Thread for all 2016 albums of the year lists

but whiney as an editor with actual clout what do you want (or intend?) to do about this structurally? i agree with the thrust of your complaint but when the entire music journalism industry seems invested in doubling down on this direction it feels pointless (not in a "we shouldn't care" way but in a "nothing will change for the better" way)

feel like a key problem is potentially brilliant individual voices getting subsumed into the brands of whoever they write for. is there space for any writer to kick against their own publication's consensus any more?

I don't think there needs to be some **structural overhaul**, it's just funny that we've replaced one brand of corny opinions with another brand of corny opinions and call it "poptimism"

well, YOU call it optimism

poptimism even

pop-timism, the new dad rock

I guess I'm happy to live in a safe, sane world where Drake, Kanye, Lukas Graham, and Trainor are stuck in a burning building with no one do save them.

two of those artists are not like the other two alfred

I will not go into the gradations of awfulness.

are you certain the people behind these lists think Frank Ocean is objectively better than Lukas Graham?

its not really poptimism though, considering its still basically just auteurism

That is true too

it's market poptimism. it's often practiced with chartbeat screens dancing in editors' and writers' heads.

also i wish any of sia's songs this year weren't just big minor key BLAAAATTTSS that doubled as excuses for maddie ziegler to make funny faces. i want to like a lot more of the stuff that's popular than i do, trust me! but gnash, which is for people who think "closer" has too much pep in its step? cmonnnn

kent jones and dnce have bops though. dnce's set was the highlight of jingle ball

please keep bops off ilm i cannot

1. 'Gyal You A Party Animal' is a straight up top 20 pick for this year easily.

2. Anyone using the word 'poptimism' in any context in 2016 "needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

it isn't auteurism, though, or if it is it's bullshit auteurism -- no one gives a shit about the writers, producers, or generally people involved unless they're well-known enough to misattribute things to (max martin, dr. luke) or celebrities (see: the instant reappraisal of "This Is What You Came For" when it "became" a Taylor Swift song). it's celebrity gossip, and not even particularly informed celebrity gossip.

idk people seem pretty invested in those celebrities' "genius"

it's a mixture of things encouraged by music critics, celebrity gossip hacks and social affairs writers encroaching on each other's territory.

lots of music critics still subscribe to auteurism, yes, which means that pop singers are still divided into critically worthy/unworthy as whiney said.

celebrity journalists care about celebrities ofc.

writers whose primary beat is political or social care to the extent that an artist or a song is an avatar of whatever political issue is at stake - ie they care about eg beyoncé and taylor swift because that's their peg to talk about feminism; an obscure artist tackling the same issues is of limited use to them.

(the penny dropped re: the latter in a conversation with a friend and political journalist about "blurred lines" in its year, and i was like, look, the actual lyric is ambiguous and thicke has been respected by the predominantly female r&b audience for years now. she was like, as an activist you use what's in the headlines to make your point.)

anyway all of this - plus the demon SEO - combines for a situation where there are now only five artists of any ~relevance left. and let us not pretend there is any motivation or desire among any of these groups or their editors to change it, so y'know get used to it, or get used to not clicking to stave off the fatigue of it all.

ok but pursue this line of argument much farther and you've written that piece in the nation

(i.e. I know or at least hope this isn't what you're going for, but "political journalists" and "social affairs writers" used in this context really do seem like euphemisms for "those damn SJWs")

I think it's a point about alleged "critical music writing" being used in the service of an agenda more than an evaluation?

that is an interesting summary in my opinion, throws a lot of these EOY lists into a wider perspective that has more to do w/the specific media outlets and their motives/aesthetics/funding

I mean, I'm not a paid critic and haven't been published since the 90s but lex's breakdown makes sense to me as someone who reads a ton of music writing but is also involved in politics

(re: the three areas blurring together)

no, it's definitely not a criticism of music criticism becoming more woke or attuned to social justice, diverse representation etc. that's long overdue.

also it's a question of cumulative effect, i have read lots of extremely thoughtful pieces by both writers from the music critic end and the activist end that don't just seize on a big star for a lazy peg but do dig deep - but they get shared around a bit one day and then everyone moves on, and it barely dents the larger effect of something keeping kanye in the headlines every day.

Said The Gramophone's Best song 2016:

http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/best_songs_of_2016.php

Sean always has some nice surprises in his top 100. Definitely recommend that one... there's the consensus picks + some more personal choices which is where it shines.

