1 SAMPHA, PROCESS (Young Turks) This and Kelela’s Take Me Apart tie as the albums of the year for me. Sampha’s feels so close—the proximity to the listener can be startling at times. Kahlil Joseph’s eponymous companion film, shot mainly in London and Freetown, Sierra Leone, is enjoyably ambiguous. It’s rewarding to see intensely personal music partnered with lush filmmaking such as this. Here’s hoping more artists will be able to find the funding to make similarly ambitious work.

2 SOLANGE (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 18) Every time A Seat at the Table is performed live,