stevens, responsible for one of the most acclaimed albums of 2010, was only mentioned once. And Burial, by many considered the greatest electronica producer from the last 10 years, only gathered one point.

Thanks very much everyone for your participation!!

Bruno · Post by **Bruno** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:19 pm

Good top 10! =)

Thanks, Mindrocker!

Mattceinicram · Post by **Mattceinicram** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:20 pm

1. Kanye West
2. Frank Ocean
3. Arcade Fire
4. Janelle Monae
5. Vampire Weekend

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:22 pm

1. Beach House
2. The National
3. Andy Stott
4. Four Tet
5. PJ Harvey

Not very easy...

Mindrocker · Post by **Mindrocker** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:42 pm

Sorry guys, this poll was already closed 4 days ago (see the above posts, including end results).

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:43 pm

Yes, I know I was too late. Unfortunately. Still wanted to make and share a list nonetheless.
Good idea though.

Would be nice to do a big artist/album/songs poll of the first half of the decade in 2015.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:42 pm

Mindrocker wrote: 01. Kanye West (54 points)
no.1 one votes: Acroamor, Nick, Dan, Otisredding, Nassim, Bruno, TimmyWing, Honorio, PlasticRam, BleuPanda
02. The National (30) no.1 votes: Jirin, Antonius, Stephan
03. Frank Ocean (25)
04. Black Keys (24) no.1 vote: Henrik
05. James Blake (20) no.1 vote: Mindrocker
06. Beach House (17) no.1 vote: Brad
07. Swans (15) no.1 votes: Jackson, Whuntva
08. The Arcade Fire (12) no.1 vote: Henry
09. Janelle Monae (12)
10. Joanna Newsom (11) no.1 votes: HRS, Maschine_Man

11. PJ Harvey (10)
12. Vampire Weekend (9) no.1 vote: Chris K.
13. M83 (8) no.1 vote: Slick
14. LCD Soundsystem (8)
15. Daft Punk (8)
16. Bon Iver (7)
17. Tallest Man On Earth (7)
18. Deerhunter (6)
19. Fauve (5) no.1 vote: Michel
19. Laura Marling (5) no.1 vote: Chilton
19. Portugal! The Man (5) no.1 vote: Romain
19. Within Temptation (5) no.1 vote: jamieW

The winner was of course predictable (although The National initially displayed fierce competition, later on they fell behind). But there are a couple of surprises in the list. Didn't expect the high ranking of Frank Ocean. Also, the no.5 spot for my beloved James Blake is a satisfying result. The Swans (30 years into their professional career) at no.7 is not bad either. Others fared less though. Sufjan Stevens, responsible for one of the most acclaimed albums of 2010, was only mentioned once. And Burial, by many considered the greatest electronica producer from the last 10 years, only gathered one point.

Thanks very much everyone for your participation!!

Just seeing these results now. I am surprised by the Black Keys at number 4. I love "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling", but my taste for these guys diminished after seeing them live...it was 20 similar sounding songs in a row. I don't think they have the variety or creativity to really be a great artist, despite the greatness of their best material.

And re:Burial...if the poll was over the last 10 years, he might be my number 1 or 2 artist. But I didn't feel like his 2 EPs justified putting him over great artists with a couple full lengths under their belt this decade. More disappointing to me is that no one else recognized Actress or Andy Stott, who each have multiple brilliant and creative releases this decade.

Also, while Kanye at #1 is understandable, how is Kendrick not even in the top 20 then? GKMC plus his other releases this decade would seemingly make him a top 10 or 5 artist.

Post by **Henrik** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:49 pm

As the one who put Black Keys at #1 it seems logical to defend their 4th position, but I understand you very well Jackson. Their output is not varied, although they have definitely made a move from stripped down blues rock in the 00s to a more accessible and bigger sound. Anyway, they're the only artists with two great albums so far of this decade IMO, and that's why I put them in the top. Another reason might be that I'm kind of a late fan (I got really hooked on them about half a year ago) and have never raved about them before, so I took the chance here.