It was difficult to figure out how to approach this, but I finally decided that instead of trying to do a typical ranking of my favorite 25 albums I would group my favorites by genre instead. I still felt it necessary to make a definitive list of my 5 favorite releases. The genres that each album belong to are the most primitive of a description that I can muster for many of these releases since I’m not very good at pinpointing genre, but it is at least a starting point.

1. Panda Bear – Tomboy

2. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

3. Real Estate – Days

4. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

5. Elite Gymnastics – Ruin

Electronic

Blackout Beach – Fuck Death

Canyons – Keep Your Dreams 

Ford & Lopatin – Channel Pressure

James Blake – James Blake

Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Hip Hop

Danny Brown – XXX

Main Attrakionz – 808s & Dark Grapes II

Pop

Atlas Sound – Parallax

Dudes – Narcissists Anonymous

Toro y Moi – Freaking Out EP

TV Girl – Benny and the Jets EP

Psychadelic / Experimental

John Maus – We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place

Peaking Lights – 936

R&B

Drake – Take Care

Frank Ocean – Nostalgia / Ultra

Terius Nash – 1977

Singer / Songwriter

Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

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Matt Billings likes to listen to music. He also likes to play music. Now you can like and listen to his music: Mothlight.