The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2020, #51-100

Here we go. Although I haven't been doing the usual reviews lately, it doesn't mean I'm still not listening to new music. So here is the back end of the 2020 Top 100 list with the front end to follow in the next day or two. The usual list caveats apply: I liked all of these albums - in fact, I liked a lot more than 100 albums released this year, so if your favorite seems too low, it doesn't mean I didn't like it, and it also probably means I've listened to a lot more stuff than you have. And of course, everyone has their own preferences, so no two lists will be alike. Anyway enough throat clearing, here's #51-100:

51. The Well Wishers-Shelf Life
52. The Nines-Reflections
53. Skydragster-Skydragster & The Hit Song Writing Machine
54. Gal Gun-Critical Hit
55. Intercooler-Read the Room
56. Theo Katzman-Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe
57. Diamond Hands-III
58. The Great Affairs-Everybody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt
59. The Electric Soft Parade-Stages
60. Dave Kuchler-It's Pronounced...
61. Goodman-Goodman vs the Nostalgia Machine
62. Dropkick-The Scenic Route
63. Kiwi Jr-Football Money
64. Toleco Dunes-The Lost Girl
65. Trevor Beld Jimenez-I Like it Here
66. Eyelids-The Accidental Falls
67. The Yum Yums-For Those About to Pop
68. Tommy Ray-First Hits Free
69. Librarians With Hickeys-Long Overdue
70. Travel Lanes-On
71. Mothboxer-Accelerator
72. Tom Curless & The 46%-Almost Ready for the Future
73. The Tummies-9:30 Girl
74. Reno Bo-You Can See it All from Here
75. Bread & Butter-Psycho World
76. Cupid's Carnival-Color-Blind
77. Butch Walker-American Love Story
78. Icecream Hands-No Weapon But Love
79. Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts-Nowhere to Go But Everywhere
80. The Dowling Poole-See You, See Me
81. Open Sound-Album 1
82. The Invisible Strings-Kicking the Sky
83. Sanglorians-Odalisque
84. Ken Yates-Quiet Talkers
85. The Weeklings-3
86. Alpine Subs-Sweethaven
87. Steve Savona-20 Year Session
88. Silver Sun-Switzerland
89. Keith Slettedahl-You Know You Know
90. Devin Farney-Mega Deja Vu
91. Circa Waves-Sad Happy
92. Bill Lloyd-Don't Kill the Messenger
93. The Vapour Trails-Golden Sunshine
94. The Bye Bye Blackbirds-Boxer at Rest
95. Ward White-Leonard at the Audit
96. The Roseline-Good / Grief
97. El Goodo-Zombie
98. Anton Barbeau-Kenny vs Thrust
99. Peter Baldrachi-Slow Recovery
100. Chris Church-Backwards Compatible

The Absolute Powerpop Top 25 EPs of 2019.

1. Eric Barao-Obsolete
2. Stag-Electric Mistress
3. David Woodard-Everything in Between
4. La Fleur Fatale-Bound to Nowhere
5. Joe Benoit-Greetings from Forest Hills NY
6. Brady Harris-Keep Your Cover
7. Project: Ghost Outfit-S/T
8. Taylor Davis-Moonlighter
9. Brian Jay Cline-Critics Darling
10. Breakfast in America-Side Hustle
11. Stefano Copabianco-Stefano & The Slightly Irregulars
12. The Top Boost-Dreaming
13. The Embroys-Singles Club Vol. 1
14. Wyatt Blair-For the First Time
15. Girl Recruiter-S/T
16. The Last Bees-S/T
17. Frank Brown-S/T
18. Defecting Grey-Run Silent
19. The Skullers-Freight Trains & Party Games
20. Oscar Tango-Choice Morsels
21. David Pollack-DP
22. Mozley-15
23. City Rivals-S/T
24. The Buzz-Sparkle & Pop
25. Lost Ships-All of the Pieces

The Absolute Powerpop Best of 2019: Albums #1-50.

Without further ado, here's the top of the list. #51-100 can be found here, and the honorable mentions here. Look for the top EPs list on Thursday.

50. Nick Nash-Fortress of Gold
49. Shake Some Action!-Thirty Nine
48. Goodman-The Era of Buckets
47. John Rooney-Joy
46. The Needs-You Need the Needs
45. The Lunar Laugh-Goodnight Noises Everywhere
44. David Brookings-Scorpio Monologue
43. The Heartache Connoisseur-Your Name Here
42. Chris Koza-Sleepwalkers Vol. 1
41. Empty City Squares-337
40. The Well Wishers-The Lost Soundtrack
39. Mika-My Name is Michael Holbrook
38. Nick Frater-Full Fathom Freight Train
37. The Nines-Shipwrecked: Eggers Songbook Vol. 1
36. Xavier Calvet-Crosswinds
35. Todd Herfindal-Two Track Mind
34. Slumberjet-World of Sound
33. Fuzzysurf-Fuzzy & The Surfs
32. Braden Bodensteiner-Lived In Sound
31. The Morning Line-North
30. Pernice Brothers-Spread the Feeling
29. The Junior League-Adventureland
28. Farrington-Pictures of Pretty Things
27. Peter Bruntnell-King of Madrid
26. Joe Sullivan-Growing Up Schlockstar
25. Dennis Ellsworth-Common Senseless
24. The Rallies-Upside Down
23. Liam Gallagher-Why Me? Why Not.
22. The Mike Benign Compulsion-Bygones
21. Paul Bertolino-Poseur
20. Mansion Harlots-All Around a Fairground
19. Fallon Cush-Stranger Things Have Happened
18. The Maureens-Something in the Air
17. Matthew Milia-Alone at St. Hugo
16. Scott Gagner-Hummingbird Heart
15. Saul Glennon-North on Broadway
14. ANC4-S/T
13. The Brothers Steve-#1
12. Jeff Lynne's ELO-From Out of Nowhere
11. Nick Eng-Long Shot
10. E.B. The Younger-To Each His Own
9. Doug Tuttle-Dream Road
8. Sofa City Sweetheart-Super(b) Exitos
7. The Dates-Ask Again Later
6. McKeon (Steve Eggers)-S/T
5. Andrew Leahey & The Homestead-Airwaves
4. Jesse Malin-Sunset Kids
3. Jordan Jones-S/T
2. Lannie Flowers-Home
1. Bryan Estepa-Sometimes I Just Don't Know

The Absolute Powerpop Best of 2019: Albums #51-100.

Look for the top half of the list tomorrow (Tuesday). Going with reverse order to heighten the suspense!

