The Best Albums of 2016 (so far)

So, here we are at mid-year, and it's time to recognize some of the excellent releases that have come out in the first half of 2016. As always, I've enlisted the help of some of my friends and family to provide some additional insight and coverage of the wide musical spectrum. I've also collected tracks from each release - chosen by all of our contributors - in a huge Spotify playlist. You'll encounter that beast all the way at the bottom of this post. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions, so feel free to leave some feedback (and even your own lists) in the comments section below - or interact at the Life On This Planet Facebook Page. Click on an album cover to purchase - or investigate a release further. Okay, let's do this thing. - Bret

Bret Helm

Life On This Planet Blog | Audra

The London Suede - Night Thoughts
Minor Victories
David Bowie - Blackstar
James - Girl at the End of the World
Eagulls - Ullages
Mass Gothic
Cullen Omori - New Misery
Pete Yorn - ArrangingTime
Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow
Primal Scream - Chaosmosis 

Sarah Quarrie

Life On This Planet Blog

Minor Victories
David Bowie - Blackstar
Savages - Adore Life
The London Suede - Night Thoughts
The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect
Mass Gothic - s/t
Eagulls - Ullages
School of Seven Bells - SVIIB
HAELOS - Full Circle
Kevin Morby - Singing Saw

Jesse Deitermann

Saturday Night Music Club

Fear of Men - Fall Forever
Eliot Sumner - Information
Wyldest - Dark Matter EP
Charlie Hilton - Palana
Kristin Kontrol - X-Communicate
Operators - Blue Wave
Tokyo Police Club - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Radness
Pity Sex - White Hot Moon
Lush - Blind Spot EP
Bent Shapes - Wolves of Want

Jaymz Todd

Saturday Night Music Club

James - The Girl at the End of the World
Operators - Blue Wave
LUH - Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing
David Bowie - Blackstar
Oddisee - Alwasta
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
Beyonce - Lemonade
Xiu Xiu - Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
Ashley Shadow
Public Memory - Wuthering Drum

Brent Berg

Saturday Night Music Club

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression
Charles Bradley - Changes
Pookie and the Poodlez - Young Adult
Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - 55
Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
David Bowie - Blackstar
Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger
Scorpion vs Tarantula - s/t EP

Jason DeWolfe Barton

of Audra

Cobalt - Slow Forever
Astronoid - Air
Eagulls - Ullages
Cult of Luna - Mariner
Mitski - Puberty 2
M83 - Junk
Lush - Blind Spot EP
Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us
David Bowie - Blackstar
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future

Jonathan Salisbury

Saturday Night Music Club

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Black Mountain - IV
Tindersticks - The Waiting Room
Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
Heron Oblivion
DIIV - Is the is Are
Marissa Nadler - Strangers
Charles Bradley - Changes
David Bowie - Blackstar
Feels

Rob Clark

Rockford, IL

David Bowie - Blackstar
Shearwater - Jet Plane & Oxbow
Savages - Adore Life
Tortoise - The Catastrophist
DIIV - Is the is Are
Polica - United Crushers
Frightened Rabbit - Painting of a Panic Attack
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Paul Simon - Stranger to Stranger

John Magness

Uttoxeter, England

DIIV - Is the is Are
Ben Watt - Fever Dream
The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect
David Bowie - Blackstar
James - Girl at the End of the World

Ron Marrs

New Orleans, LA

Helen Gillet - The Wind that Shakes the Trees
Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
Daughter - Not to Disappear
Julianna Barwick - Will
Lush - Blind Spot EP
Marissa Nadler - Strangers
David Bowie - Blackstar
PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project
The Cult - Hidden City
Tricky - Skilled Mechanics

Sierra Anna Jones

Okinawa, Okinawa

David Bowie - Blackstar
DIIV - Is the is Are
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Marissa Nadler - Strangers
Minor Victories
Japanese Breakfast - Psychopomp
Puce Mary - The Spiral
Eagulls - Ullages
Wild Nothing - Life of Pause
Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow

Jason Jones

Okinawa, Okinawa

Savages - Adore Life

David Bowie - Blackstar
The London Suede - Night Thoughts
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Santigold - 99 Cents
DIIV - Is the is Are
Eagulls - Ullages

If you're a vinyl enthusiast, check out my feature on the Spin Clean Vinyl Record Cleaning Machine:

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