With the end of the year here, we’ve collected some of our favorite stuff to recommend from the past calendar year; 50 or so albums, a few EPs, and some compilations and miscellany. This is exactly the list as we will always feel about it and reserve the right to change our mind in two weeks but definitely won’t have to because this is it.
First, some album honorable mentions:
- John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness
- Mastersystem – Dance Music
- Hinds – I Don’t Run
- The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
- Mark Knopfler – Down The Road Wherever
- Paul Simon – In The Blue Light
- Troye Sivan – Bloom
- Lucero – Among the Ghosts
- Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked
- Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party
Some of our favorite EPs:
- Katie Toupin – Moroccan Ballroom
- Tenille Townes – Living Room Worktapes
- Hozier – Nina Cried Power
- Katie Pruitt – OurVinyl Live EP
- Boygenius – Boygenius
Some other random stuffs:
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – An American Treasure
- The Old 97s – Love The Holidays
- Neil Young – Songs For Judy
- Shovels & Rope – Predecessors
- Uncle Tupelo – No Depression Rarities
- The Gaslight Anthem – ’59 Sound Sessions
- Various artists – Love, Simon (Soundtrack)
- Gang of Youths – MTV Unplugged
And, finally, our 50 favorite albums released sometime in the past 12 months:
50. Parker Millsap – Other Arrangements
Top tracks: “Singing To You” “Fine Line” “Other Arrangements”
49. Lord Huron – Vide Noir
Top tracks: “Ancient Names (Part I)” “Wait By The River” “When The Night Is Over”
48. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Hope Downs
Top tracks: “Talking Straight” “Sister’s Jeans” “Mainland”
47. Kurt Vile – Bottle It In
Top tracks: “Yeah Bones” “Bassackwards” “Bottle It In”
46. Elvis Costello – Look Now
Top tracks: “Under Lime” “I Let The Sun Go Down” “Mr. & Mrs. Hush”
45. Cloud Nothings – Last Building Burning
Top tracks: “Leave Him Now” “The Echo of the World” “Another Way Of Life”
44. The Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Top tracks: “Star Treatment” “Four Out of Five Stars” “The Ultracheese”
43. The Milk Carton Kids – All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn’t Do
Top tracks: “Younger Years” “Mourning In America” “One More For the Road”
42. Donovan Woods – Both Ways
Top tracks: “Good Lover” “Another Way” “Our Friend Bobby”
41. Eels – The Deconstruction
Top tracks: “The Deconstruction” “Today Is The Day”
40. Robyn – Honey
Eight years after her magnum opus, Body Talk, Swedish pop star Robyn returns with a less ambitious but no less banging album.
Top tracks: “Missing U” “Honey” “Ever Again”
39. Okkervil River – In The Rainbow Rain
The newest iteration of Will Sheff’s band put together more solid indie rock for the act’s post-election album.
Top tracks: “Famous Tracheotomies” “Don’t Move Back To LA” “Pulled Up By Ribbon”
38. The Lemon Twigs – Go To School
These rock and roll classicist brothers take the rock opera one step further into true stage musical territory, telling the story of a monkey who is adopted by humans and goes to a human school, complete with everything but the actual staging of the story.
Top tracks: “Small Victories” “Queen of My School” “The Fire”
37. King Tuff – The Other
The college radio rocker and former Ty Segall band member’s fourth studio album is contemplative psychedelic indie rock at its finest.
Top tracks: “The Other” “Psycho Star” “Circuits in the Sand”
36. Oh Pep! – I Wasn’t Only Thinking About You…
The second album from this Australian indie pop duo builds on their 2016 debut with more lush strings and beautiful harmonies.
Top tracks: “Hurt Nobody” “What’s the Deal With David?” “Your Nail and Your Hammer”
35. Colter Wall – Songs of the Plains
The Canadian baritone reaches even further back in the country songbook than his self-titled debut last year, presenting a modern version of classic ‘50s and ‘60s Western country.
Top tracks: “Plain to See Plainsman” “Calgary Round-Up” “Manitoba Man”
34. Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Philly’s folk rock heroes have one of the greatest instruments in music today, as Frances Quinlan’s crackling voice remains at the forefront of their third album.
Top tracks: “How Simple” “Not Abel” “Prior Things”
33. Liz Cooper & The Stampede – Window Flowers
Liz Cooper’s debut brings the barreling forward guitar rock and psychedelia of her live shows and previous EPs to a full 11 songs.
Top tracks: “The Night” “Mountain Man” “Dalai Lama”
32. Death Cab For Cutie – Thank You For Today
Indie rock stalwarts continue their streak of consistency for the first time without longtime band member and producer Chris Walla.
Top tracks: “I Dreamt We Spoke Again” “Your Hurricane” “60 & Punk”
31. Jeff Tweedy – WARM
WARM is the Wilco frontman’s true debut, following his reworking of Wilco songs last year with more of the same acoustic folk that feels laid back but strung through with a pertinent importance.
