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:
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