12. Soccer Mommy

12. Soccer Mommy - Clean

Sophie Alleson is Soccer Mommy. She was born in Sweden but raised in Nashville. She's held a guitar since she was six and produces intensely lyric driven soft punk style music. This is her official studio debut and at 20 years old, what a debut it is.



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13. Horse Feathers

13. Horse Feathers - Appreciation

This is the sixth album from Justin Ringle and band. Based out of Portland, Oregon, they produce incredibly dense folk music with a little electronic thrown in for good measure. Their Appalachian vibe never fails to make me happy, but the additonal string arrangements and backing band on this album have pushed them into one of my more listened to records of the year. They made the blog way back in 2012, here.



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14. Young Fathers

14. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar

Young Fathers is a three piece out of Edinburgh, Scotland. The band consists of ‘G’ Hastings, from Drylaw, Edinburgh, Alloysious Massaquoi, originally from Liberia via Ghana and Kayus Bankole, born in Edinburgh to Nigerian parents. They have had much acclaim in the UK and opened for Massive Attack. While they eschew genre, they are often classed as experimental hip-hop. Their name derives from the fact that each of the band members is named after their father.



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15. Francis And The Lights

15. Francis And The Lights - Just For Us

Technically this album is from 2017, but Francis Starlite dropped it on December 29th, so I'm counting it. Mostly because it is all I listened to in January. He has gained notoriety for his work with Drake, Kanye West and Chance the Rapper. Kanye and Bon Iver have guest vocals on this album. His voice and style are often compared to Peter Gabriel and Prince and I certainly see it. It's an addictive album, to say the least.



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16. Glen Hansard

16. Glen Hansard - Between Two Shores

Fell in love with Glen Hansard when I first saw the movie Once. Then, I fell out of love with him when The Swell Season broke up and he just kind of sounded whiny brandishing his worn out guitar. The critics have bashed this album, but I find it refreshing. He's hired a session band, uses an organ and an electric guitar on some tracks and has actually made something that sounds interesting. For the exact reasons the critics gave for hating this album is exactly why I love it. Marketa Irglova from The Swell Season makes a guest appearance as does Dawn Landes.



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17. Rascal Martinez

17. Rascal Martinez - Far From Home

With a name like Rascal, you kind of know what you're getting yourself into before you even start listening. Rest assured, this Nebraska native has the ability to pour raw emotion into some incredible music. This is a breakup album and was recorded in two days to give it the same feel as one of his electric live performances. He plays in OKC often because of the proximity.



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18. Wild Child

18. Wild Child - Expectations

Wild Child is an Austin based indie pop band. For their fourth album, they traveled far and wide and worked with different producers for each song. What it's done is create an album with a unique aesthetic. The album is pop driven, but you often feel as if you're listening to something new and fresh with every song. It's really well done and may be their best work to date.



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19. Prince

19. Prince - Piano And A Microphone 1983

This may be the first posthumous album to make the Top 50. Prince has an enormous amount of recorded material, and left no instructions for how to deal with it after his death. He recorded everything he did in his home studio and even had recording equipment in other parts of the house, in case he felt like breaking into song. This particular album is just one session at a piano. It is incredible to hear his song-writing process on this album, the improvisations and even the toe tapping to provide a beat. You get to hear an early, early version of Purple Rain, some gospel and Joni Mitchell covers as well.



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20. Laura Veirs

20. Laura Veirs - The Lookout

Laura Veirs has grown to become a favorite of mine. Warp and Weft was a beautiful album, but what really grabbed my attention from her was July Flame, which made the Top 50 wayyyy back here. On her new album, she is not heading into new territory, but has brought us more of her wispy, soft vocals with this amazing intensity and power behind them. She also hit the Top 50 back in 2016 with her collaboration with k.d. Lang and Neko Case.



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21. Hookworms

21. Hookworms - Microshift

Leeds based band, Hookworms, have ditched their pop-punk grunged out sound for a new dancey, electronic one. It's shiny and wonderful and full of up tempo beats. Mind you, it's still a serious album with depth and complexity that some disco synthed bands lack. This is the quintet's third album. The band has had a bout of bad luck with flooding and their breakup this year following the allegations of mental and sexual abuse by a former partner of the lead singer.



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22. The Dead Tongues

22. The Dead Tongues - Unsung Passage

Ryan Gustafson is The Dead Tongues and this is his third album. The melodically dense folk of this album is reminiscent of Bob Dylan and while that might seem trite, the album is not. It's lyrically dense and one of the best folk albums of the year. This is a headphones album that must be taken in slowly and intensely.



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23. Remember Sports

23. Remember Sports - Slow Buzz

Remember Sports was previously just a college band in Ohio called simply, Sports. Regrouping in Philadelphia, the band changed its moniker and continues to put out delightful power pop punk (power punk pop?). The band is comprised of Carmen Perry, vocals and guitar; Jack Washburn, guitar; Catherine Dwyer, bass; and Conner Perry on drums.



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24. Leon Bridges

24. Leon Bridges - Good Thing

Todd Michael 'Leon' Bridges was born in Fort Worth, Texas and is the ripe old age of 29. This is his sophomore album and is a great album to leave on repeat. Leon Bridges leaves behind the soul of the past and infuses his own style into this album. The writing is genuine and artful and it's nice to see him stretch his wings out on this album.



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25. Superorganism

25. Superorganism - Superorganism

I've been keeping my eyes on this band since they put out a couple songs in 2017 and made a big splash at SXSW. This is the London based eight piece's debut album. At first, it took a minute to get into this album, but it is definitely one of those albums that after you listen to it a few times, it grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. The multi-international band are producing a truly unique sound and I simply love it. Check out the video below. Check out the band. I can't wait to see where these guys go next. Also, if you do watch the video, you can play that actual game here.



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26. King Tuff

26. King Tuff - The Other

Kyle Thomas is King Tuff and on his fifth outing, produces his most serious album to date. The psych rocker, after touring an exhaustive four years, sat down with an acoustic guitar and a bunch of new equipment and created something different for him. More of an existential jaunt than about the party lifestyle, which propagated his prior works. He hit #28 on this list back in 2012, read about that here.



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