Thread for all 2016 albums of the year lists

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.

― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:33 (twenty hours ago) Permalink

Yeah, I wouldn't say the problem is "those damn SJWs" encroaching on traditional music writing, and more about the way in which the collapse of criticism as an industry and its increasing focus on clickbait content tends to result in all these previous areas of concern (music fandom, celebrity gossip, politics) drifting closer together, because there's no space for them to exist separately from one another, and everyone is looking to maximise eyeballs.

This development feels more entrenched than it perhaps is precisely because it's been embraced by the kinds of organs which also tend (or would otherwise tend) to be less hidebound in their approach to music writing who perhaps recognise it's the best or least worst way to facilitate interesting writing while maintaining an audience, the alternative being to retreat into the safe space of lavish retrospectives and reissue culture. And I think his trend has in fact resulted in some great writing, and that some sites have navigated the new landscape pretty well.

But while on the one hand the last few years have created some upside for writers, the flipside is that the need to find an angle on everything makes it a lot easier to talk about how Beyonce is empowering (insert) or to treat Kanye v T-Swift in exactly the same terms as Bernie v Shillary than it is to write (or rather get commissioned to write) about music where the battle lines aren't already drawn.

You can see this in the exceptions to the rule, too. We (or "we") might complain about an artist like Dawn Richard not getting enough coverage, but one way in which artists like Dawn are a beneficiary of this paradigm (though not enough to stop them from being a net loser overall) is that just about the only angle that works is "underappreciated, visionary genius that you should stop sleeping on" - just because there's a subconscious, reflexive awareness that writing, to be effective now, needs to embed some sort of moral exhortation.

Some fun stuff in the bottom 60 or so:

http://www.undertheradarmag.com/lists/under_the_radars_top_100_albums_of_2016/

Fuck Brumpxit its the 2016 Metal and Hard N' Heavy Rock Poll Results Thread (With spotify and bandcamp links)

dude crazy kudos to Rolling Stone for a "best you didn't hear" list that's actually (a) good stuff that I (b) didn't hear (save Haley Bonar). one of the best lists of the season so far....

Thanks for the recommendation, Whiney! I will listen to it tomorrow!

My favorite albums of 2016.

(Psst you know that Redemption is losted both at 11 & 13?)

Caught -- thanks.

Maybe I'm just getting older, but The Wire Rewind list looks pretty good to me this year.

could someone post the genre-specific wire lists ?

the saidthegramophone list really is awesome
(as per)

popjustice
https://www.popjustice.com/articles/the-top-45-singles-of-2016/

The NorteñoBlog list is interesting, at least in part because most folks here (including me) will not have heard the majority of the norteño albums on it.

popjustice albums
http://www.clickhole.com/article/5-disney-princesses-reimagined-caucasian-698

lol

lmao

RA Poll: Top mixes, compilations and reissues of 2016 - https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2861

Some good stuff on there. Still find it weird though how hard RA rep Giegling tho, it's like I never see or hear any reference to that label anywhere else.

I like that EP by DJ Metatron (Traumprinz) that came out on Giegling this year, "2 the Sky"

Hey, check it out, Vice have done an actual list instead of the unfunny joke list they do every year!

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-vice-albums-of-the-year-2016

...oh hold on, it's just another, even less funny version of the unfunny joke list they do every year.

Giegling is just nu-Kompakt, sad emotive techno that lends writing about dance music a perceived sense of legitimacy that covering Jamie Jones and Dusky doesn't because writers can talk about melancholia instead of ecstacy.

I've been sensing that Popjustice is feeling old and uninterested in actual pop music for a while and that list has me now fully convinced.

sad emotive techno is one of the best things

it's not that I don't think Giegling have put out some good releases or love a bit of soft sad techno, it's more just that I don't think it's surprising the way those releases get spoken about with such reverence. Pantha Du Prince and The Field have kept doing their thing with lesser results, Kompakt have been churning out mostly fart-bass rote tech-house of late, Villalobos has been making music that doesn't have the same immediate appeal as the stuff he was doing ten years ago - their aesthetic is similarly populist but fresh enough to warrant attention.

