Best Music of 2016, Part 3

Seven of my top 33 made the top 25 on Metacritic's aggregation of critical year-end lists. Two of those, plus two others which I'm sure came close, are in this round of five.

20. ANOHNI - Hopelessness
I saw Antony and the Johnsons live back on the I Am a Bird Now tour and she was an amazing performer. Not sure why that surprised me, but I guess the tone of her music made me think she was the introverted type. I sure was wrong about that.



19.Hiss Golden Messenger - Heart Like a Levee
The first of two albums in this round of five that explore themes of being an absentee father due to the demands of the profession.



18. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
While most of this album was written before Cave's 15-year old son died, if you listen to it with that knowledge in mind, it takes on a whole new meaning.



17. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
A more diverse set of songs than Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, but not quite as good, in my opinion.




16. Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter
If you guessed this would be my country album of the year by a female performer, I wouldn't blame you, but you'd be wrong.