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'.