2016: Music

Man today’s a good day
Hey, ay-ye-ay-ye-ay
Cause I’m rich, rich, rich, rich

Using the same format as last year, two lists of 25 albums, with 10 highlights in each. A toplist of 25, with 10 ultimate favourites; and a secondary 25 made of albums I wanted to include in the top 25, but either couldn’t find room for, haven’t listened enough to or haven’t worked out how to fully appreciate yet. This format gives space for grower albums, more subtle or difficult works that after another year’s listening, could well be the ones I like the most. (That’s certainly the case with last years inclusions anyway.)

Random noted exclusions: this compilation Sky Girls, an odd bunch of folky/poppy/new-wavey songs from the ‘60s through the ‘90s, compiled by DJ Sundae and Julien Dechery. the recently reissued Feminine by Julius Eastman, and Gas’ minimal opus Pop, that I listened properly to for the first time this year and which was put back out in some new expanded form at at impossible price.

Some notes on topmost favourites (in the absence of an overall ranking). Maybe my overall favourite album was Huerco S’s soft, glowing and supremely cosy ambient record For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have); but I also loved ADR’s two PAN releases, (Deceptionista, a conglomeration of internet detritus meshed together into a dense, skittish composition that rewards revisitation, and Throat, a collage of poppish sound make entirely from countless distorted, warped and flipped vocal recordings) both of which really landed with me for some reason; Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, for it’s softer moments, Real Friends, Wolves, 30 Hours etc. the vulnerability of which grew ever more affecting as the year developed, and Dean Blunt & co’s various Babyfather projects, which I won’t even attempt to try to interrogate, but will continue to appreciate into coming years, I think. Lastly, I really really enjoyed Frank Ocean’s long awaited album and related projects. As well as loving Blond(e) arriving and soundtracking late summer, Endless and it’s delivery was excellent. Exciting, rewarding, and an example of an artist working on his own terms and making things happen at his own pace, the rewards of which are obvious. “Go slow, Frank.”

It feels like I haven’t been paying near as much attention to music this year as I did last year, at least in the album format. There’s a think piece about what this means, but the reality is more based on time and availability. I’ve got no easy access to albums now, other than buying them (!) in physical formats or via bandcamp, haven’t dedicated as much time as I like to crawling for things, and have been relying more on the curatorial efforts of others than my own discovery. That said, the few things I’ve spent a lot of time with have been very pleasing, and the styles and forms of sound that are arriving in my ears continues to expand. Most of my listening has been via the soundcloud app whilst walking and travelling, and through internet radio whilst at work, so I am thankful most perhaps for the various efforts of the people making these things happen. Looking back through my likes, some of my favourites this year have been the NTS x PAN mixes, Noctilucents’ and Organ Tapes’ mixes, Yamaneko’s various mixes - including Yaroze Dream Mix, his Rinse show, his Boiler Room set, Yamapikarya and Nautilus Dusk, Manara’s Fader Mix, Kamixlo’s Dazed Mix, Beatrice Dillon’s and Ben UFO’s tapes and each and every Hessle Audio Rinse show.

Live music was good too, even if I avoided ~the club~ more than any recent year, which is probably for the best. My live highlights were seeing Russell Haswell destroy a captivated audience at Cafe Oto, Felicia Atkinson transform the same venue, and then Ian William Craig serenade it at different points in the year, tiny light bulbs flickering with each deconstructed croon; seeing Actress create something wonderful and arresting with the London Contemporary Orchestra for a seated audience at the Barbican, then exit the stage in the coolest fashion with a swift bow, exit left into darkness, cape trailing; light and sound shows from Oneohtrix Point Never at Heaven and Amnesia Scanner at Electrowerkz; seeing Skinny Girl Diet, Shopping and a few other unknowns smash out a strange Hackney Wick warehouse, Tim Hecker’s pulsating, hypnotic drones threatening to shatter the stained glassed windows of St Johns church, rediscovering the potential of live emo with into It, Over It playing two albums in full (24 tracks) at The Lexington; and probably mostly the bewilderment and bewonderment from Dean Blunt et al at the Babyfather show at Bloc.

“We’re all divided and that, there’s no unity and that… If we all linked up, we could do a big ting, you know… Man’s just trying to unify the ting, play a nice little rhythm… And then just take that attitude, that vibe, to man’s politics and man’s economics and that.”

Shortlist 25

Aaron David Ross - Deceptionista / Throat
Babyfather - BBF Hosted By DJ Escrow / Platinum Tears / 419
Frank Ocean - Endless / Blonde
GAIKA - Security / Spaghetto
Good Willsmith - Things Our Bodies Used to Have
Huerco S - For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have)
Ian William Craig - Centres
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - IN SUMMER / Felicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Comme Un Seul Narcisse
Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Ears / Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani - Sunergy
Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
Kassem Mosse - Disclosure
Klara Lewis - Too
Mica Levi & Oliver Coates - Remain Calm
MJ Guider - Precious Systems
Omar-S - The Best
Roy Montgomery - R M H Q: Headquarters
Sarah Davachi - Dominions / Vergers
Shinichi Atobe - World
Show Me The Body - Body War
Steve Hauschildt - Strands
Tim Hecker - Love Streams
Yamaneko - Project Nautilus / Yaroze Dream Suite
Young Thug - I’m Up / SS3 / Jeffery
Yves Tumor - Serpent Music

Longlist 25

A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service
Angel Olsen - My Woman
Autechre - elseq 1-5
Bon Iver - 22, A Million
Beyonce - Lemonade
Claire M Singer - Solas
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
DAWN - Redemption
Demdike Stare - Wonderland
Eli Keszler - Last Signs of Speed
Jason Sharpe - A Boat Upon Its Love
Jim O’Rourke & Fennesz - It’s Hard For Me To Say I’m Sorry
Julianna Barwick - Will
Lil Yachty - Lil Boat
Mom Jeans - Best Buds
Motion Graphics - Motion Graphics
Midori Hirano - Minor Planet
Mitski - Puberty 2
Oren Ambarchi - Hubris
Prince of Denmark - 8
Rashad Becker - Traditional Music Of Notional Species Vol II
Roly Porter - Third Law
Solange - A Seat At The Table
Shackleton - Devotional Songs
Valerio Tricoli - Clonic Earth

blog