The Best Albums in Pigeons & Planes History

Related: The Best Songs of 2014 (So Far)

Related: The Best Albums of 2014 (So Far)

Year released: 2009

Today, glitchy, hyper electronic pop music is everywhere, and you can trace a lot of it back to Passion Pit. Continuing what The Postal Service started, Passion Pit's Manners didn't just incorporate an electronic sound—it depended on it, but it did so in a human way, combining solid songwriting, emotive singing, and an infectious pop sensibility with a feral unpredictablilty that made this album appeal to both indie kids and more conservative members of the general population. That's never an easy accomplishment.—Confusion

Year released: 2013

We haven't had that long with Days Are Gone. Admittedly, it's ridiculous to decide an album is one of the best of the past half-decade after listening for only a matter of weeks. And yet.

Haim has always had a throwback appeal that begs to be called classic. Part of that is the makeup of the band itself: Three sisters, all lifelong musicians, banding together to make music built on three lifetimes worth of shared experiences and childhood listening habits. Part of it is their openly retro influences that make it easy to imagine that this isn't music from the over saturated, digitized torrent that is 2013 pop culture, but a simpler time when people listened to a song over and over again because music actually had to be purchased and was actually lived with instead of briefly consumed and discarded in favor of the next offering on the never-ending buffet table of the internet.

The biggest part, though—and this comes through immediately when listening to Days Are Gone—is that the music itself is incredible. Every urge to call the songs this trio releases "classic" is thoroughly earned, and it doesn't take a genius or a critic to tell that this music is going to be lived with and loved by a lot of people, no matter what year it came out in. "My Song 5" is going to be the first song a girl will want to learn on the electric guitar. It's not ridiculous to imagine your children singing along to "The Wire." Calling it a classic feels bold after only a few weeks, but after listening that's just the most obvious way to describe it.—Brendan Klinkenberg

Year released: 2013

Doris listeners can be divided into two camps. One camp believes that Earl was a far better effort, and thinks that Doris lacked coherence and faltered in its execution. The other camp thinks that Doris was (rap) god-sent as one of the most important rap albums of this year. While these two groups may disagree about the effort, execution, and style of Doris, one thing that both camps can agree on is that Doris was one of the most hotly anticipated records in 2013. Earl was an introduction, and Doris was Sweatshirt's glorious return; all of us kept a close watch on the young rapper knowing that it was coming. The record was important in the sense that we looked forward to his return, that we had the hope and belief that Doris would be an epic project. The opinion on that latter part may differ, but the fact that it had everyone in on the discussion is certainly worth something.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2010

We thought Arcade Fire had bottled lightning on Funeral. For any band, that album would be more than enough to solidify a legacy. They never had to make another great album, their debut was enough. So, it was surprising when their third album got better and better with every listen. The Suburbs wasn't a band trying to catch the spark that had launched them to stardom, it was a band evolving—they were getting smarter, more ambitious, and hitting a new peak. At an opus-length 16 songs, what stands out about the album is not any individual songs, although there are many that do. Instead, it's the strained urgency of the album that defines it. Win Butler and co. have a point to get across, and they are absolutely desperate for it to connect. It's an album that wants you to take life by the throat and not let a single second go to waste and begs you to care about what's happening around you. It sets the example by not letting up itself, segueing into song after song that hammers the point home. The Grammy's have been irrelevant to what's actually happening in music for decades now but, somehow, this album gave us the rare instance where the Album of the Year was arguably the best album of the year. We wouldn't have picked anything else to break through like this did.—Brendan Klinkenberg

Year released: 2013

The searing psychedelia that Tame Impala helped flower with Lonerism was a wake-up call for rock and roll, The Beatles on a perpetual acid trip that had started in Australia and is still going strong. With songs like "It Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," "Endors Toi," and the radio/commercial darling "Elephant," the Aussie rockers used the critical acclaim of 2010's Innerspeaker to hone and extrapolate their weird, violent distortion rather than bend to the whims of widespread success.—Graham Corrigan

