Ray's Top 20 songs of 2018

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, and so I emerge from another period of radio silence to list of my top 20 favourite songs of the year. Thanks to uni i havent listened to as much new music as I would have liked to in the last third of 2018 (Although several songs from it are still represented), so dont go into this thinking its some kind of objective overview of the year in music. Also, my criteria for a song to get on here is that it has to have either been released this year on been on an album released this year (even if it came out at the end of 2017). Lets go:

Honourable Mention: 6ix9ine - BILLY




Bear with me, bear with me, I KNOW 6ix9ine is a terrible human being, but to be fair thats pretty much the appeal of his music to begin with. Listen to  'BILLY' once and it's clear it's a terrible, awful, borderline unlistenable song, but I love it to death. The sheer absurdity of a rainbow-coloured young man with '69' tattooed on his forehead screeching primary-school bully tier lyrics with a voice of burnt gravel is the epitome of so-bad-it's-good. So for what may be the most unintentionally hilarious song of the year, 6ix9ine makes the list.

20. SOPHIE - Faceshopping




On the actually good side of things is 'Faceshopping' by Sophie, a song which, to me at least, feels like its been thrown into 2018 from the future. Complete with it's rather terrifying music video, Sophie tackles consumerism... maybe? And identity... maybe. No matter what the song is about, it sounds like a firework display going off inside a metal bin, which is good enough for me.

19. St Vincent - Fast Slow Disco




One of my favourite albums of last year was 'MASSEDUCTION' by St. Vincent. One of my least favourite songs on the album was 'Slow Disco'. For some reason - possibly just for the sake of having a slightly funny in-joke song title - the originally solemn track was twisted into a synth-pop banger. And now I like it more than nearly every other song on 'MASSEDUCTION'. Huh.

18. The Voidz - QYURRYUS




'QYURRYUS' sounds unlike I've anything I've ever heard. The guitar work sounds more like sirens and malfunctioning machines than 'music', and at least of half of Julian Casablancas' lyrics are incomprehensibly murmured or shouted in a guttaral, almost Asian-inspired way, until the song evolves into a weird Ariel Pink-esque chant, with auto-tuned ad-libs. The complete antithesis to anyone complaining about the Strokes constantly looking backwards into history for inspiration.

17. They Might Be Giants - I Left My Body




On their latest LP They Might Be Giants proclaimed that they 'Like Fun'. 'I Left My Body' follows a character who drifts out of his body and cant get back in, waiting endlessly in an unbearable purgatory. I'm not sure if They Might Be Giants like fun.

16. Jeff Rosenstock -Yr Throat



I had some trouble picking the stand-out track from 'POST-', but ultimately 'Yr Throat' is the song which holds up best almost a year after the January 1st release date of the album. It probably helps that it does sound like a Christmas song in many ways, albeit a Christmas song about crushing dread. Jeff always manages to come up with vocal melodies that stick in your brain after a single listen and refuse to leave, and 'Yr Throat' stands amongst 'Festival Song' and 'Nausea' as his best work.

15. U.S. Girls - M.A.H



Thankfully obnoxious anti-trump music was on the fade this year on the whole, but we still got one political middle-finger worth keeping thanks to U.S. Girls disco-infused, Kylie Minogue-esque jam 'Mad As Hell (M.A.H.)'. Sounding like a lost gem from the seventies yet grounded firmly in 2018, this is a great example on how to make political music that is as listenable as it is thought-provoking.

14.Mitski - Two Slow Dancers

 

One of two songs on this list about slow dancing, the finale of Mitski's latest LP is the rare ballad that manages to enthrall me. The music is beautiful, as is Mitski's gentle singing, but what really pulls this song together are the lyrics, which manage to escape the tediously over-wraught, melodramatic lyrics that make similar ballads fail. The arresting first line - 'Does it smell like a school gymnasium in here' is maybe my favourite lyric of the year, instantly bringing up nostalgia, sex and longing that ride out on every metaphor and pondering thought Mitski pours into the rest of the wonderfully brief runtime.

13.Beach House - Pay No Mind



The central melody of 'Pay No Mind' sounds remarkably familiar, to the point where I had to look up the chord sequence to see if I could find some earlier version, but I couldnt. Either way, 'Pay No Mind' is the most relaxing, blissful and transcendental dream-pop song of the year. The song sounds like sitting in a tiny wooden hut by a fire, watching the stars in the night sky, or something equally romantic.

