Shall we begin?
10. Young Fathers
White Men Are Black Men Too
Young Fathers are a hip-hop group out of Edinburgh, Scotland, and if that wasn't strange enough, get a load of the "hip-hop" they make. Okay, let's all just agree to not be genre-snobs here and say that White Men Are Black Men Too is not only a triumphant entry in the group's catalog, but also an upbeat, poignant, and well-timed (given the year's current events) album that showcases the Mercury-Prize-winning act's talent. The parallels with TV On The Radio go beyond coincidence, but that by no means lessens the work's creativity. A lo-fi journey through the UK's most innovative pop-hop, this album is too good to skip.
"Shame"
9. Holly Herndon
Platform
Holly Herndon is no stranger to the weird and esoteric. Her debut full-length, Movement, was an insane trip through some the the oddest sounds man has ever recorded. But somehow, through everything, it was grossly immersive, a body of work to completely give yourself to. Platform is no different in the total control it takes of your aural faculties, but is much less random (seemingly) than its predecessor, and includes some...interesting ASMR entries (if you don't know, just google it and get ready for some of the weirdest YouTube videos ever). Platform plays like a 10-song extended version of Bowie's "Warszawa," full of unintelligible lyrics that might be super-deep, bro, but could just as easily be nonsensical wailing. Their combination with disorienting drum patterns and masterful synth chords make this easily the most interesting and thought-provoking album you'll hear this year...maybe ever.
"Chorus"
8. Lightning Bolt
Fantasy Empire
If you didn't know about Lightning Bolt until now, welcome to the club! You'll be happy to find out that Fantasy Empire is their eighth album, and the duo has been active since 1994! Metacritic named them the #8 most important artist of the decade (2000-2009). So yeah, we're lame for not knowing who they are, or even that they existed. But our repentance begins now. Fantasy Empire is a harsh, loud, fast record packed with so much noise you'll give yourself a migraine. Never before has something so intense been recorded by just two people, but damn if it isn't worth every ear-splitting second. What makes it is Brian Chippendale's fuzzed-out, mumble-screaming that lends the whole thing an ominous pallor. And the drumming...God, the drumming. Let's just assume cybernetic arms and hope he doesn't decide to use them for evil.
"Horsepower"
7. Thee Oh Sees
Mutilator Defeated At Last
For John Dwyer, a Thee Oh Sees hiatus is 18 months long. Either he doesn't understand the definition (and the accepted average length) of "hiatus," or the man is just so ridiculously filled with music bursting out of his brain that any length of time outside a studio would look like a Scanner was nearby (you know the picture...don't make me get it...fine). Luckily for us, the catnap didn't result in a rushed return-to-form. Instead, we got Mutilator Defeated At Last, a bad-ass, bombed out homage to everything awesome and psychedelic that could possibly come out of a San Francisco garage. Mimicking the best of Sir Lord Baltimore, and with a production level to match, Thee Oh Sees have created an intense, grooving experience unlike anything else this year. Just watch out for that...weird...strawberry monster, or whatever, on the cover.
"Web"
6. Jamie xx
In Colour
Though he might not be using the most creative stage name, considering his other musical career, Jamie xx is turning popular electronic music on its head. Here, there are no bombastic drops, or even truly memorable hooks, just gorgeously composed synths and ear-worming samples. In Colour presents a sonic world wherein drum patterns can just be interesting and drive the song, without having to over shadow subtle musicianship or expertly created loops. A world where the most fascinating sounds are an interplay between a lap guitar and steel drum. A world where your guest vocalists surprise with increased range and a willingness to take risks. Even the seemingly out-of-place "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" makes the best of a strange pairing by turning what could have been an ill-advised rap platform into a carefree, island-themed song of the summer.
"Obvs"
5. Shamir
Ratchet
If you're looking for upbeat party music, you've come to the right place. Shamir has burst onto the scene with the hoppingest, bounciest, most fun album in...well, maybe ever. Ratchet takes musical cues from equal parts LCD Soundsystem, Hercules & Love Affair, and Lipps Inc., and combine it all with lyrics that turn hip-hop on it's head. Ratchet is a geek gangster rap. Shamir could easily have been the main character in Dope. Bright colors and simple, understated beats make the perfect back-drop for a beautiful countertenor voice that only increases the party attitude and amplifies the greatness of the "born this way" movement. Both political and off-the-cuff, Ratchet is the soundtrack to the Present Age, where freedom and true equality are closer than ever, no matter what the news might tell you. So pick up your cowbell and get in that conga line, because Vegas is a state of mind.