Year released: 2011

SBTRKT's debut album took the British producer very quickly from relative obscurity to the vanguard of the so-called "post-dubstep" movement, but although his music is built on elements of UK bass music, it makes more sense to call the album what it is—a collection of focussed, purposeful pop songs. SBTRKT himself doesn't sing, but his choice of vocalists was faultless. Regular collaborator Sampha (who is also an integral part of the live show) appears on five songs, while Jessie Ware sings on two, and Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano appared on the album's most recognisable song, "Wildfire," which was evntually remixed by Drake. With songs that work either in a club or in headhpones on a quiet night in, SBTRKT lays emotive melodies over pulsating beats, with the vocals just another, equal element, rather than being the centrepiece of any of the songs.

He could have made a purely instrumental album and reached many fewer people, but instead SBTRKT used the underground music he loved to form the basis of a gorgeous collection of pop gems, exposing the bass-heavy sound that is so much a part of his DNA to a whole new audience, and making one of the strongest debut albums of the past five years.—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2013

One of the greatest feats in hip-hop is the comeback, especially when you find acts that are supremely dope reaching back and showcasing how fresh they still are. Ten years ago, a collaboration between El-P and Killer Mike would've been laughed out of the Internets, but with 2012's R.A.P. Music, we realized how much sense this made. Hearing the two of these hip-hop behemoths aligning equally? Fans can't be disappointed. You can only look at immdieately immense material made on "Banana Clipper" or the lowkey lunacy of "Sea Legs" to find out how important the Run The Jewels tandem is for today's hip-hop game. We're in a situation in which the future of hip-hop dwells in the grey area that caters to the hybrid forces, crafting the shit you know you need years before you need it. If Watch The Throne was hip-hop decadence giving you the middle finger, Run The Jewels is the assured crotch grab of the limo drivers that just know that their rhymes are harder, their beats more consistent, and their albums are more cohesive.—khal

Year released: 2012

George Lewis Jr. makes rock and roll seem cool again. When lots of indie-rock bands are filled with floppy haired, friendly looking folks, it's refreshing to see a leather jacket-clad Lewis Jr glaring at you from the front of Confess. His music as Twin Shadow is big, brash, and bold—there are no half measures here, but there is a hell of a lot of bombast in the soaring choruses and sweeping, propulsive production. Confess is a self-centred record with Lewis cast as the womanising, heartbreaking anti-hero, but he pulls the role of with such confidence and panache that you can't help but be swept up into his world. On Confess Twin Shadow backs up his magnetism and natural charisma with really well written songs, songs that have been lovingly, carefully put together, songs that have been perfected and trimmed and cut down until every element is absolutely necessary. This is a purposeful, powerful album that confirms George Lewis Jr. as a genuine star—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2012

Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have a good thing going for them. The Baltimore-based pair has been making luscious dream pop for the better part of a decade. Their fourth studio album, Bloom, is a perfected extension of the somewhat simple sound that has come to define their career. The release produced four well-received singles (“Myth,” “Lazuli,” “Wild” and “Wishes”), and debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 in May 2012. The critical and commercial embrace certified that there is a place for Beach House’s sleepy tunes in popular music and set the stage for what should continue to blossom into even more rich and creative releases from the duo.—Monster

Year released: 2009

When Dirty Projectors released Bitte Orca, it was by far their most listenable, and cohesive record. Prior to the album, the band had often been too exerimental, too damn weird for most people to really be able to enjoy. The turning point was this album, and although 2012's Swing Lo Magellan is probably even more open an album, it is on Bitte Orca that Dave Longstreth and crew find the perfect balance between ornate instrumentation, strange vocal and guitar parts, and strong pop songwriting. At nine songs long, it seems as of this album was trimmed of all fat, stripped down to include only the best parts, and as such it is an album with no clear standouts, just lots of great songs.—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2011

Given all that Frank Ocean has contributed to current popular music, it’s kind of hard to believe that no one really knew who he was just three years ago. Sure he’d been releasing some under-the-radar solo material via the Lonny Breaux moniker, and was of course collaborating with the OFWGKTA crew, but he was still very much just a face in the Internet crowd before releasing Nostalgia, Ultra. What was intended to be a simple mixtape effort felt and sounded much more like a glossy, professional, studio release, one that catapulted Frank Ocean to the forefront of almost every “best of” album list in 2011.

