The 100 Best Albums of 2016

The 100 Best Albums of 2016
(all styles, all genres)

1
David Bowie
Blackstar
Art Rock

2
Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane / Matthew Garrision
In Movement
Jazz

3
Hannah Epperson
Upsweep
Experimental Pop/Chamber Music Fusion

4
L.A. Salami
Dancing With Bad Grammar: The Director's Cut
Wild Genre-Crossing Singer-Songwriter

5
Young Magic
Still Life
Brooklyn Dream Pop Influenced by Indonesian Music

6
William Fitzsimmons
Charleroi: Pittsburgh, Vol. 2
The Mournful Folk Bard of Pittsburgh

7
Michael Messer's Mitra
Call of the Blues
Hindustani Clasical Music/Traditional Blues Fusion

8
Ilya Toshinsky
Red Grass
Bluegrass Banjo Virtuoso from Russia

9
Nick Ellis
Daylight Ghosts
Folk Singer-Songwriter from Liverpool

10
Lucas Debargue
Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel
Classical Piano Music

11
Luther Dickinson
Blues & Ballads: A Folksinger's Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2
Folk/Roots

12
Roomful of Teeth
The Colorado
Contemporary Choral Music

13
Anthony Joseph
Caribbean Roots
Caribbean Griot Funk

14
Gavin Bryars
The Fifth Century
Contemporary Music for Voices and Saxophones

15
Glenn Jones
Fleeting
Solo Fingerstyle Guitar & Banjo

16
George Coleman
A Master Speaks
Jazz (Coleman's First Leader Date in 20 Years)

17
Various Artists
The Savory Collection, Vol. 1
Previously Unreleased Jazz from 1936-1940

18
Finnegan Shanahan
The Two Halves
Avant-Garde Pop Song Cycle

19
Sierra Hull
Weighted Mind
Progressive Bluegrass

20
Nico Muhly & Teitur
Confessions
Nordic Pop Meets Contemporary Chamber Music

21
Paul Simon
Stranger to Stranger
Singer-Songwriter

22
William Tyler
Modern Country
Ambient Country Guitar Instrumentals

23
Markus Stockhausen / Florian Weber
Alba
Ambient Jazz

24
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs: Live at the Cafe Carlyle
Contemporary Cabaret Music

25
Bombino
Azel
African Trance Music

26
Michael Mizrahi
Currents
Contemporary Piano Music

27
Brad Mehldau
Blues and Ballads
Jazz

28
Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
Art Rock

29
Žak Ozmo
Vincenzo Galilei: The Well-Tempered Lute
First Recording of Important 1584 work by Galileo's Father

30
Laura Mvula
The Dreaming Room
Soul/Vocal Polyphony/Dream Pop

31
Fred Hersch
Sunday Night at the Vanguard
Jazz

32
Nik Bärtsch's Mobile
Continuum
Zen-Funk Hypnotic Jazz

33
Julianna Barwick
Will
Ambient Crypto-Pop

34
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons
Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9
Modern Classical Music

35
Ross Hammond & Sameer Gupta
Upward
Duets for 12-String Guitar & Tabla

36
Craig Hartley
Books on Tape. Vol. II
Pastiche Jazz Piano

37
The Lazy Lies
The Lazy Lies
Melodic Pop-Rock from Barcelona

38
Bill Charlap
Notes from New York
Jazz

39
Laura Cannell
Simultaneous Flight Movement
Modern Medieval

40
Susana Raya
Wind Rose
The Andalusian Eva Cassidy

41
Tkettle
Electric Beanstalk
Electronica Bluegrass

42
Zsófia Boros
Local Objects
Contemporary Classical Guitar with Jazz and World Music Elements

43
Alsarah & The Nubatones
Manara
Sudanese Afropop

44
Hoops
Hoops
Pop/Rock

45
Rolf Lislevand
La Mascarade
Baroque Guitar/Improvisation

46
Charles Lloyd & The Marvels
I Long to See You
Jazz

47
Melanie De Biasio
Blackened Cities
The Billie Holiday of Belgian Ambient Music

48
Lake Street Dive
Side Pony
Pop-Soul

49
Glenn Kotche & Sō Percussion
Drumkit Quartets
Percussion Chamber Music

50
Melissa Aldana
Back Home
Jazz

51
Various Artists
God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson
Blues

52
Sokratis Sinopoulos
Eight Winds
Contemporary Jazz-Oriented Music for Greek Lyra

53
The Ragbirds
The Threshold & the Hearth
Pop

54
Devendra Banhart
Ape in Pink Marble
Freak Folk

55
Alexandre Desplat
Soundtrack to The Light Between Oceans
Film Soundtrack

56
Paul Moravec
Amorisms: Music of Paul Moravec
Contemporary Classical Music

57
Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil
Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música
Brazilian Tropicalismo

