Photo by Graphic by Ben Schnuck

2016 has been one of the best years for music in a long time. My list remained in a constant state of shuffling the entire year because of how much great music released. This year, we saw the long awaited return of many acclaimed artists: Kanye West, The Avalanches and Frank Ocean. The emergence of fresh, new faces in the indie scene surfaced as well: Car Seat Headrest, Anderson Paak and Japanese Breakfast. Of course, artists like Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper continue to dominant from last year’s releases.

It’ll be pretty hard for 2017 to top this year, but I said that last year after we received so many strong albums in 2015. Take a look at my top ten favorite albums of 2016:

HONORABLE MENTIONS (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

DAVID BOWIE – BLACKSTAR

David Bowie released one of the most soul-crushingly, sad albums of 2016. Sad not only in its theme, which deals heavily with death, but also sad because Bowie died of liver cancer only two days after the album’s release. Since then, the album has been interpreted as Bowie’s swansong with everything in his storied career leading up to this. No matter how you interpret it, Blackstar has some of his best work, featuring a heavy jazz influence reportedly inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 masterpiece, To Pimp A Butterfly. Blackstar triumphs, but it was one heck of a final album from a true artist that was taken from us so soon.

CAR SEAT HEADREST – TEENS OF DENIAL

“If I were split in two I would just take my fists/So I could beat up the rest of me,” Will Toledo mumbles out on the opening track, “Fill In the Blank.” Will’s twelfth studio album as Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial,  shows him at his most vulnerable and self-loathing, and manages to be his best yet. Keeping the lo-fi rock theme from his first big albums, Twin Fantasy and Teens of Style, Car Seat Headrest truly exploded this year with his angsty lyrics and instantly catchy guitar riffs.

MITSKI – PUBERTY 2

Brooklyn singer-songwriter Mitski brings her strongest work yet with Puberty 2, an emotional and heartfelt album wrapped in a garage-rock aesthetic. Whether it be the instantly catchy melody of “Happy,” or the soft voices of “Once More to See You,” the album never lets up in different ways it conveys its message. On “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars,” Mitski takes a hard-rock approach, with fast guitars and lo-fi singing. The standout track, “Your American Girl” has Mitski telling her love interest “you’re an all-American boy/I guess I couldn’t help trying to be your best American girl,” as acoustic guitars eventually build up to loud and thrashing guitars as she belts out lyrics about being apprehensive in her relationship. Puberty 2 serves its purpose as a perfect throwback to 90s grunge and emo.

TIME FOR THE TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2016

10. BEYONCE – LEMONADE

At this point, there’s literally nothing I can say about Beyonce that hasn’t been already said. After having yet another great Super Bowl performance in February behind the anthemic single “Formation,” Bey dropped her album in April behind a visual album premiering on HBO. Lemonade has a few stylistic changes compared to her self-titled 2013 album. Mainly dealing with the theme of infidelity in her marriage to rapper Jay Z, Beyonce shifts from country and rock on songs like “Daddy Lessons” and “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” to absolute R&B bangers with songs like the aforementioned “Formation” along with “Hold Up” and “Sorry.” The album has many interesting featured artists alongside her, like guitar legend Jack White, R&B/Pop Star The Weeknd, electronic artist James Blake and rapper Kendrick Lamar. While Lemonade may not appeal to every fan of Beyonce, it was just the right amount of old and new to make it one of the best of the year in my opinion. (For more on Lemonade, read Hannah Garcia’s review on the album)