A lot can be said about how successful an album truly was once a few years have passed and people have some hindsight to work with. Nostalgia, Ultra did much more than make Ocean a buzz artist at one particular moment in time, it proved that he had staying power, a trait quickly recognized by many including Kanye West, Jay Z, and André 3000. It widely opened a door allowing for collaborations and an official solo debut in Channel Orange, and although he continues to grow as an artist, Frank Ocean never loses touch with who he is as an individual or fails to display that same forthright story-telling approach to music that he took on Nostalgia, Ultra.—Monster

Year released: 2008

You could argue that 808s & Heartbreak is Kanye West's best album. And you would indeed have to argue; that's a claim that would not be taken lightly. It might be right, though.

Kanye's the most introspective artist we have, and this is the purest distillation of all the complexities he brings to the table. We know the story of 808s already; it's a break-up album, a mourning album, the stylistic outlier. While all of that is true, none of it gets at the heart of why this is a truly, devastatingly heartbreaking piece of art. On College Dropout, Kanye was so compelling because he was the everyman hip-hop had never had before. Thousands of people heard a new perspective, and it was surprising and refreshing because it was so close to their own. His success holds a vicarious element that few artists are capable of fostering because, by simply throwing everything he is out into the world, Kanye connects with people.

For two more albums, we watched him climb to the highest plateaus in music, and 808s is his missive from the top. The message: This wasn't worth it. Everyone knows the losses that led to this album, but the stark, pained rumination on a Faustian bargain that can't be reversed is so direct and complete and unexpected that it's elevated to the drama of a Greek tragedy, with the real world events surrounding the art lending it immediacy and weight. Kanye got everything he wanted, but it was at too high a cost. The fame he craved means he'll never live a normal life, the respect of critics and peers didn't stop his fiancee from leaving him, and the money can't bring his mother back. The album brings to bear the twin realizations that this life might not have been what he really wanted and that, now, it's too late to go back. 808s is the soundtrack to bitterly living with the decisions he made. Kanye gave us all of his flaws, it made for great music and won him stardom, but it trapped him with nothing left for himself.

Musically, this is almost certainly Kanye's most influential work. For all the groundbreaking production on his debut, it was 808s that ushered in a new era in hip-hop and spawned its next ascendant star, Drake, the man who so wants to usurp Kanye's throne. The chilling minimalism, instinctively melodic writing, and liberal use of autotune were all sharp departures from the ostentatious rap of Graduation, but five years on the hallmarks of this record have seeped into the mainstream. It's telling that Kanye calls MBDTF his "perfect" album—the one he made to be an unimpeachable classic—then followed it up with Yeezus, an album that follows the 808s template to the letter. It's his riskiest album, comes with the controversy to back it up, and it's proving to be the blueprint for the rest of his career and a defining sound for everyone else's. That, and the thematic impact of the content, is why you could argue that 808s is Kanye's best album. And you might be right.—Brendan Klinkenberg

Year released: 2012

While The Weeknd found a dark, harrowing sound in the genre of R&B, Miguel revived Prince-era sensuality with Kaleidoscope Dream. Perhaps it's the stark comparison between him and The Weeknd that made Miguel all the more alluring, especially considering the first single off the album, "Adorn," literally had Miguel begging to cater to his girl. Those who were tired of The Weeknd's aggressive take on R&B rejoiced as Miguel crooned about how perfect women are, and a pitch-perfect falsetto simply granted him the title of the savior of classic R&B.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2012