100. Latvian Radio-Give in to the Night
99. Bubble Gum Orchestra-Beautiful Music for a Blue World
98. The Unswept-Minor Blemishes
97. Parting Lines-See You on the Other Side
96. Calling Adam-The Year of My Manifestation
95. Local Drags-Shit's Lookin' Up!
94. Justus Proffit-LA's Got Me Down
93. Velveteen Rabbit-S/T
92. Chris von Sneidern-Emerge
91. Mothboxer-Time Capsule Vol. 1
90. Lolas-A Dozen or 7 Tapestries
89. Richard X. Heyman-Pop Circles
88. Tommi Zender-More Songs About Time
87. Andrew Taylor-Somewhere to Be
86. Static in Verona-The Loud Nothing
85. Trip Wire-Once & Always
84. Andrew Goldring-Fluorescent Memories
83. The Whiffs-Another Whiff
82. The Figgs-Shady Grove
81. Mondello-Hello All You Happy People
80. The Northern Pikes-Forest of Love
79. Ronny Tibbs-Lone Fry
78. Colman Gota-And the Losers Choir Sings
77. Josh Rennie Hynes-Patterns
76. Victory Lap-Our Lady of Perpetual Acceleration
75. Francis Lung-A Dream is U
74. Dan Israel-Social Media Anxiety Disorder
73. Kyle Craft-Showboat Honey
72. Cloud Eleven-Footnote
71. Daniel Pellegrini-S/T
70. Alex Jules-Topiary
69. Taylor Knox-Here Tonight
68. Brad Marino-Extra Credit
67. Denny Smith-From the Dark
66. Bryan Scary-Birds
65. Rick Altizer-Bread
64. The Tor Guides-Backwards in Reverse
63. The Sleepends-S/T
62. Johnathan Pushkar-Straighten Up
61. The Bishop's Daredevil Stunt Club-End Over End
60. Kai Danzberg-Not Only Sunshine
59. The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness-Dead Calm
58. The Tangerines-Rain & Shine
57. The Golden Seals-Something Isn't Happening
56. Foxhall Stacks-The Coming Collapse
55. Fastball-The Help Machine
54. Rob Laufer-The Floating World
53. David Mead-Cobra Pumps
52. Extra Arms-Up from Here
51. Erk-When Night Meets Day

The honorable mentions can be found here.

The Absolute Powerpop Best of 2019: The Honorable Mentions

In preparing this year's list I managed to come up with 125 albums or so. Rather than try to rank them I'll just list them here as honorable mentions, in roughly chronological order of release (or at least when I listened to them chronologically):

Straw Dogs-Your Immaculate Machine
Kettleflower-You Can Run.
Trapper Schoepp-Primetime Illusion
Johnny Stanec-Things Were Better, When
I Was a King-Slow Century
Altameda-Time Hasn't Changed You
Armchair Oracles-Caught by Light
Supraluxe-Sweet & Sticky
The Decibels-Scene, Not Herd
Big Tide-Sync or Swim
Monnone Alone-Summer of the Mosquito
Frederick Julius-Fixers & Elixirs
Dinky-Open Letters
Mike Adams at His Honest Weight-There is No Feeling Better
The Magic E's-Dead Star
Young Guv-Guv I
Richard Turgeon-Go Deep
The Successful Failures-Saratoga
Those Pretty Wrongs-Zed for Zulu
The Pozers-Crybaby Bridge
Steven Bradley-Summer Bliss & Autumn Tears
GospelbeacH-Let it Burn
Eric Crugnale-Time Kills
Ben Arthur-Perspective

These are all really good albums, and might make other folks' best-of lists (maybe yours!) but I listen to so much.

The Absolute Powerpop Top 15 EPs and Compilations of 2018.

TOP 15 EPs

1. Checkpoint Charley-Great Jedi Mind Trick
2. Roger Joseph Manning Jr.-Glamping
3. Zander Michigan-Kitchen Sink #2
4. Smash Palace-Right as Rain
5. Hot Nun-Born to Blaze
6. David Woodard-I Used to Be Cool
7. V Sparks-Moderne Life
8. Cupid's Carnival-Clapham Junction
9. The Metal Babies-Goodbye!
10. Mozley-Twelve
11. Crocodile Tears-Tuned Out
12. Jeff Litman-Crowded Hour
13. Nicholas Altobelli-The Day-Olds
14. Tad Overbaugh-Demons in the Dust
15. Andy Reed & Jason Reed-Make Your Move

COMPILATIONS

I really don't have a list, but there are three I want to single out from the year for special mention since they don't (normally) qualify for the main list. All three are from some of the hardest-working people in power pop, and I'm thankful they keep on doing what they're doing.

First is Andrew Curry's Paul Williams tribute, White Lace & Promises, which I featured here in the last month.

Next is Keith Klingensmith's Futureman Records Matthew Sweet tribute, Altered Sweet.

And finally David Bash's annual International Pop Overthrow 3-CD extravaganza. Although I didn't write it up this year, it's always a reliable compilation of power pop artists new and not-so-new and there's a good chance your next favorite band or musician is on there somewhere. Speaking of David, as always I'm looking forward to his year-end lists.

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 Albums of 2018, #1-50.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's the top half of the year-end list:

1. Starbelly-Four
2. Rayland Baxter-Wide Awake
3. Danny Wilkerson-Wilkerson
4. Bill Lloyd-Working the Long Game
5. Nick Piunti-Temporary High
6. Creamer-Creamer
7. Jeff Whalen-Ten More Rock Super Hits
8. Dave Sheinin-First Thing Tomorrow
9. Bird Streets-Bird Streets
10. David Myhr-Lucky Day
11. Jeremy Messersmith-Late Stage Capitalism
12. Painted Doll-Painted Doll
13. Checkpoint Charley-Pomp, Twaddle & Bombast
14. Ken Sharp-Beauty in the Backseat
15. Nick Eng-Nick Eng
16. Valley Lodge-Fog Machine
17. Rob Bonfligio-Trouble Again
18. Adrian Whitehead-Nerd from the Suburbs
19. P. Hux-This is the One
20. Astral Drive-Astral Drive
21. The Late Show-Sha La La
22. The Junior League-Eventually is Now
23. Belle Adair-Tuscumbia
24. Caper Clowns-A Salty Taste to the Lake
25. Jake Shears-Jake Shears
26. The Davenports-Don't Be Mad at Me
27. Dot Dash-Proto Retro
28. Greg Pope-A Few Seconds of Fame
29. Linus of Hollywood-Cabin Life
30. Simon Love-Sincerely S, Love X
31. Sloan-12
32. Tim Jackson-Better Late Than Never
33. Jack Drag-2018
34. Family of the Year-Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime
35. Two Sheds Jackson-Some Kinda Life
36. Three Hour Tour-You Never Know
37. Caddy-Ten Times Four
38. Cullen Omori-The Diet
39. Knit Delicate-Shelby
40. Aaron Fox & The Reliables-In Transit
41. Darryl Rahn-Making Strangers
42. Rooftop Screamers-Vol. 1
43. Matt Jaffe-Blast Off
44. Streetcar Conductors-The Very Best of Streetcar Conductors
45. Kai Danzberg-Pop-Up Radio
46. Michael Simmons-First Days of Summer
47. Chris Richards & The Subtractions-Peaks and Valleys
48. William Duke-Quatro
49. The Well Wishers-A View from Above
50. Hurry-Every Little Thought

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 Albums of 2018, #51-100.

Let the lists begin! A little later this year but that's allowed me to get some later releases in. Of course, it never ends and I'll inevitably discover a 2018 album or two in early 2019 that should have placed on the list. Ring in the New Year tomorrow with the top half of the list, and the other lists (EPs, Americana, miscellany) will go up Wednesday or Thursday.