9. DEATH GRIPS – BOTTOMLESS PIT

Death Grips was arguably the first distinctly “internet” band to become critically acclaimed, and it’s hard to explain what that means. From their start in 2011 releasing the internet mixtape Exmilitary, Death Grips remains just as dark and mysterious as they did when they first made their debut. They eventually went on to release The Money Store, in 2012, to large acclaim, and released a few more projects that were great. That was until 2015, when the band broke up halfway through releasing a double album titled The Powers That B. Death Grips (luckily) didn’t stay broken up for too long, as this year, they released Bottomless Pit. Keeping in line with the tradition of great Death Grips opening tracks (see: Get Got, Up My Sleeves, Beware), Bottomless Pit kicks off with “Giving Bad People Good Ideas,” a fiery opener that has frontman MC Ride franticly raps over incredibly fast drums provided by drummer Zach Hill. Ride sounds legitimately insane, which makes for an unnerving and fun listen each time. Tracks like “Eh” and “Trash” slow down the tempo, as MC Ride says he’s “out of focus ‘cause I’m coated with the most stripes.’ Bottomless Pit adds to the already deep mythology of Death Grips.

8. KANYE WEST – THE LIFE OF PABLO

After the messiest album rollout in recent history and an incredible tour (which I covered here) that had its second leg cut short, I’ve just about exhausted everything from The Life of Pablo offers. The album as it stands today (assuming he doesn’t find new ways to change it) has an eclectic mix of gospel, rap, and R&B. While The Life of Pablo plays out more like a mixtape or an EP, as in it doesn’t have any real theme between songs (besides Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 and Pt. 2), it uses that to its advantage – throwing out as much stuff at the listener as possible. It’s impossible to not find something to love in this album, whether it be the gospel opener “Ultralight Beam,” the memorable (and controversial) lines in “Famous,” or the dark and moody tone of tracks like “FML” and “Wolves.” Even though I consider it one of Kanye West’s weakest projects, it goes to show how strong of a discography he has. (For more on TLOP, read my review on the album)

7. JEFF ROSENSTOCK – WORRY.

Before listening to WORRY., I basically had written off pop-punk as a genre “not for me.” The Green Day’s and the Blink 182’s had never really been that good to me. Jeff Rosenstock managed to make me a believer in the genre. Anthemic songs like “We Begged to Explode” and “Festival Song” make up the first half of the album. The back half, where WORRY. really begins to shine, plays like a medley, with each song weaving into each other. Although each song goes perfectly into the next one, the styles of music can change drastically. The headbanging and fast riffs of “Bang on the Door” then change into the surfer-rock inspired standout “Rainbow,” which then goes into a complete screamo track with “Planet Luxury.” It’s a rollercoaster which doesn’t let up until the very end of its very brisk 37 minute runtime. Overall, Jeff Rosenstock released easily one of the most fun albums of this year.

6. DANNY BROWN – ATROCITY EXHIBITION

“I’m sweating like I’m in a rave. Been in this room for 3 days. Think I’m hearing voices. Paranoid and think I’m seeing ghosts.” Danny Brown starts the album saying this on the opening track, “Downward Spiral,” which sounds more like the soundtrack to an episode of Breaking Bad than a hip-hop beat. Atrocity Exhibition might be the most fitting title to an album (outside of M83’s album, Junk which was exactly that) this year. Danny Brown truly wears his emotions on his sleeve, the likes of which he hasn’t done since his 2010 masterpiece (and one of my favorite albums of all time) XXX. Whether it’s turning to crime in order to support his family at a young age, like on the track “Tell Me What I Don’t Know,” or drugs having him “Feeling like I’m not alive” on the track “Rolling Stone,” Danny raps at his lowest point at his album, and you can tell. The production has a dark and eerie tone, like a low-budget 80s horror movie. “Ain’t It Funny” might be song of the year, with the most insane production I’ve ever heard in rap music. The distorted horns mixed with Danny’s frantic rapping make for one of the most tense experiences in music this year. Songs like “When It Rain” and “Dance in the Water” both have more of Paul White’s incredible production, with the first track featuring a minimal beat that would sound more fitting on a Young Fathers or a Death Grips album. Gross, personal, and downright scary, Atrocity Exhibition shines as one of the best rap albums of the year.