Between the release of his second solo album, I'll Sleep When You're Dead, and his third, Cancer For Cure, underground hip-hop pioneer El-P faced the sort of adversity and difficult decisions that might cause some to call it quits. In 2008, close friend and frequent collaborator Camu Tao tragically passed away at the age of 30 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. In 2010, facing a volatile market and personal reservations, El-P made the difficult decision to close Definitive Jux, the label he had co-founded in 1999 and had run independently since. With a renewed focus on the craft and love for boundary-pushing hip-hop on which he built his reputation, El-P emerged from the five years of turmoil with Cancer For Cure, perhaps his most unified, nuanced album yet, his cinematic, post-apocalyptic vision realized with new textures and a fiery singularity of purpose. Jagged and paranoid as ever, El-P managed to make an album that pushed his artisty forward within the lane he'd carved for almost two decades, sounding as fresh and reflective of the world's horrors as ever before.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2011

By early 2011, Kendrick Lamar's combination of prodigious talent and intelligent content—accompanied by the considerable boost of Dr. Dre's co-sign—had begun to push his name past early adopter critical mass, the point where the whispers of "who is Kendrick Lamar?" begin to amplify, creeping beyond the blogosphere. With , Lamar signaled that his significant potential was coalescing not only in satisfying music (few rap songs have been as viscerally entertaining as flow showcase "Rigamortus"), but also songs of vision and larger meaning, connecting Kendrick's experience to a wider context ("HiiiPower," "A.D.H.D."). The seeds that would sprout into a fully-realized artistic thought on good kid, m.A.A.d city are well on display on Section.80, a consistently refreshing bridge between Lamar's early days and his emergence as the rapper of his generation–or, at very least one of only two legitimate names in the conversation.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2011

With the release of Overgrown in 2013, James Blake proved that he could write a catchy chorus, and make pop songs that are interesting and experimental without being inaccessible. The signs were already there on Blake's self-titled debut album, but the hooks and the earworm melodies were largely obscured and cloaked in layers of glitchy electronics and manipulated vocals. James Blake's history as a dubstep producer gave him a sonic palette filled with bass and crisp percussion, and an appreciation of the power that those moments of silence and little bits of space can lend to a song, to which he added a voice both delicate and soulful.

In retrospect, we can see that James Blake was a precursor to much of the late-night electronic pop and R&B that is popular today, but quite apart from that context, this 11-track album stands on its own as a wonderfully focussed, cohesive, and beautifully put together collection of songs.—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2010

All the drama surrounding Outkast's split seemed to melt away when Big Boi released Sir Lucious. It wasn't like any rap album we'd heard up to that point. Its greatness didn't come from any sort of cohesive sound or style. Instead, Big Boi compiled 15 tracks worth of singles, songs that were inherently unique on their own, but were also able to function as a complete unit together, like an island of misfit toys. Standouts include the initial single "Shutterbug," tongue twister "Back Up Plan," and sex anthem "Tangerine." Well, I guess they're all sex anthems. This is Big Boi, after all. But through all the sweat and steam there's some incredible songwriting going on, and with features from André 3000, Janelle Monaé, and longtime Outkast collaborator, Sleepy Brown, there was no way we could leave Sir Lucious (pronounced loo-shuss) off the list.—Graham Corrigan

Year released: 2011

With 2010's I'm New Here, embattled pioneering poet and singer Gil Scott Heron re-established himself, emerging as more than a point of influence for hip-hop, a ragged, aging voice that still had plenty to say to the world and about it. After the album's release, XL Recordings chief Richard Russell enlisted the help of emerging producer Jamie xx to give Heron's vocals entirely different light. The result, We're New Here, was a complete re-imagining of the original, marrying a beautiful palette of modern, bass-heavy beats with Heron's tortured vocals, teasing new dimensions out of songs with samples, atmospherics, and synthesizers totally unexpected to long time fans and those familiar with the legacy of the poet. Jamie xx's reverence for his subject is evident in every second of the set, making sure that Heron's poignant words never get lost, even as his production quite often dazzles. We're New Here is the rare remix album that makes the original work seem like a companion piece rather than a source. —Jon Tanners

