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Roc Marciano,Mt.
Marci,his ninth album in just ten years.Mt.
Work hard, play hard.
There are also batshit-brilliant solo songs like Moon Relate and haughty swag raps like Come This Way.
The result is the sound of a rapper spitballing and almost always hitting the mark.
Its a trick a lot of anxious artists will try and fail to repeat next year.
Thundercat,It Is What It Is
Thundercatis a trickster.
HoldingStarting Overtogether is the sense that were all now weathering changes we didnt plan on.
Stapletons pained vocals and expressive guitar playing are every bit as potent as his pen.
Mac Miller,Circles
Circles,the last piece (for now?)
His rap skills show up in the tight rhyme schemes of I Can See and Blue World.
Was this a detour or the beginning of a bold new era?
This is the music Abel Tesfaye was born to make.
Like magic,songsandinstrumentalsfeel both effortless and painstakingly thought through, a little bit cast-off yet also very refined.
That amounts to a rate of one, or maybe two, fully realized works per decade.
5 at live shows as early as 2013.
Recording began in earnest in 2015.
Apples classical training and creative playing make this a tour de force.
No one else would think to make this album.
No one else could.
Many of those selections appear above in his top 10 picks.
Albums that had a few highlights slowly became albums full of highlights.
His timing is better, and his verses are more personal.
Sean is far from perfect, butDetroit 2is about coming to peace with his strengths and limitations.
His next album will be even better.
Bill Fay is still a force in his 70s.
Its both sweet and abrasive, a little bit rosy and a little bit thorny.
The Deftones,Ohms
Sacramento metal vetsthe Deftonesmarch into each new decade with batteries fully charged.
2000 was the year ofWhite Pony, a crowning achievement of the rap-rock era.
Songs are snaking, unpredictable beasts; a ripping math-metal riff might explode into a perfect alt-rock chorus.
A loud song might shock you by winding down to a moment of unexpected quiet.
Twenty-five years after their 1995 debut,Adrenaline, it seems this band is still finding new tricks.
This yearsThe Unravelingcatches us four years later, still trying to put the pieces back together.
This band was born ready for this moment in history.
Flo Milli,Ho, Why Is You Here?
Freddie Gibbs,Alfredo
Haim,Women in Music Pt.
This summers newWomen in Music, Pt.
IIIis a wistful batch of versatile tunes.
3 AM dabbles in 90s R&B; I Know Alone is a perfect indietronica throwback.
LikeVampire WeekendsFather of the Bride,Women in Music, Pt.
IIIlures you into a world of prickly, intense feelings with big, carefree hooks.
The marquee artists skills havent rusted since Exhibit C first called its shot.
Much has been made of the quality of Jay-Zs raps here, for good reason.
He works wonders with a dearth of sounds; every note and every word is charged with purpose.
Songs unfold like mythic poems.
The blend is versatile.
The album feels like a world unto itself where the dominant sounds of this one dont necessarily exist.
King Krule,Man Alive!
The music lives along the same fault line.
Life, it seems to say, is the time we spend between the gutter and the stars.
Theres a lot of ground to cover.
Love is the message; haters can snack on grenades.
At 22, Allison is sort of like the alt-rock songbook made flesh.
This isnt rock and roll revivalism; its proof the real thing can never die.
This yearsThe Slow Rushimparts wisdom learned in both endeavors.
But busier tunes crowded her natural abilities as a melodicist and a writer of biting lyrics.
Its brimming with ideas, melodies, guests, and familiar samples.
Lowkey samples aBaduizmcut, then summons Queen Erykah herself.