51. Joel Sarakula-Love Club
52. Mick Terry-Days Go By
53. Wyatt Blair-Inspirational Strawberries
54. Brian Jay Cline-The Avenue
55. The Great Affairs-Ten & 2
56. Matthew Sweet-Wicked System of Things
57. Brother Reverend-The Tables Turn Too Often
58. Pale Hollow-Pilots
59. Mario Soutschka-Long Stories Short
60. Brett Newski-Life Upside Down
61. Glowbox-Fossil Fuel
62. Vegas With Randolph-Legs & Luggage
63. Fernando Perdomo-Zebra Crossing
64. The Vinyl Skyway-Long Cool Journey
65. Oberon Rose-Tell Me All About It
66. Four Star Riot-Daylight
67. Mystic Braves-The Great Unknown
68. Henry Chadwick-Marlon Fisher
69. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms-Headacher
70. Dropkick-Longwave
71. Michael Slawter-Last Call for Breaking Hearts
72. Minky Starshine-Dirty Electric
73. Adam Miner-Christina
74. Grace Basement-Mississippi Nights
75. Dan Israel-You're Free
76. Paul McCann-Here Comes the Rapture
77. Andy Bopp-Wherewithal
78. The Amprays-Sleepchaser
79. Zombies of the Stratosphere-The Physical Kids
80. The Spindles-Past and Present
81. Mooner-Satisfaction/Promise
82. Richard Turgeon-Lost Angeles
83. Chris Price-Dalmatian
84. Afterpartees-Life is Easy
85. The Grip Weeds-Trip Around the Sun
86. The Hope Trust-Passengers
87. Mike Viola-The American Egypt
88. Daniel Romano-Nerveless
89. Young Scum-Young Scum
90. The Genuine Fakes-Issues
91. Big Sunset-Big Sunset
92. Amoeba Teen-Selection Box Vol 1
93. Van William-Countries
94. Scot Sax-Drawing from Memory
95. Bubble Gum Orchestra-Zentopia
96. LowRay-Friends & the Fakers
97. Alfa 9-My Sweet Movida
98. The Speedways-Just Another Regular Summer
99. Kyle Craft-Full Circle Nightmare
100. Devin Farney-Stealing Sand from the Sandbox

David Bash's Best of 2017.

As always the highlight of the year-end list-making in the power pop community is International Pop Overthrow's David Bash's exhaustive lists.

I usually reproduce them in whole here, but rather than do that I'm just going to link to David's Facebook post with them:

David Bash's Best of 2017

As always there's new stuff to discover that even obsessives like myself overlook (for example I had no idea The Virtues released a new album in 2017, as it looks like it was a Europe-only release) and of course it's helpful to get a somewhat different perspective (David's more into psychedelic, garage and 60s-ish pop/rock than I am for instance).

The Absolute Powerpop Top 20 EPs & Top 10 Americana of 2017.

EPs
1. The Tripwires-Fat City Let's Go!
2. The Red Button-Now it's All This!
3. Cliff Hillis-Many Happy Returns
4. Andy Santospago-AM Gold
5. Cirrone-Kings for a Night
6. Randy Mantooth-S/T
7. TimeWhy?s-Autumn of Love
8. Jared Lekites-Freebird
9. Room for Dream-A Little Taste
10. Cotton Mather-Young Life
11. Arvidson & Butterflies-Blank Season
12. The Morning Line-Smoke
13. Mozley-X
14. Walty-S/T
15. Magpie-Picasso on a Log
16. The Loved-Back to Me
17. Wild Bores-Blip on the Map
18. David Kitchen-Go Back Out
19. V Sparks-New Sensation
20. The Over Unders-Bet on Us

Americana
1. Jon Latham-Lifers
2. Coyote Talk-Shangri-La
3. The Roseline-Blood
4. Tom Heyman-Show Business, Baby
5. Carpenter Caswell-S/T
6. Cenotes-How Still is the Night
7. The Kernal-Light Country
8. Xavier Calvet-Firebird
9. Andrew Combs-Canyons of My Mind
10. Ordway-Falling Out of Trees

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2017, #1-50.

Here's the top half of the list, and since I never did formally review the album at #1 I'll say a few words about it below. 2017 was another pretty good year for pop, and I say "pop" instead of "power pop" as 2017 was a great year for softer pop, be it 70s AM Gold-style pop or Bacharachian pop or more baroque pop. Albums from Brent Cash, Bill DeMain, Rob Martinez and Kyle Vincent held down spots in my top 50 (Cash and DeMain in the top 10), while Almost Charlie, Dave Caruso, Paul Steel and Lewis Wilson were in yesterday's bottom half, plus tomorrow's EP list will feature an EP tiled AM Gold.

1. The Nines-Colour Radio (American Transistor)
The Nines have been a long-time staple of these lists, and have released albums in the autumn of each of the last three years. But the previous two were soundtracks, while this was their first proper album since their self-titled 2013 release and it's perhaps their best to date. Steve Eggers & company tried on a lot of pop styles and wore them all quite well, from the ELO-influenced "Crazy Little Girl" to rowdy piano pop of "On and On She Gets By" to the straight-up 70s R&B Stevie Wonder-influenced "You Can Get More Than This" and "Don't Be Losing Your Game". And as always Eggers shines on piano ballads such as "Guess I'm Crazy" and "I'm Lucky". This album really is like listening to an American transistor radio circa 1975, and that's as high a compliment as I can pay.

2. Pugwash-Silverlake
3. Liam Gallagher-As You Were
4. Corin Ashley-Broken Biscuits
5. Theo Katzman-Heartbreak Hits
6. Brent Cash-The New High
7. Bill DeMain-Transatlantic Romantic
8. Hornal-The Game Begins With the Lights Out
9. Plasticsoul-Therapy
10. Chris Lund-Great Event Syndrome
11. Derrick Anderson-A World of My Own
12. Terry Anderson-Jimmy's Arcade
13. Darryl Rahn-Everything is Fine
14. Brian Jay Cline-Hang Ups
15. Blitzen Trapper-Wild and Reckless
16. Scott Gagner-Pins & Needles
17. Wesley Fuller-Inner City Dream
18. Colman Gota-Fear the Summer
19. Eyelids-Or
20. Tommy Zamp-You Don't Know Me
21. Greg Ieronimo-Never Leaving California
22. Hemlock Pop-Crushing on What Might Be
23. Gospelbeach-Another Summer of Love
24. Koria Kitten Riot-Songs of Hope and Science
25. Rob Martinez-Today My Mind...Tomorrow the World
26. The Hangabouts-Kits & Cats & Saxon Wives
27. Trip Wire-Cold Gas Giants
28. The Safes-Tasty Waves
29. Matthew Sweet-Tomorrow Forever
30. The Lunar Laugh-Mama's Boy
31. Bret Bingham-The Well Curve
32. Dave Keegan-S/T
33. Marble Party-Sometimes a Great Ocean
34. Cotton Mather-Wild Kingdom
35. Kyle Vincent-Miles & an Ocean
36. Shane Nicholson-Love and Blood
37. Sitcom Neighbor-Shag
38. Paul Bertolino-Toy Box
39. Christopher Galen-The Master Plan
40. Ruby Free-Shades
41. Danny de la Matyr-Crybaby
42. Jesse Terry-Stargazer
43. The Rallies-Serve
44. Daisy-Ornament & Crime
45. John Rooney-Still Here
46. The Glad Machine-S/T
47. The Fisherman-Down
48. Dan Auerbach-Waiting on a Song
49. Rich McCulley-Out Along the Edges
50. Eric Harrison-Mercy Road

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2017, #51-100.