Year released: 2011

High profile collaborations in hip-hop rarely live up to the names on the marquee. There are notable exceptions, but, by-and-large, the whole is rarely greater than the sum of the parts. Leave it to Kanye West and Jay Z to take the collaborative album to outrageous new heights with 2011's Watch the Throne, wrapping their Herculean efforts in a Riccardo Tisci-designed gold case and out-doing their peers in scope, sound, and attitude. An overflowing Frankenstein of beats and collaborators, WTT often plays like a sonic love letter to the past, present, and future of rap music, cast through the eyes of men obsessed with castles, Basquiat paintings, models, and their own excellence. Aspirational, gaudy, political, and always over the top, WTT saw Kanye and Jay trying gleefully all sorts of different ideas, whether they were in the service of serious topics ("Murder to Excellence," "Made In America") or unparalleled bravado ("Otis," the utterly ubiquitous "N*ggas in Paris"). It succeeds in a whirlwind of variety, consistently flipping a bejeweled middle finger to critics and expectations.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2011

While the mixtape has always been an integral part of the music industry, few have seen the success that it can bring like The Weeknd has (though his fellow OVO associate Drake saw similar success as well). Mysteriously released in March 2011 with very little information other than a download link alongside some seductive cover art attached to a website, House of Balloons eventually spread like wildfire. We were immediately transfixed with his abbrasively sexual lyrics, his obsession with drugs, his addressing of the cruel and honest bleakness of love and relationships. His whole concealed identity get-up evidently worked in his favor, provoking us to seek out more from him, and if you look around, you'll see that others have used the same formula to their benefit.

Sonically, The Weeknd revamped the sound of modern R&B. Instead of adhering to a sensual sound, The Weeknd croons about women and getting high over dark, slow-burning production. His brand of R&B isn't something you can seductively grind and romantically look into your partner's eyes to; you're getting high and fucking, making it okay for us to succumb to our vices.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2009

Animal Collective's eighth studio album is their best. Across their catalogue the band can sometimes be rather inaccessible, as they strive for originality, strive to do something different with their music, they end up with music that is too weird for the average listener, and can even wear on teh patience of the band's biggest fans. Merriweather Post Pavilion, however has none of those moments. That is not to say it is a striaghtforward record, not at all, but it refines and channels all the years of sonic experimentation and exploration into a beautiful, free-flowing, but never indulgent "pop" record. This isn't pop as you normally think of it, this is pop, Animal Collective-style. Catchy melodies and glorious choruses ("My Girls" really is stunning) are melded with dreamy, multi-layered, sometimes droning production, but neither experimentation, nor accessibility are ever lost. Animal Collective are going to find it hard to ever top Merriweather Post Pavilion, it's that good.—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2011

One of only a handful of active musicians who could realistically make an argument for being a true rock star, Danny Brown solidified his druggy, outlandish persona on stellar Fool's Gold debut XXX. Outlandishly raunchy, viciously clever, and deceptively perceptive ("Party All the Time" is an unusually detailed and sympathetic portrait), Danny assaults most of XXX's songs with an otherworldly energy, a singular presence that gives the rapper an almost unfair advantage from the jump. It's one he certainly doesn't squander, turning in some oft he most exhilarating songs in recent hip-hop history, whether on gleefully nihilistic party anthems "Die Like A Rockstar," "Blunt After Blunt," and "Outer Space," or on anarchic introspective noise-rap opus "30." XXX is as vibrant as it is dark, a reminder that there are always thrilling new ways to explore familiar topics.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2012

