The last 12 months, I think we can all agree, have been pretty harsh in many ways. Not least because we’ve lost music legends one after the other, said goodbye to labels including FortunaPop! but yet we’ve also seen vinyl sales overtake digital downloads for the first time (Good news? Bad news?  Probably a bit of both) and once again a slew of amazing music.

The sheer amount of astounding music being put out across all genres, from all around the world, by all kinds of artists has thrilled us once more. And we’ve been as excited by the big releases as we have some smaller DIY and underground drops.

At LTW we challenge boundaries and champion diversity and while it’s been hard to pick just fifty albums we truly show the range of music we’ve listened to and loved in the last 12 months. However we feel this year’s albums of the year list is reflective of the open door policy in coverage and contribution here at Louder Than War.

From a much, much longer list we’ve made a selection of the final 50 albums you should have heard from 2016 – watch out for posts in the coming days on our selections for EP releases and reissues.

The Louder Than War albums of the year list is compiled by Editor in Chief John Robb, Editor Sarah Lay and includes picks from our team of contributors.

Albums of the Year 2016 Top 50

49. Linda Guilala – Psiconautica (Elefant)

Spanish indiepop that has the best of catchy melody, ethereal experimentation and walls of sound. Read a review from Associate Editor Phil Newall here.