Let the year-end listing begin, with the top half of the top 100, the top EPs, and my favorite Americana albums of 2017 to follow in the coming days.

51. The On and Ons-Welcome Aboard
52. Gregg Stewart-S/T
53. Shake Some Action!-Crash Through or Crash
54. Almost Charlie-A Different Kind of Here
55. NHD-And the Devil Went Up to Portland
56. Ron Sexsmith-The Last Rider
57. Bubble Gum Orchestra-Sixthoverture
58. Latvian Radio-Pick Your Poison, Pick Your Blues
59. Crime Scene-Alter Life
60. Dave Caruso-Buddha Pesto Manifesto
61. The Mike Benign Compulsion-Kid
62. The Sighs-Wait on Another Day
63. Third of Never-Austerity
64. Brian Lisik & The Unfortunates-We're Sorry...
65. The Stanleys-S/T
66. Fallon Cush-Morning
67. Brian Jay Cline-Writer's Block
68. Smisch-The Story of My Life
69. Gentle Brent-Just Dandy
70. Bread & Butter-S/T
71. Justin Currie-This is My Kingdom Now
72. First Base-Not That Bad
73. Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors-The Devil's in the Detail
74. The Fags-I'm With Her
75. The Obleeks-S/T
76. Andrew Taylor-From the Outside Looking In
77. Richard Turgeon-In Between the Spaces
78. Paul Steel-April & I: Carousel Kites
79. Wesley Stace-Wesley Stace's John Wesley Harding
80. Drew Beskin-Cha-Ching Machine
81. The New Pornographers-Whiteout Conditions
82. Jere Mendelsohn-Old Sins, Long Shadows
83. Fernando Perdomo-The Golden Hour
84. Captain Wilberforce-Black Sky Thinking
85. Lewis Wilson-Grandioso Pop
86. Fastball-Step into Light
87. James Maddock-Insanity vs Humanity
88. Chris Church-Limitations of Source Tape
89. Burgess Meredith-A Dimension of Sound
90. Static in Verona-Secrets Like Shadows
91. Timothy Monger-Amber Lantern
92. Party Battleship-Cake + Flames
93. Chris Price-Stop Talking
94. The Wellingtons-End of the Summer
95. The Successful Failures-Ichor of Nettle
96. Propeller-Don't Ever Let This Let You Down
97. Wiretree-Towards the Sky
98. Goodman-The Vicissitudes
99. Wade Jackson-Crown & Cathedral
100. Mothboxer-The Secret Art of Saying Nothing

David Bash's Best of 2016.

Mr. International Pop Overthrow, David Bash, asked me to share his best-of-2016 lists with the Absolute Powerpop readership so again I'm happy to bring you his lists as well, which are even more comprehensive than my own. He's gone 125 deep with his main list, plus you get reissues, compilations, etc. You'll see quite a few differences from my list as David is much more into psych-pop and 60s-style/garage rock than I am so if you ever felt I neglected those subgenres here's you're chance to see what's what there. Anyway, it's time to give David the floor:

Here are my lists of favorite albums of 2016. As is my usual custom, I've broken this down into several categories, as I'm just not comfortable ranking unlike entities on one list.

Those marked with an * are vinyl-only releases.
Those marked with an ** are cassette-only releases.

Contemporary Categories

I. Top 125 Albums

Disclaimer alert: I heard A LOT of fine albums this year, perhaps even more than 2015, which surprised me…but even paring it down to 125 was a daunting task. If your album doesn’t appear on this list, please trust me when I say that it in no way means I didn’t think it was good, so please don’t be hurt (assuming you even care what I think) if your album isn’t listed here (or, for that matter, if it received a lower ranking than you were hoping for/expecting). There were at least 50 more albums I could have included and still felt as if I enjoyed listening to everything on the list, but I wanted to keep it at no more than 125 so as not to overwhelm; with all the other lists I have here, there’s enough sensory overload happening!

There may be a handful of albums on this list which appear to be from 2015, or in fact were “released” at the tail end of last year. As anal as I am about my lists and about the year in which releases should be placed, I also try to be sensible about it and take into account the fact that one needs a bit of lag time to become aware of several releases, especially those indie releases which take up most of my list. If you have any complaints about this, please keep them to yourself-I’ve heard ‘em all. ;-)

Lastly, I did not include download-only releases on any of my lists. I know this might seem a bit churlish, but there’s something about download-only releases that just doesn’t quite seem “legitimate” to me. While I like several of those I heard in 2016, and even love some of them, I’m still old school and still believe in physical product. Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against download releases, but I believe that there should also be options to obtain physical product. Yes, I understand that printing up CDs and (especially) vinyl is costly, but these days it really is doable for every band because manufacturing houses are all willing to do limited runs of product, particularly CDs, so that a band can do as few as 100, which should be easy to sell out of at shows, via boutique sites like Kool Kat and Jam, CD Baby, etc…I am very troubled by the possibility (some might say inevitability) of the CD going by way of the dinosaur, but I feel like I need to do my part, as little as that might be, to keep them alive. I will say I am encouraged by the number of bands who did release physical product in 2015, so hopefully all will continue to be well with the world.  Note: if any download-only releases I’ve heard see physical release in a future year, they will be eligible for ranking in that year. There you are, bands: a little incentive to keep the physical release alive and well. 

Ok, without further ado, here you go!

