Thank you for picking up our December 22 issue of Creative Loafing Tampa. Read our remembrances of musicians who died in 2016 by clicking here.
The evolution of music consumption has created a conundrum that fans are familiar with: there is more of it than ever, and not one person can faithfully listen to each and every release with expectations of curating a definitive year-end list that acknowledges what is truly “the best.”
ABOUT THE COVER: THE GIANTS WE LOST AND WHY BOWIE
Most of us are listening to it via freemium streaming websites and subpar headphones or speakers anyway, and you should be listening to local bands in real life at a rock club or house show. So CL’s list is admittedly short (how many trees do we really have to kill, people?), but it is an honest and true representation of what our contributors feel is some of the best music they heard in 2016.
There are links to listen to all of these within the post (click [LISTEN] to hear the whole album on Spotify or Bandcamp). Stream a playlist featuring songs from these albums here.
Maybe you’ll even go to a record store and/or an audio store to grab a physical copy and enjoy these albums at home.
Most importantly, we hope you tell us what you liked the best, so write us a letter or head to that damn interweb (Facebook/Twitter) and drop us a line. Should we just do this every quarter next year?
David Bowie, Blackstar (Columbia) For his final work, the maestro went out with a bang. Released within the opening days of 2016 and on his 69th birthday, Blackstar is rock icon David Bowie’s final masterstroke on his brilliant canvas. Written and recorded while knowing he was falling victim to cancer, Bowie kept his condition and the creation of the album a secret, making the LP was as much of a surprise as his untimely death two days after its release. Blackstar is a haunting, dreamlike journey through Bowie’s last attempt to pour his incomparable aura and presence into his art while also leaving his hordes of devout fans with a parting gift. Lyrically, “Lazarus” is chilling and gut wrenching in light of David’s last flight from earth. A brilliant album and a poignant goodbye from an artist who redefined and recreated all the rules of rock ‘n’ roll throughout his colorful career, and did things his own way. —Gabe Echazabal [LISTEN]
Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression (Loma Vista) Backed by Queens of the Stone Age members, the ex-Stooge and larger-than-life frontman delivers his finest and most consistent album in decades. Harkening back to the dark, moody feel of his classics Lust For Life and The Idiot, Pop digs deep and delivers some of the best vocal performances of his career on this fine batch of compositions. Teaming with QOTSA leader Josh Homme on songwriting duties, Iggy sounds refreshed, hungry and pissed off… just the way we like him. Every song’s a winner here, but the brooding “Gardenia” is a fine representation of the feel and the vibe of this knockout album. —Gabe Echazabal [LISTEN]
Mavis Staples, Livin’ On A High Note (Anti-) After some fine releases for which she partnered with Wilco wizard Jeff Tweedy, the finest gospel/soul/R&B singer alive partners with indie singer/songwriter/producer M. Ward to create another stunning album (which features local guy Benjamin Booker). Sparse, simple arrangements and production help bolster Mavis’s incredible, husky and powerful vocals and then move her pipes to the forefront. Staples, of legendary gospel singing family The Staple Singers, has been singing for the better part of 60 years, but on Livin’ she sings with newfound energy and emotion en route to turning in one of her finest recordings in a long and storied career. —Gabe Echazabal [LISTEN]
Phantogram, Three (Republic) Phantogram’s fourth studio album, Three, was released in October, and proved that the electronic-pop duo has nearly perfected its dynamic. With the raging, almost-pop-punk single “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” Phantogram set a high-paced momentum that lasted throughout the remainder of the album; other in your face tracks include “You’re Mine” and “Calling All.” What makes the album one of the best of the year, though, is how Phantogram effortlessly breaks the momentum every few tracks with more melodic, thoughtful and moving ballads, such as “Destroyer” and “Barking Dog,” in which Josh Carter gets the opportunity to extend his vocal chops. This album manages to have high energy yet holds onto what makes Phantogram so sexy — its ability to send you through a flurry of emotions in a matter of ten tracks. —Kelly Smith [LISTEN]
Banks, The Altar (Harvest) Alt-R&B performer Banks followed up her 2014 debut album in a manner that sets the bar incredibly high for her. The Altar, released in September, proves that Banks is a force of her own. The moody atmosphere she created on her first album, Goddess, is perfected on Altar, but this time her lyrics are stronger, more inquisitive and more empowering. Although Pitchfork’s review of The Altar was anything but forgiving, when one keeps in mind the fact that Banks is a project by singer-songwriter Jillian Banks, one can’t help but appreciate the risks she took on this particular album, especially in tracks “Fuck With Myself” and “Haunt.” Different and catchy, Altar was a journey through moody vocals and abstract atmospheres — something worth mentioning. —Kelly Smith [LISTEN]
Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial (Matador) Like most nervous young men, Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo doesn’t know what he wants out of people. But, with Teens of Denial, the geeky indie-rock hero isn’t searching for answers or sputtering excuses as to why he ain’t got ‘em — he just wants to tell you what’s keeping him stuck in his head or alone in his bed. Consider this the angsty teen AOTY (“Album of the Year” for the olds out there), perfect for the sad boy in your life who self-medicates with pay-what-you-will Bandcamp EPs and self-loathes without mercy. Teens is a voice-cracking classic. —Abram Scharf [LISTEN]
Mitski, Puberty 2 (Dead Oceans) Puberty 2 is the kind of record that takes something fun like “Fireworks” and uses them to describe a violent emotional death, a fiery demise that leaves no trace. Between her new album and the brilliant Bury Me at Makeout Creek (released in 2014), Mistress of Melancholy Mitski Miyawaki has established herself as one of the single most important voices in DIY today. Cold, wiry electro-drum beats skitter above her all-consuming bass guitar, making for super-sad slow jams that you could maybe dance to, but then again, why groove when you can bawl? —Abram Scharf [LISTEN]
Frank Ocean, Blonde (Self-Released) Did I carry a $10 iTunes gift card in my wallet for more than a year, making sure that I would be ready when Frank finally decided to drop his follow-up to 2012’s Channel Orange? Why yes — yes, I did. Up until the morning it came out I thought it was going to be titled Boys Don’t Cry, but hey, a “Code Blonde” emergency sounds funnier anyway. After four years of not-so-patiently waiting, we got a weighty magazine (actually titled Boys Don’t Cry), a visual album (Endless, Ocean’s last album for Def Jam) and an LP (Blonde) within a couple hours of each other, proving that no one lives up to the hype like Frank. —Abram Scharf [LISTEN]
Parquet Courts — Human Performance (Rough Trade) Parquet Courts will roll into Crowbar this February, just about two years after their (legendary) American Legion Hall show with hometown heroes Merchandise. Please, I’m begging you, as someone who will be out of town that week, don’t miss your opportunity to see NYC’s coolest guitar punks in our backyard. Do it. And before you go, make sure to listen to Human Performance, their new record out on Rough Trade — it’s up for a Grammy for “Best Recording Package” thanks to amazing art and design by band member Andrew Savage, and their dropout-savant philosophizing is sharper than ever. —Abram Scharf [LISTEN]
Kanye West, The Life of Pablo (GOOD Music) If Kanye West isn’t your problematic fave right now, then you are doing something wrong. After a year-long publicity trainwreck that began with him declaring Bill Cosby “INNOCENT!” and wrapping up with a public endorsement of/private meeting with Asshole-in-Chief Drumpf, I can officially say that an artist whose music I enjoy so much has never infuriated me so deeply. I can’t stand Yeezy right now, and you shouldn’t either. The dude needs help. But also, “Ultra Light Beam” is the best song of the year, no contest, and I’ve listened to TLOP way more times than any other new release of 2016. Fuck you, Kanye West. Why can’t you just suck, like Drake? —Abram Scharf [LISTEN]
The Rolling Stones, Blue & Lonesome (Polydor) More than half a century after their debut album, the Rolling Stones have once again given people under the age of 30 a reason to consume a new album. Sure, modern young folks are more distracted than they’ve ever been, but Blue & Lonesome is the perfect reason for millennials to slow down and listen. It’s an album of covers (Buddy Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Willie Dixon all get the treatment on the 42-minute effort), and a harmonica-soaked, lick-filled history lesson explaining why Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones got together in the first place. The irony here is that most anyone curious about these Stones will probably never put their hands on a physical copy of the LP, opting instead for a liner notes-free stream of the band’s sonic love letter to the American bluesmen who paved the way for another bunch of Brits to change the course of history forever. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
American Football, American Football (Polyvinyl) Fans of old-school emo had a great year, and part of the elation surely came at the hands of Polyvinyl Records, which finally released a follow-up to American Football’s (also self-titled) 1999 debut. That 17-year-old record matured into a sacred tome for the genre, and expectations for something new continued to grow as the band — led by Mike Kinsella — announced tour dates and festival appearances over the last couple years. “LP 2,” as it’s come to be called, lived up to its older sibling in every sense. The Chicago-based outfit didn’t sacrifice an ounce of vulnerability. Math-y guitar riffs and sullen horns still weave their way in and out of the arrangements. And while the 1999 album was rooted in the suburban angst of a much younger man with no thoughts of becoming a parent, American Football’s second finds Kinsella, 39, facing how he’s grown up on songs like “Everyone Is Dressed Up” where he sings about being “forever lost in time’s currents.” —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Anderson .Paak/NxWorries, Malibu/Yes Lawd! (Steel Wool/Stones Throw) The opening bars of Malibu opener “The Bird” find a sparse, soulful guitar line fading in before a slightly gruff, instantly unforgettable vocal by Anderson .Paak comes into the mix (pronounce the dot in “.Paak,” my friends). The album dropped in mid-January, but 50 weeks after its release, Malibu just may be the album of the year thanks to melodies that have yet to grow stale (“Heart Don’t Stand A Chance,” “Am I Wrong”) and