12. Daughters - The Reason They Hate Me



And on the opposite end of the musical spectrum is Daughters with 'The Reason They Hate Me'. Pretty much any song from 'You Won't Get You Want'  could have been here, but this late track on the album starts with a bang and just keeps getting more and more intense until the first chorus - perhaps climax is a more apprpropriate term - where the broken-machinery guitar-riff turns into a demonic printer edging out soul-stabbing shrieks. Exciting, explosive and terrifying this is the musical equivalent of a really great horror movie.

11. Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel



'Make Me Feel' is exactly the type of song that 80s Prince would have made in 2018, and that kind of 80s  worship carries over to the impressive music video, one of many Monae released this year. Don't get caught thinking this is mere throwback music - Greta Van Fleet this aint - Monae updates the 'Kiss' esque elements of 'make Me Feel' with 2000s girl-group harmonies and a slight off-kilter-ness that makes everything sound somehow even more colourful and rich than even Prince could manage.

10. The 1975 - Love it if We Made It



I don't particularly consider myself to be a fan of the 1975 but they manage to consistently release a few incredible singles every album cycle. Last time it was 'Love Me' and 'The Sound' , but I think they've out-done themselves this time with 'Love it if We Made It', which is surely their best song yet. Matt Healy shouts the lyrics so passionately you cant help but pay attention to what he's saying - and what he's saying is pretty amazing, the lyrics taking the form of a 'We didn't Start the Fire' or 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It' stream of consciousness of relevant news topics. This makes the song sound absolutely massive, as if the entire world as it is is encapsulated in a chaotic four minute pop song. Best of all is the ultimately hopeful sentiment that we've been lacking in so much pop music for the past few years, as Healy sings 'Modernity has failed us - but I'd love it if we made it.'

9.Kanye West - Ghost town



Whatever KanyeWest does, says or changes his name to, I don't really care as long as he keeps dropping songs as musically varied, unique and ultimately powerful as 'Ghost Town'. Every one of the many guests that pop up here in just a few short minutes add immensley to the song, from Kid Cudi's heartfelt chorus to 070 SHAKE's euphoric outro of the song whcih builds up, collapses and builds again bigger over and over until only that unforgettable melody is lodged in your head.

8.Death Grips - Black Paint



This is the song that grew on me the most over 2018. On my first few listens I could barely get a grip on any kind of melody or instrument within the super-dense mix of 'Black Paint', but upon further listens (Especially when turned up loud), this is one of the most forceful and exciting as well as by far one of the heaviest songs Death Grips have ever produced. The chorus of 'BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM' is as fun to scream along to as anything you could want from MC Ride and the bass is so thicc it practically sounds like the sonic equivalent of... well, black paint.

7.Kero Kero Bonito - Only Acting



Surely my biggest musical surprise of 2018 was 'Only Acting'. It starts off with a hollow, industrial beat and immediately it's clear something is... off. 'Bonito generation' was a joyful, cute and child-like album, and on 'Only Acting' KKB grew up big time, taking influences from contemporaries like Jeff Rosenstock and of all people, Death Grips to make a catchy but wonderfully dark meditation on social media and identity, complete with a key change that (On the album) is sharply interrupted by distorted interference.

6.MGMT - When You Die



It's almost a year to the day of me writing this that this completely whacked out psychadelic jam was sprung on to the world by musical pranksters MGMT. Complete with proabably my favourite music video of the year, the individual elements of 'When You Die' are so bizarre that when they come together its impossible to know whether you should laugh or be terrified. With only a single extended chorus, the main hook of the song funtions as 'GO FUCK YOURSELF', which pretty much exemplifies this idea. If your gonna do LSD at least do yourself the favour of listening to this while you trip out.

5.Anna Von HaussWolf - The Mysterious Vanishing Of Electra



It's rare for a song to genuinely unnerve me, but 'the Mysterious Vanishing Of Electra', with it's crushing repeating riff and razor-edge vocals manages to be unsettling and thrilling on every repeated listen. After three minutes of tense build-up the real climax of the song bursts unexpectedly just when you think the coast is clear. Inspired by recent Swans albums it may be, but Anna Von Hausswolff manages to channel Michael Gira's cackle into a more theatrical and dramatic as well as arguably more accessible piece of sound.

