2023 Halfway House — my top 200 albums of 2023 so far (Part 1)

You know what? One round-up come December doesn’t have within it enough space to talk about all the brilliant music that comes out within any given year. This doesn’t, either, but at least it goes some way to redress the more tragic omissions that would otherwise occur with just a single list at the end of the year. And so, behold — my top 200 albums from January through June of 2023, ranked in an order and popped on a series of four articles that will be posted through the next week or so. Today — numbers 200 to 101, with a cursory little blurb about each to encourage and illuminate. (As the ranks ascend, the write-ups will get more in-depth, pinkie promise.)

Allons-y.

200: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (Waterparks)

Awsten and the gang are back with their gutsiest, most bizarro, and most complex record to date — and while the emo and pop-punk hyperstylisms may put some off, others will find a lot to uncover in the genre mishmash they have been clothed in.

199: Variables (Alfa Mist)

Alfa Sekitoleko’s fifth full-length is an emotive tapestry of soul, jazz, RnB and hip hop in which the musician can more deeply explore these various styles that comprise his distinctive sound.

198: la valigia (Yoshino Aoyama)

Singer and seiyuu Yoshino Aoyama’s debut EP is a slick and catchy J-pop record whose stylistic variety brings to mind the explorative connotations of its Italian title.

197: O Sun O Moon (Bruce Cockburn)

The veteran Canadian rocker (pronounced “Coburn”, thank you very much) returns with his strongest outing in years — a sombre, mellow and quietly spiritual set of songs that highlight his reliably strong lyricism.

196: DESVELADO (Eslabon Armado)

The crown princes of Regional Mexican music do what they do best — rhythmically crisp instrumentals, memorable melodies and solid lyrics of life and love, with their assured stylistic imprint on top.

195: ANOCHI (GEZAN & the Million Wish Collective)

Don’t let MahiTo the People’s idiosyncratic vocals put you off — ANOCHI is a rabble-rousing fusion of protest song, alternative rock, electronica, chant and traditional music that will have you returning time and time again.

194: olhar pra trás (terraplana)

This Curitiba-based shoegaze outfit drop a promising full-length debut that isn’t afraid to push the grunge in their sound, while masterfully balancing the alluring echoes and vocal layers that define the genre.

193: SUERTE, CHICA (shego)

Madrid’s all-female shego deliver a satisfying, if svelte, alt-rock record in SUERTE, CHICA, looking both to traditional songwriting and contemporary dance music to push the envelope of their sound.

192: YMUSIC (yMusic)

American chamber music sextet yMusic continue their pitch-perfect run of releases with this, their first self-penned album of music, and it is every bit as intriguing (and stunningly performed) as their programming choices on previous records.

191: Failure Will Follow (The Acacia Strain)

Deathcore outfit The Acacia Strain released two great albums this year, but Step into The Light was narrowly pipped to the post by Failure Will Follow, with its grand sense of scale and sonic evolution across each of its three(!) mighty tracks.

190: Thatthong Sound (YOUNGOHM)

An increasingly essential player in the Thai hip-hop scene, YOUNGOHM’s hefty second studio full-length sees him reckoning with his past as he imagines his future, with his snappy bars paired with punchy trap and house instrumentals.

189: Careful Of Your Keepers (This Is The Kit)

Kate Stables and co. are dependably on form, as their pleasingly off-kilter brand of indie-folk slips intricate lyrics right into your earholes under burbling masses of plucked strings, keys and a little too much electronics for you to comfortably rest on your laurels.

188: Calico (Ryan Beatty)

In Calico, we find a collection of compelling bedroom pop that escapes its sea of generic-sounding compatriots with Beatty’s detailed instrumental choices and relatable, evocative lyrics.

187: Time Ain’t Accidental (Jess Williamson)

Perhaps more country should find smatterings of lo-fi bedroom pop drum machines and whispered woodwinds woven into it— it certainly works here in accompanying Jess Williamson’s tender, heartbroken lyrics and emotionally affecting vocals.

186: Noitada (Pabllo Vittar)

Brazilian drag queen and all-around queer icon Pabllo Vittar’s most explosive project is a succinct slap-in-the-face of hyperpop and club music with enough brega charm for her personality to shine through.

185: Corridors (Kendrick Scott)

Drummer/bandleader Kendrick Scott’s most recent album is a perfect taster of the inventive artistry always at play in his music, aided skilfully and tastefully by Reuben Rogers on bass and Walter Smith III on sax.

