To find out my ten favorite albums from the last decade I just picked the #1 album from my previous best album lists since 2010 to 2019, and here is the list!

In fact, these are records that I can listen to on and on and on, and they never get bored. There are mainly synthpop releases, but there are a few of synthpop related genres, like dreampop or indiepop.

2010.

Babylonia's second album is a masterpiece, just like their first one: I like every track on it; there's no need to skip any of them. Roberto's synth creativity and Max's superb vocals blend together again to give pure enjoyment to the listeners. In comparison to their first album, this one heightens the ripeness of their tunes, lyrics and overall sound.
The singles out of this album have great videoclips, but not very good remixes, sometimes the dancefloor doesn't get along with synthpop... Anyway, I insist: 'Motel La Solitude' is a masterpiece from start to end.

Songs that I liked the most: Beautiful losers, Better days, Ethereal connection.

2011.

The album commences with melodious synth-pop track ‘Bound’, that is followed by catchy and passionate ‘Your king’ embellished with interesting melody lines and unexpected hook in the chorus. Dynamic ‘Ends and the means’, which chorus arrangements bear a resemblance to some eighties music, raises the tempo a bit and shares the band’s views on thoughtless following the imposed rules with a conclusion that “ends don't justify the means”. ‘Hauteur’ reveals impressive might of emotional clear vocals of Geoff Tripoli. The energetic beat of the next ‘The crime’ guarantees the song high dance floor capability, while space-sounding synths in the ending freshen it up. ‘In between’ deepens the atmosphere and one more time proves MONODY’s ability to create intricate melody development. A beautiful ballad ‘Thanks to you’ continues slowing down the pace with its atmospheric vast sound textures.

Songs that I liked the most: Your king, Thanks to you.

2012.

Well, the full title is 'Silence - Musical accompaniment for the end of the world (songs for two pianos, tactful synths and voice)'. And it is a conceptual album about apocalypsis.

This album was released on April 14th, 2012. The release date was selected on account of its exquisite catastrophic pedigree, it marks the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic.

The album features ten songs performed by two remarkable pianists, Igor Vicentic (with whom Silence first collaborated on The Passion of the Cold) and Sašo Vollmaier. The pianos were recorded at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb. The vocals and synthesizers were recorded in Silence's private production facility, the Daily Girl studio.

Silence's engagement in theatre -especially the ongoing collaboration with director Tomaž Pandur- has had a prominent role in shaping the album's sound. It has prompted the duet's decision to discard drums and bass in favor of an intimate, predominantly acoustic sound. It has also nudged the piano arrangements toward a more classical feel.

The album's title and cinematic atmosphere, however, stem from Silence's infatuation with movies. 'Musical Accompaniment...' pays tribute to the work of Hladnik's late father, renowned director Boštjan Hladnik. Sequences from Hladnik's films Fable of Love (1954), Masquerade (1971) and Dancing in the Rain (1961) were reissued as videos for three songs from the album; Death is New York, Heart of Darkness and Electricity. Even though they're divided by decades, the footage and the music fuse seamlessly, yielding an extraordinary father/son collaboration.

Songs that I liked the most: Hunger, Electricity, Death in New York, Sturmschlager.

2013.

This time around they bring back the formula that made them so good in the first place, lots of electronics, turning off -a little bit- the guitar amps.

The quality throughout the album is pretty stable and I can't say that there is a song on here I dislike, although some stick out a bit more than others, for example "Automation baby" and "Born to lie" which was the first single, and for good reasons. Some tracks take a bit longer to get a hold on, but once you do it just gives the album the variation it needs to keep it going for 14 tracks. A couple of instrumental tracks also gives it some nice breathing room, further enhancing the overall feel of the album. Mark Hockings' vocal performance is as good as ever. His British accent has a way of shining through here and there, leaving for a even more delicate and beautiful performance.

I really had high hopes for this album and I can truly say that it did not disappoint. Every thing I love about Mesh is represented on this album. I admire them for going in a different direction with their previous album, but I admire them even more for going back to their roots with this one. After so many albums it's always the danger of recycling old material and basically just releasing something "new" in a different wrapping. This is so not the case here, yes they use the same formula but the end product feels as fresh and new as anything they've done in the past.

So as for now there's really nothing wrong with sticking to the formula that works, and 'Automation baby' really is the proof of that.

Songs that I liked the most: Just leave us alone, This is the time, Adjust your set, Never meet your heroes.

2014.