4.joji - Slow Dancing in the Dark



The other huge musical surprise for me this year was just how much I adored this song by Joji. Every other song the man's made has been mediocre at best, but Jesus Christ this song just hits me. The nocturnal, underwater soundscape constructed in the production manages to sound cutting edge - this is totally what pop music will sound like in several years time -  and Joji finally flexes his lyrical and vocal muscles. The climactic shout of the songs title in the chorus is maybe the most cathartic I've heard all year and the hopeless-romantic lyrics manage to sum up Joji's entire appeal in the most mature and original way yet. Hopefully Joji will sound more like this in the future and less like 'Test Drive'.

3.Haru Nemuri - sekaiwotorikaeshiteokure



Sometimes you hear a song from a scene you've never explored that makes you wonder what you've been missing out on all this time. This song (I'm not gonna try to write that name any more times than I have to) by Haru Nemei is a perfect example of this. Sounding just enough like Western rock music to draw me in, the vocoded backing vocals, explosive choruses, key changes and over-lapping melodies combine to make a song that I may not understand but I completely adore - especially when it breaks into a hugely impressive rap verse of all things in it's bridge. It sounds like the world ending, in Japanese.

2.Car Seat Headrest - Nervous Young Inhumans



Yes, there are proabably better songs on 'Twin Fantasy'. 'Beach Life-In-Death', 'Famous Prophets (Stars)' and 'Bodies' and 'Sober To Death' etc, etc. But for some reason this is the song I've been coming back to all year. Maybe it's the Killers-esque synth line, maybe it's just how the now-audible lyrics are some of the best on the album, maybe it's the way Will Toledo sings 'You'll get what you want and you will get what you deserve', or maybe its just that since its basically the shortest proper song on the album it's the one I feel like I can never hear enough times.

1.Kids See ghosts - Reborn




For the third year in a row I've had trouble naming my 'song of the year' - once again there hasn't been one specific song that felt so much better than everything else that I could immediately place it at the top. But there has to be a winner, and 'Reborn' is deserving as you can get. Innovative, unique, relaxing and ultimately transcendental, this track (along with 'Cudi Montage') feels destined to save thousands of lives purely through the catharsis and hope contained within it. That's not even to mention just how beautifully cathartic it is to see two of the music industries most publicly troubled individuals - Kanye West and Kid Cudi - come together to spread a message of hope, and one that sounds damn good at that. Keep movin' forward.

February Album reviews

Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods

This album is getting totally roasted by critics, and for the most part it deserves it, although I will also say that I don't think this is an outright awful project overall. Some parts are undeniably bad: the pretentious interludes, 'Supplies' (Along with it's music video) and the uncomfortable 'Sauce' - but most of the stuff here is just uninteresting. It's hard to imagine anyone particularly hating or liking 'The Hard Stuff' or 'Flannel' or the just-as-boring-as-the-title-suggests 'Livin' Off The Land' and 'Breeze Off The Pond'. There are even a few songs I enjoy here, the title track is a mid-tier Timberlake song and 'Filthy' is an incredibly brave if unfitting and awkward choice for the opening track. Even the more pop-country leaning 'Young Man' and 'Say Something' are pleasant enough. Hell, one of my biggest problems with JT in general is mostly absent here, as the songs don't climb into tedious 7-minute plus runtimes. So maybe not as bad as people are making it out to be, but no classic. 4.4/10

Dream Wife - Dream Wife

It seems Dream Wife have released a fairly average power pop album which has been favourably compared to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I don't hear it. Nobody could argue anything on here is as good as 'Maps', but discounting this unfair comparison (Which is almost entirely because both bands are fronted by women and in the same genre), 'Dream Wife' is an album which would be better if it didn't sound like so many British 'Saviours of rock' from the 2010s as the music press tries to sell second-rate indie music to a fanbase which has moved on. Absolutely nothing is wrong with this album, it's just not what indie rock needs, and sounds like it could have come out about 10 years ago. 5.2/10

Rich Brian - Amen

Formerly known as Rich Chigga, Rich Brian is a trap-rapper that makes music which could only have come out in 2018, with lyrics heavily focused on internet culture and production which exemplifies the mish-mash of genres that my generation has been exposed to thanks to streaming. The production is the most appealing aspect of 'Amen', with songs like 'Cold' having a soundscape juicier than the majority of trap. Unfortunately despite having some great singles this album is ultimately held back by the lyrics, which aside from several lines every song, are the typical trap topics of sex ('Kitty'), flexing ('Occupied') and haters ('Enemies'). 6.3/10

Hookworms - Microshift

This is one of the most ambitious and surreal rock albums I've found so far this year. With strong influences from The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective (Specifically 'Merriweather Post Pavilion', with 'The Soft Season' sounding like an outtake from that very album), this is largely still a very original album. Filled with synth interludes and lengthy compositions, this would usually not be a particularly accessible album, but the melodies are so captivating. 7.9/10




