I mentioned in a conversation recently that the most exciting album of the year is not necessarily the best. After I said it, I thought a lot about it and kinda couldn’t really justify the most exciting album not being the best. I’m talking about Yeezus.

A lot of people hate Kanye. And that’s fair. He’s not generally likeable and he knows it. But as you may be aware, I loooooove Kanye. He’s a raw, passionate, unfiltered egomaniac, which is a problem for interviews but not so much for his music. Yeezus is by far the greatest example of this and is almost TERRIFYING in its rawness. Lou Reed explained it better than I can.

Here’s another list with Yeezus at the top.

13, Days Are Gone - Haim
12. Monomania - Deerhunter
11. Night Time, My Time - Sky Ferreira
10. m b v - My Bloody Valentine
9. The 20/20 Experience - Justin Timberlake
8. Modern Vampires of the City - Vampire Weekend
7. Overgrown - James Blake
6. Hummingbird - Local Natives
5. Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
4. Nothing Was the Same - Drake
3. Reflektor - Arcade Fire
2. Settle - Disclosure
1. Yeezus - Kanye West

This video is so this. ASAP Mob’s debut album Lords is due March 4 (2014 btw).

When I first heard “Crushed Like the Car,” I thought for sure that it was new Peter Bjorn & John. Then Shazam told me that it was actually LA based band Army Navy from their latest EP, Crushed (they also have 2 full lengths under their belt). No Peter, Bjorn or John, but it’s good stuff.

The Crushed EP is out now via The Fever Zone.

There he go. OXYMORON coming soon.

The compilation album, Saint Heron, is out now via Solange’s own Saint Records.

If the guitar feedback is louder than the vocals, chances are I’ll probably like it a bunch. Montreal band Solids will release their debut album, Blame Confusion, February 18 via Fat Possum.

"Mostly i just care abt whether skrillex likes my new song." - @kittaveli. Flowerviolence is coming soon.

London singer-songwriter Sampha has dropped the solo version of Nothing Was the Same highlight, “Too Much,” and yeah. This guy. The “Too Much”/”Happens” single is due November 12 via Young Turks.

Sampha’s lovely debut EP, Dual, is out now.

Mutual Benefit is the one-man band of ‘NYC sometimes’ based singer-songwriter Jordan Lee. His gorgeous debut album, Love’s Crushing Diamond, is streaming online and out now via Other Music.