1. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant/Island)
A great concept album, a statement about England's proclivity for war and how it has costs both (more or less) countable -- lives, injuries -- and unquantifiable: shattered psyches and tainted national morality. That Harvey is able to do this not in essays but in songs, including some of the best in her long and distinguished career, is an achievement that has eluded many. I wrote about this album at greater length in a review early this year.

2. Dum Dum Girls: Only in Dreams (SubPop)
There are a lot of bands doing the updated '60s girl sound thing, but none more compellingly than this one. Because without good songs, a sound is merely a signifier of taste, an empty vessel. Leader Kristen Gundred AKA Dee Dee writes excellent songs, then plays them with a sonically riveting style.

3. Mimi Goese & Ben Neill: Songs for Persephone (Ramseur)
Above all, this is absolutely beautiful. For more on how and why....

4. Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
It still boggles my mind how what used to be forbiddingly avant-garde is, with a little repackaging and a genre name change, now considered, if not quite pop music, at least (to use a Christgau coinage) semi-popular music. Nobody does the electronica sound-sculptured noise thing better than Fennesz and Hecker; this year it was the latter who gave us an album, which is thus my #1 electronic album (non-vocal category).

5. M83: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (Mute)
If not for one annoying track (children should be seen, not heard), this double album would rank even higher. With more vocalist turnover, I did not have high hopes for a new M83 release, much less two whole CDs, but mastermind Anthony Gonzalez's move into the primary vocalist spot works just fine and helps differentiate this from earlier M83 albums. Hurrah for '80s synth-pop nostalgia.

6. Charles Bradley: No Time for Dreaming (Daptone)
The buzz was that the Raphael Saadiq album, Stone Rollin' (Columbia), was this year's candidate to save soul. Bradley's kicks its ass. Read more here (scroll down). Sorry about the ad before the video, but you've gotta see the official one.

7. Asobi Seksu: Fluorescence (Polyvinyl)
This Brooklyn band's first full-length of new material for its new label moved further away from its old shoegaze/dream pop sound but found equally cool retro inspirations in a more keyboard-oriented sound (yup, more delicious '80s nostalgia here).

8. Tori Amos: Night of Hunters (Deutsche Grammophon)
Rarely has pop music incorporated classical music so songfully and so in the spirit of the style as here; Amos even uses classical instrumentation, though often not the same as originally used in the pieces she adapts. Classical noobs can enjoy this without music appreciation courses; Amos's singing, arrangements, and lyrics surpass even her usual high standard.

9. Tommy Keene: Behind the Parade (Second Motion)
  Anthemic power pop with perfect chord progressions that build to sing-along choruses, a series of tension-and-release moments of utter exhilaration.

10. Chelsea Wolfe: Apokalypsis (Pendu Sound)
If this had a physical release, I sure didn't see it, but once again a musician drawing on '80s influences -- this time, darker ones -- captivated me.

11. Oureboros: Dreaming in Earth, Dissolving in Light (Ant-Zen)
Quiet but nightmarish dark ambient drone instrumentals from Canada, with some black metal and shoegaze influences. These edgy, metallic soundscapes mix electronics with scrapings of guitar, percussion, and violin.

12. Zola Jesus: Conatus (Sacred Bones)
  Nika Roza Danilova's second slot on this list; she's also on the M83 album, compared to which her gothy music is much more shadowy and sinister and grating.

13. Matthew Sweet: Modern Art (Missing Piece)
Sweet remains the master of bittersweet pop songs with enough crunchy guitar to never be sappy. As I declared the other day, "She Walks the Night" was the catchiest song of the year. Scroll down this review roundup for more.

14. City Center: Redeemer (K)
  Jangly, sometimes processed guitar and winsome vocals mix with ethereal loops in quietly hypnotic songs sporting excellent lyrics.

15. Dennis Coffey: s/t (Strut)
Coffey was an ace Motown session guitarist who, unlike most, maintained his independence and made some classic groove LPs in the '70s. This comeback looks back to that time, even recasting some of that Motown material at times while mixing in contemporary vocalists.

16. Mike Doughty: Yes and Also Yes (Snackbar)
Scroll down this roundup for my rave review.

18. Grooms: Prom (Kanine)
There's still plenty of clangorous guitar noise, but Grooms' hooks and melodies have gotten stronger. Travis Johnson's creatively retuned guitars and the trebly tone of Emily Ambruso's bass lines reference Sonic Youth in the best way, while other '90s indie-rock guitar band influences are melted into a distinctive sound.

19. Memory Tapes: Player Piano (Carpark)
One of the few Chillwave bands that transcends the genre.

20. The Feelies: Here Before (Bar None)
Comeback of the year, and perhaps the decade.

- Steve Holtje

Mr. Holtje is a Brooklyn-based editor, poet, and composer whose song cycle setting tanka by Fumiko Nakajo is finally complete at twelve songs. It is the most depressing set of songs since Mahler's Kindertotenlieder.