TDE - Black Panther Soundtrack

Surprisingly cohesive, and I do quite like 'All The Stars' (Basically by SZA) and 'I Am' (Basically by Jorja Smith), but Kendrick is largely disappointing and FUTURE's god-awful falsetto on 'King's Dead' is one of the worst things i've heard all year. (Also the film was fairly average). 5.8/10







MGMT - Little Dark Age 

I was really hoping that 'Little dark age'  would live up to the 80s-drenched single of the same name, and it definitely has. Nothing on here even really sounds much like the song 'Little Dark Age' other than gothic synthpop anthem 'One Thing Left To Try', but all of the songs are linked by a fun-filled homage to the electronic side of the 80s, from the glorious silliness of 'She Works Out Too Much' and 'Me and Michael' to the morbidly twisted 'When You Die', with it's bendy, quirky riffs and expletive lyrics. It's not perfect, and while no track is below average the LP is certainly front loaded with it's four best songs being the first four tracks, but it's hard to complain when the closer 'Hand It Over' rolls in. 8.5/10

The Wombats - Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life

I have a love-hate relationship with The Wombats, and much of their material teeters on an awkward line between great and awful. I can't stand the twee cheesiness of 'Let's Dance To Joy Division', yet I've been playing 'Be Your Shadow' since it was released in 2015. This new album sadly falls mainly onto the twee cheesy side of things and I can't get behind it. The synthpop of their last album has been swapped out for an awkward combination of post-punk and pop that works alright on 'Lemon to a Knife Fight' but usually falls flat. The lyrics try desperately to be smart, especially shown on 'Turn', and it ends up becoming cringe-worthy. 4.5/10


U.S Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
This is a really weird album, and it mixes funk, pop, electronica and rock together in a way I haven't really heard before, and it works fantastically well. Opener 'Velvet 4 Sale' has jazzy wah-guitars, crackling synthesisers, horns and layers of vocals, all underpinned by a disco beat, and while some tracks follow this formula ('Rage Of Plastics'), others go in the complete other direction, like the electric storm of 'Incidental Boogie'. The production is also great, with the different elements being brought together with cohesion while maintaining breathing space in the mix. Difficult to classify in genre but easy to categorise in quality. 8.4/10

6ix9ine - DAY69

I have absolutely no idea what to think about DAY69, or 6ix9ine in general. His brand of trap is fairly unique, shouting abrasive curses over moody beats, but gets tiring quickly since most of the songs sound identical (Including having one song twice on the tracklist), even if they are entertaining. The mixtape is weighed down with two posse cuts, 'RONDO' and 'KEKE' which are fine, but sound completely separate from the rest of the material. Also, 6ix9ine could have at least removed the 'SCUUUMM GAAANG' intro from most of these tracks so nobody has to hear it 8 times in a row. 4.0/10

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy - ALBUM OF THE MONTH

I was heavily biased towards loving this album before it came out, the original 'Twin Fantasy', released in late 2011 is probably within my top 5 albums of all time. It's amazing then that I actually like this cleaner, updated version more than the original. This 2018 version takes everything great about the original - the songwriting, the lyrics and how uniquely and brilliantly interconnected the whole album is - and improves the major issue I had with the album, the ultra lo-fi production. Along the way there are a few moments I love in the original which have been lost, such as the intro to 'Cute Thing', the outro to 'Nervous Young Inhumans' (Which is otherwise soooooo much better on the 2018 version) and the 'Thank God for the little things, then f*ck God that they're little things' line in 'Beach Life-in-Death', but I can sacrifice these moments for the new moments that we get. 'High To Death' is  improved so much it sounds like a brand new song, the new outro to 'Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)' is shockingly romantic (Like most of the album), and with a massively improved mix 'Bodys' can finally live-up to its potential as maybe the best indie-rock anthem of the decade. Best of all are the improvements made to the 13 and 16 minute-long 'Beach Life-In-Death' and 'Famous Prophets (Stars)', the former benefiting from an increased variety of guitar sounds that stop the song getting as jading as the previous version could occasionally get, and the latter being transformed from a middling cut to one of the best songs on the album by a newly added outro which reaches a climactic high. This will almost undoubtedly be my album of the year and also has a real chance of being my favourite album of the decade. 10/10

Top 20 Albums of 2016

2016 has been a big year for albums, with loads of the biggest artists around dropping hyped LPs. Since the big releases for the year are mostly done, I thought it would be cool to list my top 20 favourite albums of the year. And yes, this does mean that if an album isn't on here it's more likely that I didn't hear it than didn't like it ( It's taking me a while to get into Death Grips 'Bottomless Pit' for example). Nonetheless, every album on here is great. Some were surprise released, some had years of build-up and some were great debut albums - here we go!

