Neph Basedow (Indie rock)

1) Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial (Matador)

2) Angel Olsen, My Woman (Jagjaguwar)

3) David Bowie, Blackstar (ISO)

4) Beach Slang, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings (Polyvinyl)

5) Savages, Adore Life (Matador)

6) The Gotobeds, Blood // Sugar // Secs // Traffic (Sub Pop)

7) Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool (XL)

8) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree (Bad Seed Ltd.)

9) Teen, Love Yes (Carpark)

10) Big Thief, Masterpiece (Saddle Creek)


Jim Caligiuri (Singer-songwriter)

1) Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories (Bloodshot)

2) Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day (Okrahoma)

3) Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter (Third Man)

4) Bob Weir, Blue Mountain (Columbia/Legacy/ROAR)

5) Paul Simon, Stranger to Stranger (Concord)

6) Cactus Blossoms, You’re Dreaming (Red House)

7) Doyle Bramhall II, Rich Man (Concord)

8) Shawn Colvin & Steve Earle, Colvin & Earle (Fantasy)

9) Jim Lauderdale, This Changes Everything (Sky Crunch)

10) Freakwater, Scheherazade (Bloodshot)


Doug Freeman (Country)

1) Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter (Third Man)

2) Drive By Truckers, American Band (ATO)

3) Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories (Bloodshot)

4) Miranda Lambert, The Weight of These Wings (RCA)

5) Brent Cobb, Shine On Rainy Day (Low Country Sound)

6) Lori McKenna, The Bird & the Rifle (CN)

7) Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day (Okrahoma)

8) Amanda Shires, My Piece of Land (BMG)

9) Lydia Loveless, Real (Bloodshot)

10) Frankie Lee, American Dreamer (Loose Music)


Abby Johnston (Electronic)

1) Lambchop, FLOTUS (Merge)

2) Nicolas Jaar, Sirens (Other People)

3) Aphex Twin, Cheetah (Warp)

4) Avalanches, Wildflower (Astralwerks)

5) Elysia Crampton, Demon City (Break World)

6) Kornél Kovács, The Bells (Studio Barnhus)

7) Nite-Funk (Glydezone)

8) James Blake, The Colour in Anything (Polydor)

9) Marie Davidson, Adieux au Dancefloor (Cititrax)

10) The Range, Potential (Domino)


Kahron Spearman (Hip-hop)

1) Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book

2) Kendrick Lamar, Untitled Unmastered (TDE/Aftermath/Interscope)

3) Young Thug, Jeffery (300 Entertainment/Atlantic)

4) Kanye West, The Life of Pablo (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)

5) Skepta, Konnichiwa (Boy Better Know)

6) A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic)

7) NoName Gypsy, Telefone

8) Vince Staples, Prima Donna (Def Jam)

9) Kevin Gates, Islah (Bread Winners’ Association/Atlantic)

10) Isaiah Rashad, The Sun’s Tirade (TDE)


Tim Stegall (Punk)

1) Bob Mould, Patch the Sky (Merge)

2) Descendents, Hypercaffium Spazzinate (Epitaph)

3) Bulemics, Something Wicked This Way Comes (Slope)

4) Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds, La Araña Es la Vida (In the Red)

5) Javier Escovedo, Kicked Out of Eden (Saustex)

6) A Giant Dog, Pile (Merge)

7) Bleached, Welcome the Worms (Dead Oceans)

8) Surprise Vacation, Stealing Office Supplies (Our Damn Selves)

9) The Dicks From Texas & Friends (Grackle Butter)

10) Exterminators, Product of America (Slope)


Michael Toland (Metal)

1) Cobalt, Slow Forever (Profound Lore)

2) Oranssi Pazuzu, Värähtelijä (20 Buck Spin)

3) Whores, Gold (eOne)

4) Dysrhythmia, The Veil of Control (Profound Lore)

5) Neurosis, Fires Within Fires (Neurot)

6) Wrong (Relapse)

7) Cough, Still They Pray (Relapse)

8) Inquisition, Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith (Season of Mist)

9) Brain Tentacles (Relapse)

10) Black Tusk, Pillars of Ash (Relapse)


Jay Trachtenberg (Jazz)

1) Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM)

2) Andrew Cyrille, The Declaration of Music Independence (ECM)

3) Charles Lloyd & the Marvels, I Long to See You (Blue Note)

4) Roberto Fonseca, ABUC (Impulse!)

5) Kenny Barron, Book of Intuition (Impulse!)

6) Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison, In Movement (ECM)

7) Dave Douglas & High Risk, Dark Territory (Greenleaf Music)

8) Jaimeo Brown Transcendence, Work Songs (Motéma)

9) Daniel Freedman, Imagine That (Anzic)

10) Los Jazz Vatos, El Jefe (Lounge Side)

National Top 10s

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

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

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.

Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.

Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.