Music is at once something that’s entirely disconnected and extremely personal. What I got out of these albums is probably not what the artists intended. Was Hospice made to get me through a summer break up? Probably not. Was Blueprint’s Sign Language made to help me focus while designing my page for the school paper? Doubt it. What these albums did for me is not what they were meant to do and it’s not what they will do for you. However, these albums are made to be heard and enjoyed. I’ve listened to over 100 albums from this year, and these are my favorites. This list has a lot of different styles of music, so don’t write it off because of one album you don’t like. This list as something for everyone, so check ‘em all out.
1. The Antlers – Hospice
2. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
4. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
5. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
6. fun. – Aim and Ignite
7. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
8. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
9. Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx II
10. The XX – XX
11. Fuck Bottons – Tarot Sport
12. Brother Ali – Us
13. Girls – Album
14. Blueprint – Sign Language
15. Atlas Sound – Logos
16. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
17. Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement
18. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
19. Built To Spill – There is No Enemy
20. Basement Jaxx – Scars
21. P.O.S. – Never Better
22. Dan Deacon – Bromst
23. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
24. Finale – A Pipe Dream and A Promise
25. Karen O and the Kids – Where The Wild Things Are
26. DOOM – Born Like This
27. Kid Cudi – Man on The Moon: The End of Day
28. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
29. Busdriver – Jhelli Beam
30. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
31. The Clientele – Bonfires On The Health
32. The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
33. BLK JKS – After Robots
34. Converge – Axe To Fall
35. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing
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