58
Gregory Porter
Take Me to the Alley
Jazz Vocals

59
David Lang
The National Anthems
Contemporary Choral Music

60
Cason Fentress & The Euphonious Express
Clear Cool
Steely Dan-ish Jazz Pop

61
Allen Toussaint
American Tunes
Vernacular American Piano Music

62
Miranda Lambert
The Weight of These Wings
Country

63
The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc
Deliverance
Nordic Fiddling

64
International Contemporary Ensemble
On the Nature of Thingness
Contemporary Classical Music by Phyllis Chen & Nathan Davis

65
Chico Freeman
Spoken Into Existence
Jazz

66
Rokia Traoré
Né So
Malian Singer-Songwriter

67
Denny Zeitlin
Early Wayne
Solo Piano Interpretations of Wayne Shorter's Music

68
Steve Kimock
Last Danger of Frost
Folk-Oriented Guitar Instrumentals

69
Sara Gazarek/Josh Nelson
Dream in the Blue
Jazz Vocal/Piano Duets

70
The Olympians
The Olympians
Old School R&B Instrumentals

71
Baaba Maal
The Traveller
Senegalese Singer-Songwriter

72
Boo Boo Davis
One Chord Blues
Nasty Old Blues

73
John Zorn
The Mockingbird
Contemporary Music for Harp, Guitar, Vibraphone and Chimes

74
Sarathy Korwar
Day to Day
Experimental Sufi Electronica with Bits of Modal Jazz

75
Cyrille Aimée
Let's Get Lost
Jazz Vocals

76
Noura Mint Seymali
Arbina
Moorish Funk from Mauritania

77
Applewood Road
Applewood Road
Americana/Folk/Country

78
Sunflower Bean
Human Ceremony
Melody-Driven Rock

79
Christina Pluhar/L'Arpeggiata
Orfeo Chamán
Operatic Pre-Columbian Setting of Orpheus Myth

80
Erroll Garner
Ready Take One
Previously Unreleased Jazz from 1967-1972

81
Reuben Hollebon
Terminal Nostalgia
Singer-Songwriter

82
Sociedade Recreativa
Sociedade Recreativa
Forró-Based Brazilian Dance Music

83
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Skeleton Tree
Singer-Songwriter

84
Flatland Cavalry
Humble Folks
Alt Country

85
John Carpenter
Lost Themes II
Film Music Without a Film

86
Keith Jarrett
A Multitude of Angels
Previously Unreleased Live Jazz Concerts from 1996

87
Daniel Wohl
Holographic
Contemporary Classical Music

88
Tashi Dorji & Shane Parish
Expecting
Bhutanese/Appalachian Guitar Duets

89
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
The Abyssinian Mass
Jazz/African-American Folkloric

90
Alphabet Botanical
Alphabet Botanical
Pop

91
Daniil Trifonov
Transcendental: Daniil Trifonov plays Franz Liszt
Classical Music

92
Kadhja Bonet
The Visitor
Unconventional Soul Music

93
Dylan LeBlanc
Cautionary Tale
Neil Young-ish Singer Songwriter

94
Loretta Lynn
Full Circle
Country

95
PRISM Quartet
The Curtis Project: Music for Saxophones from the Curtis Institute
Contemporary Chamber Music for Saxophones

96
Huelgas Ensemble/Paul Van Nevel
Firminus Caron: Twilight of the Middle Ages
Renaissance Music

97
Äl Jawala
Hypnophonic
Balkan Beat Hip-Hop

98
The I Don't Cares
Wild Stab
Melody-Driven Rock

99
Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
I Want That Sound!
Jazz-ish Street Band Music

100
Third Coast Percussion/Steve Reich
Third Coast Percussion/Steve Reich
Contemporary Music for Percussion

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Related Links:

The Best Tracks of 2016
The 100 Best Albums of 2015
The 100 Best Albums of 2014
The 100 Best Albums of 2013
The 100 Best Albums of 2012
The 100 Best Albums of 2011

100 BEST RECORDINGS OF 2016

BACKGROUND

I am often asked how I compile my
annual list of the 100 best albums.
Here is some background information.

