The albums from 2016 you need to hear.

Would it really be all that great if we could pause time?

We'd probably just end up listening to more records. Which would be great fun, but would make writing this list of the best albums of the year even more difficult than it already was.

Not that we're complaining. A wealth of quality tunes is only a good thing. We just wish we didn't have to leave out so many great records.

Here are 20 of the year's finest releases and a short note about why we loved them. Let us know your favourites on Facebook or Twitter.

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Radiohead's ninth album is as ambitious as any in their catalogue. But rarely have they sounded as conspicuously accomplished as they do on A Moon Shaped Pool.

They have always sounded vital. Each album brims with electric energy as they zigzag their way through a universe of styles and sounds. A by-product of that exploratory process has been the odd timeless classic, like 'Pyramid Song' or 'Motion Picture Soundtrack'. Moments that feel like they transcend the band's restless trajectory. On this album, Radiohead find that sweet spot and seem to inhabit it entirely.

A younger band couldn't have made this record. Not even a younger Radiohead. To hear the band's formidable talents converge with such elegance is impossibly satisfying. And it might never be repeated. On A Moon Shaped Pool, everything is truly in it's right place. – Tim Shiel

James Blake - The Colour in Anything

Listening to The Colour in Anything for the first time, all 76 minutes of it, was more than an emotional experience, it was a visceral one.

The genius in James Blake's music is its ability to seep in. From the chest-throbbing bass of ‘Points', to the spine-tingling piano ballad ‘The Colour in Anything' and achingly beautiful harmonies on 'I Need a Forest Fire'.

Paired with heartbreaking lyrics, this album has all the hallmarks of classic Blake. On top of his signature metallic vocals and the spacious, luscious sounds we've come to love, this album traverses new emotional terrain. Perhaps it's working with the likes of Rick Rubin, Justin Vernon and Frank Ocean. Or, as Blake himself cites, his new romantic relationship.

Either way, there's a warmer texture and maturity to this record that makes it one of 2016's true triumphs. – Samantha Lee

The Drones – Feelin Kinda Free

On their exceptional seventh record The Drones have left any insecurity about how they can or should sound behind. Out: blues guitar. In: electronic squalls and beats. Mid-era hip hop gear is dusted off, providing throb and gristle. Spooky bass is a canvas for laser beam guitars. It's 2016, of course it sounds like this. Rock'n'roll has failed to change the world, so let's get weird.

Hear this: Gareth Liddiard told Double J that the time for semantics are over. He's calling it as he sees it on 'Taman Shud'. A blunt object, obnoxious on purpose. A highlight among many. Imagine, a Drones record you can dance to while you weep at the banality of it all. Or rage against the arseholes. Perfectly timed. Possibly perfect. – Ryan Egan

Anohni – Hopelessness

Anohni has transformed into an electronic pop provocateur so completely that it's difficult to remember what came before.

Listening to Hopelessness should make you uncomfortable. This is pop music intended as disruption. You should feel provoked. Stirred out of complacency into action on issues which shouldn't need a protest album to get our attention. Climate change, drone warfare, state surveillance, institutionalised violence. These issues are urgent and Anohni is so relentlessly incisive that you wonder why anyone bothers writing songs about anything less important.

Hopelessness is provocative, direct and unapologetically manipulative. When you want to sing along but the line is “Drone bomb me, blow me from the side of the mountain” - it's a trap, expertly laid, and now you're complicit. Except, perhaps you already were. – Tim Shiel

Beyoncé – Lemonade

For too long her critics have dismissed Beyoncé as just a mainstream R&B/pop artist. This album changed everything. Lemonade is Beyoncé at her performative and conceptual best.

Simply, this album tells a tale of infidelity and redemption. But upon closer inspection, it's so much more. This is a carefully curated pop masterpiece that tells of the black American woman's experience. It's unapologetically political and, to top it off, contains some of the most killer tracks released this year.

She's surrounded herself with a crack team of writers and producers, but ultimately, the binding element is Beyoncé. Her voice, her persona, her story.

Lemonade is an album that says Beyoncé's not waiting to be invited to the table, she's sitting at the head of it. – Myf Warhurst

David Bowie – Blackstar

David Bowie's final studio record Blackstar is his requiem. The giant of music passed only two days after its release in January from an illness kept secret from his fans. It's a haunting, magical parting gift that brings an unparalleled career of fearless experimentation and stunning art to a close.

Often, when such an artist dies, it's a time to search through their archives. A time to study their relevance to the world today and examine what part they played in the music we now hear. With Bowie, it was immediately self-evident.

