Sorry, you got clickbaited again — not every year. This list starts in 1955, not 1910. Here’s a good “album” (or any other type of release) from every year since then, presented with minimal commentary.

1955

Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Clifford Brown & Max Roach (Hard Bop)

Charging swinging jazz with virtuoso percussion.

1956

Ravi Shankar - Three Ragas (Hindustani Classical Music)

I really hope I still would have run into this if not for the George Harrison connection.

1957

Jackson C. Frank - Howell Sessions (Guy With Guitar)

His earliest recording AFAIK. Hints of what’s to come.

1958

New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein - Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (Neoclassical)

Legendary recording. Touches even philistines like me.

1959

Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (Free Jazz?)

Lots of incredibly good and/or famous jazz albums this year. Let’s go with an odd one (that inspired a lot of dumb album titles in unrelated genres).

1960

Eric Dolphy - Out There (Post-Bop)

Dolphy’s solo on the title track goes crazy.

1961

Conjunto Estrellas de Chocolate - Conjunto Estrellas de Chocolate (Cuban (sorry))

Serious melodies from Cuba. Swiped from a KFJC playlist, I think. Full album doesn’t exist on YouTube.

1962

Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Surfers’ Choice (Surf Rock)

Don’t miss the Agent Orange covers!

1963

Jorge Ben - Samba esquema novo (Samba)

What’s he sitting on?

1964

The Zombies - Leave Me Be / Woman (Psych Pop)

Just a great pop song.

1965

Los Saicos - Come On / Ana (Rock)

Peruvian proto-proto punk.

1966

Peter Walker / The Velvet Underground (John Cale) - White Wind / Loop (American Primitive / Noise)

Weirdest split ever candidate. John Fahey fingerpicking stuff gives way to straight up noise. $1000 on Discogs, give or take.

1967

The Red Crayola with The Familiar Ugly - The Parable of Arable Land (Psych Rock + Free Improv)

Delightful splice of edgy psych and acid freakout.

1968

Silver Apples - Silver Apples (Ungenre’able!)

Wildly impactful “your fav artist’s fav artist” type band, peerless then and now. Dust is an all-time track for me.

1969

Scott Walker - Scott 4 (Baroque Pop)

Spine-tingling vocals, literary lyrics, lush arrangements, great hair. Love both eras of Scott. RIP an absolute king.

1970

Third Ear Band - Third Ear Band (???)

Hovering somewhere between a drum circle and a symphony orchestra. Seriously weird!

1971

Hamza El Din - Escalay: The Water Wheel (Egyptian (sorry))

Surrender yourself to the oud.

1972

Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai (Brazilian Pop)

Ambiguous Brazilian melancholy, with a cover to match.

1973

Waylon Jennings - Lonesome, On’ry & Mean (Outlaw Country)

Impossible to choose between this one and Honky Tonk Heroes in the same year. Classic title track. Did I hear “Bayesian street queens”?

1974

Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National - Ilo abu chi (Highlife)

Audio sunshine. Just one listen to offset 10 hours black metal.

1975

Lula Côrtes e Zé Ramalho - Paêbirú (Psych Folk)

Twisting journey from the Amazon to Saturn and back again.

1976

Os Tubarões - Pépé Lopi (Coladeira)

Undeniable grooves and unreal vocals from Cabo Verde (a country!).

1977

Chrome - Alien Soundtracks (Psych(o) Rock)

The beginning of Chrome’s golden run of sick, alien rock experiments.

1978

Otis G Johnson - Everything: God Is Love 78 (Outsider Gospel)

Jandek goes gospel, or something. Sparse, spectral, raw. 2013 pick progenitor.

1979

Pylon - Cool / Dub (New Wave Dance Punk)

Punchy bass-driven dance punk with manic half-controlled vocals.

1980

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Die Kleinen und die Bösen (Synth Punk / Industrial)

A less dancy, more perturbed & volatile DAF than seen in their later albums. Floor falls out on side B.