1. Trolley-Caught In The Darkness (Easter)
2. Seth Swirsky-Circles and Squares (Self-Released)
3. The Explorers Club-Together (Goldstar)
4. The Nines-Alejandro’s Visions (TAS Gold)
5. The Junipers-Red Bouquet Fair (Self-Released)
6. Michael Collins-Last Laugh (Self-Released)
7. Ulysses-Law and Order (Black Glove)
8. Erik Voeks-So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away (Hanky Panky)
9. Mimi Betinis-Music Sounds (Self-Released)
10. Rocket Bureau-Phantoms Ringing 67-73 (Kool Kat)
11. Coke Belda-Nummer Zwei (Rock Indiana)
12. The Jayhawks-Paging Mr. Proust (Sham)
13. Miracle Glass Company-Miracle Glass Company (Self-Released)
14. The Vow-Ghost Writer (Slug)
15. The Fast Camels-Tales of The Expected (Magic Optician)
16. The Monkees-Good Times! (Rhino)
17. Ken Sharp-New Mourning (Jet Fighter)
18. Diamond Hands-Diamond Hands (You Are The Cosmos
19. The Well Wishers-Comes and Goes (ThatWasMySkull)
20. Champagne-Beach Closed (Rock Indiana)
21. Faux Know-Tactics (Sonorous Conglomorous)
22. The Legal Matters-Conrad (Omnivore)
23. Michael Carpenter-The Big Radio (Big Radio)
24. Pacific Soul LTD.-The Dance Divine (Karma Frog)
25. Ebbot Lundberg & The Indigo Children-For The Ages To Come (Akashic)
26. Somerdale-Shake It Maggie (FDR)
27. The Chemistry Set-The Endless More and More (Cindi)
28. Nada Surf-You Know Who You Are (Barsuk)
29. Wade Jackson-Whiskey Alpha Delta Echo (Half A Cow)
30. Cotton Mather-Death of The Cool (Star Apple Kingdom)
31. John Macom-Unforseen Circumstances (American Nostril)
32. Octubre-Mouseland (Self-Released)
33. Greg Pope-Guiding Star (Octoberville)
34. Tommy and The Rockets-Beer and Fun and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Kool Kat)
35. Brian Curtis-Brain Circus (Electric Bozo)
36. Gothic Chicken-Lift The Cobweb Veil (Pink Hedgehog)
37. Men of North Country-This City (Acid Jazz)
38. The Dowling Poole-[One] Hyde Park (Self-Released)
39. The Flat Five-It’s A World of Love and Hope (Augiedisc)
40. The Mergers-With A Carrot and A Stick (Soundflat)
41. Cupid’s Carnival-Everything Is Love (Cherry)
42. Death By Unga Bunga-Pineapple Pizza (Jansen)
43. Dressy Bessy-Kingsize (Yep Roc)
44. The Hanging Stars-Over The Silvery Lake (Self-Released)
45. The Lemon Twigs-Do Hollywood (Self-Released)
46. Jeffrey Foskett-Classic Harmony (Vivid Sound)
47. Charlie Faye & The Fayettes-Charlie Faye & The Fayettes (Self-Released)
48. Green Day-Revolution Radio (Reprise)
49. David Brookings and The Average Lookings-David Brookings and The Average Lookings (Byar)
50. Stay-The Mean Solar Times (Rock Indiana)
51. Emitt Rhodes-Rainbow Ends (Omnivore)
52. Tuns-Tuns (Royal Mountain)
53. Gerry Beckley-Carousel (Blue Elan)
54. Arvidson & Butterflies-Arvidson & Butterflies (Kool Kat)
55. The Nobility-Ashford Castle (Self-Released)
56. The Jangle Band-Edge of A Dream (Off The Hip)
57. Ex Norwegian-Glazer/Hazerr (Dippy)
58. Paul Iwan-Reveal (Self-Released)
59. Garden Gate-Dark Harvest (Golden Brown)**
60. Cullen Omori-New Misery (Sub Pop)
61. The Lazy Lies-The Lazy Lies (Bird With Vertigo)
62. Those Pretty Wrongs-Those Pretty Wrongs (Ardent/Burger)
63. Stephen Steinbrink-Anagrams (Melodic)
64. Swedish Polarbears-The Great Northern (Sound Asleep)*
65. Ray Paul-Whimsicality (Permanent Press)
66. The Luck of Eden Hall-The Acceleration of Time (Headspin)*
67. Automat-Turn The Music Up (Self-Released)
68. Simon Felton-Return To Easton Square (Pink Hedgehog)
69. The I Don’t Cares-Wild Stab (Self-Released)
70. Nick Piunti-Trust Your Instincts (Jem)
71. Warm Morning Brothers-A Bunch of Weeds (Other Eyes)
72. Winterpills-Love Sounds (Signature Sounds)
73. EZTV-High In Place (Captured Tracks)
74. The Claypool Lennon Delirium-Monolith of Phobos (Prawn Song)
75. The Weeklings-Studio 2 (Jem)
76. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms-Basement Punk (Save Your Generation)
77. Radio Days-Back In The Day (Rock Indiana)
78. The Honeydogs-Love & Cannibalism (Simon)
79. Jon Lindsay-Cities & Schools (File 13)
80. Kurt Baker Combo-In Orbit (Wicked Cool)
81. Mystic Braves-Days of Yesteryear (Lollipop)*
82. The Expected-One (Self-Released)
83. The Rebels of Tijuana-The Rebels of Tijuana (Le Pop Club)
84. Mari Wilson-Pop Deluxe (WG)
85. Joel Sarakula-The Imposter (Self-Released)
86. Jason Berk-Everything Old Is New Again (Self-Released)
87. Fernando Perdomo-Voyeurs (Self-Released)
88. Dodgy-What Are We Fighting For (Cherry Red)
89. John Howard-Across The Door Sill (Occultation)
90. Clockwise-This Is Now and…Then (Self-Released)
91. Latvian Radio-Until Tomorrow Gets In The Way (Belpid)
92. Propeller-Fall Off The World (Moving Wall)
93. The Minus 5-Of Monkees and Men (Yep Roc)
94. Quilt-Plaza (Kemodo)
95. Tommy Who-Love Fades Away (Lonesome Whippoorwhill)
96. Soft Hearted Scientists-Golden Omens (The Hip Replacement)
97. Gleeson-Curse My Lucky Stars (Almost There)*
98. The Armoires-Incidental Lightshow (Black Market Glamour)
99. Teenage Fanclub-Here (Merge)
100. Butch Young-Mercury Man (Little Christmas)
101. Cait Brennan-Debutante (Black Market Glamour)
102. Kirk Adams-Undertown (Sattelites Group)
103. French Boutik-Front Pop (CopaseDisques)
104. The Ratkellers-Beat & Roll Mit The Ratkellers (Marlowe)
105. Chris Bolger-No Promises (Self-Released)
106. Tommy Sistak-A Good Hat Indeed (Self-Released)
107. Michael Macrone-Icicles and Sand (Fiesta Red)
108. Michael Carpenter & The Cuban Heels-Ain’t Nothing Left To Say (Big Radio)
109. Cheap Trick-Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello (Big Machine)
110. M. Ross Perkins-M. Ross Perkins (Sofaburn)
111. Pauw-Macrocosm Microcosm (Caroline)
112. The Pynnacles-My Oblivion (Whomp!)*
113. The Jeremy Band-Hit You With A Flower (Jam)
114. Metropolitan Farms-Oafish Twist (Braxeling)
115. The Forz-Running From The Past (Self-Released)
116. The Urges-Time Will Pass (Self-Released)
117. Spygenius-‘Pacephale (Whammo Whammo Whammo Excellent)
118. The Reverberations-Mess Up Your Mind (Screaming Apple)*
119. Gretchen’s Wheel-Behind The Curtain (Futureman)
120. The Ace-Riot of Sound (We Dig This)
121. Dropkick-Balance The Light (Rock Indiana)
122. Speed The Plough-Now (Self-Released)
123. Twins-Square America (Maximum Ames)
124. Shennon and Lotton-PM Songs (Rock Indiana)
125. Peter Buzzelle and The Academy-Devil Love (Self-Released)

II. Top 5 EPs

Disclaimer alert: I’m not a big fan of EPs, as they always seem to leave me wanting more. For this reason, I never seek them out the way I do full-length albums, and 2016 was no exception. A few of them came my way, regardless, and I will list those I particularly enjoyed.

