I'm struggling to really remember the early part of the decade. I remember specific records, films and whatnot, but I can't recall how it felt, what the mood was like, how I felt. I'd say the tail end has been characterised by a pervasive sense of unease and anxiety, everything just feels off, like the ground could go from beneath your feet at any moment.
I'm terrible at making those kinds of sweeping, large-scale observations but still...
to me it felt like the early 2010s were characterized aesthetically and maybe even culturally by tumblr. which is very much related to the whole “cocoon” idea. tumblr was obviously very associated with “SJW” culture but it still had a much more escapist, sensual (for lack of a better word), introverted quality than twitter (which arguably became culturally
central in the second half of the 2010s). digging through obscure art/images/music to arrive at your creative output. consequently there was “genrewave”, odd future, a$ap rocky, etc. stuff with distinct aesthetics that seemed very unconnected to anything in reality. then after 2016 a more (as you say) uneasy, unromantic tone emerged. vaporware became alt right “fashwave,” etc.
you can even see this shift in artists that on the surface don’t have anything to do with tumblr. compare the press release for lee gamble’s latest album that was discussed in another thread with “diversions 1994-1996”—which was inspired by rediscovering obscure jungle tunes on youtube, rather than “feelings of helplessness in the age of trump and brexit” or whatever. I mean looks at how he talks in
this interview and then the more recent one on resident advisor.