Also it is one of the few lists where each selection gets a blurb. Most are lazy and just put a list.

like, to be clear, i am firmly pro SJW, and writers from that perspective are very attuned to how things look from a non industry perspective, which is very valuable bc quite a lot of music writers are way too wrapped up in the industry. but at the same time they mostly don't - and nor is it their job to - pore over credits, dig deep into the tropes of a genre they only casually follow, even consider beyoncé's last two albums in the context of her entire career (side note: how many articles about the s/t and lemonade read as if the writer has never previously heard a beyoncé album?)

which brings me to another problem which is the 24-hour churn! good writers aren't being given the time (OR MONEY) to do the research, a lot of the time.

thanks moka!

posting the RS electronic list

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-best-edm-and-electronic-albums-of-2016-w455395

And the records you didn't hear list

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/15-great-albums-you-didnt-hear-in-2016-w456193

I'm not defending Blonde, but I bothered to listen to "Pink + White" and "Ivy" about 4 times and I can remember how they go even though I haven't listened to either since summer. And for me, "Nikes" is the one where I'm kinda baffled that anyone might consider it memorable.

thanks moka!

― sean gramophone

No, thank you! Yours is honestly one of the lists I always look forward to each year. I'm only on the top 25 and I've already found several songs which I haven't seen anywhere else and are pretty good (Snowblink, World Provider, Sugarboy, Waclaw Zimpel, John K Sampson)

I... really don't think it's the 24-hour churn. the only person I can speak for is myself, but the problem isn't that I have insufficient time, the problem is that I suck

if anything the nebulousness of album releases, and the cordoning off of where they are hearable when (and everyone thought US/UK releases were bad) has sort of, in my experience, paradoxically freed a lot of publications' strategy. they know they can get someone to write a quick 15-minute take and then another reviewer several days later, or a week or two of thinkpieces, or what have you

This is a personal list, and not published anywhere, but I'm curious what any other writer ILXors' equivalent lists would look like. These are the 10 best 2016 albums I actually paid for. (#s 1-5 are albums I pre-ordered, #6 I bought in a store in Helsinki, #s 7-10 were from Bandcamp.)

1) Metallica, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct
2) Opeth, Sorceress
3) Perturbator, The Uncanny Valley
4) Amon Amarth, Jomsviking
5) Gojira, Magma
6) Nyrkkitappelu, Mitä Saisi Olla?
7) Kurushimi, s/t
8) Air, Astronoid
9) Tommy ’86, Transhumanism
10) Cønjuntø Vacíø, X ≠ X

I really like that Kurushimi album. It's like a smoother Zu or something

posting the RS electronic list

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-best-edm-and-electronic-albums-of-2016-w455395

And the records you didn't hear list

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/15-great-albums-you-didnt-hear-in-2016-w456193

I'm definitely getting more out of these specialized lists. I sampled from everything from the didn't hear list (the Elephant9 album made my list last year) and I like most of it, esp Terrace Martin and Phony Ppl.

http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2017-part-1/
http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2016-part-2/
http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2016-part-3/

yeah that RS "albums you didn't hear" list was good, lived up to its name

(thx Whiney/writers)

I was ready to get all pedantic and say pfft I know albums from that list but I didnt knew a single one. Is any of those worth the time?

Also their electronic list is better than residentadvisor's!