What styles of music do I include in
my listening?

I listen to all genres and all styles of
music. I like to listen to music that is
fresh and different, and this spurs me
to search outside the dominant
commercial categories and hit
releases. But I also listen to the
heavily promoted albums from the
major labels.

How much music do I listen to?

I like to hear new music every day.
During 2016 I listened to more
than 1,000 new album releases.
(The exact number was 1,021.)

Why do I compile this list?

Like any music lover, I enjoy
sharing my favorite music with others.
But in the last few years, a different
motivation has spurred me. I believe
that the system of music discovery is
broken in the current day. There is
more music recorded than ever before,
but it is almost impossible for listeners
to find the best new recordings. The
most creative work in music is
increasingly found on self-produced
projects and releases from small
indie labels— to an extent hardly
conceivable only a decade ago. Very
little of this music ever shows up on
the radio, where formats seem to get
narrower and narrower with each
passing year. Music fans once heard
good new music at indie record stores,
but most of them have closed. Or
they could read reviews in the
newspaper, but both the newspapers
and the music reviews are shrinking or
disappearing. And the big record
labels are the worst culprits of all,
picking acts for their looks or their
potential appeal to fourteen-year-olds,
or some other egregious reason, and
in general jumping on the most trivial
passing fads. On the other hand,
the Internet presents an almost
infinite amount of music and music
commentary—yet where do fans
even begin to separate the good from
the bad and ugly? My personal solution
to this dilemma has been to listen to
lots and lots of music, and try to
identify recordings of quality and
distinction. I share my list because
I know, from past experience, that
many other listeners are frustrated
with the broken system of music
discovery, and are also looking for
good new music.

What criteria do I apply?

I have no axe to grind. My list is
filled with music I enjoy, and suspect
others will too—especially if they
have a reasonably good ear, and
an open mind. I like recordings that
show some flair and creativity, a
sense of style, solid musicianship,
and an emotional commitment to
the moment of performance. I
appreciate it when an artist
possesses a sense of musical
tradition; on the other hand, I don’t
want to see slavish imitation of the
past. When music strikes me as
too formulaic or contrived or cold,
I start to lose interest. Like any critic,
I want my readers to think that I am
cool and hip and oh-so-up-to-date,
but I learned some time ago that
many of the best recordings are
decidedly uncool and unhip. So if
you want to laugh at me for honoring
some unfashionable aging rocker or
superannuated country singer,
go right ahead. But also check
out some of the lesser-known titles on
the list...you might just be pleasantly
surprised by what you hear.

Happy listening!

