25. Angel Olsen –
My Woman
24. Black Mountain – IV
23. Nothing – Tired of Tomorrow
22. Moon Hooch – Red Sky
21. Kishi Bashi – Sonderlust
The Top 20:
20. PUP – The Dream Is Over
While it may
not be the most unique album, The Dream
Is Over checks a lot of my musical boxes. This album does pop leaning punk
excellently. Every track bursts with energy, frenetic group singing is all
over, and the whole album is catharsis for rough times. While singing about the
frustrations of life and relationships is possibly the most common theme in
this genre, PUP approaches it with a welcome sense of self-awareness.
Favorite Track: If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will
19. Mothers – When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired
When I first
heard this album, I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. It came at time when I
didn’t quite know where I was going with my life, but I knew that I miserable
where I was at. This album was my warm blanket. It was something I could close
my eyes and sway to when a better future seemed distant. That said, while it
meant a lot to me when it first arrived, it didn’t have a lot of staying power.
It is gorgeous, yes, but it overstays its welcome at times.
Favorite Track: Too Small For Eyes
18. Solange – A Seat At The Table
By most accounts this is one of
the top albums of the year, and it truly is an excellent album. However, this
is a list of my favorites and not what’s best based on some criteria, which is
why this doesn’t appear higher on my list. A
Seat At The Table is political and powerful, but it is also a celebration
of black culture. And while I can’t directly relate to everything on here,
there is an undeniable and infectious sense of hope throughout that makes it a
treat for anyone to hear.
Favorite Track: F.U.B.U.
17. William Tyler
– Modern Country
As with
pretty much every instrumental album I find, Modern Country is hard to describe without using vague descriptions
of how it makes me feel. So, the album feels like the vast empty parts of the
desert west, something captured pretty well in the album art I might add. It
feels vast and expansive and, for me at least, a little close to home. There is
certainly a classic country influence here, but it’s pretty subtle and I
definitely recommend giving it a shot.
Favorite Track: I’m Gonna Live Forever (If It Kills Me)
16. Katie Dey – Flood Network
This is
essentially the mirror world version of twee music. This is a pop album
drenched in strange distortions and vocal effects that add to its bizarre
atmosphere. Despite all this, the songs are very catchy and most every song is
pretty accessible. I don’t know that I’ve heard an album that’s been able to
blend this much weird with cute pop tracks so well.
Favorite Track: Fear O The Light
15. Xenia Rubinos
– Black Terry Cat
This is a pretty difficult album
to classify. Xenia Rubinos takes influences from all sorts of genres like indie
rock, funk, hip-hop, jazz, and plenty others. She also has a fantastic range to
her singing style that lends itself to the variety. This is a largely political
album often dealing with race in America, yet it’s also ridiculously danceable.
Black Terry Cat is a lot of things;
basically all of them are awesome.
Favorite Track: Mexican Chef
14. Daughter – Not To Disappear
The sophomore full length album
from Daughter provides some much-appreciated variety. I really enjoy the
structure of this album. The first few tracks are very much in line with the
previous music released by this band; dreamy, distant, and utterly
heartbreaking. However, after these, the album starts to play with more
exuberant tracks and even sounds like Cat Power at times. It didn’t get a lot
of buzz, but in my opinion this is Daughter’s best work yet.
Favorite Track: Alone / With You
13. Pinegrove – Cardinal
Americana
influenced indie rock: it doesn’t always resonate with me, but when it does, I
sure do love it. Cardinal has been
getting a lot of hype this year and for good reason. It is a fantastic blend of
genres, it’s undeniably catchy, and most songs have a fantastic build to them. It’s
also a relatable album for anyone who’s let relationships die or felt like
they’ve lost contact with old friends or family. Plus, it helps that there’s
not a bad song on the album.
Favorite Track: Aphasia
12. Roly Porter –
Third Law
I think it’s
a safe bet to say that this is easily the most inaccessible album on this list.
It’s loud, it’s dissonant, it’s abrasive, and it’s even downright creepy at
times. As silly as it sounds to describe it this way, Third Law feels like an alien invasion. It feels otherworldly and
it’s unclear whether the soundscapes are menacing or just imposing. The variety
of sounds on here make for an album that I still find new secrets in, despite
having listened to it since its release in January.
Favorite Track: 4101
11. Mutual
Benefit – Skip A Sinking Stone
Mutual
Benefit makes absolutely gorgeous music. Considering Jordan Lee’s first release
under this name was a favorite album 2013 for me, I had very high hopes for Skip A Sinking Stone. While I don’t
think this album quite reaches the same heights that his first album did, this
album still has everything I love about Mutual Benefit. Sweet, grand folk tunes
and the ever-hopeful theme of this band is in full effect on this album. This
was a heart-warming album to help make it through an otherwise tumultuous year.
