This year could be best described in one succinct adjective: overwhelming. It's impossible to acknowledge the wide plethora of music released this year without comparing it to what it feels like we had to sacrifice along the way. The concept of the "death album" came to fruition as idols across the board gave us beautiful swan songs sometimes only days before their untimely deaths, such as with Bowie, or posthumously, like with A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg. Even much of the best music of this year not preoccupied with mortality still managed to focus in on the darker areas of this existence, with Solange exploring the dissonance and rejection she feels as a Black Woman in America, Beyoncé famously airing out her marital grievances for all to see, and Mitski expounding on the underside of an overreliance on happiness.

Even amongst all this severity, it's still important to appreciate what musicians are accomplishing in this day and age. This year the various titans of their respective genres managed to release landmark albums (many long-awaited...looking at you, Frank Ocean), including many by women and/or people of color. Despite the growing hostility and darkness of the outer world, many musicians are gifting the lucky public with plenty of material to distract, cause reflection, and encourage further work to be done. The music released this year, with all of its darkness, still exemplifies the very best parts of 2016 while giving us some rallying cries. As Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo cries in the chorus of "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales," "It doesn't have to be like this." We as an audience have the agency to reject or appreciate the overwhelming emotional turmoil, and we're lucky enough to have such talented musicians in the public eye guiding our way.

Top 10 Songs of 2016

"Cranes in the Sky" - Solange
"Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" - Car Seat Headrest
"You Want it Darker" - Leonard Cohen
"Stargirl Interlude" - The Weeknd feat. Lana del Rey
"Nikes" - Frank Ocean
"Controlla" - Drake
"Kiss Me When I Bleed" - White Lung
"Happy" - Mitski
"Lazarus" - David Bowie
"Never Be Like You" - Flume feat. Kai

Top 10 Albums of 2016

My Woman - Angel Olsen
Lemonade - Beyoncé
Teens of Denial - Car Seat Headrest
Blonde - Frank Ocean
A Seat at the Table - Solange
The Life of Pablo - Kanye West
Post Pop Depression - Iggy Pop
A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead
We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service - A Tribe Called Quest
Puberty 2 - Mitski

The Current Hosts' and Staffers' Top 89 of 2016

Brett Baldwin • Bill DeVille • Jay Gabler • Leah Garaas • Jade • Cecilia Johnson • Lindsay Kimball • Mary Lucia • Jim McGuinn • Sean McPherson • Shelley Miller • Dan Nass • Mike Novitzki • Matt Perkins • Brian Oake • Jill Riley • Jake Rudh • Nate Ryan • David Safar • Derrick Stevens • Andrea Swensson • Luke Taylor • Anna Reed • Mark Wheat • Mac Wilson