184: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Nourished By Time)

Marcus Brown’s first album develops his increasingly one-of-a-kind 80s’ fusion aesthetic, as the new-wave synths of previous short-form releases have been extended with the timbres of funk, soul, and hiphop into a quasi-retro sound all his own.

183: PARADE (FictionJunction)

Yuki Kajiura’s solo-but-collaborative project FictionJunction normally releases an entire project with a single featured musician — here, she brings several close collaborators together for an atmospheric and often anthemic hour of J-pop goodness.

182: Oas (Dina Ögon)

Sensitive Swedish neo-soul from this, the second full-length of the Stockholm-based band, who aren’t afraid to hop across the genre line and borrow Carpenters-esque crooners or even the odd folk figuration in their construction of this blissed-out set of 10 tracks.

181: Mirror to the Sky (Yes)

Prog-rock legends Yes are back (well, some of them are, anyway), and their sense of ambition has not dimmed a dime — indulgent song lengths, (tastefully) cheesy production and enough effects-pedal-work to shake a cat at make this a treat.

180: Manzanita (Shana Cleveland)

Baroque pop meets folk-country in Shana Cleveland’s best solo outing to date — but if the dreamy sound of the instrumentals doesn’t sell you, then the insightful lyrical musings of desolation in the face of beauty surely will.

179: The Beggar (Swans)

Michael Gira’s experimental outfit Swans continue to put out some of the most unapologetically uncompromising rock in the (somewhat) mainstream — whether it’s the 43-minute sonic smörgåsbord at the center of the album that gets you, or any number of uncanny moments in the other, equally captivating tracks on the project.

178: We Will Intersect (We Will Intersect)

Free jazz can be a hard sell, for sure, but We Will Intersect is a perfect demonstration of the style at all of its most intriguing; the walls of textured noise and measured thrashing serve as vibrant window-dressing for the lush progressions of rich harmony hidden beneath.

177: One Wayne G (Mac DeMarco)

A working-day-long collection of what are essentially demo tapes is going to have its peaks and troughs, sure, but DeMarco’s craftsmanship shines through in even the roughest of diamonds on this behemoth release (shame Five Easy Hot Dogs couldn’t pull through in quite the same way.)

176: Believe Us (Joyce Cheng)

Hong Kong-Canadian Cantopop star Joyce Cheng drops a charismatic statement of self-affirmation and emotional sincerity, with the album’s bold opener blowing wide open the space required for a set of tender ballads and torchsongs.

175: Everyone’s Crushed (Water From Your Eyes)

Quirky indie-not-quite-poprock from Water From Your Eyes, that substitutes distortion for glitter and stuttering MIDI for drum loops — okay, it’s quite a long way from pop, but the recognisable trappings of radio-friendly hits are melted somewhere into the mix too.

174: Ukhamba (Inkabi Zezwe)

South Africa’s Big Zulu and Sjava join forces under the one-time moniker of Inkabi Zezwe for a vivid exploration of their respective hip-hop- and RnB-influenced sounds, while celebrating their shared bond as isiZulu musicians.

173: Jarak Qaribak (Dudu Tassa & Jonny Greenwood)

A concertedly ecumenical exercise (the title is Arabic for ‘your neighbour is your friend’), Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli rock musician Dudu Tassa celebrate older Arabic love songs with a cast of supporting vocalists from across the Middle East and North Africa.

172: Holocene (The Ocean)

Electronically-augmented prog metal courtesy of German outfit The Ocean, who turn on the synths and turn up the sludge on the ninth in their ongoing series of geologically-named full-lengths.

171: We’re Still Here (The HIRS Collective)

+HIRS+’s latest release is a masterclass in brusque, unapologetic queercore — come for the large and varied guest-list (including surprise Frank Iero), stay for the impassioned screams of prescription medications, flirting over text and the spirit of dogged perseverence so pithily summed up in the title.

170: UK GRIM (Sleaford Mods)

Nottingham electro-punkers Sleaford Mods release their most immediately gratifying record to date, with Andrew Fearn’s sparse and driving beats the perfect context for Jason Williamson’s bitter, if not outright rageful, takedowns of British society.

169: AS PALAVRAS, VOL. 1 & 2 (Rubel)

AS PALAVRAS is an engaging and ambitious double album capitalising on the development Rubel’s personal mix of MPB has undergone across previous releases, with his relaxed vocals and characterful instrumentation at the centre of it all.

