The Best Albums of 2016...So Far

The year is only half-over, but it's six long months until actual lists come out. I say, why wait? There's been plenty of great music so far, so let's start objectifying it as soon as possible.

The Top 10 Albums of 2016, So Far

10. Whitney
Light Upon the Lake

While Whitney's debut might not seem like it's inventing anything new, it's hard to argue about their creating a sound that's exactly right for the place and time--a vintage-toned summertime album that may very well prove to be timeless. Tracks like "Golden Days" and "Dave's Song" combine fragile longing with smart songwriting to make the kind of record you can easily listen to three or four times without even noticing.

9. Paul Simon
Stranger to Stranger

Simon's return to album-making sees him creating some of his most interconnected and self-contained songwriting worlds. To say he's anything less than an utter genius would be an insult to music itself, and Stranger to Stranger, is as challenging, odd, and thoroughly enjoyable as anything he's ever done. This is a showcase of the very best from an artist who refuses to be ordinary or to pigeonhole himself.

8. Swans
The Glowing Man

Our list may have started with two albums under 35 minutes each, but get ready for a two-hour mammoth journey into the insane. The Glowing Man is Swans' latest--and supposedly last--album, a visceral test of the musicians' abilities to continuously inspire while deafening, and a test of the listeners' abilities to stave-off exhaustion and madness, or perhaps embrace it.

7. Chance the Rapper
Coloring Book

Chance the Rapper's third mixtape fulfills all the promises Kanye's The Life of Pablo failed to uphold. An intriguing and surprisingly beautiful combination of African-American church traditions and Chance's own brand of acid rap, Coloring Book subtly chronicles black history and uses it as a springboard for imaginative and truly incomparable creativity. Richly composed and rewarding multiple listens, Coloring Book is a transcendent addition to an amazing artist's already highly unique catalogue.

6. ANOHNI
Hopelessness

Anohni's debut solo effort is incredibly morbid, especially if you focus just on the thematic material. However, if anyone can make drone bombings, polar ice melt, mass graves, and discrimination against racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities sound beautiful, it's the artist formerly known as Antony Hegarty. Anohni's hiring of electronic artists Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke is a brilliant move, and their combined talents truly turn what would otherwise be a dreary tone poem into a gorgeous ode to the apocalypse.

5. Sturgill Simpson
A Sailor's Guide to Earth

It's been a long time since I thought country music could be inspiring or emotionally gripping, but Sturgill Simpson's third solo album is just that. A concept album centering around both his short-lived naval career and the birth of his first child--a literal guide, by a sailor, instructing how to live life fully and completely and navigate the world. But this navigation isn't by the stars, it's interpersonal. A Sailor's Guide to Earth is an eye-opening and wholly moving experience.

4. Beyoncé
Lemonade

Enough has been said about the subject matter and boldness of Beyoncé's Lemonade, but have we dissected it in terms of a brilliantly titled work? This is the product made from the "lemons" of infidelity and broken trust; you know...lemonade. And not only is the subtle use of just the one word an ingenious decision of syntax, but it also perfectly describes the music contained within: sweet, sour, refreshing, sophisticated. Beyoncé has never sounded like this.

3. Car Seat Headrest
Teens of Denial

Car Seat Headrest has been self-producing music for as long as I've been managing this blog, but Teens of Denial is their first professionally recorded and produced album, and goddamn is it amazing. If you claim to like any music from about 1990 to today, this is for you. "Destroyed by Hippie Powers" could recall the best of Weezer, make Pearl Jam good again, and raise Kurt Cobain from the dead. And that's just one song; there's another 65 minutes of grungy, guitar-shredding music after that.

2. Kendrick Lamar
untitled unmastered.

At this point, Kendrick can do no wrong. The songs might not have discernible titles, but does it matter? Lamar is so creative, inventive, and original it almost makes you feel dumb listening to it, with every note putting you in your place. Every sound he engineers--be it words or music--is ambrosia for the ears. For being "unmastered," this sure is well-produced, mixed, written, and performed. Kendrick Lamar just blew away the competition...again...with what is essentially a b-sides compilation.