This is Jonna Lee to the mysterious, conceptual audiovisual collaboration evasively called iamamiwhoami with producer Claes Björklund all in the same year. Lee's musical projects are inordinately concerned with identity, so it's not surprising that she views iamamiwhoami's third release 'Blue' as a reflection of herself in concert with the internet community that forms the backbone of the group's genesis. For a project that began with shadowed and monstrous music videos and an anonymous front woman, iamamiwhoami has come a long way.
This project is equal parts music, cinematic visuals and Lee's surreal persona, and must be taken as a whole. But stepping into the realm of iamamiwhoami for the first time can be overwhelming.

This album is full of synth-driven compositions, obsessive focus on imagery and concept and Lee's reverb-laced vocals. It becomes a departure when viewing the sinister darkness of previous releases against the sea-foam aquatics that dominate these new tracks.

'Fountain' announces in no uncertain terms the transition from brooding woods to the inviting expanse of the sea. The accompanying dreamy video sees Lee outfitted in pure white and her frosty lashes give the impression of a Scandinavian ice queen. But the music itself is clearer and brighter. The production achieves an electro-pop clarity seemingly at odds with the group's gritty sound. While synths still dominate, they are smoother and in perfect balance with the track's uncharacteristically simple melody. For all the carefree, aquatic imagery, Lee's visual character still inhabits a dangerous world. The black jump-suited pursuers of 'Hunting for pearl' are a notable carryover from her first album 'kin', driving her to the sea as much as Lee herself is searching for a boundless plain with convenient icebergs to dance on.

iamamiwhoami makes a concerted effort on 'Blue' to forgot some of the surrealism in favor of more broadly appealing tracks that border on mainstream dance pop, or as close as they will ever get. Lush synth lines and epic choruses dominate the album. 'Vista' is all simmering grandeur with synths that reflect more than a hint of an 80's influence, while the rolling synths on standout 'Blue blue' complement a rare intelligible vocal from Lee. But 'Chasing kites' is the understated successor to both, blending radio-friendly structure with familiar pop.

The cascading waves of 'Fountain' have evidently made way for the rebirth of iamamiwhoami. The duo is washed clean of the claustrophobic nature of their previous material and boldly presents their take on Scandinavian dream pop. The artistic choice points toward broader accessibility, but the decision cannot be said to be safe. For a project whose cult appeal was mysticism and intrigue, glacial dance pop is an unexpected turn, but one that will undoubtedly go in their favor.

Songs that I liked the most: Vista, Blue blue, Fountain, Chasing kites, Tap your glass, Hunting for pearls.

2015.

‘Violently beautiful’ is the second album by Swedish trio Biomekkanik, a spirited jump through a variety of electronic musical hoops, but assured and full of purpose. There is much drivel produced in and around the so-called synth-pop genre, so it is hugely refreshing to hear some genuine talent and ambition based on experience, and a quiet confidence in the actual song-writing that lets everything breathe in a natural and organic way. It’s good stuff. 'Monumental me' gets the pulse racing from the off. With furious industrial pounding, it heads straight for the dance-floor and refuses to budge. 'True believers' follows, capturing the dark tunefulness of early Covenant.

The world could probably do without 'Kamikaze playboy', but once the title track clicks and slinks itself into your consciousness it won't matter. It's wonderfully sung, there's something of Depeche Mode in there, and it has a menacing build-up to a towering chorus. Then there's the gorgeous future-pop of 'Long forgotten future', with its passionately strained vocals and perfectly placed guitars, the sing-along 'Melancholy friend' which is Talk Talk and Fiction Factory reformed and joining forces, and the industrial thump of the frankly fabulous 'Leather and steel'. Things don't slack off either. The eastern-tinged 'Democracy' is another dance-floor pounder, jittery and paranoid, twitching in its eagerness "to come and teach you democracy". And closing track 'Dry dusty ground' is fragile and beautiful, a wonderfully melancholy piece. It yearns and wrings its hands, trying desperately not to cry. But let it go, I say, this is proper music to weep to.

The real success of this album, is the amount of space the band have left for themselves. Without spreading themselves too thinly, they have mastered a variety of styles and sub-genres to create a perfectly formed whole, with further explorations and refining of their sound absolutely possible. You feel this is a band only just beginning to stretch themselves. When they really go for it, there could be magic.

Songs that I liked the most: Monumental me, Long forgotten future, Melancholy friend, Violently beautiful.

2016.

