The word "album" is no longer definable thanks to a tsunami of surprise releases in different formats. There were technically two Frank Ocean albums released this year but, when Endless was just a video of Ocean putting together furniture while new music played in the background without any physical copies of said "album", was it really an album? Was Beyonce's Lemonade an album before the physical copies of the short film's music were released? And what do we call Chance The Rapper's Coloring Book now that it is the first ever mixtape nominated in an album category at the upcoming Grammy's? Is The Life Of Pablo even finished yet? Nobody but the artists themselves know the answers to those questions but when the question of "Was the music of 2016 even any good?", the answer is a resounding "YES!" as seemingly everybody not in the Taylor Swift squad (herself, Lorde, Haim, might as well throw Ed Sheeran in there) released new music and I'm afraid of how barren 2017 seems right now for exciting music releases with Run The Jewels 3 being a last-minute Christmas release.
Oh well, here are all of the grades for all of the albums I listened to this year followed by my Top 20 Albums of 2016.
KEY: Artist/Band - Album Title Grade (Date Released)
Oh well, here are all of the grades for all of the albums I listened to this year followed by my Top 20 Albums of 2016.
KEY: Artist/Band - Album Title Grade (Date Released)
A-
Little Green Cars - Ephemera A- (3/11)
James Vincent McMorrow - We Move A- (9/2)
Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine A- (9/16)
Justice - Woman A- (11/18)
Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat A- (6/3)
Schoolboy Q - Blank Face A- (7/8)
John Legend - Darkness and Light A- (12/2)
Logic - Bobby Tarantino A- (7/1)
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks In Whispers A- (5/13)
Flatbush Zombies - 3001: A Laced Odyssey A- (3/11)
Santigold - 99 Cents A- (2/26)
Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered. A- (3/4)
Regina Spektor - Remember Us To Life A- (9/30)
ANOHNI - Hopelessness A- (5/6)
Swet Shop Boys - Cashmere A- (10/14)
B+
B+
Weezer - Weezer (The White Album) B+ (4/1)
Angel Olsen - My Woman B+ (9/2)
Porches - Pool B+ (2/5)
Lee Fields & The Expressions - Special Night B+ (11/4)
David Bowie - Blackstar B+ (1/8)
YG - Still Brazy B+ (6/17)
Adele - 25 B+ (2015*) * = Not available to streaming websites
Tegan and Sara - Love You To Death B+ (6/3)
Japenese Breakfast - Psychopomp B+ (4/1)
Bat For Lashes - The Bride B+ (7/1)
Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love! B+ (12/2)
Frightened Rabbit - Painting of a Panic Attack B+ (4/8)
Primal Scream - Chaosmosis B+ (3/18)
Flume - Skin B+ (5/27)
Mitski - Puberty 2 B+ (6/17)
Nada Surf - You Know Who You Are B+ (3/4)
Noname - Telefone B+ (7/31)
Jack Garratt - Phase B+ (2/19)
Lady Gaga - Joanne B+ (10/21)
Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression B+ (3/18)
Phantogram - Three B+ (10/7)
D.R.A.M. - Big Baby D.R.A.M. B+ (10/21)
Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye B+ (4/1)
Whitney - Light Upon The Lake B+ (6/3)
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - I Had A Dream That You Were Mine B+ (9/23)
Lori McKenna - The Bird & The Rifle B+ (7/29)
Grouplove - Big Mess B+ (9/9)
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman B+ (5/20)
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound B+ (6/28)