20. The 1975 - I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful, yet so unaware of it

A pop-rock album generally shouldn't be an hour and 14 minutes long, but 'ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI', the 1975s follow-up to their 2013 debut manages it with style and variety. There really is something for everybody here, from the pure pop of 'UGH!' and 'The Sound' to the more subtle 'Loving Someone' and the mighty 'Change of Heart'. Sure, it has three or four tracks that should have cut, but that's what skip buttons were made for. Also, marks deducted for that terrible album title.

19. Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway

An album that took most of the year to grow on me, 'The Getaway' is half an album of melodic, dreamy guitars and a (better) half of classic riffs, slapped basslines and general funkiness. Any band that can produce songs like 'Dark Necessities', 'Dreams of a Samurai' and 'Goodbye angels' are definitely not past their prime, and 'The Getaway' shows how they can still produce solid albums to this day.

18. Angel Olsen - MY WOMAN

A retro-feeling and hugely praised second album, 'MY WOMAN' is a warbling, rocking collection. Much like 'The Getaway', it's an album of two halves, the first half full of the uptempo, exciting material, but the second half definitely holds up. Also, it reminds me of one of my favourite albums from last year, 'Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit' by Courtney Barnett, which can only be a good thing.

17. Green Day - Revolution Radio

This one has the potential to be polarising - If you don't like Green Day you won't like this album - but definitely deserves to be on this list. Green Day are hardly the first band to bounce back from releasing a bad album (or in this case 3) as you'll see later on the list, but they have managed to not just return to form but exceed themselves, with their best album since 'American Idiot'. 

From the punk energy of 'Bang bang' to the epic of 'Forever now', this is the best pop-punk album released in a year filled with all of the heavyweights returning - and not necessarily better (Blink-182 anyone?).

16. YG - Still Brazy

I initially dismissed YG as just another generic rapper without listening to any of his material - his big hit is called 'Why you always Hatin'' after all - but when I finally sat down to listen to 'Still Brazy' I was blown away. It's a slick gangsta rap album that sounds simultaneously like a throwback and relevant to 2016. With highlights including 'Don't come to LA', 'Twist My Fingaz' and of course the adopted anthem 'F**k Donald Trump', it's one of the best hip-hop releases coming out in the increasingly saturated rap market.

15. Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

A compilation of some of the best Rock-and-roll purists in the business, 'Post Pop Depression' managed to make Iggy Pop relevant once again, and the World is better for it. Sounding straight out of the 60s and with a backing band made of some of the most respected rock-revivalists in the business the album is full of jams like 'Gardenia' and 'Sunday'. It's something every rock fan has an obligation to listen to.

14. Kaytranada - 99.9%

One of the most promising debut albums of the year, Kaytranada seems to be a producer who has an immediately distinct sound and a vision, as demonstrated by '99.9%'s amazing and appropriate guest features (including Anderson Paak - 'Malibu' just missed this list - Little Dragon and most surprisingly Craig David) combined with his catchy, bassy instrumentals behind each tune.

13. Frank Ocean - Blonde

The much memed and most anticipated album of the year, 'Blonde' delivered exactly what everyone had wanted and more - smooth, soulful tunes. It may take time to get into but once tunes like 'Ivy', 'Solo' and 'Nights' take hold of you it's hard to get them off repeat. Now we just have to wait until 2020 for his next album...

12. Shura - Nothing's Real

One of the more lyrically-interesting synthpop artists to spring up this year, Shura dropped her incredible debut album 'Nothing's Real' this year and garnered a fair amount of attention for it. Her songs have been played on the radio and even covered by Mumford + Sons, standing as a testament to the catchiness and brilliance of every song on the album. Self conscious at points, occasionally heartbreaking and always interesting it's almost my favourite pop album of 2016.

11. Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered

Kendrick Lamar is one of the only artists around right now who could drop what is essentially a B-sides collection and still have someone banging it out at every sixth-form common room in the country. Needless to say, 'Untitled' doesn't feel like a shabby pile of throwaways but a more upbeat and lighter partner to 2015s AOTY 'To Pimp a Butterfly' and each track is a league above what most of his rivals will ever create.

10. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Another of the most hyped releases of the year, Radiohead finally followed up their least-liked album since 'Pablo Honey' with something everyone quickly agreed on as superb. Somehow outdoing themselves in terms of sadness and heartbreak, 'A Moon Shaped Pool' is one of the most bleak records of the year and one which might take a while to click, but is definitely worth the effort.

9. Jamie T - Trick

The most english album of the year, nearly every song on 'Trick' is a classic, from the Rage-against-the-machine style 'Tinfoil boy' and 'Police tapes' to the pure pop-rock of 'Joan of Arc' and 'Robin Hood', the album has an assortment of different styles that it pulls off amazingly well. I would even go as far as to call this Jamie T's masterpiece, and the fact it's only at number 9 shows just how good this year's been.

8. Drive-By Truckers - American Band

In a year that's been especially turbulent for politics the World needed a great protest album and that's exactly what 'American Band' is. More accurately, it's a State-of-the-Nation LP that rocks hard and covers topics from Police shootings to migration in a classic Americana way. When this year is finally over, 'American Band' will be the time capsule of just how horrible 2016 was for the World.

7. Beyonce - Lemonade

I found Beyonce's 2014 self titled album pretty underwhelming for how much critics loved it, so when 'Lemonade' was released to similarly rave reviews I was expecting more of the same - but this time I agreed with the endless five star scores. 'Lemonade' is the kind of album that most pop stars would consider too risky to release, with blunt, angry lyrics and collaborating with highly respected alternative artists like Jack White and James Blake, but Beyonce pulls off the numerous different styles and tones with ease. Still, it could do without the airhorns.

6. David Bowie - Blackstar

Blackstar would likely be somewhere on this list if it had just been 40 minutes of Bowie wailing - it's a music legend's final gift after all - but that 'Blackstar' is the best Bowie record for decades just makes it even  more tragic that he had to go. The difference between listening to 'Blackstar' before and after Bowie's death was that before he died it was an incredible experimental jazz/rock album with some cryptic lyrics about death. After January 10th it was a shining memoir of the Starman himself. Also, well done Bowie for managing to get a song called 'Tis a pity she was a whore' onto a concept album about your own death.

5. Tegan and Sara - Love you to Death

This album should definitely be lower than it is. That said, I can at least try and justify why a breezy synthpop album with completely artificial production and lyrics about almost exclusively love and sex is above David Bowie's final album. Because every moment on 'Love you to Death' is joyous, every song is almost unbearably catchy and there are some genuinely interesting and great lyrical moments. It's the perfect pop album and amongst experiments and epics everybody needs smething to dance to. 

4. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

The hip-hop album of the year, 'Atrocity Exhibition' is an image of Danny Brown at his lowest. That's not to say that this album is depressing - 'Ain't it funny' and 'Really Doe' prove this aptly - but that it's very dark. Danny Brown is hardly the first rapper to talk about drugs, but the vivid descriptions of his desperate drug crawls and addiction problems coupled with beats that you wouldn't expect to ever function, let alone sound as great as they do, make one of the most insane, experimental and creative records of the year.

3. Weezer - Weezer (White Album)

Through sheer happiness and breeziness - and maybe a few cannolis - 'The White Album' became Weezer's best album since the 90s in just a few listens. A beach album that sounds like... Well Weezer covering the Beach Boys. At just over half an hour it's got immense replayability value (It's my most listened to album of the whole year on Spotify) and every individual track is classic Weezer, with guitar solos and weezery guitars and cannolis and- It's the most fun album of the year and I love it.

2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree

The album you were probably expecting at number 1 is the most emotional experience I've had with any album for a long time, and I can't even relate to it. Nick Cave's career best vocal performance coupled with imagery smothered lyrics that range from the most chilling of the year (Jesus Alone) to warm and hopeful (Skeleton Tree). Few people will ever go through the bereavement Cave did during the creation of this record, but he manages to convey the emptiness, sickness and dismay so well that you feel it strongly just from listening. This album is a masterpiece, and will likely be remembered as one of the best albums of the 2010s.

1. Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial

Yes! You read that correctly! 'Teens of Denial' by Car Seat Headrest is my favourite album of 2016, and by some distance. 'Skeleton Tree' is pretty much perfect, but I've only been able to make it through the album a handful of times because of how intense the emotion is. Meanwhile, 'Teens of Denial' is so creative, hilarious and just plain awesome that I've listened to it consistently every week since I first discovered it at the end of May. At an hour and 10 minutes long and with unconventional and winding song structures it took me a while to get into, but once I did...

