Sunday Jamz | Shak | List | Top 20 Albums of 2016

So here it is, my favourite albums of the year. Even if my opinion on any of these albums drastically changes after 2016, I will not be changing this list at all in the future. This list serves as the immortalisation of my opinion on the music of 2016 in 2016. 

There are a fair few good albums that didn't make it on to the list. I'd like to give my biggest shoutout to Frank Ocean's Blonde. An album that was very artistically interesting, but something I just wasn't able to get into. Maybe in the future it will grow on me. Anyways, Enjoy. 

                                                                      20.

Artist: The Avalanches

Album: Wildflower

Genre: Plunderphonics

Rating: 7.0/10

No, it couldn't top the other one, but yes, it was still pretty good.

                                                                      19. 

Artist: Solange

Album: A Seat at the Table

Genre: Neo-Soul

Rating: 7.5/10

Not often a huge fan of soul, but this album managed to break through with some smooth, arty structures and instrumentation.

                                                                      18.

Artist: Subrosa

Album: For This We Fought the Battle of Ages

Genre: Doom Metal

Rating: 7.5/10

Epic, crushing riffs, fierce female vocals, grandiose songs, the album peaks at the beginning but is still enjoyable throughout.

                                                                      17.

Artist: clipping.

Album: Splendor & Misery

Genre: Industrial Hip Hop 

Rating: 7.5/10

clipping. improve on their last project with more concise and memorable tracks whilst maintaining their whacked out, individual style of hip-hop.

                                                                       16. 

Artist: Mark Pritchard

Album: Under the Sun

Genre: Ambient / Electronic

Rating: 7.5/10

Under The Sun is thoroughly atmospheric electronic music, permeated by ambience, and brilliant vocal features to add to the haunting feeling of the project.

                                                                      15. 

Artist: Denzel Curry

Album: Imperial

Genre: Trap Rap

Rating: 7.5/10

Aggressive, unrelenting delivery from Denzel, with atmospheric, impressive production and intoxicating hooks everywhere.

                                                                      14. 

Artist: Kendrick Lamar

Album: untitled unmastered.

Genre: Jazz Rap / West Coast Hip Hop

Rating: 7.5/10

  Yes, even his b-sides are better than most these dudes a-sides.

                                                                      13.

Artist; A Tribe Called Quest

Album: We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service

Genre: Jazz Rap / East Coast Hip Hop 

Rating: 7.5/10

Whilst still outshadowed by their towering heights, it is a good, refreshing jounrey back to 90s jazz rap and an apt fairwell to a legendary rap group, venturing further with experimentation than many of their classic releases.

                                                                      12.

Artist: Xiu Xiu

Album: Plays the Music of the Twin Peaks

Genre: Experimental Rock

Rating: 7.5/10

Great covers album, very dark, very Lynchian, very spooky, this albums feels like the baby of Soundtracks for the Blind.

                                                                      11.

Artist: Alcest

Album: Kodama

Genre: Blackgaze

Rating: 7.5/10

Alcest finally hit the sweet spot between Black Metal and Shoegaze, and it contains some of their best music to-date.

                                                                      10.

Artist: David Bowie

Album: Blackstar

Genre: Art Rock

Rating: 8.0/10

Harrowing and disturbing, but at the same time sweet and sensitive, Blackstar is an experience like no other, and the title track is truly a masterpiece and perhaps the greatest single song of 2016.

                                                                      9.

Artist: Oranssi Pazuzu

Album: Värähtelijä

Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Atmospheric Black Metal

Rating: 8.0/10

A whirlpool of warping, cyclical sound, psychedelic, dark, blackened, Värähtelijä may well be the most interesting metal album I've heard in years.

                                                                      8.

Artist: And Also the Trees

Album: Born Into the Waves

Genre: Avant-Folk

Rating: 8.0/10

Nick Cave if he did folk: wintry, cold instruments with sorrowful, blues-y vocals. 

                                                                      7.

