So as the year draws to an end, let's list out our top 5 albums released in 2016 with an eye to perhaps recommending new music to fellow JC'ers. Please don't waste time with albums not released in 2016, or reissued in 2016 because 20/30/40th anniversary etc. Wocky, this means you! 1. Deftones, Gore This was frankly always going to be my AOTY. Deftones lost their way a bit in the mid naughties with Saturday Night Wrist. White Pony was an album that overshadows a career - a band who never sat with their contemporaries exploring a mature, minimalist and diverse sonic palette when others were releasing tracks about breaking stuff or having the life. But the unthinkable - the coma of original bassist Chi Cheng - acted as a catalyst for the band to rediscover themselves. Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan are brilliant, focussed, beautiful albums. Gore by contrast is more manic, and in a good way, more dark. Prayers/Triangles is an instant 'tones classic; sets the stage for what's to come by boldly declaring itself fit to stand with "Change" and "Minerva" as an anthem. deftones defy classification but if you like them, you love them. If you don't, you don't care. There's no middle ground, and if a band inspires that kind of passion it should tell you they're special. 2. Megadeth, Dystopia Dave Mustaine is many things. Ridiculously talented as a guitarist. A survivor. Stubborn. And a raging ballsack. If he wasn't all these things, then Megadeth wouldn't be shaming Metallica with releases like this, which sit with Rust in Peace and Peace Sells as their best. If you think Hardwired... to self destruct! was a good album, have a listen to this and get back to me. 3. The Avalanches, Wildflower It's been 16 years since "Since I Left You" came out. SIXTEEN YEARS. Listening to this, though, my compatriots have kept time out of it. The album feels fresh but as if it could have come out 2 years after SILY; there's a layering of nostalgia to the record that brings me back to the early 2000s but that also doesn't feel contrived or out of place in 2016. This is a beautiful record, and worth your time to discover it's rich texture. But... you already knew this. 4. Alcest, Kodama I've already covered this in the "What Album Are You Listening To?" thread. France's Alcest - mostly the work of Neige, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist (though Winterhalter adds to the sound) - build epic blackgaze landscapes. Returning to the black-tinged sounds of Les Voyages de L'Âme rather than the sunny, joyous post-rock/shoegaze of Shelter, added force propels this record forward. It's not as easy a listen as Shelter, but that's not to say it's a difficult listen either. It will absolutely capture you or just as easily sit back and play in the background until Neige's voice captures you. HAVE AT IT JC.
Arashi, Semikujira. When Akira Sakata puts out a new album I spend about a month where I'm listening to other albums and thinking to myself "Man, I could be listening to that new Akira Sakata album right now instead of this," and then like half the time that impulse wins out. The bottom line is this is easily the record this year I listened the most to, and I still couldn't really tell you exactly when a given instrument is going to start playing on a given piece. Fantastic. David Bowie, Blackstar. Yeah I totally forgot this came out this year until I was like "Man Blackstar was great, but I think that was 2015." It wasn't. Forndom, Dauðra Dura. Gesundheit. (I know what that title says but the actual album came out in 2016. This was apparently posted as a preview track.)
Well, let's see. I listened to two albums from this year. The first being the aforementioned Gore which is indeed fantastic. The other being The Violent Sleep of Reason by Meshuggah which most people seem to love but was a disappointment for me. Do video game soundtracks count? If so, then Doom's was awesome.
Sure. Did you not listen to Dystopia, BF2k1? Mustaine's kind of Starbob level of political discourse ruins the lyrics, but the rest is amazing.
I've been waiting for this, I haven't compiled a full list, and I will in due time, but I have to start as early as possible by shilling for Klayton's (of Celldweller and Circle of Dust fame) latest cyberpunk/synthwave project: Scandroid. Yes, the first couple of songs came out years ago, but this year he released his first full album in November, titled Scandroid. I need that jacket btw. I'm sure I've shilled Salvation Code at you all before, but here it is again: Other gems from the album include: All the songs take place in the same setting and hint at a storyline. There's like maybe one song in the album I'm not sold on. Highly recommend.
I've never given Megadeth in general a proper listen. Just a handful of songs here and there. I may not have even known about Dystopia if you hadn't mentioned it so much here.
