Oh hey! It's time for some top 50 album love.
1. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
1. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Longtime devotees of Anthony Gonzalez’s M83 got to see him make good on the promises of his previous albums, all of which are great in their own way, on this unabated masterpiece. Across two albums’ worth of material, Gonzalez’s childlike ethos spreads across synth pop dreamscapes taken to arena-level sonic and emotional territory in a way that never feels trite or untrue. If he overreaches, he does it in the best way possible.
2.
Chaz Bundick’s second album is a light-year’s jump over 2010’s chillwave capsule Causers of This, an album that seems to take a young lifetime’s worth of backseat radio listening and picks just the choicest bits, whether its early hip-hop or psychedelic rock or cool jazz, filtering it through Bundick’s too-cool specs.
3.
PJ Harvey’s perfect instincts have guided her through the starkest of emotional territory with only the most necessary accompaniment. She continues that trend here, on an album reflecting on war and England’s history in a way that feels loose and not heavy-handed, aided by strangely fitting samples and tasteful effects, but still allowing for the emotional sucker punches she’s so adept at (“I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat” in “The Words That Maketh Murder” is one for the ages).
4.
Dirty Beaches’ Alex Zhang Hungtai is a master of minimalism. Over pitch-black surf riffs he plays and then samples, he breathes, whispers and cries tales of teenage longing inspired by ’50s rock ‘n’ roll (“Sweet 17,” “True Blue”), unearthing the dirt beneath the saccharine. At only eight tracks, two of them wordless, Badlands is the year’s most beguiling release.
5.
Hip-hop that feels worlds removed from the realm of hip-hop, this forward-thinking album manages to stay fun while its psychedelic tones intimate something more cerebral and transcendent.
6.
While Real Estate seemed primed to take the throne as leaders of the reverb pack with their self-titled debut in 2009, this glorious jangle-pop opus puts them more in line to grab the torch from the departing R.E.M.
7.
Real noise punk from Danish teens that rocks so hard it puts just about every other band alive to shame in comparison.
Apollo at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on November 16th at 7:30pm and again at 9:30pm.
1) Tyler the Creator 
second with the reissue by the duo of last year's mixtape 
In 2008, director, actor, and longtime Tribe fan Michael Rapaport went on tour with A Tribe Called Quest when they reunited for the first time in the almost ten years since their last album, The Love Movement (Jive). Rapaport wanted to create a film that documented the tour and explored the group's journey, successes, interpersonal differences, and their influence on the Hip-Hop community and music in general. The film also features interviews and stories from Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, Common, Beastie Boys, Pharrell, Mos Def, Kanye West, Pete Rock, and many more. Plus, Madlib provided original music for the film and Peanut Butter Wolf was its music supervisor.
since 2008's popular Paper Trail. For this release he pulled out all the stops, with guest appearances from some of today's hottest names, including Kanye, Eminem, The-Dream, Christina Aguilera, and Chris Brown, who is featured on the single "Get Back Up." Meanwhile, production duties are spread out among studio masters such as Danja, who produced "My Love" & "Knock You Down;" Dr. Luke, who produced "Magic" & "Right Round;" and Jim Jonsin, who worked his magic on "Whatever You Like" & "Lollipop." Note that in addition to the regular version of this CD there is also a Deluxe version that offers two bonus tracks as well as special packaging.