Artist: Death Grips

Album: Bottomless Pit

Genre: Industrial Hip Hop / Experimental Hip Hop / Digital Hardcore

Rating: 8.5/10

Death Grips drop the most solid meme of 2016, not pushing the boat out like with projects such as Niggas On The Moon, but a safe Death Grips release that happens to have some of their most catchy and hard-hitting tracks.

                                                                      6.

Artist: Radiohead

Album: A Moon Shaped Pool

Genre: Art Rock

Rating: 8.5/10

Radiohead are sadder and more sombre than ever, read my full review here: A Moon Shaped Pool Review

                                                                      5.

Artist; Danny Brown

Album: Atrocity Exhibition

Genre: Abstract Hip Hop / Experimental Hip Hop

Rating: 8.5/10

Danny Brown takes hip hop into new territory, rebellious, punky beats, spiralling psychological states expressed through both rapping and instrumentation, jumping between disturbed and eccentric as fast as an eye-blink, this truly is a relic of ambition in the entirety of rap music.

                                                                      4.

Artist: case / lang / veirs

Album: case / lang / veirs

Genre: Chamber Folk

Rating: 8.5/10

Sweet, easy-going folk, with three distinct styles and voices complimenting one another in powerful, emotional and joyful ways.

                                                                      3.

Artist: Ka

Album: Honor Killed the Samurai

Genre: Abstract Hip Hop / Experimental Hip Hop

Rating: 8.5/10

Ka builds upon his signature style with a more tightly thematic project, fusing his dreary delivery and bleak, stripped-back beats, with the sounds and slogans of the samurai tradition, with some of the most minimalist procussion I have ever heard.

                                                                      2.

Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Album: Skeleton Tree

Genre: Art Rock / Ambient

Rating: 8.5/10

Nick Cave makes a deeply introspective, heart-aching project filled with grief, mourning and abstract imagery that will resonate with you forever, rivaling Blackstar for best song of the year with lead single: Jesus Alone.

                                                                      1.

Artist: Swans

Album: The Glowing Man

Genre: Experimental Rock / Post-Rock / Drone

Rating: 9.0/10

An album of Drone-y, repetitive mantras, epic building atmospheres and the signature haunting and disturbed vocals of Swans, this album was a grand, unrivaled experience this year, filled with the looping insistent sounds that I so often favor.

There it is, my favourite albums of the year. Thanks for reading, and make sure to check out my music podcast/discussion with Sam and Joe here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFhLSHk2Rff05lylXJ__pqw

Sunday Jamz with Joe, Shak and Sam (18/12/16)

So, let's start with the big announcement. This will be the last 'Sunday Jamz' installment in written form. Starting from next week, we will be moving to a podcast-video hybrid. That's right, you get to hear the silky, soothing, Marvin Gaye-esque voice of Shak, and Joe and Sam saying some things too.

If you want to follow updates for our Youtube channel (where these videos will be uploaded), then please follow us on all the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFhLSHk2Rff05lylXJ__pqw

https://twitter.com/Sunday_Jamz

https://www.facebook.com/SundayJamzz

https://www.instagram.com/sunday_jamz/

Our first video will be on Boxing Day, so tune in to our attempt to cure your post-Christmas blues. 

Moving on, if this is your first time reading our blog, me, Joe and Sam share a song with one another on a Sunday, a song which has dominated the listening-time of our weeks, and then we all comment on it.

Here is the Spotify link to the playlist which accompanies this activity. It has every song selection from the three of us from the first time we did this. The order is as follows: Joe's song, my song, Sam's song.

The playlist: sunday jamz

Without further ado, here are the songs. Complete with all the colloquialisms of our infantile Facebook Messenger writing styles. 




Joe's song:
Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait

Sam: "I initially dismissed this one right out of the gate. I've never been a huge fan of anything I've heard from Arcade Fire in the past and my first listen of the track left me wanting. However, after further listens, I actually like it in many respects. There's a degree of subtlety about it which suits the track's lyrics and message of how accustomed we've become to instant gratification. They're well written, the lyrics, and the track finds itself on the opposite side of the quality spectrum, compared to someone like Hopsin, for social commentary. Whilst I think the vocal melody and lyrics are the strongest parts of the track, I did like the omnipresent piano in the background the recurring synths. Overall, well written subtle track."

