I thought I’d just combine the two slowest months of the year into one post because why not? It’s my dang blog and I can do whatever the heck I want. I also want to leave 2016 behind when 2017 starts – so no December post in 2017. That’d be even more annoying than the regular posts. Either way, here they are:
This is my list of 50 records for the year. This is the seventh year I’ve made one of these – isn’t that crazy? But back to the present. I thought music this year was pretty mediocre compared to other years, contrary to so many other people claiming that this was the best year in music of the decade. Many overhyped albums, that’s for sure. Perhaps the deluge of awful from this year polluted my mindset when it came to a lot of these records, but I dunno. Just seemed like there weren’t as many albums that made me step back and reassess my life like other years.
But what about 2016 did I actually like? Stop being a dang sourpuss all the time, Trev! Well, I guess there are a few things. Seemed like dadrock, or Steely Dan worship, reached an all time high with me, with records from bands like Lionlimb, Sam Evian, Andy Shauf, Kevin Morby & Whitney harkening back to some old-fashioned soft dude rock. I dunno, no real trends. You can make some if you want. Do some analytics. Well, here’s 50 albums from 2016, ranked by one guy.
There were a few enjoyable songs from 2016. Here are 100 of them. There are more (approx. 137 and counting) on a Spotify playlist, but these 100 are my favorites. You can check out the Spotify playlist HERE. I hope you enjoy finding some songs you might not have heard before, or finding a morbid fascination that our music tastes overlap slightly.
You can’t always get what you want, as they say. Who said that? The Shaggs? The Byrds? The Who? Yeah that’s the one. Featuring Aretha Franklin. But yes, as The Band ft. Arnold Palmer once said, you can’t always get what you want. I wanted these 20 records to be in my Top 50 favorites of the year, but alas, it was already completely booked. No passbacks, no sharing seats. 50 is as 50 does. So here’s a quick shout out to each of these 20 very good, special snowflake albums. A selection that’s likely more interesting than my actual Top 50, I reckon. Anyway, boop:
Strike the earth of year-end list country, my friends, for it is that time of year. Coming in pretty early this time is my first entry for 2016, a list of 15 EPs that I really enjoyed. A lot of these EPs were better than many full-lengths that came out this year, which proved for a dang good time when it came to re-visiting all these short-players when it came to making this list. The records on here are fantastic, but a quick shout out to Carly Rae Jepsen, Krill, Massive Attack, Braids, Vince Staples, Chelsea Wolfe & Clipping for putting out good projects this year as well. Onto the start of list month:
The second-to-last Recommended Albums post for 2016 and it’s a dud. Music wise, it’s good as always. I just had nothing interesting to say about them. Now that I’m thinking about it, have I ever had anything interesting to say about anything music-wise? That’s your call. Either way, lots of fun albums here, with Kero Kero Bonito & Crying leading the charge on that. There are also THREE bilingual records featured here, which I thought was a cool little tidbit. As always, hope you find something you like here & also as always, these albums are listed in alphabetical order.
In early June, I posted a list of 40 songs that I liked the most from this year. It’s now been about four months since then and I thought that it would be appropriate time to publish another set of songs from the summer + September that I loved. A lot of things happened in those four months. A lot of music to embed onto memories. There were some really, really great songs released in this time, even though the majority of the summer was pretty bare when it came to memorable releases. Welp, here they are. Hope you enjoy:
Holy smokes, we’re out of the cruel summer. Not only are we out, but we’re doing it in a big way. September was the finest month of music this year since May, providing a staggering surplus of excellent releases to keep me fat & happy and to make up for the great drought of June – August. A lot of these records don’t need my words to sell them for you, like Angel Olsen, Danny Brown & LVL UP. But you should read my words anyways. Or don’t. But you should definitely listen to the music, because that’s the most important part. The takeaway. The meat and potatoes. The garlic on the bread. The real heebie-jeebies. The point of all of this nonsense. Ok enough of that, here we go.
Holy smokes. Are you ready to feel sensual at your computer desk and/or to your phone screen? Then smack the dang play button on this hot track.
Montreal band Vesuvio Solo are releasing their new album Don’t Leave Me In The Dark this Friday (Sept. 30) and as of now the whole thing is streaming over on Gorilla Vs. Bear, but I wanted to bring attention to the second single from the record, “Mirror Held To The Flower.” It’s got such a simple, luscious groove that has had me hooked all day and easily situated itself into my “loop this forever” folder. Silky smooth, easy riding, low-lit, pulsating grooves. Now that’s some good eating.
The whole album has material like this, but this one sticks out in a special way for me. I highly recommend checking the album out and giving these dudes your time, especially for fans of Ice Choir/Roman A Clef, TOPS or Mr Twin Sister.
New Jenny Hval album is very good. Here’s one of the singles that have been out for a while. You should also check out “Conceptual Romance” below.
Warm Visions 