Lydia Loveless - Real B+ (8/19)
Let’s Eat Grandma - I, Gemini B+ (6/17)
Jamie Lidell - Building A Beginning B+ (10/14)
Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being B+ (8/26)
B
B
Isaiah Rashad - The Sun’s Tirade B (9/2)
Shirley Collins - Lodestar B (11/4)
DJ Khaled - Major Key B (7/29)
Marian Hill - ACT ONE B (6/24)
A$AP Ferg - Always Strive And Prosper B (4/22)
AlunaGeorge - I Remember B (9/16)
Domo Genesis - Genesis B (3/25)
Bibio - A Mineral Love B (4/1)
Adult Jazz - Earrings Off! B (5/20)
Solange - A Seat At The Table B (9/30)
Pete Yorn - ArrangingTime B (3/11)
Dr. Dog - The Psychedelic Swamp B (2/5)
We Are Scientists - Helter Seltzer B (4/22)
Shura - Nothing’s Real B (7/8)
Usher - Hard II Love B (9/16)
Banks & Steelz - Anything But Words B (8/26)
Mothers - When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired B (2/26)
M83 - Junk B (4/8)
Lucy Dacus - No Burden B (2/26)
Britney Spears - Glory B (8/26)
The Avalanches - Widflower B (7/1)
Skepta - Konnichiwa B (5/6)
Wild Beasts - Boy King B (8/5)
Warpaint - Heads Up B (9/23)
Pinegrove - Cardinal B (2/12)
Little Scream - Cult Following B (5/6)
KT Tunstall - KIN B (9/9)
Open Mike Eagle - Hella Personal Film Festival B (3/25)
Lewis Del Mar - Lewis Del Mar B (10/7)
The Lemon Twigs - Do Hollywood B (10/14)
Aurora - All My Demons Are Greeting Me As Friends B (3/11)
B-
B-
Modern Baseball - Holy Ghost B- (5/27)
Bear Hands - You’ll Pay For This B- (4/15)
Daughter - Not To Disappear B- (1/15)
Skylar Grey - Natural Causes B- (9/23)
Lisa Hannigan - At Swim B- (8/19)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway B- (6/17)
Honeyblood - Babes Never Die B- (10/28)
Broods - Conscious B- (6/24)
Gallant - Ology B- (4/8)
K.d. lang, Neko Case & Laura Veirs - Case/lang/veirs B- (6/17)
Alicia Keys - Here B- (11/4)
Hannah Georgas - For Evelyn B- (4/22)
Brett Dennen - Por Favor B- (5/20)
Ra Ra Riot - Need Your Light B- (2/19)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - PersonA B- (4/15)
Lissie - My Wild West B- (2/12)
Wilco - Schmilco B- (9/9)
Sia - This Is Acting B- (1/29)
Charles Bradley - Changes B- (4/1)
Laura Mvula - The Dreaming Room B- (6/17)
Majid Jordan - Majid Jordan B- (2/5)
Jarryd James - High B- (7/29)
Kings Of Leon - WALLS B- (10/14)
Owen - The King Of Whys B- (7/29)
Switchfoot - Where The Light Shines Through B- (7/8)
Zayn - Mind Of Mine B- (3/25)
Young The Giant - Home Of The Strange B- (8/12)
Nao - For All We Know B- (7/29)
Public Access TV - Never Enough B- (9/30)
Basia Bulat - Good Advice B- (2/12)
The Naked And Famous - Simple Forms B- (10/14)
Polica - United Crushers B- (3/4)
Local Natives - Sunlit Youth B- (9/9)
Josef Salvat - Night Swim B- (2/26)
Drake - Views B- (4/29)
Big Thief - Masterpiece B- (5/27)
C+
C+
Rihanna - Anti C+ (1/28)
Common - Black America Again C+ (11/4)
The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It C+ (3/11)
Alexis Taylor - Piano C+ (6/10)
Frank Ocean - Blonde C+ (8/20)
Empire Of The Sun - Two Vines C+ (10/28)
Banks - The Altar C+ (9/30)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - This Unruly Mess I’ve Made C+ (2/26)
Elliphant - Living Life Golden C+ (3/25)
Norah Jones - Day Breaks C+ (10/21)
Dinosaur Jr. - Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not C+ (8/5)
Tiga - No Fantasy Required C+ (3/4)
Young Thug - No, My Name Is JEFFERY C+ (8/25)
St. Lucia - Matter C+ (1/29)
Tinashe - Nightride C+ (11/4)
The Strumbellas - Hope C+ (4/22)
Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component C+ (9/23)
Mayer Hawthorne - Man About Town C+ (4/8)
Animal Collective - Painting With C+ (2/19)
The Avett Brothers - True Sadness C+ (6/24)
Photo Ops - Vacation C+ (2/5)
JONES - New Skin C+ (10/7)
Eleanor Friedberger - New View C+ (1/22)
Miike Snow - iii C+ (3/4)
Dawes - We’re All Gonna Die C+ (9/16)
King Charles - Gamble For A Rose C+ (1/22)
Rooney - Washed Away C+ (5/6)
STRFKR - Being No One, Going Nowhere C+ (11/4)
Cullen Omori - New Misery C+ (3/18)
Francis - Marathon C+ (2/5)
Anderson .Paak - Malibu C+ (1/15)
Beth Orton - Kidsticks C+ (5/27)
Snoop Dogg - Coolaid C+ (7/1)
Tove Lo - Lady Wood C+ (10/28)
Preoccupations - Preoccupations C+ (9/16)
School of Seven Bells - SVIIB C+ (2/26)
The Lumineers - Cleopatra C+ (4/8)
Honne - Warm On A Cold Night C+ (7/22)
C
C
The Kills - Ash & Ice C (6/3)
M.I.A. - AIM C (9/9)
White Lung - Paradise C (5/6)
Green Day - Revolution Radio C (10/7)
Gwen Stefani - This Is What The Truth Feels Like C (3/18)
Sleigh Bells - Jessica Rabbit C (11/11)
Ingird Michaelson - It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense C (8/26)
Esperanza Spalding - D+Evolution C (3/4)
Kid Cudi - Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ C (12/16)
Cass McCombs - Mangy Love C (8/26)
Saint Motel - saintmotelevision C (10/21)
Julianna Barwick - Will C (5/6)
Big Gigantic - Brighter Future C (8/26)
Esme’ Patterson - We Were Wild C (6/10)
J. Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only C (12/9)
Emeli Sande’ - Long Live The Angels C (11/11)
Slow Club - One Day All Of This Won’t Matter Any More C (8/19)
Foxes - All I Need C (2/5)
The Radio Dept. - Running Out Of Love C (10/21)
Pop Etc - Souvenir C (1/29)
Moxie Raia - 931 Reloaded C (11/11)
Parquet Courts - Human Performance C (4/8)
Gucci Maine - Everybody Looking C (7/22)
DIANA - Familiar Touch C (11/18)
Wet - Don’t You C (1/29)
Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite! C (9/30)
Foy Vance - The Wild Swan C (5/13)
Teen - Love Yes C (2/19)
Lapsley - Long Way Home C (3/4)
Vic Mensa - There’s Alot Going On C (6/3)
Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife 2 C (8/12)
Jim James - Eternally Even C (11/4)
BadBadNotGood - IV C (7/8)
Bloc Party - Hymns C (1/29)
Band Of Horses - Why Are You OK C (6/10)
PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project C (4/15)
Arkells - Morning Report C (8/12)
The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You’ve Come To Expect C (4/1)
Tall Heights - Neptune C (8/19)
Yellowcard - Yellowcard C (9/30)
Blink-182 - California C (7/1)
2 Chainz - Daniel Son; Necklace Don C (8/5)
Ladyhawke - Wild Things C (6/3)
Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions - Until The Hunter C (11/4)
Clipping. - Splendor & Misery C (9/9)
C-
C-
JoJo - Mad Love C- (10/14)
Nice As Fuck - Nice As Fuck C- (6/24)
Stephen - Sincerely C- (5/13)
She Is We - War C- (3/18)
Bastille - Wild World C- (9/9)
Fantasia - The Definition Of… C- (7/29)
Peter Bjorn and John - Breakin’ Point C- (6/10)
Two Door Cinema Club - Gameshow C- (10/14)
Yuna - Chapters C- (5/20)
Lukas Graham - Lukas Graham C- (4/1)
Charlie Puth - Nine Track Mind C- (1/29)
Passenger - Young As The Morning Old As The Sea C- (9/23)
M. Ward - More Rain C- (3/4)
Bad Suns - Disappear Here C- (9/16)
Father - I’m A Piece Of Shit C- (3/25)
Post Malone - Stoney C- (12/9)
D+
D+
Kygo - Cloud Nine D+ (5/13)
Rachel Platten - Wildlife D+ (1/1)