guest spots that still feel fresh, too (BJ The Chicago Kid, Schoolboy Q and Talib Kweli all appear on the record). Paak’s band, The Free Nationals, shine thanks to arrangements that slide in and out of soul, funk, rock and hip-hop. What’s more is that contributions from revered players like jazz pianist Robert Glasper (Roy Hargrove, Mos Def) and bassist Pino Palladino (D’Angelo, The Who) get married to production from the likes of 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, Kaytranada and .Paak himself. Yes Lawd! — a collaborative album with producer Knxwledge — gets a mention in this blurb despite being released months later on a different label (October 21 via Stones Throw). The 48-minute album finds .Paak still shining, but doing a lot more rapping as Knxwledge (Kendrick Lamar, Ghostface Killah) spins samples of Gil Scott-Heron, Ahmad Jamal and Gino Vannelli into a unintentionally complimentary LP that’s almost as good as Malibu itself. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Pinegrove, Cardinal (Run For Cover) They just played a Tiny Desk concert for NPR, so it’s unclear how much longer Pinegrove will stay underrated. Still, we’ll always have 2016 and Cardinal, the debut full-length from one of the best young bands in America. Frontman Evan Stephens Hall is a Kenyon College product with a gift for turning his loneliness, self-reflection and odd humor into gorgeous songs filled with vivid imagery (“Waveform”) and heartbreaking life lessons (“Old Friends”) all set to the sound of plunking banjo, lap steel, breathtaking drums and Stephens Hall’s one-of-a-kind twang. I must’ve listened to album highlight “Aphasia” 200 hundred times this year because the song — much like so much of Cardinal — is a wordy, emotional up and down that gracefully captures the feeling of being a slightly confused, eternally hopeful young person in a fast-changing world. A lot of music passed through this thick skull of mine this year, and this statement from a group of kids from Montclair, New Jersey is one of the few albums that leaves me in a smiling puddle of emotion after every listen —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Jonny Fritz, Sweet Creep (ATO) Alt-country doesn’t have to be all heartbreaking and serious. In October, Jonathan Russell Fritz (aka Jonny Fritz, Jonny Corndawg) released Sweet Creep, the follow-up to his 2013 ATO release Dad Country, and for the uninitiated, Fritz may seem like Americana’s designated court jester — but don’t write him off a mere jokester. Creep was produced by Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and finds Dawes’s Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith backing him. Songs like “Stadium Inn,” “Chihuahua Rescue,” and “Fifteen Passenger Van” do stay in the funny lane, and LP highlight “Chilidog Morning” suggests that grandma should get to chopping the onions, but all of it is buoyed in a musicality that is only eclipsed by the way Fritz is able to poignantly capture the dregs of human condition in a way that doesn’t wanna make you jump off a cliff. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Tycho, Epoch (Ghostly International) It took a decade, but the rest of the world finally caught up with Scott Hansen. The Northern California-based producer and designer not only plays music under the Tycho moniker (and produces super-clean design via his ISO50 handle), but also faithfully recreates it with bandmates who’ve joined him onstage since 2010. On Epoch (surprise-released in September), Hansen’s foray into meticulously crafted instrumental rock crescendos in a meditative, 42-minute record with an expansive, almost scenic sound that doesn’t sacrifice the nuance and detail of previous albums. Hansen’s unexpected reward? It debuted at no. 1 on Billboard’s Electronic/Dance Albums chart and was just nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album Grammy. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic) The death of A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg was one of the low points of 2016, but his bandmates do not dwell on it for their final album and first since 1998’s The Love Movement. Instead, the surviving members of Tribe (plus Phife, who appears in several places) gave a big middle finger to the entire notion of nostalgia en route to delivering statements on inequality & intolerance (“Whateva Will Be”), their favorite emcees (“Dis Generation”) and being black in America (“The Killing Season”). What’s more, We Got It doesn’t reach for brand new sounds, but still manages to sound 100 percent modern, even dragging a who’s who of guests (André 3000, Elton John, Jack White and Anderson .Paak, to name a few) out to play along the way. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Solange, A Seat At The Table (Columbia) In a year when her sister Beyonce dominated headlines thanks to a blockbuster tour and nine Grammy noms, Solange Knowles can say that she’s standing a little taller on the album front. The 30-year-old might even win a Grammy of her own (“Cranes In The Sky” from A Seat At the Table is nominated for Best R&B Performance), but she should be most proud of her third solo LP, which she released in June. The 21-track effort rounds up an eclectic cast of collaborators (Raphael Saadiq, André 3000, ?uestlove and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij all appear in the credits) to help her piece together one of the most personal and politically charged records of the year. There isn’t anything very novel about the statements Solange and her collaborators are making on A Seat, but the arrangements sound like a reinvention of soul music. The world is changing, and if Solange is in the driver’s seat, then we’re happy to be along for the ride. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
