It's unclear whether he likes John Tesh and Yanni, but Daniel Lopatin is likely the first bearded Brooklynite to defend the ginger-infused balm of New Age music. An heir of Brian Eno, Lopatin records as Oneohtrix Point Never, and after the deserved acclaim for his 2011 ambient thriller Replica, he has compiled three hours of music he recorded or released in prior years. More than most electronic instrumentals, Lopatin's shifting layers of beatless pulses seem to have a plot; they're as forlorn as they are chilly, as though accompanying a scene where WALL-E pines for EVE. New Age is meant to pacify us, but the gentle tones of Rifts depict calm as a lonely and uncertain state.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.