Kaiser Chiefs - Stay Together D+ (10/7)
Hinds - Leave Me Alone D+ (1/8)
Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor D+ (1/15)
Paul Simon - Stranger To Stranger D+ (6/3)
BJ The Chicago Kid - In My Mind D+ (2/19)
The Head and The Heart - Signs Of Light D+ (9/9)
Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony D+ (2/5)
D
D
Jake Bugg - On My One D (6/17)
Damien Jurado - Visions Of Us On The Land D (3/18)
Diiv - Is The Is Are D (2/5)
Desiigner - New English D (7/1)
Jon Bellion - The Human Condition D (6/10)
Twenty88 - Twenty88 D (4/8)
D-
D-
Night Riots - Love Gloom D- (10/21)
Pinkshinyultrablast - Grandfeathered D- (2/26)
OneRepublic - Oh My My D- (10/7)
Birdy - Beautiful Lies D- (3/25)
Fitz and the Tantrums - Fitz And The Tantrums D- (6/10)
F
F
Ty Dolla $ign - Campaign F (9/23)
DJ Mustard - Encore F (8/5)
The Top 20 Albums of 2016
#20. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
Other Must-Hears: "The Space Program" & "Solid Wall of Sound"
A valiant return after seventeen years filled with throwbacks from Q-Tip and company makes the death of Phife Dawg even more tragic.
#19. De La Soul - And The Anonymous Nobody...
Other Must-Hears: "Snoopies (ft. David Byrne)" & "Greyhounds (ft. Usher)"
Groovy hip-hop that relies on a series of excellent features for a strong return from the 90's trio.
#18. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Other Must-Hears: "Daydreaming" & "Burn The Witch"
Band running out of ideas turns to orchestral production for one last great release. Of course, they'll probably prove me wrong next time like they always do.
#17. Chairlift - Moth
Other Must-Hears: "Moth To The Flame" & "Unfinished Business"
Third and final album from indie pop duo goes about as well as it possibly could have and leaves the listener wanting more despite the band's recent breakup.
#16. White Denim - Stiff
Other Must-Hears: "Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)" & "Take It Easy (Ever After Lasting Love)"
Rock band releases their seventh album that's half southern rock, half experimental and 100% fun.
#15. Marissa Nadler - Strangers
Other Must-Hears: "Janie In Love" & "Strangers"
Folk singer goes full Lana Del Rey on her first fully-realized dream pop record.
#14. JMSN - It Is.
Other Must-Hears: "Power" & "Hypnotized"
Mysterious Midwestern singer adds reggae influences to his collection of the sexiest music around.
#13. Atmosphere - Fishing Blues
Other Must-Hears: "Seismic Waves" & "Chasing New York (ft. Aesop Rock)"
Minneapolis-based hip-hop duo refuses to alter their style eight albums in and it still works.
#12. Bruno Mars - 24K Magic
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Other Must-Hears: "Too Good To Say Goodbye" & "Chunky"
One of the more widely-beloved pop stars of 2016 releases an album full of 1980's and early nineties throwbacks that all sound fresh.
#11. The Weeknd - Starboy
Other Must-Hears: "I Feel It Coming (ft. Daft Punk)" & "Sidewalks (ft. Kendrick Lamar & Sam Smith)"
Abel drops most of the hair, maintains the consistency of great dance/pop music in his transition into superstardom.
#10. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 3
Other Must-Hears: "Call Ticketron" & "Hey Kids (Bumaye) [ft. Danny Brown]"
Third installment in rap duo's catalogue continues trend of superb production mixed with strong lyrical content, locking El-P and Killer Mike in as one of the greatest rap duos ever.
