The 25 Best Albums of 2016

Welcome to my annual nerd moment. My 25 favorite albums of 2016. Feel free to disagree. Everything in my top 5 seemed like fair game for the #1 spot this year.

My honorable mention list this year:

Case/Lang/Veirs Case/Lang/Veirs

Deakin Sleep Cycle

Iggy Pop Post Pop Depression

ANOHNI HOPELESSNESS

Jeff Rosenstock WORRY.

Various Artists Southern Family

Now my actual top 25 list. Feel free to skip my lengthy blurbs... it took me a surprisingly short time to write them...

25 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity

I honestly don't know enough about the modern world of garage rock to judge whether or not this album is something important or influential, but there's a legitimate lo-fi fuzz covering this album's almost symphonic set of stoner tracks. It's all psychedelic, mysterious, borderline Satanic, but mostly just really stupid. And the "infinite loop" shtick is kinda cool.

24 James Blake The Colour In Anything

James Blake is one of the most important artists of this entire decade. Yet I'm sure this album will be forgotten over time, out-shined by James' early days; his futuristic work. Here we see James spilling 70+ minutes of ideas onto one album. This is ear candy for fans, but not so much for those new to his work.

Oh, by the way: I'M A FAN.

23 Crying Beyond the Fleeting Gales

I don't know what to call this... On first listen, one might mistake this for total shoegaze. In reality, this is trying to make beauty out of anything electronic this band can grab. The vocals are classic shoegaze reverb, the guitars are reminiscent of crappy hair metal bands, the backing synths add a sense of both beauty and oddity... yeah, you gotta hear it to understand.

22 Blood Orange Freetown Sound

I was not a fan of this album at first listen. I kept comparing it to its 2013 predecessor Cupid Deluxe. Dev Hynes isn't trying to reconstruct early 90s R&B radio on this album. He's stretching the board even further. This takes influence from all eras of R&B and world music.An impressive span of sub-genres here.

21 Ka Honor Killed the Samurai 

Ka returns to my year-end album list! You can always count on this man to deliver some mature hip-hop. This isn't as ambitious as his last album The Night's Gambit, but he still sticks with conceptualization. I guess comparing your life to the work of ancient samurais is pretty corny, but this is coming from Ka: A 44 year-old NYC firefighter who simply raps on the side. His voice of experience rules the album.

20 Nicolas Jaar Sirens

I hyped up this album to no end expecting it to be "the big one" from Jaar. Well... it's not.

But it's still good! Jaar gives his own electronically advanced take on classic styles of pop music; blues, latin, rock and roll.

19 Noname Telefone

The instrumentals to Telefone are complex and jazzy as it gets. And yet this whole album is a more laid back experience. It never gets too loud and the rapping never yells for your attention. Yet it contains all the passion and intensity you could ask for. Noname goes over some soulful, personal stories. And although this could qualify as sunshine music, its complexities darken the mood. It's realis what it is.

18 Parquet Courts Human Performance

I haven't cared about these guys in the last few years, but this album took me by surprise. It takes from their usual minimalist art punk formula and advances into a broad, mysterious project. The album cover denotes the metaphoric murder mystery the album presents us. And there's some extra instrumentation that spices things up; I'm particularly a fan of the bongos and flutes.

17 Swans The Glowing Man

Over 2 hours of scary, patient, climactic post-rock (as usual), and not a minute wasted (as usual).

16 The Avalanches Wildflower

The Avalanches had a lot going against them releasing an instrumental hip-hop album in 2016. Yet they come back in full force with modernized production and experimenting with their own non-sampled arrangements (this is new for them). They bring the genre back to life in full color.

15 Sturgill Simpson A Sailor's Guide to Earth

This is a major label country album. And I own it. Bought it at my local closing Hasting's. 0 regret with that decision. Sturgill goes big on this album with some of my favorite brooding tracks of the year, as well as some zesty tracks backed by nicotine-flavored horns reminiscent of Waylon Jennings. Sturgill gives us a guide to his Earth: His family, God, the U.S. Navy, Nirvana, Nintendo 64, while rhyming "Kim-Jong-il" with "I can't pay my f***ing bills" and "grandma's buying pills." 

14 Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial

This is one of the most refreshing indie albums I've heard in a couple years. Will Toledo proves himself to be a sprite young songwriter. The lyrics represent a kid who still remembers his high school bullies, now trying to face his adulthood demons. The guitars evoke sweet 70s radio tracks one minute, but can be turned into angst at any moment. It's an epic working-class experience.

13 Beyonce Lemonade

Beyonce made the 13th best album of 2016. No more, no less. High moments like "Hold Up," "Sorry" and "Formation" are some of the best songs of the entire year. I'm not really big into the whole concept or story of the album, but this is a terrific example of what modern pop music should attain in the studio. Musical variety, 100% vocal effort, and layers upon layers of hooks.