I would probably take all the Pampa Records over Giegling but they seem a little more functional and that's a harder sell when your content is EOY catch-ups for (the type of) people not paying attention all year

(this is a bad example because Pampa didn't release much this year but the intent is there)

Prepare your sneers!

Classic Rock
http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-11-25/the-best-rock-albums-of-2016

― Fastnbulbous

YOU KILLED THEM

or more likely their entire subscriber base cancelled in rage over #RaittGate

I was actually poking fun at those who do sneer at the type of stuff covered by Classic Rock. I like the mag, a friend at work subscribed and would pass on the issues of that and Metal Hammer and Prog magazine. They're all gone, which is sad. So apparently is Rock A Rolla, which hasn't had a new issue since summer. I hope Terrorizer isn't next.

Happy to learn, from the Under the Radar list, that Springtime Carnivore put out a new album this year. And it's good!

Guardian writer lists
https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/dec/20/the-best-albums-and-tracks-of-2016-how-our-writers-voted

quelle surprise that vice thing is the fucking unfunniest + worst

that vice thing really is like being clubbed over the head with a dinosaur bone. you would almost think it directly provoked by flopson's post the other day comparing the tone then and now

i will assume my browser blocked several adverts for 55dsl as i read it

The Terrace Martin record is really good, a great companion piece to To Pimp a Butterfly. Terrace was one of the driving forces behind that record's mutated L.A. Jazz and Velvet Portraits boasts a gentler, funkier version of that style (plus some extended instrumentals from TPAB).

Yeah, it's good. I was surprised there wasn't more interest, given the TPAB connection. Maybe if Kendrick hadn't dropped another record 3 weeks earlier it would have received attention.

I wanted to like the Terrace Martin album more than I did.

That said, Kamasi Washington bassist Miles Mosley's album, which comes out at the end of January, is fantastic. Keep an eye out for that one.

Caroline Sullivan
Albums
Warpaint – Heads Up
Madam – Back to the Sea
Suede – Night Thoughts
The Anchoress – Confessions of a Romance Novelist
Ala.Ni – You & I
Pretenders – Alone
Jem – Beachwood Canyon
Lady Gaga – Joanne
Tanita Tikaram – Closer to the People
Josienne Clark and Ben Walker – Overnight

I've never liked Caroline Sullivan as a writer but some begrudging respect is due for this.

Yeah, that's quite a selection.

see also the guy who put Marillion at #1

noodle vague writes for the guardian?

oh my lord

Was it Dom Lawson btw?

btw we are into the top 25 of the ILM poll
Fuck Brumpxit its the 2016 Metal and Hard N' Heavy Rock Poll Results Thread (With spotify and bandcamp links)

will finish wednesday I think

here are my ~final standings~

ALBUMS
1. Dawn Richard, Redemption
2. King, We Are King
3. Beyoncé, Lemonade
4. Miranda Lambert, The Weight Of These Wings
5. Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman
6. Cardi B, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1
7. Brandy Clark, Big Day In A Small Town
8. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Ears
9. K. Michelle, More Issues Than Vogue
10. Hannah Peel, Awake But Always Dreaming
11. Solange, A Seat At The Table
12. Britney Spears, Glory
13. Brothers Osborne, Pawn Shop
14. Anohni, Hopelessness
15. Maren Morris, Hero
16. Raime, Tooth
17. Rae Sremmurd, SremmLife 2
18. Nina Kraviz, Fabric 91
19. Jamila Woods, Heavn
20. P Money, Live And Direct
21. Tweet, Charlene
22. Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
23. Maxwell, blackSUMMERS'night
24. Trim, 1-800 Dinosaur Presents: Trim
25. Kyle Hall, From Joy
26. Róisín Murphy, Take Her Up To Monto
27. Ricky Blaze, Conquer The Moment
28. Corinne Bailey Rae, The Heart Speaks In Whispers
29. Kevin Gates, Islah
30. Floorplan, Victorious