Diversity is the reason we're able to make this list. Call it what you want, an ethos, strategy, or lack of focus, but the reason Pigeons & Planes made it out of Confusion's bedroom and lasted this long is that we want to listen to everything out there. Any genre, any artist, and any sound is fair game, and it's the readers that want to hear a lot of different kinds of music who make up our audience. Albums like Purity Ring's Shrines are exciting because it's the idea of blending varied edges of the of the musical spectrum, condensed into one stunning full-length. On their debut, the duo seamlessly blend elements we've heard before—hip-hop drums and stuttering samples—while juggling ones that are wholly new into the mix, like Megan James' brilliantly idiosyncratic writing and bright, tolling synth sounds that are like nothing else out there. The whole package comes together nearly flawlessly. It has its critics, but no one can argue that Shrines is nothing less than a singular sound, fully-formed from its inception and executed with a confidence exceedingly rare in new acts. Combining genres is a balancing act that usually yields hype, but Purity Ring's output thus far exceeds the buzz. Visceral, enticing, and unshakeable, Shrines is an album we didn't know we had been waiting for. —Brendan Klinkenberg

Year released: 2011

Bon Iver's second album lives somewhere in the strange space between the first Bon Iver album and Justin Vernon's work with Kanye West. On his debut, Vernon captured the storied isolation that will forever define For Emma, Forever Ago. The news that he was working with Kanye was one of the most "what the fuck" moments of the past decade. Anyone who wasn't taken aback was just playing it cool. It was weird. But it seemed to bring out something in Vernon, maybe something that was there all along, and the second Bon Iver album reflects that. It's more ambitious, more focused on arrangement and texture, and it was a step forward, which wasn't an easy thing to accept for a fanbase who fell in love with a story of isolation.—Confusion

Year released: 2013

Vampire Weekend's sophomore album was a huge departure from their self-titled debut. Adopting tropical sounds and what could be considered as a more global approach (compared to Vampire Weekend, where the band sought a more eclectic, but nonetheless "local" sound), Contra lost some old fans. But then came this year's Modern Vampires of the City, a true representation of both their albums that came before, and the growth that the band has gone through since the release of their sophomore record. The combination of the aforementioned aspects yielded Modern Vampires of the City, the quintessential Vampire Weekend album, the Frankenstein of Vampire Weekend and Contra, containing something for every fan of the band.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2011

Drake is a man who is making music on his own terms, and it's led to nothing but success. 2010's Thank Me Later was incredibly well received and, more recently, Nothing Was The Same is considered to be one of the most important albums of this year by many, but Take Care is ultimately what cemented Drake as a force to be reckoned with. Sophomore albums are never easy, as that's when an artist really has to prove him- or herself. But Drake responded to the challenge, and fiercely so. By pursuing a singular sound with the album's Noah "40" Shebib-powered production, and blurring the lines between hip-hop, pop, and R&B, Take Care stands as the clearest distillation of Drake's self-centred (to the point of narcissism), deeply personal, and highly emotional artistic persona. As he became more and more of a caricature of the soft singer/rapper that people so love to make fun of, he became a bigger star. Whether he's emotional or hard, you're nonetheless still listening to what he has to say, and he's still laughing all the way to the bank.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2009

From the first notes of "Intro" onwards, xx knows exactly where it's going. When The xx arrived, they were fully-formed. The aesthetic had been defined and the songs, which sounded like nothing else, weren't going to meet you halfway. Instead, the mysterious record from a London band no one had heard of simply offered a ride to its own destination. A few years on, with their reputation as this generation's whispered voice of seduction solidified and Jamie xx's status as some kind of savant auteur, their success seems logical. At the time, though, they were going left when the rest of music was going right. Minimalism was the name of the game for The xx from the beginning. The musical equivalent of a Raymond Chandler story, every possible element was stripped from the songs until all that was left were the voices of Oliver Sims and Romy Madley Croft, guitar, bass and percussion. Anywhere it sounds like they could have added something, they instead opted to take away more, leaving so much room that the songs seem to breathe for themselves. That space defined xx, the easy silence between notes was new and bold, but felt familiar. It's a subtle album, but without ornamentation the details feel monumental and the lyrics, largely intimate confessions, loom searingly large. This album is memorable, at first for its novelty, but now for its confident greatness. —Brendan Klinkenberg