Shak: "There's a tameness about Arcade Fire I can't get into. Everything kind of glides over my ears without making much impact. I do like the rhythm section, the recurring piano, synth and guitar, it's a nice pattern to build off, for the track, I think it's what they build on top which kind of underwhelms me. The vocals don't hold much character for me, which is a problem with me and Arcade Fire in general. Really sounds like just any vocalist. For someone who is a sucker for male/female harmonies, they don't seem to compliment each other but rather blend together in this track. The climax of the track feels a little empty and anti-climatic, nothing soars, nothing jumps out and hits me. It's not a bad song, these aren't fatal issues, it's still decent, just really nothing special. They really have to compensate with some of the extravagance like on Funeral in order for me to feel remotely immersed. But maybe I should just wait, ay Arcade Fire, we used to wait n shit, i'll let you guys know on listen fifty how great this song really is." 

Joe: "The Arcade Fire track is one of my favourites off The Suburbs (which I remember beat Lady Gaga and Katy Perry to album of the year at the Grammy's, making me very happy). I really like the nostalgic vibes with the synth and melancholy melodies. The build up towards the end is sick too. I like the grandness that comes with Arcade Fire's sound a lot of the time, which I think stems from how layered it sometimes gets due to having seven+ members in your songs. There's better stuff on Neon Bible and Funeral but this week I was feeling the Suburbs."

Shak's song:
Oneohtrix Point Never - Zones Without People

Joe: "the Oneohtrix Point Never track was my favourite this week, quite easily. You know I'm a sucker for good synth. Really enjoyed the subtle building and, again, some nostalgic vibes. Will be revisiting this track, and whatever other Oneohtrix stuff I haven't heard yet. The two albums I'd heard already gave me high hopes for this track and I wasn't disappointed. Dink."

Sam: "Unlike Arcade Fire, I've never heard of Oneohtrix. This track was immediately more gripping than the Arcade Fire track though perhaps not as rewarding from multiple listens. That said, I do like this track a lot. It reminded me of Jean Michel Jarre's 'Equinoxe', a complimentary comparison for me, personally. I pictured some kind of sci-fi city with tall blue glass buildings and futuristic vehicles. Not exactly a 'zone without people' but the music fits a sci-fi scene for sure. Overall, an enjoyable piece of instrumental electronic."

Shak: "The whole album Zones Without People could be a soundtrack to the Stargate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It really disconnects you from the Earth and flings you into space, where there is nothing to grab on to and texture becomes everything. There was a few songs I was considering choosing but I went with this one. The song is repetitive and doesn't have much progression. It is going for a hypnotic feeling rather than any sort of journey I feel. The builds are very subtle on the main melody. I love how the synths echo and bounce off each other, feels like a sound being swallowed into some kind of wormhole. Also how the synth sounds layered on top of the main rhythm start simple, with single notes, then scatter and reverberate away into the distance. This songs speaks to my general preference of atmosphere over all in music. There's something quite minimalist about the song that accompanies the imagery I get."

Sam's song:
Frank Zappa - Cosmik Debris 

Shak: "Really good example of some blues rock, the contrast from the deep, comically intense spoken word in the verse with the soul singing in the chorus is enjoyable. You can hear the progressive tendencies come in as the song goes off in enjoyable tangents. The track is a little novelty and has a sort of tongue-in-cheek feel, especially with the tone of the spoken word which seems to border on parody, but it is still engaging musically. An interesting middle-ground between paying homage to and parodying a genre which refrains from being mocking but also from being deadly serious."

Joe: "I enjoyed the Zappa song a decent amount, I can definitely appreciate the spoken word that sporadically explodes into the gospel choirs and hot guitar solos. The thing that has always kept me from being a massive Zappa fan is how silly it gets. The high-pitched voice that jumps in and sounds like a goblin just makes me cringe a bit, and other bits sound a bit Rocky Horror. Not really my ting but I can appreciate it nonetheless."