1: David Bowie - Blackstar Yes, part of why I am listing this as my number one is because of his death. But, it also goes to the heart of what makes this album so moving. I purchased the album on release day and listened to it incessantly. All of the weird grooves and unexpected chord changes had me hooked because of how different it was from The Next Day. Then, he death came and, as amazing as this album was, it transformed into something greater. Backstar is Bowie's Tempest. The lyrics didn't really strike me until after his death. There are many examples I could provide, but i'd list enough to give you almost entire songs. This album truly is a piece of art because it changed with the literal life and times of Bowie. Bowie knew this would be his last which means the album serves as a goodbye, a valentine and a warning to his fans. 2: Nick Cave & The Badseeds - Skeleton Tree There's really nothing Nick cannot do. Truly. Kind of like Backstar, this album too was born out of darkness. Unlike Bowie's album, the tragedy had already occurred rather than being a foreseeable inevitability. Sonically, he has reinvented himself on this disc with ambient, minimalist electronic soundscapes with vocals that are bordering on spoken word. Possibly the shortest record he has ever recorded but by no means feels incomplete or lacking depth. 3: The Rolling Stones - Blue and Lonesome I really had my doubts about this album because, a little bit like Metallica, the idea of working too hard to rewind the clock and capture an era of a band's music long gone can come off as laboured...at best. That rule doesn't apply to this band because the crude production, the band's performances, and Jagger's vocals are perfectly within the element that is required of a blues record. In fact, it's probably the record that makes the most sense for them to make as elderly men because blues suits them the best it ever has in their career. Amazing record. Wall to wall blues. 4: Weezer - White It's basically the sound of a band doing what they do best. The perfect collision of Beach Boys, Beatles and Byrds. It's a wonder this band isn't called Beezer. 5: Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway This was a tough one because I was also weighing up Radiohead and Metallica for this spot. I enjoy both albums a lot but both didn't really surprise me as I got almost precisely what i was expecting, especially with Metallica. The same can't be said for The Chili's. I've long wanted them to part ways with Rick Rubin because they haven't sounded this inspired since By The Way. Danger Mouse has done a really good job with the band by bringing in a mix of grooves through bass and keyboard heavy arrangement. Admittedly, the album would have benefitted with a bit more tempo, but it never sounds tired. I really enjoy this record, very surprised by it. I'm not going to say it's their best since [ALBUM] or even a full return to form, but the album at least proves the band are still interested in finding new pays of performing as musicians.
Howwwwww is hardwired worthy of a top 5 spot? I mean, I admit "Hardwired", "Moth", "Atlas" and "Bone" are good listens but the rest of it's just ponderous bull****.
Joywave's "Swish" (*laughs*), Aurora's "All My Demons Greeting Me As Friends", Phantogram's "Three", to name a few. All my other favorite albums came out before 2016...
Pretty much how I came to the conclusion to not put it in the top 5. Disc 1 excellent, Disc 2 falls far short. Didn't like Halo On Fire?
frank ocean - blonde definitely listened to this album the most this year, and given this year included a new (and good) radiohead album, that says a lot. too many good songs to mention really, but nikes, self control, nights, seigfried are all among the best on this. radiohead - a moon shaped pool a return to form after the patchy king of limbs. angel olsen - woman a slightly harder sound on this album. I kinda love her a bit. kanye west - the life of pablo not as good as his previous two, imo, although they were hard to follow, but there's still some standout songs, ultralight beam and no more parties in LA being two of them. julia jacklin - don't let the kids win narrowly beats out nick cave, for me, because it's such a consistent album. but either could have slotted in here.
1. Bob Mould- Patch the Sky: Mould had already put out two great albums since going back to his hard rock roots a few years ago, but his latest eclipses both, as good as anything he's ever put out, including with Hüsker Dü. 2 - David Bowie - Blackstar. Just incredible.
life of pablo sounded unfinished to me, but i kind of liked it. it was messy and unpolished and sort of a cool window into his process. also second the angel olsen and frank ocean records. didn't love a moon shaped pool. didn't hate it either though. of the albums that others mentioned i would second darkstar and there are others that i still need to check out. i listened to about four songs from blue and lonesome and was so bored. i'm sure ill give it another go at some point though. i'll add these: anderson .paak - malibu easily the 2016 record that i've listened to the most. maybe the first person to really blend hip hop and soul in a way that i loved. beyonce - lemonade a fairly amazing blend of fierce and raw emotions and catchy pop music. a tribe called quest - we got it from here... thank you for your service the biggest and best surprise of 2016 for me. still listening to it every day. edit: oh also coloring book for sure.
Only one I bought this year was Asphyx' Incoming Death and it's great: Old school death-doom metal just the way I love it. Any album with Martin Van Drunen screaming on it will be my album of the year. He's the only 80s Death Metal vocalist whose voice isn't shot. In fact, he sounds even more intense now than he did in 80s and 90s. If demos count, then Memoriam's Hellfire Demos part 1 e.p. is right up there with Asphyx. Constant replay, catchy and heavy as hell. Almost contenders; Discharge End of Days and Nervosa's Agony. Neither of those quite hit the spot for me, but I am glad to see Discharge still protesting away.
I only got a bit of a listen to Tribe and given it's Tribe (linden blvd represent, represent-sent) I really owe it a lot more than that. I expected fully to see Pablo on lists, but no Kendrick?
I very rarely listen to anything from the last two or three decades let alone the last year. My fondness for Mongolian folk music led me to these guys, however. They've released a few albums this year, Cavalry in Thousands would be my pick of the bunch.
didnt love to pimp a butterfly, aside from a few standout tracks. kendrick's flow is always impressive but sometimes a little too abstract to really hook me. i don't mean his lyrics, which are almost always fantastic, just the cadence of his delivery. obviously he's like a picasso of rap and i'm not suggesting that he shoud do anything but what he's doing, my taste just leans more old school. i did listen to king kunta like a thousand times though. i still need to give untitled unmastered a few more listens.
Yeah I keep hearing how amazing he is but I'm so stuck on the old school stuff, just leaving then going back to all the Quannum/Solesides stuff and rediscovering it.
OMG someone else who has the same opinion as me on TPAB! There's like 3-4 tracks that are great (The Blacker The Berry might even be the best song he's ever written) but the rest was just kind of okay-ish. Good Kid Maad City was waaaaay better.