168: ÁTTA (Sigur Rós)

Sigur Rós have their keyboardist back, and someone gave them an orchestra to play with too — I don’t know how much more I need to sell this, it’s cinematic, awe-inspiring and beautiful.

167: Let Her Burn (Rebecca Black)

It’s now been 12 years since ‘Friday’ graced our YouTube feeds, but the intervening years have seen Rebecca Black turn from Internet pile-on bait to a fully fledged pop star — and one whose debut album is every bit as fascinating, left-field and unpredictable as her rise to fame.

166: The Greng Jai Piece (Phum Viphurit)

Neo-soul, jazz, folk, lo-fi and indie swirl together in Phum’s second album, which manages to strike a balance between the serious, worldly-wise lyrics and a certain sense of sweetness and breeze throughout.

165: Big Tear (Pitou)

The debut from this Dutch artist comes with expansive instrumentals that highlight her mellifluous voice, and an emotional landscape painted through densely metaphorical text.

164: Rat Saw God (Wednesday)

‘Bull Believer’ landed on many best-of lists last year, and it’s a relief to see the whole album more than live up to the grunge-pastoral fantasia of daily life that made the lead single such a treat.

163: Living and Living (Tigeroak)

Already garnering attention in their native Denmark’s jazz scene, Tigeroak come bearing an expertly-constructed nine-track debut LP, with Laurits’ tasteful production-work and keys an ideal setting for Anna’s songwriting and soulful vocal delivery.

162: Amatssou (Tinariwen)

The long-standing Tuareg tishoumaren collective Tinariwen are back with their ninth studio album, and it is another captivating display of the Sahara-style guitar-led rock that they helped pioneer.

161: Messy (Olivia Dean)

Intensely radio-friendly but still intelligently put together, Olivia Dean’s first full-length resists the temptation for safe, vapid pop-soul blandness in favour of a wider bank of influences past and present that stays both interesting and stylish.

160: Blossom (PUPIL SLICER)

This record is grindy as all heck — and Kate Davies has almost inhumanly uncanny vocal fry — but after the hype of their debut, PUPIL SLICER manage to build on the lofty expectations by scouring both vitriolic anger and gutpunching raw emotion.

159: Married in Mount Airy (Nicole Dollanganger)

Seven albums in, and Nicole Dollanganger’s oneiric sound is as haunting and beautiful as ever, as she narrates sepia-toned tales of love gone sour over sparse, echoing palettes of synth and guitar.

158: Nymph_o (Shygirl)

I had half a mind not to include Nymph_o on this list, seeing as it’s but a remix album for last year’s stellar Nymph — but what a remix album it is, offering a transformative look at the tracks from Shygirl’s breakout pop project (and there’s Björk on this thing, if you’re still not sold).

157: Zango (WITCH)

Zamrock icons WITCH (standing for We Intend To Cause Havoc) deliver their first newly-recorded album of new music since reforming nearly ten years ago, and their psychadelic vibes feel as fresh as ever.

156: WOW (Kate NV)

Quite in contrast to her work in Glintshake, Ekaterina Shilonosova’s electropop solo project Kate NV delivers a fifth album of saccharine synths and loops, this time leaning deeper into her quirky sense of erraticism.

155: Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities (James Holden)

Another hard-to-pin-down electronic album, Holden’s work is the polar opposite of Kate NV’s as far as scale and ambience, but the results, scattershot though they may be, are similarly arresting.

154: MICHAEL (Killer Mike)

Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike proving that he doesn’t need El-P by his side to make a great record (though he still drops by for a feature) — and the rest of the guest roster work alongside the rapper beautifully in this polished ode to both his personal roots and the social history he draws on and champions.

153: I’ve Got Me (Joanna Sternberg)

Album two for Joanna Sternberg refines the intentionally simple musical language of their debut without losing any of the immediacy, creating a strong and endearing suite of songs in the process.

152: Tu Hai (Indian Ocean)

The latest release from the long-standing Indian group is a testament to the appeal of their studied fusion of Indian traditional and classical music with jazz rock and progressive tropes.

151: London Ko (Fatoumata Diawara)

Fatoumata Diawara brings her worldly spin on Wassoulou in her fifth album London Ko, with a judiciously-employed feature list, groove-laden production and focussed, agile vocals.

