Writing a “best albums of the year” list is little more than an recipe for present posturing and future embarrassment. That said, as someone whose opinions about music get published on a blog with a lot more readers than this one, I feel like I should broadcast my tastes for transparency’s sake. Also, these things are fun to write. So here’s a top-10 list, with some very brief write-ups for each choice, plus a Spotify playlist at the end if you’re into that.
1) Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city: The most impressive thing I’ve heard all year, hands down. A great performance from Lamar, most notably for his storytelling—a “socially conscious” rap album that treats its subjects deftly and with empathy, and is all the more powerful for it.
2) Tame Impala, Lonerism: If only every band who bills itself “classic rock” or “psychedelic” were as adept at synthesizing its influences, and as unafraid to push its sound in new directions, as these dudes from western Australia. Stunningly good.
3) Hot Chip, In Our Heads: No singles the caliber of “Boy From School” or “Ready For The Floor” (though “Look At Where We Are” comes close), but plenty of jams. The quality here is more consistent than anything Hot Chip has ever produced.
4) Daphni, Jiaolong: Brainy, fractal house music from Dan Snaith. It sounds a lot like the last album from his main band (Caribou’s Swim, released in 2010), but entirely instrumental. Fascinating beat experimentation.
5) Frank Ocean, Channel ORANGE: Nearly as good as everyone says it is.
6) Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory: The best punk/harder rock album I heard this year, and also the one with the clearest commitment to songcraft.
7) Grizzly Bear, Shields: The world’s most tasteful prog rock band.
8) Chairlift: Something: Immaculately polished electro-pop from a band previously best known for having a song that sounds like Feist in an iTunes commercial. Still shocked by how good this album is.
9) Dirty Projectors, Swing Low, Magellan: In which Dave Longstreth learns to write love songs, and sounds all the more human for it.
10) THEEsatisfaction, awE naturalE: A compact, expertly produced (those beats!) hip-hop/R&B hybrid.
Honorable mentions:
LPs:
Purity Ring, Shrines | Perfume Genius, Put Yr Back N 2 It | Erik Blood: Touch Screens | Japandroids, Celebration Rock | Beach House, Bloom | Spoek Mathambo, Father Creeper | Shigeto, Lineage | Bear in Heaven, I Love You, It’s Cool | Grimes, Visions | Bobby Womack, The Bravest Man in the Universe
EPs:
Mister Lies, Hidden Neighbors | Pure Bathing Culture: s/t | CFCF: Exercises | Daniel Rossen, Silent Hour/Golden Mile | Matthew Dear, Headcage
Playlist (songs from every album listed, as well as some other stuff I liked):
Andrew Gospe 