Where to start? Every single song on this album is amazing and memorable - especially Song of the year contenders 'Drunk Drivers/ Killer Whales', 'The Ballad of Costa Concordia' and 'Vincent' - But the songs all come together to form a fascinating insight into Will Toledo's teenage life. I will admit that much of the reason I love this album comes from sheer relatability, as many of the song topics are more relevant to my life than anything else this year, and speaking of song topics they are varied and brilliant: Drunk driving, crap parties, the crashing of the Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia and taking advice online to name a few. 

So if you want the most triumphant, energetic and best album of 2016, 'Teens of Denial' is the album for you.

TOP 20 SONGS OF 2016

So 2016 is finally over, and regardless of how you feel about the year in general, it has undoubtedly been a great year for music. When looking back it's incredible just how many big artists released albums this year, from Radiohead to Beyonce to Drake to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Frank Ocean, it's the kind of line up that any contemporary music fan would scramble for. Obviously some of these were better than others, but that's not what you're here for - so I present you with my personal top 20 favourite songs of 2016!

20. D.R.A.M ft. Lil Yachty - Broccoli



Broccoli is the biggest hit on this list, in a year which has been one of the all-time worst in terms of chart music. It's catchy, charming and ludicrously happy, cutting through the bland overproduced nonsense on the radio like nothing else this year has. That said, this song would be even higher if it didn't have Lil Yachty almost spoiling the first half - luckily the rest is so good it still nabs a spot on this list.

19. Jamie T - Tescoland



One of the highlights from Jamie's album 'Trick', 'Tescoland' describes how fame hasn't changed him, but that he wishes it had, and does so in an upbeat, riff heavy rock and roll banger. It's also the most english song I've heard all year, with references to London buses and of course Tesco.

18. Angel Olson - Shut up Kiss me



The poppiest song on 'MY WOMAN' was also my favourite, with big 80s guitars and a typically warbly and off-kilter vocal from Olson. Way too many songs of recent times have centred around the words 'Shut up', but if they were all this good I wouldn't complain.

17. Frank Ocean - Solo/Solo (Reprise)

Frank Ocean teams up with Andre 3000 for two tracks which are linked through the theme of loneliness, but like all of 'Blonde' (Or 'Blond' if we're going to look at the album cover. I don't get it, I mean his hair isn't even blonde in the cover it's green- Ok I'll stop.) it's a subtle, relaxing piece. That it, at least until Andre 3000 drops one of the best guest verses of the year which unsurprisingly became one of the main talking points of the LP.

16. Kendrick Lamar - Untitled 07 levitate

Only Kendrick Lamar could release B-sides and throwaways and end up with music as fully formed, brilliant and interesting as seen on 'Untitled Unmastered'. 'Levitate' may have a contradictory title (It's the only song on the collection with a given title) but it's the best song off 'Unmastered', with several different parts all as interesting as each other, from a kid singing about Compton to four minutes of Kendrick essentially messing around on a guitar with some friends. Surprisingly brilliant.

15. Shura - Touch




Shura made one of the best debut albums of 2016, and this was the jewel in the crown - a haunting, hook heavy minimalist ballad that bafflingly wasn't a hit despite being completely in line with the criteria for a smash this year and being way better than the competition.

14. The 1975 - A Change of Heart



The 1975's creepily titled album more or less lives up to the hype it had surrounding it as long as you take out the 3 tracks making up 15 minutes of ambient nothingness, but this song threatens to overshadow most of 'i like it when you sleep'. It's heartbreaking, bleak and danceable all at once, making the best thing the band has ever done.

13. Beyonce ft. Kendrick Lamar - Freedom



*VIDEO CONTAINS STROBE LIGHTING* and while I'm at it the live version has quite afew differences to the studio version but whatever.

Of course there was going to be a song from Beyonce on here, after she dropped maybe the biggest and most critically acclaimed (but one) album of the year. I could have put pretty much any song from 'Lemonade' on here - 'Sorry' and 'Don't hurt yourself' in particular - but 'Freedom' is my pick. Incredibly catchy, incredible guest verse and like 'Formation' is extremely relevant to 2016.

12. Two Door Cinema Club - Bad decisions



An amazing tune from from a mediocre album, 'Bad decisions' is unlike anything Two Door Cinema Club have ever done, and makes you wish it wasn't an anomaly. A warm, buzzing 80s inspired, funky single it certainly isn't a bad decision to check this song out.