#9. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Other Must-Hears: "Pneumonia" & "Ain't It Funny"
Rap game's Chris Griffin embraces chaos on the first album that sees the Detroit rapper reach his full potential with his wide range of electronic influences.
#8. Kaytranada - 99.9%
Other Must-Hears: "Lite Spots" & "Weight Off (ft. BADBADNOTGOOD)"
The most fun electronic release of the decade that did not involve Daft Punk is this debut album that catches Anderson .Paak, Little Dragon, AlunaGeorge and Vic Mensa all at the right time. Kaytranada's debut also sees the return of Craig David!
#7. Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo
Other Must-Hears: "Real Friends" & "Wolves (ft. Sia & Vic Mensa)"
Filled with gospel influences and lyrically sporadic. Kanye made the most purposely bipolar album of the year, redoing tracks again and again, trying to reach perfection, only making things more convoluted both with the release of his album and his own well-being. Many find the album too long but, the only official song I could do without is "Waves".
#6. Bon Iver - 22, A Million
Other Must-Hears: "22 (Over S∞∞n)" & "715 (Cr∑∑ks)"
The most cryptic and glitchy album of the year is one of the more capturing listens since Radiohead's Kid A, even though it tries too hard to be exactly that at moments.
#5. Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book
Other Must-Hears: "All Night (ft. Knox Fortune)" & "Same Drugs"
Chance The Rapper flirts with a ton of genres at the heart of what is essentially a gospel rap mixtape. The mixtape was so good that it is now the first to ever be nominated for a Grammy in an album category. This is another listen that easily infects the listener with joy by the second track, "No Problem".
#4. James Blake - The Colour In Anything
Other Must-Hears: "Timeless" & "Put That Away And Talk To Me"
One of the more overlooked albums on end of the year lists, The Colour In Anything is exactly the type of album a James Blake fan should have no problem falling in love with. There might not be a standout track compared to other albums ranked this highly but, considering how beautifully relaxing this album is while still holding some experimental moments, 79 minutes is the perfect length for any listeners that didn't get enough out of Bon Iver's album this year.
#3. Beyonce' - Lemonade
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Other Must-Hears: "Formation" & "Sorry"
The soundtrack for an HBO short film of the same name, Beyonce' somehow topped her self-titled 2013-14 project with this deeply honest look into her personal life that had the nation talking for eight months. There are some really tremendous musical moments here as well since she digs into multiple genres (including country!) while getting grittier vocals and more poetry than ever before from music's biggest star.
#2. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate
Other Must-Hears: "The Final Frame" & "Cold Little Heart"
British folk singer gets more soulful with some help from Danger Mouse. Love & Hate is the perfect length for an album of it's soulful-folk genre and showcases the writing ability of Kiwanuka that made him a name to watch four years ago.
The #1 Album of 2016
Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
Standout Track: "The Ballad of Costa Concordia"
Other Must-Hears: "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" & "Vincent"
Will Toledo and company have worked their musical asses off since they first formed in 2010 as Car Seat Headrest, releasing 12 albums on Bandcamp to a fairly small audience. All of that hard work culminated in their first album with a record label (13th overall!), Teens Of Denial. Considering the length of this album, they've created an album full of "Freebird"'s. It is hard to pull off a series of 5-minute tracks without having any fluff but, they pulled it off as multiple tracks like "Vincent" and "The Ballad Of Costa Concordia" build and build and build to an epic conclusion that makes the time spent listening all worth it. Teens Of Denial is my album of the year because it has such a Strokes-meets-"Freebird"-meets-Talking Heads vibe, all while having such a DIY attitude and basically being a debut into the limelight, that it is the most perfectly crafted project of 2016.
Top 10 Shows I Watched This Year (Probably the only 10 if I’m being completely honest)
- Fargo (FX)
- The People vs. O.J. Simpson (FX)
- Atlanta (FX)
- Search Party (TBS)
- Better Call Saul (AMC)
- Broad City (Comedy Central)
- Desus & Mero (Viceland)
- Man Seeking Woman (FXX)
- Angie Tribeca (TBS)
- People Of Earth (TBS)