That Terrorizer Top 50 Albums of 2016 in full

50. TESTAMENT ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ NUCLEAR BLAST
49. KRYPTS ‘Remnants Of Expansion’ DARK DESCENT
48. SABATON ‘The Last Stand’ NUCLEAR BLAST
47. THE WOUNDED KINGS ‘Visions In Bone’ SPINEFARM
46. SLABDRAGGER ‘Rise Of The Dawncrusher’ HOLY ROAR
45. HORSEBACK ‘Dead Ringers’ RELAPSE
44. KVELERTAK ‘Nattesferd’ ROADRUNNER
43. WARDRUNA ‘Rudaljod – Ragnarok’ SEASON OF MIST
42- WRETCH ‘Wretch’ BAD OMEN
41. KATATONIA ‘The Fall Of Hearts’ PEACEVILLE
40. DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT ‘Transcendence’ HEVY DEVY/INSIDE OUT
39. CONAN ‘Revengeance’ BLACK BOW
38. DÄLEK ‘Asphalt For Eden’ PROFOUND LORE.
37. BÖLZER ‘Hero’ IRON BONEHEAD
36. GRAF ORLOCK ‘Crime Traveller’ VITRIOL
35. ROTTING CHRIST ‘Rituals’ SEASON OF MIST
34. INTERMENT ‘Scent Of The Buried’ PULVERISED
33. INTER ARMA ‘Paradise Gallows’ RELAPSE
32. DARKHER ‘Realms’ PROPHECY
31. BOSSK ‘Audio Noir’ DEATHWISH
30. GADGET ‘The Great Destroyer’ RELAPSE
29. SWANS ‘The Glowing Man’ MUTE
28. IHSAHN ‘Arktis’ CANDLELIGHT
27. INQUISITION ‘Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith’ SEASON OF MIST
26. DESTRÖYER 666 ‘Wildfire’ SEASON OF MIST
25. ALCEST ‘Kodama’ PROPHECY
24. PURSON ‘Desire’s Magic Theatre’ SPINEFARM
23. THE BODY ‘No One Deserves Happiness’ THRILL JOCKEY
22. BOSS KELOID ‘Herb Your Enthusiasm’ BLACK BOW
21. GOJIRA ‘Magma’ ROADRUNNER
20. WORMROT ‘Voices’ EARACHE
19. URFAUST ‘Empty Space Meditation’ VÁN.
18. GRAVES AT SEA ‘The Curse That Is’ RELAPSE
17. ANAAL NATHRAKH ‘The Whole Of The Law’ METAL BLADE
16. OPETH ‘Sorceress’ NUCLEAR BLAST
15. VEKTOR ‘Terminal Redux’ EARACHE
14. BLOOD INCANTATION ‘Starspawn’ DARK DESCENT
13. DISCHARGE ‘End Of Days’ NUCLEAR BLAST
12. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN ‘Dissociation’ PARTY SMASHER INC.
11. DEATHSPELL OMEGA ‘The Synarchy Of Molten Bones’ NORMA EVANGELIUM DIABOLI

10. NAILS ‘You Will Never Be One of Us’ NUCLEAR BLAST
9. ORANSSI PAZUZU ‘Värähtelijä’ SVART
8. CULT OF LUNA AND JULIE CHRISTMAS ‘Mariner’ INDIE
7. COBALT ‘Slow Forever’ PROFOUND LORE.
6. SUBROSA ‘For This We Fought The Battle of The Ages’ PROFOUND LORE.
5. 40 WATT SUN ‘Wider Than The Sky’ SVART
4. TRAP THEM ‘Crown Feral’ PROSTHETIC
3. OATHBREAKER ‘Rheia’ DEATHWISH
2. DARKTHRONE ‘Arctic Thunder’ PEACEVILLE
1. NEUROSIS ‘Fires Within Fires’ NEUROT

I like the Pinkyshinyultrablast LP from that RS list (the name sucks, obviously). Gonna need pretty high tolerance for very noisy tunes, though.

Also their electronic list is better than residentadvisor's!

Thanks, Moka!

In the last few years I def pushed to get more big tent/festival stuff on there because, duh, we're a general interest publication; but I think "EDM" the big billion dollar network is going back to singles and Soundclouds since there's not much return in traditional album drops. So we had all kinds of weird stuff that ended up filling the spots that would usually be taken up by Jack U or w/e. I was planning on writing Equiknoxx for Albums You Didn't Hear, but there was plenty of room for us to wax about our passion picks

Also, Moka, Jambinai is my GAYDH pick if you wanna check my second Sepultura 'Roots' reference this week

I... really don't think it's the 24-hour churn. the only person I can speak for is myself, but the problem isn't that I have insufficient time, the problem is that I suck

― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, December 17, 2016 2:32 AM (fifteen hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha, from the perspective of myself and my professional insecurities, i have missed out on like 90% of things i wanted to write about in 2015-16 purely through only formulating what i want to say and what argument i want to make a week after all the thinkpieces were published. (it's also weird, as someone who was formed by the internet in many ways, to realise how bad i am at social media in 2k16)

oh man i feel that lex

- no ready supply of gifs for every occasion
- still don't know how to make emoji
- would rather die than do a 20-tweet thread because the POINT IS TO BE CONCISE
- still gives up on 90% of tweets because i can't say what i want to in 140 characters
- essentially unable to be funny

let me just scurry back to tennis twitter, it's all i enjoy on there