2016 was many things, most of them terrible. But that cannot be said about this year's music. Too many massive names released albums this year to really grasp, but this list will try to make sense of as many of them as possible.
Yes, it is a "10 Best" list, but there were so many great ones, the others couldn't just be cut out. So first, let's start with some very honorable mentions (ordered alphabetically)...
ANOHNI
Hopelessness
For the artist formerly known as Antony Hegarty, the world, counter to Explosions in the Sky's beliefs, is a cold dead place. That is, if climate change doesn't set it on fire.
Hopelessness is filled with dark messages about everything wrong with society, politics, and humanity in general: drone strikes, global warming, violence against the LGBT community, and the refugee crisis all make appearances here. But it is not how sad the world is that makes the album, but Anohni's resplendent voice delivering the message over jerky string-and-glitch electronica. This may not be a great listen for cheering yourself up, but it is for exploring the depths of musical and emotional chaos.
Bat for Lashes
The Bride
Natasha Khan has always been particularly adept at transporting the listener into worlds of her own creation. Her dark, moody landscapes, from "What's a Girl to Do?" to "Daniel" to "Deep Sea Diver" are so immersive that hitting play means settling in for a film, a film experienced entirely through sound.
The Bride, her fourth effort as Bat for Lashes, continues this string of soundscapes, but exchanges many of her old tricks--luscious string arrangements, subdued vocals, and mournful piano--for heavy, electronic beats, dizzying synths, and bold lyrical choices, which make for an enthralling journey.
Blood Orange
Freetown Sound
As the second full-length album by British producer Dev Hynes as Blood Orange,
Freetown Sound is all the things his first effort promised were possible. A delightful combination of spoken word, rap, R&B, tropicalia, and dance, this album beckons you to listen over and over.
Danny Brown
Atrocity Exhibition
For his fourth album, Danny Brown makes a bold, eclectic hip-hop statement, and it pays off tremendously.
Atrocity Exhibition was released to be both artistic statement and club floor banger (note how the title references Joy Division). Both sides are worth a listening position--if you can keep from losing yourself in the music long enough to find them--but choosing either one will still result in a fascinating vision of what rap is truly capable of.
Car Seat Headrest
Teens of Denial
After innumerable free releases on BandCamp, Car Seat Headrest have hit full stride with an ode to the greatest parts of grunge:
Teens of Denial. Songs like "Vincent" and especially "Destroyed by Hippie Powers," are so very 90s alt-rock that listening to them is a time machine, and "Cosmic Hero" is a chaotic whirlwind that ends with a beautiful wall of sound.
Teens of Denial is definitely the most unique album of 2016.
Leonard Cohen
You Want It Darker
Normally, I am not a proponent of speak-singing, but when the poetry is this dense, this maximalist, this heavy with philosophy, there is an exception to be made. Cohen was almost on par with Bowie in terms of musical disguise; no two albums sound alike, but the inescapable baritone delivery was always very obviously Leonard Cohen. After a lifetime of preparing each word as exactly as George Orwell, and matching those words with the perfect musical counterpoint, Cohen's final opus is as dark as its title suggests, but he would tell you that darkness makes light easier to see.
Deftones
Gore
It is exceptionally rare for a band to become better and better as they grow older. Deftones have long since outlasted their nu-metal contemporaries from their mid-1990's debut, and they have long since shed that moniker themselves, alternating from art rock, to trip-hop, to prog metal. Each album, since the band's first true masterpiece,
White Pony, has only served to build on their collective talent, and allowed them the artistic freedom many aging groups desperately desire, but so rarely acquire.
Gore may be Deftones best album to date, quite the accomplishment considering their last release, 2012's stunning
Koi No Yokan, also received that distinction.
Michael Kiwanuka
Love & Hate
Soul is a reoccurring sound for 2016, and Michael Kiwanuka has proven its sound can be masterfully realized.
Love & Hate is astonishingly well written, performed, and, most importantly, produced--it is as if Marvin Gaye came back from the dead--to feel exactly as if you bought a vinyl from an antique record store. A brilliant marriage of musicality and superb mixing,
Love & Hate is the most soulful album you may ever hear.
Kendrick Lamar
Untitled. Unmastered.
This is what dedication to craft and the erasure of all distractions can get you. Kendick has now, alone, taken over the throne of hip-hop. If for no reason other than his
To Pimp a Butterfly definitely marked the first time white hipsters complained about a rap album NOT getting the Grammy for Best Album. The production and near-unbelievable level of quality in beats and rhymes hasn't dropped a step since his first mixtape, and Kendrick shows no sign of slowing down. I mean, obviously, he released an album of entirely "untitled" songs less than a year after his magnum opus, and it's as good as anything else he's made.
Mitski
Puberty 2
Mitski Miyawaki's fourth proper album is not a sequel, despite what the name may suggest.