Selected articles by Ted Gioia

The African Origins of the Love Song
The Rise of the Fragmented Novel
Why Are Music Scholars Ignoring Musical Universals?
The Adventurer's Guide to Finnegans Wake
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Has Music Criticism Turned Into Lifestyle Reporting?
Vladimir Nabokov, Sci-Fi Writer
How Sartre Cured Existential Angst with Jazz
If John Coltrane Had Lived
The Decline of Satire
My Year of Horrible Reading
The Backlash Against Jazz
The Con Man Who Invented American Popular Music
The Bumbling Shostakovich
The Rise of Artisan Music
The Year American Speech Became Art
What We've Learned About the NSA
The 8 Memes of the Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia Interviews Composer Terry Riley
Why the Fuss About Jonathan Franzen?
Slaves for Love: How Bondage Shaped the Love Song
A Conversation About Jazz with Ted Gioia
The 100 Best Recordings of 2015
The 100 Best Recordings of 2014
The 100 Best Recordings of 2013
The 100 Best Recordings of 2012
The 100 Best Recordings of 2011
The Weirdest 1960s Novel of Them All
Franco: The James Brown of Africa
How Alice Got to Wonderland
Does the Music Business Need Musicianship?
The King of Western Swing
Post Cool
The Year of Magical Reading
Frank Sinatra at 100
What is the Clumsiest Classic Novel?
The Crisis in Music (podcast)
The Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
How to Fix Online Music
My 10 Favorite Novels on Music
A Conversation with Ted Gioia about Love Songs
The Music of the Tango
The Letter That Changed the Course of Modern L it
The End of the Angry Guitar
Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook
Do Blues Musicians Need to be Really, Really Old?
The Unconventional Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Twelve Essential Tango Recordings
Alan Lomax and the FBI
Robert Musi l and The Man Without Qualities
Cool Jazz in 100 Tracks (Part 1) (Part 2)
Lecture on the History of Love Songs
Henry James, Horror Writer
Why Only Revolutions Will Not Be Televised
David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
The Crisis in Music (video lecture)
How Good a Singer Was Dean Martin?
How Music Videos Changed Love Songs
Why Bessie Smith Matters
The Zombification of Popular Music
The New Revolt of the Masses
Was Ambrose Bierce Inspired by Agoraphobia?
Apple's New Paradigm for Music
F ix-Up Artist: The Chaotic SF of A.E. van Vogt
Jazz Vocals in the New Millennium
A History of New Orleans Music in 100 Tracks
The Making of Ulysses
The Great American Novel That Wasn't
In Search of Dupree Bolton
Gulliver's Travels and the Birth of Genre Fiction
Five Essays on Novelist John Fowles
Where Did Our Revolution Go?
How Lester Young Changed the English Language
The Reinvention of the Cowboy Novel
The Many Lives of James Joyce
The Complex Gender History of the Love Song
William Gaddis's The Recognitions
5 Lessons the Music Biz Can Learn from TV
Hipsters: The New Scapegoats
B.B. King's Best Performances
The Most Mysterious Woman in Sci-Fi
12 Memorable Works of Hispanic Fiction
Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice
The Alt Reality Nobel Prize
The Decline of a Great Jazz Record Label
Don DeLillo's Underworld
How NY Became Center of the Jazz World
Milton Nascimento: 12 Essential Tracks
When Science Fiction Grew Up
The Most Influential Film of the 20th Century
Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch
Is Sleep Music a Real Genre?
Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Bill Evans: 12 Essential Tracks
Early Vintage Wynton Marsalis
Remembering Cordwainer Smith
My Favorite American Novel
Q&A with Ted Gioia
The Jazz Pianist JFK Saved
A Look Back at Martin Gardner
Robert Heinlein at One Hundred
The Fourteen Skies of Michael Chabon
Is Bird Dead?
Philip K. Dick's VALIS
Why Lester Young Matters
Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire
Making a Case for Clark Ashton Smtih
Who is Grace Kelly?
Italo Calvino's Wint er's NIght
Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude
Could Chet Baker Play Jazz?
Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow
The Jazzy Side of Frank Zappa
Fritz Leiber at 100
Günter Grass's The Tin Drum
David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas
Harlem Jazz: 12 Essential Tracks
Mark Z. Danielweski's House of Leaves
The Postmodern Mystery: 50 Essential Works
Art Tatum at 100: 12 Essential Tracks
Fringe Guitar
J.G. Ballard's Crash
Interview with Dana and Ted Gioia
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
Robert Johnson and the Devil
Fear and Self-Loathing in Scandinavia
Herbie Hancock: 12 Essential Tracks
Remembering Drums of Passion
Three Existential Horror Novels
Keith Jarrett: 12 Essential Tracks
In Defense of The Hobbit
Brad Mehldau: 12 Essential Tracks
David Foster Wallace's The Pale King
The South Asian Tinge in Jazz
Assessing Brad Mehldau at Mid-Career
Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridi an
Can Clubs Legally Ask Musicians to Play for Free?
Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones
Lennie Tristano: 12 Essential Tracks
Virginia Woolf's Orlando
Why Cool is Dead
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
T he Pianism of Denny Zeitlin
The Chronicles of Narnia
David Bowie's Jazz-Oriented Valedictory
Tito Puente: The Complete 78s (1949-1955)
Toni Morrison's Beloved
The Tragedy of Richard Twardzik
Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue
The Science Fiction of Samuel Delany
Can Tarzan Survive in a Post-Colonial World?
Ian McEwan's Atonement
Can a Dictionary be a Novel?
New Details About the Young William Gaddis
Interview with Ted Gioia (on Delta Blues)
William Gaddis's JR
Roberto Bolaño's 2666
Talking to Myself About the State of Jazz
Harper Lee and Her Great Southern Novel
Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain
Italo Calvino's Neglected Sci-Fi Masterpiece
Philip Roth's American Pastoral
Ken Kesey's Novel-in-a-Box
How I Learned I Was a Jazz Fan

Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia

Ted Gioia

HONORABLE MENTION

Here is my Honorable Mention list— another 100 recordings of distinction, each one worthy of your listening attention:

Ralph Alessi   Quiver   Jazz
Arcomusical   MeiaMeia   Contemporary Music for Berimbau
Aziza (Dave Holland / Chris Potter / Lionel Loueke / Eric Harland) Aziza Jazz
Daniel Bachman Daniel Bachman Guitar Instrumentals
Kenny Barron   Book of Intuition Jazz
Bayonne Primitives Minimalist Pop
Berlin Chamber Symphony/Piotr Plawner Polish Violin Concertos    Modern Classical Music
Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir / Hans-Christoph Rademann Alfred Schnittke: Penitential Psalms Modern Choral Music
Eraldo Bernocchi/Prakash Sontakke Invisible Strings Genre-Crossing Guitar Duets
Beyoncé Lemonade R&B
Le Boeuf Brothers + JACK Quartet Imaginist Kafka-Inspired, Jazz-Inflected Contemporary Chamber Music
David Bragger Big Fancy   Traditional American Fiddle Music
Ian Carey Interview Music   Jazz
Celtica Steamphonia   Heavy Metal Bagpipe Steampunk Music
Matty Charles & Katie Rose Catching Arrows    Folk
Choral Scholars of University College Dublin Invisible Stars: Choral Works of Ireland & Scotland Choral Music
Cirque du Soleil Luzia Mexican Electronica for Acrobatic Performance
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker Singer-Songwriter
Jacob Collier In My Room Multitracked Pop/R&B Vocal Polyphony
Patrick Cornelius While We're Still Young Jazz Suite Inspired by the Poetry of A.A. Milne
Jimmy Cornett Campfire    Acoustic Roots & Blues
Andrew Cyrille The Declaration of Musical Independence Jazz
Day Wave Hard to Read Electronica Dream Pop
Lara Downes America Again American Piano Music
Bob Dylan Fallen Angels Great American Songbook
Peter Eldridge Disappearing Day Jazz/Pop/Singer-Songwriter
Brian Eno    The Ship    Ambient
Piers Faccini & Dawn Landes Desert Songs West African-Influenced Folk Music
Family Atlantica Cosmic Unity Venezuelan Folk/Pop Dance Music
Fau   Eden   Medieval-ish Folk/Pop
Chris Finnen & Jay Hoad    Off the Cliff    Blues/Folk/Roots
Dori Freeman Dori Freeman    Country-Folk
Bill Frisell When You Wish Upon a Star    Jazz Interpretations of Soundtrack Music
Emil Gilels The Seattle Recital    Classical Piano Recital
Groove Legacy Groove Legacy    Old School Instrumental Soul-Funk
Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra    Time/Life    Jazz
Petra Haden Seemed Like a Good Idea: Petra Haden Sings Jesse Harris    Pop/Folk
Mirella Hagen & Kerstin Mörk Mädchenherzen: A Maiden's Heart    Modern Art Song
Barbara Hannigan Hans Abrahamsen: Let Me Tell You Shakespeare-Inspired Contemporary Art Song Cycle
Allen Harrington & Lottie Enns-Braun   Vanishing Point Contemporary Classical Music for Saxophone & Organ
Florian Hoefner (with Seamus Blake) Luminosity Jazz
Hamilton de Holanda    Samba de Chico    Brazilian Mandolin Music
James Hunter Six    Hold On!    Retro Rhyhm & Blues
Eileen Ivers    Beyond the Bog Road    Celtic Bluegrass
Sarah Jarosz    Undercurrent    Country/Americana
Jim of Seattle    Both    Pastiche/Parody of Commercial Music Styles
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra    All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Recordings Big Band Jazz