12 YG Still Brazy

I sometimes look at this as a novelty album, considering how much it takes from old-school G-funk rap. But really, this is him talking to us. This is gangsta rap in its truest form. "Twist My Fingaz" is YG's personal anthem. "FDT" has become the official anti-Trump anthem forever. In all its simplicity an boldness, there's no filler on this album. Just the basic SoCal rap principles.

11 Solange A Seat At the Table

Solange's voice just breaks my heart every time. In theme, she takes ultimate pride in her skin color, while admitting to her own faults and struggles. Musically, she uses this copy+paste formula blending the simplest, most endearing aspects of R&B and soul. While the music remains at its core, so does her intentions. This is human relate-ability.

10 Kendrick Lamar untitled unmastered

So what does the greatest artist alive sound like when they're barely even trying?

This album is 30 minutes of To Pimp A Butterfly outtakes; perhaps not fully produced, but definitely fully written. "untitled 05" is one of the best rap songs of the year. If this album has died off on you, I recommend a fresh listen. It will tackle you from behind.

9 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree

Due to the heavy, naked emotion of this album, I have assumed this will be the last we'll ever hear from Nick Cave. Knowing him, he'll probably come back in 3 years with some barn-burning goth rock album for all we know. Until then, this album is a moment of silence reserved for the death of his son. Cave has always flirted with songs of death and mortality. Now we get to hear his personal mourning process. It's discomforting, it's bare, it's depressing, but it's all the more beautiful.

8 Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool

The production on this album is ridiculously fresh and crisp. In fact, I fell asleep the first time I heard it. But I've kept coming back because of it. Every intricate note and sound is given proper studio treatment. Jonny Greenwood took the helm on this album's instrumental arrangements, complete with full complex orchestral pieces and classic Radiohead mixture of guitar tones. And Thom Yorke's lyrics are more existential than ever.

7 Anderson .Paak Malibu

On what's probably the hottest album of the year, it's just fun to watch Paak go! He just keeps delivering track after track with these preciously layered R&B and hip-hop songs. His voice has done nothing but grow on me throughout the year. These songs come with this sunny storytelling from an aging character who has waited years for a chance to produce something so big.

6 Angel Olsen MY WOMAN

Angel Olsen threw a curve ball at me this fall. Her last album kinda hid her distinguished voice behind some less interesting indie marijuana lounge rock. Here, her voice is in the forefront and belting out like never before. The songs come off so familiar, I feel like I've heard them on oldies stations before. No, this is just Angel Olsen's magic at work. A brilliant blend of country and garage rock. A woman longing to discover her true self, but in the meanwhile longs for her crush to just shut up and kiss her already. She's our woman.

5 David Bowie Blackstar

What a way to go.

Bowie needs no introduction. He's one of the greatest artists of all time and arguably the greatest artist of the 70s period. He can make a great album whenever he wants. Knowing he would die soon, he spared no energy making this album full of lively kraut rock songs (yes, kraut rock). It's a dark world full of glamorous free jazz saxophone solos and sincere deathbed sentiments. A beautiful, threatening album from a man who always had the ability to see the future.

4 A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here...Thank You 4 Your service

So much to say about this album. The Donald Trump thing, the Phife Dawg thing, the 18-year break thing. All these lovable songs just kinda connect with each other perfectly, while also connecting with our culture. There's no deadweight here. Solid rapping throughout. Some eye-opening song topics. This is ageless hip-hop songwriting. It was released at the perfect time. This is a truly great rap album that just so coincidentally happened to be made by our favorite rap geezers.

3 Chance The Rapper Coloring Book

"No Problem" was always my obvious #1 song of the year, but I needed to enter this album with a dose of humility to truly understand the whole thing. It's then easy to get caught up in its innocent, children's choir world of wonder. That pink cloud, starry cloud on the cover is real, man. And the smiling guy on the cover has been smiling down on us all year. He's Chance the Entertainer. Chance the Producer. Chance the Anti-label Enthusiast. Chance the Creator of Sunshine. Rapping is just something he does on the side.

2 Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition

While Chance gave us a book for us test our 64-pack of coloring crayons, Danny Brown grabbed us by the neck and made us witness his exhibit of atrocities. With every song, you never know where the next turn will take you or when it's ever going to end. It's a downward spiral from the get-go. Danny Brown gives us this weird, nocturnal grab-bag of songs accompanied by his impeccable flow and mind-blowing production. As tortured as he sounds, Brown teaches a simple lesson: Say no to drugs.

1 Frank Ocean Blonde

Sometimes I forget this album was made by the same guy who made Channel Orange. "Ivy" is a legitimate scope into the artist's psyche. "Siegfried" is the 5-minute stare in the mirror you never tell your friends about. "Self Control" is the sound of a grown man fighting his childish emotions. "Solo" is a rare fusion of songwriting abilities from beyond the veil. And none of the songs I've mentioned have any rhythm or percussion section. The bold choices made on this album keep the listener coming back. Blonde is a product of isolation.