Sam: "I grew up with Zappa and so the potential wall of his humour, within his music, was broken down long ago. That said, I think Cosmik Debris is an example of Zappa's more accessible side. I discovered this track more recently than something like Don't Eat the Yellow Snow/Nanook Rubs It, a childhood favourite, and it too has quickly become a favourite. Zappa has a knack for creating solid instrumental bases and layering his unique artistic stylings on top of them, Cosmik Debris being no exception. I love the lyrics, I love the gospel choir, I love the guitar solo, and I love the odd musical inserts. Overall, a great track and one of the better Zappa tracks."

That's it. What did you think of the songs?

What have you been listening to this week?

Make sure to tune in on Boxing Day for the first Podcast-Video of Sunday Jamz.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Follow our listening habits in full at:

last.fm/user/DreadAlert1 - Joe

last.fm/user/FlamingVagabond - Sam

Disclaimer: We are not professional reviewers. Do not hold us to a high standard.

Sunday Jamz with Joe, Shak and Sam (11/12/16)

Myself and two of my friends, Joe and Sam, for the past couple months have been participating in a weekly activity. This activity is sharing a song with one another on a Sunday, a song which has dominated the listening-time of our weeks. It was an activity designed to give each other an insight into our current listening habits, and has been enjoyable because we all love music, and more specifically, finding new music.  

Anyway, we have been talking about an accompanying blog to this activity for a while, and so here we are. The blog will be a structured preservation of our thoughts on the songs we share. Feel free to read if you think you might give a shit. 

Here is the Spotify link to the playlist which accompanies this activity. It has every song selection from the three of us from the first time we did this. The order is as follows: Joe's song, my song, Sam's song.

The playlist: sunday jamz

Without further ado, here are the songs. Complete with all the colloquialisms of our infantile Facebook Messenger writing styles. 



Joe's song:
Deep Purple - Sail Away

Sam: "The recurring central riff of the Deep Purple track was enjoyably funky and the solo piqued my interest. Solid track overall but not dying to hear it again so soon."

Shak: "Strength is definitely the vocals and the catchiness of the riff. Good, strong song. Highlights the strengths of that old 70s Hard Rock scene. Concise, catchy songwriting, backed by mesmerising riffs. Not amazing, not exceptional, didn't blow me away, not a favourite, but a solid track."

Joe: "Riff is totally reminiscent of early Rainbow songs like Man on the Silver Mountain and David Coverdale even gets dat DIO vocal goin. Love the occasional synths and everything about it really. Yeah it's not mind-blowing but I dig it as another sick example of that 70s vibe."

Shak's song:

UB40 - Food For Thought

Joe: "Definitely one of the best Reggae songs I've heard in years - super catchy riff and avoids sounding like Ska too much. Sick vocal melodies, nice sax. Enjoyed it more than i thought i would, especially considering I'm not huge on Reggae in general."

Sam: "That sax was sexy as fuck. Agreed, Joe. It's one of the better Reggae songs I've heard, period. Though, admittedly, not hugely clued up on the genre. I thought the lyrics were particularly well written."

Shak: "For me, it's interesting. Cus I have been going through shit tons of Reggae recently, all the 'cornerstones' of the genre, and UB40 have definitely been one of the most unique bands I've come across. This song really encapsulates that. The saxophone leading the track is a nice twist on the genre and really hypnotic and Ali Campbell in general is just a great singer. I like how there is constant variation in the instrumentation, even as the vocal line repeats. Love the track, love the album. Lotsa peeps keep saying 'don't go past album one of UB40', and I want to, but i'm scared lol."



Sam's song:
Galaxie 500 - Strange

Shak: "Nice jangly, sad song. Love the rawness of the vocals in the verses. Verses are definitely the highlight for me, not to diss the chorus, good chorus too. The emotional solo to take us out too is very nice. I've started On Fire a couple times but always get distracted away from it. Now, I have a stronger will to check it out properly. Sounds up my alley."

