Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2016. Our next list is from DJ and blog editor Tyler Clark.

I think most of us are in agreement that 2016 sucked shit (which also happens to be the name of my band's forthcoming single). It's a sentiment that's been so widespread for so much of this calendar year that it's even spawned its own thinkpieces, but even the recognition of our collective hyperbole doesn't change the fact that this year was pretty beastly. Even if you limit yourself to the year in music, you have to contend with not only the deaths of David Bowie and Prince and Sharon Jones and Leonard Cohen, but also Paul Kantner and George Martin and Ralph Stanley and Rudy Van Gelder and Leon Russell and Mose Allison and Greg Lake and all those doomed DIYers at Ghost Ship and...

I'll stop now, but not because I've run out of terrible things to rehash. Rather, I'll stop because you get my meaning, because if you're reading this when it's published, that means you've lived through the past 348 shitty days, too, and you know that the worst parts of them extend way beyond losing the guy who wrote "Raspberry Beret."

We're in some dark days, but that doesn't mean there weren't pinpricks of light here and there. They've made lists of those, too, and they'll make you feel a little better for a few minutes. If you're a music fan, so will the stunning records that came out this year. Maybe I'm just looking for a silver lining, but 2016 definitely feels, in complete spite of itself, like the best year for music that we've had in quite a while. That's not a huge consolation, geopolitical realities considered, but it's something, and I'll take something over nothing every time.

Check out my Top Ten, and see if you agree.

#1   Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper (self-released)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

If this isn't your answer, you're either lying or playing an unfunny prank. In a year that found many people questioning everything, Chancelor Bennett made time to count his blessings (a new daughter, restored health, a king-making verse on "Ultralight Beam") while calling even more attention to the discord and unrest found in his city and elsewhere. Coloring Book manages to be both reverent to the good things in life and clear-eyed about the work that must to be done to clear up the bad, and it's easily my album of the year.

Favorite track: "Angels"

#2   The Impossible Kid by Aesop Rock (Rhymesayers)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I'm a thirtysomething white dude who sometimes gets panic attacks on the train, so saying I identify with Aesop Rock's latest might be an understatement. On The Impossible Kid, Ian Bavitz tackles the twin themes of aging and fraught mental health with his usual curve-spoiling vocabulary, throwing up a beacon of almost-middle-aged self-assessment in a world where his bros are getting older and the kids are getting younger. I'm with you, man. I'm with you.

Favorite track: "Blood Sandwich"

#3   I Had A Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam (Glassnote)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Ok, so I'll own up: for most of this year, I was pretty checked out of new music, especially when it came to dedicated album listening. That changed in October when I put on the new one from former Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser and ex-Vampire Weekend secret weapon Rostam Batmanglij. I've listened to it plenty of times since then, whenever I'm feeling wistful, or nostalgic, or just in need of a little tattered, Nilsson-style swagger. Thanks for the wake-up call, guys.

Favorite track: "A 1000 Times"

#4   Big Black Coat by Junior Boys (City Slang)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

One of the most satisfying musical evolutions of the past decade has been Junior Boys' metamorphosis from chilly, angst-ridden sticks in the mud to full-fledged (and full-powered) club maestros. They may have reached their highest height yet on Big Black Coat, whose slinking standouts "You Say That" and "Over It" will be gracing my party playlists from now until 2026.

Favorite track: "Over It"

#5   HEAVN by Jamila Woods (Closed Sessions)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I probably could've filled this entire list using only artists from Chicago, and truthfully, this record from Jamila Woods almost snagged the #2 spot in the final draft. A year after lending her voice to the best song of 2015 (the Chance-led "Sunday Candy"), Woods spent 2016 grabbing the spotlight for herself with this stunning full-length debut. She's also a poet and one of the organizers of the youth slam competition Louder Than a Bomb, which means two big points for being a triple threat.

Favorite track: "Blk Girl Soldier"

#6   Puberty 2 by Mitski (Dead Oceans)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Man. You know, sometimes I don't have much to say about a record. Sometimes, records are just fuckin' good, and to do anything other than let that fuckin' goodness radiate out unspoken would only serve to diminish the experience. Puberty 2 is just fuckin' good.