Ryan Keberle & Catharsis    Azul Infinito    Jazz
Masabumi Kikuchi    Black Orpheus    Jazz
Brock Landers    The Prequel to the Sequel    Post-Hardcore Rock
Steve Lehman    Sélébéyone    Bilingual Hip-Hop (English and Wolof) + Jazz
The Lifers    Out and In    Folk Pop
Kristoffer Lo    The Black Meat    Horn Drone Music Recorded in a Lighthouse During a Storm
Harold López-Nussa    El Viaje    Melodic Latin Jazz
Clint Mansell    Soundtrack to High-Rise    Film Soundtrack
Bob Margolin    My Road    Blues
MAST    Love and War_    Nu Jazz from L.A.
Corey McAmis    Folk Songs and Murder Ballads   Folk
Brad Mehldau & Joshua Redman    Nearness    Jazz Piano & Sax Duets
Wim Mertens    What Are We, Locks, to Do?    Experimental Quasi-Pop Art Songs for Countertenor
Camila Meza    Traces   Jazz-Tinged Singer-Songwriter
Buddy Miller & Friends Cayamo Sessions at Sea    Country
Marc Mommaas & Nikolaj Hess   Ballads and Standards    Jazz
Meredith Monk On Behalf of Nature Contemporary Chamber Music
Wolf Müller & Cass The Sound Of Glades   Ambient
Michael Nau   Mowing   Folk
Willie Nelson Summertime    Gershwin Tribute Album
Willie Nile World War Willie    Old School Rock
Padang Food Tigers & Sigbjørn Apeland Bumblin' Creed Ambient Folk Instrumentals
Pepper Ohana   Hawaiian Pop Reggae
Houston Person & Ron Carter    Chemistry    Jazz Duets
Leslie Pintchik True North Jazz
Mo Pitney Behind This Guitar   Country
Noah Preminger Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground   Contemporary Jazz Arrangements of Traditional Blues
Corinne Bailey Rae The Heart Speaks in Whispers   Jazz/Pop/Soul-Oriented Singer-Songwriter
Doug Richards & The Great American Music Ensemble    It's All in the Game    Big Band Jazz
Alfredo Rodriguez Tocororo    Afro-Cuban Music
Sonny Rollins Holding the Stage (Road Shows, Vol. 4)    Jazz
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Hans Ek E.S.T. Symphony Orchestral Versions of E.S.T. Compositions
Ralph Samuelson The Universal Flute Unaccompanied Shakuhachi Flute
San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas Mason Bates: Works for Orchestra Contemporary Classical Music
John Scofield   Country for Old Men   Little Bit Jazz, Little Bit Country
Seattle Symphony/Ludovic Morlot Ives: Syymphonies 3&4   Modern Classical Music
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros PersonA   Folk-ish Pop
Sidestepper Supernatural Love   Afro-Colombian Pop
The Sixteen The Deer's Cry Renaissance and Contemporary Choral Music
Dr Lonnie Smith Evolution   Jazz
Sting 57th & 9th Rock
The Suffers The Suffers Gulf Coast Soul
Supersonic Blues Machine West of Flushing, South of Frisco Blues Rock
Take Six Believe   A Cappella Gospel Music
Tedeschi Trucks Band   Let Me Get By    Rock
Tonbruket Forevergreens   Jazz/Prog Rock/Avant-Garde Folk
Bruce Torff   Down the Line   Jazz
A Tribe Called Red We are the Halluci Nation    Native American-Influenced Hip-Hop/Electronica
Vox Sambou The Brasil Session    Haitian/Brazilian/Québécois Hip-Hop
Zachary Wadsworth    The Far West    Contemporary Cantata for Chorus and Orchestra
Joanna Wallfisch Gardens in My Mind    Jazz-Oriented Art Songs
Seth Walker Gotta Get Back    Folk/Roots/Pop
Jeremy Zuckerman   Khaos   Ambient Classical Music

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