150: Archangel Hill (Shirley Collins)

The greatest-living British folk singer continues her creative renaissance with another striking selection of both traditional and newer folk songs, delivered by a voice that, though matured, has lost none of its heart.

149: Al Hadr (Sabrina Bellaouel)

French-Algerian artist Sabrina Bellaouel ups the experimental quota on her second album, leaning more heavily into the disconcerting but ultimately gripping blend of auto-tune, ambient and RnB found on her brilliant debut.

148: MY ARMS. (Tina Moon)

On an album with production as disorienting as this (ticking clocks, microtonal tunings, fierce panning and dense sonic landscapes), the fact that Tina Moon’s vocals still play such a key role in the whole project is a sheer testament to the craft and balance employed in putting the whole thing together.

147: Archive of Emotions (Ryu Su-Jeong)

Ryu Su-Jeong elevates standard K-pop trops masterfully, with elegant harmonies and a dreamy, almost psychadelic flair to the mix, on this slept-on first full-length release from the Lovelyz member.

146: Internal Working Model (Liela Moss)

Vocalist for underrated London rock outfit The Duke Spirit, Liela Moss presents a thesis statement on empathy and human connection packaged in great alternative pop for her brilliant third solo album.

145: the window is the dream (Jana Horn)

Jana Horn explores every possibility with the intentionally subdued sonic palette she gives herself on the window is the dream, allowing a needlepoint precision to her expression of emotion.

144: Star Eaters Delight (Lael Neale)

Entirely recorded on cassette, Lael Neale’s lo-fi dreaminess shines through aplenty on Star Eaters Delight, which surprises with its variety in the face of the singer’s determinedly stripped-back artistic vision.

143: Life’s A Bench, Then They Put Your Name On It (Knuckle)

Huddersfield’s Knuckle deliver a solid garage rock project that swings between the joys of friendship and the pains of loss, cataloguing personal experiences of the band in a relatable and endearing way.

142: PRIVATE (iri)

Six albums in and iri’s RnB-tinged indie pop, delivering in her distinctive smoky alto, continues along the smoother, more understated route of last year’s neon, though developing that project’s chamber-jazz sound into a broader bedroom-pop aesthetic.

141: Food for Worms (shame)

Post-punk for the sensitive soul, shame hit their peak in Food for Worms, with intuitive production choices and an unreservedly honest lyric style that proves unexpectedly effective at hitting you in the feels.

140: Joy’All (Jenny Lewis)

The world can be pretty gross sometimes — not to mention the people in it — but Jenny Lewis has come to believe that’s of secondary concern in her soft-rock ode to the importance of just feeling good.

139: Fatima (Ruhail Qaisar)

A noisy, bleak and often uncomfortable listen, Ladakh’s self-taught musical polymath Ruhail Qaisar brings together his past metal and electronica experiences to paint a worrisome portrait of the exploitation and intergenerational experiences of his homeland.

138: In the End It Always Does (The Japanese House)

The Japanese House’s second album is a candid exploration of queer identity and navigating the social context it brings along with it — the guiding hands of the 1975, Muna and Bon Iver are clearly apparent, but their union is realised in a way that is Amber Bain’s own.

137: O Monolith (Squid)

Squid’s sophomore full-length project is a less direct experience than their first, trading heady emotional wanderings in for the debut’s incisive directionality, but it offers the post-punkers a wider vistas (conceptual, historical, referential, political) from which they can draw.

136: Land of Sleeper (Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs)

The ludicrously named Newcastle band continue to expertly sell their surprisingly approachable stoner metal sound — and if anything, refine their aesthetic to the sharpest point yet.

135: Yellow Peril (Nat Myers)

Musically, Yellow Peril may be very firmly stuck in its country roots, but Nat Myers uses the sonic clichés to his advantage, subverting them through weaving a portrait of his own lived experience as an Asian American.

134: i’ve seen a way (Mandy, Indiana)

Recorded in boomy locations like caves and old shopping centres, the first LP from this unpredictable Manchester four-piece blends shoegaze, dance beats and noise rock into an unsettling, ever-changing takedown of the bad and boring of society.

133: The Girl is Crying In Her Latte (Sparks)

Amidst their re-heightened popularity after Edgar Wright’s 2021 documentary profile, Sparks deliver one of their snappiest albums, retaining the synthrock punch of their greatest classic releases while still finding ways to update and expand the sound (bonus points for getting Cate Blanchett to do a silly dance in a music video).