TRAX
1. Beyoncé, "Formation" / Lōtic, "Formation (Election Anxiety/America Is Over Edit)"
2. Avalon Emerson, "The Frontier"
3. Dreezy ft. Jeremih, "Body"
4. Mazi Chukz ft. Maleek Berry, "Dem Hail"
5. Yemi Alade, "Koffi Anan"
6. Charly Black, "Gyal You A Party Animal"
7. Rihanna, "Needed Me"
8. Kiss Daniel, "Mama"
9. Young M.A, "Ooouuu"
10. Fantasia, "Ugly"
11. Krishane ft. Patoranking, "Inconsiderate"
12. Tory Lanez, "Luv"
13. Tekno, "Pana"
14. Èbony, "Real Truth"
15. Miguel ft. Kacey Musgraves, "Waves (Remix)"
16. Dexta Daps, "Trigger Finger"
17. Carrie Underwood, "Church Bells"
18. Alkaline, "One More Time"
19. Dawn Richard, "Not Above That"
20. Konshens, "Bruk Off Mi Cock"
21. Zara Larsson, "Ain't My Fault"
22. ShiiKane, "Loke"
23. Kwamz & Flava, "Take Over"
24. Kehlani, "24/7"
25. Double S ft. JME, "Style & Flows"
26. Shay, "PMW"
27. Fifth Harmony, "Big Bad Wolf"
28. Nadia Rose, "Skwod"
29. Karen Gwyer, "Prophase Metaphase Anaphase"
30. Eva Alordiah ft. Phyno & Reminisce, "Kanayo"
31. Sevyn Streeter ft. Gucci Mane, "Prolly"
32. Sir Spyro ft. Teddy Bruckshot, Lady Chann & Killa P, "Topper Top"
33. GBM Nutron ft. Fay-Ann Lyons, "Scene"
34. Paul Woolford, "Heaven & Earth Part 2"
35. Tinie Tempah ft. Zara Larsson, "Girls Like"
36. Spice, "Indicator"
37. Babes Wodumo ft. Mampintsha, "Wololo"
38. Alicia Keys, "In Common (Black Coffee Remix)"
39. Young John ft. Lil Kesh, "Bend Down Select"
40. Mella ft. P-Square, "Ginger"
41. Serge Beynaud, "Remanbélé"
42. AY ft. Diamond Platnumz, "Zigo (Remix)"
43. Stunnah Gee ft. Davido, "Dengeme"
44. Equiknoxx ft. Devin Di Dakta, "Bubble"
45. Bjarki, "Bæpolar"
46. No Lay, "Gotta Love It"
47. Reniss, "La Sauce"
48. Keke Palmer ft. Jeremih, "Enemiez"
49. Fat Joe & Remy Ma ft. French Montana, "All The Way Up"
50. Lil Uzi Vert, "Money Longer"

EPs
1. Melanie De Biasio, Blackened Cities
2. Abra, Princess
3. Willow, Workshop 23
4. AJ Tracey, Lil Tracey
5. Jammz, Warrior

oh bollocks i meant to post that on the "your own fav tracks" thread!!! never mind

https://boomkat.com/charts/2016

Probably an unfair gripe but checking out a few things on the FACT/Boomkat lists that I hadn't heard and... I'm just feeling uninspired. A lot of it seems to be trying hard to be forward-thinking and current, but it's all just a bit empty. This kind of hipstery quasi-dance makes me feel like I'm trapped in a perpetual 2010 listening to Joy Orbison and early James Blake EPs. Just don't see the point in that Lorenzo Senni thing at all...

that is unfair... precious few works of art can ever hope to attain the level of dog latin eureka moment

The Jazzwise Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2016

A lot of good records on this list, and several I haven't heard but am interested to check out.

FACT's trax list is out:

http://www.factmag.com/2016/12/20/50-best-tracks-2016/

And sure, it may be packed with the overdone “where the hoes, though?” lyrics and vows of “the bro code”, but here it is enacted by one of the first queer voices to dominate legitimate top 40 radio.

"fact" magazine

:|

for the life of me I do not understand the appeal of Maren Morris