I realized last year when I was drafting my Top 10 list that I just wasn’t prepared to do it right. There’s no way I was going to feel good about naming the “best” albums of that year like a big music blog or magazine. I just hadn’t heard them all. So I made a list of new records to me that were released in 2015 or earlier. And then I realized that the famous end-of-year lists are written by whole companies in which lots of people contribute. Of course I wasn’t going to put out a fair and unbiased list, I’m just one dude. Duh.
So anyway, I’m doing a few things this year. I made the following list of my favorite records that were released this year, each with a three-word review. And there’s a cute little list at the end of ones that I REALLY REALLY WISH CAME OUT THIS YEAR BECAUSE I HEARD THEM THIS YEAR AND THEY ARE SO GOOD AND I WANT TO PUT THEM AT THE TOP OF THE 2016 LIST BUT I CAN’T. I JUST CAN’T. I am making a tiny little zine run of drawings of these album covers with the reviews and my favorite songs. Check out my website [editor Mattie here, this used to link to a dead tumblr but that has been fixed] in a few days to get one of those if you’d like. I’m also making a zine of important songs. Every week or so there’s that one song that I put on whenever I have my headphones on. I kept a running list of these and added their title to a drawing on my phone until it became a squiggly mess of letters. The zine’s will also have some pictures from the year and drawings I made, sorted by month. It’s kind of cool I think. Check that out on my website also. And I’m making a list of my friends’ music that was released this year. For that, I guess friend me on Facebook.
Thanks for reading! I hope my list interests you and you check out something you haven’t heard before or re-listen to the ones you have.
10. Twin Peaks – “Down In Heaven”
Gotta love it.
Favorite songs: Holding Roses, Butterfly, Heavenly Showers
9. Humanshapes – “Fabulous Actors”
“Punch a dog.”
Favorite songs: Black Leather Jackets, I.W.P.A.D., Are You Bored Yet
8. Danny Brown – “Atrocity Exhibition”
Real and new.
Favorite songs: Downward Spiral, Ain’t it Funny, Golddust, Hell For It
7. David Bowie – “Blackstar”
Secret death, Guiliana.
Favorite songs: Sue (Or In a Season of Crime), Blackstar, Girl Loves Me
6. Kanye West – “The Life of Pablo”
Ultra light beam.
Favorite songs: Ultralight Beam, Feedback, Freestyle 4
5. LVL UP – “Return To Love”
Grew on me.
Favorite songs: Cut From the Vine, Spirit Was, Hidden Driver, Five Men on the Ridge
4. clipping. – “Splendor & Misery”
Nothing like Hamilton.
Favorite songs: Baby Don’t Sleep, Wake Up, Story 5, The Breach, True Believer
3. PUP – “The Dream is Over”
Catchy and angry.
Favorite songs: The Coast, Old Wounds, If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will, Sleep In The Heat
2. Behavior – “375 Images of Angels”
Testing your mind.
Favorite songs: North, For Contempt, Dry Swift Horse, 78
1. Pinegrove – “Cardinal”
“Walking outside labyrinthian.”
Favorite songs: New Friends, Old Friends, Cadmium, Visiting, Then Again
Honorable Mention
A$AP Ferg – “Always Strive and Prosper”
Rap about Grandma.
Albums I WISH came out this year:
The Hotelier – “Home, Like Noplace Is There” (2014)
Favorite songs: Dendron, An Introduction To The Album, Among the Wildflowers, In Framing
Alex G – “DSU” (2014)
Favorite songs: After Ur Gone, Sorry, Harvey, Icehead
LVL UP – “Hoodwink’d” (2014)
Favorite songs: Soft Power, DBTS, Annie’s A Witch, Primordial Heat
Roy Wood – “Boulders” (1973)
Favorite songs: Wake Up, Songs of Praise, Nancy Sing Me A Song, Dear Elaine
Elliott Smith – “Either/Or” (1997)
Favorite songs: Angeles, Say Yes, Between the Bars, Cupid’s Trick
_____
Edited by Mattie on 2023/03/11 to fix broken images.
