THE TOP 50 REASONS TO LOVE MUSIC IN 2016!

40. Haybaby by Blood Harvest (EP-Heavy Screamo)

39. The Life of Pablo by Kanye West (Album-Hip hop)

38. Lead Poison by Elzhi (Album-Rap)
The album starts with the sound of a pencil scratching on paper, and Elzhi is trying to rhyme words with “wise,” and then it explodes into the kind of creative wordplay that only an educated rapper can create. He takes forever between records, but as he says: “I eat when I’m depressed, I’m so sorry for the weight…” It’s worth waiting for an Elzhi album. I’ll see you again in five years.


37. Carnival and Surrender by Bulldog Eyes (Cardigans and Cheap Trick covers) (Lo Fi)
Tucked away, deep in an interesting low-fi experimental album. Unusual and fascinating. If you like the covers, head over to their Bandcamp page and check out the whole record.

36. The Easy Truth by Apollo Brown and Skyzoo (Album-Hip hop)
Key tracks: One in the Same, A Couple Dollars (with Joel Ortiz), They Parked a Bentley on the Corner.

35. Your Old Droog (Artist-Hip hop)
Great new guest spots by one of my underground favorites, the first is over the 1980s New Wave band Nu Shooz and the second tells the oft-told tale about white people’s insecurities, even when they’re fantastic at hip hop. And he even appeared on Masta Ace’s “Falling Season,” one of the best rap albums of the year!



34. Life Itself by Glass Animals (Single-Pop)

33. My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire cover)-Greta Svabo Bech (Single-Pop)

32. Jesus Christ by No Malice (Single-Rap)

31. MONDA by Cousin Stizz (Mixtape-hip hop)

Next: Keep going with #30!