Favorite track: "Dan the Dancer"

#7   Psychopomp by Japanese Breakfast (Yellow K)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Thanks to my accidental new-music hibernation, I missed this one when it first came around in the spring. Thank goodness for year-end lists; if I'd missed Psychopomp, Michelle Zauner's masterpiece that sounds like somebody time-traveled to 1991, kidnapped a Slumberland band, and asked them to write a record on the trip back to 2016, my life would've been worse whether I knew it or not.

Favorite track: "The Woman That Loves You"

#8   Blackstar by David Bowie (Columbia)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

When I heard the news about David Bowie's death, I was half-asleep in bed, drifting in and out as NPR's Morning Edition played on my clock radio. At first, I thought they were just reviewing this record, but eventually, I woke up. This'll be our first full winter without him. It's a season that syncs up well with so much of his output, including his farewell masterpiece. It won't be easy, but we'll manage.

Favorite track: "I Can't Give Everything Away"

#9   Visions of Us on the Land by Damien Jurado (Secretly Canadian)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I'm headed to California for Christmas in a couple of weeks, and while the Golden State's find-yourself mystique has been sought into non-existence, I'm still open to finding an answer under an orange tree. I might take this record with me. It's the final entry in Damien Jurado's masterful late-career trilogy, and one that cements his status as a chameleonic scene veteran I'm keen to keep my eye on. See you guys in Laurel Canyon.

Favorite track: "A.M. AM"

#10   Human Performance by Parquet Courts (Rough Trade)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

It's a Parquet Courts record that sounds like it took more than 10 minutes to conceive, write, and record. Of course it's gonna make my top 10.

Favorite track: "Berlin Got Blurry"

Honorable Mentions

Albums #11-#25

11) ANOHNI, Hopelessness
12) The Hotelier, Goodness
13) Yoni & Geti, Testarossa
14) Blood Orange, Freetown Sound
15) Frankie Cosmos, Next Thing
16) Hiss Golden Messenger, Heart Like A Levee
17) The Chairman Dances, Time Without Measure
18) Solange, A Seat at the Table
19) Flesh Panthers, Willows Weep
20) Charles Bradley, Changes
21) Childish Gambino, "Awaken, My Love!"
22) American Football, American Football
23) Terry Malts, Lost at the Party
24) John K. Samson, Winter Wheat
25) PJ Harvey, The Hope Six Demolition Project

40 Songs I Loved from Bands that Didn't Make the Top 25

Against Me!, "Rebecca"
Animal Collective, "Vertical"
The Avalanches, "Frankie Sinatra"
Blowout, "Indiana"
Bob Mould, "Voices in My Head"
case/lang/veirs, "Best Kept Secret"
Chairlift, "Moth to the Flame"
Danny Brown, "Ain't It Funny"
Deakin, "Good House"
Devendra Banhart, "Mourner's Dance"
DIIV, "Dopamine"
ESP Ohio, "Royal Cyclopean"
Field Music, "The Noisy Days Are Over"
Hurry, "Fascination"
Iggy Pop, "Gardenia"
Justice, "Chorus"
Kanye West, "Ultralight Beam"
Kishi Bashi, "Say Yeah"
Kweku Collins, "Stupid Rose"
Leonard Cohen, "You Want It Darker"
Look Park, "Aeroplane"
Modern Baseball, "Coding These To Lukens"
Nada Surf, "Cold to See Clear"
Nicholas Krgovich, "Out of Work Jazz Singer"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "Jesus Alone"
Nico Muhly + Teitur, "Describe You"
Nothing, "Vertigo Flowers"
Paul Simon, "Proof of Love"
Pet Shop Boys, "The Pop Kids"
The Radio Dept., "We Got Game"
Radiohead, "Burn the Witch"
Rae Sremmurd, "Black Beatles"
Santigold, "Can't Get Enough of Myself"
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, "Astonished Man"
Twin Peaks, "Walk to the One You Love"
Weezer, "L.A. Girlz"
The Weeknd, "Starboy"
Whitney, "Golden Days"
Wilco, "Normal American Kids"
Wolf Parade, "Mr. Startup"