2016: TOP 10 ALBUMS

FACT: I have listened to more albums this year than I have in my entire life.

I was (and still is huhu) a bum for a good chunk of this year and I also subscribed to Spotify Premium last month (thanks Manu!) so I was able to learn and rediscover great music. And what a year it was for music! From the unstoppable rise of streaming services to the exhaustingly trendy “surprise” drops from big names, 2016 was a terrible year in pretty much every aspect except for music.

DISCLAIMER: I have listened to probably less than 10% of the albums released this year. I have not yet heard some of the critical favorites such as The Life of Pablo, 22, A Million, Anti, We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service, ★, and so much more. Really, the number of songs released each year seems to be getting bigger and bigger and doing a comprehensive Best-Of list is such a daunting task, so this one is extremely biased, more subjective than the usual.

Without further ado, these are my top 10 favorite albums of the year!

Oh, but before we get there (that "without further ado" was a lie sorry), I’ll list down a quick build-up to that list:

20. I Had a Dream That You Were Mine – Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam

19. Nothing’s Real – Shura

18. Moth – Chairlift

17. Lemonade – Beyoncé

16. blond – Frank Ocean

15. HOPELESSNESS – ANOHNI

14. 99.9% – KAYTRANADA

13. If You See Me, Say Yes – Flock of Dimes

12. Papunta Pabalik – Autotelic

11. Bonito Generation – Kero Kero Bonito

10. Roosevelt – Roosevelt

Truth be told, I was conflicted whether to place this album or Bonito Generation in the tenth spot, but this ultimately won because this is the ~chillest~ record of the year. And it’s also less annoying. 

(NOTE: I don’t find KKB annoying at all but I understand why some people would think so, especially because of their tongue-in-cheek lyrics and saccharine music.) 

Anyway, the laidback production conjures up a bayside imagery that is so surreal you can almost taste the salty air. It’s always amazing how a producer can be consistent with their project and do different flourishes to create the perfect relaxing ambience.

9. Farewell, Starlite – Francis and the Lights

This is synthesizer heaven. I really don’t have much to say about this album aside from the fact that it contains the experimental electronic sounds I like. Inventive and sincere, this succinct collection of 10 songs is a pop record that has the capability to breach Top 40 radio, but chooses not to do so.

8. Wild World (Complete Edition) – BΔSTILLE

It’s been a long wait, but mah bois are back and they more than delivered. I’m not too keen on the music videos (no surprise there), more so with the whole WWCOMMS concept, but the music has the fingerprints of Dan Smith all over it. Bastille has added trumpets to their repertoire, making them sound like ominous, bombastic arena rock, but with Dan’s amusing turn of phrase (and pronunciation), the record comes out as a pop-leaning work stitched with pop culture references.

7. Marion – Marion

A surprising pick for me (shout-out to my friend Toph for making me listen to her). It’s fun to hear how Marion plays with her voice—from diva howls to lovestruck croons—and switches up styles to keep the pace interesting. It’s accessible enough for a pop record, but genre-bending enough to distance Marion from her peers. “Unbound,” a song that features Morissette and Alex Gonzaga, is like 2016’s response to “Bang Bang.” Sure, Alex is no match for Nicki Minaj (I LOVE ALEX OKAY BACK OFF H8RS) but this team-up is one of the year’s must-hear collaborations. Like Gaga + Florence sang on Joanne, “Hey girl, we can make it easy if we lift each other.” Throughout the album though, Marion shows that she can just as easily stand on her own.

6. A Seat at the Table – Solange

Beyoncé who? This is an essential listen. Period. However, if you are not a black woman, always keep in mind that this record is not for you. That makes this album such a humbling experience. We are allowed to listen to a document about black womanhood. “If you don’t understand my record, you don’t understand me,” asserts rap legend Master P in “Interlude: For Us by Us.” Solange lets us peek inside her life as a woman of color; there are so many moments of reflection in the album that it presents more points of discussion than answers themselves. There arguably wasn’t a more urgent record in 2016 than this and yet Solange moves at a languid pace as she presents her ideas to and about black women, only them, but of course, we are free to join her at the table.