**We reviewed it twice…
In an annual music cycle dominated by Beyonce’s Lemonade, the pop mega-star’s little sister made an understated yet incredibly satisfying statement with A Seat at the Table. While Beyonce filtered the black experience through a specific incident, Solange aimed to create a more comprehensive picture, recruiting friends to speak directly to the listener while always preserving her own voice on the record. Accompanied by a pair of beautiful music videos brimming with unique symbolic imagery, the singer illustrates how oppression comes as much from subtly aggressive daily interactions as it does from the myriad recent incidents of police brutality. Through it all, she refuses to let anger get in her way (“Mad”), yet emphatically works to reclaim the black accomplishments that have been too easily forgotten (“F.U.B.U.”). Solange called this album a “punk record” in an interview with W Magazine, but it transcends the genre’s easily unhinged fury, harnessing its energy to create a piece more akin to a symphony of productive, peaceful protest.— Riley Huff
New Roman Times, Return to Where You Belong (New Granada Records) This brief collection of the year’s best music is intentionally devoid of local releases and the last-minute stuff that popped up last week (*cough* Trent Reznor), but New Roman Times’ surprise LP is the lone exception. While it’s technically not local music, the nine-track album of indie rock (comprised of shelved tracks that were supposed to make up the follow-up to the band’s 2009 LP, On The Sleeve) is a welcome note from an Austin, Texas band (signed to Tampa’s New Granada records) that left us hanging more than half a decade ago. —Ray Roa [LISTEN]
Porches, Pool (Domino) Throughout Pool, tracks bleed into one another, filled with dark synth wave cascades, heavy bass lines, and catchy, melancholy lyrics. Treading between pop nostalgia and post punk emo, Porches submerges listeners in detached dance ballads like “Apart”, “Car” and “Glow.” Aaron Maine’s obsession with reflection imputes itself into the albums deep synths. Take a step back from the guitar driven and folk inspired sounds, and you’ll find that the pairing of Maine’s eerie vocals and suspended hyper-masculine lyrics with the inspired cozy, comfortable, and often sketchy New York nu wave sound, is why Porches’ Pool wades in its own luxurious laziness. — Casey Jeanite [LISTEN]
Blood Orange, Freetown Sound (Domino) Comprised of 17 tracks and redressed for many genres, Freetown Sound from Blood Orange, jumps from empowered poetry readings over swelling jazz saxophones to female vocals accompanied by Dev Hynes heterogeneous whispers and back to the pop, dance, R&B centered vibe Hynes is recognized for, all without skipping a beat. Released in July, Freetown features tracks like “Best to You,” “E.V.P.,” and “Squash Squash” which provide that distinguishable Hynes influenced island drum patterns and omnivorous bass lines. While tracks like “By Ourselves”, “Hadron Collider” and “Better Numb” provide insight and context to significant social problems. Thematically focused on the daily realities of people in black as well as LGBT community, it’s Freetown Sound underlying vulnerability makes the album resonate with listeners. — Casey Jeanite [LISTEN]
Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition (Warp) For this album, the Detroit rapper mined the depths of his post-XXX despair, and, following a pep talk with Nas, produced some of the best work of his career. Brown has always brilliantly played the self-aware addict, a rapper who intentionally places booze-fueled party jams next to tracks that depict the harsh comedown, hoping that our society will finally notice the interplay between emotional suffering and showy hedonism. Here, the party and the crash have never been more entwined as Brown’s cocaine nosebleeds blend in with the red carpet (“Ain’t it Funny”) and his jaw swells up from long nights of drug-induced tooth-grinding (“Downward Spiral”). Few rappers have spoken as frankly about mental illness as Brown does on this record, and how substance use both subdues and fuels the inner turmoil. He wraps his voice effectively around bizarre beats, and hones his William S. Burroughs-esque abstract poetry, proving he is one of the most versatile rappers, lyricists really, in the business today. — Riley Huff [LISTEN]
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, Stranger Things, Volume One & Volume Two (Lakeshore) It was difficult to talk about culture in 2016, or even buy an Eggo waffle for that matter, without hearing about Netflix’s nostalgic multiversal thrill ride Stranger Things. Sure, it had an interesting premise and kept viewers in suspense, but the show’s unsung hero was its original soundtrack. Composed entirely with analog synthesizers, Dixon and Stein, both members of the Austin band Survive, created a creepier, otherworldly version of the ’80s. They sustain an atmosphere that is at once comfortably sentimental yet never far from paranormal danger, floating between the lucid-dream wonder of “Castle Byers” and the impending-doom boom of the opening theme song. The music serves the purpose of an ideal soundtrack, embodying the show’s characters, setting and plot. In fact, it is practically indistinguishable from the show itself. — Riley Huff [LISTEN]
Here’s the best of the rest, according to our ears. Click the label to listen on Spotify or listen to a mixtape featuring songs from each of these albums here.