Year released: 2013

It is not easy to follw up a critically acclaimed, well-loved album that is widely seen as influential with something even more impressive, but that's excatly what James Blake did with this album. While Blake purists, or fans of him from his early EPs, might feel that the production flourishes and larger, richer sound represent a loss of what really made the British artist stand out, being able to make something that is both catchy and profound is a rare talent. Overgrown is an album that benfits from repeated listens, as more and more production intricacies reveal themselves, and songs that maybe didn't stand out on first listen in the way that "Overgrown" or "Retrograde" do, can be better appreciated. This is a record with zero filler, a record that is best listened to in its entireity, yet it is still a record that your friend who is a casual music fan can have a favorite song from. With two albums this good already under his belt, it's just exciting to consider where James Blake will go next.—Constant Gardner

Year released: 2012

Aside from her highly entertaining internet presence and intelligent contribution to the discussion of heavier topics, Grimes hasn't released much new material since 2012's Visions. The truth is that she could continue touring, playing material from that album, and we'd be okay with that (though we'd probably be in want of more new music from the musician). Visions changed the landscape of synth-pop. At a time when synth-pop was not yet ubiquitous, Grimes was at the forefront of the rise of such experimental sounds. What's even more impressive is that Visions was recorded within three weeks, all on GarageBand. Yet she stays humble, but more importantly, unabashedly weird, which made us all the more accepting of similar sonic aesthetics. She and Visions gave this dreamy synth-pop a new face, acting as the base which acts that followed her could build upon.—Joyce Ng

Year released: 2010

Listening to this album knowing that it is LCD Soundsystem's last makes it mean something more. James Murphy's freewheeling, often acerbic, dance punk project has certainly secured its legendary status—breaking up after three close-to-perfect albums does that to a band—but had this brilliantly brash, fearless, and personal record been the band's first, fifth, or tenth album, we would still be hailing it as a masterpiece. Drawing on wide-ranging influences to create something very much his own, This Is Happening finds Murphy paranoid, pissed-off, and, unless you're just really happy all the time, highly relatable. This is a collection of songs that you can both dance and mourn the end of a relationship to, and only the inimitable Mr Murphy can make music like that. —Constant Gardner

Year released: 2012

The chief reason for the success of The Idler Wheel... comes down to this: Fiona Apple's first album in eight years came out on her own terms. The singer has been a notorious crusader against corporate skullduggery in the music industry, evidenced most recently by her remonstration of the crowd at a private Louis Vuitton show. So when she decided to start writing new music, Fiona Apple conveniently left the suits out of the loop until it was finished. "It was very casual," she said, " I wasn't fully admitting that I was making an album, I got to use the time in the studio to inspire me to finish other things rather than feel like I was finishing homework to hand in. It wasn't a lot of pressure. And the record company didn't know I was doing it, so nobody was looking over my shoulder."

All the elements that define her music are there—jazzy piano progressions, vocal lines that can play like the tender caress of a flute of the intensity of a snare drum—but what separates The Idler Wheel... from its competition here is Apple's untouchable songwriting. She dabbles in a cappella/timpani combinations in "Hot Knife," and complements her piano through the rest of the album with instruments that read like a cooking recipe: celeste, truck stomper, kora, marimba, bouzouki, and baritone all make appearances. And that's just on "Every Single Night." "Werewolf," "Jonathan," "Periphery," and all the rest demonstrate her ability to draw you somewhere slowly, carefully, and then smash it all on the ground in favor of something infinitely more beautiful. If this is what we get waiting eight years for a Fiona Apple, I'm dug in and ready for a decade plus for the next. Not that I wouldn't prefer a shorter span, it's just...whenever you're ready, okay Fiona? Take your time.—Graham Corrigan