Joe: "The Galaxie 500 song was cool but it doesn't make me want more. Kinda reminded me of something R.E.M might do, with a little more distortion over everything and more expressive vocals. Didn't stand out as anything particularly special to me. The 90s dream pop/jangly sound isn't really my jam."

Sam: "Lately I've become more and more interested in Slowcore and Dream Pop. On Strange, I thought the production, particularly the reverb on the raw vocals, captured the imagery of the lyrics perfectly. Simple, yet enchanting."

That's it. What did you think of the songs?

What have you been listening to this week?

We are considering different formats we could do this in. Transcribed conversation or maybe even a Podcast.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Follow our listening habits in full at:

last.fm/user/DreadAlert1 - Joe

last.fm/user/FlamingVagabond - Sam

Disclaimer: We are not professional reviewers. Do not hold us to a high standard.

Sunday Jamz | Shak | Album Review | Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

'There's a spacecraft blocking out the sky'

Radiohead release their ninth album, amidst an amalgamated wave of anticipation spawned over the last five years. After The King Of Limbs, an album that sounded more along the lines of Yorke's solo-work, which focuses on the leading electronic sound, they have returned to having these sounds as only an element of their music, rather than the centre-piece. Radiohead emerged from the britpop scene and spent their early days embracing the alternative rock paradigm which they would later go on to challenge. Since their 1997 classic OK Computer, they have focused on compounding electronic, art rock and alternative rock on mostly every album to follow. And although the ingredients have been arguably the same, they have yielded five studio albums each with distinctly singular identities. Now we come to A Moon Shaped Pool, with all the same components but with its own separate balancing, pace, atmosphere and blends of instrumentation to once again gain its unique position in their body of work.

The album commences with 'Burn The Witch', leading single and the album's most grandiose offering. The song maps an abrasive environment, with a harsh col legno string section that feels tightened and pressured throughout the verse and finally releases in the first part of the chorus, as the string intensity eases for a brief moment, then returns in the second part. Meanwhile, the vocals seem to follow the opposite trend. Yorke delivers a casual vocal line throughout the verse, and when the first part of the chorus hits, where he sings the line 'burn the witch', it is all of a sudden soaked in echo, generating the signature ghostly tone fans are so akin to. In the second part of the chorus, both elements peak in severity and the song hits its most glistening mark. As a track that rarely descends from its heights of horror-esque epic sound, it serves as quite an intimidating opener for the rest of the track list to follow.

Radiohead, however, succeed in bringing down the intensity levels with the soft, piano-led 'Daydreaming'. This song resembles similar stripped-back, piano songs of previous albums, such as In Rainbows' 'Videotape' or Hail To The Thief's 'We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up.)'. However, unlike these tracks, 'Daydreaming' remains completely devoid of any drums, and also unlike the other tracks, the song is infiltrated midway through with glitchy snippets of warped vocals. Here we are given our first overt taste of electronica on the album (save the drum machines of the opening track). These distorting effects have a strong prevalence in the track's progression, and what began as a simple imitation of beauty is tainted by digital menace. Combine this with the pessimistic lyricism: 'dreamers, they never learn', and the sombre vocals and what is left is a desolate hole of bleeding negative emotion. Both opening songs are bleak but terrific, and prove high-points of the album even by the time we hit its terminal point.

Finally we pick up musically from these dreary beginnings with the following track which offers some light in the instrumentation. We move next in the track list to my favourite song on the album 'Decks Dark', dominated instrumentally by a much more optimistic piano riff, with a filled backdrop of rapid piano playing, leaving no space for empty sound. And although the lyrical themes remain in their melancholy space, the sonic shift in tone provides the variation much needed at this point of the album. Our lyrics position us in perhaps a metaphoric alien or futuristic world, with the line of a 'spacecraft blocking out the sky'. No doubt this is symbolic representation of more cold feeling. The song closes with a fantastically crafted guitar riff and Yorke repeating 'have you had enough of me?'. Many have speculated into the perhaps personal theme of the album, as Yorke emerges from a recent break-up, various allusions are made to these emotional contemplations. However, they are shrouded in more general, and impersonal imagery which clouds a direct and simple interpretation of the album.

