29. Nao, For All We Know
The British singer and producer Nao doesn’t just write songs, she creates entire worlds. Her woozy combinations of R&B, soul, and edgy electronica — a sound she’s described as “wonky funk” — are so layered and cavernous, you could practically crawl inside tracks like the lava lamp-swirling “Bad Blood” or the soaring “Girlfriend.” And with vocals as plush as hers, there won’t be a cozier record to curl up with come winter. —N.F.
28. Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition
Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, Detroit rapper Danny Brown lives on hip-hop’s fringes — and his third album, Atrocity Exhibition, bursts with more of the absurdly vulgar rhymes and outré beats that have become his calling card. The manic “Ain’t It Funny” pairs Brown’s unrestrained id with aggressive, discordant horns, while the menacing “Really Doe,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt, is hip-hop’s best posse cut of 2016. But Exhibition surpasses Brown’s previous work because he’s learned to leaven his most frenzied moments with serenely palatable ones, like the dreamy stoner anthem “Get Hi.” —E.R.B.
27. Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman
Anyone who is still hailing Grande as the second coming of Mariah Carey shut up once the ex-Nickelodeon star donned those terrifying latex bunny ears. Whether she’s raising goosebumps with ballads or effortlessly plowing through genres like house, disco, and reggae, Dangerous Woman is the sound of a diva arriving strictly on her own terms. If her guest list doesn’t impress you — Nicki Minaj, Future, Lil Wayne, and Macy Gray(!) all make appearances — Grande’s point of view as a young woman owning her sexuality in the glare of the spotlight certainly will. —N.F.
26. St. Lucia, Matter
John Phillip-Grobler and his band crafted the feel-good album of the year — a glorious throwback to ‘80s New Wave acts like Flock of Seagulls, minus those angular haircuts and day-glo threads. Every moment on Matter is the sonic equivalent of an escape to a gorgeous tropical paradise. —K.O.
25. Norah Jones, Day Breaks
The past decade has seen Norah Jones start a country band, release an album of traditional songs with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, and team up with Gnarls Barkley co-founder Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton for the poppiest record of her career. But Day Breaks is her big jazz homecoming; it’s a return to the piano-based sound of 2002’s Come Away With Me that won her approximately a million Grammys in 2003. Her subject matter has taken on a new urgency — gun violence and social unrest inspired a few songs here — but thankfully Jones’ voice is as soothing as ever. —N.F.
24. The 1975, I Like It When You Sleep…
Even with the worst album title of the year, The 1975 put out 2016’s most progressive pop-rock album, featuring massive power ballads (“Change of Heart”), inspirational gospel tunes (“If I Believe You”), and banger singles (“The Sound”). Stylish frontman Matt Healy croons lyrics that may as well have been written for a Livejournal poem, but the genre-blending, 17-song set solidifies the Brits as bona fide stars. —J.G.
23. Paul Simon, Stranger to Stranger
“Life is a lottery / A lot of people lose / And the winners, the grinners, with money-colored eyes, eat all the nuggets and order extra fries.” Paul Simon’s 13th studio album is packed with funny and illuminating sociopolitical turns of phrase like these. And musically, he’s just as deft: the singer-songwriter deploys an arsenal of esoteric instruments — cloud-chamber bowls, anyone? — to create his most adventurous and pleasurable album in years. —K.O.
22. James Blake, The Colour in Anything
The 28-year-old Brit broke through earlier this decade with his quaking, post-dubstep compositions, but on his third LP, The Colour in Anything, he infuses his nuanced electronica with heavier doses of R&B and soul. Thanks to production from Rick Rubin, a couple co-writes from Frank Ocean, and a jaw-dropping collaboration with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, this sprawling record goes heavy on melancholy without muting Blake’s penchant for the starkly beautiful. And while these songs might not even be Blake’s best moments of 2016 — for those, see “Pray You Catch Me” and “Forward,” his contributions to Beyoncé’s Lemonade — standouts like “Timeless” and “Modern Soul” are some of the year’s most elegant tunes. —E.R.B.
21. Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial
Since 2010, 24-year-old Virginian Will Toledo has self-released 11 promising albums of lo-fi, singer-songwriter fare through Bandcamp — but even the best selections from his voluminous discography didn’t hint at the brilliance of his Matador Records debut, Teens of Denial, which draws on ’90s alt-rock heroes from Weezer to Modest Mouse to Guided By Voices for a product that’s entirely his own. And while old-school indie-heads found plenty to love aesthetically, Toledo’s vivid lyricism pumps Denial’s 70 minutes full of heart and humanity, best heard on the stunner about a bad drug trip, titled “(Joe Gets Kicked Out of School for Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn’t a Problem)”. —E.R.B.
20. A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service
The sudden passing of central member Phife Dawg — he succumbed to complications of diabetes this March at just 45 — added a bittersweet note to the return of the legendary hip-hop influencers. But their first studio album in nearly two decades also offered a joyful coda to their fallen comrade, and showcased the still-epic intra-band chemistry of a crew whose lyrical flow and funky production (chopped and screwed “Bennie and the Jets” sample, anyone?) continues to offer up a singular blueprint for the genre. —L.G.
