Top 79 Music Albums of 2016
by 
Skinny 
After #41 this is a complete mess (obviously I like all of these records, but they're in no kind of order whatsoever, largely because I haven't yet figured out how much I like them). Will get it sorted properly when I have the time (maybe).
- Chart updated: 06/18/2016 11:15
- (Created: 01/07/2016 17:41).
- Chart size: 79 albums.
There are 4 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 has an average rating of 87 out of 100 (from 7 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Gurgling vibraphone, propulsive, jungle-referencing drums, choppy, simmering synths and tape loops - suggestive of a coming apocalypse of sorts - and third-eye revolutionist spoken word all come together here to create one of the most interesting and vital hours of music I've heard this year. Recorded at London's amazing Cafe OTO on New Year's Day, this thing is constantly evolving, starting off pretty heady and trance-like and just edging further towards the cliff from there. It sounds a little bit like Roy Ayers had a really bad acid trip that ended with him and Sun Ra jamming at a darkside drum'n'bass rave as the sky threatened to collapse, and is therefore something you absolutely need to hear (obviously). It's the only digital release I've actually spent money on - something I'm loath to do - since fuck knows when, and I don't even remotely regret it.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
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Been vibing to this a lot since it dropped. They're a supergroup of sorts, with the most well-known member here being bassist Alan Bishop of mischievous, globe-hopping psych-rockers Sun City Girls, and this album certainly recalls some of that band's best moments (and even harks back to their best album, Torch of the Mystics, in its similar artwork). Basically the first half of this album is made up of scratchy, hypnotic, enjoyably ramshackle jams that take various motifs from North African music but instill them with a Kosmische pulse. It manages to feel very free and yet very disciplined at the same time, concentrating on upbeat, accessible rhythms, but underscoring them with muscular basslines that anchor everything. The real joy here is in the guitar-playing, which is agile and occasionally fraught, calling to mind early Wire if they were tripping on acid. Then the second half of the record jumps off a cliff into a Tangerine Dream-esque ambient puddle. Of course. Brilliant.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
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This is a longform ambient piece that takes in field recordings, subtly glimmering synth sections, and old musical samples that crop up throughout like family spirits trying to communicate to you that they've finally found peace. There's lots of space here to walk around in, and the whole thing evolves constantly with a subtle dynamism that isn't necessarily apparent on the first couple of listens. Has become my go-to bedtime listening this year.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
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All over the place musically, Mitski can jump between glowing synth-pop, Pixies-aping quiet-loud-quiet indie rock, and abrasive, lo-fi, almost hardcore punk fare. Lyrically, this also runs the gamut, but there's a sort-of grown up contentedness here that shines and gives her more melancholy moments a necessary sense of maturity. She also has a very clever way with a deceptively catchy melody, and I've found a number of these songs getting stuck in my head recently.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,560
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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This expands on Dark Comedy's mix of societal anxiety and whimsy, albeit with a somewhat more idiosyncratic, varied (and, in a weird way, soulful) beat selection. Not everything works convincingly, and the whole thing has a subdued, almost sleepy vibe that was initially disappointing (but which I've since warmed to), but as a series of vignettes on a range of issues - be it the concerns of trying to build relationships in the digital age, the subtle but most certainly rife racism that people encounter every day, or society's addiction to its collective phone screen - it's excellent.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
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Industrial techno that sounds genuinely industrial, full of clanking, echoing factory noises, but with a sense of a technophobic disconnection, as if the factory itself is sentient and toying with your head (it doesn't convey a sense of paranoia so much as it creates one). As that description probably implies, there's a major emphasis on percussion here, with various bangs and taps and thuds and scrapes being the main players here. Despite being nominally techno, this album is definitely not danceable in any traditional sense, coming across as more than a mite too abstract and jittery for your average club, but even in its quieter moments there is enough interesting going on here - both compositionally and texturally - to keep me guessing.
Label: Opal Tapes [First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
Label: Opal Tapes [First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
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I prefer the more melodic moments, which have this (oxymoron alert) unsettling lullaby vibe, as well as the more mischievous moments (you know, when Frith is just pissing about with textures), to those which veer closer to greyscale drone, but the whole thing manages to feel (oxymoron alert 2) both really mysterious and really open at the same time.
[First added to this chart: 06/18/2016]
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- eclectic instrumentals that take in oceanic shoegaze washes and minimal metronomic synth-pop and gothic folk picking, with kozelek talking ever more redundant diaristic shit over the top -
I wrote the above ages ago, when I thought that this album would eventually drift out of my listening rotation. Still haven't got any concrete thoughts on it, and it's definitely not up to par with Perils, Benji, or Universal Themes, but I keep going back to this fucker. It's overlong and kinda drags at times, but it's also largely fucking gorgeous and can be pretty cathartic if played when in the right mood. [First added to this chart: 02/04/2016]
I wrote the above ages ago, when I thought that this album would eventually drift out of my listening rotation. Still haven't got any concrete thoughts on it, and it's definitely not up to par with Perils, Benji, or Universal Themes, but I keep going back to this fucker. It's overlong and kinda drags at times, but it's also largely fucking gorgeous and can be pretty cathartic if played when in the right mood. [First added to this chart: 02/04/2016]
Total albums: 8. Page 1 of 1
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Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Boosie Badazz | 4 | 5% | |
| Future (Rap) | 2 | 3% | |
| Skepta | 1 | 1% | |
| Westside Gunn | 1 | 1% | |
| Andy Stott | 1 | 1% | |
| Open Mike Eagle & Paul White | 1 | 1% | |
| Kamaiyah | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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| |
41 | 52% | |
 |
15 | 19% | |
 |
8 | 10% | |
 |
3 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 4% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 chart changes
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Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 7 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/30/2017 20:21 |  bobbyb5 | 725 | 90/100 |
| ! | 12/27/2016 02:55 |  phantom1305 | 291 | 92/100 |
| ! | 06/08/2016 18:08 |  mickilennial | 715 | 77/100 |
| ! | 05/05/2016 14:59 |  RockyRaccoon | 49 | 90/100 |
| ! | 02/16/2016 23:21 |  GeevyDallas | 118 | 90/100 |
Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 favourites
Top 79 Music Albums of 2016 comments
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From bobbyb5 06/30/2017 20:22 | #193483
bobbyb5 06/30/2017 20:22 | #193483
Gold Panda!!!! Mr. Fingers!!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From GeevyDallas 02/16/2016 23:22 | #159966
GeevyDallas 02/16/2016 23:22 | #159966
seen in your log you were looking for recs. skee mask and gunnar haslam's albums are both sick and worth checking out. cadell's album too.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
meccalecca 02/16/2016 16:40 | #159943
meccalecca 02/16/2016 16:40 | #159943
I will be coming here to pilfer frequently
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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