1981

ZYX - Trust No Woman (Minimal Synth)

Sordid creeping synth dread from Austria. Still danceable.

1982

Skitslickers - GBG 1982 (D-Beat)

Incredible damage:runtime ratio. Still trying to figure out what those Swedes are so worked up about.

1983

The Danse Society - Wake Up / The Seduction / Arabia (Goth Rock)

All about The Seduction for me. Tension builds toward a huge payoff. Massively underappreciated goth/post-punk outfit.

1984

Jo Chiarello - Lei no / L’ultimo metro (Italo Synthpop)

Nothing wrong with side A, but side B destroys. Something about the vocal line in the chorus.

1985

Youssou N’Dour et le Super Étoile de Dakar - Immigrés / Bitim Rew (Mbalax)

Rich arrangements, huge emotional range, always full of passion. A legendary force from Senegal.

1986

Grim - Folk Music (Industrial, Power Electronics)

Titles can be deceptive. So can first tracks. I don’t bother trying to describe noise music, so I won’t. Don’t miss Jun Konagaya’s 2010s albums as himself either.

YT comment: Saw him live in Dresden a couple years ago accompanied by a blindfolded young man angrily banging on a single drum. … Truly an incredible performance.

1987

Sarcófago - I.N.R.I. (Thrashened Black Metal)

Real sonic & thematic extremity in a genre devoted to both yet rarely reaching either. Primitive, juvenile and charged with freak energy.

1988

Апорєа - На рєкахъ Вавл҃нскыхъ (Ritual Industrial, Liturgical Music)

I think this is a RYM meme album, but it’s worth the hype. Macedonian Orthodox recitations, ominous bells, chimes, strings and sourceless tones. Haven’t heard anything like it.

1989

Bel Canto - Birds of Passage (Dream Pop)

Norwegian Cocteau Twins worship with a bit of a darkwave vibe. Otherworldly soaring vocals.

1990

The Chameleons - Tony Fletcher Walked on Water…. La La La La La-La La-La-La (Post-Punk)

If you asked me my favorite post-punk group, I’d probably pick The Chameleons a plurality of times. Their last recording before a 2000 reunion which, out of deep respect for the band, I have not explored.

1991

Negativland - U2 (Negativland)

31 years later, this EP is still incredibly funny. The lawsuit is part of the music. These guys are from England, and who gives a shit?

1992

Flow - Another Time (NYC House)

Straight up NYC house bomb. Side B is pretty cool too.

1993

Rippikoulu - Musta seremonia (Death Metal)

Blackest death metal, uncompromising in purpose or execution. Don’t like it? Try it again. Please!

1994

Nature and Organisation - Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude (Neofolk)

Genre peak. Familiar ingredients come together in something completely new. I think I remember Yung Lean or one of his crew shouting this album out? Incredible.

1995

Diss Reaction - Emanon Vol. 1 (Gabber)

You can’t deny it. Progresses from big smiles to stomping madness to more big smiles to both simultaneously.

1996

Grausamkeit - Fucking Goat Horness! (Black Metal)

Esoteric lo-fi black metal with bonus space stuff. B.S.o.D is a really solid pianist in addition to a lot of other things. What does the title mean? Do you care?

1997

Biosphere - Substrata (Ambient)

I traveled to Tromsø because of this album (and, less interestingly, listened to a whole bunch more ambient). Best to listen in the cold.

1998

Fortran - Search / The End Part II (Techstep)

Titanium-shell heatseeking DnB missile. Genre peak.

1999

Secret Stairways - Turning Point (Dungeon Synth)

Lush, patient soundscapes full of mystery and brimming with emotion. Cheap ticket to a distant realm.

2000

Jeromes Dream / Orchid - Jeromes Dream / Orchid (“Skull Record”) (Screamo)

Could never decide which side I preferred. If they played this stuff in Hot Topic I’d go in there.