132: 夢之駭客 Dream Hacker (otay:onii)

Lane Shi’s solo project has always had a whimsical side, even though her previous albums have often teetered on the precipice of fragility — but Dream Hacker lets the silliness have a seat at the table with samples of farts and carousel rides being woven in amongst the pounding breakbeats and disjunct snippets of melody.

131: Seven Psalms (Paul Simon)

Some may find the overt religiosity (and single, multi-part, album-length track) of Paul Simon’s latest release a little daunting — but it’s not just a record for believers, as he muses and meditates on modern life in an in-one-sitting acoustic set that stacks up alongside his best.

130: Raven (Kelela)

The drifty, dreamy synths and alternative RnB production on Raven form a blissful backdrop for Kelela to investigate and affirm her Black queer identity in dialogue with her place working within the music industry.

129: I am upset because I see something that is not there. (Fire-Toolz)

Despite Fire-Toolz’s characteristic maximalism being on stellar show as usual, I am upset… also brings with it a more ambient, peaceful edge that offers moments of emotional and sonic respite while serving to contrast the noisiest, fraughtest peaks even more sharply.

128: KODĖL TU ČIA? (Monika LIU)

Eurovision fans, rejoice — everyone’s favourite bob-cut-donning Lithuanian brings us a full album of her sultry post-jazz alt-pop — and there’s even an extended version of her Eurovision entry ‘Sentimentai’ with a funky jazz vibraphone outro too.

127: Travel (The Necks)

Australian improvisational trio The Necks start each day in the studio with a 20 minute group extemporisation — here, four of these off-the-cuff jam sessions are presented in a package that is among the group’s most persistent and enthralling work.

126: Gigi’s Recovery (The Murder Capital)

The Murder Capital lighten up the gloom (if only slightly) from their 2019 debut album, calling on the ghosts of 70s punk and 80s alt-rock to inhabit their often angry, sometimes despondent words and uneasy resonant soundscapes.

125: Turn the Car Around (Gaz Coombes)

Gaz Coombes may have come into the limelight as the frontman of cheeky chappies Supergrass, but his solo efforts present a more precise and meticulously-assembled aesthetic, with Turn the Car Around proving his strongest release yet.

124: Dreams In Splattered Lines (Wolf Eyes)

Sound-peddling Michiganders Wolf Eyes distill their decades-long chemistry into 13 concentrated doses of their metallic, industrial brand of noise, where found sound and electronic distortion feel equally bizarre and fascinating.

123: Drop Cherries (Billie Marten)

Soft indie-folk that never takes the easiest songwriting route, Billie Marten’s tape-recorded fourth full-length is another demonstration of the Yorkshire artist’s poetic penmanship and innate understanding of the craft of sympathetic and investing songwriting

122: Guy (Jayda G)

Framed by recorded intercuts of her late father, who passed away when Jayda G was just 10, the Canadian DJ traces personal and inherited memories on Guy, while still delivering an upbeat and danceable experience.

121: Roach (Miya Folick)

The songs might be a little less out-there than her 2018 debut, but Miya Folick’s experimental sensibilities still come through in her delightfully unpredictable vocal delivery and the intense, direct production choices.

120: Father Light (Stoned Jesus)

Calling Stoned Jesus’ latest record a ‘metal’ project does a disservice to the wide spectrum of rock that the band pulls from, with the album’s acoustic opener sitting alongside classic metal bass-riffing, progressive grunge and alternative harmonies.

119: After the Magic (Parannoul)

Parannoul’s rightly-hyped third solo release under the moniker fuses fifth-wave emo, indie pop and shoegaze in a way that seems to open up new sonic avenues for the genres, while also hitting a high point in his development as a lyricist.

118: Stereo Mind Game (Daughter)

Stereo Mind Game is a surprisingly sombre record lyrically, but Daughter’s instantly recognisable blend of electronics, folk, indie rock and alt-pop remains alluring throughout its runtime, well worth the seven-year wait.

117: in|FLUX (Anna B. Savage)

A voice-and-guitar album in experimental clothing — in|FLUX is an audacious art-pop album that understands how best to demonstrate Anna B. Savage’s arresting voice and her incisive, evocative storytelling.

