1. Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost
In a year when dance music slithered its way onto the top 40 and dudes like Skrillex pick up Best New Artist Grammy nods, I found solace in the bristling, brokenhearted Father, Son, Holy Ghost, a masterful collection of retro-leaning rock (Elvis Costello, Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys) that rang true above everything else. That’s mostly because it is an undeniably real album, both sonically (the surging guitars and crashing drums that open “Honey Bunny,” the pealing organ that closes “Jamie Marie”) and spiritually pining over lost loves and the emptiness of sex. And on two epic, excellent tracks — “Vomit” and “Forgiveness” — songwriter Christopher Owens lets his sadness and frustrations boil over, resulting in two of the most visceral moments of the year. It’s a chilling, hair-raising ride, a heartbreaking listen that channels genuine emotions; full of sadness, self-loathing and real anger, it doesn’t pull any punches, and somewhere in that morass, it also stumbles across true beauty too. In a time when everyone’s got a DJ and people continue to sing like robots from the 23rd century, I’ll take Father, Son, Holy Ghost’s unflinching realness any day. After all, sadness is a virtue too.

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