Top tracks: “Bombs Above” “Some Birds” “Warm (When The Sun Has Died)”
30. Amanda Shires – To The Sunset
Shires’ roots are in Americana singer-songwriter music, but she brings so much more to her newest, her distinctively gorgeous mousey vocals, MFA-backed poetic lyrics, and trademark fiddle finding some reverb and electric instrumentation to blend with.
Top tracks: “Parking Lot Pirouette” “Eve’s Daughter” “Break Out The Champagne”
29. Caroline Rose – Loner
You could call Loner a pop album, but you’d be glossing over the mix of styles that Caroline Rose blends together perfectly on her third album.
Top tracks: “More Of The Same” “Money” “Soul No. 5”
28. The Wombats – Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life
The indie pop-rock trio out of England prove consistent with their fourth album, utilizing their hard partying and riffs to great success.
Top tracks: “Cheetah Tongue” “Lethal Combination” “Out Of My Head”
27. Titus Andronicus – A Productive Cough
New Jersey’s own punk rock pioneers graduate to New York City with their fifth album, bringing a little less verbosity and a little more looseness, this time with ballads and a few jam sessions.
Top tracks: “Number One (In New York)” “Above the Bodega (Local Business)” “Home Alone”
26. Ezra Furman – Transangelic Exodus
Backed by his third differently titled band this decade, Furman brings his usual indie rock songwriting chops and his raspy howl to a sci-fi concept album about queer lovers on the lamb.
Top tracks: “Suck The Blood From My Wound” “Love You So Bad” “I Lost My Innocence”
25. Camila Cabello – Camila
Considering the ubiquity of its lead single, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Camila Cabello’s debut away from Fifth Harmony was years ago, but her Cuban discoteque pop introduced the matured version of Camila just this year.
Top tracks: “Never Be The Same” “She Loves Control” “Consequences”
24. Leon Bridges – Good Thing
Leon Bridges’ first album in 2015, Coming Home, was indebted to R&B and soul singers of 50 and 60 years ago, but for his return, Bridges brings in a handful of retro inspirations, proving himself more than just a wildly talented Sam Cooke reincarnate.
Top tracks: “Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand” “Bad Bad News” “If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)”
23. The Aces – When My Heart Felt Volcanic
Four kids from Utah make their debut with pure guitar pop on the wonderfully titled When My Heart Felt Volcanic.
Top tracks: “Fake Nice” “Lovin’ Is Bible” “Hurricane”
22. First Aid Kit – Ruins
The golden-throated Swedish sisters follow their most successful album to date with a renewed anger mixed with subdued harmonies.
Top tracks: “It’s A Shame” “Fireworks” “Hem Of Her Dress”
21. Brent Cowles – How To Be Okay Alone
With his gospel-tinged nasally falsetto and a blend of Americana, folk, rock, and spiritual music, Cowles makes an impressive debut away from his former band, You Me & Apollo.
Top tracks: “The Fold” “Tequila Train” “How To Be Okay Alone”
20. Haley Heynderickx – I Need To Start A Garden
Heynderickx’s album is a contemplative piece of modern folk, with nary a frill on the debut record’s brisk half an hour of music.
Top tracks: “Worth It” “Untitled God Song” “Oom Sha La La”
19. Kyle Craft – Full Circle Nightmare
Kyle Craft brings the same manic glam style to southern rock that he did on his debut two years ago, his yawp punctuating his wild wordplay on Full Circle Nightmare’s 10 tracks.
Top tracks: “Full Circle Nightmare” “Heartbreak Junky” “Slick & Delta Queen”
18. Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel
The follow-up to the Australian lefty’s breakthrough, although perhaps not as strong, feels tighter and more focused in ways that Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit didn’t. Keeping her usual poetic mundanities and grunge rock guitars and peppering in some jangles and some Margaret Atwood quotes, Barnett’s sophomore full-length adds some range to her growing catalog.
Top tracks: “Charity” “Nameless, Faceless” “Crippling Self Doubt And A General Lack of Self Confidence”
17. The Decemberists – I’ll Be Your Girl
The Portland folk-rockers change it up a bit with some synths and some uncharacteristically simple lyrics, but the old Decemberists are still prevalent throughout, punching completely through on “Rusalka, Rusalka / Wild Rushes.”
Top tracks: “Once In My Life” “Everything Is Awful” “I’ll Be Your Girl”
16. Dawes – Passwords
The California folk rock band follow up their loudest album with their gentlest. Despite the crunch of the opening track, most of Passwords is made up of restrained but beautiful songwriting, another fork in the road for a band building a strong but distinctly varied discography, now almost a decade in.
Top tracks: “Feed the Fire” “Telescope” “Never Gonna Say Goodbye”
15. The Longshot – Love Is For Losers
Even though it feels like Green Day hasn’t been a relevant force in the music industry in a while, Billie Joe Armstrong takes that feeling and uses it to his advantage, releasing a wonderfully under-the-radar side project that mixes ‘80s glam rock, ‘50s doo-wop, and Green Day.
Top tracks: “The Last Time” “Love Is For Losers” “Happiness”
14. Houndmouth – Golden Age
The Indiana rockers soldier on as a trio without co-vocalist and co-songwriter Katie Toupin, taking a left turn with a more electronic sound than their first two releases, with ambient experiments and production tics throughout their third full-length. Although a step down from their shaggy alt-country rock sound, their strength in writing choruses and willingness to take a chance help the album’s title feel like less of a teeth-gritting lie.