5. BON IVER – 22, A MILLION

Bon Iver has been lighting up the indie landscape for as long as I can remember. First, it was their amazing album, For Emma, Forever Ago, recorded entirely in a cabin in Wisconsin. Then, lead member Justin Vernon’s contributions to Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, one of the most critically acclaimed hip hop albums of all time. Then it was their self titled album, Bon Iver, in 2012 that won the band Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Album. Now in 2016, after staying relatively quiet aside from a few more collaborations with Kanye West, Bon Iver released 22, A Million. While to those who have been paying attention, the album may only be considered another progression of the band’s style since Bon Iver, 22 takes a large step in a new direction for Justin Vernon.

4. ANGEL OLSEN – MY WOMAN

My Woman, Angel Olsen’s follow up to 2014’s Burn Your Fire for No Witness has the most refreshing take on folk, country, rock or pop I’ve heard this year. Olsen’s emotion comes through in her voice unlike any other female vocalist in 2016. You can hear the shakiness and sadness in Olsen’s over the incredible synths on the opener, “Intern,” and almost an intimidating tone on songs like “Never Be Mine” and the song-of-the-year contender “Shut Up Kiss Me.” While the first half of My Woman features mostly folk inspired tracks, the second half opens up into a much more spacious and slower tone. On “Those Were The Days,” Olsen gets reduced to whispering, as she asks her lover “Do you remember the way that it used to be?” The album’s two halves come together like chocolate and peanut butter, making for one of the year’s best albums.

3. JAPANESE BREAKFAST – PSYCHOPOMP

I can’t even begin to describe how much I love Psychopomp. At only 25 minutes long, the album doesn’t overstay its welcome like some artists have tended to do recently (I’m looking at you, Drake). If anything, I didn’t want it to end. The garage rock-style guitars and incredible vocals from Michelle Zauner make for a dreamlike and melancholic sound unlike anything I’ve really heard this year. The album’s a rollercoaster, with some songs sounding like classic garage rock, with wailing guitar riffs on songs like “In Heaven” and “Rugged Country,” to songs sounding like they were made to be played at a prom in the 80s like “The Women That Loves You” and “Everybody Wants to Love You.” So many times have I found myself immediately starting over Psychopomp after finishing it. At this point, I’ve listened to it probably over 70 times. Sometimes the album has a joyful tone, sometimes the album gets depressing, but the fast pace makes sure you’ll never get bored. Psychopomp was a breath of fresh air in 2016, and Michelle Zauner will have a hard time topping this with her second LP.

2. THE AVALANCHES – WILDFLOWER

Australian DJ group, The Avalanches, knew they would have a tough time trying to replicate the undeniable magic on their debut album Since I Left You. The thing that makes their sophomore album a little different than someone like Frank Ocean: Frank only took four years between albums, while The Avalanches took 16 YEARS. When Wildlflower was released, it was a moment I’ll never forget. I was standing on a crowded New York City subway as I first heard the blaring horns and soul samples from the opener, “Because I’m Me.” After that, the funky sounds of songs like “Frankie Sinatra” and “Subway” made me feel like NYC wasn’t as big as it seemed. Wildflower features a guest list that only someone as prestigious as The Avalanches could get. Legendary rappers MF DOOM, Camp Lo and Biz Markie all join in, along with the previously mentioned Danny Brown, and indie darlings like Ariel Pink, Father John Misty, Toro y Moi and Jonathan Donahue. The album plays out like a road trip, with the beginning tracks all representing life in the city, eventually transitioning into more spacious songs towards the back half. It’s beautiful, and it’s star-studded; let’s just hope it doesn’t take The Avalanches 16 more years until their next album.

1. FRANK OCEAN – BLONDE

How do you follow up one of the best debut albums of all time, largely hailed by many as an instant classic? You do something completely different. Frank Ocean knew Blonde was the most-anticipated album of 2016, and instead of making a sequel to his last album, Channel Orange, he took a left turn that was polarizing to many fans when first released. Whether it’s the lo-fi guitars on “Ivy” and “White Ferrari” or the soulful, moody sounds of “Seigfreid” and “Godspeed,” Blonde features an atmospheric theme backed by Ocean’s incredible vocals. I really can’t say enough good things about this album, but if you want to see me go more in-depth you can read my review of Blonde right here.