1. Cabinessence-A Place For Playing Games (Self-Released)
2. Pezband-Women & Politics (Frodis)*
3. General Mojo’s-How Hollow A Heart (Self-Released)
4. Steve Ramone-Snowballs In The Summer (Blast O Matic)
5. B Leaguers-Death Of A Western Heart (Kool Kat)

III. Top 4 Compilations-Single Artist

1. The Anderson Council-Assorted Colours (Jem)
2. Bill Lloyd-Lloydering (SpyderPop)
3. Greg Pope-Favorites (Octoberville)
4. Fernando Perdomo-Picks (Self-Released)
5. Blame The Bishop-New & Used Collected Recordings: 2009-2015 (Self-Released)

IV. Top 5 Compilations-Various Artists

1. International Pop Overthrow Vol. 19 (Pop Geek Heaven)
2. Twelve String High: A New Jingle Jangle Adventure (You Are The Cosmos)
3. Pop Parade Vol. 7 (Rock Indiana)
4. Big Stir- Power Pop and More at CIA: The First Year (Minco)
5. Unsigned, Sealed & Delivered-No. 9 The Songwriters Notebook (Bullseye)

V. Top Tribute Disc

If It Feels Good Do It-A Sloan Tribute (Futureman)

VI. Biggest Disappointment

Look Park-Look Park (Yep Roc). It’s not that I don’t like this album, but I expect more than a late ‘70s James Taylor sound-a-like from Chris Collingwood.

VII. 2017 Releases I’ve Heard And Like (In Alphabetical Order)

Brent Cash-The New High
The Flywheels-I’m For The Flowers
Pseudonym-Pack of Lies

Reissue Categories

I. Top 50 Proper Albums

For this category, at least one of the following criteria must be met for the album to qualify:

a. those that are on CD for the first time
b. those that had been previously issued, but are now out of print or difficult to find
c. those in whose current issue have lots of bonus tracks, or some other unique feature
d. those reissued on LP where they never had been
e. those which were previously unreleased but are “old” enough to where they should be considered reissues.

What I did NOT include were “garden variety” reissues of popular albums (i.e. the ELO reissues on colored vinyl)

A CD or LP which contains exclusively previously unrelesed material which is not from current times is still considered a “reissue” in my ranking structure.

With the above in mind, while quality is the major factor in determining the rankings, other factors such as number and type of bonus tracks, liner notes, sound quality, etc…do come into play. So, if you see a classic album ranking lower than one with less of a rep (or one you know I like a bit less), it’s because of the other factors.

1. The Hollies-Evolution: Mono/Stereo (Parlophone)*
2. XTC-Skylarking: The Surround Sound Series (Ape House)
3. R.E.M.-Out Of Time: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Universal)
4. Game Theory-The Big Shot Chronicles (Omnivore)
5. The Move-The Move (Esoteric)
6. Anthony Phillips-Wise After The Event: Deluxe Edition (Esoteric)
7. The Go-Go’s-Talk Show: Deluxe Edition (Edsel)
8. Barclay James Harvest-Gone To Earth (Esoteric)
9. Paul Revere & The Raiders-The Spirit of ’67: Deluxe Mono/Stereo Edition (Now Sounds)
10. The Hollies-Butterfly: Mono/Stereo (Parlophone)*
11. Crowded House-Woodface: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
12. Game Theory-Lolita Nation (Omnivore)
13. Soft Hearted Scientists-Uncanny Tales From The Everyday Undergrowth (Self-Released)
14. Milk ‘N Cookies-Milk ‘N Cookies (Captured Tracks)
15. Status Quo-On The Level: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
16. Crowded House-Crowded House: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
17. The Go-Go’s-Beauty and The Beat: Deluxe Edition (Edsel)
18. The Move-Shazam (Esoteric)
19. The Toms-The Toms (Burger/Frodis)**
20. Pugwash-Almond Tea (Sugarbush)*
21. Nelson Bragg-Day Into Night: 10th Anniversary Edition (Steel Derrick)
22. Spanky & Our Gang-Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason (Universal Japan)
23. Crowded House-Time On Earth: Deluxe Edition (Lester)
24. Idle Race-Idle Race (Parlophone)*
25. Brinsley Schwarz-The New Favourites Of…Brinsley Schwarz (Parlophone Japan)
26. The Move-Looking On (Esoteric)
27. Barclay James Harvest-Everyone Is Everybody Else (Esoteric)
28. Otis Redding-Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (Rhino)
29. Hudson Ford-Nickelodeon (Big Pink)
30. Crowded House-Temple of Low Men: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
31. Klaatu-347 E.S.T.(Conveyer)
32. Cotton Mather-Kontiki (Star Apple Kingdom)*
33. Eclection-Eclection (Esoteric)
34. Clear Light-Clear Light (Big Beat)
35. Benny Hester-Benny… (Moraine Music Group)
36. Spanky & Our Gang-Spanky & Our Gang (Universal Japan)
37. The Easybeats-Good Friday (Varese Sarabande)*
38. The Move-Something Else (Esoteric)
39. Crowded House-Together Alone: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
40. Status Quo-If You Can’t Stand The Heat: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
41. Hudson Ford-Free Spirit (Big Pink)
42. Anthony Phillips-Sides: Deluxe Edition (Esoteric)
43. Gary Wright and Wonderwheel-Ring of Changes (Esoteric)
44. The Remains-The Remains: Mono Edition (Sony)*
45. Madrigal-Sunshine (Axe)
46. The Kinks-Everybody’s In Show Biz: Legacy Edition (Legacy)
47. Paul Roland-House of Dark Shadown (Klang)
48. Judy Henske & Jerry Yester-Farewell Aldebaran (Omnivore)
49. Spanky & Our Gang-Like To Get To Know You (Universal Japan)
50. Tommy Roe-Dizzy (Universal Japan)

