Greg Beets

1) Quin Galavis, My Life in Steel and Concrete (Super Secret)

2) Churchwood, Hex City (Saustex)

3) White Denim, Stiff (Downtown)

4) Ralph White, Farewell to Texas (Altco)

5) Cherubs, Fist in the Air (Brutal Panda)

6) Thor & Friends (Living Music Duplication)

7) December Boys

8) DD Dagger, The Lone Wolf Meets the Underdog

9) My Golden Calf, Perfume Brute

10) Attic Ted, Parade Dust Mischief (Pecan Crazy)

Jim Caligiuri

1) Michael Fracasso, Here Come the Savages (Blue Door)

2) Bonnie Whitmore & Her Band, Fuck With Sad Girls

3) Charlie Faye & the Fayettes

4) Golden Dawn Arkestra, Stargazer (Modern Imperial)

5) Cody Jinks, I’m Not the Devil

6) Cotton Mather, Death of the Cool (Star Apple Kingdom)

7) Alejandro Escovedo, Burn Something Beautiful (Fantasy)

8) Bill Kirchen & Austin de Lone, Transatlanticana (Red House)

9) Will Courtney, Planning Escapes (Wren & Shark)

10) Harvest Thieves, Rival

Kevin Curtin

1) Quin Galavis, My Life in Steel and Concrete (Super Secret)

2) Gloves INTL (GTZ)

3) Tele Novella, House of Souls (Yellow Year)

4) Street Sects, End Position (The Flenser)

5) White Denim, Stiff (Downtown)

6) A Giant Dog, Pile (Merge)

7) Magna Carda, Cirqlation

8) Golden Dawn Arkestra, Stargazer (Modern Imperial)

9) Croy & the Boys, Hey Come Back

10) Adam Torres, Pearls to Swine (Fat Possum)

Thomas Fawcett

1) Magna Carda, Cirqlation

2) The Echocentrics, Echo Hotel (Nacional)

3) The Relatives, Goodbye World (Ubiquity)

4) Money Chicha, Echo en Mexico (Vampisoul)

5) Third Root, Libertad

6) Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II (Ubiquity)

7) The Greyhounds, Change of Pace (Ardent)

8) Tele Novella, House of Souls (Yellow Year)

9) Croy & the Boys, Hey Come Back

10) Golden Dawn Arkestra, Stargazer (Modern Imperial)

Doug Freeman

1) Paul Cauthen, My Gospel (Lightning Rod)

2) Shearwater, Jet Plane and Oxbow (Sub Pop)

3) Hayes Carll, Lovers and Leavers (Hwy 87)

4) Okkervil River, Away (ATO)

5) Sarah Jarosz, Undercurrent (Sugar Hill)

6) Croy & the Boys, Hey Come Back

7) Harvest Thieves, Rival

8) The Deer, Tempest & Rapture (Owl Bum)

9) Dana Falconberry & Medicine Bow, From the Forest Came the Fire (Modern Outsider)

10) Will Courtney, Planning Escapes (Wren & Shark)

Alejandra Ramirez

1) Shearwater, Jet Plane and Oxbow (Sub Pop)

2) Doyle Bramhall II, Rich Man (Concord)

3) Cotton Mather, Death of the Cool (Star Apple Kingdom)

4) Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II (Ubiquity)

5) Gloves INTL (GTZ)

6) Okkervil River, Away (ATO)

7) Riverboat Gamblers, Massive Fraud (End Sounds)

8) Nori, World Anew (Go Stop Music)

9) The Gospel Truth, Jealous Fires (12XU)

10) Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes (Super Secret)

Kahron Spearman

1) Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, Stranger Things Vols. 1 & 2 (Lakeshore/Netflix)

2) Magna Carda, Cirqulation

3) Shearwater, Jet Plane and Oxbow (Sub Pop)

4) Gloves INTL (GTZ)

5) White Denim, Stiff (Downtown)

6) Doyle Bramhall II, Rich Man (Concord)

7) Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath Vol. II (Ubiquity)

8) Troller, Graphic (Holodeck)

9) Dowrong & Eric Dingus, Stack or Starve: The American Dream (Dream Sequence)

10) CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Elevation)

Libby Webster

1) Cross Record, Wabi-Sabi (Ba Da Bing!)

2) Hovvdy, Taster (Sports Day/Merdurhaus)

3) Jared Leibowich, Welcome Late Bloomers (Sundae)

4) The Well, Pagan Science (RidingEasy)

5) Spray Paint, Feel the Clamps (Goner)

6) Mean Jolene, Salty (Austin Town Hall)

7) Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes (Super Secret)

8) Quin Galavis, My Life in Steel and Concrete (Super Secret)

9) Tele Novella, House of Souls (Yellow Year)

10) Adam Torres, Pearls to Swine (Fat Possum)

Austin Top 10s

A version of this article appeared in print on Dec 30, 2016 with the headline: Austin Top 10s

This article appears in 2016.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.

Thomas Fawcett has been freelancing for The Austin Chronicle since 2007. He likes good music and does not fake the funk.

Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.

Kahron Spearman is a journalist and writer with bylines including The Austin Chronicle, Austin Monthly, Consequence of Sound, Texas Highways, and the London-based journal The Break-Down. He currently serves as Senior Editor at Atmosphere TV.