The 50 Best Albums Of 2016

blares-50-best-albums-of-2016

Despite 2016’s overwhelming free fall into social and political madness, it’s unequivocally been one of the best years for music. In the past 11 and a half months, Rihanna covered Tame Impala; Radiohead played a mess of shows; Frank Ocean built a staircase; and “Fuck Wiz Khalifa!” marked the key return of dancehall culture. There were severe lows as we lost a number of childhood heroes — including the late Bowie, Prince, Lemmy, and Phife Dawg — but for every #RIP post, there was a brand new record that allowed you to take that “cheap vacation” for an hour or two.

With that being said, below you will find a unique mix of indie, hip-hop, R&B, punk, hardcore, electropop, and various stylings that throw the word “genre” out the window. There’s also a multitude of new faves that shaped and soundtracked the year that was without compromising their integrity or the communities they stand for. So with that in mind, here are BLARE’s picks for the best LPs of 2016.


50 :: MARIE DAVIDSON
Adieux Au Dancefloor

marie-davidson-adieux-au-dancefloor

 


49 :: MARTHA
Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart

martha-blisters-in-the-pit-of-my-heart

 


48 :: WEYES BLOOD
Front Row Seat To Earth

weyes-blood-front-row-seat-to-earth

 


47 :: LVL UP
Return To Love

lvl-up-return-to-love

 


46 :: ALL GET OUT
Nobody Likes A Quitter

all-get-out-nobody-likes-a-quitter

 


45 :: INTO IT. OVER IT.
Standards

into-it-over-it-standards

 


44 :: FRAMEWORKS
Smother

frameworks-smother

 


43 :: HINDS
Leave Me Alone

hinds-leave-me-alone

 


42 :: JOEY PURP
iiiDrops

joey-purp-iiidrops

 


41 :: PARQUET COURTS
Human Performance

parquet-courts-human-performance

 


40 :: WET
Don’t You

wet-dont-you

 


39 :: BASEMENT
Promise Everything

basement-promise-everything

 


38 :: WHITE LUNG
Paradise

wl_cover

 


37 :: MODERN BASEBALL
Holy Ghost

modern-baseball-holy-ghost

 


36 :: DEFTONES
Gore

deftones-gore

 


35 :: FLUME
Skin

flume-skin

 


34 :: JESSY LANZA
Oh No

jessy-lanza-oh-no

 


33 :: BLOOD ORANGE
Freetown Sound

blood-orange-freetown-sound

 


32 :: WARPAINT
Heads Up

warpaint-heads-up

 


31 :: EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
The Wilderness

explosions-in-the-sky-the-wilderness

 


30 :: TWIN PEAKS
Down In Heaven

twin-peaks-down-in-heaven

 


29 :: DIIV
Is The Is Are

diiv-is-the-is-are

 


28 :: SCHOOLBOY Q
Blank Face LP

schoolboy-q-blank-face

 


27 :: BEYONCÉ
Lemonade

beyonce-lemonade

 


26 :: NONAME
Telefone

noname-telefone

 


25 :: KAMAIYAH
A Good Night In The Ghetto

kamaiyah-a-good-night-in-the-ghetto

 


24 :: SOLANGE
A Seat At The Table

solange-a-seat-at-the-table

 


23 :: CYMBALS EAT GUITARS
Pretty Years

11183_JKT

 


22 :: THE 1975
I like it when you sleep…

the-1975-i-like-it-when-you-sleep

 


21 :: SAVAGES
Adore Life

savages-adore-life

 


20 :: SKEPTA
Konnichiwa

skepta-konnichiwa

 


19 :: BON IVER
22, A Million

bon-iver-22-a-million

 


18 :: THE HOTELIER
Goodness

the-hotelier-goodness

 


17 :: PUP
The Dream Is Over

pup-the-dream-is-over

 


16 :: ANDERSON .PAAK
Malibu

anderson-paak-malibu

 


15 :: DRAKE
Views

drake-views

 


14 :: KAYTRANADA
99.9%

kaytranada-99-9

 


13 :: MAJID JORDAN
Majid Jordan

majid-jordan-majid-jordan

 


12 :: PINEGROVE
Cardinal

pinegrove-cardinal

 


11 :: A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
We Got It From Here…

a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here

 


10 :: DANNY BROWN
Atrocity Exhibition

danny-brown-atrocity-exhibition

 


09 :: RADIOHEAD
A Moon Shaped Pool

radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool

 


08 :: RIHANNA
Anti

rihanna-anti

 


07 :: JAMES BLAKE
The Colour In Anything

james-blake-the-colour-in-anything

 


06 :: TOUCHÉ AMORÉ
Stage Four

touche-amore-stage-four

 


05 :: BALANCE AND COMPOSURE
Light We Made

balance-and-composure-light-we-made

 


04 :: CHANCE THE RAPPER
Coloring Book

chance-the-rapper-coloring-book

 


03 :: KANYE WEST
The Life Of Pablo

kanye-west-the-life-of-pablo

 


02 :: ANGEL OLSEN
My Woman

angel-olsen-my-woman

 


01 :: FRANK OCEAN
Blonde & Endless

frank-ocean-blonde

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