Year released: 2013

Fuck whatever you thought Kanye West was. Yeezus was Kanye West doing Kanye West... for good or ill. Whether it was tracks like "Black Skinhead," where Kanye was lashing out at the fashion establishment for blackballing his progress, or "Send It Up," which featured some of the best in the French electronic music scene, Kanye's Yeezus wasn't the album you were waiting for. Fuck what you were waiting for, though; this was Kanye letting it all hang out. Have you ever been Kanye? Having all of your comments scrutinized, actions homogenized? All while waiting for the birth of your first child? Trying to live up to stupendous material like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy? On Yeezus, 'Ye is a man letting all of his frustrations out. And in doing so over some of the most abrasive sounds, you got the feeling that, no matter how much you claim to not give a fuck, Kanye really doesn't give a fuck. And this is why we love him so. He creates a masterpiece that's as raw as it is refined, intense and thought-provoking. He makes statements that you can't help but react to. There's no dismissing Kanye's output, and Yeezus, no matter how you slice is, is an album that got the entire music-loving community talking... for good or ill.—khal

Year released: 2012

For some, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange is inextricably linked to and in part overshadowed by the heartfelt letter the singer shared on Tumblr on the eve of the album's release, detailing a love affair he had with another man. While the revelation of Ocean's bisexuality was viewed by some as a stunt and others as a courageous public statement, its close proximity to the Channel Orange's release briefly overshadowed the fact that the unlikely Odd Future member had crafted a near-masterpiece of modern soul, an album with sounds and concepts both timeless and striking in their timeliness. Honing his gifts for evocative narrative and tasteful genre-hopping, Ocean crafted portraits of love, lust, loss, and the gravity of their implications with a skill reminiscent of clear influence Stevie Wonder (the comparison is no lazy thread from past to present: Ocean's music takes direct root in Wonder's 1970s creedo that love was both all consuming and all healing, a personal and political salve, a religion in and of itself). Ocean poured his blood and spirit into every second of Channel Orange, emerging with an album as deeply personal and imaginative as modern pop music gets.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2012

In hip-hop's recent past, true statement albums seem few and far between. With the burden of expectation as hip-hop's perceived savior on his shoulders, Kendrick Lamar faced the impossible task of living up to the hype (and exceeding it) with his major label debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city. By every metric, he delivered, creating an album that managed to tell his story with the vision of a revolutionary and the humanity of an everyman, at times deeply philosophical at others youthfully escapist. Kendrick's skill, charisma, and depth forged a critical and commercial darling, an unusual album whose lead single deals with alcoholism and became a party anthem nonetheless. GMKC's success reveals some truth of our time: Though we may not buy albums in the volume we once did, listeners are hungry for substance served with style, hungry for music that stands for something and entertains. Kendrick delivered and continues to reap the rewards.—Jon Tanners

Year released: 2010

Though time and future works might alter our estimation of Kanye West's catalog, for the time being 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy shines as his crown jewel. A comeback album and restatement of purpose after the commercially successful but divisive 808s and Heartbreak and the Taylor Swift VMA incident, MBDTF explodes all of Kanye's concepts, sounds, and quirks to dazzling proportions. Pained personal observation, impossible hubris, social observation, and touches of humor make MBDTF one of Kanye's most impressive turns as a rapper, an attempt to fit two years of life, love, and growth into an absolutely overflowing 68 minute opus. To back some of his strongest performances, Kanye crafted a dense, lush set of beats that still reveal their intricacies nearly three years since release, a testament to obsessive attention to detail. It might not be Kanye at his most extreme–you'll need to listen to Yeezus for that–but MBDTF is Kanye at his most Kanye, uninhibited and bombastic, polishing big ideas to cinematic proportions no other modern artist could envision.—Jon Tanners