2001

Bitch Ass Darius - Follow the Sound (Ghetto House)

Unapologetically birdbrained, vulgar and blasphemous, always incredibly fun and sometimes, believe it or not, beautiful. Love the artwork too.

2002

Rude 66 - De wraak der wegpiraten (Electro)

Straight up Hague electro with all the good stuff: tickly synths, disembodied voice, inscrutable samples.

2003

Exos - U Can’t Stop Time (Dub Techno)

Shimmering cerebral techno grooves from Iceland. Detailed analog textures with a very human feel. Best in rain or fog.

2004

Los Hermanos - On Another Level (Detroit Techno)

Optimistic and effortlessly innovating. The human & approachable side of the UR universe. This album couldn’t come from anywhere but Detroit.

2005

HTRK - Nostalgia (Noise Pop Post-Punk)

Agoraphobic narcissistic noisedrenched heroin pop. No answers, just questions. One of the most underrated bands I know.

2006

Troum & All Sides - Shutûn (Drone)

54 minutes that could feel like 500 or 5, depending on your choice of setting. Tectonic drones splitting the ground where you stand.

2007

Tony Allen - Ole / Ise Nla (Remixes) (Dub [Techno])

The Moritz remix is an all-timer. Just 3 or 4 elements at once, all essential and impeccably mixed. 10 minutes isn’t enough.

2008

Prurient - Cocaine Death (Power Electronics)

Unique in that it both relaxes me and instills a potent sense of dread. More punk than punk, more psych than psych, more death than metal. I highly recommend every one of this guy’s projects.

2009

Evil Pimp - Face the Terror (Memphis Rap)

I’m a big fan of any projects with lyrics about both smoking weed and killing people (simulateously is a bonus), so naturally I rock with Evil Pimp. Simple, effective, laid back yet propulsive tracks with some strong features and a life lesson or two.

2010

Dub One - Wray / It Was Destined to Happen (Drum & Bass)

Super-percussive dubby atmo-DnB. Surgical amen breaks, moody woodwinds, fleeting hints of voice.

2011

Death Evocation - Death Evocation (Crust Punk)

Bulldozing thrashy crust with killer female vocals. Sounds a lot like Sacrilege. I like it better.

2012

Triad God - NXB (Experimental Rap)

You are leaving the hip hop sector. Disinterested Cantonese bars (spoken word?) on seductive nighttime atmospheres. Rap star!

2013

Dean Blunt - The Redeemer (Experimental Pop)

Essential work from an essential artist. Evades description. Keep your ears peeled.

2014

Fred Ventura & Paolo Gozzetti - Italoconnection (Italo Disco)

Modern-day Italo without a hint of nostalgia or irony. Spine-tingling analog synths throughout.

2015

Stanislav Tolkachev - Walk Along the Bottom (Techno)

The mad king of techno lives in Ukraine.

2016

Tardigrada - Emotionale Ödnis (Black Metal)

Top tier wall-of-sound atmo-black metal. Sick Schwiizerdütsch vocals. Never a dull moment.

2017

GFOTY - GFOTYBUCKS (PC Music)

It’s cloaked in 8 or 9 layers of irony and begging you to hate it, but beneath all that (if there is such a thing) is a really fun and interesting musical document. And my favorite Blink-182 cover.

2018

Träden (Träd, Gräs och Stenar) - Träden (Psych Rock)

Patient pastoral jams from the crafty Swedes behind International Harvester and Pärson Sound. Staring out of a train music.

2019

Reptilian Club Boyz - Rare RCB hexD.mp3 (HexD)

I felt like Hank Hill the first time I heard this and immediately knew it was special.

2020

Zeroxxuit - Broken (???)

The Xasthur of hip hop if Xasthur also used inhalants.

2021

Emeka Ogboh - Beyond the Yellow Haze (Experimental Electronic, Field Recording)

Streets, sidewalks and skies of Lagos atop sparse synths and IDM clicks & pops.

2022

Still listening!