"On The Regular"
4. Sleater-Kinney
No Cities To Love
After 10 long, punk-free years, the Ladies of Riot-Upon-Grrrlshire have returned with a fierce, rambunctious album with No Cities To Love. If Shamir's Ratchet is a party celebrating being yourself, Sleater-Kinney are having a party too--to blow off the steam built up by a crappy world where the crappy Man gives you crap all the time. But while No Cities To Love has an overwhelming angry tone, that doesn't mean each song isn't carefully constructed and produced to achieve maximum effect. This is not their first rodeo, and Sleater-Kinney prove again and again (as if they needed to prove anything anymore) that they have an amazing ear for the sounds of angst and crushing complacency--the powder keg of tumult and the match to light the fuse. In the immortal words of Scott Pilgrim: WE NEED TO PLAY NOW AND LOUD!
"Bury Our Friends"
3. Sufjan Stevens
Carrie & Lowell
Long having made his name well-known in the indie circuit for bombastic orchestral arrangements and flourishing horns, Sufjan Stevens still continues to create, even though it might not be anything you can actually get copies of. But what his die-hard fans know that many passing listeners don't is that Sufjan is more than a one-Music-Man-trick pony; he is also brilliant at transferring his most deeply personal feelings and experiences to you through sounds so intimate, you'll feel like they were yours all along. Such is the case with Carrie & Lowell, Stevens' ode to his late mother and step-father. Much of the album is simply memories from summers he spent with them, and how those times felt grandiose and important, if only because of the innocence of youth. Looking back, through the harsh lens of adult objectivity, those long trips were...troublesome at best. Most outsiders would have reported them, but that's the magic of being a child, and Sufjan's gift of musical storytelling. It's not a dilapidated shack, it's a lost cabin on the frontier. She's not a disheveled, unbalanced manic-depressive, she's Mom. The trouble with growing up is how you view the past...and how you imagine the future.
"Fourth of July"
2. Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp A Butterfly
One of the great mistakes of my critical career was not discovering Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d. city until it was too late to include on any lists. I swore such an egregious error would never happen again, and have been monitoring the ingenious rapper's progress ever since. To Pimp a Butterfly is the epically creative concept album Lamar has chosen as his follow-up, and while it's far less traditional in its structure and songwriting, it's infinitely more awe-inspiring. Where as GKMC was an ode to Lamar's childhood and hometown, Butterfly is an entire stage play dedicated to the Black-American experience. As likely to drop your jaw as it is to make you strut, Lamar's third record is full of double-take moments and inventive breakdowns. Lamar's skill on the mic is not, and never has been, in question, but it is only expanded when backed by some of the most original backing samples and recurring theses that have come from this, or any genre. To say it's release is well-timed given current affairs would be the understatement of the century, but to deny it's prescience would be to deny a movement it's very necessary theme.
"King Kunta"
1. Drenge
Undertow
To get the cliches out of the way early, there are no words to describe my first encounter with Undertow, Drenge's second full-length album and colossal masterpiece. I have long awaited the arrival of the chosen ones, those that would take up the mantle of grunge only to dash it on the rocks of the ever-expanding shore of sonic discovery. What Drenge does with traditional alternative rock goes beyond a simple studio trick or additional guitar pedal--it eviscerates standard protocol and writes it anew in a monolithic, god-like image. Undertow is what would happen if Nirvana, The Clash, and Duran Duran had a baby. Throw in a little White Stripes and a dash of The Killers and the resulting concoction puts Drenge so many leagues beyond their contemporaries they might as well have traversed a wormhole. Undertow is the pearl inside the oyster that is rock-and-roll; listening to it is truly an experience. If you even deign to hear this album, it will soon become the only thing you ever want to hear again. In terms of a lifetime spent discovering rock music, Drenge's Undertow is like being reborn.
"Running Wild"
"We Can Do What We Want"
"Side By Side"
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