116: Ways of Knowing (Navy Blue)

The major-label debut for one of underground hip-hop’s most consistent auteurs, Ways of Knowing brings a Tyler,-the-Creator-esque approach to genre-mashing, rooted in soul and RnB, over which he spins emotionally-insightful conscious rap.

115: I Am The Dog (Sir Chloe)

Dana Foote proves to be a consummate indie frontperson on Sir Chloe’s full-length debut, as the band retains the rough-around-the-edges charm of 2020’s Party Favors EP but now with a bolder approach to their sound.

114: Vicio Inerente (Marina Sena)

Brazilian pop that quickly proves itself to be far more adventurous than you’d first believe, Marina Sena’s second studio album is a deceptively radio-friendly record that nonetheless subverts the stereotypes of pop production in an increasingly addictive way.

113: Dialogue+2 (Dialogue+)

Japanese VA idol band Dialogue+ reunite for a second full-length album that, underneath the kaleidoscopic J-rock flair, proves to be a musically fulfilling math-tinged project with an irresistably cheery demeanour.

112: blómi (Susanne Sundfør)

blómi’s lyrics say a lot, and often in ways that are hard to fathom, but the sheer poetry of it all — combined with Sundfør’s ethereal voice and joyous arrangements — is worth getting a little lost in.

111: Fauna (Haken)

London progressive metal sixsome Haken surprise with an overall softer and more tender outing that brings electronic keyboards of all shapes and sizes into the mix — but the intensely gratifying mix of djent, prog and jazz rock remains as potent as always.

110: Lovers Lane (Thanks! I Hate It)

The song titles alone make this one worth checking out, but get past such delights as ‘Opossum! My Possum!’ and ‘Modern Blernsball’ and you’ll find a bushy-tailed and utterly enjoyable emo-rock ten-track.

109: All Of This Is Chance (Lisa O’Neill)

Lisa O’Neill’s raw, clattering interpretation of traditional folk pairs protracted, pensive accompaniments with her piercing close-miked vocals on her fifth LP, as she turns the lens more towards herself than those around her — and the results are O’Neill at her most approachable and sympathetic.

108: Cracker Island (Gorillaz)

Albarn et al. continue to thrive via the animated escapades of Gorillaz — but eight albums in, and the unwieldy extravagances that plagued some of the band’s middle-period releases have been dropped for a catchy and efficient record.

107: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard (Willie Nelson)

One legend paying homage to another — it’s admittedly a little twee for a lot of people’s tastes, but Nelson’s tribute to one of the all-time greats of country music is a sincere and consistent showing of the understated skill present in Howard’s songwriting.

106: Aperture (Hannah Jadagu)

Hannah Jadagu’s understanding of timbre and texture is one of the most delightful aspects of this record, as breezy alt-pop is dressed up in feedback and overdrive for a distinctive-sounding debut.

105: Voice Notes (Yazmin Lacey)

A thoroughly 21st-Century British jazz/soul album, unafraid to incorporate other sonic elements of Black British identity, the Nottingham singer’s debut reliably demonstrates Lacey’s sultry vocal ability — but with a lyrical outlook decidedly more optimistic and wide-eyed than her previous EPs.

104: Sketch (Lilas Ikuta)

YOASOBI’s frontwoman goes it alone, proving that the duo’s high-energy panic-rock is far from the only thing her voice is suited to, and with the variety of instrumental palettes she slots cleanly into, Sketch demonstrates Ikuta’s pop credibility with aplomb.

103: Girl in the Half Pearl (Liv.e)

Olivia Williams’ alt-RnB/psych-soul project Liv.e brings a gloriously trippy forty minutes of lo-fi percussion, layered vocals and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it production switch-ups that pull you by the collar through the album’s unforgettable journey from dark to light.

102: Is It? (Ben Howard)

You’d be hard-pressed to guess that Howard suffered two mini-strokes amid writing this album, such is its ineffable radiance and soul-restoring sweetness in its harmonic and melodic language — and while a little of his stylistic concision may not be present here, it isn’t missed.

101: Talisman (Slowspin)

Zeerak Ahmed’s one-of-a-kind transfusion of South Asian traditional music into the booming soundspaces of dreampop and ambient is a transcendental listen, never slipping into genericity but always remaining engaging and elusive to the ear.

As always, both my opinion of the albums and my placement of them on my list are entirely my opinions — comments and refutations are always eagerly explored. Anyway, on Thursday, the countdown will continue with numbers 100 to 51! Until then,

A.C.