Top tracks: “Waiting For The Night” “Modern Love” “World Leader”
13. Rhett Miller – The Messenger
The prolific Old 97’s frontman returns with his seventh solo album, complete with career-spanning references and his usual existentialist musings.
Top tracks: “Total Disaster” “The Human Condition” “I Used To Write In Notebooks”
12. Lori McKenna – The Tree
Still criminally underrated despite her awards chops and her breathtaking songwriting craftsmanship, the Boston-based Americana singer digs deep into the lives of average Americans and comes out with some of the best songs of her two decade-long career.
Top tracks: “The Fixer” “People Get Old” “Happy People” “The Lot Behind St. Mary’s”
11. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour
Somehow topping her previous releases, Musgraves mixes her psychedelic tendencies with modern radio country music to great effect on Golden Hour, her syrupy voice bringing out the best of her whimsy and wit.
Top tracks: “Slow Burn” “Happy and Sad” “Rainbow”
10. Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer
It can be hard to classify an album as sweeping as Janelle Monae’s third full-length, which came complete with a 48-minute ‘emotion picture’ starring Monae and Tessa Thompson in the singer’s afrofuturistic vision come to life. Despite Monae’s R&B leanings, Dirty Computer utilizes guitars as well as any rock musician working today, creating a hybrid work that stands on par with or even above her greatest world-building earlier releases.
Top tracks: “Crazy Classic Life” “Screwed” “So Afraid”
9. Mt. Joy – Mt. Joy
LA by way of Philly Americana five-piece Mt. Joy released their debut album this year, bringing to life the manic yet laid back energy of stoner-country.
Top tracks: “I’m Your Wreck” “Astrovan” “Younger Days”
8. Public Access TV – Street Safari
Mod rock lives on with the New York group’s sophomore album, splashing their ‘80s inspirations across another full-length with confidence and hints of a step forward.
Top tracks: “Your God and Mine” “Rough Boy” “The Meltdown”
7. The Night Game – The Night Game
The debut album from the new Martin Johnson (Boys Like Girls) project is one that seeks to capture late teenagehood/early adulthood and succeeds through overblown nostalgia and new wave rock.
Top tracks: “Do You Think About Us” “American Nights” “Back In The Van”
6. Glorietta – Glorietta
Matthew Logan Vazquez goes two-for-two with indie rock supergroups, following the near-perfect self-titled 2010 Middle Brother album with Taylor Goldsmith and John McCauley with a tequila-soaked Hispanic-tinged album recorded in New Mexico. This time, he’s brought along such accomplished songwriters as Noah Gundersen, David Ramirez, Kelsey Wilson, Jason Robert Blum, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Adrian Quesada, who blend their styles and voices seamlessly across the album’s 42 minutes.
Top tracks: “Friends” “Lincoln Creek” “Someday”
5. Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You
Carlile takes a short story writer-like approach to her sixth album, bringing to life the narratives of the unseen and forgotten. She forgives a preacher who refused to baptize her due to her sexuality, gives a name and a purpose to an unclaimed and unidentified body, and gives us a glimpse into the truth, warts and all, of motherhood. The 10 songs on this Dave Cobb production are Americana at its best.
Top tracks: “Every Time I Hear That Song” “Hold Out Your Hand” “The Mother” “Fulton County Jane Doe”
4. Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers
Although the release of Fallon’s second solo album was somewhat overshadowed by a run of shows by his star-making punk rock outfit, possibly the last, the 12 songs on Sleepwalkers, taking inspiration from ‘60s R&B and soul classics, prove the former Gaslight Anthem lead singer is building an equally impressive solo discography.
Top tracks: “Etta James” “Sleepwalkers” “See You On The Other Side”
3. Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain
If there’s a single greatest 45 second span in country music this year, it’s surely the 45 that end the lead and title track to the Phoenix songstress’ sixth album, May Your Kindness Remain. Andrews uses the most powerful weapon in her arsenal, her lilting-to-belting vocal range, to make us believe in the power of kindness and forgiveness throughout the album’s 10 tracks.
Top tracks: “May Your Kindness Remain” “Two Cold Nights In Buffalo” “Border” “Kindness Of Strangers”
2. Ruston Kelly – Dying Star
The debut full-length from Mr. Kacey Musgraves takes a cue from Ryan Adams, Jason Isbell, and some ‘90s alt-country acts to build on his 2016 EP, Halloween, with 14 songs and 50+ minutes about his struggles with drug and alcohol abuse that prove he’s given Dying Star everything he’s got.
Top tracks: “Mockingbird” “Jericho” “Son of a Highway Daughter”
1. Lake Street Dive – Free Yourself Up
Boston indie pop band Lake Street Dive’s fourth album is their strongest yet, their ‘60s soul-inspired songs once again proving the band’s four classically trained musicians don’t take themselves as seriously as their New England Conservatory of Music pedigree might lead you to believe.
Top tracks: “Good Kisser” “Shame, Shame, Shame” “Hang On”