II. Top 30 Compilations, Single Artist

1. The Fifth Dimension-The Complete Soul City/Bell Singles 1966-1975 (Real Gone)
2. The Mamas and The Papas-The Complete Singles 50th Anniversary Collection (Real Gone)
3. The Turtles-All The Singles (Manifesto)
4. Grapefruit-Yesterday’s Sunshine: The Complete 1967-1968 London Sessions (RPM)
5. The Korgis-Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime: The Complete Rialto Recordings 1979-1982 (Cherry Red)
6. The Lee Kings-Bingo!! For The Lee Kings: Expanded Edition (RPM)
7. Cloud Eleven-Garden of Obscure Delights: A Retrospective 1996-2015 (West Coast)
8. Velvet Crush-Pre Teen Symphony (Omnivore)
9. The Beach Boys-Becoming The Beach Boys: The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions (Omnivore)
10. The Avengers-Everyone’s Gonna Wonder (RPM)
11. Andy Partridge-The Fuzzy Warbles Collection: Volumes 7-8 and Hinges (Ape House)
12. Jeffrey Foskett-The Best Of Jeffrey Foskett (Vivid Sound)
13. The Brotherhood of Lizards-Lizardland: The Complete Works (Captured Tracks)
14. Crowded House-Afterglow: Deluxe Edition (Univeral)
15. Steve & The Board-The Complete Steve & The Board (Playback)
16. The Ashes-Selective Amnesia: A Warmfuzz Compilation (Warmfuzz)
17. Andy Partridge-The Fuzzy Warbles Collection: Volumes 4-6 (Ape House)
18. The Bangles-Ladies and Gentlemen…The Bangles! (Omnivore)
19. Syreeta-The Rita Wright Years: Rare Motown 1967-1970 (Kent)
20. Harpers Bizarre-The Complete Singles Collection 1965-1970 (Now Sounds)
21. The Valentines-The Sound of The Valentines: The Complete Recordings 1966-1970 (RPM)
22. John Howard-These Fifty Years: The Best of John Howard Vol. 1 (Kid In A Big World)
23. George Usher-The End and The Beginning 1990-2009
24. Chad & Jeremy-Yesterday’s Gone: The Complete Ember/World Artist Recordings (RPM)
25. The Cats-The Golden Years of Dutch Pop Music (Universal)
26. Andy Partridge-The Fuzzy Warbles Collection: Volumes 1-3 (Ape House)
27. The Quick-Untold Rock Stories (Burger)*
28. Prix-Historix 1975-76 Ardent Studios (Hozac)
29. Ray Columbus-Now You Shake: The Definitive Beat R’N’B Pop Fever Recordings 1963-1969 (RPM)
30. Justine-Tales of Justine: Petals From A Sunflower Complete Recordings 1967-79 (Grapefruit)

III. Top 20 Compilations, Various Artists: Individual

I tried something new this year: separating the various artist comps into “Best Individual” and “Best Series”, as this year it was just too difficult to rank volumes in many of the series. If this seems a bit vague, it will become clear when you see the lists.

1. The Girls Want The Boys!: Sweden’s Beat Girls 1964-1970 (Ace)
2. Svenska Shakers-R & B Crunchers, Mod Grooves, Freakbeat and Psych/Pop From Sweden 1964-1968 (RPM)
3. This Is Fame: 1964-1968 (Kent)*
4. Let It Be-Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison (Ace)
5. Move On Up Volume Two: The Very Best of Northern Soul (Universal)
6. Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults (Rhino)*
7. Scratch My Back!-Pye Beat Girls 1963-1968 (Ace)
8. Kinked!: Kings Songs & Sessions 1964-1971 (Ace)
9. Girls On 45 Vol. 4: A Selection of Girl Group, Girlie Pop and Soulful Ladies 1962-1967 (Teensville)
10. Curiousity Shop Volume Three: A Rare Collection of Aural Antiquities and Objets D’art 1968-1971 (Particles)
11. One Track Mind-More Motown Guys (Kent)
12. Curiousity Shop Volume Four: A Rare Collection of Aural Antiquities and Objets D’art 1966-1969 (Particles)
13. Where The Girls Are-Volume 9 (Ace)
14. Love Hit Me!: Decca Beat Girls 1962-1970 (Ace)
15. Mixed Up Minds-Obscure Rock & Pop From The British Isles 1970-1974 (Particles)
16. Classical Gassers-Pop Gems Inspired By The Great Composers (Ace)
17. California Soul-Funk & Soul From The Golden State 1967-1976 (BGP)
18. Upside Down Volume Five: 1966-1971 Coloured Dreams From The Underworld (Particles)
19. Super Duper Love: Mainstream Hits & Rarities 1973-76 (Kent)
20. Northern Soul Weekender: Russ Winstanley Presents The Ultimate Weekender (Charly)

IV. Top 5 Compilations-Various Artists: Series

1. Cornflake Zoo (Particles)
2. Beatfreak! (Particles)
3. Warner Pop Rock Nuggets (Warner Japan)
4. Loma: A Soul Music Love Affair (Future Days)
5. Warner Girl Group Nuggets (Warner Japan)

V. Top 2 Soundtracks

1. The Beatles-Live At The Hollywood Bowl: A Ron Howard Film: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years (Universal)
2. Harry Nilsson’s The Point (Varese Sarabande)

VI. Top 30 Box Sets: Single Artist

1. Pink Floyd-The Early Years 1965-1972 (Legacy)
2. The Kinks-The Mono Collection (Sanctuary)*
3. The Rolling Stones-In Mono (ABCKO)
4. The Who-My Generation: Super Deluxe (Universal)
5. David Bowie-Who Can I Be Now?: 1974-1976 (Rhino/Parlophone)
6. The Beach Boys-Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary (Universal)
7. Elvis Presley-The Album Collection (Sony/RCA/Legacy)
8. The Monkees-The Monkees 50 Classic Albums Collection (Rhino)
9. Marvin Gaye-Volume Two 1966-1970 (Universal)
10. The Turtles-The Complete Original Album Collection (Manifesto)
11. Paul McCartney-Pure (Concord Music Group)
12. Lush-Origami (4 AD)*
13. Fleetwood Mac-Mirage: Super Deluxe (Rhino)
14. Todd Rundgren-The Complete Bearsville Albums Collection (Rhino)
15. The Cars-The Elektra Years 1978-1987 (Rhino)
16. The Ramones-The Ramones: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Rhino)
17. Marvin Gaye-Volume Three 1971-1981 (Universal)
18. Graham Parker-These Dreams Will Never Sleep: The Best Of Graham Parker 1976-2005 (Universal)
19. XTC-Skylarking: Super Deluxe (Ape House)
20. Rubettes-The Albums 1974-1977 (Caroline International)
21. The Lords of The New Church-The Complete I.R.S. Collection (Real Gone)
22. The Archies-Sugar Sugar: The Complete Albums Collection (Goldenlane)
23. Led Zeppelin-The Complete BBC Sessions (Rhino)
24. XTC-English Settlement: Super Deluxe (Ape House)
25. The Long Ryders-Final Wild Songs (Cherry Red)
26. NRBQ-High Noon: A 50 Year Retrospective (Omnivore)
27. Sloan-One Chord To Another: Super Deluxe (Two Minutes For Music)*
28. The Association-Original Album Series (Rhino)
29. Jethro Tull-Stand Up: The Elevated Edition (Warner)
30. The Spencer Davis Group-Taking Out Time: Complete Recordings 1967-1969 (RPM)

VII. Top 5 Box Sets: Various Artists

1. Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds-The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967 (Grapefruit)
2. Still In A Dream-A Story of Shoegaze (Cherry Red)
3. Another Splash of Colour-New Psychedelia In Britain 1980-1985 (RPM)
4. Looking Stateside: 80 Mod, Soul & Garage Nuggets (RPM)
5. C87 (Cherry Red)

VIII. Top 5 Reissue Labels (non-major)

1. RPM
2. Omnivore
3. Kent
4. Ace
5. Real Gone

IX. Top 5 Reissue Labels (Major)

1. Rhino
2. Universal
3. Legacy
4. Warner Japan
5. Parlophone

The Absolute Powerpop Top 15 EPs & Top 20 Americana Albums of 2016

The Top Power Pop EPs of 2016

1. Cliff Hillis-Love Not War
2. The Scheme-All the Time in the World
3. Preston Cochran-Sunshine
4. Fran Smith Jr-Mystic County
5. Mozley-8
6. Hector and the Leaves-Little Bee
7. Mozley-7
8. Eyelids-Slow it Goes
9. Kurt Raburn-Days of Vanity
10. Trip Wire-Seizureville
11. Pop Cult-Cult Classics
12. Ben Helm-S/T
13. The Dreaming Spires-Paisley Overground
14. Sunshine Bloom-Power Pop is Dead
15. The Matt Truman Ego Trip-AM 1670

Something new this year is my Americana list, since I listen to a lot of melodic Americana that really doesn't qualify as power pop. I already push the "power pop" label pretty wide to include a lot of stuff that's not traditional power pop so rather than push it even more, I've opted for this separate list.

1. Farewell Milwaukee-FM
2. Drive-By Truckers-American Band
3. The Jayhawks-Paging Mr. Proust
4. The Candles-Matter + Spirit
5. Jake Jones-From Time to Time
6. Andrew Leahey & The Homestead-Skyline in Central Time
7. BJ Barham-Rockingham
8. Beaver Nelson-Positive
9. Matt Joe Gow-Seven Years
10. Reckless Kelly-Sunset Motel
11. Blake Rainey & His Demons-Helicopter Rose
12. Big Shoals-Hard Lessons
13. Waco Brothers-Going Down in History
14. Faithless Town-Empires
15. Romantica-Shadowlands
16. Brian Irwin-The Fool
17. Chris Maughan & The Missing Ace-Be Happy
18. Nate Leavitt & The Elevation-Someone Send a Signal
19. Mark Huff-Down River
20. Caleb Caudle-Carolina Ghost

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 Albums of 2016, #1-50.

As those who follow me on Twitter may have noticed, I agonized over picking a clear-cut #1 for the year, since the top 5 (heck, the top 10) were pretty much interchangeable for me. Rather than cop out and go with an unnumbered top five like I did several years back, I decided to honor the band I put at #1 for their lengthy career of quality music, not just quality power pop. It may not have been their greatest career album, but it was excellent and worthy of the top spot even though I can't say I liked it any more than some of the others I had ranked highly. Anyway, here's the top half of the list:

1. The Posies-Solid States
2. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms-Basement Punk
3. Cheap Star-Songs for the Farrelly Brothers
4. Bryan Estepa-Every Little Thing
5. Seth Swirsky-Circles & Squares
6. Ken Sharp-New Mourning
7. Nick Piunti-Trust Your Instincts
8. John Macom-Unforeseen Circumstances
9. The Legal Matters-Conrad
10. Timothy Nelson-Words Like Young
11. Whitney-Light Upon the Lake
12. Tuns-S/T
13. Propeller-Fall Off the World
14. Sadler Vaden-S/T
15. Look Park-S/T
16. The Foreign Films-Record Collector
17. Erik Voeks-So The Wind Won't Blow it All Away
18. King Mixer-Hang On
19. Greg Pope-Guiding Star
20. Goodo-Better Than Millions
21. Hurry-Guided Meditation
22. Scott Warren-Good Love
23. Michael Carpenter & The Cuban Heels-Ain't Nothing Left to Say
24. Wesley Fuller-Melvista
25. Cupid's Carnival-Everything is Love
26. The Nines-Alejandro's Visions
27. Cotton Mather-Death of the Cool
28. Joey Sykes-Classic New Rock
29. Brett Harris-Up in the Air
30. The 88-Close to You
31. Carey Ott-Nocona
32. Kevin Devine-Instigator
33. Latvian Radio-Until Tomorrow Gets in the Way
34. Mark Crozer & The Rels-Sunny Side Down
35. Andy Bopp-Blisters & Thorns
36. Nada Surf-You Know Who You Are
37. Title Tracks-Long Dream
38. Dropkick-Balance the Light
39. Joe Giddings-Better from Here
40. Justin Levinson-Yes Man
41. Arvidson & Butterflies-S/T
42. The Well Wishers-Comes and Goes
43. Denny Smith-An Overnight Low
44. Michael Roberts-Suspended in This Space
45. The Person & The People-Dark & Low
46. Mark Crozer-Broken Bones
47. Swedish Polarbears-The Great Northern
48. Fallon Cush-Bee in Your Bonnet
49. Stay-The Mean Solar Times
50. Bob Evans-Car Boot Sale

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 Albums of 2016, #51-100

It's the end of the year, so that means list time again. Here is the schedule for the year-end lists:

Today: Albums #51-100
Wednesday: Albums #1-50
Thursday: Top EPs of 2016 & my 20 favorite Americana albums of 2016.

There will be links for each of the albums added throughout/later today.

51. Sam Vicari-Blunt
52. The Dots-Island in the Sun
53. Labradors-The Great Maybe
54. The Dowling Poole-One Hyde Park
55. The I Don't Cares-Wild Stab
56. Radio Days-Back in the Day
57. Butch Walker-Stay Gold
58. Gabe Dixon-Turns to Gold
59. California-S/T
60. The Penny Auction-Last Call
61. D Generation-Nothing is Anywhere
62. Val Emmich-Whatever's Chasing You
63. The Needy Sons-Vis-a-Vis
64. Gillwire-Silver Streak
65. Butch Young-Mercury Man
66. James Starflower-Pet Your Stereo
67. Armchair Oracles-In Machina
68. The Figgs-On the Slide
69. Happiless-S/T
70. Bubble Gum Orchestra-Sticky Love Songs
71. The Villas-Long Player
72. Colman Gota-Tape
73. Brian Jay Cline-Solid State
74. Automat-Turn the Music Up
75. The Nobility-Ashford Castle
76. Trapper Schoepp-Rangers & Valentines
77. Aspinall-Little Things
78. Will Johnson-Burning Neon
79. Clockwise-This is Now...and Then
80. Javier Escovedo-Kicked Out of Eden
81. The Stereotypes-Round After Round
82. Biltmore-Revolutions & Romantics
83. The Weeklings-Studio 2
84. Ebbott Lundberg & The Indigo Children-For the Ages to Come
85. Dum Dog Run-DDR2: Still Dum After All These Years
86. Johnny Chastain-Plot Points to Nowhere
87. The Roomsounds-Elm St.
88. Magic Eight Ball-Richest Men in the Graveyard
89. The Twilight Hours-Black Beauty
90. Baby Scream-Life's a Trap
91. The Favorite Things-Coming Clean
92. David Brookings-David Brookings & The Average Lookings
93. Champagne-Beach Closed
94. Gladiola-This Year's Storm
95. Dave Keener-Like an Animal
96. Johnny Stanec-Farewell, Sadness
97. The Spectacular Fantastic-Circling the Sun
98. Valenzuela/Wilde-Prairie Wind
99. Watts-The Black Heart of Rock'n'Roll
100. The Honeydogs-Love & Cannibalism