Albums and Tracks of 2016

Until everything else became too busy to allow space for it, I used to get paid to be a music critic. It wasn't a full time job, but I put a lot of time into it, on and off for around 10 years. I still try to keep up to date with new music, as much as possible. There's an overwhelming choice, and modern music is more fragmented than ever, so nobody is going to hear everything, though access to new music is of course easier then it's ever been. 

Here is a list of music I liked in 2016 - mostly not in any order. 

I like pop music, though consider the Sex Pistols, Animal Collective, Skepta and Fat White Family to be as much pop as Charli XCX, Rihanna, or The 1975. I don't like most rock or metal, so no U2, Metallica, Muse etc. Loud guitars are still brilliant though, and rock bands who know how to do pop have the golden ticket (Rolling Stones; The Clash; Nirvana; Pixies etc). The X Factor, American Idol etc isn't pop. That's showbiz: the Revenge of Tin Pan Alley.

ALBUMS

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree - Best album of 2016? Certainly stands comparison with anything else they've ever done. If, after Dylan, anyone else from pop/ rock ever gets considered for a Nobel prize, Cave has got to be the top contender.

Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony

Nap Eyes - Thought Rock Fish Scale

Kevin Morby - Singing Saw

Parquet Courts - Human Performance

Weezer - (White Album) - Their best for years?

Anohni - Hopelessness

Skepta - Konnichiwa

Whitney - Light Upon The Lake

Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial

Mutual Benefit - Skip A Sinking Stone

Cat's Eyes - Treasure House

Christine And The Queens - Chaleur Humain

Brigid Mae Power - Brigid Mae Power

Ryley Walker - Golden Sings That Have Been Sung - probably even better than his previous album, which was better than the one before that.

Angel Olsen - My Woman

Cass McCombs - Mangy Love

Ezra Furman - Big Fugitive Life EP

Jamie T - Trick

Okkervil River - Away - does everyone think they sound like the American Music Club, or is it just me? They sound like a really good version of the American Music Club though. Standout track: 'Judey On A Street'?

Drive-By Truckers - American Band - They've been going since 1996, but I never paid much attention before, dismissing them as too American, too traditionally country rock. And that was the initial impression with this one too, but a little perseverance reveals that this is a major piece of work, fully deserving of the praise it has received. Stand-out track 'What It Means' may be the protest song of the year.

Bon Iver - 22, A Million

Conor Oberst - Ruminations - immediately one of my favourite things from a long and brilliant career.

Hiss Golden Messenger - Heart Like A Levee - stands comparison to Van Morrison or J.J. Cale.

M.I.A. - AIM - mixed reviews for this (though including some good ones), but we like it in our house, and there's plenty on it which ranks alongside her best.

Public Access T.V. - Never Enough - too pop to be described as 'punk pop'? Maybe just 'guitar pop' then? 

C Duncan - The Midnight Sun - I'm not sure there's any track which stands out as much as 'I'll Be Gone By Winter', from Mercury-nominated debut 'Architect', but still gorgeous.

The Lemon Twigs - Do Hollywood - fronted by the D'Addario brothers, from Long Island, who look like they've been transplanted from some weedy '70's pop group like Chicory Tip or Edison Lighthouse. Sounds, variously, like early-'70's Beach Boys (circa 'Surf's Up', or later), Harry Nilsson, 10cc and more (they've been compared to a lot of early '70's pre-punk bands).

Parekh & Singh - Ocean - If asked to imagine what sort of music would be made by 2 young guys from Kolkata, India, I would never have guessed this: light, melodic, classic, perfect pop, without a Swedish super-producer in sight. Only 9 tracks, and 25 minutes, but not a bad track on it. At time of writing, there are no reviews on Metacritic, and no customer reviews on Amazon, but time should prove me right. Everybody sing: 'I used to be a panda, in my past life...'.

Lambchop - FLOTUS - first album since 2012, so definitely an event to have a new Lambchop album. 

Run The Jewels 3 - Originally scheduled for release on January 13th, 2017, then digitally released on December 24th without prior announcement, and immediately being added to the list of top albums of 2016 rather than 2017.

TRACKS (not necessarily all from 2016, or even from this century; in fact one of them is from 1937)

Savages - Adore - from the album 'Adore Life'.

Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom - Fuck The Government, I Love You - from the album 'Don't Believe The Hyperreal', a side project by the clarinet player and singer/ songwriter from The Burning Hell.

The Burning Hell - Fuck The Government, I Love You - different arrangement of the same song, from the album 'Public Library'. Also 'The Road', from the same album, which, unlike their other work, reminds me a bit of Pavement.

Bloc Party - The Love Within

DIIV - Out Of Mind

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - S.O.B.

Father John Misty - Maybe, Sweet One, You Won't Have Nightmares Tonight

Rostam - Wood; EOS; Gravity Don't Pull Me; Water (with Ra Ra Riot, from the album 'Need Your Light'); A 1000 Times (with Hamilton Leithauser, from the album 'I Had A Dream That You Were Mine'). Rostam Batmanglij: a key member of Vampire Weekend, until he left in January 2016 to focus on production and solo work. Fortunately for Vampire Weekend he's still going to do some work with them on songwriting and recording in future.

Palehound - Molly - from the album 'Dry Food'.

Sturgill Simpson - In Bloom - Nirvana cover, from the album 'A Sailor's Guide To Earth'.

The Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl - single from 1988. I was vaguely aware of the name, but earlier this year, while on holiday in New York, we bought a Dead Milkmen t-shirt for our 14 year old daughter in brilliant punk rock clothing store Trash and Vaudeville. Surely one of the few punk songs to feature accordion? The only irritation is the passing reference in the lyrics to what they claim to be a Beach Boys song ('California Dreamin''), which is actually a hit by The Mamas and The Papas - even though the Beach Boys did record a cover version.

Cassius - Action (feat. Cat Power and Mike D.)

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizzard - Gamma Knife

Spring King - Rectifier

Azealia Banks - The Big Big Beat

Carter Tanton - Twentynine Palms; The Long Goodbye - from the album 'Jettison The Valley'.

Dream Wife - Kids

Mexrrissey - Cada Dia Es Domingo; International Playgirl - from the album 'No Manchester'; Mexican band who specialise in covers of Morrissey songs. This century's answer to Dread Zeppelin?

Smerz - Because


Eric Bachmann - Belong To You; Dreaming - from the album 'Eric Bachmann'.

Robert Pollard - Come And Listen; I Can Illustrate - from the album 'Of Course You Are'.

Santigold - Can't Get Enough Of Myself (feat. B.C.).

The Prettiots - Boys (That I Dated In High School); Dreamboy; Stabler - from the album 'Funs Cool'.

Black Honey - All My Pride

Inheaven - Baby's Alright

Julia Jacklin - Pool Party

The Avocados - I Never Knew - single from 1981; not one I knew before reading about it in a review of a compilation album which includes this track.

The Great Leap Forward - Who Works The Weather? - from the album 'Don't Be Afraid Of Change'; am I the only person who bought the album when it came out in 1988?; this track should have been a no. 1 single.

The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine - from 1987; still sounds fantastic.

Tegan and Sara - Boyfriend; 100x - from the album 'Love You To Death'.

The Big Moon - Cupid; Silent Movie Susie; Formidable - reminiscent of Britpop era bands like Sleeper and Echobelly; somehow this is a good thing. Their album 'Love In The 4th Dimension' is due in April 2017.

Dusty Springfield - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (single from 1966); I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten (single from 1968); How Can I Be Sure (single from 1970); I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (single from 1964).

Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield - What Have I Done To Deserve This (single from 1987)

Flobots - Handlebars - single from 2007, which I found when doing a piece of work which required me to find a song suitable to soundtrack a company which manufactures bicycle-related products, when they appeared at a business awards event.

Leland Sundries - Studebaker - from the album 'Music For Outcasts'

Declan McKenna - Brazil; Isombard - not due to turn 18 until Christmas Eve 2016, and already this good.

Folk Uke - Motherfucker Got Fucked Up - Shazammed when it was played over the closing credits of an episode of Orange Is The New Black. I'm sure the YouTube plays for this increased by 4000% after that. From their 2005 album 'Folk Uke'. Considering they've been going since 1998, they haven't been very prolific, but it's all good. One of them is Willie Nelson's daughter, and the other one is Arlo Guthrie's daughter.