11. YG & Nipsey Hussle - FDT



2016 has been filled with atrocious political music from musicians who are so terrified of the idea of a Trump presidency that they forget that songs are supposed to sound good, and after his election I'm expecting even more. The biggest problem with this for me is that we don't need any more anti-Trump music after 'F**k Donald Trump' by YG and Hussle. The bluntest and biggest middle-finger of the year - backed with production that could get even Trump to start nodding his head.

10. Radiohead - Burn the Witch



Coupled with the best video of the year, Radiohead surprise released their best song since 2008 at the turn of May. Being a Radiohead song, 'Burn the witch' needs little explanation but in short, its paranoid, tense and has a chilling chorus that made me remember why I love them so much.

9. Glass Animals - Life itself



The song that brought Glass animals to my attention, 'Life itself' has an exotic and unique instrumental paired with an intriguing character study about a nerdy Camden-bound boy. Topped off with the years most explosive chorus and you've got a quirky masterpiece.

8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Goodbye Angels



'Goodbye' angels is a pretty great song by itself for the first 3 and half minutes. But when Kiedis yells 'Kiss this!' and Flea starts slapping the bass like mad in a riff that is the coolest you will feel listening to music all year. That's not the official video by the way, it's weird even for Chili's standards.

7. Weezer - L.A. Girlz



Talking of weird videos, Weezer's self titled 10th LP had it's fair share, including the one for standout track 'L.A. Girlz', which surpasses it's terrible song title to be a sunny, happy tune with the best solo of the year. I can't explain why I love the solo so much, but then again I can't explain why there's a LIL WAYNE GUEST VERSE ON A WEEZER ALBUM- but yeah, this song rules.

6. Drive-by Truckers - Darkened Flags at The Cusp of Dawn

Riff of the year. Drive-by Truckers took everyone by surprise by releasing an incredibly well-received political album and while there's many contenders for the best song off it, 'Darkened flags' carries that killer riff throughout most of the song while moving through bleak images that include the one which was chosen to present the whole album - a half masted flag.

5. Danny Brown - Ain't it funny



The most insane, restless song of the year, 'Ain't it funny' may turn some listeners away with Brown's Mickey mouse-voiced rhymes and production like nothing else before it, but this just makes it one of the many highlights off of 'Atrocity exhibition'.

4. Tegan and Sara - U-turn



BEST POP SONG OF 2016! This is the song I've listened to most over the year, and even though I've heard it every other day since 'Love you to Death' dropped in Spring I'm not tired of it yet. The synth line has been lodged in my head for days on end, along with the explosive chorus. About as perfect as a pop song can be.

3. Car Seat Headrest - Drunk drivers/ Killer whales



'Drunk drivers/ Killer whales' is in many ways similar to most of Car Seat Headrest's modern masterpiece 'Teens of Denial': It starts off slow, is filled with surprising and brilliant musical choices that mean, much like a drunk driver, you never know what's going to happen to next. I almost feel like I should put a spoiler warning here, since the false start of the first two choruses lull the listener into thinking they're listening to a mid-tempo relaxing ballad about the dangers of intoxication. Then THAT CHORUS hits and you're singing along in seconds. Triumphant, pained and confused it's the best rock song to come out this year.

2. David Bowie - I can't give Everything Away




It should be obvious why this song is so high even if you've never heard it - Bowie was an icon and a genius, and anybody that can release an album two days before they die deserves a lot of respect. That 'Blackstar' is one of the best albums of the year and that 'I can't give everything away' is the final song on Bowie's final album ensures that it will never be forgotten. The song is heartbreaking with context, and even without context it's uplifting and experimental in the best way.

1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Magneto



'Magneto' is crushing. More accurately, All of 'Skeleton tree' is crushing, almost too crushing to listen to at some points. Nick Cave's album about his deceased son's unexpected and terrifying death is the most emotionally affecting album to come out this decade - maybe even this millennia, and 'Magneto' is the bleak core, focusing more than any other track on the LP on how Nick Cave was personally affected by the tragedy. The lyrics are out of the league of everything else released this year, with imagery so strong you can almost taste sick in your mouth when Cave sings "in the bathroom mirror I see me vomit in the sink" and the chorus with it's refrain "one more time with feeling" is the most destroying sentence I've heard in almost any song ever. It feels a bit cheap to call this the best song of the year, since it's so personal and affecting, but I can honestly say no song had a greater impact on me in 2016 than 'Magneto'.