It’s that time of year! Once again I’ve asked Emacs which new albums I’ve listened to most this year, and the shocking truth is revealed below. And above, too!
It’s been a really strong year for new music, I think — I’ve been wildly enthusiastic about several of these albums, which makes a change from previous years where I could barely get worked up about anything. Perhaps it’s the two years off everybody had that made people get less depressed or something.
The biggest surprise of the year was, of course, the #1 album — an Orbital album! *gasp* Yes, they made an album that was as good as any of the 90s albums, and I don’t think anybody expected that…
So here’s the list of the 15 best albums, and because a computer collated the list, these are objectively the best albums. So there.
 | Orbital | Optical Delusion |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVN-l0orYPk | ||
 | Lost Girls | Selvutsletter |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Awwkgejs0 | ||
 | Dry Cleaning | Swampy EP |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47kgwm3B3HU | ||
 | Anohni and the Johnsons | My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCs-30HyAlw | ||
 | Liis Ring | Homing |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Qv4qWE1CQ | ||
 | Water From Your Eyes | Everyone’s Crushed |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tdPKlYTWn4 | ||
 | Aphex Twin | Blackbox Life Recorder 21f – in a room7 F760 |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY3OR2KmAxQ | ||
 | Arthur Russell | Picture of Bunny Rabbit |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01q2h3mX9Ro | ||
 | David Allred | Mandatory Book Club Vol. 1 |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKUd61uZvE | ||
 | Everything But The Girl | Fuse |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6QKZJeK-5w | ||
 | GLYSK | Social Intercourse |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzW657ZobMM | ||
 | Peter Broderick & Ensemble 0 | Give It to the Sky: Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning Expanded |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpfYvRXJhEY | ||
 | Debby Friday | Good Luck |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_m8fGziyHo | ||
 | Ryuichi Sakamoto | 12 |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYYTWeRhI5U | ||
 | Snapped Ankles | Blurtations |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yduU5hdI3QA | ||
 | Still House Plants | Fast Edit |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxJhPArOuz0 | ||
And I also bought a lot of older albums this year. Here’s the ten objectively best ones:
 | Shopping | The Official Body |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEgH18jjh7s | ||
 | Joan as Police Woman | Damned Devotion |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTSDLn_jLk | ||
 | Merope | Salos |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaYKXVapskI | ||
) | Shearwater | Shearwater Plays Lodger (2016 AV Club Version) |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va72-zHg61E | ||
 | Mourning [A] BLKstar | Garner Poems |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1e79kvHH3A | ||
 | Movietone | Movietone |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ScLeWxZEw | ||
 | Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider | The Blue Hour |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRrCJMuqCEs | ||
 | Ellen Arkbro & Johan Graden | I get along without you very well |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPLzJYh9COY | ||
 | Fad Gadget | Under the Flag |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yEYV3ohJu4 | ||
) | Joan as Police Woman | Cover (Album) |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8C9NuCG_Jc | ||
 | Marvin Pontiac | Greatest Hits |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uR-nDxgi20 | ||
So there you go. Objective.