Blossoms - Charlemagne; Blown Rose

Robert Johnson - Hellhound On My Trail (from 1937)

Dinosaur Jr - Goin Down; Tiny - from the album 'Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not'; as good as they ever were.

Clams Casino - Ghost In A Kiss - feat. Samuel T. Herring, from Future Islands - from the album '32 Levels'

Haley Bonar - Kismet Kill

Frente! - Bizarre Love Triangle - lovely acoustic cover of the New Order song, from 1993, and appearing on an album and EP by this Australian band, and only becoming known to me when it appeared on a Spotify 'recommended for you' list.

Glass Animals - Life Itself

The Kamikaze Pilots - Sharon Signs To Cherry Red and The Kamikaze Sex Pilots - Sharon's Been Deflowered And Defoliated - rediscovered after they appeared on the compilation album 'Sharon Signs To Cherry Red - Independent Women 1979 - 1985'.

The Fat White Family - Breaking Into Aldi

Toothless - Terra; The Sirens (feat. The Staves); Sisyphus; Palm's Backside - side project from Bombay Bicycle Club's bassist. After I discovered the first track, more keep appearing on Spotify 'recommended' lists, and they're all terrific. Album 'The Pace Of The Passing' due in January 2017.

The Strumbellas - Spirits - from the album 'Hope'. 

Meg Mac - Roll Up Your Sleeves - from a 2014 EP; Shazammed when played over the closing credits to an episode of Girls.

Lady Leshurr - Where Are You Now?

Skepta - Coming Soon

Happyness - Anna, Lisa Calls

El Perro Del Mar - Ding Sum - from the album 'KoKoro'.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Bush; Forever And A Day - from the album 'Mid Thirties Single Scene'

The Tuts - Give Us Something Worth Voting For - from the album 'Update Your Brain'

Billie Marten - La Lune; Lionhearted - from the album 'Writing Of Blues And Yellows'

Dawes - We're All Gonna Die - from the album 'We're All Gonna Die'.

Warpaint - New Song - from the album 'Heads Up'. Best thing they've ever done?

Zara Larsson - Lush Life - 2015 single, though I just heard it this year, after reading an interview with her.

Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell - This Must Be The Place (Talking Heads Cover); You Know More Than I Know (John Cale cover) - from the 2015 album 'Sing Into My Mouth'. Although I've been a fan of Iron & Wine for years, I hadn't heard this until 'This Must Be The Place' appeared on a Spotify 'recommended' list.

Blaenavon - Let's Pray

Loyle Carner - No CD

Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker (Paul Kalkbrenner remix) - the album is great too, but this displays the strength of the Cohen brand, where he still sounds vital in a more modern setting.

Andy Williams - Can't Get Used To Losing You (1963 single); Can't Take My Eyes Off You (1968 single); Music To Watch Girls By (1967 single). After this, I think I might try Matt Monro next...

Arab Strap - The First Big Weekend Of 2016 - their 1996 classic, remixed by Miaoux Miaoux. Possibly even better than the original.

Honeyblood - Sea Hearts - from the album 'Babes Never Die'.

Sleaford Mods - T.C.R.

Swet Shop Boys - Tiger Hologram - from the album 'Cashmere'.

Catholic Action - Rita Ora

The xx - On Hold - single from their January 2017 album 'I See You', and possibly the best thing they've done.

The Early Years - Nocturne - from the album 'll'. The rest of the album sounded too 'rock' for me, on one quick listen, but this is great.

Splashh - Rings

Rat Boy - Lovers Law

Van William - Revolution (feat. First Aid Kit). Anything with First Aid Kit on it is worth checking.

Top Album of 2015

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan is just better than everyone else.

Things to look forward to in 2017

The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir - 5-disc set due March 2017, chronicling the 50 years of Mag Fields songwriter Stephin Merritt's life, with one song per year. Obvious comparisons will be with their masterpiece '69 Love Songs' (the greatest triple album ever), and perhaps an even more insanely ambitious project than that. Like the original version of '69 Love Songs', includes a book with an extensive interview with Merritt conducted by occasional Magnetic Fields and The 6ths member Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket).
Spotify have a 5-track sampler from '50 Song Memoir' available to listen to.

Jens Lekman - a new album in 2017? According to his website, dated August 2016, a new album was '99% done' at that time. (Update: It's called 'Life Will See You Now', and is released in the U.K. on 17th February 2017.)