Re: Top ten albums of 2016
1.
Mitski Puberty 2It's definitely my favorite album of the year. The clear standout and the epicenter of the album is
Your Best American Girl (probably my favorite single of the year also). It's simultaneously empowering and heartbreaking.
If I could, I'd be your little spoon and kiss your fingers forever more. is the first line of the song and also describes the album perfectly. It's about love, losing people, not fitting in, making mistakes and boatload of other stuff. Such a great discovery in 2016 for me.
2.
Angel Olsen My WomanFemales hit it out of the ballpark in 2016.
Shut Up Kiss Me is an instant classic and the rest of the album is pretty much up there too.
3.
Frank Ocean BlondA long wait, but definitely worth it.
Ivy has become one of my favorite Frank Ocean songs. I do wish the album was titled
Boys Don't Cry. It's for sure a more apt name considering the songs on it.
4.
Radiohead A Moon Shaped PoolAt this point I don't think Radiohead can ever do a bad album. As the years (albums) go by it seems like Radiohead are getting away from rock and into an ethereal soundscape. So it makes sense the album is capped by
True Love Waits that finally got a proper studio version and it's every bit as good as you would expect it to be.
5.
Róisín Murphy Take Her Up to MontoAn album that acts as a younger sister to last year's
Hairless Toys (which makes sense as they come from the same studio sessions). It continues Róisín's explorations in pop sounds. It's just as imaginative and unpredictable but more cohesive this time around. And I'm glad that after an 8 year hiatus she has become really productive. She announced another album this year and I'm looking forward to it a lot. She probably will never release another
Overpowered (which I'm still baffled why it never became a huge pop mainstream hit as it was basically one of the earliest examples of what mainstream pop has turned into today) but even these curveballs she's throwing are just as much exciting.
6.
Porches Pool (+
Water EP)
One of this year's more underrated albums (as I don't see it mentioned in any year end lists I've seen). It's got a cool, breezy laidback synth vibe that instantly makes you like it. And the
Water EP (which is a collection of demo's from
Pool songs) showcase how good these songs are even in early basic form (nearly synth free compared to the final product).
7.
Frankie Cosmos Next ThingIt's hard to see band members selling their merch by themselves these days. Frankie Cosmos is one of those bands and I'm glad I had a chance to buy this vinyl straight from their hands. And I'm also glad that they told that our small crowd was really intense and came back on stage 3 times (the last time Greta came on stage alone because they played all Frankie Cosmos songs and so she decided to play one of her own songs). "Always leave them wanting more." is one of the more famous sayings all over the world and that is completely true in this case. Every song here is short, sweet and completely on point. And you just want more, more, more, more... This might actually be the cutest album of the year.
8.
Crystal Castles Amnesty (I)I feel that no matter how good or bad this album ended up being, the reviews would be mediocre at best. And that's just what happened. And it's a shame that the whole Alice drama (which is what most reviews center upon and not the actual music) overshadowed what's probably their most accessible album yet. For me,
(III) remains their best album, but
Amnesty (I) is up there. The band has continued their path of morphing their sound into more polished mainstream electronic music, but it's still very much a CC album. I never associated Alice as CC as most people have, so I'm not bothered by her leaving the band. Personally I think Ethan has been more graceful about the whole thing and just continued making music and it seems that after all he was the rightful CC torch bearer.
9.
Preoccupations PreoccupationsIn case of Viet Kong, the name change came due to the controversy. But I'm still not sure how in the hell they've come up with Preoccupations. Whatever the reason may be the important thing is that the follow up to their debut album is just as good.
10.
Whitney Light Upon the LakeI wasn't too crazy about the vocal when I first heard this album, but there are tons of melodic earworms that just won't let you get away from this album.
11.
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam I Had a Dream That You Were Mine12.
Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial13.
Bon Iver 22, A Million14.
The Jezabels Synthia15.
David Bowie Blackstar16.
PJ Harvey The Hope Six Demolition Project17.
Blood Orange Freetown Sound18.
Tegan and Sara Love You to Death19.
ANOHNI Hopelessness20.
M83 JunkSpecial Mention Christine and the Queens Chaleur humaineWhile technically a 2014 album it has finally been released in US this year with some changed track list (some new songs and some old ones rerecorded in English) and showed up in some year end lists. I feel like putting it on the list would be a slight cheat as this album is not new for me, but it would definitely be in the top 10. Anyway, I'm using this opportunity just to mention it.