Puberty 2 actually refers to the pains of adulthood, where being love lorn and financially stressed is as painful and awkward as a second round of teenage hormones. Mitski uses a brilliant combination of
Actor-era St. Vincent lyrics, TV On The Radio-style song structure, and
Scary Monsters Bowie flashes to perfect effect, making
Puberty 2 essential listening if you are looking to broaden your musical horizons.
Iggy Pop
Post Pop Depression
Iggy Pop has lost a great many contemporaries this year, and his heavy final album, a mutual venture with Josh Homme, seems to express that sentiment in a way that only he can.
Post Pop Depression is full of sounds that are anything but depressing, with light uplifting guitars, and major chord progressions that will have you dancing along as he sings about lost loves and lost time. The album is itself a sort of retrospective, though Pop does not use its length purely to reminisce. He also, to brilliant effect, muses about the future of the musical world, one he has inhabited for over 50 years.
Schoolboy Q
Blank Face LP
Quickly becoming the only respectable voice in gangsta rap, Schoolboy Q has released yet another long-form album that includes his considerable talent for constructing rhymes and creating earworming beats. Combine that with the varied and excellent choices for guests, and
Blank Face LP doesn't sound like any other hip-hop album out this year. It's ambitious and pulls no punches, leaving the listener lost in a near-psychedelic world where we have no choice but to sit up and pay attention.
Sturgill Simpson
A Sailor's Guide to Earth
The plot laid out by the title, as well as the opening track, "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)" is simple: if you have to leave something behind to explain to your progeny how to navigate this mortal plane--physically as well as morally--what will that manual look like? Simpson's vision is an aural wonder, confirming that the "outlaw" and "alternative" forms of country need not be so disparate, nor their combination be so dreary. But while Simpson's tone is lifted here; he doesn't dissuade the listener from taking a trip down the long rabbit hole, even if that means hitting bottom. Instead, he encourages the journey--the journey of life--no matter where it might lead. A beautiful assertion indeed.
Thee Oh Sees
A Weird Exits
There's not much new from Thee Oh Sees, on this, their umpteenth album, in terms of sound development. But if there's a band that knows how to squeeze every last drop of awesome from a style, this is the one.
A Weird Exits is very much standard TOS, but their standard is above and beyond, so seriously get on it.
Underworld
Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
Underworld's first album in more than half a decade is the fantastically titled
Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future, supposedly named for principal producer Rick Smith's father's last words: a sentiment both sad and immensely inspiring. It is understated, but still bursting from the seams with hope. Almost excessively elemental for Brit-electronica,
Barbara Barbara is full of all the familiar, well-trodden sounds from the heady days of "Cowgirl," but somehow is able to combine them in such new and interesting ways that, even clocking under 45 minutes, it feels overly-generous, like receiving a gift you
really don't deserve.
And so, here we are, at the Top 10. The following are the best of the best of this year's already ridiculously crowded field. Are you ready? Let's do it...
10. Anderson .Paak
Malibu
Brandon Paak Anderson's second studio album as Anderson .Paak is a brilliant exercise in neo-soul, that genre so often explored this past year.
Malibu has many standouts: album opener "The Bird" is an R&B exploration of .Paak's roots, and "Come Down" is a bass-driven conga line just waiting to happen. But as much as .Paak shines on his own, it's his exceptional use of guest vocals on songs like "Room in Here" with The Game, or the mesmerizing chill-wave of "Am I Wrong" with the always-on Schoolboy Q that really make
Malibu a fun and memorable addition to anyone's collection.
9. Angel Olsen
My Woman
On
My Woman, Angel Olsen mixes the subtle guitar sensibility of Yowler, with the brash ingenue quality of Courtney Barnett's 2015 debut. Here Olsen weaves a web filled to the brim with both grunge angst and saccharine feeling. It's a potent combination that makes for an engaging listen you'll still be playing in 2017.
8. A Tribe Called Quest
We Got It from Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
When it was announced that A Tribe Called Quest would be releasing an album after such a long hiatus, and after the tragedy of Malik Taylor's (Phife Dawg) death, everyone knew it would be good. How could it not be? ATCQ has only ever released quality material since their 1990 debut. No one could predict, however, that
We Got It from Here... would be this amazing. ATCQ eschew any ideas of conforming to modern hip-hop production and stick with their tried-and-tested formula: simple but pronounced beats, subtle samples, and mind-blowing rhymes; and that formula works wonders beyond imagining.
7. Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
Back when I was regularly churning out reviews, I refused to rate or give an opinion on this album. While that may have been seen as a disapproval, my purpose was in fact quite the opposite. Radiohead have been so great for so long, there's not really a need to review their albums when they are good. We are all basically waiting for them to stumble so we can write that sweet, sweet juvenalian criticism we've been holding onto for nearly 30 years.