The songs that comprise 'SVIIB', School of Seven Bells' latest and possibly final LP, were written shortly before member Benjamin Curtis died in 2013 from sudden-onset lymphoma and completed by band co-founder and Curtis' partner Alejandra Deheza after his death. While it's remarkable that SVIIB exists at all, let alone in such fine form, what’s even more remarkable is how resilient, even joyful it is. These are generous songs, the product of deep caring.

The songs included in 'SVIIB', though, had existed for a while; specifically since 2012, recorded during a couple idyllic sessions. “We were finally in this place of just perfect peace, just being best friends,” Deheza said in an interview last year. So she wrote the lyrics to 'SVIIB' as a largely biographical memorial of their relationship, romantic and platonic, through breakups and hardships and emotional pits. Even the title, its faux-Latinized shorthand (and it being the group’s only self-titled release), now reads like the heading to a last chapter, a deliberate final statement.

School of Seven Bells have always made tweaks and refinements from their essential sound, and SVIIB doesn’t depart from it. But where their earlier material sometimes seemed detached, or more concerned with mystic metaphors than emotional clarity, 'SVIIB' is viscerally felt. Every track on 'SVIIB' is one Curtis had worked on before his death, and the conceit—and the fact that Deheza followed it through to the album’s completion—lends eerie resonance to lyrics like “open your eyes, love, you’ve got me crying.”

'SVIIB' is undoubtedly a hard listen at times for those who have followed the group, particularly when its context breaks into the songs. 'Confusion' is bleak and tremulous—the exhaustion in Deheza’s vocals is not acting—and in the right mood, completely gutting. But while it’s remarkable that SVIIB exists at all, let alone in such fine form, what’s even more remarkable is how resilient, even joyful it is. These are generous songs, the product of deep caring. 'A thousand times more' surges and reassures, the musical equivalent to a personal cheering squad; even the lover’s tiff of 'On my heart' is devoid of sour notes, collapsing into a swoon after its bridge and staying there.

Nor is the album stuck in the heady, bodiless realm. 'Signals' is deadly serious and deadly dramatic: god, guns, glitches, snakes, bass choirs and congregations all making lyrical appearances, but all before a sledge of a riff in the chorus that hits as hard and sure as sudden attraction -a huge hook, right to the nerves. 'Open your eyes', though it retains some of the group’s typically idiosyncratic songwriting and meandering phrasing, is the most straightforward pop ballad SVIIB have recorded -Deheza’s speak-singing resembles a number of current radio hits, and change a few chords and the piano and percussion would evoke closing credits. But the song would not work any other way. SVIIB’s career, from beginning to likely end -has been a process of paring down their sound, jettisoning all extraneous material until all that’s left is emotional truth. And 'SVIIB' is not only the group’s most technically accomplished work, their perfected swan song -it feels true. You couldn’t ask for a better memorial than that.

Songs that I liked the most: Signals, This is our time, A thousand times more, Elias, Confusion.

2017.

After some singles, EP's, and a split/reformation including the departure of some members, this London based trio released its first full album. Mt. Wolf wisely blends a lot of elements from different music genres: electronic, indie, ethereal, folk, shoegaze and post-rock. They show this on beautiful songs, short instrumental interludes/reprises, and on 6 or 9 minute-long masterly works.

Almost every song on this record has crescendo on the instrumentation; every set of arrangements are constructed pure beauty. Aetherlight pushes song writing to monumental heights: dark atmospheres, delightful percussion, increasing vocal layerings, complex harmony and obscure lyrics.

This album is also available in an instrumental version, for the ones that need more Aetherlight, as I do. Definitely the best album of the year 2017, period.

Songs that I liked the most: The electric, Soteria, Heavenbound, Dorji, Anacrusis.

2018.

Songs that I liked the most: The sound of music, The lonely goatherd, So long, farewell, Maria/Korea, Sixteen going on seventeen.

2019.

"If all the ice melted" is the debut album by Lunaires. The eight tracks of this album are more electronic based (all the bass lines are synth sequences) and they sound like a mix of Cocteau Twins and Slowdive with electronic arrangements. On the information about the album, they wrote: "It’s an emotional album about challenging struggles and definitive departures and how to live with them".
The artwork of this album is just wonderful, but it is a revival of an old record cover from the sixties: "Undercurrent" by Bill Evans and Jim Hall.

Songs that I liked the most: Spring waiting still, Naked invisible, Unbound, Nightfall.