5. The Traveller – Jungle by Night

It’s always great when you’re stalking your celebrity crush casually surfing the web and then you serendipitously discover new music. This 9-piece ensemble from Amsterdam is like a professional street performer. I don’t know if that gives an accurate description of them but their image in my head is that they’re very amateurish and raw, but at the same time are able to hold an audience captive inside a formal auditorium. Their layered sounds, both earthly and contemporary, build up like an orchestra. Stand-out tracks “Kingfisher” and “Extortion” sound like classical music murdered then brought back to life.

4. Dangerous Woman (Japanese Edition) – Ariana Grande

CLARIFICATION: Imported albums in Japan are more expensive so they always have additional tracks in order to entice locals to buy them. Promotional single “Focus” is only included in the Japanese edition and it honestly frustrates me so much because that is NOT a disposable song at all lol.

Ariana’s third album showcases her Mariah Carey-esque voice—most notably in my favorites “Jason’s Song (Gave It Away)” and “Greedy”—as well as her knack for branching out to genres that accompany her transition to a dangerous woman and a mature pop star. This was the pop LP to beat this year.

3. American English – Tor Miller

Quite an anticlimactic record since half of the songs had already been released previously (shout-out again to my friend Manu for introducing me to him!), but a start-to-finish listen is still a wonderful experience, albeit sometimes alienating because this is a very American album after all, what with all the references to American iconography (Washington Square Park, Jeff Buckley, etc.). With an understated production, the album’s highlight is Tor’s voice. His control of his vibrato is remarkable, and it clearly shows when this studio version of “Headlights” pales against the live version. (This kind of comment should always be taken as a compliment tbh.) Anyway, out of the 7 “new” songs, the album closer “Stampede” is the clincher: a haunting piece that displays Tor’s poetic inclinations. This is a 70s tribute record certainly done right.

2. SEPT. 5TH – dvsn

Let’s get one thing straight: this album is about sex, and yet it respects the deed as an act of consummation and recreation. It never bloats it with unnecessary hypermasculine bravado or devalues it with cheap double entendres (hello Bruno Mars). With lyrics like “I could make it better if I could have sex with you” and “And I wanna know how you feel inside, and if imagination serves me right all night, tell me to go out, in, out, in, out, in,” the result is almost jarring especially when juxtaposed with Daniel Daley's serenading voice and Nineteen85’s subtle production. I don’t normally like R&B but wow, this is the type of music you can have casual sex with if it were a person and not have an awkward walk of shame the morning after. The interaction is that mature and healthy lmao

1. Coloring Book - Chance the Rapper

I am not a particularly religious person, but if there’s a year that I held on to my faith the most, it’d be 2016. I think we can all agree that it had been a very, very bad year, but this album gave me hope. (It's technically a mixtape but whatever.) I cannot relate to many of the experiences that Lil Chano spits (he is on FIRE in this album btw). This is a personal album after all. However, it never feels too intimate. Chance’s optimism is just infectious. His energy flows through a wide array of featured artists like Kanye, JBiebz, Noname, the Chicago Children's Choir, his cousin (harhar), etc. Also, the Grammys are just generally bad but look at his nominations!! This is history in-the-making. He doesn’t have a label and yet look at all the accolades that this album has been getting. [tumblr voice] I AM SO PROUD OF MY SON. Amen, forever and ever and ever.

Here are 10 honorable mentions:

a. All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend - AURORA

b. de•re•al•i•za•tion – Alessandra de Rossi

c. Faraway Reach – Classixx

d. Joanne – Lady Gaga

e. Junk – M83

f. Love You to Death – Tegan and Sara

g. Matter – St. Lucia

h. Mind of Mine (Deluxe Edition) – ZAYN

i. Need Your Light – Ra Ra Riot

j. The Colour in Anything – James Blake

Addendum: Sing Street (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Various Artists

Here are 3 great EPs as well:

1. blisters – serpentwithfeet

2. E•MO•TION: Side B – Carly Rae Jepsen

3. Songs from Final Fantasy XV – Florence + the Machine