Favorite Track: Skipping Stones
10. Swet Shop
Boys – Cashmere
Combining hip-hop,
South Asian influences, political commentary, and a lot of satire; Cashmere is a wild album. While racial
profiling and cultural appropriation are by no means recent topics in hip-hop,
Swet Shop Boys bring a perspective that feels just as relevant in an age of
rising Islamophobia. On top of all its political statements though, the album
is just a delight. It is consistently catchy and endlessly witty.
Favorite Track: No Fly List
9. Bon Iver – 22, A Million
I loved Bon
Iver’s folk era and, if this album is any indication, I love a more electronic
Bon Iver just as much. This album adds electronic layers to Justin Vernon’s
sentimental voice that frame it in a much brighter light. Above all, this album
is just gorgeous. If the first Bon Iver albums are rainy day music, this is the
album for stepping outside to the returning sun and the smell of rain. Now, if
only the track names didn’t come out of a vaporwave reject pile…
Favorite Track: 29 #Strafford APTS
8. Told Slant – Going By
With what
feels like the most melancholy release of the year comes Told Slant. However, Going By, while dealing with loneliness,
heartbreak, and depression, is really about pushing through and finding
comfort. Some might find the weepy singing on this album to be a little on the
nose, but I find it comfortingly endearing.
Favorite Track: Tsunami
7. clipping – Splendor & Misery
A hip-hop story about a slave
lost and alone in space after an uprising on his ship isn’t remotely something
I expected to show up on this list, but if any band was going to pull it off,
it was clipping. Splendor & Misery is
more atmospheric than the past work of clipping, but that doesn’t stop the
band’s abrasive industrial styled backing and blazing fast verses from shining
through.
Favorite Track: All Black
6. Melt Yourself
Down – Last Evenings On Earth
This is quite possibly the most
bombastic thing you’ll hear all year. Combining jazz, punk, and various African
influences, this album was made for partying. Every musical element of this
album is launching the music forward with a power that is undeniable. The
percussion on Last Evenings On Earth is
a huge part of this effect and possibly the standout feature of this band. It
is a total blast of blistering, blood pumping energy.
Favorite Track: Dot To Dot
5. Let’s Eat
Grandma – I, Gemini
There’s
really no other way to put it than to say I,
Gemini is warped fairy tale music. It is light and poppy but with a near
psychedelic weirdness to it. Part of this album’s charm is the unpredictability
of it. The 17-year-old pair who make up Let’s Eat Grandma even throw a rap into
an otherwise whimsical song. Songs will take completely unexpected musical
turns, but despite all of its unpredictability it is shockingly wonderful to
listen to.
Favorite Track: Eat Shiitake Mushrooms
4. A Tribe Called
Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4
Your Service
This album
is amazing, and there’s really no way I can do it justice. There are a lot of
reasons why I’ve become enthralled by this album. The verses are smart and
catchy, the backing unique and funky, and the collaborations superb. The album
as a whole flows together really well. The first 5 tracks are amazingly strong and
the second disc provides with some incredible collaborators like Kendrick Lamar
and Anderson Paak. As the final Tribe album, it goes out with a bang.
Favorite Track: Ego (But actually it’s pretty much all
of them)
3. Martha – Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart
If there was
any album this year that was a shoe-in for my list, it was this. I love this kind
of pop-punk. Sure, the lyrical content may not be as confrontational as some of
the albums on this list, but the upbeat, slice-of-life love tunes on here just
bring so much joy. The hook on literally every song here is memorable and
wonderful. It’s charming, it’s relatable, it’s passionate, it’s the cure for
feeling jaded.
Favorite Track: Goldman’s Detective Agency
2. Jambinai – A Hermitage
Korean doom metal. Somehow,
despite all other trends in my music taste, this has made it to my number 2
spot. But it’s unbelievably good. This band combines metal style with
traditional Korean folk instruments. It seems like this would only be good for
a couple of novelty songs, but A
Hermitage manages to combine these elements in a way that creates one of
the fiercest, face-melting, mesmerizing, musical rides I’ve ever heard.
Favorite Track: Abyss
1. Noname – Telefone
Some might
recognize Noname from her collaborations with Chance the Rapper, but with this
debut album she proves that she is an outstanding artist in her own right. The
deeply personal lyrics are filled with the heartache and hope of growing up,
and they are made so much more engrossing by Noname’s poetry background. Her
voice is a huge draw to Telefone as
well. It is subdued but sweet and cozy in a way that complements the cool
reflective atmosphere of the album as a whole. With how perfect it is, Telefone was easy to put it at the top
of my list.
Favorite Track: All I Need
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