Top 10 albums of 2016

The real AOTY?

Another year of music is in the books, and frankly, I feel less enthusiastic than ever about the state of modern music. That's not to say that there wasn't some great new music released in 2016. I just find myself becoming less dedicated to weeding out the good from the bad with each passing year. It was all I could do to avoid putting the above album on my top 10 list this year. When a live album recorded 15 years ago and comprised exclusively of songs that were originally released 26 years ago threatens to crack your annual list of top 10 "new" albums, it's probably a sign you've lost your passion for discovering new music (even if said live album is by the greatest band in the history of recorded music).

Top 10 albums of 2014

Spoiler alert: St. Vincent is not in my Top 10. Sorry hipsters. Maybe next year.

Well, here we are. Another year in the books and another Top 10 list of albums you've probably never heard of. There are only so many directions you can go in an introduction to one of these lists, and I feel like I've already exhausted them all, so I'll try to keep it brief. If you know me at all, then you know my list is usually dominated by heavy metal, and this list is no exception.

This year, I decided to included the points I allotted each album on my ballot for this year's Village Voice Pazz + Jop poll. Voters get 100 points to distribute amongst their top 10, with no album receiving more than 30 points or less than five. The Pazz + Jop poll is a stat geek's wet dream. You can peruse voters' individual ballots or sort albums, singles and voters by a wide array of criteria. Here are a few (debatably) interesting facts about my top 10 list: