Sunday, January 1, 2017

Ranking my 15 favorite albums of 2016 and looking forward to 2017.

2016 took a lot of great musicians from us, but it also gave us a lot of great music in return. I went through Wikipedia's List of 2016 albums to reflect on all the new music I experienced this year. Let's take a look:

15. M83 - Junk

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Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is in my top 5 albums of all time, so I was very excited for this album to drop in April. Lollapalooza had released their absolutely stacked lineup just a month before, and among the incredible list of artists was M83. When Junk hit, I honestly was a bit disappointed at first. It was a poppy detour from the style of the previous, a style which I absolutely love. However, after seeing them perform some of the hits live at Lollapalooza, I really started to dig the feel of the album. Now that I've listened to it a few more times I think the front half is very solid, but then it loses steam for the second half and I find it a bit boring. Still, some great songs on the album to check out. My favorite is "Go!" 


14. Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit

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Technically an EP, but it's their newest material in over 5 years. Not too much to say. It's just 4 solid Massive Attack jams thrown together for your enjoyment. Check out "Dead Editors" for a funky jam.

Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit

13. Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

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Iggy Pop teaming up with Josh Homme is such an exciting collaboration. Before hearing a single note you can already picture how their two styles would complement each other. I really enjoyed my first listen of Post Pop Depression and could hear where Homme's touch came in. It's a good album, but nothing really sticks out to me as particularly memorable. I'm not a huge Iggy Pop fan, so while I doubt I'll sit down and listen to this album all that often, I think songs are more than welcome to join the rotation in my playlists. Favorite song off the album is "Gardenia."

Iggy Pop - Gardenia

12. Deftones - Gore

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Gore snuck up on me. I didn't even know Deftones were in the studio making new music, so it was a pleasant surprise when the album was released. I probably played it every day for the first week. They seem to pick up right where they left off, and I like how spacey the album is at times. My favorite song is probably "Hearts/Wires."

Deftones - Hearts/Wires

11. St. Lucia - Matter

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I was so excited for a second album from St. Lucia. I became a serious St. Lucia fan after seeing him live at Headliner's a couple years ago. Just great feel good music performed so well live. Matter is just such a fun album to listen to. It's the kind of music you want to grab someone special and dance to. "Rescue Me" is a good one.

St. Lucia - Rescue Me

10. Schoolboy Q - Blank Face LP

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This album is loaded with guests spots and great beats. I love Q's rapping style. I just wish it translated better to his live shows. Regardless, a lot of songs off this album got added to my rap playlist after I listened to it a few times. Favorite track is probably "Ride Out."

Schoolboy Q - Ride Out

9. Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.

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Speaking of TDE family, how about this cool collection of songs that Kendrick released to his fans? Some outtake songs from To Pimp A Butterfly that for whatever reason didn't make the cut. There's no real flow to the album, but a Kendrick Lamar playlist curated by Kendrick Lamar is cool with me.
My favorite is "untitled 02 | 06.23.2014."


8. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

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Honestly I was never a really big fan of Radiohead. I guess I never really gave their music a chance, but after seeing them live at Lollapalooza, I finally understood why all my friends suggested them. Radiohead was my second most played artist on Spotify this year. I've listened to their entire discography 3 different times this year and while A Moon Shaped Pool isn't their best album, it's still a solid album experience beginning to end. They played a few songs live and they all blew me away. My favorite off the album is "The Numbers."

Radiohead - The Numbers

7. Childish Gambino - "Awaken, My Love!"

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What a surprising album. While I really enjoy the style on his previous albums, I love the more mature direction of this one. In fact, it's downright funky at times. It took me until my second listen to truly appreciate what he was doing with this album. It's the kind of music that is approrpaite for so many different settings. This will be an album I listen to often in 2017. My favorite groove is "Redbone."

Childish Gambino - Redbone

6. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

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This was a very polarizing album in 2016. Who knows what kind of mental state Kanye was in when he started on this album, but it's weird and I love it. I was excited to maybe see his show live here when they announced his tour was rolling through. But then, you know, Kanye went full Kanye so that didn't happen. Still, this album was great. I don't know what genre I would even throw it in, but my favorite track off the album is "Wolves."

Kanye West - Wolves

5. Nine Inch Nails - Not the Actual Events

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Okay, again, technically an EP, but the last time we saw anything new by NIN was back in 2013. Reznor spent a lot of the NIN hiatus working with Atticus Ross and brought him along to help with the EP. This collection of tracks is fantastic and sound like they'd have a place on any album of the past. It has me hopeful that we'll get a tour in 2017 sometime. Check out "The Idea of You."

Nine Inch Nails - The Idea of You

4. The Naked and Famous - Simple Forms

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This was one of my most anticipated albums of 2016. The Naked and Famous is one of my favorite bands and I love the progression of their sound from even before Passive Me, Aggressive You. This album met all my expectations. The entire album is so colorful and full to the brim of good feelings. Guaranteed to cheer you up even on the gloomiest of days. My awesome wife got us tickets to see them on my 30th birthday, so that was extra special to me this year. My favorite song they performed off the new album was "The Runners."

The Naked and Famous - The Runners

3. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 3


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It was a Christmas Fucking Miracle when RTJ decided to drop this album a month early on Christmas Day. I listened to this song back-to-back-to-back Christmas night. I couldn't get enough.  I swear each RTJ album gets better and better. What I love about RTJ is that they always release their music for free. They aren't in it for the money but still put out dope music. RTJ3 is fucking awesome. It's impossible to pick a favorite off RTJ3, but I love the beat on "Talk to Me."

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway

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Haters will say that the Chili Peppers just aren't nearly as good without Frusciante. That comments holds some merit, but they still rock in my opinion. They let Josh stretch his legs a bit more on this album and I think it made the experience so much better than I'm With You. Seeing them perform a few of the songs live at Lollapalooza was incredible. The band has a renewed energy and this album might be the beginning of a new great era of Red Hot Chili peppers. Bests song on the album is "Dreams of a Samurai."

Dreams of a Samurai

1. The Avalanches - Wildflower

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My absolute favorite album of 2016. This album is an incredibly fun trip beginning to end. It's weird and funky and upbeat and psychedelic and truly an experience front to back. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Plastic Beach by Gorillaz, which is in my top 3 favorite albums of all time. For Wildflower, The Avalanches seem to take that concept of an album and mold it into something uniquely theirs. This is also the first new music we've heard from The Avalanches in 16 years! I'm excited The Avalanches are back. Hard to pick a favorite, but "Because I'm Me" is a great way to kick off the album.

The Avalanches - Because I'm Me


Looking forward to 2017

2017 is shaping up to be a great year for music. It's got a great head start with Moon Taxi coming to Covington later in January. This will be the 18th or 19th time I've seen them live. Then in February is what's turned out to be a Moulton Men tradition. The Dark Side of the Wall performs their annual Pink Floyd Experience recreation at the Brown Theater. I got in early on some great seats one row from the front, so I'm very excite for that. It's always fun rocking out with my dad. Then I've got Forecastle to look forward to. After a couple disappointing years for headliners, they've really got me excited this year for LCD Soundsystem, Weezer, RTJ, and so many others. Then shortly after that will be Lollapalooza, which is 4 days again this year after the success of last year. I don't know who will be performing, but I've got a few hopefuls. 

Which brings me to new music for 2017. There's a lot of artists in the studio right now working on new music. Off the top of my head theres: Moon Taxi, Gorillaz, Tool, and Queens of the Stone Age. I could see Gorillaz or Tool (or both?!) headlining Lollapalooza this year. And I'm always down for new Moon Taxi or QotSA. Plus tons more new music coming. Can't wait. 
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