Blackstar has entered the world as its maker left it. It's an album that deftly mirrors influences new and old. It's as audacious as it is entrancing. And it resolutely addresses death in the face in a way only the Thin White Duke would dare. – Peta Waller-Bryant

The Kills – Ash & Ice

A whole lot of life happened in the years leading up to Ash & Ice and you can hear how it's affected The Kills.

Guitarist Jamie Hince almost lost his hand, which meant he had to find new ways of playing the guitar. This led to greater use of synthesizers on this record. He's also endured a very public and painful marriage breakdown.

On past releases, The Kills embraced jagged, gritty indie rock over a cool, sneering toughness. But for Ash & Ice, there's a sleekness that's crept into their sound and an emotional vulnerability in the lyrics.

It feels like the edges and spikiness of their songs have been more rounded off. But this is most definitely the handiwork of The Kills. A duo who still find fresh ways to ignite that very identifiable spark between the them. – Caz Tran

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity

Even if this album wasn't so blindingly good, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard deserve a gold star for their unstoppable creativity. With four wondrously different albums in two years, you could forgive them for running out of puff. But Nonagon Infinity is a triumph.

Propulsive, inquisitive and super fun it charges along at breakneck speed. There's thrilling hard rock riffage, organ wig-outs, bluesy harp, flutes, and their familiar, trippy Eastern flourishes.

They regurgitate 50 years of rock into a bite size, nonstop, infinitely looping musical joyride. You best get on board or you'll end up as roadkill. – Karen Leng

Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression

Godfather of punk Iggy Pop has been delivering for almost 50 years. A month before his 68th birthday he gifted us with his 17th album, Post Pop Depression.

You can hear collaborator Josh Homme all over tracks like 'Gardenia', 'American Valhalla' and 'Sunday', while Iggy offers haunting, David Bowie-esque vocals, fierce monologues despairing at the state of the world and love serenades.

On its opening track Pop says, “I'm gonna break into your heart, I'm gonna crawl under your skin”. By the end of the record he well and truly has. – Gab Burke

Savages – Adore Life

It would be difficult for any band to recapture the buzz that surrounded Savages' abrasive first album Silence Yourself. But they've managed to by following up with an even louder effort, with an added dash of emotional vulnerability.

There are some killer tracks bursting with Savages' trademark angular, aggressive, ever-churning sound ('The Answer', 'Sad Person'), but also a couple of intriguing slow burners.

While they turn the intensity up to 11, Savages still manage to engage in some deep reflection on themes of love, lust, sex, power, boredom, control. This is a powerful, noisy record with some serious business to attend to. – Myf Warhurst

Jordan Rakei – Cloak

Brisbane-born, London-residing Jordan Rakei is one of this country's finest young musical exports. He has lent his superlative vocals to artists such as Disclosure, Ta-Ku and Tom Misch and brought emotional warmth and subtlety to each performance.

His debut long-player Cloak is a multi-layered, deeply-nuanced collection of 21st century soul music that reveals the complexity of Rakei's vision with each listen. 'Talk To Me' washes over you in waves of harmonic richness. REMI guests on the sinewy tune 'Snitch' and 'Blame It On The Youth' shows Rakei is also not afraid to get down.

Cloak sounds like an artist who is in it for the long haul. Someone who is operating above and beyond flash-in-the-pan sonic trends and is already unafraid of being unabashedly themselves. I look forward to listening to the journey. – Lance Ferguson

Parquet Courts – Human Performance

Despite constant comparisons to a grab-bag of 90s indie rock bands, Parquet Courts really are a unique entity.

Their songs are too considered to sit comfortably in the realms of the overpopulated garage-pop scene. But they're not serious enough to join the highest ranks of modern indie rock. Thankfully, Human Performance proves they're not willing to change for anybody.

Their songs sound so simple and effortless. But they're not. They're masterfully crafted, with just the right melodies, rhythms and sounds to set just the right kind of anxious energy. Here's hoping they continue to feel alienated enough to make music this great for a long time to come. – Dan Condon

Melody Pool – Deep Dark Savage Heart

Deep Dark Savage Heart is brutally honest and personal. Yet, at the same time, it's a fully orchestrated grand-scale production. Deeply individual, but also wide in scope. A record by an Australian songwriter, but on a world-class scale.

It is a fully realised and articulate exposition of the hardships of the world of romance. It is able to transparently, powerfully and beautifully express it, uncensored and glorious. Songs ‘Richard' and ‘Love, She Loves Me' encapsulate the album's incredible journey. - Henry Wagons

Paul Kelly – Seven Sonnets and a Song

Oh how this could have been a disaster. Arguably Australia's most cherished songwriter takes the words of arguably the world's most cherished writer and puts them to music.

