Lucianblomkamp, Kllo and more local artists share their top music of the 2010s
Images by Jeff Andersen Jr.
Words by Fashion Journal
And predict what is to come.
To honour the milestone, MMW took the opportunity to reflect on some of the best artists and venues that have graced the festival’s programs over the last ten years.
We think looking back at the start of a new decade is a brilliant idea. So, we asked some standout Australian artists to reflect on the music that shaped their work and the industry throughout the ’10s.
Then, for balance, we got their predictions for the next musical era.
Kllo:
What’s been the most influential album of the last decade?
The most influential album for us is blond by Frank Ocean (2016). It’s the one album we replay over and over and never get over. He made a lot of bold choices that seem so effortless. He’s a massive inspiration to us, from the minimalistic approach in his production to his vocal delivery and lyrical content. Not only can we hear how it’s affected our sound, but also how it has shaped popular music today.
What can we expect from the future of music? Where will the next 10 years take us?
With the cyclical nature of music, the next 10 years will take us right back to where we were a decade prior. Musicians so often draw from the past in an effort to create new work. We can’t see that changing. Unless artificial intelligence takes over.
Baths:
What can we expect from the future of music? Where will the next 10 years take us?
I’m just always crossing my fingers for weirder music to appear in the mainstream, in whatever form it takes! Next year or 10 years from now, I’ll still be rooting for that. I love when a charting artist, single or album is something totally unprecedented.
Lucianblomkamp:
What’s been the most influential album of the last decade?
Come on, how the frickin’ heck am I supposed to know? The decade has been so unfathomably scattered stylistically that there’s no way to say. I know what influenced the decade for me but even those albums aren’t as relevant to me as they once were. Albums like Shlohmo’s Bad Vibes (2011), Kanye’s Yeezus (2013) and stuff like that come to mind. The self-titled James Blake album (2011) was a pretty huge turning point for a lot of people but it’d be moronic to say it was the most influential album full-stop. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs is objectively the best album of the 2010s but is it the most influential? Very, very unlikely.
What can we expect from the future of music? Where will the next 10 years take us?
Jeez Louise, these are some hectic questions. What do you want me to say? That I somehow predict the unprecedented rise of afro-cuban-nightcore? In the pursuit of self-expression, people will just continue to organically come up with new and zany blends of styles the same way they always have. Some will be good, some won’t.
Lonelyspeck:
What’s been the most influential album of the last decade?
It’s impossible to pick just one but I’m just going to say Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die (2012). Without it, I’m not sure we’d have hugely influential artists like Lorde, Billie Eilish, Halsey and this whole moody, breathy sound that has been one of the defining elements of pop music this decade.
What can we expect from the future of music? Where will the next 10 years take us?
I think a lot of the modern styles that are currently seen as subgenres or fusions are establishing themselves as primary genres in their own right, and commercial industry conventions will struggle to keep up with that. I imagine Western pop will mix more with the Latin and K-pop worlds. Streaming is definitely going to continue shaping the way pop music is written and listened to, which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing in itself. But I can also see streaming services monopolising the music industry more and more to the detriment of artists. We should be thinking about how we’re going to respond to that.
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