Next is the first of four moments in which I believe the album show its weak spots. Though these songs are not by any means bad or poorly composed, 'Desert Island Disk' along with 'Glass Eyes', 'The Numbers' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief' simply hit me as less captivating and packed with strong identity as some of their surrounding songs. 'Desert Island Disk' is perhaps the strongest of these moments, with our first taste of a guitar-driven song. This is a shining and perhaps the most memorable riff on the entire disc, and a simple albeit pretty vocal melody. Perhaps the songs lack of any real progression is the root of my slight reservation for it, though it is still enjoyable and my gripes are very much minimal.

'Glass Eyes' is perhaps my least favourite on the album, the piano being quite nondescript and strings perhaps somewhat over-bearing, but, as always on this album, Yorke's vocals never slouch. I struggle to find a lesser moment in Yorke's delivery and lyricism on this project, which perhaps is due to his emotion being the blood of the album. However, although Yorke does not drop the ball in 'The Numbers' either, it is a song that is plainly less introspective, and although carries weight as the protest song it is, perhaps some of the lines ring as a bit out-of-character and uninspired such as 'your system is a lie'. If this is the climate change song it is rumored to be (though it is not horrendously clear), then Radiohead could have perhaps presented the issue in a more emotionally gripping way, for this song seems to wash over me too easily, in music and words. Finally, 'Tinker Tailor' embraces the digital sound with the The King Of Limbs-esque first half, featuring a soft electronic loop which eventually ascends into a burst of orchestral sounds. However, this song seems to struggle most with memorability and identity, and perhaps is their most unimaginative song on the album. It comes off as the closest thing on this album to filler. And though I like the abstract lyrics, combine this with the music and it causes it to seep further into the territory of forgetfulness.

However, these moments are paced between some of the strongest moments in the album. Straight after 'Desert Island Disk' we are thrown into 'Ful Stop', with the pace and feel of an electro-dance track but complicated by the powerful contradiction with the sour lyrics that drone and repeat: 'you really messed up this time' , 'the truth will mess you up'. Similarly, after 'Glass Eyes' we have another of the most upbeat tracks and another of my favourites on the album 'Identikit', which I believe has appeared in live shows years back, but has now only surfaced in polished studio format. Again, Yorke is the high-point, with the extremely catchy 'when I see you messing me around, I don't want to know'. Also, the elements that take their turns in invading the song when the 'broken hearts make it rain' scene begins. First the guitar, then the keyboards and synths, in doing this it creates an effective 'journey' feel throughout its duration, as the song finally closes with an unusual guitar solo. 'Present Tense' features a prominent Latin shuffle, with more echoed, contorted vocals in the background adding to this continuous streak of depressing lyrics: 'as my world comes crashing down', 'in you I'm lost'. And finally the album closer 'True Love Waits', which is perhaps the softest, slowest and least abrasive song. On first listen, this may seem an underwhelming closer, but on repeat listens, the vulnerability here, especially in the constant words 'don't leave', leaves the heart tender and exposed, encapsulating the emotional state of the album well.

Perhaps it is reductive to think of this as some sort of break-up album, and the upbeat tempos deliberately obscure us from simply feeling one constant emotion, but there is no doubting this album is powered by a pained mind. It is this that helps it shine most in the context of Radiohead's discography. On first listen, this album was only pretty good, but after a few more it suddenly became great, and perhaps in the months to come it will get better. The subtlety and nuances in the album set it up to be a grower. And although I do not believe it reaches the heights of albums such as Kid A and Amnesiac currently, I still consider this one of their stronger releases.

Highlights: Burn The Witch, Daydreaming, Decks Dark, Ful Stop, Identikit, Present Tense

Lowlights: Glass Eyes, The Numbers, Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief

Rating:
Mid-High 8/10