drfindley's Top Albums of 2016

I'll have to check those out! Starting with the PG albums I've bought and not listened to yet.

 

Thanks! I bought, listened to and loved a lot of jazz this year, but as far as I can tell none of it was made in 2016, most of it in the 60s and the 70s.

 

Aphex's debut was in 1992 and Indie folk rock was around over twenty years ago. Whatever changes or does anything new in music will not be from within the mainstream music industry and you will not find out about it paying attention to the mainstream music industry for at least 10-15 years afterward as the major labels, their sub-imprints, and the biggest independent ones cut away all real A&R and only sign "fully developed" artists who they can make put out popularly structured (in melody, rhythm, and development) albums in well-developed styles or combinations of such (bullshit like symphonic techno or whatever) that pretend to be something else but are really just vocal driven pop at heart musically. If a writer for a publication Rolling Stone, Vice, or Pitchfork can explain why an album is "good" upon release, then whatever they artist is doing probably isn't particularly novel. Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, King Crimson, and Kraftwerk were ignored or mocked when they were new.

Techno obeying classical composition is real though: https://kretchmer.bandcamp.com/releases

 

Thats 2 people recommending it, dude looks good, i need to check him out.

I love passenger this year, heck,i love him every year.

 

You're right, 1st wave stuff drives 2nd wave stuff and 2nd wave stuff helps us discover the true geniuses behind them, the 1st wave stuff. Radiohead helped me find Aphex Twin. Pavement, the Pixies and Sonic Youth were huge influences on the music of the 90s. It just seems like the current 2nd wave artists (where I usually come in) seem directionless compared to earlier years.

@MuppetFace is way better at being on top of the 1st wave stuff and I'm sure has better handle on where music is going, but the future seems hazy.

 

Excellent list! Lot of new artists for me . Time to discover new music instead of new gear. I know which one will be more rewarding.

 

great list and retrospective @drfindley!

speaking of iceland... last year's Ben Frost (iceland based aussie experimentalist) is well worth a listen.

AWVFTS's latest soundtrack album is a great listen as well.

 

Thanks! I'll give that a listen!

 

No Epoch by Tycho or The Impossible Kid by Aesop Rock? Recommend checking those out as well.

 

yeah, Tycho is in my top 10 of 2016 as well.

 

Just finished giving the list some listening time. What a great list - @drfindley you rock! Mostly agree with #1-15, except James Blake and Thao & TGDSD. Biggest surprise: Johann Johannson. And also thanks @Ryu for Epoch-Tycho rec - definitely on top 15.

 

I'll give those a listen as well. Tycho kinda fell off my radar after their last album, I don't know what happened.

 

We have very similar taste, @drfindley . Thanks for the list.

Our top 10 is nearly identical, minus two of them that I haven't heard of.

I used to really appreciate Joseph Arthur, but lost track of him at some point. I'm glad for the reminder.

 

He became kinda unlistenable for me with Let's Just Be, but several years later I got into him again. More hit and miss since his first 5 records or so, but I've still found some really great stuff in the last little bit.

 

@drfindley - have you listened to Bjork's album Vulnicura? Very creative and some cool rhythmic stuff (perhaps most notably on the track Quicksand) that one would expect from Bjork. Not sure where I'd rank it in my own list but it would definitely be in a top 40 of 2016 for me. I bought that one in 96/24 wav. There's a lot to hear on this album.

 

Vulnicura was a step back from Biophilia for my tastes. Not as bad as Volta thankfully.

 

Check out this album. Almost worth a mention on the list for this track alone.

 

Also

http://tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2016.html