6. Chance the Rapper
Coloring Book
If you want to talk about an artist who has exploded onto their respective scene, you could do worse than mentioning Chance the Rapper. His mixtapes have been some of the best that hip-hop has to offer every time they are released, and his third,
Coloring Book is no different. Full of catchy, danceable rhythms, and loaded with deeper-than-meets-the-ear lyrics, songs like "No Problem," "Summer Friends," "Same Drugs," and "Mixtape" are sure to keep you on the edge of your listening seat (people have those, right?). Transfixing beyond what his competitors can offer, Chance the Rapper has hit another towering home run out of the proverbial park.
5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Skeleton Tree
In a year filled with horrific tragedy, the personal horror of Nick Cave's loss is laid bare on one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful eulogies ever presented. For those not in the know, Cave's son died in a freak accident while on vacation, and
Skeleton Tree is his "Tears in Heaven." Cave's vocals are raw and full of emotion, carrying the weight of survivor's guilt like a neutron star. The music--a combination of minimalist alt-rock and ambient electronics--perfectly supports his devastation. If you aren't weeping aloud by the time Else Torp starts singing "Distant Sky," then you have lost all connection with humanity.
4. Beyoncé
Lemonade
If there was ever a woman who could ride her fame, beauty, and above all, talent all the way to public office, it would be Beyoncé. And while much press has been spent on the first two points of the previous sentence,
Lemonade entirely focuses on the last. Every part of
Lemonade is a statement that creativity and ferocity can and must be contained in the same package. If there is anyone that can make the best of a sensitive situation--whether that's infidelity, police brutality, or race relations--it is Beyoncé. Her deftness and talent are kept so low-key, it is astonishing for the exact opposite reason her music normally is; here Beyoncé blends into the beautiful background while still providing that pop her fans have come to expect. With all her talent and her ear for that same talent in others (Jack White, The Weeknd, and James Blake all make appearances here), when life gives Beyoncé lemons, she makes...well, you get the idea.
3. Frank Ocean
Blonde
Frank Ocean's second studio album was the subject of massive hype, and with good reason. His debut,
Channel Orange was easily the best album of 2012, and
Blonde's extensive delays put it under heavy scrutiny. Fortunately for Ocean, and for all of us, it holds up to that scrutiny brilliantly. A single playthrough is often confusing and almost off-putting. But Ocean is nothing if not cerebral, and brutally talented, making multiple listens absolutely necessary. A second or third time through and Ocean's thesis slowly becomes clear, and as the fog is lifted
Blonde reveals many hidden treasures. "Pink + White" is one of the best songs of the year, and "White Ferrari" blows the album wide open just as it is coming to a sumptuous close. It may not be what anyone was expecting, but
Blonde is all about defying expectation, and does so at every turn.
2. Solange
A Seat at the Table
Solange Knowles may often be upstaged, even forgotten when compared to her older sister, but this is tragically unfair.
A Seat at the Table proves that Solange has the writing chops, the vocal talent, and the sensibility to produce stunningly gorgeous music. The beauty of her soulful delivery is heard on every track, with "Cranes in the Sky," and "Don't Wish Me Well" being the most obvious standouts. And single "Don't Touch My Hair" hits every mark for a smooth R&B track that will last ages. On her third album, Solange is inspiring, especially in a crummy year like 2016. It still seems radical to release a record that makes plain the many facets of black womanhood, but she has done so with mesmerizing honesty.
A Seat at the Table is a modern take on the protest albums of days gone by, following in the tradition of singers who criticized society from an "outside" perspective. It is an offer to anyone looking for their own place in the sun, and for those who have waited too long for dignity and respect.
1. David Bowie
Blackstar
Of all the losses 2016 has made us suffer, in the way of celebrities, this one hits the hardest. But if you take nothing else from Bowie's last album, at the very least know that he left doing what he does best: making exactly the music he wanted to make, at the exact time he wanted to make it, to exacting perfection.
Blackstar is a work of pure genius, a trait Bowie was very keen to show on virtually every album he produced. And while he had flitted and flirted with jazz in previous offerings like
Heathen and
Reality, the full immersion here is something to behold. From the nearly-10-minute opening title track, to the gorgeous arrangement of "Lazarus," a song that stings even more knowing that the man singing it is no longer here, every note of Bowie's 25th proper studio album is starkly beautiful, like a long holding shot of the desert, like a flower encased in ice. Even before it became obvious that this was meant to be his last offering,
Blackstar was a powerful message about the wonderment of life itself, the philosophical questions that can never be answered, and how every moment spent on this planet, in this galaxy, in an infinite expanse of nothing should be regarded with sheer awe. David Bowie never compromised his art for any reason, a lesson this writer wishes more performers would take to heart. He was a titan of his industry, but a contradiction within genres. An established iconoclast. An ever-changing monolith. A black star.
