I never like it when year end lists come out before the year is over. In addition to the arbitrariness of dividing music into annual dates, who knows when something cool might drop at the end of December? Isn’t that like releasing a year end movie list before Oscar release season is up?

Rant over. Here are my five favorite records of 2016:

1. David Bowie: Blackstar
2. PUP: The Dream is Over (I actually listened to this more than any other record)
3. Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
4. Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool
5. ANOHNI: HOPELESSNESS

In other news, I have a record of my own coming out on January 31st! Well, a single. But it’s my solo viola piece Elegy II, which my friend Jonathan Morgan recorded, and our friend Gaby Goldberg made a video for. It’ll be released on Aerocade Music, and available at all the places that have music online.