Tanner Smith

Although the sounds might be a bit dulled to the seasoned listener after 20 years of similar excursions, there are a few cuts here that deserve to be held up as classics in this sun-dappled sub-genre.

The Big Fish Theory is a powerful and troubling record. It’s an epic in miniature that shows a natural progression from Staples’s previous work.

The songs on Pageant are immediately catchy on first listen, but they have a melodic, lyrical, and instrumental power that will make them evergreen for years to come.

Humanz is another strong entry in Albarn’s lengthy and brilliant catalog. At its best, it doubles down on what Albarn has done right all along while also pointing in new directions he can go.

Joshua Tillman has crafted one of the year’s most undoubtedly ambitious albums, melding of-the-moment musings with classicist songwriting. It’s his best work yet.

It’s all warm, familiar, and fun, but it passes by without making too much of an impression. From Deewee is undeniably good, but it’s not great.

I Decided certainly won’t change the game, but it’s charming and earnest enough to earn Sean some more good will.

Cashmere is an undeniably complicated but fun album that reckons with South Asian representation in the global pop culture of 2016.