1| David Bowie Blackstar

Three days. It was barely enough time know this album before David Bowie left to blaze another path before us. While violently yoked to Bowie’s death, the true testament of Blackstar’s beauty is how it refuses to be seen only as an eulogy. Omnipresent and atmospheric, it has served as a backdrop to multiple books for us this year. Blackstar pairs well with: poetry and creative nonfiction.

2| Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition

Vinyl Me Please called it “The best post punk album of the year,” and for good reason. The album is a blender-spun fever dream of hip-hop, punk, and proto-industrial landscapes. There is a tense, confessional quality to the chaos in Brown’s delivery; the flow is simultaneously disjointed and cathartic. Danny Brown is fearless in his layering of broad influences, reaching out to the corpse of Ian Curtis and the smoldering husk of his hometown of Detroit with equal and brutal aplomb. Atrocity Exhibition pairs well with: hybrid genre work like the Rose Metal Press library.

3| Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial

Slacker rawk of the first order with a millennial twist on Richard Hell’s “Blank Generation” (which was a twist on folkie Bob McFaden’s song “Beat Generation,” which was… oh well, whatever, nevermind). The album emerges from the bedroom bandcamp symphonies category to a fully-formed artistic thesis, equal parts confident and confused. Teens of Denial pairs well with: first poetry collections.

4| Nicolas Jaar Sirens

The vinyl copy of Sirens was packed with a quarter wedged between the plastic sleeve and the album cover. As the quarter bounced around the sleeve, it would scratch off the film on the cover to reveal its artwork. The album’s onion skin-layers are a slightly transparent brooding hustle, throbbing with nervous energy — like that gap between the afterparty and the comedown with nowhere to go. Sirens pairs well with: dystopian fiction, novels like Matt Bell’s Scrapper.

5| Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein Stranger Things OST (Vol. 1 and 2)

We were late to the binge-watching phenom of the Summer (something about moving to Philadelphia and whatnot), but we were hooked by a sci-fi retro-glory that was the theme song. The two volumes (pressed on smokey color vinyl) are a John Carpenter-grade synth dream. Stranger Things OST pairs well with: graphic novels, sci-fi, and the Two Dollar Radio catalog.

6| Mono Requiem for Hell

The soundtrack for a Trump America? Maybe in title alone. The epic sprawl of the titular track (all 17:48 of it) takes more cues from black metal than you would care to know and replaces the cavernous, church burning tendencies of the genre with an icy studio sheen. Requiem for Hell pairs well with: adult fantasy, suspense, and lyrical prose such as Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down by Anne Valente.

7| Mitski Puberty 2

Young and dreamy, the aptly-titled Puberty 2 has hope and enthusiasm which can barely be contained by the scope of emotions which color this sophomore release. Her voice asserts the narrative which commiserates with the lonely, but challenges the lovers to be more than the sum of their parts. Puberty 2 pairs well with: Young Adult (duh) and non-formula-dependent romantic novels, or anything written by Leesa Cross-Smith.

8| BadBadNotGood IV

If A Certain Ratio happened thirty years later and weren’t born in Manchester but in Toronto — well you get the picture (if you know ACR, if not we won’t hold it against you, but you should probably listen to Factory Records more). Jazz and Krautrock with a side of back bacon. IV pairs well with: short story collections.

9| Solange A Seat at the Table

Unpopular opinion — we like this album better than Lemonade. This is not to say we are hipstering out on Bey, rather, it’s a testament to how fucking good A Seat at the Table truly is. Good craft is just undeniable. There are few art forms which more quickly (and astutely) assess the state the world around us than poetry and music. Transcendent of turmoil and cultural conflict, Solange asserts her identity while at the same time inheriting the weight of unheard voices, carrying both into octaves and ranges which bends light into dark alleys. A Seat at the Table pairs well with: identity poetry and hybrid work such as Wendy C. Ortiz’s Bruja.

10| Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool

Jim’s a Gen-Xer so it pains him to call Radiohead an elder statesmen of rock, but the truth hurts sometimes. No, it’s not Wilco-level dadrock, but there is a demographic who call OK Computer their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Album #9 sees Radiohead draw on all their phases to distill an record which is long on atmosphere and vulnerability. A Moon Shaped Pool pairs well with: everything, like a good table red.  

Honorable Mention: Beach Slang A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings

While it’s not really a reading album per se, we think this is one record everyone should have. Sincerity oozes from its chords with some of the best Replacements lyrics Westerberg never wrote. A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings pairs well with: your high school diary and rediscovering your youthful optimism.

The amazing Citizen Lit podcast is the brainchild of the equally amazing Aubrie Cox and Jim Warner. And as talented as they both are, you won’t meet two nicer people in all of lit. Heck, in most of the world. Yeah, that’s right.