1. David Bowie
Blackstar

Was there any doubt this would be #1? Barring any massively brilliant releases between now and December 31st, it will probably stay here. And no, it's not just because Bowie, the most inventive and challenging artist to grace the pop-music world, sadly and suddenly passed within days of this album's release. It's also because it ranks among his greatest work in a career filled with "best-of-all-time" entries. It's also because the album was so expertly designed to help Bowie and his fans cope with his death. To be so frank and raw about one's own imminent demise is harsh, but somehow also very enlightening. With brilliant production and tight, almost claustrophobic work by a massively talented jazz ensemble, Bowie makes himself appear a gorgeous specter and presents a beautiful last love letter to the world. Somewhere in the greater universe, he's travelling the stars he so often sang of.

How doth the hero strong and brave, a celestial path in the heavens pave.

New Music (7.01.2016)

Bat for Lashes
The Bride

Not to immediately begin writing in the first person, but I have been waiting for this album with such immense anticipation I'm not really sure what to say.

The Bride is Bat for Lashes' (real name: Natasha Khan) fourth album, and it is an ethereal masterpiece. While it might not have the instantaneous impact of Two Suns or The Haunted Man, its sound alone will transport you to another realm, where you are certain you are watching Khan's fictional story-line play out in front of you.

For those of you who haven't been following every single press release surrounding this album like I have, the mini-opera goes something like: girl falls for boy, boy dies on the way to marry girl, girl weaves through a series of transcendent experiences to overcome her grief and come out a better person on the other side.

And the experience truly is transcendent. While the first six songs (the first half of the album) contain every promotional single, the entire tale must be heard all together, with the second half creating ghostly soundscapes which serve as mesmerizing backdrops for our heroine's trip to self-discovery.

As tragedy turns to realization, and actualization, the songs turn from pop-ready to hauntingly experimental; from Goldfrapp to Perfume Genius. In fact, much of The Bride is very similar to Mike Hadreas' brilliant Too Bright, in that the occasional flash of radio-ready populism like his "Queen" or "Grid" is surrounded by ambient keyboards on "Fool" or more appropriately, "I'm a Mother." Here, Khan's sales pitch is "In God's House," or "Sunday Love," both fantastic songs to be sure, but they're counterpointed by double-take laboratories of sound like "Close Encounters" and album closer "Clouds."

The Bride's most familiar sound will probably come from "Joe's Dream," which has all the hallmarks of the Bat for Lashes sound: deeply affecting vocals, intense strings, and a subtle-yet-captivating beat. The previously mentioned "Sunday Love" is very much akin to The Haunted Man's "All Your Gold," in that, despite its lyrical content, it's very much upbeat, fast-paced, and clearly heading for the mainstream.

But then there's "In God's House" and "Honeymooning Alone." The former I personally have been in awe with since it was originally released as the lead single. It's driving synth bass and almost-creepy tone are so very anti-BfL it's astonishing. It's unlike anything Khan's done before, and her repertoire is now even greater for it.

The latter might be the best song she's written (other than "Daniel" or "Marilyn" or "Deep Sea Diver"). "Honeymooning Alone" is so incredibly dense with new sounds previously unused by Khan that it's like listening to a different artist completely. The closest comparison I can make is Portishead, in that it's very trip-hop and reminds me of their masterpiece, Third, and it's opening track, "Silence."

The single-ready songs immediately drop off into the slow burn of "Never Forgive the Angels," Khan's angriest, and least subtle track yet, before delving into the out-of-tune instruments backing "Close Encounters," the ASMR and drone of "Widow's Peak," and the inspirational high-point of "If I Knew."

We end with the beautifully rendered "Clouds," a song so perfectly gorgeous it challenges every other Bat for Lashes closer for the title of "most jaw-dropping musical arrangement." As always,  Khan's voice is spectacular in her higher register, and is impeccably accompanied by a lonely guitar and slightly distressing synth moans. This is the fairy tale ending our Bride has been seeking, even though it's not the one she planned. A tearful acceptance that grief is a part of life, and that living through it is what gives our existence meaning.

To be sure, The Bride is hard work. It is not a piece you go into casually, nor will your journey through it be without turmoil and hardship. But much like the main character of this audio-play, your traversing the entire course is not only worth the reward, but will transform you into a stronger person. Khan's work with Bat for Lashes has always aimed to tell stories in the most emotionally direct way, and in this epic tale she does so with tactics and techniques that make you strive to reach that same happily ever after.