Think I'm feeling pretty confident with my list, so I'll go ahead and post it.
1. Kendrick Lamar: DAMN
Defiant yet weary; exuberant yet melancholy; triumphant yet fearful. Kendrick's many and varied complexities inform every piece of this album, which pulls off the rare feat of being simultaneously of-the-moment and universal. He must be the king of attention to detail in the current music scene; the production is pristine throughout, and on a track like Duckworth, each successive listen reveals just how carefully every word has been placed toward the overarching story. On that subject, every alt-right racist should be made to listen to Duckworth until they comprehend that people don't often choose or make their plights.
Best tracks: Feel, Duckworth
2A. The National: Sleep Well Beast
Solemn and vivid in its imagery just like any other National album, Sleep Well Beast also pushed the band into subtle soundscapes that embraced electronica without overemphasizing it. I'll Still Destroy You captures all these dynamics at work, from its skittering intro and impressionistic lyrics to its ferocious coda, while Nobody Else Will Be There is daring in its simplicity and vocal experiment. The maturity and depth of the songcraft is arguably the finest of their esteemed career.
Best tracks: Nobody Else Will Be There, I'll Still Destroy You
2B. Slowdive: Slowdive
It's amazing to listen through Slowdive's catalogue and realize that this, released 20+ years after their last album, feels immediately congruous with everything they have done: otherworldly and timeless yet still full of sticky melodies and crushing hooks. There's something intoxicating about the melancholy running through the album, which hangs in the background just enough to stay on your mind without reducing the album to an "I have to be in the mood" sort of vibe. Sugar for the Pill might be the song of the year.
Best tracks: Sugar for the Pill, Go Get It
4. St. Vincent: Masseduction
Annie steps into future funk and brings it hot. At times Madonna on acid and at others Talking Heads-esque, there is an impressive amount of versatility underneath the sheen of the production and freneticism of the electronics. Lyrically, she doubles down on the wry observer persona but still finds time for some introspection in the likes of New York and Slow Disco, making this one of the more dexterous albums of the year.
Best tracks: Masseduction, Los Ageless
5. Big Thief: Capacity
Dig beneath the folky surface and you'll find a collection of childhood nightmares expressed through fragmented memories. Frontwoman Adrianne Lenker's background is harrowing indeed, and it hovers over the album in unmistakable ways. But the songs' alternation between gentle and tense, most notably on Shark Smile, affords the lyrics their just weight without letting them overwhelm the listener. This one flew under the radar a bit, but deserves more attention.
Best tracks: Shark Smile, Watering
6. Arca: Arca
In a year sadly without a Tim Hecker album, Arca's latest was a nice substitute. Playing like the soundtrack to some dystopian piece you might see on Adult Swim at 2 AM, the discordant vocals add a surprisingly emotive element to the austere electronica that has become Arca's signature. This isn't an album I am likely to play often, but it is one of the more distinctive works of the year.
Best tracks: Piel, Miel
7. LCD Soundsystem: American Dream
For whatever reason, I didn't want to like this album. Maybe it was simply the fatigue of Murphy's endless promotional run for the album, which labored awkwardly through self-pity and defiance. But damn does the album deliver. Arguably no one emotes a sense of missed opportunities and the pain that comes along with reflecting on them better than Murphy, and even if several of the tracks wear their first-world problems a bit too proudly, American Dream is a more than worthy addition to LCD's catalogue.
Best tracks: tonite, how do you sleep?
8. Grizzly Bear: Painted Ruins
Grizzly Bear songs can sometimes feel overly-academic in their construction, but on Painted Ruins the complexities underlying the tracks harmonize beautifully more often than not. Three Rings is the best example in that regard, but the layered vocals and textural variety of that track are not a fluke, with Four Cypresses and Aquarian reaching the heights of the band's best tracks as well.
Best tracks: Three Rings, Four Cypresses
9. Torres: Three Futures
Torres has always had a certain menacing quality; on Three Futures, that sense of danger moves into the night. Helen in the Woods is a Nick Cave-esque hellscape, while the title track, Skim, and Marble Focus all take on a more foreboding atmosphere of being someplace you probably shouldn't be. Three Futures shows the sophistication of an artist with twice the experience.
Best tracks: Skim, Concrete Ganesha
10. Perfume Genius: No Shape
The haunting quality of Mike Hadreas' first few albums is still here, but now fleshed out considerably in instrumentation and variety. Sufjan-esque in places and almost 50s-inspired in others, No Shape is a masterclass of flow despite its wide-reaching influences.
Best tracks: Die 4 You, Just Like Love
11. Iron & Wine: Beast Epic
Best track: Claim Your Ghost
12. Spoon: Hot Thoughts
Best track: Can I Sit Next to You?
13. Destroyer: Ken
Best track: Tinseltown Swimming in Blood
14. Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest
Best track: Rest
15. Japanese Breakfast: Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Best track: Road Head
Honorable mentions
The War on Drugs: A Deeper Understanding
Ibeyi: Ash
Fleet Foxes: Crack-Up
Unfairly maligned
Arcade Fire: Everything Now
Father John Misty: Pure Comedy
Disappointments
Haim: Something to Tell You
The Flaming Lips: Oczy Mlody