On paper, it doesn't sound like a great idea. So for Paul Kelly's Seven Sonnets and a Song to end up sounding this good is a real triumph.

Kelly doesn't try anything too obtuse. He supports The Bard's words with music that's typical of much of his recent output. But the concept alone makes this one of Kelly's more ambitious records. The fact he executes it with aplomb is staggering.

For many of us, Shakespeare never sounded so good. – Dan Condon

Paul Dempsey – Strange Loop

The orchestrated demos for Paul Dempsey's accomplished second solo record came to life simply and quickly in Wilco's ready-to roll The Loft studio in Chicago.

Strange Loop is bookended with two oft-dissected, but no more understood as a result, parts of the human condition. ‘The True Sea' is a gorgeous meditation on the vagaries of love, while ‘Nobody's Trying to Tell You Something' calmly points out that none of us are immune to death, but that acceptance beats fear every time.

The unanswerable questions Dempsey continues to ask away from Something For Kate makes for a beautifully arranged, conventionless listen that demands further contemplation. – Tatjana Clancy

PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project

The Hope Six Demolition Project is a potent storm. Perfect propaganda. I couldn't think of a better way to communicate such powerful politics than encoding it in undeniable catchiness. Each of PJ Harvey's world-hardened tunes are driven with a primal swampiness.

Even though this album has her name emblazoned on the cover, in tunes such as ‘The Orange Monkey' her voice is barely audible above the scrum. Her unflinching message stands over and above herself, the individual.

This is a beautiful example of a songwriter, seemingly at peace with who she is as an artist, looking outward. Shining a light on some dark corners of the world. - Henry Wagons

Rosie Lowe – Control

Just when it seemed like the post-James Blake, minimal, R&B electronica sound had been rinsed for all it's worth, 26-year old Rosie Lowe turns around with this breath of fresh air.

She enlisted star producer Dave Okumu (Jessie Ware, Amy Winehouse) to assist. But make no mistake, Control is definitely her own uncompromising musical vision. She intertwines lyrical themes of personal emotional catharsis ('Who's That Girl?'), feminism ('Woman') and mental illness.

My late night studio hangs often end up with friends competing to raise the bar by playing the song that will truly 'blow your mind'. Whenever I pull out Rosie Lowe's 'Worry Bout Us' all bets are off. – Lance Ferguson

Junior Boys – Big Black Coat

On their first album in five years, Canadian duo Junior Boys take electronic dance music back to a time and (mind)space when big clubs felt small. When house was served minus the acid and what you wore mattered more than how little.

Their fifth album is built on a foundation of '80s synth-heavy electro yet they manage to give it a polished, modern feel. It's a feat other contemporary artists struggle to pull off, often finding it easier to subvert with a wink and a daggy suit. Its sophisticated feel is helped in large part by Jeremy Greenspan's soulful vocal delivery.

Big Black Coat is a fine choice for a late night groove. And no-one should care how daggy that sounds. – Dorothy Markek

The Cat Empire – Rising with the Sun

Rising With The Sun has a little something for just about anyone. Chilled out jams, big, pumping party numbers, incredibly proficient musicianship and just that general good vibe that The Cat Empire are so good at generating.

Simple as it is, 'Wolves' remains one of the most exciting songs of The Cat Empire's career. The little sample that runs throughout the song and the quirky synth just takes it somewhere different. 'Bulls' reverts back to a more tried and true Cat Empire feel. It's joyous, almost anthemic reggae.

The Cat Empire will always sound like The Cat Empire, but albums like Rising With The Sun show they're still willing to experiment with new sounds and feels to ensure their music remains fresh. - Dan Condon

Andy Shauf – The Party

In many ways this second album by Andy Shauf sounds like one long song. There's not much variation in tempo or mood and the songs feel as though they roll one into the next. But when they're as heartwarming and as intriguing as this collection of songs, that's not a bad thing.

The album moves through the perspectives of attendees at a party on one solitary night. One of those crowded get togethers that can leave you feeling like the loneliest person in the world.

His ability to hone in on the awkwardness and idiosyncrasies of his characters is captivating but also disconcerting. You start to see something of yourself in each of the party goers.

The Beatles, Elliot Smith, Harry Nilsson all come to mind when listening to The Party. It is soothing but quietly unsettling. Highly melodic but offset with flourishes that bring sweet surprises.

Andy played almost all the instruments, produced the album and sings in a delicate man-child voice that immediately draws you in. This is accomplished stuff from a talented artist that will remain one of year's standouts. – Caz Tran