Adrian Younge, Something About April II (Linear Labs) [LISTEN]
Against Me!, Shape Shift With Me (Total Treble) [LISTEN]
Andy Shauf, The Party (Anti-) [LISTEN]
Band of Horses, Why Are You OK (Interscope) [LISTEN]
Beach Slang, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings (Polyvinyl) [LISTEN]
Big Shoals, Hard Lessons (Austin Lance Howell) [LISTEN]
Bon Iver, 22, A Million (Jagjaguwar) [LISTEN]
Bruno Mars, 24K Magic (Atlantic) [LISTEN]
Cass McCombs, Mangy Love (Anti-) [LISTEN]
Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book (Self-Released) [LISTEN]
Charles Bradley, Changes (Daptone) [LISTEN]
Childish Gambino, Awaken, My Love (Glassnote) [LISTEN]
Chris Staples, Golden Age (Barsuk) [LISTEN]
Civilian, You Wouldn’t Believe What Privilege Costs (Tooth & Nail) [LISTEN]
Diarrhea Planet, Turn To Gold (Infinity Cat) [LISTEN]
DJ Shadow, The Mountain Will Fall (Mass Appeal) [LISTEN]
DTCV, Confusion Moderne (Xemu Records) [LISTEN]
Dwight Yoakam, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars… (Via Records) [LISTEN]
Emitt Rhodes, Rainbow Ends (Omnivore) [LISTEN]
Explosions In The Sky, The Wilderness (Temporary Residence) [LISTEN]
Fania All-Stars, Habana Jam (Codigo Music) [LISTEN]
The Frightnrs, Nothing More To Say (Daptone) [LISTEN]
Hard Working Americans, Rest In Chaos (Melvin) [LISTEN]
J. Cole, 4 Your Eyez Only (Roc Nation) [LISTEN]
James Blake, The Colour In Anything (Polydor) [LISTEN]
Jeff Rosenstock, Worry (SideOneDummy) [LISTEN]
John Prine, For Better, Or Worse (Oh Boy) [LISTEN]
Kevin Devine, Instigator (Procrastinate! Music Traitors) [LISTEN]
Kyle Craft, Dolls of Highland (Sub Pop) [LISTEN]
Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker (Sony) [LISTEN]
Lydia Loveless, Real (Bloodshot) [LISTEN]
M. Ward, More Rain (Merge) [LISTEN]
Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter (Third Man) [LISTEN]
Matthew Logan Vasquez, Solicitor Returns (Self-Released) [LISTEN]
Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate (Polydor) [LISTEN]
Microwave, Much Love (SideOneDummy) [LISTEN]
Mothers, When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired (Grand Jury) [LISTEN]
Nice As Fuck, Nice As F##k (Loves Way) [LISTEN]
Oddisee, The Odd Tape (Mello Music) [LISTEN]
The Olympians, The Olympians (Daptone) [LISTEN]
Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day (Okrahoma) [LISTEN]
PUP, The Dream Is Over (SideOneDummy) [LISTEN]
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool (XL) [LISTEN]
Snarky Puppy, Culcha Vulcha (GroudUP) [LISTEN]
Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth (Atlantic) [LISTEN]
Tiny Moving Parts, Celebrate (Triple Crown) [LISTEN]
Twin Peaks, Down In Heaven (Grand Jury) [LISTEN]
Warpaint, Heads Up (Rough Trade) [LISTEN]
Wet, Don’t You (Columbia) [LISTEN]
Wye Oak, Tween (Merge) [LISTEN]
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2016.
